Statements von Tagungsteilnehmern – DGUF-Jahrestagung 2020 „Wollen und brauchen wir mehr Archäologie der Moderne?“

Abstract

All non-lecturing participants of the DGUF Annual Conference 2020 „Wollen und brauchen wir mehr Archäologie der Moderne?“ were invited to contribute a statement to the conference publication, if a topic/concern important to them was not yet covered in the presentations. Three participants accepted this offer, with the submission of Alexander Veling finally being published as an essay. In his statement, Patrick Jung, who works at the Ruhr Museum (Essen), emphasizes the manifold disciplinary overlaps of an archaeology of modernity (AoM) with other sciences that also deal with modernity / the present. From this, he says, emerges the necessity to elaborate the archaeological part(s) in AoM projects carefully and to make even greater efforts for interdisciplinary cooperation. With regard to education, Jung emphasizes the possible contribution of museums – especially multidisciplinary ones. However, goal-oriented internships and teaching assignments won‘t be offered to universities and students in itself; rather, good offers of this kind must be cleverly and purposefully arranged by the universities. Sascha Piffko, owner of the excavation company SPAU, reminds us that in the case of excavations by an investor, it must be clear to the client whether and to what extent relics of modernity have to be documented and secured. A meticulous excavation, for example, of a garbage dump, can be accompanied by considerable problems of acceptance on the part of the client of polluter-pays excavations. So, criteria and clear instructions are needed. In practice, there are many and various safety aspects, especially in the case of AoM-heavy excavations, for which good specialist companies have acquired a great deal of knowledge, but which needs to be systematized and integrated into the practical training of the next generation.