Archaeology Cultural Property And The Military

From Lawrence of Arabia to the Monuments Men to the contributors within this volume, academic scholars have found themselves engaged in conflict areas, in topics involving conflict, and in unlikely partnerships with military professionals. Motives and methods have varied dramatically over the years, but the over-riding theme of this volume is stewardship. In each case, an author has encountered a situation where their expertise has offered the potential to help save archaeological properties, historical structures, and sacred places - or has documented the process. Drawing on major contributions from seven armed forces, amongst others, this book aims to set out the obligations to protect cultural heritage under international Conventions; provide a series of case studies of current military practice; and outline the current efforts to enhance this. Overall, it offers examples, anecdotes, and lessons learned that can be used for consideration in planning future efforts for global archaeological stewardship.--Résumé de l'éditeur.

Examines the ethical dilemma of whether, and how, archaeologists and other experts should work with the military to protect cultural property in times of conflict. The world reacted with horror to the images of the looting of the National Museum in Iraq in 2003 - closely followed by other museums and then, largely unchecked, or archaeological sites across the country. This outcome had been predicted by many archaeologists, with some offering to work directly with the military to identify museums and sites to be avoided and protected. However, this work has since been heavily criticised by others working in the field, who claim that such collaboration lended a legitimacy to the invasion. It has therefore served to focus on the broader issue of whether archaeologists and other cultural heritage experts should ever work with the military, and, if so, under what guidelines and strictures. The essays in this book, drawn from a series of international conferences and seminars on the debate, provide an historical background to the ethical issues facing cultural heritage experts, and place them in a wider context. How do medical and religious experts justify their close working relationships with the military? Is all contact with those engaged in conflict wrong? Does working with the military really constitute tacit agreement with military and political goals, or can it be seen as contributing to the winning of a peace rather than success in war? Are guidelines required to help define roles and responsibilities? And can conflict situations be seen as simply an extension of protecting cultural property on military training bases? The book opens and addresses these and other questions as matters of crucial debate. Contributors: Peter Stone, Margaret M. Miles, Fritz Allhoff, Andrew Chandler, Oliver Urquhart Irvine, Barney White-Spunner, René Teijgeler, Katharyn Hanson, Martin Brown, Laurie Rush, Francis Scardera, Caleb Adebayo Folorunso, Derek Suchard, Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly, John Curtis, Jon Price, Mike Rowlands, Iain Shearer

The protection of cultural property during times of armed conflict and social unrest has been an on-going challenge for military forces throughout the world even after the ratification and implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention and its two Protocols by participating nations. This volume provides a series of case studies and “lessons learned” to assess the current status of Cultural Property Protection (CPP) and the military, and use that information to rethink the way forward. The contributors are all recognized experts in the field of military CPP or cultural heritage and conflict, and all are actively engaged in developing national and international solutions for the protection and conservation of these non-renewable resources and the intangible cultural values that they represent.

The human cost in any conflict is of course the first care in terms of the reduction, if not the elimination of damage. However, the destruction of archaeology and heritage as a consequence of civil and international wars is also of major concern, and the irreversible loss of monuments and sites through conflict has been increasingly discussed and documented in recent years. Post-Conflict Archaeology and Cultural Heritage draws together a series of papers from archaeological and heritage professionals seeking positive, pragmatic and practical ways to deal with conflict-damaged sites. For instance, by showing that conflict-damaged cultural heritage and archaeological sites are a valuable resource rather than an inevitable casualty of war, and suggesting that archaeologists use their skills and knowledge to bring communities together, giving them ownership of, and identification with, their cultural heritage. The book is a mixture of the discussion of problems, suggested planning solutions and case studies for both archaeologists and heritage managers. It will be of interest to heritage professionals, archaeologists and anyone working with post-conflict communities, as well as anthropology, archaeology, and heritage academics and their students at a range of levels.

This Handbook provides a cutting edge study of the fast developing field of international law on the protection of cultural heritage by taking stock of the recent developments and of the core concepts and current challenges. The legal protection of cultural heritage has come under renewed focus from the international community and states since the 1990s. This is evidenced by the adoption of a range of international instruments. Countries are also enacting cultural heritage legislation or overhauling existing laws within their own national territory. Contributions address the protection of immovable and movable, tangible and intangible cultural heritage in peacetime and in the event of armed conflict as well as the interaction between specific regimes of cultural heritage protection with other fields of international law, including international criminal law, human rights and humanitarian law, environmental law, international trade, investments, and intellectual property. The last part of the Handbook covers diverse regional systems of heritage protection.

The recent work of anthropologists, historians, and historical archaeologists has changed the very essence of military history. While once preoccupied with great battles and the generals who commanded the armies and employed the tactics, military history has begun to emphasize the importance of the “common man” for interpreting events. As a result, military historians have begun to see military forces and the people serving in them from different perspectives. The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites has encouraged efforts to understand armies as human communities and to address the lives of those who composed them. Tying a group of combatants to the successes and failures of their military commanders leads to a failure to understand such groups as distinct social units and, in some instances, self-supporting societies: structured around a defined social and political hierarchy; regulated by law; needing to be supplied and nurtured; and often at odds with the human community whose lands they occupied, be they those of friend or foe. The Historical Archaeology of Military Sites will afford students, professionals dealing with military sites, and the interested public examples of the latest techniques and proven field methods to aid understanding and conservation of these vital pieces of the world’s heritage.

Discussion of the issues surrounding the destruction of cultural property in times of conflict has become a key issue for debate around the world. This book provides an historical statement as of 1st March 2006 concerning the destruction of the cultural heritage in Iraq. In a series of chapters it outlines the personal stories of a number of individuals who were - and in most cases continue to be - involved. These individuals are involved at all levels, and come from various points along the political spectrum, giving a rounded and balanced perspective so easily lost in single authored reports. It also provides the first views written by Iraqis on the situation of archaeology in Iraq under Saddam and an overview and contextualisation of the issues surrounding the looting, theft and destruction of the archaeological sites, the Iraqi National museum and the libraries in Baghdad since the war was launched in 2003. Beyond this, it examines our attitudes towards the preservation of cultural and heritage resources and, in particular, the growing political awareness of their importance. Although related to a single conflict, taking place at a specific time in history, the relevance of this work goes far beyond these self-imposed boundaries. PETER STONE is Professor of Heritage Studies and Head of School of Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University; JOANNE FARCHAKH BAJJALY is a Lebanese archaeologist and Middle East correspondent for the French magazine Archéologia.

This book focuses on the balance between protecting human rights and protecting world heritage sites. It concerns itself with the idea that the management of heritage properties worldwide may fail to adequately respect traditional entitlements and rights of individuals and communities living within or being affected by changes in the use of these spaces. It also explores the concept that the international heritage field has limited knowledge and awareness of this challenge. The volume argues that the dilemmas in question result from different conceptualisations of the key terms of 'rights', 'heritage' and 'community' among different groups and across political and cultural boundaries. In so far as 'culture' is what enables us to read the meanings involved, the ultimate questions are those that ask whose power is contested when one meaning is ‘fixed’ and the heritage of one group of humans is given the right to have its symbolic representation enjoyed and protected. The included case studies give vivid examples of this. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Heritage Studies.