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Power and the Past: European Empires and Archaeology in the Balkans, 1860s–1941

Project description

The political roots of Balkan archaeology

Archaeology in the Balkans has long been shaped by the geopolitical and imperial ambitions of Austria(-Hungary), France, Italy, and Germany. From the 1860s to 1941, these powers conducted extensive research in Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, driven by various political and economic interests. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the Power and the Past project, hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the University of Ljubljana, explores how these historical contexts influenced archaeological practices. By examining publications and archives, the project aims to create maps and visualisations. It seeks to heighten public awareness of archaeology’s dependence on historical context and local collaboration through conferences, workshops, and exhibitions.

Objective

"This project compares the archaeological research that scholars from Austria(-Hungary), Italy, France, and Germany conducted in the Balkan countries of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and Kosovo between the 1860s and 1941. During this period, the researchers' countries/empires were interested in the Balkans for various, and respectively specific, political, geostrategic, economic, financial, imperial, and colonial reasons. The project combines this transnational and global history with the history of archaeology in the Balkans as an often-neglected region and the so-called ""European Orient"". Principal research questions are (1) how archaeological interest in the Balkans emerged and developed in the four countries/empires, (2) how that archaeological interest was influenced by the respective government’s interests and policies in the region, and (3) how archaeologists viewed, and cooperated with, local researchers and inhabitants. The project will be hosted by the Institute of Culture Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and, through a secondment, the Department of Archaeology of the University of Ljubljana. Sources are archaeological publications as well as archival materials of individual researchers and scientific and governmental institutions. Their interpretation will be supported by visualisations of the analysed research in maps. Findings are disseminated through, among other things, an international conference and a student workshop as well as, to non-academic audiences, a public exhibition. As a result, the project will contribute, among other things, to developing the history of archaeology into an autonomous, interdisciplinary, reflexive field, and to heightening the public's awareness that archaeology does not operate in a vacuum, but is always conditioned by its historical context, and that archaeological finds cannot be made without the knowledge and support of local inhabitants and cooperation partners."

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

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Coordinator

OESTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 199 440,96
Address
DR. IGNAZ SEIPEL-PLATZ 2
1010 Wien
Austria

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Region
Ostösterreich Wien Wien
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

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