Modernity is central to the concept of archaeology. It is not only part and parcel of
the modern project, but it also throws light on the constitution of modernity
itself. Although archaeologists usually reveal the higher degrees of oppression and
alienation brought by the modern world, they consider that modernity is, in the
first place, a productive process, in that it gives rise to new things - be they
good or bad. They also tend to consider it successful in an evolutionary sense:
wherever it appears, modernity wins at the expense of other rationalities, social
forms, material cultures and economies, imposing its reason. This is true in most
cases, but it is not necessarily so. This article explores the destructive side of
modernity through a case study from Ethiopia. For this purpose, I will use
archaeology to engage with a landscape where modernity has brought immense
devastation and has eventually failed.
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