Archaeology of the Future: Plastic.
One of the most frequent questions I get as an archaeologist is "What will archaeologists study about us 200 years from now" and when I begin to think of the sites we study today, the only answer I can give is plastic.
Most of us are aware of the amount of plastic in our daily lives, from basic single use plastic, to the keys on my laptop. We cannot escape plastic. More popular than ever, there is a push to decrease our plastic consumption, or at least our single use plastics, with straw bans, plastic taxes on bags (not in Florida), and discounts incentivizing bringing reusable mugs and bottles.
I say we will study plastic because archaeologists study artifacts, things made or used by humans, and plastic certainly fits within that definition. Archaeologists will study plastic because it is what will survive, just as we study more pottery and stone tools, than rope and baskets, or study glass and ceramics over the materials they once contained. We study what survives, and plastic will survive and has been part of the archaeological record for over a century.
Whether it is a plastic or glass bottle dump it will be studied the same way. Plastic is defined as a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc., that can be molded into shape while soft and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form (oxford dictionary). Plastic in our current understanding of the material has existed the 1920s (PVC) and the 1940s (PET), but there are plastic materials that date back to the 18th century. My favorite bring gutta percha, a naturally forming plastic used in the mid 1800s for everything from jewelry to dentistry.
The history of plastic is pretty simple, as you can see, the key take away is that it has been in archaeological sites for years. What an archaeologist will eventually study is the increase of our reliance on plastic, the slow decline of glass bottles, the lack of bottle return. We need to remember that archaeology is the study of human culture through the material they leave behind, not the study of the materials alone.
Although there may be some changes coming to the way we view plastics, it is an inevitable part of our future, and future archaeological studies. Although the answer to the question about what our archaeological future looks like seems bleak, it has been the same for centuries. Our discarded items, whether they are parts of stone tools, ceramic dishes, or plastic bottles. They tell the story of our past, and it will be years before we learn what archaeological record we leave behind.
For more information check out these websites!
plastiquarian.com
sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27442625
Words by Emma Dietrich, FPAN Staff.
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| Image from: https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/preventing-plastic-pollution/ |
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| Image from: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40654915 |
I say we will study plastic because archaeologists study artifacts, things made or used by humans, and plastic certainly fits within that definition. Archaeologists will study plastic because it is what will survive, just as we study more pottery and stone tools, than rope and baskets, or study glass and ceramics over the materials they once contained. We study what survives, and plastic will survive and has been part of the archaeological record for over a century.
 |
| Glass bottle dump Image from: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/apr/12/ glass-bottles-date-to-38-cancer-elixir-/ |
Whether it is a plastic or glass bottle dump it will be studied the same way. Plastic is defined as a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc., that can be molded into shape while soft and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form (oxford dictionary). Plastic in our current understanding of the material has existed the 1920s (PVC) and the 1940s (PET), but there are plastic materials that date back to the 18th century. My favorite bring gutta percha, a naturally forming plastic used in the mid 1800s for everything from jewelry to dentistry.
 |
| History of Plastic Image from:https://thumbnails-visually.netdna-ssl.com/the-history-of-plastic_533ed26a6bc95_w1500.jpg |
The history of plastic is pretty simple, as you can see, the key take away is that it has been in archaeological sites for years. What an archaeologist will eventually study is the increase of our reliance on plastic, the slow decline of glass bottles, the lack of bottle return. We need to remember that archaeology is the study of human culture through the material they leave behind, not the study of the materials alone.
Although there may be some changes coming to the way we view plastics, it is an inevitable part of our future, and future archaeological studies. Although the answer to the question about what our archaeological future looks like seems bleak, it has been the same for centuries. Our discarded items, whether they are parts of stone tools, ceramic dishes, or plastic bottles. They tell the story of our past, and it will be years before we learn what archaeological record we leave behind.
For more information check out these websites!
plastiquarian.com
sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27442625
Words by Emma Dietrich, FPAN Staff.