Kia ora koutou!
Welcome to New Zealand Archaeology Week 2020! Circumstances this year mean that Archaeology Week is online-only, so, while you won’t be able to go on a tour of archaeological site, attend a public lecture or visit an archaeological exhibition, you’ll still be able to learn heaps about New Zealand’s rich archaeological heritage – and maybe something from slightly further afield than you would have otherwise.
It is beyond stating the obvious to say that these are strange times, but these are also times when it is demonstrably clear that our understanding of the past helps us towards our future. The numerous articles relating to the 1918 influenza are testament to that. But is also a time when much is being said about Aotearoa New Zealand’s identity, about who we are as a country and people, and about how this is enabling us to fight covid-19 and giving us the resilience to cope with the situation we find ourselves in. It is only by understanding and valuing our rich and diverse past that we can understand who we are today, and archaeology is a critical part of that. It enables us to see deeply into the past, to explore the relationships between people and the environment, between different peoples, to see past injustices, to hear the voices that otherwise go unheard, and to understand who we are and how we came to be. The stories that you’ll hear as part of Archaeology Week represent just some of the amazing archaeological work that gets carried out in Aotearoa New Zealand every year, and contributes to our country’s story.
NZAA and a range of partners will be sharing some fantastic content between now and 3 May. There will be lots of social media posts and kids’ activities from a range of organisations, as well as heritage story-telling opportunities and blog posts. You can follow along on NZAA’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. To join in the social media fun, share your own archaeological content using the hashtag #nzarchweek2020 – and you can use this to follow content as well. For more details about the content and content providers, go to our archaeology week page.
NZAA is very grateful to our partners for working on Archaeology Week with us. We’d also like to extend our thanks to those who had planned Archaeology Week events but were unable to host them due to the covid-19 lockdown and were unable to change their event format to an online one in the short amount of time available. NZAA would also like to thank Kathryn Hurren, Laura Dawson and Patricia Pillay, the volunteers who’ll be doing all NZAA’s social media posting over the next 10 days – we’re really grateful to them for stepping into these roles at short notice and for their enthusiasm and ideas.
Ngā mihi,
Katharine
