Leaving Knowledge Behind: A Feasible Role for Archaeology in the Age of Climate Warming?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

What archaeological knowledge might be significant in our climate emergency? I examine this question using climate “triage.” Optimistically, climate warming restricted to a 2°C increase would allow humans to adapt without destroying the global connections that support the modern economic system. A somewhat greater temperature increase could allow some humans to survive but with a total system and cultural collapse. Pessimistically, our current path would bring in continually rising temperatures resulting in the total destruction of all life. In the first case, archaeological skills are not needed, and nothing can be done in the third. It is the second case, a collapse of our “system” but the survival of humans that I think it is useful to seriously think about “Leaving Knowledge Behind.” I propose we try to transmit to our descendants the knowledge of our history of climate warming and an “encyclopedia” of technology and science as it existed in the early twentieth century. I suggest starting this project by forming two groups, one on what knowledge is to be left and the other on the physical characteristics of the matrix in which it is to be encoded so that it will be extremely durable.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36060.0