archaeology resulted in its growth during these years, both in terms of its
institutionalization and in its popularity among the general public (see,
among others, Ha ̈rke 2000; Patterson 1995b; Quartermaine 1995). Yet, the
framework in which this occurred in many countries was far from neutral. In
1917, the Russian Revolution imposed theWrst of a series of authoritarian
regimes that would come to dominate much of twentieth-century European
history. But while dictatorship in Russia was imposed from the left, those
which followed would come from the opposite direction. Starting with the
Fascist regime established in Italy after Mussolini’s rise to power in 1922,
right-wing dictatorships mushroomed in Europe. By the end of 1938 more
than half of European states were dictatorial in nature. The fact that archae-
ology thrived during this historical period necessarily opens up questions that
have been explored in several critical works over the last thirty years (the
earliest to my knowledge are Cagnetta 1976 and Canfora 1976; among the
latest Galaty & Watkinson 2004). Yet, the extent to which the development of
archaeology in dictatorships aVected the Western countries that remained
democracies—mainly the United Kingdom (information about the US can be
found in Patterson 1995b)—as well as the rest of the world (South America,
the empires’ colonies), is still in need of investigation.
408 Conclusion