Contemporary Military Archaeology Research Papers (original) (raw)

The first archaeological requirement and operation concerning remains of the Great War in France was the excavation of theso called « d’Alain-Fournier » multiple burial in Saint-Remy-la-Calonne (Meuse) in 1991. However, it took 20 years of reflexion and gropin in order to bring the archeology
of the First World War as a reality, while the last witnesses from this period of our history died.
These recent remains have been considered for a long time as disruptive, and even destructive of the oldest occupations, or more simply too dangerous to be excavated. According to these point of view, they have been abandoned or simply destroyed.
Meanwhile, these recent years, sharp increasing of rescue archaeology operations, conducted prior to land uses (LGV, ZAC, subdivisions, road, motorways...), allowed the study of large areas throughout the battlefields of northern and eastern France; They brouht to light a lot of structures and artifacts from the 1914-1918 War.
These finds and the natural curiosity which drives archaeologists led some of them to join historians and military institutions in order to define together various scientific and specific relevant questions concerning this main and troubled period of our recent past.

- by Frédéric Adam
- •
- Archaeology, Conflict, Great War, Conflict Archaeology

The response of the archaeological community to the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq was focused largely on the rescue and protection of Iraq’s cultural heritage, specifically looted artifacts, archaeological sites, and museums. Many of these efforts to return and safeguard Iraqi antiquities involved archaeological interaction with various allied military forces occupying the area (Hamilakis 2003, 2009; Teijgeler 2008). The preservation and protection of antiquities amidst military occupation has raised growing concerns within the archaeological community regarding the ethical and political aspects of “embedded archaeology,” i.e. collaborating with military and occupation authorities in the service of rescuing antiquities. Some archaeologists cite the legitimization of invasions and civilian casualties as consequences of these collaborations (Hamilakis 2003; 2009:43; Teijgeler 2008). Others argue that collaborative efforts do not necessarily condone military actions. Engaging with military forces to protect cultural heritage is the primary responsibility of archaeologists and the reality of archaeology in the midst of conflict (Lawler 2008; Stone 2009a, b). What has become clear throughout these debates is the need to assess the experiences of archaeologists in the Iraq War for the purpose of establishing guidelines for the conduct of archaeologists in conflict situations (Pollock 2008; Perring and Linde 2009).

- by Alexis Jordan and +1
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- Archaeology, Ethics, Cultural Heritage, Contemporary Military Archaeology

In recent years, scholars have examined the non-or more-than-human world from a variety of unique positions. This article draws on contemporary archaeology and assemblage theories in geography to put forward an understanding of everyday geopolitics that includes the presence of objects in the formation of state subjectivity. Our approach, however, reveals not only this disciplining force of objects but also the ontological absences that are also at the heart of post-structuralist theories of subjectivity. As such, the formation of object-oriented geopolitical subjectivity is also always haunted by these other affective forces that are part of being in the world. These theoretical considerations are substantiated in our study of the material culture of a military outpost in the highlands of northern Chile where the objects left behind by soldiers offer insight into the complexities of state subjectification and state-society relations in border regions.

Rezumat: De peste un deceniu, studierea ruinelor sau a clădirilor abandonate contemporane a devenit o
temă de interes pentru arheologi. În textul de mai jos este descris cazul fostului pichet de grăniceri din
dreptul localității Desa (jud. Dolj), aflat în apropiere de malul Dunării, care în prezent se zbate între
abandonare și uitare. Acesta și-a început existența în a doua jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea și și-a încetat-o cândva, între anii 1997-2001, când militarii au trebuit să îl părăsească datorită noii politici de securizare a
frontierelor în condițiile tratativelor pentru aderare la Uniunea Europeană și Pactul Nord-Atlantic. În urma
abandonării sale, una din clădiri a fost transformată în casă de vacanță pentru angajații Ministerului de
Interne. Apoi, în 2002 și între 2005-2008 a fost utilizat ca tabără arheologică, pentru ca, în cele din urmă să
fie utilizat și transformat în crescătorie de porci. Articolul se dorește un demers în scopul recuperării
memoriei acestui loc.
Abstract: In the past decade, the study of contemporary ruins or abandoned buildings has become a
research theme for archaeologists. In the text below is described the case of the former border guard station
in the vecinity of Desa (Dolj county), near the Danube bank, which now struggles between abandonment and
forgetness. This station began its existence in the second half of the XIXth century and ended it sometime
between 1997-2001, when the military men had to leave it in the context of the negociations for joining the
EU and NATO. After it was deserted, one of the buildings was used as a holiday hut for the employees of the
Interior Ministry. Then, in 2002 and between 2005-2008 it was used as an archaeological camp, while, in
the end, it was used and trasnformed in a pigsty. The article is desired to be a step forward in recovering the
memory of this place.

Since the War of the Pacific against Peru and Bolivia (1879–1883), the Chilean State has constantly reproduced its sovereign power in the Atacama Desert by using different technologies of governance. During the Pinochet military regime (1973–1990), this process was radicalized through the militarization of the area. This militarization, in turn, produced new materialities in the desert landscape, such as the Topaín military outpost. In this article, we use archaeological evidence in order to reveal the everyday life of this base. This research is the first approach to this geographic area from the perspective of the Archaeology of Conflict. This, in turn, constitutes a methodological innovation for developing a new understanding of the reproduction of contemporary state sovereignty through the material culture of everyday life.

- by Manuel Prieto and +1
- •
- Material Culture Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, State Formation, Conflict Archaeology

An overview of the way in which Quonset Huts arrived in Australia as part of the US Navy construction activities in Australia during the war. Later Australia salvaged huts from the US base at Manus Island and brought them to Australia for... more

El presente artículo emerge de la discusión generada en torno a la mesa redonda “Arqueología de la contemporaneidad, contemporaneidad de la arqueología” en el marco de las VII JIA, Vitoria-Gasteiz. En un contexto en el que el patrimonio nace de la decisión política de dar o no voz, la intervención arqueológica deja al descubierto una realidad más amplia previa al recorte impuesto por la demarcación patrimonial, exponiendo el conflicto que tal delimitación genera. Si la arqueología tiene la capacidad de analizar procesos transcurridos (ya remotos, ya contemporáneos) mediante la
aplicación de metodologías científicas, ¿cuál es verdaderamente el objeto de estudio de la arqueología?
¿Puede sostenerse la idea de que la arqueología se ocupa del patrimonio? ¿Qué es lo que se pretende realmente conservar mediante la conservación patrimonial?

ABSTRACT Since the War of the Pacific against Peru and Bolivia (1879–1883), the Chilean State has constantly reproduced its sovereign power in the Atacama Desert by using differ- ent technologies of governance. During the Pinochet military regime (1973–1990), this process was radicalized through the militarization of the area. This militarization, in turn, produced new materialities in the desert landscape, such as the Topaín military outpost. In this article, we use archaeological evidence in order to reveal the everyday life of this base. This research is the first approach to this geographic area from the perspective of the Archaeology of Conflict. This, in turn, constitutes a methodological innovation for developing a new understanding of the reproduction of contemporary state sovereignty through the material culture of everyday life.

In recent years, scholars have examined the non- or more-than-human world from a variety of unique positions. This article draws on contemporary archaeology and assemblage theories in geography to put forward an understanding of everyday geopolitics that includes the presence of objects in the formation of state subjectivity. Our approach, however, reveals not only this disciplining force of objects but also the ontological absences that are also at the heart of post-structuralist theories of subjectivity. As such, the formation of object-oriented geopolitical subjectivity is also always haunted by these other affective forces that are part of being in the world. These theoretical considerations are substantiated in our study of the material culture of a military outpost in the highlands of northern Chile where the objects left behind by soldiers offer insight into the complexities of state subjectification and state–society relations in border regions.

- by Livija Ivanovaite and +1
- •
- Contemporary Archaeology, Contemporary Military Archaeology, Archaeology of Contemporary Past, Lithuanian History