Adventures in Archaeology

Explores places and things that people don't typically think of as archaeological sites and artifacts, introducing readers to the most extreme fieldwork taking place today. P.J. Capelotti shows that even seemingly ordinary objects from the recent past hold secrets about the cultural history of humans.

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Discover a little-known world of archaeology Wrecked aircraft and abandoned airfields, old highway billboards and derelict boats, movie props, deserted mining operations. In this book, archaeologist P.J. Capelotti explores places and things that people don’t 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 Jaws, 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 this episode of experimental archaeology revealed 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.