04-19-2004, 03:22 AM
A man of Dan Peterson's knowledge and experience needs no defense from me, but allow me to weigh in here (briefly, I hope) on this contentious issue of the Varus battlefield.<br>
<br>
Though I am not a practicing archaeologist, my academic training is in archaeology. At the University of Pennsylvania, we were taught that it was not enough to learn the techniques of archaeology; the history of this discipline was, and is, regarded as important as the practicalities. So this is a topic with which I have more than passing familiarity. Anyone who believes this profession is innocent of political biases is living in Xanadu. Peterson is right--and right again--to point this out with regard to the ongoing controversy, and potential scholarly debacle, at Kalkreise. He has been scolded for not showing enough respect to the profession of archaeology. Neither archaeology nor any other profession deserves respect or disrespect. Either of those two qualities can apply only to the practitioners, not to the field itself. Some archaeologists cover themselves in glory, others in shame, but the profession stands aloof and is deserving of nothing.<br>
<br>
Anyone interested in a case study of how archaeology can be perverted for political ends is referred to the excavations at Masada, perhaps the most notorious case of evidence bending in modern archaeology. Sociologist Nachman Ben-Yehuda has written two compelling studies of this matter: <em>The Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel</em> and <em>Sacrificing Truth: Archaeology and the Myth of Masada</em>. A dispassionate reading of Ben-Yehuda's work is a bracing corrective to the euphorics in all the social sciences so desperate to see only what they want to see.<br>
<br>
I have no opinion on the reality, or lack thereof, of the Kalkreise battlefield. I simply haven't examined enough of the data to speak with confidence. However, I <em>am</em> confident that Peterson has a better handle on the frailties of human nature than some of his detractors. He also has the proper dose of cynicism toward a culture that would celebrate--even now, in the 21st century--the expulsion of Classical civilization and the perpetuation of a thousand years of barbarism. Those who point to Tacitus to support the "glories" of Arminius are fooling only themselves. Tacitus was a decent man who evidently felt profound guilt for what he believed to be his silent complicity in Domitian's judicial murders. Ever after, he condemned Rome at every turn and looked outward and sought the noble savage, centuries before Rousseau. Those desperate to put a sheen on German barbarism can choose no worse polishing rag than Tacitus. The Varus disaster was one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of western civilization. How appalling that it should now be celebrated by anyone of any nationality. And yet how amusing that the picnic might very well be held in the wrong backyard.<br>
<br>
Bill Altimari<br>
author of <em>Legion: A Novel of the Army of Rome</em><br>
<p></p><i></i>
<br>
Though I am not a practicing archaeologist, my academic training is in archaeology. At the University of Pennsylvania, we were taught that it was not enough to learn the techniques of archaeology; the history of this discipline was, and is, regarded as important as the practicalities. So this is a topic with which I have more than passing familiarity. Anyone who believes this profession is innocent of political biases is living in Xanadu. Peterson is right--and right again--to point this out with regard to the ongoing controversy, and potential scholarly debacle, at Kalkreise. He has been scolded for not showing enough respect to the profession of archaeology. Neither archaeology nor any other profession deserves respect or disrespect. Either of those two qualities can apply only to the practitioners, not to the field itself. Some archaeologists cover themselves in glory, others in shame, but the profession stands aloof and is deserving of nothing.<br>
<br>
Anyone interested in a case study of how archaeology can be perverted for political ends is referred to the excavations at Masada, perhaps the most notorious case of evidence bending in modern archaeology. Sociologist Nachman Ben-Yehuda has written two compelling studies of this matter: <em>The Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel</em> and <em>Sacrificing Truth: Archaeology and the Myth of Masada</em>. A dispassionate reading of Ben-Yehuda's work is a bracing corrective to the euphorics in all the social sciences so desperate to see only what they want to see.<br>
<br>
I have no opinion on the reality, or lack thereof, of the Kalkreise battlefield. I simply haven't examined enough of the data to speak with confidence. However, I <em>am</em> confident that Peterson has a better handle on the frailties of human nature than some of his detractors. He also has the proper dose of cynicism toward a culture that would celebrate--even now, in the 21st century--the expulsion of Classical civilization and the perpetuation of a thousand years of barbarism. Those who point to Tacitus to support the "glories" of Arminius are fooling only themselves. Tacitus was a decent man who evidently felt profound guilt for what he believed to be his silent complicity in Domitian's judicial murders. Ever after, he condemned Rome at every turn and looked outward and sought the noble savage, centuries before Rousseau. Those desperate to put a sheen on German barbarism can choose no worse polishing rag than Tacitus. The Varus disaster was one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of western civilization. How appalling that it should now be celebrated by anyone of any nationality. And yet how amusing that the picnic might very well be held in the wrong backyard.<br>
<br>
Bill Altimari<br>
author of <em>Legion: A Novel of the Army of Rome</em><br>
<p></p><i></i>
