The Marginalization of Central Maghreb Capitals in Stéphane Gsell’s "Atlas Archéologique de L’Algérie": A Critical Reassessment of French Colonial Archaeological Selectivity

Abstract

Archaeological heritage constitutes an invaluable material record of past societies, providing empirical evidence of their historical and cultural development. During the colonial period, such evidence was frequently mobilized by colonial powers to legitimize territorial expansion and ideological claims. In the absence of early indigenous scholarly institutions, nineteenth-century Algeria became a major field for French archaeological investigations, where scientific practices were often shaped by the ideological framework of the mission civilisatrice.

This article critically interrogates the "archaeological selectivity", within the French colonial scholarly, focusing on the representation of the medieval capitals of the Central Maghreb in Stéphane Gsell’s Atlas archéologique de L’Algérie. It explores the institutional structures established for the inventory and study of Algerian cultural heritage, highlights the marginalization of Amazigh and Islamic historical layers in favor of Classical Roman remains, and analyzes the epistemological biases and methodological limitations inherited from this colonial archaeological corpus.