Table of Contents

1: Memories cast in marble: introduction
2: The `soldiers' the `priests'. and the `hospitals for contagious diseases': the producers of archaeological matter-realities
3: From the Western to indigenous Hellenism: archaeology, antiquity, and the invention of modern Greece
4: The archaeologist as shaman the sensory national archaeology of Manolis Andronikos
5: Spartan visions: antiquity and the Metaxas dictatorship
6: The other Parthenon: antiquity and national memory at the concentration camp
7: Nostalgia for the whole: the Parthenon (or `Elgin') marbles
8: The nation in ruins? Conclusions

About the Author

Yannis Hamilakis is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Southampton.

Reviews

This book is to be welcome for the solid grounding it provides in facts that tend to be either ignored or taken for granted alike by professional archaeologists, by popularizers, and by the millions who visit archaeological sites in Greece each year...Hamilakis sets out to reintegrate the two components of his book's title, The Nation and its Ruins , and he succeeds impressively. R. Beaton, Times Literary Supplement an excellent contribution... thoretically informed [and]... a great read. Madeleine Hummer, Antiquity ...theoretically informed, yet clearly written; it is an important contribution. David Sutton, Professor of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University ... intellectually engaging, captivating in its dexterous use of narrative, and skillfully mines ethnohistoric texts. Jack L. Davis, Carl W. Blegen Professor of Greek Archaeology, Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati We have been waiting for a book like this for years. Alain Schnapp, Professor of Greek Archaeology at the Sorbonne a remarkable contribution to a growing body of work. Michael Llewellyn Smith, The Anglo-Hellenic Review ... a wonderful book...Hamilakis is known, not only within archaeology, for his radically inter-disciplinary work. D. Papanikolaou, Ta Nea ...an in-depth enquiry into the role which material remains play in constructing a certain imagery of the past in Greece...By focusing on the materiality of ruins themselves, Hamilakis adds an important dimension to our understanding of the sources of nationalist identities. L. Vournelis, South European Society and Politics The first serious study of the cultural role of archaeology in Greek society D. Plantzos, Syghrona Themata A stimulating book...This volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in the modern use of the past in Greece. M. Diaz-Andreu, Nations and Nationalism Hamilakis raises a series of important and interesting issues...It is certainly the first time this subject has been analysed in book length and from the perspective of such an updated theoretical framework. A. Sakellariadi, Public Archaeology