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I want to thank the commentators for their thoughtful and diverse responses. I was originally worried that my intentionally provocative sally was going to either scratch a bundle of raw nerves or go over like a wet firecracker. Instead, the replies were all over a very interesting global map (with perhaps a few reactions at either extreme). To quote Mark Pluciennik, one could say of the total array of responses that 'where archaeologies might fit among such a constellation of uses and abuses is of course highly contextual and dependent on one's position in time, and space, and sociocultural and political situation' (p. 153). I will not be so bold as to try to contextualize each author according to their national original, institutional setting or academic training and research interests, since I think the intelligent reader can see these glinting through the responses. Instead, I will take this opportunity to contextualize myself. Despite my calls for honesty in the paper, I have not been entirely honest about the genealogy and context of my opinions. In the course of my confessional, I will also enunciate those places where I am humbled by the knowledge and activities of the responders and, of course, where I think I have been misunderstood.
My critique of 'public archaeology' is most decidedly coming out of a North American context of historical archaeology, towards which I aimed my sharpest barbs and thus not unexpectedly received some of the sharpest defences from fellow historical archaeologist Carol McDavid. European archaeologists, on the other hand (to judge from the commentators) may find that my critiques are simply not as applicable. My position has been shaped by 14 years of experience in New Orleans within cultural resource management, as the director of a public archaeology programme through the University of New Orleans (with public outreach, preservation and research responsibilities), and more recently as an academic research archaeologist who has worked extensively (if not always happily) with diverse local constituents and the media. These experiences included some very 'public' archaeology projects, such as an early, well-intentioned effort to do community archaeology through a summer camp programme for disadvantaged youth on a site that was home to an integrated private school...