ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts presents in the subsequent chapters. This part discusses how the transformation of the image of Ancient Greece became a tool for imperialism and European hegemony. It illustrates how the malleability of the archaeological record contributes to the political volatility between Hindus and Muslims. Ethnographic evidence of the rejection by local elites of European culture are to be found in the study of Zionist independent African churches in South Africa and other regions of the continent, as well as in some religiously inspired Melanesian movements, the so-called ‘cargo cults’. Rejection of cultural domination and its attendant biases in the construction of knowledge is not limited to racial categories in social situations. Men appropriate women’s labour, that is, the products of women’s analysis of archaeological materials, thereby reinforcing a male construct of knowledge about the ancient past.
