Contemporary Archaeology – Archaeology of the Holocaust – Archaeology of Mass Graves
Contemporary archaeology is an ambiguous term with an ever-expanding meaning. It refers to activities focused on the material remains of the recent past as well as to the field of modern and contemporary history carried out by archaeologists, as well as methods and techniques, especially non-invasive, used by the archaeological community. Contemporary archaeology also includes activities in social spaces and education related to the material traces of modern history. Important activities in the field of contemporary archaeology include those focusing on the material remains of Jewish culture and the Holocaust.
The archaeology of the Holocaust is the archaeological activity associated with the identification of material traces of the killing of Jews during the Second World War. The importance of Holocaust archaeology is growing with the development of the tools used by archaeologists and its opening to transdisciplinary research. Particularly noteworthy is the dynamic improvement of non-invasive techniques and methods (excavation, drilling). Such methods are crucial in the field of contemporary archaeology. Their relevance in the field of Holocaust archaeology stems from the principles of Jewish religious law (Halacha), which prohibits disturbing the dead. The relevance of Holocaust archaeology in research is also growing as we enter an era in which there are almost no longer any people who remember the events of the Second World War from first-hand experience. In this context, material memory is elevated – the material remains of Jewish culture act as ‘vicarious witnesses’ or ‘material witnesses’.
The archaeology of the Holocaust makes an important contribution to complementing, supplementing or verifying the state of knowledge about the circumstances of death, killing sites, burial sites, or memorials of the victims. This includes issues related to the so-called ‘Holocaust by bullets’ and Operation Reinhardt. It is in these contexts that the archaeology of the Holocaust enriches the ‘Holocaust Mass Graves’ project. The methods and techniques used include the triangulation of archaeological data (e.g. field prospection and surface survey data), historical data (e.g. source documents and iconographic materials), anthropological and ethnoarchaeological data (interviews, participant observation), environmental data (e.g. soil conditions, vegetation in the vicinity of burial sites), and remote sensing (e.g. digital terrain models, aerial photography, cartographic imagery, data from geophysical methods).