Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Contemporary Archaeology In Transit: The Artifacts Of A 1991 Van, Adrian Myers

Adrian Myers

This article uses an assemblage of recently abandoned material culture as a medium for exploring the world in which we all live. First it is suggested that if we are to study contemporary material culture, then our methodology must be collaborative, multivocal, and innovative. Next, an assemblage of materials recovered from a 1991 Ford Transit van, used by archaeologists in the field for 8 years, is investigated as a case study. The vehicle is epistemologically dismantled, and it is demonstrated that the car part should be treated as a diagnostic artifact. A close investigation of the recovered small finds uncovers …