Dangerous liaisons? Archaeology in Libya 1911-1943 and its political background

Abstract

Liaisons between archaeology and politics are as old as theidea of using the past to build theimage ofaruler, entire social groups or societies, and as close as the dependence of archaeological research on funding. They become dangerous when archaeology, while playing a leading role in reconstructing the past, is used asa propagandatool, i.e., when it is expected to reach certain goals, and when the scientific value of the research is outweighed by more pressing tasks thestateimposes upon it. It seems that in theface of ideological conditioning the attempt to give an answer to the question: “what was the past like?” ceases to be the main aim and, instead, selected aspects of the past become the prime concern. how history is understood, interpreted and presented is closely connected to ideological and political issues.