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SUMMARY:Archaeology\, (Absence) Heritage and the Capitalocene Bog - Dr Ben
 jamin Gearey\, University College Cork
DTSTART:20250130T160000Z
DTEND:20250130T173000Z
UID:TALK226312@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Rachel Ballantyne
DESCRIPTION:Several thousand archaeological sites in peatlands across Euro
 pe have been lost or damaged through drainage and peat extraction. Whilst 
 rehabilitation/restoration programmes (e.g.Nordbeck and Hogl 2023) offer p
 otential positive benefits for preservation of surviving sites in situ\, m
 any such schemes tend to inadvertently ‘forget’ about archaeology (Gea
 rey and Everett\, 2021). The climate crisis presents further threats to su
 ch tangible cultural heritage\, but the sociocultural context of the explo
 itation of peat in various countries\, especially Ireland\, is tied to com
 plex expressions of intangible cultural heritage (e.g. O’ Connor and Gea
 rey 2022)\, leading to extended debates around the ‘green future’ of t
 hese environments. What might trans-disciplinarity offer in such tightly c
 ontested spaces\, specifically the interface between archaeology\, differe
 nt forms of heritage\, and modes of representation/communication via the l
 iterary and visual arts? Can we create nuanced\, hopeful narratives around
  peatland rehabilitation and the past loss of tangible archaeological site
 s? In this seminar\, I discuss five years of collaboration between academi
 cs\, NGOs\, artists and other communities of practice\, outlining processe
 s\, and outputs from this loose ‘collaboration of the willing’. I will
  also consider potential contradictions and tensions: is there a danger of
  peatlands becoming another repackaged and instrumentalized object of late
  capitalism: The Capitalocene Bog (Nolan et al.\, 2024)? How do we justify
  further human 'extraction' but of environmental\, cultural and social\, r
 ather than material value?\n\nJoin online: https://bit.ly/garrod2025
LOCATION:McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Seminar Room
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