Johnston, P;
Booth, T;
Carlin, N;
Cramp, L;
Edwards, B;
Knight, MG;
Mooney, D;
... Griffiths, S; + view all
(2023)
The organics revolution: new narratives and how we can achieve them.
World Archaeology
pp. 1-17.
10.1080/00438243.2023.2179537.
(In press).
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Abstract
Organic remains from excavated sites include a wide range of materials, from distinct organisms (‘ecofacts’) to biomolecules. Biomolecules provide a variety of new research avenues, while ecofacts with longer histories of study are now being re-harnessed in unexpected ways. These resources are unlocking research potential, transcending what was previously imagined possible. However, this ‘organics revolution’ comes with a salutary corollary: our approaches to recovering and curating organics, and making accessible research data, are not developing as quickly as we need. In this paper, we review retention guidelines for institutions in Britain and Ireland, setting this against the backdrop of a ‘curation crisis’ that is affecting museums throughout Europe, and beyond. We suggest key themes, including the state of existing documentation and considerations of intrinsic and allied research potential, that should be used to open a discussion about the development of more comprehensive and standardised approaches to archiving in the future. Engaging in this conversation is the only way that we can hope to ensure the long-term retention and preservation of organics, while safeguarding associated research data. These changes are needed to ensure future global research collaborations across the academic, curatorial and professional archaeological sectors.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The organics revolution: new narratives and how we can achieve them |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00438243.2023.2179537 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2023.2179537 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Organic; ecofact; biomolecular; museum; data; crisis |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10166113 |
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