Reconstructing the Past, Renegotiating Authority: Reconstructed Archaeological Sites in Present-Day Poland

The aim of this paper is to examine open-air, full-scale archaeological reconstructions through the prism of concepts of authority and truth. I will approach it along the lines of a praxeology of truth. Accordingly, the questions asked here mainly address negotiations of truth and the practical context in which truth claims are embedded, as well as broader implications accompanying the invocation, questioning, perversion, and deconstruction of truth. Selected examples from Poland are cited, embodying issues of the creation and negotiation of truth claims about the past and illustrating how the authority of archaeologists and other professional heritage specialists sometimes clashes with broader processes and various heritage stakeholders.