Paper short abstract:

This introductory talk will highlight some of the past and ongoing work at the creative edges of archaeology. Some key themes and questions for the contributors (including the audience) will be introduced to help guide later discussions.

Paper long abstract:

The interfaces between creative work and archaeology are complex, difficult to map and, perhaps, worthy of a history of their own. In the earlier phases we are, in fact, chronicling the divorce of archaeology from creative work as archaeology endeavours to assert its identity as a science. This session, however, traces its explicit roots to attempts to reintegrate creative work into archaeology from the 1980's onwards. Some highlights of this work will be shown and the key issues of the session will be put in context.

Attendees will be asked to assess for themselves, these various creative endeavours in terms of their value and utility to archaeologists and the 'consumers' of archaeological work. This will hopefully frame the main contributions within the themes and provide a foundation for fruitful discussion of the future of the relationship and the scope for integrating creative work into archaeology and bringing it in from the cold.