Archaeologies of the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist Regime: 33 Conference of the Theoretical Archaeology Group

Mayca Rojo y Alberto P. Martí organizan una sesión sobre arqueologías de la Guerra Civil y el Franquismo dentro del congreso de arqueología teórica TAG 2011, que tendrá lugar en Birmingham el próximo 16 de diciembre. Sin duda contribuirá a difundir la arqueología del conflicto en España más allá de nuestras fronteras. Si estáis por el Reino Unido, no dejéis de pasaros. El programa completo, que os podéis descargar aquí, incluye trabajos sobre exhumaciones de represaliados, guerrilla antifranquista, arqueología de los campos de batalla y patrimonio. A continuación tenéis el resumen en inglés de la sesión:

The Spanish Civil War has traditionally been a source of interest and inspiration for historians, sociologists, politicians, novelists and even film-makers. Nevertheless, it has not been until the last decade that archaeologists have got fully involved in the study of the material dimension of this conflict and its aftermath: General Franco's national-Catholic dictatorship. Different branches seem to be joining in order to conform what is usually referred as the 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War'. On the one hand, evolved from a tradition of military history and architecture, there is a growing interest in approaching 'archaeologically' the physical remains of the armed confrontation (battlefields, trench systems, urban air-raid shelters, etc). On the other hand, archaeologists have become an essential part of the civic movement campaigning for the so-called 'recovery of the historical memory'. This is a complex social phenomenon based on the widespread political repression that took place in Spain during and after the war, and whose most famous expression is the exhumation of mass graves all around the country. The construction of an 'archaeology of the Spanish Civil War' as a combination of so different approaches (heritage preservation and education, human rights investigations, left-wing political activism, etc.) does still require the development of a coherent theoretical corpus. It is the intention of this session to offer a global perspective of this multiplicity of viewpoints and motivations, while encouraging a deep international debate around the role and public responsibilities of archaeologists working on this field.