Archaeology and Economic Development

Nowhere in archaeology is the gap between theory and practice more evident than in its ambivalent engagement with economic development. The sixteen papers collected in this volume explore points of contact across the Latin, Greek and Islamic worlds between c. 1000 and c. 1250. They arise from a conference organized by the British Archaeological Association in Palermo in 2012, and reflect its interest in patterns of cultural exchange across the Mediterranean, ranging from the importation of artefacts - textiles, ceramics, ivories and metalwork for the most part - to a specific desire to recruit eastern artists or emulate eastern Mediterranean buildings. The individual essays cover a wide range of topics and media: from the ways in which the Cappella Palatina in Palermo fostered contacts between Muslim artists and Christian models, the importance of dress and textiles in the wider world of Mediterranean design, and the possible use of Muslim-trained sculptors in the emergent architectural sculpture of late-11th-century northern Spain, to the significance of western saints in the development of Bethlehem as a pilgrimage centre and of eastern painters and techniques in the proliferation of panel painting in Catalonia around 1200. There are studies of buildings and the ideological purpose behind them at Canosa (Apulia), Feldebro (Hungary) and Charroux (Aquitaine), comparative studies of the domed churches of western France, significant reappraisals of the porphyry tombs in Palermo cathedral, the pictorial programme adopted in the Baptistery at Parma, and of the chapter-house paintings at Sigena, and wide-ranging papers on the migration of images of exotic creatures across the Mediterranean and on that most elusive and apparently Mediteranean of objects - the Oliphant. The volume concludes with a study of the emergence of a supra-regional style of architectural sculpture in the western Mediterranean and evident in Barcelona, Tarragona and Provence. It is a third volume, based on the British Archaeological Association's 2014 Conference in Barcelona, will explore Romanesque Patrons and Processes.

"Nowhere in archaeology is the gap between theory and practice more evident than in its ambivalent engagement with economic development. This groundbreaking volume assembles practicing archaeologists, economists, and NGO officials in an extensive exploration of the theoretical, practical and ethical issues raised by archaeologists' use of cultural heritage to support economic development. The first chapters consider the problem of articulating the value of tangible and intangible heritage when economic measures alone are inadequate. Subsequent chapters present regional perspectives on archaeology and development, and present a host of case studies from around the globe that describe archaeologists' development projects, including some that are successful and others that are less so. These studies both suggest best practices in the implementation of development projects and illuminate the obstacles to success created by political conflict and competing human needs. Ethical issues and practical considerations converge in chapters that explore the role that members of local communities should play in the design, management and governance of archaeological and heritage resources. In this volume, archaeologists and heritage professionals will encounter a thought-provoking international discourse concerning the path forward for archaeology as the field engages with economic development."