Studying Archaeological Fieldwork In The Field:Views From Monte Polizzo

Ethnography of Archaeology is a new but fast growing field of interest and approach, investigating the practice and materiality of professional archaeology. Often the focus is on archaeological fieldwork, as the present volume illustrates. This contribution addresses the question of what kind of experience project members have on an archaeological excavation project. Besides the way a project can be described in academic terms, for example in field reports, I will be asking precisely what it means to participate in an archaeological project from the participants’ point of view and what it is they are actually learning during an excavation. This matters particularly when excavations are designed as student training excavations, making it pertinent to study the learning experiences and outcomes. My case-study consists of the ongoing excavations at Monte Polizzo in Western Sicily.