In archaeology, more than any other discipline, researchers working in the field must work and cooperate with colleagues from many nations and cultures. Excavations are almost always multinational affairs employing several different disciplines. Often they involve archaeologists from rich nations investigating the ancient cultures of poor ones. All this is a source of potential conflict, and archaeology in the past has suffered everything from accusations of looting and exploitation of local cultures to rows between rival academics over who should have access to a site.
As an archaeologist specialising in the Roman empire, Ian Haynes’s work has taken him to…
