Archaeology Research

Archaeologists from the University of Glasgow’s Archaeology Subject Area and School of Education have collaborated to produce a vision for the future of digital creativity in Archaeology. The multi-media publication features written text, film, images and sound to communicate the diversity of creative practice within archaeology and to argue for greater recognition of creative methods within the discipline. The paper is grounded in more than 20 years of experimental creative practice within archaeological fieldwork undertaken by authors, Dr Elizabeth Robertson, Dr Nicole Smith and Dr Gareth Beale.

Beale says “this is more than just a research paper, it is the focal point of many years of doing and thinking about archaeology. Archaeologists can be quite bad at recognising the specialness and creativity of our work. All of archaeology is about storytelling and communication, it is all about understanding our place in time, culture and within the world. Given that this is the case, we do not spend enough time thinking about how to express ourselves. In What Next for Archaeological Representation?” we make the case for a creative practice of digital archaeology which not only allows us to understand the past better, but also helps us to think about, develop and communicate our deep personal and cultural relationships with the pasts of places which matter to us. If you love archaeology and if you feel like it forms a big part of who you are, this is the paper for you.”

The paper is published in Epoiesen, an innovative open access publication designed to highlight creative practice within archaeological and historical research.

https://epoiesen.carleton.ca/2025/03/17/what-next-for-archaeological-representation/

Citation: Beale, Gareth; Robertson, Lizzie; Smith, Nicole 2025. "What Next for Archaeological Representation?: Towards a creative practice of digital archaeology". Epoiesen. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22215/epoiesen/2025.1

 

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First published: 24 April 2025