Technology, policy and practice are increasingly leading to an airbrushed view of archaeological practice, in which the realities of life in the field and archive alike are removed from final archives and formal publications. Building on the TAG session, this workshop will explore such ‘marginal expressions of individuality – not only because they tell us something about the way projects developed but also because they remind us of what fuels archaeology – togetherness, thirst, lust and dreams’ (Duncan Brown, TAG 2011).

The papers presented in the workshop will explore the margins of archaeological archives and the subtleties of humour: how such fragmentary sources identify individuals experiences of practice, and how we deal with both the preservation and continuation of such memories given the increasingly homogenized world of ‘professional’ heritage.

Workshop Programme

10.15-10.30            Arrival & coffee

10.30-10.45            Introduction

            Hilary Orange and Joe Flatman

10.45-11.15            A funny thing happened on the way to the HER

Ben Croxford, Kent County Council. 

11.15-11.45             A grave matter: Tales from the Tudor telecommunications network, the dangers of rail travel and the curious case of the charming Miss Crooks

                                    Martin Newman, English Heritage

11.45-12.15            Funny museum or: How I learned to stop worrying and love my sense of humour

                                    Subhadra Das, UCL Museums

12.15-13.30            Lunch break (lunch not provided)

13.30-14.00            The mysterious case of the Phoenicians & the Cornish game hens

                                    Caradoc Peters, University of Plymouth

 14.00-14.30           Pull the other one: It’s archived

                                     Duncan Brown, English Heritage

14.30-15.00            Coffee break

15.00- 15.30           Short, sharp and tweet: Personal reflections of a field archaeologist in the twitter-sphere

                                    Raksha Dave, Dig Ventures/Time Team

15.30-16.00            Laughter and silence in the Dry: Representations of time in a Cornish tin mine

                                    Hilary Orange, British Museum                  

16.00-16.30            Laughs in a hot climate: A social history of humour in Africanist archaeology (a personal perspective)

Niall Finneran, University of Winchester

16.30-17.00            Discussion

To ask questions about the workshop please email the organizers: Joe Flatman and Hilary Orange  

 <mailto:h.orange@ucl.ac.uk> and mailto:j.flatman@ucl.ac.uk>

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