Twenty years ago, perhaps due to the very “intellectual faddism” that the author laments (5), a book similarly titled would likely be a metaphorical appropriation of the discipline’s popularized method in the manner of Foucault. Yet on page six alone, in the clear and succinct writing style that characterizes the volume, the author reclaims the…
contemporary archaeology
Beautiful machines/Dead planet
The study of the history and archaeology of industry poses an ontological challenge to the perpetuation of industrialism and its myriad social forms. The recent catastrophic event in Lac Megantic is but one contemporary example of the dangers inherent in this human activity. The persistence of industrial archaeology within archaeological discourse suggests that industrialization was…
Night of the Living Dead: modern ruins and archaeology
By Maksymilian Frąckowiak, Kornelia Kajda, Dawid Kobiałka Archaeologies of the present A spectre is haunting contemporary archaeologies – the spectre of the present. That is to say, one has recently been witnessing a shift in archaeological approaches: a new, ‘neo-materialistic paradigm’ (so-called return to things) is slowly emerging on the scene. It indicates weak aspects…
A World in Decay? – a Case of Tram Cemetery in Wrocław (Poland)
One of the many examples of material culture where materiality and memory are deeply interwoven is a certain tram cemetery in Wrocław (Poland) (fig. 1). That is why I will shortly describe the history of the site, to focus later on interesting problems which confront us, such as heritage sites as tram and/or car cemeteries….
Against Gandalf the Grey: an Archaeology of the Surface
Archaeology has been for many years identified with its own method, that of excavation. It is the way the public sees archaeology and many archaeologists think of themselves too (e.g. Holtorf 2007). However, Rodney Harrison recently pointed out the crucial role of the surface in archaeological thinking (Harrison 2011, in press). Metaphors are never just…
Archaeological Orientations: A new series
With the impending publication of an excellent new book, Reclaiming Archaeology: Beyond the Tropes of Modernity, edited by Alfredo González-Ruibal (2013), Gavin Lucas and I have decided that we are somewhat overdue in announcing the book series with Routledge for which this volume breaks the ice – Archaeological Orientations. Here is our mission: An interdisciplinary…