Yes / Heritage (and by extension, archaeology) is an important part of the Star Wars universe. Both the Jedi and the Sith share teachings revolving around sites and artifacts important to their heritage and identities, and archaeologists like Chelli Aphra have played important roles in the development and maintenance of heritage. However, the politicization of sites and artifacts by many groups and individuals has also served as motivation behind significant schisms, battles, imperialism, and resistance. As professional archaeologists, we have become familiar with the ways these themes are appearing within our real world discipline as well. This paper will broadly examine the roles that archaeology and heritage play in the Star Wars universe. Using examples from both canon media and expanded universe (now referred to as Legends) lore, this paper will explore the ways in which political factions manipulate and weaponize heritage and archaeology to their benefit. These examples will then be discussed within real world contexts to illustrate how Star Wars is ultimately a perfect encapsulation of the political powers inherent in archaeology and heritage studies, and the resistance to the manipulation of these fields.

This thesis examines the practice of the misrepresentation and manipulation of the archaeological record in Italy as it relates to identity formation through three main case studies. Moving chronologically, it begins by analyzing the Palermo National Exposition and the Mostra Etnografica Siciliana of Giuseppe Pitrè using Edward Said’s Orientalism to reveal the othering of Sicilians at this exposition. The second case study looks at the Mostra Augustea della Romanità of the Fascist era, building on the extensive scholarly discussion regarding Mussolini’s misrepresentation of ancient Roman archaeology to construct a fascist identity around the concept of romanità. Moving into the contemporary scene of Italian politics, the third case study analyzes the invention of Padanian ethnicity by Lega Nord in the 1990s and early 2000s by misrepresenting and obfuscating Celtic archaeology of Northern Italy. The analysis briefly discusses the newer phenomenon of “revenge archaeology,” coined by Alessandro Vanzetti, in the region of Calabria, and its relationship to the other case studies and the history of the NorthSouth divide. This thesis analyzes how the misrepresentation of the archaeological record and material culture have been used in Italy to reorganize and assert racial, ethnic, and national identities, as well as examining how these case studies interact with and build on one another.