Archaeology Goes to War. An Encounter with the Recent Past Raises Questions about the Discipline (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Politics and Practice of Archaeology in Conflict
Conservation and Management …, 2009
This introductory paper reviews recent writings on archaeology and confl ict, setting the other contributions to this volume into context. We draw attention to the political nature of archaeological work, and to the problems of reconciling professional interest in the protection and management of cultural property with needs of communities affected by war. We focus on two areas of current concern -the ethical and moral dimension to professional conduct, and the need to reconcile post-processual critiques of practice with the need to draw on empirical science in the competent conduct of work -fi nding middle ground in both areas of debate. We also conclude that heritage management and archaeological practice have an important contribution to make in the rehabilitation of war-torn societies, but that the top-down approaches that are most widely favoured can fail to meet the needs of local communities. Best archaeological practice should build from an understanding of local socio-political and cultural power structures, draw on assessments of need, and build upon a notion of heritage that moves beyond the purely materialistic. The concept of heritage as 'care' is perhaps more important to our work than that of 'curation'.
War and warfare in archaeology
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 1984
... The study of war in archaeology represents a special case of research in an area in which the ... radiocarbon date of this layer is 36,000 2500 years BP (Laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology [hereinafter "Laboratory ... Points are another representative class of tools at Hudouliang ...
Conflict Archaeology vs Battlefield Archaeology
English translation of a Dutch paper, original Journal reference: Wijnen, J.A.T., 2015. Conflictarcheologie versus Slagveldarcheologie. Archeobrief volume 19 nr 2. pg. 2-6. Matrijs, Utrecht This paper is based on a discussion paper on conflict archaeology published in the Dutch public periodical 'Archeobrief' in June 2015. My main argument is that it is important for conflict archaeologists to be clear on their intentions: why would we want to archaeologically explore such a thing as conflict? With an intense and politically relevant topic as human conflict, mixing up intentions is undesirable. Therefore, I propose that the current Dutch discussion should focus less on the boundaries of the object of study in the definition of 'conflict archaeology' but more on the archaeologists' ethical starting point. Let us reserve the term 'conflict archaeology' only for work that has the deliberate intention to use the study of the materiality of conflict in an effort to create a world in which there is less warfare, even if this goal is unattainable. The paper was written for the Dutch audience: examples may not always reflect the international status quo in this debate. Also it is important to know that 'critical archaeology is not a prevalent field in archaeological heritage management in the Netherlands and that its theory only plays a minor part in this paper. The original text was slightly adapted and further developed for this translation, as a follow up on the discussions after initial publication.
A fine line: musings on history, archaeology and the Nine Years War
IPMAG newsletter, 2017
IPMAG Newsletter 2017/2018, pp 6-8 I used to work in archaeology. For sixteen-years I dutifully made my way into the offices of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (or if you are old enough Environment Service, then Environment and Heritage Service ), fighting the good fight to improve the Sites and Monuments Record, and hold the line against the effects of development on our archaeological resource. Then a good result in my part-time undergraduate degree (as much a surprise to me as anyone else) opened opportunities in the world of history. That shouldn't be a problem. Surely archaeology and history are intertwined. Both disciplines interlocked in a sensual embrace, as both symbiotically fed off the other to produce stunningly incisive interdisciplinary nuggets of knowledge. Well, yes and no, but mostly no. Armed with a smugness of a newly-formed post-graduate with a few years on the archaeological clock, I thought I had all I needed to impress the hell out of my history colleges with baubles of archaeological insight. I was wrong. I was soon to discover that there was little-to-no appetite for titbits of material culture or smatterings of masonry and earthworks. Indeed, the upper echelons of academic history were singularly unimpressed with my knowledge of the archaeological goodies littering the landscape of Northern Ireland, or my enthusiasm for battlefield archaeology, never mind my unhealthy fondness for defence heritage archaeology (though getting on TV with Dan Snow for Dig WW2 did at least get me into the department's newsletter). I was told in no uncertain terms 'don't tell me what, tell me why and why I should care'. OK, it's going to be like that then.
(2020) Confronting the Present: Archaeology in 2019
American Anthropologist 122(2), 2020
Post-modernity has a distinctly pre-apocalyptic feel to it, and this feeling has seeped into archaeology. A review of the scholarship from 2019 attests that archaeologists are having to reckon with present-day conditions and phenomena as they structure their research, delineate the material world, and affirm archaeology's relevance. Furthermore, these concerns have moved from the realm of the rarely spoken and come to constitute a critical conversation in the field. In a number of respects, the contours of archaeology now hinge upon the discipline's responses to developments in real time, including: How can archaeological knowledge production escape the logistical and epistemological bounds of late capitalism and its failures? Can archaeology contribute to future-building, and what would that look like? Does archaeology have to be scholar-activism to achieve the goal of making the past matter (to whom) (for what)? [archaeology, contemporary archaeology, future archaeology, current issues]