Creating A Sense of Place Through Archeology: Moving Archeology From Deep Storage Into the Public Eye Through the Internet

FAIN: HD-50543-08

State of Vermont Division for Historic Preservation (Montpelier, VT 05602-3377)
Giovanna Peebles (Project Director: April 2008 to September 2010)

Development of a prototype for an integrated Internet-based virtual archaeology museum for Vermont.

The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation seeks a Level I Start-Up Grant to revolutionize current practices of disseminating archeological information to scholars, educators, students, communities, and the general public. It seeks to transform the typical archeological investigation "end products" -- an unpublished technical paper report and boxes full of artifacts and other data -- into an integrated virtual archeology museum. This project is the first step towards creating a sustainable Internet-based Vermont archeology virtual museum that we call "A Sense of Place through Archeology" and will lead the way for other states and organizations to use similar tools and formats. The grant will fund development of a plan, a proof of concept, and a prototype for a virtual archeology museum that can be used by any interested organization to reveal the information and stories now locked in inaccessible files and storage cabinets. Other states have expressed great interest in the project.