[ Call for Papers ]

The proposed session of the World Archaeological Congress-6 in Dublin (June 29 - July 4, 2008) has the title Liminal Archaeologies: Stories of Exile, Imprisonment and Separation.

The deadline for submissions of abstracts is February 22, 2008.

Session Outline:

Archaeology has long attempted to create narratives materialising identity, ethnicity and sense of belonging between people, things and places. This concern with the desire to identify with our wider environment is, ofcourse, a reflection of the societies that produces such archaeologies. One needs only look to the proliferation of wall murals in working class
communities in Northern Ireland - that strongly proclaim their political, religious and social affiliations, to the exclusion of 'the other' - to understand how important a sense of belonging is held. Conversely, there is a need to address those often hidden and forgotten places that the inhabitants feel little identification with: particularly where these are sites of forced inhabitation (and carry the mark of negative heritage).

Examining places of exile, imprisonment and separation can tell us different stories of alienation, deprivation and despair but also often unexpected and uplifting narratives of subversion, negotiation and ultimately victory over circumstances can be uncovered.

This session intends to explore archaeologies of alienation through a multi-source approach, with a variety of focuses from people, artefacts, places and landscapes. This session will be international in scope, with Ireland, Greece and the Caribbean included in the studies and hopes to lead to subsequent publication of the contributions.

If you would like to propose a paper for our session please submit an abstract (max. 150 words) online on http://www.ucd.ie/wac-6/ and also forward your proposal to either Laura McAtackney (laura.mcatackney@bristol.ac.uk) or Nota Pantzou (nota.pantzou@gmail.com).