Global crises drastically alter human behavior, rapidly impacting patterns of movement and consumption. A rapid-response analysis of material culture brings new perspective to disasters as they unfold. We present a case study of the coronavirus pandemic in Tromsø, Norway, based on fieldwork from March 2020 to April 2021. Using a methodology rooted in social distancing and through systematic, diachronic, and spatial analysis of trash (e.g., discarded gloves, sanitization products), signage, and barriers, we show how material perspectives improve understanding of relationships between public action and government policy (in this case examined in relation to the Norwegian concept of collective labor, dugnad). We demonstrate that the materiality of individual, small-scale innovations and behaviors that typified the pandemic will have the lowest long-term visibility, as they are increasingly replaced or outnumbered by more durable representations generated by centralized state and corporate bodies that suggest close affinity between state directive and local action. We reflect on how the differential durability of material responses to COVID-19 will shape future memories of the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Social Archaeology is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
A contemporary archaeology of pandemic