Cite this as: Steyne, H. and Rajić, M. 2026 Who tells your story? Diversifying narratives of the past through storytelling as an archaeological method, Internet Archaeology 71. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.16
In this paper we address the urgent need for diversity in archaeology and propose storytelling as one of the leading archaeological methods available. Historically, archaeological work has been mainly carried out by white European, heterosexual, able-bodied men, who in turn have produced archaeological interpretations that mirror and centre their own lived experience. Marginalised communities, minorities and those who were othered have been actively ignored and excluded from archaeological narratives of the past. By not ignoring the existence of 'others' and employing storytelling as method, we demonstrate how archaeologists can acknowledge and explore marginalised lives and relationships and give them deserved recognition, space and time. We suggest that using storytelling as method not only enriches archaeological narratives but corrects our understanding of the past, demonstrating the longevity of diverse communities. In using storytelling as method our work demonstrates and ensures that archaeology is meaningful, matters, and has social justice at its heart.
Corresponding author: Hanna Steyne
[email protected]
University of Manchester 
Milica Rajić
Independent researcher
[email protected]
Figure 1 (a and b): Pages from the comic Hollis Croft: a matter of time (from Rajić and Howarth 2021 ©Wessex Archaeology Ltd. CC BY 3.0). The comic format enables the author to move between the contemporary world of development-led archaeological work and the past in a way that provides an insight into both the archaeological process and the data which underpins the story. Hollis Croft, as it was in the 19th century, has been reconstructed using data from the archaeological excavation, historic mapping and other historic documents. The building foundations excavated (a) are reconstructed to provide the setting for the story (b), which is a work of imagination about people who are (mostly) fictional. Artefacts from the site, both expected and unusual, are contextualised through depictions of their contemplation by archaeologists in the post-excavation process and by their potential use in the past. In the digital comic, links are made directly from illustrations to relevant sections of the site archive, post-excavation reports, and publications. In foregrounding the stories of marginalised people, including Black, queer, and gender non-conforming people and the circus community, within the context of the well-researched history and archaeology of Victorian Sheffield, new perspectives and understandings are shared of a period usually dominated by the narratives of men within the steel industry.
Figure 2: Application of the method to the 1851 Chelsea riverside landscape. (Top) Map showing the route of the narrated walk, through the study area in 1851, most accurately recorded in the OS County Series 1:25in 1st Edition (1865-9) mapping, although by the date of publication this map was no longer an accurate reflection of the streets and buildings recorded in other historic records (copyright Edina Digimap). (Bottom) An excerpt of the narrated walk taken from Steyne (2022, 198), which describes a street scene in 1851 in Chelsea, London. The description and story is grounded in research data; the street, houses, open land and their location with respect to the Thames are recorded in historic mapping and documentary records, as are the names, ages and occupations of the residents described and identified in the story. The presence of laundries is recorded historically, as is the pollution in the Thames, the location of the waterworks company, the surface conditions of streets in proximity and similar to Calthorpe Place, and the process by which polluted drinking water was provided to Londoners. The presence of laundry hanging across the street is a debatable point, given the levels of soot recorded in the air at this time, but this may have been the only solution at times for the four laundries located in a street where most houses were overcrowded with multiple households, likely resulting in minimal space for drying inside. By describing the street from the perspective of the women known to live in this street it is possible to explore overlooked, but vital aspects of community relations, namely the logistical implications for childcare when a high percentage of women were in work and there was a very large number of young children who did not attend school. Further, it allows for consideration of the unexpected presence and role within the community of a number of women in their 70s and 80s.
Figure 3: An illustrative flow chart showing how 'disruptors' – the inexplicable and unexpected data, outliers to the norm and data gaps – can disrupt, inform, and affect the process of archaeological interpretation in positive, creative, and diverse ways to foreground marginalised people and communities and diversify our interpretations and narratives when we use storytelling as method.
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