Specialists: “French archaeological research deliberately obscured the authenticity of Algerian heritage – Al-Hiwar Al-Jazaeryia

Yesterday, specialists in archeology confirmed during a study day on Algerian material heritage and its African extensions at the House of Culture Abdel Majeed El Shafei in Guelma that “archaeological research carried out during the colonial period adopted intentional terminology with the aim of obscuring the authenticity of Algerian cultural heritage and its roots extending through the ages.”

Professor Mourad Zarqa, from the Department of Archeology at the University of Guelma, presented an intervention entitled “Technical Notes on the Mechanisms of Obliterating the Authenticity of Early Local Burials” in which he touched on some of the terms employed by French archaeologists in their research on archaeological sites in Algeria with the aim of legitimizing the colonial invasion of Algeria. .

Zaraqa stressed that “the choice of terms was not innocent, including the terms menhir and dolmen to express the stone tombstones and stone tables placed on the tombs in the past,” noting that the French researcher Deschulat said it explicitly in his book on antiquities in the prehistoric period completed in 1908 that Relying on the terms menhir and dolmen “makes me feel more French.”

For his part, Dr. Mohamed Fawzi Muallem from the Department of Archeology at the University of Guelma presented an intervention entitled “The Archaeological Heritage of Guelma between Originality and External Influences,” in which he indicated that French archaeological research on the region completely neglected the archaeological heritage in the rural areas that were inhabited by the indigenous people of the Numidians who knew By rejecting the Roman presence.

The meeting also featured an intervention by Dr. Riyad Dahman from the Department of Archeology at the University of Guelma under the title “Does Africa know our cultural heritage?” Through it, he called for the necessity of mobilizing specialists and officials alike in order to highlight the historical, archaeological and aesthetic value of archaeological sites in our country in a manner that expresses their true value.

W.M