Choleric Cemeteries in the Landscape of the Northern Part of the Polish Jurassic Highland

This paper presents the results of ethnographic and archaeological research into potential places of epidemic burial (choleric cemeteries) in two communes in the northern part of the Polish Jurassic Highland, Janów and Mstów. In their descriptions and analysis, ethnographic sources (local memory, accounts provided by inhabitants) and archaeological sources (non-destructive prospecting, probing research) were applied. Apart from presentation of field material, the aim of the paper is to indicate the potential of a combined ethnoarchaeological method applied in research to the contemporary past and to the landscape understood as cultural heritage.

Archaeologies of the Recent and Contemporary Past in Africa

Archaeologies of the recent and contemporary world represent a relatively young movement within Africa. Rather than being conceived as relative to a particular chronology, this movement is often characterized as concerned with investigating the practice of archaeology itself, especially its politics and its understanding of time. The small but growing body of literature in this subfield is reviewed both to highlight a moment of disciplinary innovation and to reflect on what modifications of methodology, ethics, and theory are necessary to adapt an intellectual movement developed in other parts of the world for the African continent. These include an emphasis on foregrounding African knowledge systems, especially diverse experiences of time and materiality; the potential for co-creation of data through relationships between these and Western ways of knowing; and mixed research methods. Themes such as time, materiality, and reflexivity are considered in contexts across the continent, as well as where archaeologies of the contemporary world overlap or exist in tension with related moves in cognate African Studies fields.

Unfinished narratives. Some remarks on the archaeology of the contemporary past in Iran

This paper discusses the emergence of an archaeology of the contemporary era in a Middle Eastern country, Iran. Far from North America and Europe, where the subfield was introduced, appreciated and developed by academic archaeologists, this archaeology is now also becoming established in Iran in spite of academic reluctance and (indirect) political pressure. The most encouraged form of archaeology in Iran remains nationalist and conservative, supported by the current political structures. However, the archaeology of the contemporary past is increasingly practised on a limited scale and has gradually extended its scope and subjects. Highly dependent on context, it has enriched the ways and methods of archaeological practice under dictatorship. The archaeology of the contemporary past is still in its infancy in the Middle East, but the pioneers of the subfield try to take up the challenges of smoothing the way for the future of this interdisciplinary archaeology in Iran and the Middle East. Iranian contemporary archaeology not only aims to investigate conflict, tensions and political (and armed) opposition, but also studies everyday life and disastrous contexts.

Colónias para homens novos: arqueologia da colonização agrária fascista no noroeste ibérico

From a comparative approach, we propose in this communication an Archaeology of some of the agrarian colonies implanted in the northwest of the Iberian peninsula: Lamas (Paredes de Coura), the colonization project of the wastelands of Montalegre and Boticas (Barroso) and the Plan de Colónización de la Tierra Llana (Lugo, Galicia). Despite being an area that shares common characteristics (same climate, small landowners, marginality), the solutions adopted have generated different materialities. From the Archaeology of the Recent Past, recently developed in Portugal, we raised theoretical and methodological questions for the study of this type of contemporary domestic space. This research is carried out within the scope of the Archaeology of Contemporary Past and Heritage Socialization project, funded by FCT (CEECIND / 04218/2017).

Archaeology of Us and the Local Identity. An Interdisciplinary Context

In this paper, the Author presents the semantic and methodological scope and characteristics of a new field the archaeology of the contemporary past. In his opinion the essence of the archaeology of the contemporary past is best conveyed by the term archaeology of us, which refers to the relationships between individuals or communities and their own material heritage. Due to the community and local dimension of archaeology of the contemporary past, an important source in this field is oral tradition, which is obtained and analysed during ethnographic interviews. The author refers to his own experience, gained during many years of research in the Polish Jurassic Highland, and indicates the importance and research effectiveness of incorporating the methodology of ethnographic research into the perspective of archaeology of the contemporary past.

Archaeology of the Contemporary Past vs Retrotopia in the Context of the Application of Remote Sensing Methods

This paper considers the issue of the application of teledection methods in the archaeology of the contemporary past with reference to the concept of retrotopia proposed by Zygmunt Bauman. It is based on one of the components of retrotopia, namely the approach to heritage adopted by Lowenthal (1997). From this perspective, relics of the twentieth-century German settlement in Witkowski Młyn (Western Pomerania) are analysed. In order to identify and document them, ALS data was used and then supplemented with verification field research. As a result, extensive relics of the twentieth-century landscape were documented, including relics of homesteads, orchards and a cemetery. The research presented show that teledection methods cannot prevent retrotopia, but they are new tools for filling in the gaps in knowledge of the contemporary past. Thus, they can lead to a dialogue which, according to Z. Bauman, is the best response to retrotopia.

Muzeum-archiwum pamięci. Uwagi na temat roli materiałów archeologicznych w muzeach-miejscach pamięci na przykładzie KL Plaszow

The issues of memory, heritage, and archaeology are strictly connected to the archaeology of the contemporary past and the Nazi period. That connection is a new field of research that lead to the reconceptualization of ideas of a museum, archives, and their relations to memory. In the paper authors discuss the case study of the area of former labor and concentration camp Plaszow in Krakow (1942–1945). Since 2016, numerous archeological research and education programs were conducted by the Museum of Krakow. The main purpose of documentation, surface surveys, and excavations was preservation of the architectural relicts and landscape, and supplementing the historical knowledge of authentic archaeological sources. The results of the research were related to the preparation of the boundaries for the future commemoration of the former camp’s area and its history as a museum and memorial site. The outcome of the archaeological activity is collection of artifacts, documentation and archaeological knowledge that influenced the idea of commemoration in its specific way. The article attempts to answer the questions about the categories of archives and museums.

Archaeology and Social Memory

This review provides a road map through current trends and issues in archaeological studies of memory. Many scholars continue to draw on Halbwachs for collective memory studies, emphasizing how the past can legitimate political authority. Others are inspired by Bergson, focusing on the persistent material intrusion of the past into the present. “Past in the past” studies are particularly widespread in the Near East/Classical world, Europe, the Maya region, and Native North America. Archaeologists have viewed materialized memory in various ways: as passively continuous, discursively referenced, intentionally invented, obliterated. Key domains of inquiry include monuments, places, and lieux de mémoire; treatment and disposal of the dead; habitual practices and senses; the recent and contemporary past; and forgetting and erasure. Important contemporary work deploys archaeology as a tool of counter-memory in the aftermath of recent violence and trauma.