From Blogs to Books: Blogging as Community, Practice, and Platform

Archaeodeath as Digital Public Mortuary Archaeology

“…Blogging is not a new phenomenon: for over two decades archaeologists have been using online environments to create diaries and journals. Mortuary archaeologists and bioarchaeologists have thus gradually embraced the medium (Caraher and Reinhard 2015;Meyers Emery and Killgrove 2015;e.g. Hoole 2016).…”

“…Archaeology blogs with funerary dimensions have been widely used by commercial organisations, academic and other educational institutions, research projects, collaborations and networks, as well as serving as platforms for personal digital 'diaries' of academics and researchers. 2 Within this diverse range of uses, blogs operate alongside and within other web services (Caraher and Reinhard 2015), some focusing on different periods and places, and varied archaeological theories and methods, and they might include a host of interdisciplinary connections (Austin 2014;Hardy 2014: 104). Blogs have been particularly valuable as public-facing creations driven by researchers themselves, as opposed to most other media which rely on non-archaeological professionals to fashion our stories (such as television documentaries or news outlets).…”

“…Whitaker 2014; see also Kirk 2016). 3 Archaeological blogging harbours the potential to escape from the restrictions of traditional academic publishing formats and structures, not only in being open access to all, and readily discovered via a Google search or via social media, but including interactive, multi-vocal and nonlinear formats (Perry 2015;Caraher and Reinhard 2015). This has a particular appeal for mortuary archaeology, where dialogue with stakeholders and descendant communities is particularly important (e.g.…”

“…Cook 2018). Further beneficial dimensions include the potential rapidity and frequency of publishing; freedom is afforded from the traditional constraints of formal academic citation systems and peer-review, whilst blogs can readily and effectively draw on a wide range of web-based sources of evidence (Caraher and Reinhard 2015). Importantly, blogs reach fresh and diverse audiences, and are written in different styles and formats, engaging those who might not read academic books and guidebooks.…”

“…Certainly, not everyone blogs and there remains inertia and resistance among many to blogging about mortuary topics in particular. Caution over digital engagement can occur for a number of intersecting reasons, including academic pride and conservatism, ethical sensitivities of the material itself and its digital dissemination (Bodies and Academia 2016;Finn 2018;Williams 2018;Williams and Atkin 2015), and necessary and justifiable concerns regarding the need to respect local communities and descendant groups (see Caraher and Reinhard 2015). Blogging and other modes of digital engagement also remains rarely recognised, supported and rewarded within academic and professional spheres.…”