WHAT IS A ‘HISTORIC BATTLEFIELD’ AND DOES IT MATTER THAT WE KNOW
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-10-21

Despite the growth in interest in battlefields as objects of study by archaeologists and the concern for their preservation as sites of importance, it is interesting to note how little work has been undertaken to understand their ontology. Archaeologists have written copiously about the nature of ‘the site’ as a concept – including approaches to ‘off-‘ or ‘non-site’ archaeologies – and how the objects of our attention are conceptualised. By contrast, there is no similar work to conceptualise the object of battlefield archaeology. While heritage agencies have offered definitions of the specific qualities required of a site to be included in national registers, andscholars have discussed issues of methodology in relation to their investigation, an understanding and conceptualisation of the historic battlefield as a general category eludes us. This paper – based around developing work derived from the study of battlefields as particular kinds of landscapes – will address this issue directly. It will draw on specific examples of fights generally recognised as ‘battles’ and others similar in form but which are not identified as battles. It will offer reasons why the question may be worth asking, and some preliminary answers, in the spirit of opening a debate in the field on the nature of our object of study.


Author(s): Carman, John - Carman, Patricia (Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage, University of Birmingham)