Unsustainable Horizons

Plastic properties of durability and ubiquity hold value within forensic investigations in preserving evidence and generating opportunities for further analysis. Plastics recovered from buried crime scenes can assist in their reconstruction and characterisation. Here the value of plastics within forensic archaeology is highlighted in understanding their presence and selection by the individuals involved. Deliberate selections of plastic objects are considered, such as those associated with human remains, plastics in detection avoidance, and tools used to assist transportation and deposition. We also consider the value of ‘background plastics’ and microplastics in developing contextual information. Perhaps more than in other areas of archaeological excavation, plastics are also actors and agents in forensics, forming the protective clothing, sampling equipment and body receptacles essential to minimising contamination. In this way, plastics fill a ‘clean/dirty’ dynamic on buried crime scenes worthy of discussion. Beyond this, like the bomb curve in radiocarbon dating, plastics may represent a moment of modernity that passes us by as a civilisation in favour of more sustainable alternatives. If this is the case, the plastic horizon will pass from forensic utility into archaeological chronology – the nuances of difference between these two subtly different approaches are explored in this chapter.