"Black ribbon of death": A longitudinal study of roadside memorials on the Pacific Highway, Australia

Abstract

Any road space is a complex site of personal and public interaction. The Pacific Highway is perhaps more complex than most. One of Australia's busiest and most important intercity road links, it has also become the subject of cultural debate and political contest. The Pacific Highway has gained most notoriety because of continuing high death rates. Roadside memorials draw attention to sites of tragic loss and road trauma, but such places and their memorials are far from static. An archaeological approach to the material culture of road trauma reveals the dynamism of road space in general and the Pacific Highway in particular.