Material Memory

This preliminary report describes an archaeological intervention at the remains of the village of Qadas, a Shi’i community in pre-1948 Palestine adjacent to the Lebanese border, and gives an overview of the historical context, motivations, aims and principal results of our work. The village was depopulated in the 1948 war and razed to the ground in 1966, and the destruction, concealment and appropriation of the village resources by Israel were the primary focus of our work. An unexpected perspective was afforded by the considerable traces of the war itself at the site, present due to the village’s occupation by Arab Liberation Army troops between June and October 1948. The recent war, which has led once again to the temporary depopulation of the entire region, underscores the violence that is immanent in the rubble of Qadas.