Foreword

Citation

Bonacchi C (2020) Foreword. In: Williams H & Clarke PM (eds.) Digging into the Dark Ages: Early Medieval Public Archaeologies. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. vii-viii. https://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7bDE9A5B19-7AAD-4FA7-A097-060E0525533D%7d

Abstract
First paragraph: From early engagements with history in the classroom to family visits of the JORVIK Viking Centre, from teenager discoveries of Tolkien’s epic novels to TV viewings of The Last Kingdom in later adulthood, our everyday experiences have impressed upon our minds and hearts powerful but personalised images of what Nick Merriman called the ‘official’ past (Merriman 1991). These realms are constructions of knowing and feeling that may be more or less persistent. These images not only shape our understanding of the world as we see it, but stay attached to some of our deepest emotions; they are intermingled with our fears, hopes and dreams of safety, self-worth and acceptance. Endeavouring to understand the processes through which the past is presenced is one of the most important facets of our profession as archaeologists and historians (Bonacchi 2014, 2018; Brophy 2018).