As global warming approaches the internationally agreed guardrail of 1.5°C, the mismatch between the magnitude of the risks associated with climate change and institutions’ incremental responses to the Climate Crisis are increasingly apparent. Large, rapid, and essentially irreversible disruptions to climate are now inevitable at scales from the global to the local. Policy responses to the Climate Crisis are constrained by a variety of factors, including the limited capacity of decision-makers to imagine a world radically altered by climate change and to accept how such changes will challenge the viability of today’s systems and behaviours. At the same time, popular awareness of existential climate risks is driving an increase in climate anxiety, often linked with concerns about societal collapse.
Archaeology has the potential to inform our responses to the Climate Crisis in several ways. First, the archaeological record provides numerous tangible examples of how rapid and severe climate change can transform environmental and social contexts, addressing the ‘imagination deficit’ that constrains how we respond to climate change risks. Second, case studies of disruptive societal transformation during periods of rapid climatic and environmental change can offer more nuanced – and indeed hopeful – narratives than those focused on simplistic models of collapse. Third, archaeology can identify specific adaptive responses to rapid climatic and environmental change that are often echoed today, highlighting high-level implications of the climate crisis that can inform policymaking. Fourth, the archaeological record reveals lessons about resilience, in terms of how and why some societal systems persisted in the face of climate disruption while others failed. Finally, archaeology can challenge some of the narratives that underpin contemporary political and economic models, which themselves are derived in part from outdated and discredited antiquarian narratives. Archaeology cannot save us from catastrophic climate change, but it can help inform our responses to it as we strive to deliver the social, economic and ideological transformations that are necessary to navigate a dangerous and uncertain future.
This talk will be held on Zoom webinar and last approximately 1 hour. The link to join the event will be included in your booking confirmation email.
