‘COVID waste’ and social media as method: an archaeology of personal protective equipment and its contribution to policy

Abstract

Abstract

A contemporary archaeology of pandemic

“…Through this article, we present a flexible methodology to confront unexpected events (see also Magnani et al, 2021), contributing to broader archaeological reflections on the pandemic as they relate to human patterns of coping (see again Angelo et al, 2021;Camp, 2020), and intersections with state policy (Schofield et al, 2021). Considering changing relationships between people, things, and spaces, and building on archaeological approaches to present-day material culture, we stress the adaptability of a framework that embraces social distancing, and a field site that was predetermined by our location when the pandemic emerged.…”

“…These materials provided comfort and a feeling of security, though potentially aided in the transmission of pathogens. Similarly, other measures that occurred in parallel but less visibly than the adoption of PPE-for instance the individual wrapping of food products-reflect an uptick in plastic waste that will come to typify the crisis beyond the realm of our reported survey paths (see again Schofield et al, 2021).…”

“…While it is possible to draw attention to inequalities or the ramifications of poor state policy using archaeology, scholars have wrestled with the ethics of representing human suffering (see for instance De Le on, 2015). Thoughtfully enacted, contemporary archaeology may not only reveal unanticipated perspectives on social phenomena, but seek to inform policies and attitudes that impact the handling of catastrophes, ranging from manmade plastic pollution (e.g., Schofield et al, 2020Schofield et al, , 2021 to naturally occurring seismic events (Jusseret, 2014).…”

“…Considering current events, we situate this article alongside a growing body of anthropological and archaeological literature addressing the materiality of the coronavirus pandemic. Archaeologists quickly responded to COVID-19, critically approaching the impacts of its plastic waste (Schofield et al, 2021), the materiality of the virus as it impacted social inequality (Khatchadourian, 2020), and the ramifications for archaeologists themselves (Olsen, 2021). Initiating a body of work on COVID-19, Stacey Camp reflected on her personal experience and positionality to reveal how archaeological practice helped her process the disruption of the pandemic ( Camp, 2020; see also Angelo et al, 2021 ).…”

How to Record Current Events like an Archaeologist

“…Such studies may shed light on diverse social phenomena as they unfold and may inform their memorialization. These analyses may impact not only how we remember but also how we prepare for similar moments or the continuation of the same crisis moving forward (see Kiddey [2017] for a discussion of archaeology's potential for collaborative social intervention and Schofield et al [2021]). Considering Reid and colleagues' (1975) early suggestion that archaeology concerns the study of human-material interactions writ large, explicitly developing accessible approaches to elucidate these interactions promises new critical roles for archaeology in society.…”