ABSTRACT
The European experience shows that the past and archaeology are socially embedded while retaining a commitment to scientific methodological rigour. The European theoretical archaeological scene may be increasingly lively but it is also based on different assumptions from North American processual archaeology. The ideology of the regime was based to a large extent on the glorification of the past, and on the identification with those same 'glorious' traditions. European archaeologists were often sceptical of the anthropological theories espoused by processual archaeologists. But there was a need for processual methodologies. Kossinna unit stationed within the territory of the Reich was supposed to have a Germanic excavation in the area to act as a cultural focus of 'German greatness'. The purpose of excavations was educational, and to provide scientific support for the National Socialist view concerning the superiority of the Germanic races.
