W. Michael GearW. Michael Gear¹¹, Kathleen O'Neal Gear, Kathleen O'Neal Gear¹¹, & Linda Scott Cummings, & Linda Scott Cummings²² ¹¹Timescribes and Timescribes and ²²PaleoResearch Institute, Golden, ColoradoPaleoResearch Institute, Golden, Colorado

The Funding Future: Why We The Funding Future: Why We MustMust Sell Archaeology to the Public Sell Archaeology to the Public

Arguments spun around "social theory" are meaningless to a family of four losing a house to foreclosure.

Pushed hard, most archaeologists admit that we produce nothing of substantial value to society. Archaeology is perceived of as a superfluous luxury.

Our publisher Tom Doherty told us years ago "Guys, everything is marketing." So, what do we market to an increasingly stressed society? What can we sell to a scientifically illiterate public? They do not and will not care that "Archaeology is a laboratory of diachronic human behavior." The notion that we're explaining human adaptation to past environmental changes is perceived as ludicrous.

We have become so focused on our science, method, and theory as a means of justifying our existence that we have lost sight of the one thing we can market:the story.

ARCHAEOLOGY IS IRRELEVANTARCHAEOLOGY IS IRRELEVANT

Fact: All Archaeology is supported by public financing. Given Fact: All Archaeology is supported by public financing. Given the global and national economies those financial resources the global and national economies those financial resources WILL decrease.WILL decrease.

Fact: To most Americans, Archaeology is simply frivolous. It Fact: To most Americans, Archaeology is simply frivolous. It produces nothing of value to their lives.produces nothing of value to their lives.

In a world of diminishing resources, how do we justify our In a world of diminishing resources, how do we justify our continued existence?continued existence?

A publicist once said, "Marketing in America is everything." Archaeologists don’t consider themselves producers or marketers of a product. Most avoid public interactions and loathe explaining our work to ignorant masses. All archaeological funding can be sourced to the general public. As the budget crisis deepens, funding for research will decline. Disciplines like physics, chemistry, and engineering offer recognized products and can survive budget cuts. But what do archaeologists offer? How is our research justified during the economic downturn? The American people have an appetite for the story told by archaeology. To maintain our relevance, it's time we tell that story.

Who tells the story? (to name just a few)Jean Auel created a huge following. The genre of Prehistoric Fiction recognizes her as an early voice.Sue Harrison wrote about the frozen North.W. Michael and Kathleen O'Neal Gear, both professional archaeologists, write about the entire North American continent.Jon L. Gibson has written about northeast Louisiana.Many other archaeologists have written and published popular books about archaeology – some using their own names and others under pen names.

Chief Saturiwa prepares his men for battle, from Plate XI of Jacques le Moyne des Morgues' engraving of Fort Caroline", Jacques le Moyne and Theodor De Bry. Photo credit: The Florida Center for Instructional Technology, University of South Florida

Are archaeological sites or “ruins” just for academics? What was it like to live at times in our past? Was it safe? Would we have been in danger? Would we have felt threatened? Was it peaceful, without the worries of modern life? Could we go back in time and have “life as we know it” without the drugs and street violence? All people living in North America in the past were peaceful people who loved each other and respected the Earth. Right? They all got along, not like today. Right?

As archaeologists, how do we portray life in the past? When you write, are you creating a story about life or just reporting your “finds”, numbers of artifacts, lithics, ceramics, etc. How do we know what life was like? If we know, how do we tell the public?

Do we engage children? How?Do we engage teens? How?Do we engage adults? How?

Do we make an effort to include others in our discoveries? How?

Could you do this? And if you could, would you?

Is your future dependent on public knowledge and support?

Some things to do:Some things to do:● Write a short story or a book using your knowledge of the past● Be interviewed on a local radio station about how we know about the past

● Give a presentation at your local library or school about the past● Give a presentation at a local book store● Give presentations to your local avocational archaeology group● ENGAGE the public—don't just talk “at them”● Encourage local schools to take field trips (day to week-long) to archaeological destinations—and volunteer to accompany them and be a teacher on the trip

● If you are in school, learn the craft of creative writing● If you are already a professional, learn and develop the craft of creative writing

● If you are teaching archaeology, assign writing short stories about a culture to your students—see how much they understand about daily life and how they communicate that knowledge

What the past looked like as a map

Ilex vomitoria (Yaupon) for making black drink

Moundville

Moundville, Alabama – What we see today

What do your listeners want?● They want to hear about civilizations & ruins● Pyramids and other large structures● How people lived in the past● The excitement of discovery● Not information about the laws

● Thanksgiving Special: The Archaeology of Ancient Diets and Environments - An interview with Dr. Linda Scott Cummings, Founder and President of PaleoResearch Institute, Golden, Colorado - In this episode, we explore the ways in which modern archaeological science allows researchers to reconstruct the diets and ancient landscapes of early civilizations.

Indiana Jones: Myth, Reality, and 21st Century Archaeology on VoiceAmerica.comListening audience is approximately 10,000/month and growing

How the public learns about archaeology:● Facebook! – friends of friends● Travel back in time and around the world without leaving home:

● Read a book (or kindle copy)● Watch The Archaeology Channel (won Best of the Northwest Video Award 2012 – informative feature category – Malta Prehistoric Temples)

● Watch Archaeology programs on Public TV● Listen to Indiana Jones: Myth, Reality and 21st

Century Archaeology on VoiceAmerica.com ● Take a trip to participate more directly in learning about the past

● Drive to nearby locations or take a vacation to an “archaeological destination”

● Take a cruise to another part of the world

Cahokia – The Story

How is a story different from archaeology or an archaeological report?A story is more than just words, it has an existence of its own—a soul and presence that must be experienced and felt. A story lives, breathes, and has its own heartbeat. This must be respected.

Funding Sources:

Grants: Federal Agencies:NSF National Park ServiceWenner-Gren US Forest ServiceAIA BLMState grants Corps of Engineers

Moundville – The Story

Design a game or create a recipe using these objects.Make your own objects – teachstudents how.

Poverty Point map

Poverty Point, The Story

What a significant percentage of Americans will be willing to support are archaeological projects that make the past come alive. From our experience, 50% of people have a curiosity about our past. As best-selling authors we profit from that curiosity and the mystique of our profession. As a discipline, we are not producing archaeologists who serve the the needs of a public hungering to hear the story.

Until we do, the future of our discipline remains at risk. Superfluous. A curiosity. Expendable.

What we can both market and sell to the people is the human story of Cahokia, Chaco Canyon, Moundville, Poverty Point, and other sites. Who were the people? How did they live? When we make that connection across time from the modern world to the past, we sell magic.

The modern academic archaeologist has none of the skills required to market our profession and vocation. Our training actually emphasizes the exclusion of both the public and the story.

And, as academic budgets, federal funding, and grant monies are cut, we will pay the price for our arrogance.

7.- Read more books than last year.

Moundville

Stone disk from Moundville

Moundville Ceramics

Lotus root – Common food eaten at Poverty Point

Timescribes, LLC.gear-gear.com Cahokia – What we see today

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