| Summary: | Archaeology has been fundamentally entangled in colonial power dynamics and nationalist schemes. This entanglement is clearly evident in Iceland, as our discipline has been, and continues to be, a vital tool in shaping and reshaping the Icelandic national identity. Despite the increased interest in the politics of the past by Icelandic anthropologists, sociologists and folklorists, the subject has nonetheless remained somewhat elusive to archaeologists and has received little to no interest. By presenting four cases studies on archaeological remains, historical and literary sources and ethnological material, the present work aspires to fill this void. An archaeological approach to nations and nationhood begins by acknowledging the intricate relationship between materials, cultural artefacts, places and people as well as the nationalist discourses that surround them. Based on an archaeological sensitivity towards material culture and materiality, each case study is attentive to the relationality of discourses and objects, and aims to demonstrate that what enables the entanglement of archaeology with nationalism is a set of intermeshed, mutually embedded and at times overlapping histories, discourses and materialities. Within this framework, the thesis demonstrates that the materials with which archaeologists work in Iceland have always been implicated in a colonial-cum-nationalist rhetoric of civilisation and argues that the effects of this entanglement are still felt in a wide array of disciplines including archaeology. By paying an increased attention to the materials that constitute the nation together with the discourses and practices about such materials we can provide a more accurate and comprehensive interpretation of nations and nationalisms. The present thesis aims to grow an awareness of the relationship between archaeology and nationalism and inform archaeological practitioners, academics as well as the public about the inherent and complicated nature of this relationship. It also aspires to show how ...
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