Some Reflections on Decolonizing Archaeology in a Fragmented World

Abstract

What has been achieved—or can realistically be achieved—by calls for the decolonization of archaeology? In the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean, as elsewhere, discourse about the past is often closely entangled with concerns of the present, and the idea of decolonizing archaeological practice in this war–torn region has particular relevance to its intractable ethic and political cultural conflicts. By more deeply examining the ideological roots and possible political outcomes of decolonized archaeology, this contribution attempts to contextualize the increasingly prominent intellectual trend of archaeological activism within the broader field of postcolonial theory and explores its relationship to other forms of authorized heritage discourse. This Forum showcases an essay by Neil Silberman that explores new frontiers in decolonizing archaeology and four book reviews of Yannis Hamiliakis and Raphael Greenberg’s timely book entitled: Archaeology, Nation, and Race: Confronting the Past, Decolonizing the Future in Greece and Israel.