It’s All in the Backfill: Scrap Heaps, Explosives, and Nausea. Stirring the Soil of a Former WWII Military Base

Within an archaeology of the contemporary, sites and material remains of the Second World War have in recent years been set more prominently on the agenda of European heritage archaeology. This article presents observations made during archaeological site monitoring of the conversion and remediation of a former WWII military base in Germany. In the course of the project, the sensitivity of the site and its find material against the backdrop of the German history of World War II had to be constantly assessed. Archaeological methods and practices had to be adapted to the specific requirements of the site. Conflicting agendas of various actors and stakeholders involved had to be evaluated, as well as the risks posed by the site's contamination with unexploded ordnance. Indeed, the backdirt itself, just like the find material it contained, turned out to be a contested and hazardous entity.