Adventures in archaeology : the wreck of the Orca II and other explorations /
This collection of essays, written over nearly 25 years, traces the development of the archaeologies of shoreline, sea, air, and space, to reveal how the expansion of human culture has created unique archaeological signatures written on the global landscape, and how the cultural history of humans ca...
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| Format: | eBook Electronic |
| Language: | English |
| Imprint: | Gainesville, FL : University Press of Florida, [2018] |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Click here for full text at JSTOR |
| Summary: | This collection of essays, written over nearly 25 years, traces the development of the archaeologies of shoreline, sea, air, and space, to reveal how the expansion of human culture has created unique archaeological signatures written on the global landscape, and how the cultural history of humans can be read from these material transformations. Remnants of the curious and peculiar ways humankind has marked the archaeological landscape are abundant but often ignored: wrecked aircraft, abandoned airfields, old highway billboards, derelict boats, movie props, and deserted mining operations. In this book, archaeologist P.J. Capelotti explores places and things that people do not typically think of as archaeological sites and artifacts, introducing readers to the most extreme fieldwork taking place today.Capelotti shows that even seemingly ordinary objects from the recent past hold secrets about the cultural history of humans. He investigates the site where a stunt copy of the Orca , the fishing boat used in the movie Jaw s, was stripped to pieces by fans--a revelation of the ways humans relate to popular culture. He takes readers to abandoned base camps near the North Pole that are now used as destinations for Arctic tourism. Retelling the story of Thor Heyerdahl's research expedition across the Pacific Ocean on a balsa log raft, Capelotti shows how experimental archaeology attempts to reveal cultural connections between continents. And he doesn't stop at the limits of the planet. He discusses debris floating through outer space and equipment left behind on the surface of the moon, highlighting current efforts to preserve artifacts that exist beyond the Earth's atmosphere.These discarded materials, says Capelotti, help archaeologists piece together the sweeping story of human cultural expansion and exploitation. He explains how the unusual sites of shorelines, sea, air, and space represent the farthest reaches of human civilization. His enthusiasm will inspire readers to set out on their own to investigate the secret meanings of treasures hiding in plain sight. |
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| Item Description: | Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on October 02, 2018). |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780813052427 0813052424 |