Archaeological research and the public

Abstract

The first objective of this paper to outline some issues concerning the link between the scientific creation of knowledge about the past, and public understanding of that past. The second objective is to present the prehistoric temples of Malta as a case study of these issues. The public is one of the principal stakeholders in archaeological research (Grima 2002). People's understanding of their past is often shaped by the version of the past that is created by archaeologists. In practice, however, the public generally has very little influence about which questions are asked in archaeological research agendas. This state of affairs is usually accepted without question. My intention here is therefore to ask the following questions. Why does the public not have a greater role in shaping archaeological research agendas? What can we do to narrow the divide between scientific knowledge and popular knowledge in this area?