Building Bridges Between Education and Archaeology: Orphan Objects, Senses and Interactive Engagements

One of the main goals of public archaeology is to facilitate the public access to the past. This paper constitutes an attempt to address this challenge and tackle one of the most significant, and burgeoning, problems for museums (the saturation of deposit spaces). We conducted a pedagogical experience that, seeking to entice young audiences, resulted in a successful interaction between school students and archaeological materials. Our methods are informed by the guidelines of Participatory Action Research and highlight the importance of stimulating an active engagement, through sensorial and practical approaches to orphan archaeological objects. The meaningful engagement that results from interactions, we argue, opens room not only to provide a closer appreciation of the materiality of these objects but primarily a reflection of a ‘distant past’ as something not so distant. This is particularly relevant in the context where we unfold our work because of its deep archaeological past and culturally diverse and indigenous background, which, nonetheless, are commonly thought as disassociated from the current population. We conclude that these interactive engagements foster the emergence of new spaces of debate in which the past is not closed and becomes a field of reflection and public action.