History
Digging Deep: Archaeologists and American Foreign Relations in a World of Empire, 1880-1945
My dissertation explores the intersections of American archaeological projects and foreign relations across time, space, and political context. When the Archaeological Institute of America formed in 1879, the small coterie of cultural elites behind it only dreamed of rivaling their European counterparts. By the outbreak of the Second World War, however, American archaeologists had established themselves as the leading authorities on excavation worldwide. The number of digs conducted by every other nation paled in comparison. How and why did this happen? Why were Americans so interested in exhuming the remnants of civilizations in far-flung parts of globe? And what agendas did they advance, both intentionally and unintentionally, in the process? Answering these questions requires the recognition that archaeological research and foreign relations were inextricably linked in three ways. First, American archaeologists relied on the support of U.S government to protect and advance their interests at home and abroad; in return, they offered their skills to various state projects. While this relationship was initially improvised, it developed into an increasingly formalized arrangement, culminating in a government program to protect monuments during World War II. Second, American archaeologists depended upon and helped shape imperial structures around the globe. While sovereign nations tended to restrict foreign access to antiquities, Americans quickly learned that empires were more amenable to their agenda and strived to shape those political regimes for their own ends. And third, archaeologists drove American cultural investments in the world by redefining what constituted Americans’ heritage. Instead of focusing on narrowly defined narratives of nationhood, archaeologists encouraged Americans to think of themselves as belonging to Western, pan-American, Judeo-Christian, and global communities. Through assertions of shared antiquities, archaeologists helped Americans stake claims to the world, its history, and its future.