Förmedling : från Arkeologisk Dokumentation till Publik Presentation

The aim of this study is to investigate how new knowledge, discovered and translated by the archaeologist, is transferred to the public by examining the question posed to the archaeologist by ”länsstyrelsen,” the county administration office. Since there can be no mediation of knowledge without an understanding of its perception, I pay a visit to the cognitive sciences in order to answer what knowledge is and how it functions in regards to contract archaeological results. I argue that the current structure of mediation, in regards to archaeological knowledge, is in need of the same quality control that is demanded by the contractors in regards to standard archaeological procedures. When presenting archaeology to the public, consideration needs to be paid to the different targets groups of society. The importance of national directions rather than regional translations for mediation of archaeology is stressed by the author. This needs to be carried out through a change of the questions posed to the contracted archaeologists by the county administration in their ”förfrågningsunderlag,” the order specification for archaeological investigations.