Book Series Archive Archaeology, vol. 6

Turning the Page

Archaeological Archives and Entangled Knowledge

Olympia Bobou, Rubina Raja, Maria Stamatopoulou (eds)

  • Pages: approx. 475 p.
  • Size:216 x 280 mm
  • Illustrations:250 b/w, 32 col.
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2025


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  • ISBN: 978-2-503-61685-8
  • Paperback
  • Forthcoming (Jun/25)

Forthcoming
  • € 165,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE


This volume sheds light on unknown excavation and archive histories, and reveals the entanglement between various actors and agents in the formation of archives.

BIO

Olympia Bobou is an assistant professor at the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions, Aarhus University.
Rubina Raja is Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art and Centre Director of the Danish National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence, Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet) at Aarhus University.
Maria Stamatopoulou is Professor in Classical Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford, and Tutorial Fellow in Classical Archaeology, Lincoln College, University of Oxford.

Summary

Throughout the nineteenth, and for much of the twentieth century, archives were considered to be containers of knowledge, holding material that was deemed to be objective and unbiased. In more recent years, however, as scholars have begun to engage more with archival material, this perception has changed, and archives have increasingly been recognized as sites of contention, holding curated historical documents — a re-evaluation that, in turn, has led to a new understanding of the role and significance of both archives and archiving practices, as well as to renewed interest in their contents.

Taking renewed scholarly interest in archives as its starting point, this volume highlights the importance of archival material both as a source of study, and as a way of unleashing hitherto ‘lost’ knowledge. The chapters gathered here present previously unpublished material for the first time, as well as offer new insights into archival and curatorial practices. Through this approach, the authors not only reveal unknown aspects and histories of both past and ongoing excavations, but also shed light on the creation processes of an archive, an element that is typically lost by the time the material is designated as an archive by those who study it. The result is a volume that can shape best archival practices and approaches for the future.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

List of Abbreviations

1. Turning the Page: Critical Archival Studies and Archaeological Historiographies
Olympia Bobou, Rubina Raja, and Maria Stamatopoulou

2. Alexandrian Archaeology (1798–1903): A ‘Local Archaeology’
Marie-Dominique Nenna

3. Revisiting Herzfeld’s Letters and Diaries from the Samarra Excavation 1911–1913
Miriam Kühn

4. The Infrastructure of an Excavation: Harald Ingholt’s Excavation Journals from Hama, Syria, 1931–1938
Anne Haslund Hansen and John Lund

5. In the Field and through the Archives: The 1928 American-British Campaign in Gerasa and the Excavation of the Church of St. Theodore
Rubina Raja

6. Re-Assembling the Network: Richard Christensen and the 1872–1873 Purchase of Antiquities in Athens for the Copenhagen Collections
Yannis Galanakis and Bente Bladsgaard Jensen

7. Where in the World are the Papademos Antiquities? A Search for the Stock of an Athenian Art Dealer of the Late Nineteenth/Early Twentieth Century
Christina Avronidaki and Giorgos Kavvadias

8. ‘Grave Z’ at Demetrias and the Notorious Case of the Volos Gold Wreath: Arvanitopoulos’s Archives and Early Twentieth-Century Greek Archaeology
Maria Stamatopoulou

9. The Archaeological Department of the Greek Governance of Smyrna (1919–1922): Archaeology in the War Zone through Archival Testimonies
Chrysanthi Tsouli and Kostas Paschalidis

10.  The Ephemeral City: Refugees Amongst Antiquities in Interwar Athens
Athina Chatzidimitriou and Maria-Xeni Garezou

11. Visions of Epiros between Greece and Rome: Demetrios Evangelidis and Luigi Ugolini
Oliver Gilkes and Milena Melfi 

12. Antiquities, Diplomacy, and the Construction of Soft Power in Greek-US Political Relationships in the Beginning of the Cold War Era: A Perspective from Archival Research in Greece and the USA
Nassos Papalexandrou

13. Archival Palimpsests: Investigating the History of Harald Ingholt’s Archive of Palmyrene Sculptures
Olympia Bobou and Rubina Raja

14. Lord William Taylour: Parallel Lives in Greece and Cambridge
Michael Loy

15. The Annotated Archive: Marginalia and Meaning in Following Pots
Morag M. Kersel and Meredith S. Chesson

16. Gentlemen’s Agreements: Applying Contemporary Archaeological Ethics in an Archival Setting
Jon M. Frey