Los triterpenos en la terapia del cáncer

Yack claims that ‘‘ethnic identities, like political identities, are ‘part of a contingent and ever-changing legacy of shared memories and communal identification’. Culture, rather than ethnicity per se, is the fundamental ground of identity’ (cited in Kumar, 2003, p. 26). This is perhaps more relevant in non-literate societies where the transmission of heritage over time results in the change and evolution of ideas and traditions. However, in the Irish context, the unbroken line, the persistence of an original static culture, is desired. Far from progressing to a state of what Kearney (2007) describes as

‘post-nationalism’, the rise in public archaeology, and notably easier access to genetic profiling, is resulting in a resurgence of ‘ethnic’ nationalism in Ireland.

Smith’s (1986) recollection of Ireland’s Catholic identity was cited earlier. Yet, this Catholic identity has been challenged since the 1990s with the emergence of widespread physical and sexual abuse committed by the Catholic Church.

This, combined with Ireland’s growing multicultural society in a globalised world has diminished the importance of Catholicism as a mode of ‘Irishness’.

Wiwjorra, identifying the 19^th century roots of German archaeology, recalled how these were:

related to the development of nationalistic and even racist ideology:

on the one hand, national-romantic Vaterländische Altertumskunde (patriotic antiquarianism) has developed out of German philology by extending its focus from written sources to antiquities, whereas

111 prehistoric anthropology on the other hand was influenced by race ideology. (1996, p. 164)

It can be argued then that attempts by the Irish to establish themselves as an

‘ethnic’ race in the present will not just bolster nationalism and further differentiate them from the British, but it could also have more sinister outcomes with the country’s multi-cultural society as the state is in the grip of a grim economic recession. Greece is also experiencing a severe economic crisis, not helped by the imposition of an austerity package instigated by a German chancellor, and this has seen the rise of the Neo-Nazi styled ‘Golden Dawn’ party. Perhaps Ireland will not go to such extremes: the Irish Republican party, Sinn Féin, followed closely developments in South Africa in the 1990’s. Identifying the Irish in Northern Ireland as an oppressed ethnic minority, Maillot identifies ‘the links between Sinn Féin and the ANC [African National Congress] have been successfully explored by republicans to highlight the parallels between the two struggles’ (2012, p. 131). She further notes that

‘A mural portraying Nelson Mandela appeared on the streets of West Belfast as early as the mid-1980s’ (ibid). Sinn Féin recognised itself in the same fight for independence, and by association with a black, African, political minority, identified the Irish as a truly ‘ethnic’ race. This is mirrored by Sir Roger Casement, whose ‘rebellious association as an Irish nationalist between his struggle on behalf of the Congolese and his voluntary enlistment on behalf of Egyptian and anti-colonial resistance’ associated the native Irish in the early 20^th century with other ethnic and minority groups (Said, 2001, p. 178). Such approaches can be summarized by Kohl and Fawcett who contend that ‘some archaeological tales are not innocuous, but dangerous in that they fan the passions of ethnic pride and fuel the conflicts that today pit peoples against each other’ (1995, p. 6). However, Hobsbawm did not see the influx of minorities in Ireland as problematic; conversely he recalled that the Irish traditionally ‘welcomed lesser nationalities which did not challenge the greater’

especially when appearing in the limelight of the ‘English stage’ (1990, p. 36).

The emphasis on the western point of entry for the first settlers creates a conundrum for the appropriation of Neolithic sites located in the east of the country. Lucy recalls one of the earliest tenets of archaeology ‘the identification of ‘peoples’ (now often termed ‘ethnic groups’) in the past. Such identification has traditionally been made through the study of distributions of material culture, with the geographical spread of characteristic artefacts being

112 seen as marking the territory of a particular group’ (2005, p. 86). Quinn reiterates Ruaidhrí de Valera’s Céide Fields premise, outlined earlier, however, he adds: ‘It has been claimed that the masterbuilders of the Boyne Valley complexes in the east of the island were the design descendants of those pioneering farmers in north-west Mayo’ (2005, p. 141). However, such an assertion is not found in the literature, and the square form of houses found at the Céide Fields complex compared to the rounded nature of the Brú na Boinne tombs could be argued against such a relationship. Herity and Eogan (1977), stressing an outdated ‘invasion hypothesis’ theory (see Waddell, 1978) indicted the movements of people around Ireland in prehistory. The fact that the Céide Fields pre-dates Newgrange by 500 years accommodates suggestions that the tomb builders arrived in the west of the country and gradually moved to the east, thereby making sites such as Newgrange ‘more Irish’ as they are perceived to have been constructed by the first settlers. The association of a western Neolithic site with an eastern one provides Quinn with the means to legitimate the ‘Irishness’ of the megalithic tombs found at Brú na Boinne, located in the east. Quinn’s assertion serves to ‘mark the territory’, but expands it east from its traditional western conclave.

Chapter One outlined the theoretical position of Irish archaeology in the 20^th century, most notably the perseverance of cultural-historical approaches and the influence of nationalism on the elevation of particular sites which facilitate the narrative of a native people, distinct from the Normans/English/British.

However, Irish nationalism was not the only influence on this: the sophistication of some of Ireland’s megalithic structures led many to believe that they could not be the work of the native Irish. Eggers stated: ‘Since the beginning of the 19^th century two questions have stood at the forefront of the aims of prehistoric studies: the question of the age of prehistoric finds, in other words, chronology; and to which people they can be ascribed, that is the ethnic interpretation’ (cited in Collis, 1996, p. 175). Whilst the credit for Newgrange is today not considered to be anything other than the product of native engineering, the consolidation of English colonialism can be read in the earlier interpretations of the site.

2.10 Conclusion

This chapter has demonstrated that archaeology is celebrated in popular culture as it is a vehicle which holds veracity through its scientific and

113 academic basis, ultimately providing a means with which Irish cultural and genetic differences with the Normans/English/British can be declared and celebrated. The works undertaken to Newgrange and Knowth in the 20^th century were part of an Irish affirmation process. The resultant quashing of authenticity in order to create a spectacle and performance can be read in terms of Ireland’s position in the Modernist movement. Located in the east of the country, sites such as the Hill of Tara were reclaimed by the Irish: Daniel O’Connell’s ‘Monster meetings’ created an Irish cultural identity in the east of the country and during the mid to late 20^th century two of the Brú na Bóinne tombs were ‘recovered’ through conjectural reconstruction. However, the Céide Fields, located in the west and by inference, free from outside influence, is ‘totally authentic’, affirming a western and rural identity.

The assessment of genetic profiling has considered this as a reaction to globalisation and Ireland’s multi-cultural society, in addition to the apparent veracity that such research can bring to Irish ‘ethnic’ identity. There is a perceptible shift from Irish nationalism to an ‘ethnic community’ in the 21^st century, accommodated by positivist techniques such as genetic profiling which has disturbing consequences given the 1930s Irish accommodation of such research, and the inherent ‘purity of race’ agenda. The next chapter will evaluate the supposed continuation of Irish culture through an examination of the treatment of vernacular buildings in the 20^th century, and parallels will be draw with the persistent cultural-historic approaches identified in archaeology.

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