July 23, 2020: Seneca Village Panel Discussion

During the Q&A session, two major points stood out to me. The first was that the Seneca Village project relied on community engagement to actually be successful. By including outside people in the project, the team was able to identify some artifacts they would not have been able to otherwise. This participation keeps engagement up, allowing the project to continue. The second point was how important it is to think with an open mind while studying archaeology. While we may think that we know what an object is and make a conclusion about something, it is better to keep an open mind and look at things from different perspectives. If we can do that, a more accurate portrayal of the object can be made.

In this session, we had the opportunity to talk with archaeologists and historians who participated in the Seneca Village excavation: Nan Rothschild Cooper, Diana Wall, Cynthia Copeland, and Paul Johnson. It was great to hear not just about the artifacts that they uncovered (they all agreed that the child’s shoe was the most powerful object found at the site), but also their own personal journeys. The most interesting question asked was about how they managed their own biases when going into the project. They all agreed that it was essential to have an open mind when thinking about the artifacts, but also to have a diverse group of archaeologists working on the project.