The Anthropocene's stratigraphic reality and the humanities: a response to Finney and Gibbard (2023) and to Chvostek (2023)

Abstract

The Anthropocene Epoch is a crucial conceptual breakthrough not only for stratigraphy but also for the humanities. The question, raised by Chvostek (2023), is how best to create engagement between the sciences of the Anthropocene and the study of values, hopes and power in the world's many cultures past and present. In response, this piece makes three points. First, it discusses some of the collaborations that have already taken place between humanists of various kinds and the scientists providing the stratigraphic evidence for the Anthropocene Epoch. Second, it notes that the ‘Anthropocene’ remains, at core, a stratigraphic concept and that the new epoch is now well supported by physical evidence. Third, it shows that the recent idea of an Anthropocene ‘event’ (Gibbard, 2022) does not invite engagement with the humanities. The overall argument is that the integrity of expertise must be maintained even while we encourage the cross-disciplinary understanding crucial to addressing our global environmental challenge.