Archaeological Sites as Space for Modern Spiritual Practice

Edited By: Raimund Karl, Jutta Leskovar

£61.99

While the destruction of archaeological sites in war often makes the headlines, lesser disputes about local heritage sites go unreported. This book focuses on conflicts between archaeological conservation and religious faiths which use archaeological heritage in their practices.

Archaeological heritage can be disputed, especially where it is important to religions and their practitioners. While the destruction of archaeological sites in war – often…

Archaeological heritage can be disputed, especially where it is important to religions and their practitioners. While the destruction of archaeological sites in war – often due to religious fervour – is frequently making the headlines, apparently lesser disputes about local heritage sites go unreported. This book focuses on these lesser, but much more frequent, potential conflicts between archaeological heritage management and conservation on the one hand, and practitioners of religious beliefs who use archaeological heritage in their practice on the other. By exploring case studies from Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Norway, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Wales, this book examines the interaction between spiritual practice and monuments conservation. This book will be of great interest to heritage professionals, archaeologists, historians, conservationists and religious practitioners alike, through its exploration of various kinds of interactions between these different heritage communities and their interests in archaeology.

Jutta Leskovar has been the Head of the Department of Pre- and Protohistory at the Upper Austrian State Museum since 2001. She studied Prehistory and History at the University of Vienna, Austria, and Heritage Studies at Bangor University, UK. She is the author of several publications about Neopaganism and archaeology.

Raimund Karl is Professor of Archaeology and Heritage at Bangor University, UK. His main research interests are Celtic archaeology, archaeological heritage management, public archaeology, and civil and human participatory rights in archaeological heritage. He has published over 20 monographs and edited volumes, over 100 major academic research papers, and numerous short articles, including several major studies of Celtic archaeology and archaeological heritage management. He is an advisor to several European Governments on matters of heritage management and law, and also advises several professional and learned societies on such matters.

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