CURRENT ISSUES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Lectures: Wednesdays 15.00-17.00
Dr Laura McAtackney,
Associate Professor in Sustainable Heritage Management, Aarhus University
ARCHAEOLOGIES OF CONFLICT AND POST-CONFLICT:
THE MATERIAL MEMORY OF THE NORTHERN IRISH TROUBLES,
1968-1998-NOW
This lecture will synthesize research that has been ongoing and completed by
myself since 2004 in rela�on to the role of materials, memory and policy in
a�empts to transi�on from a conflict to post-conflict state in Northern Ireland.
The lecture will begin with contextual informa�on outlining a very brief and
abridged history of Northern Ireland from the planta�ons of the Ulster in the
early 17th century to 1998 (the year when ‘The Troubles’ are commonly
considered to have ended). The rest of the lecture will be used to discuss the
role of material culture during the conflict and the enduring role of ‘material
memory’ in both direc�ng public understandings of the past and intruding on
an official policy of not ‘dealing with the past’. The importance and changing
material presences of the case-studies of Long Kesh / Maze, so-called ‘peace
walls’ in Belfast, unofficial memorials, murals and public art in largely urban
contexts will be used to explore how material culture impacts and directs a
number of enduring legacy issues in contemporary Northern Ireland. This will
include reconciling official and unofficial narra�ves of the past, a�empts at
placemaking and how material remains disrupt the poli�cal consensus of
official forge�ng.
Wednesday, April 12 2017 15.00 - 17.00
Venue: DOELENZAAL, Universiteitsbibliotheek UvA, Singel 425,
1012 WP Amsterdam