Matter Out of Time: The Paradox of the “Contemporary Past”

Abstract

________________________________________________________________Contemporary archaeology, with its focus on the present and the very recent past, challenges the conventional definitions of archaeology that emphasize the temporal distance between the archaeologist and the subject matter being investigated. Contemporary archaeology requires different methods, forges novel interdisciplinary collaborations, and inspires new questions. In particular, contemporary archaeology reminds us that all social actors, both in the present and in the past, were uncertain of the future and could not know the outcomes of their actions. ________________________________________________________________ Résumé: L'archéologie contemporaine, en se concentrant sur le présent et le passé récent, remet en question les définitions traditionnelles de l'archéologie pour souligner la distance temporelle entre l'archéologue et le sujet des recherches. L'archéologie contemporaine nécessite des méthodes différentes, elle élabore des collaborations nouvelles interdisciplinaires et pose de nouvelles questions. En particulier, elle nous rappelle que l'ensemble des acteurs sociaux, à la fois du présent et du passé, sont incertains du futur et qu'ils ne connaissent pas les résultats de leurs actions.________________________________________________________________

1 Exploring the Contemporary in Old Places

“…Reflecting on the usefulness of an archaeology of the contemporary amidst a range of other disciplines that examine the present, Voss (2010, 189) reminds us that “historically, one of archaeology's strengths has been its use of systematic methods of observation that reveal patterns and anomalies that otherwise would not be apparent. The interventions sought by archaeologists of the contemporary past will be most successful when grounded in these rigorous methodologies.” In compiling this volume, we do not propose a defined toolkit for contemporary archaeologies in old places.…”

Archaeologies of the Contemporary World

“…Debates relating to the usefulness of the designation of a "contemporary past" (e.g. Harrison 2011, Voss 2010, responding to the title of Buchli and Lucas' (2001a) formative edited collection, have raised these issues particularly acutely (see González-Ruibal 2013, Witmore 2013).…”

Arqueologia e a guerrilha do Araguaia ou a materialidade contra a não narrativa

“…A Arqueologia em contextos de repressão e resistência às ditaduras militares é exemplo do potencial de uma arqueologia do passado contemporâneo (BUCHILI, LUCAS, 2001;VOSS, 2010) que pode contar muito sobre nós mesmos ao explorar a complexidade de sentidos encruados em objetos da cultura material moderna e na gama de imagens discordantes que os acompanham (HARRISON, SCHOEFIELD, 2009), engajado-se socialmente na criação, contemporânea, de uma "memória coletiva"…”