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February 5, 2008
Continue to Follow the Money
The other day I quoted Peter van der Veen on the influence of financial donators on the way archeological evidence is sometimes interpreted. Actually, van der Veen's remarks were quite restrained. The remarks of Raphael Greenberg in the recent edition of the Jewish Quarterly are not so restrained:
Archaeology has always been implicated in the conflict of claims to the contested land but now archaeologists find themselves increasingly in the pay of right-wing settler groups, who use their finds to write their own particular version of history.
Most archaeologists, however, seem willing to draw a line between their professional and social persona, burying their collective heads in the technicalities of fieldwork and the basics of interpretation. But the attempt to pursue ‘lesser’ archaeology under these conditions rings hollow. Many rules of archaeological engagement are being bent in the effort to accommodate the ‘clients’ – the funders and the settlers. The IAA excavators are increasingly exposed as ‘the Messiah’s donkey’ for the ideological national-religious right.
This very interesting article, written from a historical perspective, is well worth the time it takes to read it.
Thanks to Claude Mariottini for highlighting this article.
Posted by Duane Smith at February 5, 2008 4:49 PM | Read more on Archaeology |
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