Genesis I.1; Or, Teaching Archaeology to the Great Archaeology-Loving Public

Abstract

The problem of teaching archaeology to large, lay audiences has received little attention from specialist anthropologists. A very diverse audience with specific attitudes to archaeology takes such courses. Few people are interested in more specialist training, although most beginning courses emphasize this aspect of archaeology. The paper describes some of the basic course content desirable in an introductory course and some of the methods that can be used to teach it. It concludes that the specialist training of professional archaeologists and the reward system of the discipline make it difficult for them to face the challenge of teaching beginning students.