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ABSTRACT
Nationalism requires the elaboration of a real or invented remote past. This review considers how archaeological data are manipulated for nationalist purposes, and it discusses the development of archaeology during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the relationship of archaeology to nation-building, particularly in Europe. Contrastive conceptions of nationality and ethnicity are presented, and it is argued that adoption of modern constructivist perspectives is incompatible with attempting to identify ethnic/national groups solely on the basis of archaeological evidence. The political uses of archaeology are also reviewed for the construction of national identities in immigrant and postcolonial states. The problematic nature of nationalistic interpretations of the archaeological record is discussed, and the essay concludes with a consideration of the professional and ethical responsibilities of archaeologists confronted with such interpretations.
KEY WORDS: history of archaeology, ethnic and national identities, archaeological cultures, ethnogenesis, nationalism and state formation
L'oubli, et je dirai meme l'erreur historique, sont un facteur essentiel de la creation d'une nation, et c'est ainsi que le progres des etudes historiques est souvent pour la nationalite un danger Peut-etre, apres bien des tatonnements infructueux, reviendra-t-on a nos modestes solutions empiriques. Le moyen d'avoir raison dans l'avenir est, A certaines heures, de savoir se resigner atre demode...
Renan 1947-1961:891, 906
INTRODUCTION
Numerous recent publications attest to considerable interest in the relationship between archaeology and nationalism (e.g. Atkinson et al 1996, Diaz-Andreu & Champion 1996, Kohl & Fawcett 1995). The current popularity of this topic seems relatively easy to explain for reasons related both to the recent upsurge in nationalist movements and conflicts throughout the world and to the practice of archaeology. The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the concomitant restructurings of states in eastern Europe have led to the outbreak of numerous ethnic/national conflicts, many of which, as in the Balkans and in the Caucasus, involve contentious territorial and proprietary claims based on the ancient past and the archaeological record. Archaeological remains frequently are the sites of violent demonstrations or targets of attacks, as recently demonstrated by the Palestinian response to the opening of a new entrance to a tunnel through the old center of Jerusalem. Even more violent consequences ensued from the destruction of the Babri Masjid at the site of...