Geoff Emberling and Suzanne Davis

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Community engagement is now essential to ethical field practice in archaeology and conservation. Although it represents a significant change from traditional fieldwork, working more closely with host communities leads to significantly better and more sustainable outcomes. This talk will discuss our collaborative efforts to build and operate a Community Heritage Center at El-Kurru, a thriving village that is also the site of a royal pyramid cemetery of kings and queens of ancient Kush (ca. 850-350 BCE). In developing exhibits and programs for the center, conservation and site protection have remained priorities both for the international team and for the local community.

Biographies

Geoff Emberling is Associate Research Scientist at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan and has been co-director of the International Kurru Archaeological Project since 2014. He has also held positions as curator and museum director.

Suzanne Davis is Curator of Conservation at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan and current president of the American Institute for Conservation. She is the director of conservation for the Kelsey’s field projects in Sudan and also on projects in Egypt and Turkey.