Local voices on heritage: Understanding community perceptions towards archaeological sites in South Iraq

Community engagement is now a consolidated and essential part of many archaeological research projects. In particular, it is widely recognized as a powerful tool for laying the foundation for any community archaeology programme. This paper explores the perceptions of a community living North-East of the city of Kufa (Iraq) towards the archaeological sites and cultural heritage in general. In particular, we designed an action-oriented research consisting of interviews and focus groups conducted between 2017 and 2019 at selected sites. The multifaceted picture that emerges from this research allows to better understand the relationships between the different actors revolving around the archaeological sites. The objective is to assess the awareness and understanding of the significance of its cultural heritage by the local community, and consequently propose recommendations including actions aimed at better safeguarding and communicating the archaeological sites.