Lecture Abstract
We live in a geological age whose name is up for debate. The question is whether we remain in the Holocene, or have entered a new epoch—the Anthropocene—with humans as a geological force with unprecedented impacts on the environment and Earth’s biota. Our effect on the atmosphere is one of the gravest threats, and in the face of global climate change archaeologists and heritage specialists have joined the search for answers and solutions. This talk will review some of the ways that archaeology can help address climate adaptation and mitigation efforts today and inspire future sustainable lifeways. Key areas of archaeological research include paleoclimate reconstructions, human-‐environment interactions over broad timescales, the dynamics of sustainability and collapse, local adaptations and cultural resilience, and the cultural heritage of manmade (“anthropogenic”) climate change during the past 200 years.
In this latter respect, Dr. Lafrenz Samuels will discuss “energy heritage,” the cultural heritage associated with energy resources and their extractive industries. Focusing on energy heritage provokes a close analysis of the manmade causes of climate change, and raises important questions for our own navigation of what ought to be done about it. How might past energy transitions, for example from whale oil to petroleum, inform future ones? Will the decaying infrastructure of coal mining and oil extraction be recognized as cultural heritage? What stories will today’s energy infrastructure tell future generations? What will our legacy be?
We live in a geological age whose name is up for debate. The question is whether we remain in the Holocene, or have entered a new epoch—the Anthropocene—with humans as a geological force with unprecedented impacts on the environment and Earth’s biota. Our effect on the atmosphere is one of the gravest threats, and in the face of global climate change archaeologists and heritage specialists have joined the search for answers and solutions. This talk will review some of the ways that archaeology can help address climate adaptation and mitigation efforts today and inspire future sustainable lifeways. Key areas of archaeological research include paleoclimate reconstructions, human-‐environment interactions over broad timescales, the dynamics of sustainability and collapse, local adaptations and cultural resilience, and the cultural heritage of manmade (“anthropogenic”) climate change during the past 200 years.
In this latter respect, Dr. Lafrenz Samuels will discuss “energy heritage,” the cultural heritage associated with energy resources and their extractive industries. Focusing on energy heritage provokes a close analysis of the manmade causes of climate change, and raises important questions for our own navigation of what ought to be done about it. How might past energy transitions, for example from whale oil to petroleum, inform future ones? Will the decaying infrastructure of coal mining and oil extraction be recognized as cultural heritage? What stories will today’s energy infrastructure tell future generations? What will our legacy be?
Presented by: Professor Kathryn Lafrenz Samuels,
The University of Maryland, College Park
This lecture is co-‐sponsored by the Department of Anthropology of George Washington University.
It is free and open to the public.
For the complete lecture schedule of the 2014-‐2015 season, please visit our website,
http://www.dcaia.org
The University of Maryland, College Park
Date and Time: Thursday, February 26, 2015
Location: The Elliot School, Rm. 113
7 PM Lecture (6:30 PM Reception)
Location: The Elliot School, Rm. 113
George Washington University
1957 E St. NW
1957 E St. NW
This lecture is co-‐sponsored by the Department of Anthropology of George Washington University.
It is free and open to the public.
For the complete lecture schedule of the 2014-‐2015 season, please visit our website,
http://www.dcaia.org
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