Climate and Heritage in the North Atlantic: Burning Libraries

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Climate and Heritage in the North Atlantic: Burning Libraries" at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The North Atlantic and Circumpolar North have seen unprecedented impacts of rapid climate change on cultural heritage and the archaeological record. Rising sea level, increasing storminess, and rising soil temperatures are rapidly destroying the archaeological record at a frightening rate. Prior SAA sessions have highlighted these threats and a growing number of national and international efforts have been organized in response. A growing realization of the vital importance of active participation by local and traditional knowledge holders and local communities has united archaeologists and host communities in a shared effort to save what we can while we can. This session will present a series of projects and initiatives that are working to respond to climate threats and create better pathways to co-production of knowledge and community participation at all levels. Participants from Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the UK, and Norway will present project results and plans for renewed collaboration. This session is a satellite of the SAA Climate Change Strategies and the Archaeological Record committee.