Background

ARCHAEONET addresses the challenge of supporting and transforming archaeological practices related to communicating cultural heritage, both 'in the field,' with the public, and within the organization of the Museum of Cultural History (MCH).

Archaeological excavations involve specific sets of activities, routines, and procedures that are bound up in traditions developed over a long historical period. Change in these traditions are difficult, particularly since individual projects are linked with high stakes in terms of institutional, research, and personal prestige. There is a problem - but also a societal challenge, acknowledged most recently in Tingenes tale (St. melding nr. 15 2008:28) - in that knowledge production in Norwegian cultural heritage organizations often remains a relatively closed affair, both within the organizations but also in terms of communicating this knowledge to the public. Change is also slowed by a tradition of skepticism toward ICT in this field.