Cold War Archaeology

Kia ora,

During a trip to the Republic of Korea (aka South Korea) in 2017 I came across a piece of the Berlin Wall standing in a small square in Seoul. The Berlin Wall was a concrete barrier that once physically and ideologically divided the city of Berlin in Germany. It came to symbolize the wider division of Western and Eastern Europe during the post-World War II conflict between "western Capitalism" (the USA and allies) and "eastern Communism" (the Soviet Union and allies) known as the Cold War. The piece of this monument in Seoul had been gifted by the Berlin State Senate in 2005 to stand as a memorial and as a sign of hope for the future reunification of the divided Korean peninsula. November 9 2019 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (or more precisely, the lifting of restrictions on movement between the east and west). This anniversary had me thinking a bit about a developing interest of mine - the archaeology of the fairly recent past (i.e. the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries), the study of which has been dubbed contemporary archaeology.

Author standing in front of a section of the Berlin Wall in Seoul, October 2017.

I have previously referred in this blog to archaeological investigations of the sites of battles from World War I & II. At the time I noted that while many people don't think of events as recent as this when they think of archaeology, there really isn't any minimum date for something to become archaeology (despite what the heritage legislation in some countries may imply!). 

Archaeology is intertwined with cultural heritage and identity. Many events of the twentieth century, just like those that happened in the more distant past, were hugely significant in shaping the world that we live in today and have created a substantial and culturally significant record of material remains. In several cases, this cultural significance transcends international boundaries. Think back to the Berlin Wall. This monument is highly symbolic of the Cold War, during which geopolitical tensions had much of the world sitting on the brink of nuclear war, just as its fall is of the end of that era. Pieces of the Berlin Wall are now distributed across the world. At the same time, the cultural heritage values of Cold War era sites in other countries have also been recognized.

The Korean War, which began in 1950 when Soviet supported North Korea invaded US supported South Korea, was a conflict that took place within the geopolitical context of the Cold War. Since the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, the Korean peninsula has been divided by a heavily guarded four kilometre wide strip of land known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). During recent moves to de-escalate tensions by withdrawing troops and dismantling guard posts along the DMZ, the cultural heritage values of this area have been recognized. This has resulted in the preservation of the first guard post established on the South Korean side of the DMZ, following the Korean Armistice Agreement, and its designation by South Korea as an official cultural heritage site, representative of a significant period of the history of the Korean peninsula.  

The Joint Security Area (JSA), at Panmunjom in the Korean Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). Halfway along the blue conference buildings in the foreground South Korea ends and North Korea begins. Photo taken by author, October 2017.

As I was recently reminded reading space archaeologist Dr. Alice Gorman's book Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future, the culturally significant material record of the Cold War era is not restricted to terrestrial sites either, but extends into orbit and to the moon. It would certainly not be an understatement to call the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969, which has created what is for all intents and purposes an archaeological site on the lunar surface, a hugely significant event in human history.

A lunar archaeological site. Tranquility Base, the Apollo 11 landing site, July 1969. Image sourced from NASA. 

Thanks for Reading!