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Book: Community Archaeology in Israel/Palestine

Chapter: Community Archaeology before Community Archaeology? Dhahr el-Mazra‘a (Nahariya) and Kfar Bar’am

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.44988

Blurb:

This article is a study of a unique excavation undertaken in 1941 in Nahariya, a town on the northern coast of Israel/Palestine (then under the British Mandate). In a sense, it was community archaeology before “community archaeology”. I review the nature of this excavation, try to identify all the volunteers who took part in it, and discuss its results. I also compare it to an initiative of Palestinian villagers at nearby Kfar Bar‘am, aimed at taking care of the ancient synagogue there. The discussion leads to a broad definition of community archaeology, namely, the archaeology of a past community, by a living community, for a living community.

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