ON THE FOLKLORE OF THE EXTERNSTEINE

This paper demonstrates how a single monument can be perceived and understood in many different ways by different people, including archaeologists. We argue that the most successful story in society is not necessarily the one that is academically correct. Instead, those stories which appeal most to the public imagination dominate the social significance of a monument. Even though recent theoretical arguments advocate multiple interpretations of the past, a position from which this situation may seem desirable, it can be argued that archaeologists have a duty to serve the public with the facts and argue vehemently against misinterpretations of the evidence. But is this really possible? Our case-study is the Externsteine in north-west Germany (Figure 11.1). In the following we will discuss some of the main interpretations of this assemblage of rocks over the past hundred years and briefly outline how different groups of people understand this natural and cultural monument in the present.