Gilly Carr (University of Cambridge, UK)

This aim of this paper is to launch the concept of ‘Occupation Archaeology’, introducing it to a wider audience. Using the case study of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during WWII, I will explore the main features of this new sub-discipline of Conflict Archaeology, explaining the importance of a multi-faceted approach involving material culture, landscape and heritage.

The significance of material culture in particular, and its position as a carrier or receptacle of cultural memory, will be stressed in this paper. Artefacts have the power to speak of the experience of being occupied, and can thus inform us about many aspects of that experience, such as the unequal power relationship between the occupiers and the occupied; resistance, coexistence and collaboration with the occupiers; oppression; the shortage of food and fuel; and the experience and fear of being watched.