Archaeology and the Portuguese Authoritarian Regime: The Municipal Commissions for Art and Archaeology (20 min)
Presenters
Beatriz Barros, Indiana University Bloomington
Abstract
The past is powerful.
Archaeologists and governments alike know this. Authoritarian regimes, in
particular, have co-opted archaeological sites and artifacts, pushing
interpretations that fit their ideologies. Consequently, authoritarian regimes
usually try to keep the past under tight control. In one such attempt,
Portugal’s authoritarian regime, the conservative and nationalist Estado Novo
(1933–1974), tried to establish a nationwide network of commissions dedicated
to overseeing any archaeological, historical, or artistic monuments. These
commissions, the Municipal Commissions for Art and Archaeology (MCAAs,
Comissões Municipais de Arte e Arqueologia, in the original), were supposed to
be the basis of the government hierarchy—the eyes and ears of the central
government on the ground—in matters of cultural heritage.
In this paper, I present the
project that I have been developing over the past two years, dedicated to these
MCAAs. The goals of the project are to determine how many MCAAs existed, what activities
they carried out in relation to archaeology and cultural heritage, whether they
contributed to the strengthening of the regime at the local level, and whether
there is any influence of these MCAAs on the development of Portuguese
archaeology since the end of the dictatorship. The main source of evidence used
is the documentation (minutes, reports, correspondence, etc.) produced by the
MCAAs in the different municipalities. In addition, interviews with people who
were members of the MCAAs were conducted to supplement the archival evidence.
Thanks to these efforts, it
was possible to determine that the regime failed in this ambitious attempt at
control. Albeit required by law, only about half of the municipalities
established MCAAs. And, of those, only a small fraction actually met regularly
and fulfilled their responsibilities. Nevertheless, some MCAAs were crucial to
the preservation of certain archaeological sites and artifacts that would
otherwise have been lost, as this study has shown.
AIA-5F