Contemporary

The idea of 'contemporary archaeology' has developed rapidly over the last few years, and has been given a particular impetus by the expansion of the CHAT conference. This was first hosted at Bristol in 2003 , and was followed by further conferences in Leicester in 2004 Dublin in 2005. Contemporary archaeology not only deals with the archaeology of the more recent past, but is also a way of opening dialogues between archaeologists and others working on the past in the present. The interdisciplinarity of contemporary archaeology explores the presentation of the past through media, museums and questions the notion of 'top down' heritage.

Ironbridge Archaeology is involved with a number of contemporary archaeology research projects. We are also seriously engaged with bringing the study of contemporary archaeology into developer-funded projects. This will be the subject of the paper we will present at the 2006 CHAT conference in Bristol in November. Many of the issues that we deal with are explored in our unique contemporary archaeology blog, which is regularly updated.

The Old Archaeology Van

Ford Transit Van J641VUJ was acquired in 1991 by the Museum, initially as a vehicle for the archaeology department. After many scrapes (literally!) in this guise, it passed over to the general transport pool in the late 1990s and remained in faithful service until 2004 when it became the workhorse for the maintenance department. After failing an MoT in 2005 it stood for many months in Furrows commercial vehicle compound.

Now, after many years of carrying various artefacts, the van has now become the artefact in an unusual project to explore the archaeology of a vehicle. The aim is to 'excavate' the van under archaeological conditions. The project is being run by Dr. John Schofield, visiting lecturer at the University of Bristol, and former Ironbridge Archaeology staff member Cassandra Newland. Oral history of peoples' memories of the van will also be incorporated into the study.

A project design which outlines the overall scope and methodology of the project can be downloaded here. Updates on the progress of the project can be found on our contemporary archaeology blog.

Industrial Life in the Twentieth Century

This broad research theme began initially as another offshoot of the CHART programme. It started with the excavation of tenement buildings at the Upper Forge site in 2001, which recovered a wide range of twentieth century domestic artefacts. This was our first experience of blending oral history with industrial archaeology, and led to a number of fruitful collaborations with other groups.

Subsequent work has taken place on some of our developer-funded projects. At Wednesbury Forge we recorded graffiti and other momentoes left by forge workers as the plant gradually reduced its operations and finally closed in 2005. At Tean Mill in Staffordshire we have recorded several generations of inscriptions left by the mainly female workforce.

Archaeology of Motorways

The esoteric research project has been developed since 2003 as a study of various aspects of the English motorway network. As well as the archaeology of the construction of the motorways (including the archaeology of anti-motorway protest) this project also explores the sociology of the use of the motorway network. Beginning with a typology of motorway bridges on the M1, we have gone on to explore the social impact of multi-lane driving, the use (and abuse) of service areas, the adverse effect of speed limits and many other important themes.