Training and Using Volunteers in Archeology: A Case Study from Arkansas

In this age of rapid transformation of the earth's landscape, our only hope for recovery of any major portion of this history [that is written in the soil] is by nearly total involvement of the public (McGimsey 1972:6).

Involvement of the public in archeology can and has taken many forms. The quote from McGimsey above reflects the philosophy of public archeology that he espouses, and which has led many, both professional and avocational archeologists, into cooperative endeavors of mutual benefit. There are pros and cons to such programs for both sides. There are professional archeologists who condemn any archeology done by anyone without an advanced academic degree and several years of training. There are avocational archeologists (and I use this term to mean people who do scientific archeology as a hobby not as a profession) who have met with the above mentioned kind of professional and as a consequence think all professional archeologists are mean spirited and want all the sites and artifacts for themselves. There are also people of all persuasions, all degrees of training and experience, who wish to cooperate to record and preserve information from the past in a way that will be personally satisfying and rewarding, as well as scientifically appropriate.

The Arkansas Training Program for Avocational Archeologists was created in 1964 with two major goals: (1) providing interested citizens with the opportunity to gain information on how to do archeology "right," and (2) multiplying manyfold the eyes and ears of the few professional archeologists in efforts to preserve the state's past. The program was initially a joint venture between the University of Arkansas Museum and the Arkansas Archeological Society, and then, in 1967, with the creation of the Arkansas Archeological Survey, that agency assumed the coordinating and supervisory efforts from the University Museum. In 1972 a formal Certification Program was created. It does not replace the regular Field and Laboratory Training Program but rather supplements it.