Burning Libraries: A Community Response

McGovern, Thomas H.

doi:10.1080/13505033.2018.1521205

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Furthermore, we need a plan of how to stop or deal with the ongoing accelerated deterioration on a broad international scale and we need to consider if we can and should excavate these threatened sites now, while they still have organic preservation. Furthermore, we need to rethink our approach on managing our archaeological cultural heritage, as our current view in favour of in situ preservation [ 64 ] is depending on stable soil-environments, which is, evidently, not the case [ 65 ]. Given the enormity of this task, we ultimately also need to reconsider the future of our common cultural heritage and the heritage sector needs to adapt its long-term practice [ 66 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human encroachment, climate change and the loss of our archaeological organic cultural heritage: Accelerated bone deterioration at Ageröd, a revisited Scandinavian Mesolithic key-site in despair

et al. 2020

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Ancient organic remains are essential for the reconstruction of past human lifeways and environments but are only preserved under particular conditions. Recent findings indicate that such conditions are becoming rarer and that archaeological sites with previously good preservation, are deteriorating. To investigate this, we returned to the well-known Swedish Mesolithic site Ageröd I. Here we present the result of the re-excavation and the osteological analyses of the bone remains from the 1940s, 1970s and 2019 excavation campaigns of the site, to document and quantify changes in bone preservation and relate them to variations in soil conditions and on-site topography. The results indicate that the bone material has suffered from accelerated deterioration during the last 75 years. This has led to heavily degraded remains in some areas and complete destruction in others. We conclude that while Ageröd can still be considered an important site, it has lost much of the properties that made it unique. If no actions are taken to secure its future preservation, the site will soon lose the organic remains that before modern encroachment and climate change had been preserved for 9000 years. Finally, because Ageröd has not been subjected to more or heavier encroachment than most other archaeological sites, our results also raise questions of the state of organic preservation in other areas and call for a broad examination of our most vulnerable hidden archaeological remains.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human encroachment, climate change and the loss of our archaeological organic cultural heritage: Accelerated bone deterioration at Ageröd, a revisited Scandinavian Mesolithic key-site in despair

et al. 2020

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“…Indeed, we have evidence of highly accelerated organic destruction at Ageröd even though the site has not been subjected to heavier exploitation and encroachment compared to other archaeological wetland sites (more the opposite, see discussions in [ 1 ]). Furthermore, Ageröd is far from the only archaeological site showing a pattern of accelerated organic destruction [ 12 , 16 , 20 – 22 ]. Nevertheless, the results presented here show that there is still an opportunity to somewhat remedy the situation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying archaeo-organic degradation – A multiproxy approach to understand the accelerated deterioration of the ancient organic cultural heritage at the Swedish Mesolithic site Ageröd

Boëthius¹,

Hollund²,

Linderholm³

et al. 2020

PLoS ONE

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Despite a growing body of evidence concerning accelerated organic degradation at archaeological sites, there have been few follow-up investigations to examine the status of the remaining archaeological materials in the ground. To address the question of archaeoorganic preservation, we revisited the Swedish, Mesolithic key-site Agerö d and could show that the bone material had been subjected to an accelerated deterioration during the last 75 years, which had destroyed the bones in the areas where they had previously been best preserved. To understand why this has happened and to quantify and qualify the extent of the organic degradation, we here analyse the soil chemistry, bone histology, collagen preservation and palaeobotany at the site. Our results show that the soil at Agerö d is losing, or has already lost, its preservative and buffering qualities, and that pH-values in the still wet areas of the site have dropped to levels where no bone preservation is possible. Our results suggest that this acidification process is enhanced by the release of sulphuric acid as pyrite in the bones oxidizes. While we are still able to find well-preserved palaeobotanical remains, they are also starting to corrode through reintroduced oxygen into the archaeological layers. While some areas of the site have been more protected through redeposited soil on top of the archaeological layers, all areas of Agerö d are rapidly deteriorating. Lastly, while it is still possible to perform molecular analyses on the best-preserved bones from the most protected areas, this opportunity will likely be lost within a few decades. In conclusion, we find that if we, as a society, wish to keep this valuable climatic, environmental and cultural archive, both at Agerö d and elsewhere, the time to act is now and if we wait we will soon be in a situation where this record will be irretrievably lost forever.

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“…Archaeologists continue to emphasize the importance of archaeological research to conservation science and practice and a wide variety of other issues in the Age of Humans, or Anthropocene (Armstrong and Veteto 2015; Armstrong et al 2017; Boivin and Crowther 2021; Braje 2015; Lightfoot, Cuthrell et al 2013). Meanwhile, we are working to preserve the cultural heritage (archaeology, ethnohistory, contemporary knowledge) that is central to this endeavor but threatened by climate change, development, acculturation, and a myriad of other processes (Erlandson 2008; McGovern 2018). The CKP framework offers an important means to link cultural and biological diversity, demonstrate the power of archaeology to help understand place, and help Indigenous communities assert their heritage, stewardship, and cultures in a postcolonial world (Cuerrier et al 2015; Lepofsky et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Keystone Places and the Chumash Landscapes of Kumqaq’, Point Conception, California

et al. 2022

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The places in which people live and spend time are steeped in history, memory, and meaning from the intersection of daily life, environmental interactions, cultural practices, and ritual. Geologic features, plants, animals, and ecosystems merge with these cultural histories, forming critical parts of the landscape and areas of “high cultural salience,” or “cultural keystone places” (CKPs). We identify Kumqaq’ (Point Conception) and the surrounding area in California as a Chumash CKP. Ethnohistoric accounts and contemporary Chumash community members have long demonstrated the importance of Point Conception in Chumash worldview and identity, whereas biologists, ecologists, and conservationists reference the area's rich biodiversity and significance as a biogeographical boundary. Recent archaeological survey of the coastline surrounding Kumqaq’ highlights these connections, identifying over 50 archaeological sites—including shell middens, villages, lithic scatters, and rock art—with at least 9,000 years of occupation. Ongoing collaborations among archaeologists, the Nature Conservancy, and Chumash community members help document and understand the long-term linkages between cultural and biological diversity and how integrating these perspectives can help ensure the resilience of this nexus of human and natural history in the Anthropocene future.

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Burning Libraries: A Community Response

Cited by 12 publications

References 40 publications

Human encroachment, climate change and the loss of our archaeological organic cultural heritage: Accelerated bone deterioration at Ageröd, a revisited Scandinavian Mesolithic key-site in despair

Human encroachment, climate change and the loss of our archaeological organic cultural heritage: Accelerated bone deterioration at Ageröd, a revisited Scandinavian Mesolithic key-site in despair

Quantifying archaeo-organic degradation – A multiproxy approach to understand the accelerated deterioration of the ancient organic cultural heritage at the Swedish Mesolithic site Ageröd

Cultural Keystone Places and the Chumash Landscapes of Kumqaq’, Point Conception, California

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