Space and Time through Material Culture: An Account of Space Archaeology

This chapter reviews the methods, theories, and history of the field of space archaeology. Space archaeology is the study of the material remains of human space-related activities on Earth and on other celestial bodies. While there are many methodological commonalities with historical archaeology, such as the use of documents and oral histories to augment interpretations of the archaeological record, space archaeology has had to develop image-based methods of analysis in order to overcome the obstacles to fieldwork in space. A focus on material culture offers opportunities to investigate how humans adapt to the space environment, such as the microgravity of the International Space Station or the dust of the lunar surface, and develop distinct space cultures. However, the majority of the material record of space, from Earth orbit to interstellar space, could be considered a machine landscape produced by robots. Nonetheless, these robotic space objects can be used to tell creative stories which operate outside the dominant narratives of space exploration, for example, highlighting the participation of amateurs or Indigenous people in the space industry.