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In this paper we present a proposal for the creation of a standardized evaluation model for participatory/public/community archaeology and heritage initiatives. The proposal is the result of discussions during a Spring School that the University of Padua and the MAG Museum of Alto Garda, Italy, organized between 9 and 15 April 2018. The Spring School brought together international practitioners to compare experiences and share visions for the sustainable future of archaeology and heritage management. We reflect on the process of bringing together our thoughts and views into one place, and on the theoretical and practitioner contexts that inform our proposed model. The model is intended for researchers and practitioners planning to carry out archaeological and heritage projects with communities. We invite readers to try using some or all of the sections of the model in their own work and to contribute to further refinement of the approach.

Over the last decade public and community archaeology have established themselves as essential parts of the Italian contemporary archaeological debate, as a result of work at a series of venues and...

Following the action plan implementation of the Virtual Multimodal Museum (ViMM) project, which finished in March 2019, the European Commission issued a Declaration on Cooperation on Advancing Digitisation of Cultural Heritage during the Digital Day in April 2019. One year later, in April 2020, the European Commission (EC) launched a call for tenders to develop a Study on quality in 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage (the Study), thus responding to the increasing demand for internationally recognised standards for the holistic 3D documentation of Europe’s rich cultural heritage (CH). To address this lack of standards, the Study aims to map parameters, formats, standards, benchmarks, methodologies and guidelines, relating to 3D digitisation of tangible cultural heritage, to the different potential purposes or uses, by type of tangible cultural heritage, and by degree of complexity of tangible cultural heritage. A team of researchers at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) is leading a consortium of partners from industry and academia across Europe to conduct this unique Study. This work in progress paper introduces the objectives and methodology of the Study, as well as presenting some of its first results.

Community archaeology often takes the form of outreach activities intended to communicate to the public the final results of archaeological research. Interaction between archaeologists and stakeholders, however, also offers opportunities for the creation and interpretation of archaeological knowledge. Analysis of two Italian case studies, Vignale and Pilastri, provides two examples of the intersection of public archaeology, archaeological interpretation and, specifically, fiction, in the form of a writing competition and a series of docudramas. In both cases, the interaction between archaeologists and stakeholders has produced fictional elements—stories, ideas and inspirations—that have served to reduce the distance between past and present, and to challenge established archaeological thinking. These emergent fictional narratives have proven to be a valuable resource for both projects. Here, the juncture of public archaeology, archaeological interpretation and fiction is framed and investigated within what we define as the ‘multiverse of fiction’.

As an orchestra or a rock star, archaeologists have their audience too. This paper wants to highlight an integrated approach between fieldwork, its account and its dissemination to the public in different ways, including social media. This potential integration has come to life in the 2011 excavation of the Roman mansio of Vignale (Italy) and it has been named “Excava(c)tion”. It doesn’t mean a new way of digging but another way of approaching the excavation, an approach integrated toward and with the public, both on site and on the social Web. “Excava(c)tion” conceives the site as a stage and digging as a performance, through a continuous dialogue between archaeologists and the public. Archaeologists share their work in the form of guided tours (live, theatrical-like performances), communicative diaries and videos (edited, motion-picture performances) and on a blog (www.uominiecoseavignale.it). They receive back comments and oral accounts from the local community about the main themes of common interest. “Excava(c)tion” means engagement both of archaeologists and the public in the pursuit of a global multivocality during archaeological excavation.