Peleliu 1944: The Archaeology of a South Pacific D-Day

Abstract

In September 1944, US Marines invaded the tiny Micronesian island of Peleliu in the Palau group, held by the Japanese. It would become one of the worst battles of the Pacific War, but the struggle for Peleliu was afterwards largely overlooked in the public consciousness in favour of the better- known conflicts on Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. Tourist impact on the island, with its community of only six hundred native Palauans, poses acute issues of heritage management relating not only to the integrity of the sites but also to the hazards of unexploded ordnance that is present in massive quantities. This paper presents the preliminary results of an archaeological investigation of the best-preserved battlefield of the Pacific theatre.     

Body as weapon: the archaeology of a war victim’s narrative

ABSTRACT

The soldier's body is the most important subject of violence and destruction in war. Humans live primarily through their body in the material world, and when the body is destroyed, their whole existence is affected, both physically and non-physically. Therefore, the first locus on which we can observe the effects of war and violence is the human body, mainly soldiers. In modern wars, the soldier’s body is combined with weapons and machines of war, but is also the first target of killing whether in attack or defence. On the one hand it is targeted and killed, but on the other hand the body itself targets and kills. In warfare, bodies are trained to be the mechanism of killing and they are employed on battlefields according to the political objectives of their sovereign power. Thus, the soldier’s body becomes a weapon separated from the individual human body by the political authority.     

'Away From Tokyo': The Pacific Islands war crimes trials, 1945-1949

Over the years, a certain mantra has arisen in academic circles involving the post-World War II war crimes trials. Nuremberg, it is said, was a needed display of 'allied justice' and 'democratic fair play'. The Tokyo and Pacific region trials were exercises in 'victor's justice' and 'racism'. Accenting the determined, precedent-setting work of the Pacific Islands war crimes trials on Guam, 'Away from Tokyo' argues that justice was served well there. Evil should never go unpunished. Based on archival research at the Micronesian Area Research Center the US Territory of Guam, Stanford University and the Douglas MacArthur Memorial Archives, this paper examines the good work of both the prosecution and defence teams on Guam. Few trial participants viewed their efforts as part of a larger conspiracy of revenge and racism. In fact, that conspiracy never existed. 'Away from Tokyo' attempts to set the record straight, and re-examines some dramatic cases at the same time.     

Island Networks and Missionary Methods: Locating Charles E. Fox and Frederick G. Bowie in the History of Pacific Archaeology

ABSTRACT

‘Missionary’ and ‘archaeology’ may appear incongruous partners within contemporary archaeological practice, but archival, museum and oral sources reveal historical connections. This paper explores two missionaries, active in the western Pacific from 1896 to 1973. Reverends Charles Elliot Fox (Melanesian Mission, Solomon Islands) and Frederick Gatherer Bowie (Free Church of Scotland Mission, Vanuatu) both conducted studies related to the prehistory and migration of Pacific people. Both produced material assemblages, as well as textual and visual documents, and formed ideas influenced by their own networks and self identities. The paper examines their data collection methods and relationships with others, considering particularly how their relationships with Pacific Islanders and with psychologist and ethnologist W.H.R. Rivers influenced the missionary research process. By understanding these aspects of their work, Fox and Bowie can be placed within a broader genealogy of Anglophone missionary archaeology dating back to the late 18th century.     

Ahvola 1918: Archaeological Reconnaissance of a Finnish Civil War Battlefield

Abstract

The Finnish Civil War (1918) has received very little attention from the archaeologists until recently. This paper describes the first archaeological investigation of a Civil War battlefield in the Karelian Isthmus, nowadays northwest Russia. The battlefield of Ahvola, which saw one of the decisive battles of the war, was surveyed briefly in November 2007. With relatively little subsequent landuse, the general landscape has remained roughly similar to that of the early twentieth century, and the remains of field fortifications have been preserved unexpectedly well. Thus the fields of Ahvola hold high potential for more widespread archaeological studies in future. The present survey, along with two earlier surveys of Finnish Civil War battlefields, provides important base data for future research on the subject.     

Nails,tacks, and hinges: the archaeology of Camp Monticello,a World War II prisoner of war camp

ABSTRACT

“Provost Marshall General does not concur in the construction of outdoor dance floors at Monticello Internment Camp … Outdoor dance floors would be of no use at an internment camp,” the brigadier general responded to the chief of engineers in 1943. Camp Monticello, located in southeast Arkansas, was an Italian prisoner of war camp constructed according to a set of standardized building plans. Despite the brigadier general’s insistence that Camp Monticello “conform as far as possible to the standard plan,” archaeological research that combines archival research with a metal detector survey shows that the plans were influenced by local politics, access to materials, environmental conditions, and the everyday activities of the prisoners of war.     

Transformations: Post-Battle Processes on the Hürtgenwald Battlefield

Abstract

This paper uses the 1944 Hürtgenwald battlefield on the German-Belgian border as a case study to reflect upon two issues: what contributions to an understanding of post-battle transformations are made by an analysis of Second World War battlefields; and how an archaeological approach can help understand the Hürtgenwald battlefield. The analysis presented here discusses what actually happens with a modern battlefield after the killing is over and how such post-battle processes alter the way such a site is interpreted. In this respect, a battlefield from World War II reveals the transformations to which battlefields are subjected and provides a well-documented model case to study the effect of post-battle processes on conflict landscapes.     

The Impacts of Indonesia's Civil War and the US–Soviet Tug of War over Indonesia on Australia's Diplomacy Towards West New Guinea

From 1958 onwards, the Amsterdam–Jakarta dispute on the determination of sovereignty over the western half of New Guinea began to be affected by the developments of Indonesia's civil war and the tug of war between the US and the Soviet Union over Indonesia. This paper explains how this influenced Australia's WNG diplomacy.

It argues that the major impact of Indonesia's internal war and of the US–Russian tug of war was that they destroyed Australia's assumption that the Dutch would maintain its presence in the Pacific permanently. The second principal impact was that Indonesia's internal war and the Washington–Moscow tug of war urged Canberra to set another new objective in relation to the WNG dispute, and produced a new policy for the achievement of this objective. With the outbreak of an Indonesian–Dutch war over Netherlands New Guinea becoming a real possibility, Australia set the avoidance of the war and the prevention of Indonesia falling into the communist orbit as another new objective. In order to keep a war from occurring in the Southwest Pacific, Canberra developed a policy of appeasing Jakarta.     

Towards an Archaeology of Recent Conflict in Western Great Lakes Africa

Abstract

This paper proposes an archaeology of recent conflict in western Great Lakes Africa as a means to give volume to subaltern voices marginalized within and since the conflicts, to produce alternative historical narratives and thus create a more nuanced understanding of war and its aftermath in this region. In addition, by drawing upon emerging theoretical and methodological frameworks in contemporary archaeology, this paper proposes that a politically and socially engaged participatory approach to the material remains of the past may also contribute toward cathartic post-conflict local resident healing and academic understandings regarding the contemporary construction of post-conflict identities. In so doing, the paper presents a survey of prominent conflict remains and discusses their suitability for archaeological approaches, focusing upon one site, Pabbo, an Internally Displaced Person camp in Northern Uganda.     

Archaeology,assistance, and aggression along the Euphrates: reflections from Raqqa

ABSTRACT

This paper traces the cultural missions and salvage archaeology programs along the Euphrates River around Raqqa from the 1950s onwards. We suggest that the varied investments from international expeditions, conservation programs, and technical assistance in Syria have an important, untold history that is relevant to recent developments and conflicts in northern Syria. We explore the intersecting practices of archaeology and assistance, illuminated by archives drawn from international agencies such as UNESCO, as well as companies, consultants, bureaucrats, and archaeologists. Our focus is upon foreign intervention around imperiled heritage, considering not only internal politics but also UNESCO’s 1960s shift from fully funded campaigns to global appeals reliant on foreign governments, corporations, and universities. The outsourcing of salvage allowed specific patrons – national and international – to privilege particular pasts; and it is these histories and legacies that further require us to reassess the place of Raqqa in the current civil war.     

‘Faced With Courage’: Interpreting and Presenting Sites of African American Heritage to the Public

Abstract

Archaeological sites involving African American history and life often remain un-interpreted or are poorly interpreted because it can be difficult for Americans to confront a deeply painful history of enslavement, racism, segregation, exploitation of labour, disenfranchisement, and displacement. In this article, I discuss specific case studies of archaeological sites representative of great injustices in American history and efforts to present these events, and the people who lived through them, through public interpretation.     

The Battle of Agincourt: An Alternative location?

Abstract

The recent publicity surrounding the proposed construction of a wind farm close to the Medieval Agincourt battlefield in France has provoked an outcry suggesting that, once again, a European historic battlefield is at risk. A recent archaeological survey on the Agincourt battlefield has, however, failed to find positive artefactual evidence of the conflict on the officially designated battlefield site. Using the available historical and archaeological data from Agincourt and evidence from the successfully surveyed Medieval battlefield at Towton, England, an interpretation can be proposed, which highlights an alternative location for the French-English battle of 1415. Unfortunately, if this hypothesis was confirmed it is possible that, in attempting to protect an incorrect site, the correct site is more likely to be left unprotected and might eventually be destroyed.     

A quantitative assessment of intraspecific morphological variation in Gahagan bifaces from the southern Caddo area and central Texas

ABSTRACT

This investigation aggregates intact or reconstructed Gahagan bifaces from the southern Caddo area and central Texas to test the hypothesis that Gahagan biface morphology differs between the regions. The Gahagan bifaces (n=102) were scanned, then analyzed using a novel landmarking protocol and the tools of geometric morphometrics. Results provide a preview of the significant differences in Gahagan biface morphology expressed between the southern Caddo area and central Texas regions. The size discrepancy represents an inversion of current theoretical constructs that posit a decrease in tool size thought to articulate with an increase in distance from the raw material source. It is posited that the contrasting morphologies represent two discrete communities of practice; one (emergent Caddo horticulturalists) where Gahagan bifaces were enlisted primarily for burial and ritualistic activities, and the other (central Texas hunter-gatherers) where Gahagan bifaces were utilized over a longer time span in more practical and utilitarian contexts.     

Wartime everydayness: beyond the battlefield in China’s Second World War

ABSTRACT

This article suggests that the study of the War of Resistance against Japanese aggression should pay due attention to the effect of the war on the wartime everyday, that is, on Chinese culture, politics, society, and the economy away from the battlefield. Not only was the impact deep and enduring, but evolving, regionally and socially divergent responses to the war also shaped the war’s military. In modern war, as Karl von Clausewitz pointed out, public morale is a key factor in deciding the outcome of the fighting. The article first sketches the war’s impact on the Chinese economy, suggesting that the main consequences were “demodernization” and the revival of traditional trading patterns. It then discusses the reading lives of a young woman who grew up during the war and a senior Nationalist official to delineate contrasting emotional private responses, with one person finding in literature an inspirational alternative and the other becoming increasingly disillusioned. The article concludes with an examination of three popular history textbooks. They all stressed the importance of an awareness of Chinese civilization but narrated its nature and its prospects in contrasting ways. Such textbooks were used in required Chinese history courses at universities. The article makes no attempt to be comprehensive but instead uses a few examples as illustrations of the potential of researching wartime everydayness.     

Simulating archaeologists? Using agent-based modelling to improve battlefield excavations

The study of material culture generated by military engagements has created an emergent sub-discipline of archaeological studies centred on battlefields. This approach has developed a particular and sophisticated methodology that is able to deal with the fact that archaeologists will often not find either structures or a useful stratigraphical record on the site, as the material remains of the battle will basically be metallic objects carried by combatants. It is therefore rather complicated not only to test hypotheses about battle events based on archaeological data, but also to validate the methodology used. Here we propose the use of agent-based models to explore these issues in the case of eighteenth-century battlefield archaeology. The simulation is divided into four different steps. Firstly, a battle is simulated in order to generate realistic virtual archaeological remains left by an engagement between two armies of this era. We then simulate the loss of information that the passing of time produces in the battlefield. The third step involves simulating the archaeological survey, enabling us to explore different survey strategies and the impact on the interpretation of the event itself. Finally, we design a confidence index in order to compare the results of the different virtual excavations using spatial analysis and statistics. The results show that the methodology is fully functional in terms of understanding a battle, and it allows us to suggest new strategies to improve fieldwork and to develop new ways of exploring these particular archaeological sites. It is concluded that the described approach illustrates how simulation can be used to explore methodological issues of archaeological science.     

Religion,Greed, and the Insanity of War

Abstract

This article quantifies only a brief encounter with the violent intersection of religion, business, and war. It surveys war in the modern world by including the following topics: the effects of war such as environmental degradation; psychological costs, including post-traumatic stress syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome; violence against females; children at war; costs of war; causes of war and globalization. It wonders if there is such a thing as a killer-instinct that needs an antidote. Several religions from East and West, violent and non-violent, are discussed against the backdrop of war noting the presence of warrior gods and sacrifice. Finally the economic and pseudo-creative benefits of war are summarized. Selvidge poses a final question to readers, "How can we change the direction of a world gone mad?"     

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's effort of retreat and the ending of the East Asian War

Abstract

During the second stage of the East Asian War, Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豐臣秀吉 hopefully sought to make an honorable exit, but the Choson 朝鮮 formulated a unique diplomatic strategy that brought the Ming to the battlefield, and there was no way for Toyotomi Hideyoshi's retreat and attempts at peace talks to be successful. In the end, the war concluded with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death from illness and the retreat of the Japanese army in defeat, and the international order established between China and Korea was maintained.     

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Flinders Petrie was one of the earliest excavators to recognise that all archaeological material had research potential, and pursued a whole range of artefact types as the key to understanding past cultures. But what impact did the way in which he excavated have on the rate at which objects were discovered, and the condition in which they were found? And how important was it to him that the objects he acquired were closely linked to the physical and chronological landscape of his sites? This article looks at Petrie's field practices to try and answer some of these questions, with particular attention being paid to the relationship between Petrie and his workforce, his object collection policies, and some of the failings experienced in recording object provenance. These issues are critical to those who wish to make use of these objects to answer current questions about the ancient Near East—because it is only by understanding the way in which this material was recovered that we can begin to judge how it should be used in the present day.     

Scuttled in the Morning: the discoveries and surveys of HMS Warrior and HMS Sparrowhawk,the Battle of Jutland's last missing shipwrecks

Due to the circumstances of the loss of HMS Warrior and HMS Sparrowhawk in 1916, in which subsequent to disablement both had drifted and been towed unknown distances from the Jutland battlefield, they were not located in the 2015 Jutland survey. In August 2016 both ships were located and HMS Warrior was revealed to be a pristine warship wreck, the only example in this condition of the 25 ships sunk in the battle. HMS Sparrowhawk had a similar pattern of disturbance as seven of the other Battle of Jutland destroyer wrecks. The survey of these wrecks draws to a conclusion a long period of discovery at Jutland and raises questions as to how these important cultural artefacts should be treated in the future.