Places in Interaction: The National Archaeological Park Project as an Integrated Approach to Public Archaeology in China

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to re-examine how concepts of public archaeology have been established and developed in varying social and political contexts in China, and how the recent national archaeological park project is structured as an important approach for improving public-archaeology relationships and promoting the public uses of archaeology. Since all archaeological activities in China are exclusively regulated by the state, all archaeological resources are administered for the benefit of the public. As such, concepts of public archaeology demonstrate the efforts of Chinese archaeologists to re-evaluate public-archaeology relationships and uses of archaeology through public engagement as well as archaeological communications with the public. The national archaeological park project was launched in 2006 to expand the practice of archaeology with the creation of archaeological communications, public space, and community-driven programmes. The project facilitates multiple perspectives on public archaeology practice through public education, community cohesion, re-creation of public space, and local economic development.

keywords:

• public-archaeology relationships
• public engagement
• state archaeology
• national park services
• public space

Note on contributors

Qiaowei Wei is an Associate Professor of Archaeology at Shanghai University. He received his PhD at Shandong University in 2013. He was research fellow at Harvard-Yenching Institute during 2011. He is an expert on the archaeology of China’s Bronze Age and his current research interests relate to the practices of cultural heritage management and community-based archaeology in China.

Luo Zhao is a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Cultural Relics Conservation. She received her PhD at Fudan University in 2014. She was an affiliate researcher at Cambridge University in 2012–13. Her research interests are cultural heritage management and cultural relics preservation .

Notes

1 The results of these excavation projects, including 1982 cultural relics from archaeological sites all over the country, were recently displayed at the Forbidden City Museum under the title ‘Cultural Relics Unearthed During the Cultural Revolution’ (Xie & Zhu, 2014).