An archaeological light age: On modernity, urbanism and the materiality of light-based technologies.

Summary

Artificial light is synonymous with modernity and the industrial age. Light turns night into day, guides our way, and transforms place and material. Despite its centrality within the urban experience, light studies are fragmented across a diverse set of fields including, among others, architecture, history, planning and art. Where historical and contemporary archaeology are concerned, light and light-based technologies have received little attention.

In 2015, the International Year of Light (IYL2015) predicted that the "21st century will depend as much on photonics as the 20th century depended on electronics." Meanwhile, Dark Sky advocates are calling for the skies to become a form of night-time heritage site.

In this paper, I will usher in a contemporary archaeology of light as material and transformer of material. I will illustrate the talk with slides from recent field and digital work in Japan, London, Germany and Canvey Island.

IYL2015 www.light2015.org/Home/WhyLightMatters/What-is-Photonics.html

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016   •
• Historical and Contemporary Archaeologies of the City: Opportunities and Challenges

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 413