By
Carlos Marín Suárez (author)
Summary
The origins of archaeology are intrinsically connected with the emergence of nationalism in Europe. Both Spanish centralist nationalism and peripheral nationalism and regionalist movements in the country are engaged in a political dispute but, paradoxically, have drawn upon similar symbolic resources in some cases. This is true regarding historic construct of the Celts in Asturias and León, where different political movements, either peripheral or centralist, have differently interpreted and used the Celts in their agendas depending on the historic context. This paper analyzes the role archaeologists have played in this process. Acritical discourses have prevailed in Iron Age Archaeology, which has always made the past subservient to contemporary political needs. In addition, Iron Age Archaeology has strongly relied on the disciplinary bias of Ancient History, and has been dominated by essentialist, androcentric and largely reactionary interpretations of society. With the advent of the Autonomous Communities in Spain, nationalism and regionalism permeated vast sectors of Spanish society, leading to the emergence of many popular discourses about the past that disregard Academic discourse. Paradoxically, these narratives reproduce conservative discourses that prevailed in archaeological research. Facing this situation, it is time for archaeologists to ask whether they should adopt a multivocal liberal stance tolerating different interpretations about the past, or a critical socio-political position seeking a deconstruction of the discipline and a transformation of the dominant interpretative frameworks that predate Spanish Archaeology.
Keywords
Nationalism. Archaeology & politics. Celticism. Iron Age.