About the Journal

Editors
Esther Breithoff (Birkbeck, University of London)
Alfredo González-Ruibal (Spanish National Research Council)
Rodney Harrison (UCL) 
Trinidad Rico (Rutgers University)

Managing Editor
Alfredo González-Ruibal (Spanish National Research Council)

Review Editor
Matt Leonard

Editorial Assistant
Rui Gomes Coelho (Durham University)

The Journal of Contemporary Archaeology is the first dedicated, international, peer-reviewed journal to explore archaeology’s specific contribution to understanding the present and recent past. It is concerned both with archaeologies of the contemporary world, defined temporally as belonging to the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, as well as with reflections on the socio-political implications of doing archaeology in the contemporary world. In addition to its focus on archaeology, JCA encourages articles from a range of adjacent disciplines which consider recent and contemporary material-cultural entanglements, including anthropology, art history, cultural studies, design studies, heritage studies, history, human geography, media studies, museum studies, psychology, science and technology studies and sociology. Acknowledging the key place which photography and digital media have come to occupy within this emerging subfield, JCA includes a regular photo essay feature and provides space for the publication of interactive, web-only content on its website.

Emerging from a number of different quarters, this exciting and rapidly expanding field of research has for some time fallen uneasily between a range of other disciplines, research areas and journals. JCA acts as a dedicated international forum in which to establish the boundaries of this emerging sub-discipline, to develop new methods, concepts and approaches, and to collaborate on important future research agendas on archaeologies of the recent past and present.

The Journal publishes a range of different types of articles, ranging from in-depth Discussion Articles (to be accompanied by comments from relevant researchers and an author’s reply); regular Research Articles which are generally shorter and more case-driven; Interviews comprising occasional, edited discussions between researchers and individuals whose academic or creative work makes a contribution to understanding the archaeology and materiality of the contemporary world; Forums, a series of short responses to previously circulated questions; and, as noted above, Photo Essays. Reviews are published online only and potential reviewers should contact the Review Editors prior to submitting a review as the Journal normally does not accept unsolicited reviews.

Founded by Rodney Harrison in 2013 (as Editor-in-Chief/Managing Editor), with Alfredo González-Ruibal (Europe) and Laurie Wilkie (North America) as Regional Editors and Cornelius Holtorf as Associate Editor, the first issues of the journal were published in 2014. The present editorial arrangements were established in 2018. Previous book reviews editors include Brent Fortenberry (2013-2015) and Sefryn Penrose (2013-2017).

Potential contributors should consult the Journal's Guidelines which can be found on the For Authors page above.

ISSN 2051-3429 (print) 
ISSN 2051-3437 (online)
Frequency: 2 Issues per volume year (May and November)

 

Books for Review
Send books for review to:
Esther Breithoff
Department of History, Classics and Archaeology
Birkbeck, University of London
28 Russell Square
London, WC1B 5DQ
United Kingdom