The Centre of Archaeology will join an international team of experts to examine the history and legacies of twentieth century internment camps.

Funded by the HERA Uses of Past programme, ‘Accessing Campscapes: Inclusive Strategies for Using European Conflicted Heritage’ (iC-ACCESS) looks at traces of the 20th century mass violence and terror, as tangible reminders of the “age of extremes”. Starting from the issue of materiality, the project will relate forensic research, archaeological practices and historical truth-finding to memory works, narratives and museum display. The project will evaluate key campscapes across Europe: Westerbork (The Netherlands), Treblinka (Poland), Falstad (Norway), Jasenovac/Donja Gradina (Croatia/Republika Srpska), Bergen-Belsen (Germany), the former Roma camps Lety and Hodonin (Czech Republic), and the former uranium Gulag Labor camps in the Jáchymov region (Czech Republic). iC-ACCESS will address the future role of the camps as monuments of the 20th ‘century of camps’ in the dynamic context of the European process of integration and the current age of (financial, geopolitical and refugee) crisis.

Staff from the Centre of Archaeology at Staffordshire University will collaborate with experts from the University of Amsterdam, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, University of West Bohemia Pilsen, Freie Universität Berlin and Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona to work on the project. The project also benefits from the support of ten associate partners relevant for the  sites: the Bergen Belsen Memorial, the Lidice Memorial, Postbellum, The Westerbork Memorial Center, Museum of Struggle and Martyrdom in Treblinka, Falstad Memoria and Human Rights Museum,Jasenovac Memorial Museum,Vojna Memorial Lesetice and the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies.

The grant, which totals just under 1.2 million Euros, will be used to fund the project for three years (2016-2019).

Read more about iC-ACCESS on the Projects page.