21st Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists
Glasgow 2-5 September 2015

Deadline for submissions: 16 February 2015
Call for papers link here.

Last year’s EAA conference session ‘Archaeologies of War(s)’ considered a century of conflict from a perspective focused mainly, though not exclusively, on battlefield archaeology. The last one hundred years has also seen the making of war on civilians developed to an unprecedented level and it is perhaps timely to contemplate the cultural legacy of civilian detention, internment and forced migration which has become a significant aspect of industrialised and sometimes global war. Systematised restriction of civilian populations, sometimes involving privation and even mistreatment, was by no means a new departure at the onset of WWI, and was pursued with still greater purpose during WWII. Even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has not entirely prevented 21st century iterations of such behaviours, particularly where political and terrorist issues are involved.The deliberate displacement, concentration and incarceration of mass populations had many side-effects which have left varied physical and cultural legacies among both victims and perpetrators. For most it was a shocking or sometimes even fatal experience; for others an opportunity to seek diversions which resulted in extraordinary cultural and artistic achievement. For those responsible it has led variously to guilt, redemption, cover-up and acknowledgement. In many cases there is a distinctive residue of sudden mixing or removal of peoples and their material and ephemeral cultures.We consider the archaeological, museological and interpretative consequences of this dark heritage through contributions focused mainly, though not exclusively, on internment and forced displacement during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Further information here.