A Historical Approach to Public Representation of Preventive Archaeology: The Case of the Regional French-Speaking Press of Switzerland

Similar to other European countries, Switzerland has experienced significant territorial and urban development since the 1960s, profoundly impacting archaeological practices. This has resulted in changes in intervention methods, work environments, excavation objectives, and data processing. The emergence of what is termed “rescue” or “preventive” archaeology signifies a shift in the role of archaeologists working to collect data before archaeological remains are destroyed. In this chapter, I discuss the results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis of articles on Swiss archaeology written in the period from 1930 to 2000 and located currently in the archives of a French-speaking Swiss regional newspaper. My examination focuses on how archaeology was portrayed in these articles. The results reveal that while regional print media often reflects methodological changes and highlights the new scientific and systematic aspects of archaeology, old stereotypes related to archaeologists and archaeology are still very present. Above all, the paradigmatic change that the practice of preventive archaeology represents is almost never explained in the regional press. This lack of preventive archaeology as an explicit subject can be attributed to a sort of uneasiness archaeologists seem to feel about their preventive tasks. The consequence is a general misunderstanding among the public regarding the real purpose of preventive archaeology.