Archival Historiographies: The Impact of Twentieth-Century Legacy Data on Archaeological Investigations

Archives held in institutions around the world hold a wealth of material but traditionally, the fields of Classical and ancient Near Eastern archaeology have been slow to make use of such legacy data in their investigations. In recent years, however, this trend has begun to change, and scholars increasingly recognize the importance of archival material to their research. Drawing directly on these trends, this volume offers the first in-depth analysis of what it means to engage in archive archaeology and how it can influence understandings of both the ancient world and the recent past. Excavation historiographies and the formation of archaeological archives in the twentieth century are investigated in locations from across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, with current understanding of sites such as Dura Europos or Palmyra being fundamentally reassessed in the light of the archival material. Crucially, the volume contributions gathered here look to the future as well as to the past: archives are acknowledged as essential to cultural heritage preservation and restitution initiatives, and chapters explore best practices, as well as presenting some of the manifold potentials of archive and legacy data to future research.