Artifacts: An archaeologist’s year in Silicon Valley by Christine Finn, MIT
Press, £16.95, ISBN 0262062240
IMAGINE Silicon Valley buried like Pompeii—the activity stilled, the
cars, houses and workplaces buried beneath layers of volcanic ash, the artefacts
of a single moment preserved. What could we learn about this very particular
place and time by sifting through the objects of everyday life?
Archaeologist Christine Finn is fascinated by Silicon Valley, specifically by
the speed of change of the meanings attached to the region’s key
artefact—the computer. Charting technological changes is a key tool in
exploring and evaluating ancient cultures. In…
