Contemporary Archaeologies: Excavating Now

This book is about the archaeology of the present and the very recent past. Archaeology's repertoire of questions, procedures, methodologies and terminologies, its material manifestations (protected sites, public museums, archives) and its popular appeals are rooted in modernity.

Contemporary archaeologies marry archaeology in the modern world with the archaeology of the modern world. Their strengths lie in a stimulating mix of interdisciplinary practices across academic, public-sector and professional contexts. 

Contents: 

INTRODUCTION

• Angela Piccini/Cornelius Holtorf: Fragments from a Conversation about Contemporary Archaeologies

PART 1: ON THE CHARACTER OF ARCHAEOLOGY/HERITAGE

• Julian Thomas (University of Manchester, UK): Sigmund Freud's Archaeological Metaphor and Archaeology's Self-understanding
• Cornelius Holtorf (University of Kalmar, Sweden): Imagine This: Archaeology in the Experience Economy
• Sarah May (English, Heritage, UK): Then Tyger Fierce Took Life Away: The Contemporary Material Culture Of Tigers

PART 2: RECORDING AND PRESERVING 20TH CENTURY HERITAGE?

• Mike Pearson (University of Aberystwyth, Wales, UK): 'Professor Gregory's Villa' and Piles of Pony Poop: Early Expeditionary Remains in Antarctica
• Colleen M. Beck (Desert Research Institute Las Vegas, USA)/John Schofield (English Heritage, UK)/Harold Drollinger (Desert Research Institute Las Vegas, USA): Archaeologists, Activists, and a Contemporary Peace Camp
• Louise K. Wilson (University of Derby, UK): Notes on a Record of Fear: On the Threshold of the Audible

PART 3: NEW DIMENSIONS OF MATERIALITY

• Mats Burström (Södertörn University, Sweden): Garbage or Heritage: The Existential Dimension of a Car Cemetery
• Jonna Ulin (Göteborg, Sweden): Into the Space of the Past: A Family Archaeology
• Alice Gorman (Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia): Beyond The Space Race: The Material Culture Of Space In A New Global Context

PART 4: INTO THE FUTURE

• Angela Piccini (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and University of Bristol, UK): Guttersnipe: A Micro Road Movie
• Paul Graves-Brown (Llanelli, Wales, UK): The Privatisation of Experience and the Archaeology of the Future.
   
  Extract from: Cornelius Holtorf