Assembling Archaeology Teaching, Practice, and Research

Assembling Archaeology provides a radical rethinking of the relationships between teaching, researching, digging, and practicing as an archaeologist in the 21st century. The issues addressed here are global and applicable wherever archaeology is taught, practiced, and researched. At its heart this book addresses the undervaluation of teaching, demonstrating that this affects the fundamentals of contemporary archaeological practice and is particularly connected to the lack of diversity in disciplinary demographics. It proposes a solution which is grounded in a theoretical rethinking of archaeological teaching, training, and practice by advocating a holistic 'assemblage' approach which challenges traditional power structures and the global marketization of the higher education system.

Drawing on insights from archaeology's current material turn, this book approaches the discipline as a subject of investigation and offers a new perspective founded upon the notion of the learning assemblage, which resituates teaching and learning as a central focus and contributes to broader discourses on critical pedagogy and rhizomatic learning. It ultimately argues for a robust archaeological pedagogy that is rooted in and emergent from the material realities of the profession, and will be valuable to everyone from academia to Cultural Resource Management (CRM), heritage professional to undergraduate student.

Hannah Cobb, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Manchester,Karina Croucher, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology, University of Bradford

Hannah Cobb is a Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Manchester. With a focus on the Mesolithic and Neolithic of Britain and Ireland, her research examines the intersection between material culture, landscape, and identity, and explores the insights that a New Materialist, Posthuman approach may bring. This reflects her strong belief that archaeology should be a discipline of equity populated by a diverse workforce, challenging narrow views of past identities and speaking inclusively to wide audiences in the present. She is co-director of the multi-period Ardnamurchan Transitions Project (2006 to present), Chair of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists Equality and Diversity Group, and a founder of the everyDIGsexism Project.


Karina Croucher is a Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Bradford. Her research covers several strands - archaeological pedagogy, gender, identity, death and dying, funerary practices, and tangible/intangible heritage - all of which relate to the value of archaeology for contemporary society. She leads the AHRC 'Continuing Bonds: exploring the meaning and legacy of death through past and contemporary practice' and 'Dying to Talk' projects, which explore the relationship between past and contemporary attitudes towards death, dying, and end of life care. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has worked for the University of Manchester's Widening Participation Team.