Additional Information

Language

English

Source Type

Doctoral Thesis

Notes

Abstract: Much affected by viewing the Yugoslav Wars’ ruins, I resolved to study archaeology in conflict. I wanted to explore archaeology’s role in conflict and archaeologists’ responsibilities in conflict zones; but unable to conduct such work in Kosova/Kosovo, I went to Cyprus. Drawing together professional documentation and public education, professional and community interactions and interviews, and cultural heritage site visits, I researched the destruction of community places, the looting of cultural heritage, and the coping strategies of archaeologists. The key questions of this thesis are: is it legal and ethical to conduct archaeological work in occupied and secessionist territories? How is public knowledge of cultural heritage looting and destruction constructed? What are cultural heritage professionals’ responsibilities for knowledge production during conflict? How ought cultural heritage professionals to combat the looting and illicit trading of antiquities? I have addressed these questions by concentrating upon cultural heritage workers’ narratives of looting and destruction from 1955 until the present in professional discussion and mass education. First, I argue that archaeologists have misinterpreted international law, and through boycotting and blacklisting of rescue archaeology in northern Cyprus, harmed both the profession and the cultural heritage. Second, I argue that cultural heritage workers have been unwillingly coopted, or actively complicit in the conflict, in the production of nationalist histories, and thus nationalist communities, therefore in the reproduction of nationalist conflict. Third, I argue that cultural heritage workers have knowingly contributed to the conflict and its destruction, through their nationalist policies on the paramilitary-dominated illicit antiquities trade. My conclusions are: that an ethical antiquities policy would cut funding to and thereby reduce conflict-fuelling extremist activity; and that, where they have the freedom to practice it, professional and ethical archaeologies of destruction would promote intracommunal and intercommunal peace.

Additional tags: conflict archaeology; archaeological responsibility; destruction of heritage sites

Open access on Sussex Research Online.

Taxonomies

RPA Codes & Standards

• Adequate Preparation for Research Projects
• Archaeologist's Responsibility to Colleagues, Employees, and Students
• Archaeologist's Responsibility to Employers and Clients
• Archaeologist's Responsibility to the Public
• Integrity of Research Methodology
• Procedures for Field Survey or Excavation

CIfA Codes

• Principle 1: Adherence to ethical and responsible behaviour in archaeological affairs
• Principle 3: Responsibility for acquiring and recording reliable information of the past in archaeological research
• Principle 4: Responsibility for the availability of archaeological results within reasonable dispatch
• Principle 5: Recognition of aspirations of employees, colleagues and helpers in all matters of employment

Keywords & Terms

• Accountability
• Anti-Commercialization
• Armed Conflict and Violence
• Avoid, Discourage, and Report Unethical and Illegal Activity
• Conflicts of Interest
• Conservation
• Consultation/Partnership with Affected Groups
• Impact on Communities - Local, Descendant, etc.
• Integrity of Research Methodology and Field Procedures
• Looting, Collecting, and Illicit Trade of Cultural Property
• Management of Cultural Resources, Heritage, History
• Ownership
• Preservation of Archaeological Resources
• Professional Standards
• Promotion of Archaeological Research/Archaeology as Scientific Discipline
• Protection and Non-Disclosure of Archaeological Sites
• Public Interest, Collaboration, Education, and Outreach
• Respect for and Responsibility to Affected Groups
• Standards of Data Collection, Recordation, Analysis
• UNESCO

Topics & Issues

• Antiquities Trade
• Destruction of Cultural Heritage
• Ethical Responsibilities of Archaeologists
• Ethnography
• Heritage Management
• Historic/Cultural Resource/Site Preservation
• Human Rights and Social and Economic Inequalities
• Legal Issues
• Legislation and Archaeological Preservation
• Open Access
• Politics and Archaeology
• Public Memory and Public Space
• War, Violence, and Conflict