From the field to the museum: engaging young Armenians in the complete life-cycle of archaeological artifacts

Through a partnership between a local heritage foundation, an active archaeological field project, and a museum, we developed a novel educational programme for schoolchildren to introduce the full life-cycle of archaeological artifacts. Our programme demystifies heritage knowledge construction and presentation at the same time. During the summers of 2022 and 2023, multiple groups of children aged 7–15 visited an excavation and a museum in Armenia. Over the course of four days, each group gained hands-on experience while excavating on-site, conducting lab work and analysis, restoring their finds, and creating an actual public museum exhibit. Formal and informal assessment preliminarily indicates the effectiveness of the programme in providing a baseline of knowledge to support the public's involvement in future heritage-based decision-making. Our project also serves as an example of collaboration among a variety of different types of archaeological and heritage organizations.