Alongside the rise of collaborative community-based approaches in archaeology and cultural heritage in recent decades we have seen a call for “slow archaeology.” It is part of a broader “slow science” movement that counters the dominant “fast science” approach that is “competitive, data-centric, technocratic, and alienated from the societies it serves and studies” (Cunningham & MacEachern 2014:4). Slow archaeology prioritizes deep long-term engagements with research collaborators, participants and the material record, and reflexive, ethical practice. Drawing on grounded theory, it involves embracing process, listening and being responsive, taking an iterative approach that demands patience and sitting with uncertainty.

This session invites reflections on the benefits and challenges of slow archaeology’s longer timelines in community-based research. How does the slower pace and the focus on relationships influence the outcomes and impact of the work? How do we build and maintain long-term research relationships and how do they develop and change over time? What tensions exist between a slow, relational approach and existing structures in the academy, museums and CRM, and how might we alleviate them?

Join us and share your slow archaeology research journeys: lessons learned (sometimes the hard way), things (big and small) to celebrate along the way, and implications for broader archaeology and heritage research practice.