John Chapman on Creating Cultural Targets

In a cultural war, the conquest of territories and the 'ethnic cleansing' of settlements is insufficient. Nothing less than the destruction of past historical identities is needed. If the identifies between past nations and their landscapes are best symbolized by their monuments, it is these monuments which have been prime targets in this cultural war. Mosques for Serbs and Croats, Orthodox churches for Muslims and Croats, Catholic monasteries for Serbs and Muslims---each monumental symbol fatally attracts the cultural warriors. Designation of a building for UNESCO protection marks out buildings for special destruction.... Halpern (1993) issues a barbed new challenge to students of material culture: the creation of an 'ethno-archaeology of architectural destruction.

John Chapman. 1994. Destruction of a common heritage: The archaeology of war in Croatia, Bosnia, and Hercegovina. Antiquity 68:120-126.