Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses an ethnographic project on the concepts of history and archaeology that an ordinary conscript soldier is exposed to, during his service in Greece.

Paper long abstract:

Mandatory military service is contemporary reality in many countries, especially in these in a precarious state of foreign affairs with neighbour states. In Greece mandatory conscription dates back to the beginnings of the modern state forming an almost diachronic, cultural backdrop amongst the male members of the Greek society.

Nowadays, voices against this outdated practice often surface the public media in various forms of art or open letters of protest. These criticise the irrational conditions during the service and construct a subversive image of the "proud and dutiful soldier", already existent in the public sphere but commonly disregarded, especially in the contemporary nationalist rhetorics, thriving in our times of economic depression.

This paper, discussing an -almost involuntary- ethnographic project undertaken by the author in 2013 during his mandatory military service, relates to the above construction, pinpointing concepts of history and archaeology that an ordinary conscript soldier is exposed to during his time in the army. The author using his training as an archaeologist recorded -through interviews and sketches- a number of relevant official and unofficial perceptions of cultural aspects encountered in daily army camp life. These were later cross-examined with a significant number of structured questionnaires, attempting to map out times and places of history and archaeology discussed and/or offered during the mandatory military service in