Ethics of archaeology and post-colonial Asia

Prof. Dr. Pierfrancesco Callieri (Universität Bologna) hält diesen Einführungsvortrag im Rahmen der fünftägigen internationalen EASAA-Tagung, die vom 16. bis 20. September stattfindet: "26th International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art".

Der Vortrag ist in englischer Sprache.

Abstract

The tragic image of what was once one of the richest and most interesting archaeological sites in the entire region, now reduced to a field drilled by clandestine diggers working to supply the antiquities market which is always greedy for precious and rare objects, is only a means of inviting the participants of the Leipzig EASAA Congress to reflect on the urgent need not to forget the ethical dimension of actions taken on cultural heritage. A technical fact is undoubtedly the need to drastically reduce the volume of business of the illegal trade in antiquities, by activating an international mechanism that would oblige museum institutions worldwide to stop their purchases. But ethical aspects must also be brought to everyone's attention, which come into play when scholars have to decide whether it is admissible to study and publish illegally sourced archaeological artefacts: an action that, while offering relevant discoveries to the entire community, is also collusion with traffickers.

This was once a spectacular archaeological site (Aï Khanoum); einst eine spektakuläre archäologische Stätte (Aï Khanoum) © Délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan

Faced with the increasing sponsorship by editorial potentates, especially Anglo-Saxon ones, of a collaborative relationship of the Academy with the antiquities market, which thus succeeds in making people forget the illegal nature of the finds, it seemed really necessary to take advantage of the presence in Leipzig of European and non-European scholars to stimulate new discussions on this and on other issues of an 'ethical' nature, which do not concern the scientific content of our research, but which have considerable implications for the sometimes difficult choices we make as researchers.

Prominent among these are issues relating to the extent to which cultural heritage has been fundamental in defining the national identities of West and Central Asian countries in the transition from the colonial to the post-colonial phase, and to the extent to which 'Orientalist' and even more so archaeological research is still influenced by its past. But at the same time we should not forget the fundamental contribution of non-European artefacts to the identity of leading cultural centres in that Europe which, after having plundered the entire world, now builds walls: not only the hateful ones that prevent access to refugees, but also the bureaucratic ones that exclude projects on non-European topics from the use of abundant European research funds.

It will be an opportunity to share reflections that an old archaeologist, who had never considered such issues, finally felt in all their importance.

As it could not be otherwise for a professor, the privileged recipients are the younger generations, to whom together with the technical wealth of knowledge we want to leave the precious reflections and invaluable doubts that characterise the human sciences.

Weitere Informationen zur Tagung (englisch):

26th International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art