Note: This is a hybrid event! We invite you to join us in-person at the Santa Cruz Elks Lodge, 150 Jewell Street Santa Cruz, 95060, or via Zoom (see below for Zoom registration form)!
Join SCAS for a presentation by Kimberly Wooten on: “Plastic Planet: Understanding Plastic Artifacts in the Archaeological Record.”
DATE: Thursday, April 2, 2026
TIME: 7:30 – 8:30 PM (Pacific)
ZOOM REGISTRATION FORM: Meeting Registration – Zoom RSVP for Zoom by 6:30 PM on Thursday, April 2, 2026
Plastic Planet is intended as an introduction to historic plastics in the archaeological record. Celluloid, Bakelite, and Acrylics are all found in archaeological sites, with artifacts dating back to the 1870s. Understanding – and even appreciating – the change that plastics as a material culture makes on the archaeological record is critical for understanding the changes to consumer behaviors. A limited survey of plastic artifacts from collections in California hints at the rise in plastic production beginning in the late-19th century, a trend that would ramp up to full gear over the next 50 years. Shaped by the plastics industry, consumer behavior turned away from traditional materials towards cheaper, more disposable, and more toxic plastic products. Knowing this history also connects the past with our current plastic pollution crisis. Discussion of Southern Oregon University’s upcoming Historic Plastics Digital Collection will also be presented and a small display from the plastic type collection will be available to handle.
Ms. Wooten grew up in Capitola, moving to the California foothills as a young teen. She received her B.A. in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1990. She has been a working archaeologist since then, shifting her focus from pre-contact to the fields of post-contact and contemporary archaeology. The potential to explore plastic as an archaeological issue came to her attention in 2018, when she had the opportunity to sail with an all-women crew to research microplastics in the North Atlantic. Kimberly writes about, and presents on plastic waste, microplastics, and how climate change and other environmental issues can be addressed by the discipline of archaeology. Most recently, she has been teaching about historic-era plastics in the archaeological record, tying those workshops to contemporary archaeology and activism. Ms. Wooten is a recognized expert in the growing field of plastics archaeology. She currently works for the California Department of Transportation as an archaeologist and a climate change specialist.
