Conference in Paris aims to focus on the role of migrations from an archaeological point of perspective and to contribute to reorient the scholarly – and perhaps – political debates.
In July 2015 37.525 people applied for asylum in Germany, while only 5735 applied in France (Eurostat Asylum Quarterly report 16th September 2015). It seems refugees and migrants currently moving through Europe are steering clear of France, which is perceived as not offering the quality of housing and support akin to what has (so-far) been provided in Germany or further North (in Scandinavia). To this should be added the rumour of massive red tape destroying the chances of the two holy grails: family reunion and a job. Another reason might be the impression that France is hostile towards immigrants and refugees, as witnessed by the political impact of Front Nationale and Marine le Pen.
It is in this highly volatile political climate the National Archaeological Organisation, Inrap, has decided to organise a conference with the theme “The Archaeology of Migrations”. The idea is to confront archaeological, historical, geographic and demographic data from different periods and places. In view of this, the ambition is to move beyond a simple observation of large-scale population movements, by looking at the points of contact between migrants and their host societies, writes the organisers. In short, the vision is obviously to augment the rather stereotype image of what migrations are all about.
The programme offers a panoply of papers reaching from early prehistory into modern times. However, especially two papers concerning migrations of the Goths in the 5th century and the Scandinavians (Vikings) in the 9th and 10th centuries are noteworthy.
Both aim to confront the received wisdom that these migratory movements left no archaeological traces since both groups of migrants until now has been regarded as busy adopting to the local culture inside a generation. Instead it will be outlined how recent archaeological excavations have been able to provide much more nuanced sets of ideas of what actually took place.
Thus it appears that the Goths – as opposed to the received scholarly wisdom – may be “found” in cemeteries in South-Western France: St. Laurent-des-Hommes and at Mouraut, South of Toulouse . But also that it is possible, according to Jean-Luc Boudartchouk, to show how they “disappeared” after the battle of Vouillé AD 507. In the same way Vincent Carpentier aims to demonstrate through renewed reflection upon the archaeological evidence, what actually went on in Normandy during the period of the Viking diaspora.
Archaeology of Migrations
Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration
Palais de la Porte Dorée 293 avenue Daumesnil 75012 Paris
12.11.2015 – 13.11.2015
Programme:
- Opening Adress by Dominique Garcia, President of Inrap, and Benjamin Stora, President of the Advisory Board of the Museum of Immigration History.
- Introduction to methodology
“Migrant typologies”,
by Hervé le Bras, INED-EHESS
“The construction of migration theories”
by Jean-Paul Demoule, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne
“European settlement as observed through paleogenomics”
by Eva-Maria Geigl, Institut Jacques Monod CNRS
- Prehistoric Migrations (Palaeolithic et Neolithic)
Migrations are inseparable from the behaviour of the Homo genus. They explain how, through two major successive expansions out of Africa, this branch of primates was able to progressively take over the planet and in doing so eradicate a great number of living species. The domestication of animals and plants, and the resulting demographic explosion, further accelerated this process. This session will provide an overview of the issues concerning this first period of human history.
“Homo, the great migrating ape”
by Pascal Picq, Collège de France
“Human migrations and prehistory”
by Peter Bellwood, Australian National University
“Homo sapiens meet the Neanderthal in Europe”
by Jean-Jacques Hublin, Max Planck, Institute
“The Neolithic colonisation of Europe tempered by LBK culture (5550-4950 BC)”
by Jérome Dubouloz, CNRS
“Migrations and language replacement: farming-language dispersal and the Anatolian hypothesis”
by Colin Renfrew, university of Cambridge
- Migrations and Mobility in Ancient History
The question of migrations during the period of Ancient History was for a long time treated as a study of different forms of colonisation, which were more or less assimilated, or which were placed in opposition to the Modern and Contemporary European expansion into other continents. Over the last three decades, renewed interrogations have led to the construction of new paradigms focusing more on small-scale and even individual, rather than collective, movements and flows. Whether concerning individuals or rather small or large-scale groups, the phenomenon left a mark on Greek, Roman and extra-Mediterranean societies as of the 2nd millennium, at times by favouring the creation of mixed identities which differentiated themselves from the “central” models and embraced their own specificities. This session seeks to shed light on such methods.
“The creation of the Celtic entity: migration or acculturation?”
by Patrice Brun, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
“The Etruscans: What origins?”
by Vincenzo Bellelli, Italian Reseach Coucil (Cnr)
“The construction of diasporic identities in everyday life: material cultures, practices and memory in Western Phoenician communities”
by Ana Delgado, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona
“The control of human mobility during the Roman Empire”
by Claudia Moatti, University of Southern California
“Lapita Migration, Austronesian populations and the first settlements in remote Oceania”
by Christophe Sand, Institute of Archaeology of New Caledonia and the Pacific
“The Bantu Expansion: a new overview”
by Augustin Holl, Université Paris-Ouest Nanterre
- Migrations during the Medieval and Modern periods
Questions surrounding migration have long been a part of the major paradigms of medieval archaeology. Today, a critical re-examination of the archaeological and anthropological sources, but also of the written and linguistic data, opens up space for a renewed debate and for an elucidation of certain areas. Looked at through a long-term perspective, the new scenarios concerning population movements shed light on cultural, political, economic and religious change processes. The modesty of some archaeological remains nevertheless calls into question the nature of events and the limitations of sources. This session will therefore give an overview of new theories and interpretations, but also of the methodologies with regards to the Medieval and Modern periods.
“The ‘Great Invasions’: sources, methods and ideology”
by Bruno Dumézil, Université Paris-Ouest Nanterre,
“Barbarian migrations and their archaeological traces: the example of South-West Gaul in the 5th century”
by Jean-Luc Boudartchouk, Inrap
“Scandinavian immigration onto the continent in the 10th century: archaeology of the invisible”
by Vincent Carpentier, Inrap
“Presence, evictions and reconstitutions of Jewish communities in France”
by Paul Salmona, Museum of Jewish Art and History
“The Arab-Muslim presence in the regions of Languedoc and Provence during the Middle Ages”
by Marc Terrisse, Centre de Recherches Historiques de l’Ouest – CNRS
“Emancipation or integration? Migration rights from French colonies towards mainland France in the age of slavery”
by Sue Peabody, Washington State University Vancouver
- Contemporary Migrations
Migration encompasses a great variety of situations, whether temporary or definitive, individual or in groups, from one urban area to another or from one continent to another, free or forced, regular or not. The written and, even more so, the material traces which they leave are all but non-existent in the lands of origin, rare at the point of passage and inspection, diverse and especially fragile at the place of destination. Even in the latter case, a situation of illegality or a desire to assimilate can lead to their disappearance. However, when migrations are organised by the State or by private organisations, or when communities with a shared origin are maintained, it is possible to re-establish the archaeological remnants, as the presentations in this session will demonstrate.
“Mobile societies and rooted societies: a geographical history of mobility in the Old World”
by Christian Grataloup, Sciences Po Paris
“From Africa to the Americas: the archaeology of the transatlantic slave trade and the African diaspora”
by Theresa Singleton, Syracuse University
“The ‘Italian’ cemetery of the Crottes area in Marseille: between integration and exclusion”
by Anne Richier and Nicolas Weydert, Inrap
“An archaeology of ‘indentured servitude’: history, society and culture of contract workers and their descendants on the island of Mauritius”
by Krish Seetah, Stanford University
“Cultures in contact: global migrations during the second millennium”
by Dirk Hoerder, University of Arizona
- Conclusions: “What archaeology of migrations do we have today?”