Perhaps more important than formal reports (even popular versions) is the
visibility of historical archaeology in the mass media. Do pojects use
the local (and national) newspapers, TV and popular journals to highlight
projects and make the public aware of findings.


I think we are doing a fairly good job in this area and it would be
interesting to trace the history of the visibility of historical archaeology
between, say, 1930 and 2000 in the popular media (NY Times, Time Magazine,
Life, National Geographic, TV Guides, etc.). When it is appropriate and
able to be done, the dig open to direct public observation is one of the
best ways of getting the interest of the general public (e.g. the Annapolis
Project's public guided tours). Most people do not want to dig (e.g. size
of state archaeological societies cf. state populations), or read a
report but they would be interested in a news item, museum exhibit or
making a short visit to an open dig. Within the last month I saw on the
major TV news shows here in Philadelphia a report on an excavation
downtown of an historic cemetery and a completely separate report on a
dig at Valley Forge.

Not that bad a coverage in one month.