My name is Eleanor Neil, I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York but I have lived for the past ten years in Dublin, Ireland. I have recently received my PhD from Trinity College Dublin, where I examined community engagement with archaeology in Cyprus.

I am especially interested in the ways that contemporary sociopolitical forces form and inform the question of who owns the past. Cyprus’ political situation has had a profound and unique effect on its archaeology and cultural heritage. Due to the Turkish occupation of the northern third of the island since 1974, the country has suffered significant intercommunal violence and enforced population segregation. In the wake of these violent upheavals and compounded by the legacy of British colonialism, much of the Cypriot past is still contested and painful. Furthermore, archaeologists have not been allowed to work in the occupied territories, beyond a limited number of rescue excavations, which not only leads to an incomplete understanding of the archaeological past but also a fractured ability to engage with that past. My doctoral research analysed the ways in which community engagement with archaeology could address current needs, create inclusive narratives, and grapple with the conflicts of the past and their impacts in the present, extending into the future.

This work was significantly influenced by my very first field school when I had the privilege to excavate on the Mohegan reservation in Connecticut. It was here that I was introduced to Indigenous Archaeology and its attendant methodologies and theoretical frameworks. It also introduced me to new ways of envisioning archaeology’s role in society; the political power the discipline wields; and the ethical responsibility of archaeologists to use that power compassionately. This was a very formative experience and has continued to influence how I envision more ethical archaeology and the purpose of Community Archaeology as a subdiscipline.

Another significant aspect of my research, and one that I anticipate exploring further through my work at UrbNet, is the role of digital spaces and objects in the interactions between communities and archaeology. Digital platforms, interactions, and objects present a host of new possibilities and the potential to reach out and collaborate with new audiences. However, they also present new hurdles and limits, all of which require sensitive and detailed interrogation.

There is a significant rhyme between my doctoral research and the work I will be undertaking with UrbNet. I will be supporting Professor Rubina Raja’s project, A Digital Archive Platform for Research on the Danish Inter-World War Archaeological Engagement in the Middle East, by examining the digitised Gerasa Excavation Archive. This archive collected the paper records of the Anglo-American excavations at Gerasa between 1928 and 1934. I look forward to exploring the archaeological discoveries at the site, as well as understanding these missions’ role in the political landscape of the time (which has many contemporary ramifications) and contributing to this important democratisation of data.