L’archéologie, une affaire publique : les enjeux de la réglementation et du financement

Abstract

As an introduction to this special issue, my contribution outlines the heuristic issues formulated by the organizers of the workshop in Neuchâtel and stresses their relevance within the current research context in history of archaeology. The comparisons made at the international level reveal strong disparity of the regulatory and financial regimes of archaeological practice since the 19th century. From country to country and from region to region these significant differences mirror the very circumstantial establishment of the steering instruments in European archaeology. Testifying to the fragile status of the field, this statement nonetheless can be interpreted in a positive way in order to highlight the responsibility of the archaeologists. At the historical level, it indeed appears that the progresses made on these weak bases in the legal and financial fields are generally the result of focused efforts agreed on by a few professionals in archaeological politics. In addition, history of research shows that beyond their technocratic appearances, these developments often had a major epistemological impact on archaeology.

Keywords

• épistémologie de l'archéologie
• epistemology of archaeology
• financement de l'archéologie
• funding of archaeology
• histoire de l'archéologie
• history of archaeology