Landscape archaeology as politicised space in Palestine

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The site at Et Tell is located beside the modern village of Deir Dibwan and about three kilometres east of Beitin (Bethel), atop a watershed plateau overlooking the Jordan Valley. (c) Mazen Iwaisi.

Project summary

This research project analysed the concept of politicising space as it applies to landscape archaeology in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, from 1993-2019.

Project details

Location: Palestine

Year(s): 2020

Project director(s): Mazen Iwaisi

Lead institutions and funding:

  • CBRL

Project description

This research project, which forms part of my PhD thesis, analysed the concept of politicising space as it applies to landscape archaeology in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, from 1993-2019.

The purpose was to identify structural mechanisms of selection that influence decision-making of state and non-state actors on matters of archaeological activity in Palestine. The PhD project evolved following work for more than a decade at Al-Mashhad – the Palestinian Institution for Cultural landscape Studies (PICLS) in Ramallah – when I was part of a multi-disciplinary team in landscape studies.

The PICLS team carried out several archaeology surveys across the West Bank, which aimed to investigate the modern human impact over the landscape, archaeological sites, and traditional buildings. One of the main outcomes of this research in general, and fieldwork in particular, is the evidence of the Israeli structural destruction of Palestinian landscape and archaeology. This could be seen, for example, by building the separation wall which destroyed or confiscated many archaeology sites.

Project bibliography

Iwaisi, Mazen. 2021. Landscape archaeology as politicised space in Palestine. Bulletin of the Council for British Research in the Levant 2020, p 17.

Published:07 December 2021

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