A voice for the voiceless? Bioarchaeology in popular culture

The role of the online news media in the dissemination of archaeological research is an important, yet understudied, element of contemporary public archaeology. The news is regularly used as a space for sharing research with large audiences, shaping public understanding of the past, the discipline, and political discussions due to the popular and broadly disseminated nature of the news environment and its coverage of current events and debates. Its general omission from discussions in public archaeology is a stark oversight that this thesis seeks to redress to ensure public communication through this medium is relevant, informative, and ethically aligned with the standards expected of other forms of outreach. This thesis examines the presence of archaeology in the online news, involving complex interactions between archaeological researchers and academics, journalists and the public: a nexus named in this thesis archaeo-media. The aim is to understand the factors that may shape news stories and identify what common issues and challenges are arising, if any, with the presentation of archaeological research online. To provide a coherent focus and audience for comparative purposes, British news websites have primarily been evaluated, though this work has global significance for the use of the online news as a means of dissemination. Though various types of archaeology are represented in the online news, this thesis focuses on bioarchaeological research, here considered any research into biological human remains. The dead provide a human connection to the past, engaging audiences either through empathy or morbid curiosity, and the research into human remains is a tool of engagement for various practitioners of public archaeology, including the media. Beyond this innate appeal, bioarchaeological research can investigate characteristics or experiences that can be brought into modern political discussions such as gender (including gender ambiguities and transitions), sex, ethnicity and race, migration, violence, and disease. Though research relates to ancient individuals, within the news environment these topics can be connected with modern discussions and used to either uphold or challenge ideas about elements of identities, with such narratives constructed either by the public upon reading, the media’s presentation, or the researchers themselves. This thesis takes a broad approach initially by tackling bioarchaeological research across UK news media, but through case studies a specific focus is achieved by exploring the connected themes of race and migration and the ways in which research into these topics can shape ideas of white nationalism and white supremacy in Britain. This decision was informed by the ongoing public debates around racial justice and equity, as well as the influence these have had on bioarchaeological research, leading to an increase in the number of studies investigating racialised characteristics and the presentation of such work as anti-racist, diversifying, decolonising, or as social justice. To examine the presence of bioarchaeology in UK news, 698 articles were evaluated from the top six most read UK newsbrands (BBC News, The Mail Online, The Sun, The Mirror, The Independent, and The Guardian) over a four year period, 2018 to 2021. This enabled analysis of the types of research being reported on, common themes, and the narratives constructed for individual stories and broader subjects such as time periods, geographic areas, and research methodologies. From this data, the people quoted in the press speaking about bioarchaeology were identified and surveyed to determine their demographics and share their experience of working with the media. Two case studies related to racialised studies were chosen from the same period as the general review of news stories, Cheddar Man and the analysis of the Mary Rose crew, to evaluate the impact such studies have on the construction of the self in British identity. A further case study used the general review to identify common tropes about global cultures in the online news to understand the formation of the other in British identity construction. Combined, these elements of the study allowed for an evaluation of the presence of bioarchaeology in the online news, analysis of the construction of white British identities through the online news’ dissemination of bioarchaeological research, and discussion of the role of archaeologists and archaeological research in such debates. This thesis explores both the ethical and methodological requirements of public archaeology, the ways these manifest through archaeo-media, and the increasing use of bioarchaeology as a tool for social justice research. By evaluating socially informed research through its public output it is possible to review its efficacy as a tool in changing public opinion, its impact on political debates, and critique the intentions behind pursuing research with a social justice goal. From this study, recommendations that consider both public archaeological processes and the design of social justice research were provided. Key recommendations include an increased awareness of narrative construction in archaeo-media and techniques to mitigate against inaccurate stories being applied to research, promoting the news media as a space for informing audiences rather than a tool for increasing public standing of individuals and institutions, and reconsidering the drive for racialised research to ensure it is meeting anti-racist intentions through its public dissemination.

Citation

Chambers, E. (2025). A voice for the voiceless? Bioarchaeology in popular culture [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of Chester.

Publisher

University of Chester

URI

https://chesterrep.openrepository.com/handle/10034/630030

Type

Thesis or dissertation