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Regions of the imagination: archaeologists, local people, and the archaeological record in fieldwork, Greece

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Michael Fotiadis
Michael Fotiadis*
Affiliation:
Dept. of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
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Abstract

This paper takes a close look at the relationship of an archaeological team engaged on a regional survey for the Greek Archaeological Service to the local population, and at the practices and scholastic assumptions of the archaeologists. Regional survey, with its emphasis on populations and resources is found to resemble the work of census takers and bureaucrats (and not surprisingly many locals see the archaeologists as representatives of the state). Prehistoric farmers are treated as ‘sensible’ and apolitical, and archaeology is seen to adopt refined tactics that domesticate the unfamiliar and banish the difficult and contradictory from concern. The intellectual safety of demographic approaches becomes clearer when the multiplicity of relations between the team and the locals is considered – precisely the variety missing from the texts written about the past – and when the archaeologists attempt to banish local life and politics from their narratives.

Diese Arbeit unternimmt eine genaue Begutachtung einerseits des Verhältnisses eines archäologischen Teams, das an einem Regionalüberblick für den Griechischen Archäologischen Dienst arbeitet, zur einheimischen Bevölkerung sowie andererseits der Praktiken und scholastischen Annahmen der Archäologen. Regionalüberblicken mit ihrer Gewichtung auf die Bevölkerung und Ressourcen wird eine Ähnlichkeit mit der Arbeit von Volkszählern und Bürokraten unterstellt (und es überrascht nicht, daß viele Einheimische Archäologen als Repräsentanten des Staates ansehen). Prähistorische Landwirte werden als ‘zweckmäßig’ und apolitisch behandelt, und die Archäologie erscheint im Licht der Aneignung verfeinerter Taktiken, welche Ungewohntes griffig machen und Diffiziles und Gegensätzliches außerhalb des Interesses bannen. Die intellektuelle Gewähr demographischer Ansätze wird offensichtlicher, sobald die Beziehungsvielfalt zwischen dem Team und der einheimischen Bevölkerung in Betracht gezogen wird – gerade jene Vielfalt, die in Texten, welche über die Vergangenheit geschrieben wurden, fehlt – und, sobald Archäologen versuchen, das örtliche Leben und Lokalpolitik aus ihren Texten zu streichen.

Cet article examine Ie rapport entre une équipe archéologique engagée dans la prospection régionale pour le conte du Service Archéologique Grec, et les pratiques et suppositions des archéologues. La prospection régionale, qui met l'accent sur les populations et les ressources, ressemble fortement au travail des recenseurs et bureaucrats (et il n'est pas étonnant que de nombreuses personnes du pays considèrent les archéologues comme des représentants de l'état). Les agriculteurs de la préhistoire sont considérés comme étant ‘judicieux’ et apolitiques, et on observe que l'archéologie adopte des tactiques raffinées qui domestiquent ce qui n'est pas familier et faire disparaître ce qui est difficile et contradictoire. La sécurité intellectuelle des approches démographiques devient plus clair lorsqu'on considère la multiplicité des relations entre l'équipe et les gens du peuple (précisément la variété absente des textes écrits sur le passé) et lorsque les archéologues essayent de banir la vie locale et la politique de leurs discours.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of European Archaeology , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , Autumn 1993 , pp. 151 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 

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