Empire and excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878–1960

Empire and excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878–1960

Edited by Thomas Kiely, Anna Reeve & Lindy Crewe

The modern discipline of archaeology developed in tandem with the expansion of European imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Cyprus, ruled by Britain between 1878 and 1960, is a fascinating example of how archaeology was practiced and developed in a specific colonial context. This volume explores the mechanisms, the institutions and the characters who contributed to the development of Cypriot archaeology, often within a fraught political environment.

The 23 papers in this volume address aspects such as the role of local agents within a colonial environment; changing attitudes towards and interpretations of cultural heritage; the export of excavated materials and their onward journeys; the development of legal frameworks to prevent looting, and their practical application; co-operation and competition between different nation-states at the peak and decline of empires; the conflicts caused by economic priorities; and the impact of institutions and individuals who attempted to support or control rights over the heritage of the island. Through the lens of British-period Cyprus they trace the evolution of institutions and practices that remain important for archaeology in Cyprus to this day.

This volume will be of interest to archaeologists, cultural heritage practitioners, museums, and anyone with an interest in the history of Cyprus.

Paperback ISBN: 9789464271140 | Hardback ISBN: 9789464271157 | Imprint: Sidestone Press Academics | Format: 210x280mm | 458 pp. | Language: English | 100 illus. (bw) | 50 illus. (fc) | Keywords: Cyprus; archaeology; historiography; colonialism; heritage; heritage management; archaeological ethics; museums; collecting; British Empire; Ottoman Empire | download cover | DOI: 10.59641/h6k2e3f4g5

 

Preface and acknowledgments
Thomas Kiely, Anna Reeve and Lindy Crewe

By way of introduction. Empires and excavations in Cyprus 1878–1960
Thomas Kiely

PART 1: PEOPLE AND PLACES

Over the landscape, in the landscape? Knowledge and agency in Cypriot archaeology, 1870–1910
Michael Given

Dr Francis Henry Hill Guillemard (1852–1933) and the formation of the Cyprus Exploration Fund
Robert S. Merrillees and Thomas Kiely, with a note by Antoine Hermary

Was there an official German interest in the archaeology of Cyprus between 1878 and 1914?
Stephan Schmid

The Italian entomologist Giacomo Cecconi and Cyprus: a step towards the formation of the Cypriot collection in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence
Sebastiano Soldi

Colonial society and the dismissal of John Hilton, first Director of Antiquities in Cyprus
Nicholas Stanley-Price

Archaeological entanglements: Palestinian refugee archaeologists in Cyprus, Libya and Jordan
Sarah Irving

A clash of personalities, archaeological practices and empires at Enkomi
George Papasavvas

PART 2: POLITICS AND PRACTICES

The implementation of ‘imperial policy’ on the antiquities of Cyprus (1869–1935): targeted or circumstantial?
Despina Pilides

Of goats, monuments and men: George Jeffery and the early management of Waqf-owned medieval monuments in British Cyprus
Pertev Basri

Archaeological politics in colonial Cyprus: Imperialism, Hellenism, and the Eteocypriots
Raphael Marshall

Law and archaeology in British-period Cyprus: the case of Lapithos
Stella Diakou

Mining in the archives: the mining industry and Cypriot archaeology in the British colonial period
Vasiliki Kassianidou

Works and days of the Cyprus Survey Branch during the period 1955–1974
Lindy Crewe, Anna Georgiadou and Despina Pilides

Diving into the past: archival research results of the Cyprus Coastal Assessment Project (CCAP) and the history of the first underwater archaeological explorations in Cyprus
Panagiotis Theofanous, Maria Volikou and Despina Pilides

PART 3: LEGACIES AND RECEPTIONS

Exploring the legacy of imperialist logic: new theoretical approaches to the historiography of Cypriot sculpture
Catherine V. Olien

Cyprus and its antiquities at the British Empire Exhibition, 1924–1925
Anna Reeve

The Ancient Cyprus Collection at the British Museum: retracing stories of travelling antiquities, knowledge, and empire
Polina Nikolaou

National press coverage of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition
Kristian Göransson

The Diaspora of Cypriot Antiquities in Swansea
Ersin Hussein

Communicating archaeology in British-period Cyprus: from Ohnefalsch-Richter to Dikaios
Anastasia Leriou and Giorgos Vavouranakis

Prehistoric archaeology in the Republic of Cyprus: the first sixty years
A. Bernard Knapp

Cypriot Aphrodite, archaeological representation and British colonial discourse: a reappraisal
Christine E. Morris and Giorgos Papantoniou

References