‘The Minister will tell the nation’: the role of the media for archaeology in Mauritius

Abstract

This article presents four short case studies detailing the breadth of media engagement with archaeology on the island of Mauritius. Beyond exemplifying the varied roles of the media for an archaeological agenda, these case studies are used to discuss how to better garner media attention, how it may be possible to benefit from those who use archaeological data, why archaeologists should do this and the value of being better managers of our media image. Ultimately, the article advocates greater control over our side of the archaeology–media relationship, and questions whether archaeologists are taking advantage of the power of the media to advance public archaeology.

Keywords:

• Media
• Mauritius
• public archaeology
• heritage
• historical archaeology

Acknowledgements

Components of the work presented herein have been supported by the British Academy under grant numbers SG-10085/SG-54650; British Council under the ‘Darwin Now’ Award; alongside awards made by the Society of Antiquaries of London, UK, the Truth and Justice Commission, Port Louis, Mauritius, and the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, Stanford, USA. I am very grateful to the members of the MACH project and in particular Saša Čaval and Diego Calaon for their continued work on the project, work that underpins this article; to Corinne Forrest and Raju Mohit of the AGTF and Colette LeChartier and Edley Chimon of the LMHTF for their continued support of archaeology in Mauritius. Special thanks are extended to Mookhesswur Choonee, Minister of Arts and Culture, who has advocated and facilitated the development of archaeological heritage research in Mauritius.

Notes

1 Site reports and all other published works, i.e. more detailed accounts of the archaeology, are freely available from the MACH project webpage; thus, different levels of information are accessible to a wide audience.

2 All permits were granted; the excavation was initiated by the now-defunct Truth and Justice Commission and has since been incorporated into the remit of the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund. Finally, I am Mauritian; thus, in virtually all regards this was a locally driven project.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Krish Seetah

Krish Seetah, PhD Cantab, is an assistant professor in the Anthropology Department at Stanford University and director of the Mauritian Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (MACH) project. His main specialism focuses on zooarchaeology, with particular interests in colonial encounters as viewed through fauna. This interest led to fieldwork initially in Cape Verde and subsequently in his native Mauritius.