ARCHAEOLOGY AND CONFLICT: DEBATE CONTINUED
A plenary session at the 10th World Archaeological Congress, Darwin 22-28 June 2025
Pre-circulated paper 1 (Peter Stone)
This Plenary brings WAC’s involvement in the issue of the protection of archaeological heritage in armed conflict up-to-date, with a focus on the obstacles faced by archaeologists attempting to work in this area.
The Plenary will reflect the continuation of armed conflicts of different scale globally and attempt to conceptualise the relationship between archaeology and conflict, in the context of many if not all current conflicts being fought within a global framework, as opposed, perhaps, to the more nationally based conflicts of the 1980s and 1990s. The plenary will include two strands:
· first hand reports from a number of current armed conflicts allowing for a comparison of the real-world issues faced,
· the opportunity for wide-ranging discussion of continuing ethical (i.e., should archaeologists engage with the military at all in trying to protect the archaeological heritage e.g., over and above the protection of civilians) and practical (e.g., how to best protect the archaeological heritage and convince those we might want to work with, including the military and humanitarians, to develop a mutual understanding about the importance of this work).
Conflict of various types has been at the forefront of the WAC since it was established as an organisation following the first Congress in 1986 in Southampton, UK. That Congress was mired in controversy and conflict following the brutal suppression of the majority of people in South Africa and whether archaeology should overtly acknowledge its social, educational, and political context and responsibilities.
The demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992, followed by communal violence resulting in the tragic loss of nearly 2,000 lives—predominantly among India’s Muslim population—cast a long shadow over WAC-3 (New Delhi, 1994), which itself witnessed episodes of disruption and heightened tension. The incident prompted significant reflection within the archaeological community, eventually leading to the 1998 Inter-Congress on ‘Destruction and Conservation of Cultural Property’ and the subsequent 2001 volume in the One World Archaeology series (eds. Layton, Thomas, and Stone). While the issue has since been addressed through legal processes at the national level in India, it remains a pivotal moment in WAC’s history of engagement with contested heritage.
The abject failure to protect cultural property by the Coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003, and the following looting and deliberate targeting of cultural heritage caused uproar at WAC-5 (Washington, USA, 2003) as the Congress divided over whether archaeologists should work with the military to try to protect cultural property or whether their efforts provided spurious academic legitimacy to an illegal war. Since WAC-5 issues surrounding the protection of cultural property have featured at every WAC Congress. WAC-7 provided debates that led to the establishment of the NGO Heritage for Peace and later Congresses heard reports of the development of more systematic destruction by extremist groups and the development of a more active Blue Shield organisation.
Arwa Badran, Arek Marciniak, Peter G Stone
28 January 2025