Modern Ruins - Modern Ruins and Archeology

Modern Ruins and Archeology

The archaeological study of modern ruins is most commonly associated with contemporary, urban, and industrial archeology. The processes and goals involved in the archaeological study of modern ruins is very similar to that of other branches of archaeology that primarily focus on studying sites of earlier time periods. Particular field methods used include meticulous surveying, excavation, and record keeping, all of which are generally similar to archeology concerning older, buried sites. However, it has been argued that the archaeological approach to modern ruins should be more embodied and visually well rounded, rather than simply communicating information by conventional site descriptions and reports. Photography, for example, is often used as a medium to communicate discoveries made in modern ruins as well as in contemporary archeological sites in general since most of the artifacts are found above ground level.

Modern ruins are often considered to be representative of accelerated rate of change, not only of their material and structural makeup or past purpose but also in many cases of society as a whole. For example, Pyramiden, a former Soviet mining town located in the High Arctic, has frequently been subject of archeological study. Having over 1,000 inhabitants during its peak, Pyramiden was abandoned in 1998. Today, devoid of all humans, Pyramiden exists as a Soviet-era ghost town with the buildings and their contents remaining largely as they did when the town was inhabited. Elin Andreassen, Hein B. Bjerck, and Bjørnar Olsen, archeologists who have studied Pyramiden, have written, “as a site of remembrance-or rather unforgetting-the memories it holds become inseparable from its materiality and from things’ unique ability to bring forth these memories.”

Understanding why a particular structure was abandoned or has become no longer accessible to the general public is key to interpreting the archaeological material that is exhibited in modern ruins. Archeologists who study modern ruins focus on understanding several key questions. For example, archeologists try to answer how materials found at the site got where they were ultimately discovered. Was the material that was found originally part of the same assemblage and context, or did later occupants add to what was found?