The Mediaeval and Modern Archaeology of Bosnia Herzegovina Reflecting the Country’s Political Dimension and Issues Relating to Social Identity since 1990

Abstract

This article presents the current medieval and modern archaeological studies of Bosnia-Herzegovina and places them in the context of the political influence, group identities and their general social significance. For this purpose, a total of 58 excavation projects, which were undertaken up to the middle of 2016, have been compiled and compared with each other in terms of the respective subject areas, regions and background in the context of the excavations as well as the different structures within the country. The museum facilities in BiH, the condition of architectural and cultural monuments, as well as the relationships between the archaeologists and the search conditions are also considered here. Finally, the need for a global and non-national historical science, and especially archaeology, is emphasized. Historians must become more politically active, especially in matters of propagated religious, ethnic and allegedly predetermined social differences, and they have to defend a strong position against unilateral cultural mediation and national archaeology.