history and development of professional ethics and standards

• Project Description
• Contact Details
• Selected Project Publications

Project Description

Ethics has become a central concern in archaeology at a global level in the last years and has recently been a matter of public debate in Ireland.  The Department of Archaeology NUI Galway has a longstanding focus and international reputation in the development and maintenance of professional ethics and standards including mutual accountability between professionals and communities.  This is reflected in the fact that members of staff have undertaken a variety of initiatives over many years to defend and protect cultural heritage both in Ireland and internationally as well as publishing, lecturing and contributing to public debate.  The community and heritage section of this website reflects many of these efforts as well as staff publications and work described within the public archaeology research cluster. This work is deeply linked to the development of an ethical pedagogy in the department with regard to our role in training professionals and our courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level reflect this focus. 

This project reflects a specific research and teaching focus by some members of staff and students in the social history of archaeology as well as current status and future development of ethics and standards in the profession.  It aims to contribute to international debates in the profession and among communities about what is needed from professionals using evidence from Ireland and other countries. 

Professor John Waddell has examined several aspects of the history of archaeology as well as the impact of its commercialisation and parallel reduction in academic autonomy on professional standards in archaeology in Ireland today.  Maggie Ronayne’s work has also examined this issue, most recently with regard to Tara and the M3 motorway.  Her work in various countries with grassroots communities on the impact of development projects includes a collective investigation into professional ethics and the privatisation of the profession, problems in the maintenance of standards and what constitutes appropriate and accountable professional work. 

A recent strand to this project is the collection of testimonies from archaeologists working or who formerly worked in the private sector in archaeology in Ireland.  This work aims to add to the evidence base in order to debate professional standards and highlight potential ways forward. 

Liz O’Donoghue’s work on antiquarianism on the island of Ireland in the context of colonialism aims to contribute to a history of professional ethics and relations with communities which will inform some current debates in the profession.  Ann Kelly Moran’s research on education and archaeology addresses this issue in relation to the purpose of archaeology in a multi-racial society and what our potential and our responsibilities are with regard to interpretation and dissemination of knowledge to the public in Ireland today.

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Contact Details

Maggie Ronayne ( Profile)
Department of Archaeology
School of Geography and Archaeology
NUI Galway.
Tel: +353 (0)91 493701
maggie.ronaynenuigalway.ie

John Waddell ( Profile)
Professor of Archaeology
School of Geography and Archaeology
NUI Galway.
john.waddellnuigalway.ie

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Selected Project Publications

John Waddell

2007. A professional profession, Address to the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland Autumn Conference, Galway. October 2007. Published on-line:  http://www.iai.ie/Conferences/KeynoteAut2007-JWadell.pdf

2005.  Foundation Myths: The Beginnings of Irish Archaeology, Wordwell, Bray.

2005. Cheques and balances,  Archaeology Ireland  19, No. 1, 7-8.

Maggie Ronayne

2009. Commitment, Objectivity and Accountability to Communities: Priorities for 21 ^st Century Archaeology. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 10 (4), 367-381.  Published by Maney at www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney. ( Article in PDF Format - 101.27KB). 

2008. The State We're In on the Eve of World Archaeological Congess (WAC) 6: Archaeology in Ireland vs Corporate Takeover.  Public Archaeology 7 (2), 114-129.  ( Article in PDF format - 239KB) (Published online at www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney).

2008.  Archaeology Needs to Recover Its Core Principles and Ethics.  The Irish Times, July 15 ^th 2008.

2006. Archaeology against cultural destruction: the case of the Ilisu dam in the Kurdish region of Turkey. Public Archaeology 5, 223-236.

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