Contested Antiquity: Archaeological Heritage and Social Conflict in Modern Greece and Cyprus (New Anthropologies of Europe)

By: Dimitris Plantzos and Alexandra Bounia and Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert and Eleana Yalouri and Marlen Mouliou and Aris Anagnostopoulos and Paulina Nikolaou and Styliana Galinki and Andromache Gazi and Katerina Konstantinou and Niki Sakka and Eleni Stefanou and Ioanna Antoniadou and Elpida Rikou

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: While the archaeological legacies of Greece and Cyprus are often considered to represent some of the highest values of Western civilization—democracy, progress, aesthetic harmony, and rationalism—this much adored and heavily touristed heritage can quickly become the stage for clashes over identity and memory. In Contested Antiquity, Esther Solomon curates explorations of how those who safeguard cultural heritage are confronted with the best ways to represent this heritage responsibly. How should visitors be introduced to an ancient Byzantine fortification that still holds the grim reminders of the cruel prison it was used as until the 1980s? How can foreign archaeological institutes engage with another nation's heritage in a meaningful way? What role do locals have in determining what is sacred, and can this sense of the sacred extend beyond buildings to the surrounding land? Together, the essays featured in Contested Antiquity offer fresh insights into the ways ancient heritage is negotiated for modern times.