On the Iraq border archaeological digs are a minefield in every sense

At the ancient site of Charax Spasinou, military activity has left an indelible mark. Should it be viewed as modern damage – or as an important record of historical events?

Mary Shepperson
Wednesday 22 November 2017 10.27 EST

- click for image -

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/22/is-conflict-damage-really-damage-archaeology-iran-iraq-war#img-1

Drone photo of the ancient walls of Charax Spasinou. During the Iran-Iraq war the top of the wall was cut by infantry trenches, the southern side of the wall has emplacements for vehicles and artillery. Behind the wall is a fan of machine gun positions connected by a system of trenches. Photograph: Stuart Campbell/Courtesy of the Charax Spasinou Project


Modern conflict archaeology, the study of 20th and 21st century conflicts, is a new and slightly uncomfortable discipline in the world of archaeology. It’s problematic in a number of ways. Firstly, very little of it involves what most people would recognise as archaeology – digging up cultural material from the ground for study. Most of the material legacies of modern conflicts remain above ground and embedded in current society, necessitating a more anthropological, interdisciplinary approach. Secondly, the time periods under study are often within living memory, and often remain highly contentious within the affected regions. This means that modern conflict archaeology can be a political minefield – as well as an actual minefield.

I’m currently working in Iraq down in Basra province at the two thousand-year-old city of Charax Spasinou, founded by Alexander the Great in 324 BC. Thirty years ago, however, the site was home to thousands of Iraqi soldiers. The Iran-Iraq war was dragging towards its end, both sides exhausted by the waves of offensives which had made 1987 the war’s bloodiest year. That spring the Siege of Basra had cost the lives of at least 60,000 Iranian and 20,000 Iraqi soldiers.

Charax Spasinou wasn’t the only archaeological site re-occupied during the eight-year conflict. The border area between Iran and Iraq is phenomenally rich in archaeology, and archaeological sites often made the best defensive positions – rising ground into which earthworks could be dug. There’s hardly an ancient tell in eastern Iraq that doesn’t have the remains of an artillery emplacement or observation post dug into the top of it. At Charax Spasinou it was the ancient city’s still imposing ramparts which led to the site being incorporated into the Iraqi defensive lines north of Basra.

The surviving mudbrick ramparts on the northern and eastern sides of the city (conveniently the directions from which Iranian attacks were most likely) stand to a height of up to eight metres above the flat alluvial plain and run for almost 3.5km. When the Iraqi army arrived, engineers refortified Charax Spasinou for modern warfare. At least 45 gaps were punched through the upper level of the ancient walls, with ramps of debris on the inner side so that tanks and artillery could be embedded in the ramparts. Along the top of the ancient walls, infantry positions were dug into the mudbrick and connected by trenches running behind them along the reverse slope. At least 199 of these dugouts are still visible on the top of the ramparts, each big enough for between two and four men. In some areas the remains of sandbags can still be seen emerging from the silt.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/nov/22/is-conflict-damage-really-damage-archaeology-iran-iraq-war