Building nations in the XXI century. Celticism, Nationalism and Archaeology in northern Spain: the case of Asturias and León

Abstract

This investigation presents an overview of ‘Celtic’ nationalism in northern Spain, with the regions of Asturias and León as case studies. In these areas, archaeological narratives have served and still serve to justify contemporary political agendas. Archaeologists have thus become major actors in the discursive struggles over the past. However, they have become rather naïve and innocent regarding their contemporary public roles and their relationship towards social and political agendas. This situation has led to a lack of control over the use of their own narratives, which take on a life of their own in the public sphere. Our paper illustrates how archaeology has been used in the construction of contemporary political identities by regionalist and nationalist agents. Whereas nowadays Asturias aims to reinforce selfgovernment, the objective of León is to become a separate ‘Autonomous Community’ endowed with a certain degree of self-government separated from Castile.