The Pedagogical Benefits of Sensory Archaeology: A Case Study on Roman Britain

Abstract

Archaeology, by its very nature, is a highly sensorial discipline. Teaching archaeology should be equally sensorially engaging. However, modern higher education prioritizes the visual and the auditory, and while handling sessions, laboratory work, and site visits are often part of a standard archaeology degree, they vary heavily based on departmental and student resources. At the same time, archaeology is in something of a crisis, tackling a lack of diversity, reduced funding, and a deep legacy of colonialism. This article demonstrates how the incorporation of the theories and methods of sensory archaeology into higher education curriculum can add sensorial density to a degree, enhance research, and at the same time help alleviate some of our current crises. As the first paper to explore the use of sensory archaeology in university education, it also makes an important contribution to the rather limited field of archaeological pedagogical research.

Keywords

• Pedagogy
• Sensory archaeology
• Roman archaeology
• Roman Britain
• diversity
• multivocality