Ancient Monuments and Modern Identities A Critical History of Archaeology in 19th and 20th Century Greece

Ancient Monuments and Modern Identities sets out to examine the role of archaeology in the creation of ethnic, national and social identities in 19th and 20th century Greece. The essays included in this volume examine the development of interpretative and methodological principles guiding the recovery, protection and interpretation of material remains and their presentation to the public. The role of archaeology is examined alongside prevailing perceptions of the past, and is thereby situated in its political and ideological context. The book is organized chronologically and follows the changing attitudes to the past during the formation, expansion and consolidation of the Modern Greek State. The aim of this volume is to examine the premises of the archaeological discipline, and to apply reflection and critique to contemporary archaeological theory and practice. The past, however, is not a domain exclusive to archaeologists. The contributors to this volume include prehistoric and classical archaeologists, but also modern historians, museum specialists, architectural historians, anthropologists, and legal scholars who have all been invited to discuss the impact of the material traces of the past on the Modern Greek social imaginary.

List of FiguresList of ContributorsEditors’ PrefaceList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: Ancient monuments and modern identitiesSofia Voutsaki1. The provenance of Greek painted vases: disciplinary debates and modern identities in the early 19th centuryGiovanna Ceserani2. Travellers and ruins in the Spartan landscape: a ghost storyParaskevas Matalas3. The reception of J.J. Winckelmann by Greek scholarship during the formative stage of the Modern Greek state (1832–1862)Irene Fatsea4. The legal protection of antiquities in Greece and national identityDaphne Voudouri5. Displaying archaeology - exhibiting ideology in 19th and early 20th century Greek museumsAndromache Gazi6. Archaeology and politics: The Greek-German Olympia excavations treaty, 1869-1875Thanassis N. Bohotis7. The Hellenization of the prehistoric past: the search for Greek identity in the work of Christos TsountasSofia Voutsaki8. 'The stamp of national life': plaster casts and their uses in Greece at the end of the 19th centuryAlexandra Alexandri9. Beyond the debt to Antiquity: constructing a national architecture for Modern GreeceEleni Bastéa10. Are histories of archaeology good to think with?Michael Fotiadis11. Why should the state protect the cultural heritage? The answer offered by Greek lawVassilis VoutsakisIndex

Sofia Voutsaki is Professor of Greek Archaeology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.Paul Cartledge is A.G. Leventis Senior Research Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, emeritus, University of Cambridge, UK.