“To hell with everything”: Post-war nationalism and the “Old Slavic Sanctuary” at Ptuj Castle, Slovenia

Abstract

The large post-war archaeological excavations at Ptuj Castle in Yugoslavia were responsible for what seemed at the time to be one of the most intriguing discoveries in Eastern Europe. Excavated after the German occupation, the archaeologists and anthropologists had a mission to prove the existence of early medieval Slavic settlement of the disputed border areas in response to the Germanization policy and its supporting archaeological theories during World War II. Conscious of their role, archaeologists and anthropologists argued for the Slavic nature of artefacts and skeletons against the former German claims. Thus, the excavated structure, the robber trenches of a tower, notoriously (mis)interpreted as an ‘old Slavic sanctuary’, can only be understood in its post-war state- and nation-building context. Working with the same artefacts, archaeological research techniques under the veil of Fascism, Nazism and Communism were strikingly similar, but the interpretations of results were diametrically opposed. As has been pointed out, archaeology and anthropology served the prevailing political ideology. Political transitions, mixed with opportunistic behavior and personal animosities among archaeologists, influenced archaeological analyses and interpretations. Many archaeologists and anthropologists compensated for their mid-war activities by closely following the post-war nationalist agenda. This generally happened without any direct pressure from above.