Appropriation

Giorgio Buccellati – April 2026

Immediacy and mediation

Appropriation is the process through which the values to which archaeological data give witness are effectively “inherited” by those who are no longer privy to the direct stream of that culture. There being no more living carriers of that tradition, the task at hand is to show what the values were that operated in that tradition, so that they may resonate in our own culture.

There are degrees of transparency in how the raw data serve as witness to these values.

Immediacy. – Beauty, for example, has a universal appeal, so that a paleolithic cave painting communicates immediately to anyone who can see it. Aesthetic canons would be different for those who made them and their contemporaries. But it seems reasonable to assume that in our response there is an authentic echo of the ancient response.
Mediation. – But our response remains at best, even in the case of beauty, an echo. And there is still a need for mediation. For example, identifying the wider social context in which any given item can be situated helps us in gauging the role that a given item would have had on the individuals. Or: establishing correlations with other elements and other contexts allows us to postulate standards that regulated aesthetic choices.

Sensitivity and method

Hermenutics builds on both immediacy and mediation, and as such it aims, maieutically, to elicit experience.

In this regard, hermeneutics may seem detached from the excavation as such, hence not susceptible to grammatical analysis. To some extent, this is true: the effort at defining what heritage is and at encouraging appropriation requires a set a guidelines and of methods that go beyond epistemics as presented here, hence beyond grammar.

There is, however, an important hermeneutic dimension that must inscribed in the excavation itself, hence in the archaeological grammar that articulaztes and conveys the knowledge derived from that process.

There are two aspects in particular that must be stressed.

The first concerns the attitude one brings to the excavation. This rests on sensitivity, i. e., on the recognition of a fundamental dignity of the material excavated, and on a heightened measure of respect for the human dimension of the finds.
The second concerns method, i. e., the way in which this attitude is translated into practice: this mehod is specific to hermeneutics, hence beyond grammar, but, to some extent, it rests on categories that fall under the rubric of grammar.

The Urkesh experiment

At Mozan, we have striven to provide such mediation to ancient Urkesh in two distinct moments.

During excavation we have a lively confrontation with an audience of choice: our workmen with their families and their local communities. The goal here is to convey a sense of a past they litearlly hold in their hands on a daily basis.
The post-excavation phase, intended to last between seasons, has lasted instead, as of this writing, for fifteen years. Throughout, our effort has remained unchanged, with the unexpected result that we, too, the archaeologists, have come to feel more and more as being the inheritors of the site we have not seen physically in so long a time.

Examples from the excavation

Dignity of the dead. – When excavating sherds or samples, they are placed in plastic bags. With human remains, instead, we use a cloth which is then placed in a wooden box, as if a coffin. This elcits a sense of respect and evokes a feeling of empathy for the human dimension of the find. We could see sn indication of how this affected the local community when the need arose to move modern burials that had been placed in recent times at the site: we explained the reasons for this, and together removed and reburied the remains.
Dignity of culture. – As a routine, we met at the end of every work week for a “conference” in which explained to the workmen what had been accoplished on the excavations; these were lively events, with ample room for questions. One such session was helf by the altar of the great Temple of the Lion. As I was explaining about the ritual nature of the altar and of the objects found next to it, a workman asked: “But then, did they believe in Allah?” It was a moving moment, when the notion of relevance emerged sharply for me a wholly new dimension.
Dignity of scholarship. – I like to use this phrase to refer to the fact that simplification must not develop into paternalism. Refrence to dates would obvoiusly arise very frequently, also with external visitors: “how do you know that that this wall dates to 2250 B.C.?” That was the moment when I could explain about the importance of sections, well in evidence on the excavaionts, and protected with the same care we protect walls. A section, which appeared until then as an inconsequential scholarly detail, acquired suddenly the status of a powerful witness to a live human past.¹

Examples post-excavation

The pride of the past. – Letters from kids, Backdirt article
Identification with the place – music; projecting feelings; TPR

Notes

¹^ I would like to mention here a personal moment that seems relevant. A local businessman had given the expedition some funding at the suggestion of a foregin company which was already supporting our work. He had no interest in archaeology, and came just because he happened to be passing by the site. It was clear that this was intended as a casual courtesy call. But as we walked from one excavation unit to the next, his attitude changed and he became quite involved in what I was effectively proposing as an appropration moment. This was clear from his questions, which eventually led to one we often heard: “How long will it take you to excavate the whole site?” My standard, facetious answer was always: “at least two centuries…” And then came a question no one had asked before: “What would it take you to do it a little faster?” I had to think about it for a moment. “Well, we need more well trained staff and students, and more money.” To which came his unforgettable reply: “Well, you worry about the first, I will halp you with the second!”