PUBLIC ARCHAEOLOGY ,

vol. 6, No. 4, 2007, 242244

The Civilisation Cards: US Army Style.

Stuff happens! shrugged Defence Secretarty Donald Rumsfeld, when he heard that the Baghdad Museum had been looted in 2003. But few scenes in that war did more damage to the United States than the spectacle of American tanks passively standing by while one of the worlds great museums was trashed. Newspaper readers will remember the Wanted portrait cards issued to troops searching for Saddam and his henchmen. Now the US Army is issuing a deck of Heritage cards, destined for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, in the hope that they will recognise and respect traces of the distant past. The line taken by most of the cards is that saving ancient sites and objects is an integral part of soldiering the hearts and minds part and also good for the United States. This heritage, the cards suggest, is universal and therefore belongs as much to you as to the local inhabitants. The main goal of archaeology is to understand the past your past, says the Ace of Hearts. Its clear that the Department of Defense has consulted archaeologists in designing the cards. Objects should not be removed from their original context (Three of Hearts), and the buying and selling of antiquities is illegal and punishable (Queen of Spades]. The Three of Diamonds adds that purchasing ancient souvenirs helps funds insurgents. Do not buy them! Our thanks for ready and enthusiastic cooperation go to Laurie Rush of the US Army, who devised the card-deck idea, and to Tracy Wager, University of Colorado, who designed them.

2007 W.S. Maney & Son Ltd

DOI: 10.1179/175355307X264200

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