Innovating (from) the professional archaeological Ecosystem: Towards the cohesion of the archaeological collective

Abstract

Over thirty years after the transfer to the Autonomous Communities of the competences in archaeology, professional archaeology faces a complex panorama: the professional collective has adapted to a changing market, but without resolving the lack of cohesion of the profession, the disparity of criteria of the Administrations and the lack of relation with a citizenship whose heritage is the object of study of the profession, but to which the importance and necessity of its study is not transmitted. After two meetings held in Cadiz (2018) and Madrid (2019), a project called Innovating (from) the Professional Archaeological Ecosystem, which was made possible thanks to the assistance of the Dirección General de Industrias Culturales (Ministry of Culture and Sports), and consisted of three meetings between November 2019 and December 2020. The project allowed professionals from all over the State to work together and, as a result, the Platform of Archaeology Professionals (PEPA) was established to rally all the professionals taking part in it, to go beyond the territorial frameworks of colleges and associations, dignify the profession and find appropriate forms of dialogue between professionals working with the archaeological heritage and the public, to which it belongs.