This framework for the archaeology of the modern past is more a research convention than a research manual. The framework was produced by a convention – a coming together of people who share common interests and concerns. And the framework product is a convention – not a strict and tight codification of research questions nor a catalogue of off-the-shelf procedures for the investigation of the recent past, but a forward-looking statement encouraging the adoption of certain principles and aims for research. The principles, aims and research directions contained in this document are intended to enhance existing traditions of research by situating them in wider context and to promote the development of dynamic new research leading to a better understanding of the modern past and of its resonance in the present.
To achieve the aims and act in accordance with the principles promoted by this framework, researchers, practitioners and heritage managers will need to interpret them creatively as they develop them for application in particular contexts.
1.2. Defining the themes: some general considerations