DC10: Communicating Stone Age HFG heritage for a sustainable future

DC10 will use anthropological theory and methods to investigate how the coastal STA (Stone Age) HFG (hunter-fisher-gatherer) legacy becomes heritage and is communicated as heritage to diverse audiences in different parts of Europe. 

This will be done through ethnographic fieldwork, including interviews, that follows the process of knowledge production of HFG heritage, from the archaeological excavation phase to exhibitions in museums. 

The project will involve participant observation at archaeological sites to experience the archaeological process of excavation and production of data and knowledge on STA coastal HFGs from different regions in ArCHe, as well as one or two heritage institutions known for their innovative state-of-the art engagement with HFG heritage (e.g. through interactive exhibitions, outdoor activities or landscape art), in order to investigate how such data and knowledge becomes translated into heritage. This will involve paying attention to the kinds of heritage frames that STA HFG traces are typically subsumed within when communicated to the public, e.g. “pre-historic heritage" or “natural history”. 

Through such critical engagement with the process of heritageization, the project will explore new ways of setting HFG traces on the heritage agenda, in particular through their relevance for contemporary issues facing European coastal zones, for example by activating deep time perspectives, raising questions about past, present and future lifestyles not least related to coping with environmental destruction, climate change and associated social stress. 

Synergies with PhD1, PhD4, PhD6 and PhD8. The project trains the PhD for a career in heritage communication and cultural resource management with a focus on sustainability and challenges related to climate change. 

Expected results include a dissertation, highlighting how STA heritage can be communicated to raise awareness of issues related to climate and environmental change. PhD10 will co-author 2 journal articles (one focusing on STA heritage for the Anthropocene, the other focusing on shared landscapes in Local Environment). Data will be stored at UGOT. 

A deliverable will be a report on the heritage potential of HFG coastal sites with a discussion of innovative models for communicating this STA heritage.