The Role of Natural and Synthetic Rubber in the Anthropocene/Plantationocene

From Historical and Contemporary Rubber Archaeology to the Climate Emergency

Abstract

The article analyzes rubber, both natural and synthetic, as a marker of the Anthropocene/Plantationocene, showing how its production links colonial exploitation to contemporary challenges of the climate crisis. Drawing on historical and contemporary archaeology, it highlights how rubber connected the Amazon to global networks of extraction, industry, and consumption, transforming ecosystems and societies. Two exploitation models are distinguished: the caboclo model, based on local practices and traditional knowledge, and the boom-period model, marked by hierarchical structures, the aviamento system, and plantation techniques. The study also examines rubber collections in museums in Brazil, France, and the United Kingdom, revealing objects as witnesses of social, environmental, and cultural changes, enabling discussions on sustainability, coloniality, and reuse. The research underscores rubber as both a strategic resource and an interdisciplinary field for understanding the impacts of industrialization, globalization, and monoculture regimes, reinforcing the role of archaeology and museology in addressing the relationship between materiality, memory, and socio-environmental crisis.