La trahison des archeologues? Archaeological Practice as Intellectual Activity in Postmodernity

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of archaeologists within the field of cultural production and examines archaeological practice within its broader social and political setting. It advocates the need to view archaeologists as intellectuals who deal with representation, rather than as stewards of the archaeological 'record'. It concludes that since, as many archaeologists now realize, there is no archaeological record as such, only fragmented material traces of the past which are produced as archaeological 'record' or 'evidence' through disciplinary practices and discourses on identity, archaeologists should acknowledge and accept the responsibility that goes with that realization. That responsibility involves challenging regimes for the 'production of truths', exploring and interrogating the links of knowledges with power, and adopting a critical stance in the global battlefields of cultural production and consumption. These arguments are explored by discussing critically two case-studies from the Mediterranean: the legacy of Manolis Andronikos and his involvement in the discourse of Greek nationalism, and the recent, on-going excavation at Catalhoyuk and its implication in the local and global cultural economies and structures of power.