On Nov. 1-2, Cornell will host an international conference on the impact of political repression on archaeology and cultural heritage. Entitled “Unearthing Unseeing: Archaeology, Heritage, and Forensics in the Shadow of State Violence”, the conference will highlight new approaches to cultural remains caught up in contemporary conflicts and past trauma. 

The two-day event features more than 40 presentations and is open to the public. Presentations will examine the connections between archaeology, heritage and state violence on every continent, from Azerbaijan to Brazil, Mexico to China, as well as here in New York State. T

he conference’s keynote speakers include Alfredo González-Ruibal, an archaeologist with the Institute of Heritage Sciences of the Spanish National Research Council. He will speak on how archaeology’s focus on urban monuments has led it to overlook the violence and inequality that make up some modern cities. Another keynote speaker, Lori Khatchadourian, associate professor of Near Eastern studies and Anthropology in the College of Arts & Sciences (A&S), will discuss how archaeologists of the ancient Near East have grappled with the skeletal remains of the victims of the Armenian Genocide found across northern Syria and the ethical implications of this history for the discipline.

“The impetus for the conference emerged out of our efforts to prevent cultural erasure through our work with Caucasus Heritage Watch,” said Adam T. Smith, Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Anthropology (A&S) and director of the Cornell Institute for Archaeology and Material Studies. “It is clear that archaeological and heritage sites are facing an historical inflexion point where global efforts to preserve are losing to concerted efforts to destroy. These efforts to erase elements of the past are closely tied to the new rise of authoritarian states and intolerant regimes, which destroy heritage sites in order to eliminate inconvenient historical facts.”

Read the full story on The College of Arts & Sciences website.