Once, Twice, Three Times Forgotten: Material, myth, and memory in a Midlands city
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2019-02-09

This paper explores the archaeology of forgetting through the lens of forgotten archaeology. Archaeological absences take three forms: evidence of absence, absence of evidence, and loss of evidence. Our narratives are shaped by each, but whilst we excel at the interpretation of absence, our blind spot is the omissions caused by our own intra- disciplinary forgetfulness.

Two hundred millennia ago, a beleaguered band of Neanderthal pioneers left their mark on a rise above the River Severn. Six thousand generations would pass before their kin passed this way once more, but over just six generations of collecting their significance to the city has waxed and waned.

Half a century ago, that city chose a bold new path, sweeping away buildings and lines of movement that had defined its heart for centuries. Residents continue to feel the loss keenly, but woven into their refusal to forget are memories that do not always tally with the archaeological record.

In this paper, narratives from the Middle Palaeolithic and the clearance of a Medieval street collide in contemporary encounters with pasts both boxed and spoken. They are woven together to examine the archaeological visibility of archaeologists’ omissions, and the implications for an archaeology of forgetting.

Rob Hedge (Worcestershire Archive and Archaeological Service)