Figure 1 - Work in progress at Ain Shems (Beth Shemesh)
Chloe Emmott
PhD Candidate, University of Greenwich
Photographs of archaeology allow us to examine the visual language of the colonial hierarchies which underpinned the development of archaeology as a discipline. The Mandate system placed Britain in a role of colonial tutelage and guidance over Palestine. As part of this, archaeology was encouraged by the British, and the Mandate era saw a large number of extensive excavations undertaken by teams, mostly from Europe the US. Whilst many Palestinians worked on archaeological sites, their