Approachment of Archeaologists to the Physical Remains of 20th Century Conflicts. Is it Possible to Identify Research Agendas? (PDF)

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject History - World History - Modern History, grade: 1,7, University of Glasgow (Department of History), course: Modern Warfare, language: English, abstract: Firstly, this essay will examine the question of how (conflict) archaeologists pursued the physical remains of military conflicts of the 20th century. The remainder of this work will further discuss whether it is possible to identify particular research agendas in the work of archaeologists and archaeological research projects. Finally, reference should be made to further desiderata of archaeological research and a summary conclusion will be drawn.

Archaeology is a science that explores the cultural evolution of humanity through scientific and humanistic methods. It has developed worldwide into a combination of different theoretical and practical disciplines. The field of interest of archaeology lies exclusively with humans and their material legacies, such as buildings, tools and works of art. It covers a period from the first stone tools about 2.5 million years ago to the present. The so-called contemporary historical archaeology, which deals with the anthropogenic remnants of human civilization during the previous century, is controversial within the discipline. In particular, a section of recent archaeology, conflict archaeology, refers to remnants that have survived in the context of military or other violent conflicts. Most of these are found on former battlefields.