The aims of this research project are essentially two: i) to study in an organic way the experience of contemporary archaeology at an international level, in order to provide an effective framework and open a debate over the urgency of developing the discipline in Italy; ii) to offer the contribution of archaeological research to the topic of undocumented contemporary migrations, with a particular focus on the material
evidence of this dramatic phenomenon on the Italian territory.
The first of these goals stems from the observation that in Italy, none of the humanities has purposely denied itself the possibility of investigating the contemporary world with its own tools and methods except for archaeology. This consideration can no longer be ignored within the Italian archaeological community
and calls for an in-depth reflection on the contribution of archaeology for the study of contemporary societies. For this reason, it is essential to provide a detailed overview of the international studies that, in the last decades, have contributed to defining the theoretical and practical framework of contemporary archaeology.
The ambitious research project delves into an uncharted territory. The aim is to promote a concrete discussion over the contribution that Italian archaeology could give to the understanding of contemporary phenomena. Contemporary archaeology can help disclosing information about undocumented contemporary migrations, i.e. those migrations involving both political refugees and economic migrants, through unofficial migration routes.

By means of archaeological methods, the project aims at documenting and interpreting, within an historical perspective, the material traces of migrants (personal objects left along journeys, means of transport, structural elements that define new boundaries and spatial barriers in the landscape, the bodies of migrants themselves, etc …), disclosing meanings, material-spatial strategies and the multitude of human experiences.