‘We can’t even hammer a nail!’ – the impacts of top-down archaeological heritage governance on village communities’ wellbeing in Türkiye

Abstract

The presence of archaeological heritage can have various social and economic benefits for nearby communities, such as strengthening local identity and improving livelihoods through tourism. On the other hand, protective designations for archaeological sites whose boundaries include communities may impact livelihoods and wellbeing depending on the nature of the restrictions. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impacts of top-down protected area governance on community wellbeing over a time span of more than a decade. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Turkish village of Kapıkırı, situated in an officially protected archaeological site (Herakleia) in southwest Anatolia, and interviews with officials of different levels of protected area governance. The paper concludes that Türkiye needs to adopt a single, holistic, and pluralistic conservation framework responsive to changing local socioeconomic and environmental conditions.