Sustainability and an archaeology of the future

Like a chicken talking to a duck about a kettle of fish

“…The four responses to our debate piece expose a contradiction in contemporary archaeological discourse. On one hand, there appears to be little, if any, agreement about what archaeology is; compare, for example, Högberg and Holtorf (2019) and Pikirayi (2019). On the other hand, there is the appearance of near-total agreement, as exemplified by Pikirayi (2019) and Guttmann-Bond (2019a).…”

“…On one hand, there appears to be little, if any, agreement about what archaeology is; compare, for example, Högberg and Holtorf (2019) and Pikirayi (2019). On the other hand, there is the appearance of near-total agreement, as exemplified by Pikirayi (2019) and Guttmann-Bond (2019a). This contradiction suggests that archaeology has grown so much that it is now too philosophically fragmented to be defined as a coherent entity (Zubrow 1989) and/or that archaeologists take key aspects of archaeology's definition for granted (Hutchings 2019, in press).…”

“…Pikirayi (2019: 1669) also steers the conversation away from archaeology's harms and towards “conventional, research-driven archaeology” aimed at “understanding how past societies lived sustainably”. Thus, like Guttmann-Bond, Pikirayi does not engage with our central thesis concerning the new use of the term ‘sustainable archaeology’.…”

Confronting the Present: Archaeology in 2019

“…Future‐forward archaeologies are not restricted to contemporary archaeologies, however. Pikirayi (2019, 1671) argues that an archaeology of today and tomorrow “should ideally present the human experience in contexts that resonate with the greatest challenges of the present—a rapidly degrading environment and climate change resulting in the increased marginalisation of certain groups.” Toward this end, archaeology's most pressing responsibility lies with elucidating millennia of human–environment interactions in order to discern best practices for future survival. This is the impetus behind McCorriston and Field's (2019) new textbook on world prehistory, which uses archaeology to reframe history as the unfolding dynamics of anthropogenesis.…”

Lake Atitlan: A Review of the Food, Energy, and Water Sustainability of a Mountain Lake in Guatemala

“…Moreover, the economic value of the ecosystem services make them an important asset for a nation's economy [8][9][10]. These systems make up some of the most prized resources for a nation but are often exploited without considering consequences [11][12][13]. A rising demand of ecosystem services because of rapidly increasing populations, greater expected quality of life, and increasing anthropogenic activity has put increasing pressure on lake sustainability, where many lake systems have experienced decreasing water quality and quantity [14,15].…”