Search results for ""Sidestone Press""

This book deals with the question how communities across Europe during the later 3rd millennium BC adopt and transform the Bell Beaker phenomenon differently. By looking at these processes of change from the perspective of settlements and settlement material culture, an interpretation is given to the development of this phenomenon that is alternative to the currently prevailing migration models.Instead, the author uses social theories on the spread of innovations, the development and functioning of communication networks and the social technologies involved in the production of material culture in his arguments.For the first time, settlements from various regions of Europe are studied at the same level and compared using modern research methods such as aoristic frequency distributions, the Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates and network analyses. Temporal and spatial variability in the regional processes that lead to the adoption (and rejection!) of Bell Beaker innovations are described in detail. The regional variability in communication between settlements, and the exchange of ideas and objects and mobility of people are combined with sociological network theories on the spread and adoption of novel ideas. Regional differences in the production of pottery are reviewed by both quantitative and qualitative methods.Finally, a Bell Beaker network is described in which various processes of innovation adoption and subsequent re-invention, developing communication networks and different forms of mobility take part.

Read more less

A defining fixture of our contemporary world, video games offer a rich spectrum of engagements with the past. Beyond a source of entertainment, video games are cultural expressions that support and influence social interactions. Games educate, bring enjoyment, and encourage reflection. They are intricate achievements of coding and creative works of art. Histories, ranging from the personal to the global, are reinterpreted and retold for broad audiences in playful, digital experiences. The medium also magnifies our already complicated and confrontational relation with the past, for instance through its overreliance on violent and discriminatory game mechanics. This book continues an interdisciplinary conversation on game development and play, working towards a better understanding of how we represent and experience the past in the present.Return to the Interactive Past offers a new collection of engaging writings by game creators, historians, computer scientists, archaeologists, and others. It shows us the thoughtful processes developers go through when they design games, as well as the complex ways in which players interact with games. Building on the themes explored in the book The Interactive Past (2017), the authors go back to the past to raise new issues. How can you sensitively and evocatively use veterans’ voices to make a video game that is not about combat? How can the development of an old video game be reconstructed on the basis of its code and historic hardware limitations? Could hacking be a way to decolonize games and counter harmful stereotypes? When archaeologists study games, what kinds of maps do they draw for their digital fieldwork? And in which ways could we teach history through playing games and game-making?

Read more less

In Bronze Age Europe, an enormous amount of metalwork was buried in the ground and never retrieved. Patterns in the archaeological finds show that this was a deliberate practice: people systematically deposited valuable metal objects in specific places in the landscape, even in non-metalliferous regions. Although this practice seems strange and puzzling from our modern perspective, these patterns demonstrate that it was not simply a matter of irrational human behaviour. Instead, there were supra-regionally shared ideas and conventions behind this practice.This book aims to acquire a better understanding of these ideas and conventions. By systematically investigating the objects and places that people selected for metalwork depositions, the logic behind the practice of selective metalwork deposition is unravelled. This research focuses specifically on the emergence of the practice in Denmark, northern Germany, and the Netherlands, a region without sources of copper and tin that has not been studied as a whole before, despite striking similarities in the archaeological record. Starting from the first introduction of metal to the research area, the emergence and development of selective metalwork depositions is examined and followed over time.For thousands of years, deliberately depositing metal objects in the landscape was a completely normal thing to do. We are now beginning to catch a glimpse of the logic behind this human behaviour. This research does not only add a new chronological and geographical depth to the field of metalwork depositions, but it also provides a detailed catalogue of the metalwork from the research area.

Read more less

Barkcloth or tapa, a cloth made from the inner bark of trees, was widely used in place of woven cloth in the Pacific islands until the 19th century. A ubiquitous material, it was integral to the lives of islanders and used for clothing, furnishings and ritual artefacts. Material Approaches to Polynesian Barkcloth takes a new approach to the study of the history of this region through its barkcloth heritage, focusing on the plants themselves and surviving objects in historic collections. This object-focused approach has filled gaps in our understanding of the production and use of this material through an investigation of this unique fabric’s physical properties, transformation during manufacture and the regional history of its development in the 18th and 19th centuries.The book is the outcome of a research project which focused on three important collections of barkcloth at The Hunterian, University of Glasgow; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. It also looks more widely at the value of barkcloth artefacts in museum collections for enhancing both contemporary practice and a wider appreciation of this remarkable fabric. The contributors include academics, curators, conservators and makers of barkcloth from Oceania and beyond, in an interdisciplinary study which draws together insights from object-based and textual reseach, fieldwork and tapa making, and information on the plants used to make fibres and colourants.This book will be of interest to tapa makers, museum professionals including curators and conservators; academics and students in the fields of anthropology, museum studies and conservation; museum visitors and anyone interested in finding out more about barkcloth.

Read more less

Dieses Buch bietet eine umfassende Studie zum Jungneolithikum (JN, auch Einzelgrabkultur, ca. 2850 – 2250 v. Chr.) in Schleswig-Holstein. Neben einer detaillierten Darstellung aller Funde und Befunde dieser Epoche, liegt ein besonderer Fokus auf Analysen zu den charakteristischen Streitäxten.Diese eignen sich in hervorragender Weise dazu, einen gesellschaftlichen Wandel zu erkennen, da die morphologische Variationsbreite im Laufe des JN zunimmt. So existieren im späten JN neben sehr elaboriert gestalteten Stücken auch plump wirkende Exemplare. Dies spiegelt vermutlich ein komplexer werdendes Gesellschaftssystem wider und deutet einen Bedeutungswandel der Äxte an. Die Streitäxte werden im Spätneolithikum(SN) durch die Silexdolche abgelöst, die durch ähnliche Variationsunterschiede gekennzeichnet sind. Dies deutet eine Kontinuität in der sozialen Organisation an der Wende zum SN an.Viele Streitäxte liegen im fragmentierten Zustand vor, wobei Schneiden- weitaus häufiger als Nackenhälften belegt sind. Da viele dieser Fragmente weiterhin im Besitz von Applikationen (Schälchen, pars pro toto Schaftlöcher) sind, ist anzunehmen, dass die Fragmente – und darauf aufbauend vermutlich ein Großteil aller Streitäxte aus Einzelfundkontexten – intentionale Deponierungen darstellen.Ein weiterer Fokus wurde auf die Transformation zum JN gelegt, die sich besonders im profanen Bereich als Phase kontinuierlicher Entwicklungen zeigt. Weiterhin wurde ein Unterschied zwischen dem Westen und Osten des Arbeitsgebietes aufgedeckt, der entgegen langläufiger Meinung keine chronologischen Ursachen besitzt. Vielmehr zeigt sich darin eine strukturell unterschiedliche soziale Orientierung der beteiligten Gruppen. Sowohl im JN als auch im SN ist es im Westen gängige Praxis, dem Verstorbenen Statusobjekte (Streitäxte, Silexdolche und früheBronzeartefakte) als Grabbeigabe mitzugeben, während diese Objekte im Osten des Landes äußerst selten Eingang in Bestattungen fanden, jedoch als Einzel- und im Falle der Bronzeobjekte auch als Depotfunde regelmäßig anzutreffen sind.English abstractThis book offers a comprehensive study of the Younger Neolithic period ([YN], c. 2850 – 2250 BC) of Schleswig-Holstein (SH). Apart from presenting all currently known artefacts and contexts of that period in detail, a particular focus was placed on the examination of YN battle axes. They appear to be the most common artefact that is preserved from the YN, and they are very well suited for investigating social phenomena. These artefacts furthermore changed diachronically.While battle axes of the early stage are shaped more or less equally elaborately, late specimens exhibit significant morphological variation and difference, as some specimens were shaped very elaborately whereas others were quite simple. The same difference has been observed for the subsequently used flint daggers. It is suggested that this difference reflects the emergence of a more stratified society.Many battle axes appear to have been deposited as broken pieces. As the ratio of cutting edges to butt ends is unequal (2:1) both in SH and in a wider region and as many pieces have “decorations” (Applikationen, pars pro toto shaft holes), battle axes are regarded as intentionally deposited. Accordingly, a large proportion of single finds are regarded as intentional depositions.Another focus was set on examining the transition to the YN. It is argued that many aspects that are said to characterize the YN are rooted in the preceding Middle Neolithic. A novelty is that social role becomes marked in funerary contexts. Thus, the transformation to the YN marks a certain point where already initiated societal changes become visible for first time. The examination of certain attributes revealed furthermore that there are differences between western and eastern SH which are not determined by chronological changes only. Rather, general differences appear between western and eastern regions, an in a wider geographical as well as temporal frame, which might be linked to different social orientations – either collectively or individually acting groups.Scales of Transformation SeriesThis is the publication series of the Kiel University research project “CRC 1266” which takes a long-term perspective, from 15,000 BCE to 1 BCE, to investigate processes of transformation in a crucial period of human history, from late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers to early state societies.Funded by the German Research Foundation, the CRC combines research of around 60 scientists from eight institutions and the Johanna-Mestorf-Academy of the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel as well as the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA) and the Archaeological State Museum Schloss Gottdorf.

Read more less

The vast and extraordinary collections from the Pacific, collected from the late eighteenth century onwards, that are dispersed across ethnographic and other museums in Europe amount to hundreds of thousands of artefacts, ranging from seemingly quotidian and utilitarian baskets and fish-hooks to great sculptures of divinities, architectural forms and canoes. Alongside the works themselves are rich archives of documents, drawings by early travellers, and often vast photographic collections, as well as historic catalogues and object inventories. These collections constitute a rich and remarkable resource for understanding society and history across Indigenous Oceania, cross-cultural encounters since the voyages of Captain Cook and his contemporaries, and the colonial transformations of the nineteenth century onwards. These are also collections of profound importance for Islanders today, who have varied responses to their displaced heritage, and renewed interest in understanding ancestral forms and practices.This book, in two volumes, not only enlarges understanding of Oceanic art history and Oceanic collections in important ways, but also enables new reflections upon museums and ways of undertaking work in and around them. It exemplifies a growing commitment on the part of curators and researchers, not merely to consult, but to initiate and undertake research, conservation, acquisition, exhibition, outreach and publication projects collaboratively and responsively.Volume one focuses on the historical formation of ethnographic museums within Europe and the development of Pacific collections within these institutions.

Read more less

From a mummy on board the Titanic to the pyramids' alignment with the stars, from psychoactive mushrooms to the lost realm of Atlantis: alternative Egyptology has always focused on subjects that others shunned. Ever since the birth of mainstream Egyptology with the decipherment of the hieroglyphic script two hundred years ago, alternative interpretations and imaginative theories have flourished alongside it. They intertwined with egalitarian and spiritual tendencies in society during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when ancient Egypt inspired countless mediums, artists, and movements from freemasonry to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. More recently alternative Egyptology has inspired comic-book authors and nationalist Chinese bloggers.It would be a mistake, however, for academics to simply view these alternative theories as fantasies that are best ignored. Their lasting popular impact needs to be assessed and (publicly) addressed by mainstream Egyptology, but they

Read more less

This study contends that the creation and consumption of fiction has not been looked at in a holistic way in terms of an overall process that takes us from author to consumer with all of the potential intermediate steps. It proposes and describes just such a process model, which begins with the author, who interacts with elements of his or her contemporary world and incorporates them into the imagined world of the novel. It describes how at each stage in the process other actors engage with the novel in various forms, and create artefacts such as critical reviews, filmed adaptations and tourist interpretations that comprise further imagined worlds that can be compared to the author’s original imagined world, and by extension, the original past world.Using a number of case studies of English novels of the period from 1800 to 1930, the study looks at what evidence of the process in action tells us about the ability of a novel to act as an adjunct to contemporary records in providing insights into that original real world. These studies incorporate analyses of the novels themselves, and of subsequent artefacts such as film and television adaptations, curated literary places and guidebooks, and reviews. The study concludes that fiction in its various forms, and especially in its adapted and interpreted forms, whilst not a pure historical document as such, can provide us with a vivid image of a past world. It contends that the process model could be used as an aid in the teaching of History or English Literature, or as an aid to the general reader, to help remove the layers of imagined worlds that potentially lie between us and a past historical world, thereby reducing the ability of that layering to create a misleading view of history.

Read more less

Wie gestaltete sich das soziale Zusammenleben zwischen Menschen und nichtmenschlichen Arten als eine eng verwobene Gemeinschaft in prähistorischer Zeit? In verschiedensten Disziplinen der Geistes-, Sozial- und Lebenswissenschaften werden verstärkt gesellschaftliche Grundannahmen über nichtmenschliche Arten hinterfragt. Die aus dieser Wende entstandenen neuen Fragestellungen verbreiten sich auch in der Archäologie. Archäolog*innen haben begonnen, traditionelle Ansätze zu überdenken, um Beziehungen zwischen Menschen und (anderen) Tieren in all ihrer Diversität zu erforschen. Im Zuge dieses Perspektivwechsels in der Erforschung von Mensch-Tier-Verhältnissen intensiviert sich auch die Auseinandersetzung mit sozialen, politischen und ideologischen Dimensionen verschiedener Lebensweisen in frühen Gesellschaften. Wir erkennen zunehmend, welche zentrale Rolle Mensch-Tier-Beziehungen bei der Gestaltung und Konstruktion auch prähistorischer Gesellschaften eingenommen haben.In diesem Band wird das gängige archäologische Narrativ von Tieren als passiver, ausbeutbarer Nahrungsressource in Frage gestellt. Damit zeichnet das Buch ein komplexes Bild prähistorischer Mensch-Tier-Verhältnisse. Es legt eine multiperspektivische Studie zu soziokulturellen Praktiken und Vorstellungen damaliger Menschen anhand der spätneolithischen (ca. 6200-5600 v.u.Z) und frühäneolithischen (ca. 4800-4350 v.u.Z.) Siedlung Monjukli Depe im heutigen Turkmenistan vor, die sich von gegenwärtigen westlichen Kategorisierungsformen der Beziehungen zwischen Menschen und Tieren deutlich unterscheiden. Auf Basis einer umfangreichen Sammlung von rund 53.000 Tierknochen aus den Ausgrabungen in Monjukli Depe verfolge ich als analytischen Untersuchungsrahmen einen integrativen Ansatz, der 1.) die archäozoologische Untersuchung der faunalen Überreste, 2.) die Analyse der zoomorphen Repräsentationen als miniaturisierte Tonobjekte sowie 3.) Multi-Isotopenanalysen am ausgewählten Skelettmaterial kombiniert.Das Werk zeigt Wege auf, natur- und kulturwissenschaftliche Sichtweisen in einem analytischen Spektrum an Methoden so zu integrieren, dass Interspezies-Relationen in vergangenen Gemeinschaften holistischer und damit realistischer als bislang rekonstruiert werden können. Die Neubetrachtung der Gemeinschaft als Interspezies-Gebilde stellt den innovativen Ansatz schließlich in einen gesellschaftspolitischen Rahmen. Der Band bietet damit auch einen Referenzrahmen für multiperspektivisch ausgerichtete Untersuchungen von Interspezies-Relationen.English AbstractHow did the social coexistence of humans and non-human species contribute to the formation of interwoven communities in prehistoric times? In various disciplines in the humanities, social and life sciences, assumptions regarding non-human species in societal contexts are coming increasingly under scrutiny. The new questions arising therefrom are spreading into archaeology, where scholars have started to rethink traditional approaches and explore practices, interactions, and relationships between humans and (other) animals. As part of this shift in perspective, more attention is being paid to social, political, and ideological dimensions of lifeways in early societies. With it comes a growing recognition that human-animal relationships occupied a central place in shaping and constructing societies throughout human history.This book presents a multi-perspectival study of socio-cultural practices and conceptions of the people who lived in the prehistoric settlement of Monjukli Depe (Turkmenistan). These differ significantly from contemporary Western categorizations of human-animal relations. Based on a collection of over 50,000 animal remains from the excavations at Monjukli Depe, I pursue an integrative approach that includes 1) zooarchaeological studies of faunal remains, 2) analyses of zoomorphic representations in the form of miniaturized clay objects, and 3) multi-isotopic analyses of selected skeletal material.I suggest ways to integrate scientific and socio-cultural perspectives into an analytical spectrum of methods, enabling interspecies relations in past communities to be reconstructed more holistically and thereby more realistically than has previously been the case. The volume provides a work for future investigations of interspecies relations in other geographic and temporal contexts.

Read more less

St. Eustatius, a small island in the northeastern Lesser Antilles, was one of the busiest ports in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World. Contested between the Dutch, French, and English, the island attracted thousands of ships a year and became one of the most cosmopolitan places in the New World. Moreover, the island played an important role in the American War of Independence (1775-1783), during which large quantities of arms, ammunition, and gunpowder were shipped to the fledgling United States through St. Eustatius.Relics of this turbulent past are found all over the island and in its surrounding waters. These include warehouses in the historic port district, fortifications all around the island, sugar plantations in the countryside, and a variety of underwater archaeological sites such as shipwrecks, anchorage areas, and docks.Through extensive archaeological and documentary research, this study aims to provide a detailed analysis of the maritime cultural landscape of St. Eustatius over the past four centuries. It focuses on bridging the gap between the marine and terrestrial worlds and demonstrates that in order to truly make sense of the complex interactions, events, and processes that shaped this maritime world, both land and sea need to be studied in relation to each other.

Read more less

Dieses Buch bietet eine umfassende Studie zum Jungneolithikum (JN, auch Einzelgrabkultur, ca. 2850 – 2250 v. Chr.) in Schleswig-Holstein. Neben einer detaillierten Darstellung aller Funde und Befunde dieser Epoche, liegt ein besonderer Fokus auf Analysen zu den charakteristischen Streitäxten.Diese eignen sich in hervorragender Weise dazu, einen gesellschaftlichen Wandel zu erkennen, da die morphologische Variationsbreite im Laufe des JN zunimmt. So existieren im späten JN neben sehr elaboriert gestalteten Stücken auch plump wirkende Exemplare. Dies spiegelt vermutlich ein komplexer werdendes Gesellschaftssystem wider und deutet einen Bedeutungswandel der Äxte an. Die Streitäxte werden im Spätneolithikum(SN) durch die Silexdolche abgelöst, die durch ähnliche Variationsunterschiede gekennzeichnet sind. Dies deutet eine Kontinuität in der sozialen Organisation an der Wende zum SN an.Viele Streitäxte liegen im fragmentierten Zustand vor, wobei Schneiden- weitaus häufiger als Nackenhälften belegt sind. Da viele dieser Fragmente weiterhin im Besitz von Applikationen (Schälchen, pars pro toto Schaftlöcher) sind, ist anzunehmen, dass die Fragmente – und darauf aufbauend vermutlich ein Großteil aller Streitäxte aus Einzelfundkontexten – intentionale Deponierungen darstellen.Ein weiterer Fokus wurde auf die Transformation zum JN gelegt, die sich besonders im profanen Bereich als Phase kontinuierlicher Entwicklungen zeigt. Weiterhin wurde ein Unterschied zwischen dem Westen und Osten des Arbeitsgebietes aufgedeckt, der entgegen langläufiger Meinung keine chronologischen Ursachen besitzt. Vielmehr zeigt sich darin eine strukturell unterschiedliche soziale Orientierung der beteiligten Gruppen. Sowohl im JN als auch im SN ist es im Westen gängige Praxis, dem Verstorbenen Statusobjekte (Streitäxte, Silexdolche und früheBronzeartefakte) als Grabbeigabe mitzugeben, während diese Objekte im Osten des Landes äußerst selten Eingang in Bestattungen fanden, jedoch als Einzel- und im Falle der Bronzeobjekte auch als Depotfunde regelmäßig anzutreffen sind.English abstractThis book offers a comprehensive study of the Younger Neolithic period ([YN], c. 2850 – 2250 BC) of Schleswig-Holstein (SH). Apart from presenting all currently known artefacts and contexts of that period in detail, a particular focus was placed on the examination of YN battle axes. They appear to be the most common artefact that is preserved from the YN, and they are very well suited for investigating social phenomena. These artefacts furthermore changed diachronically.While battle axes of the early stage are shaped more or less equally elaborately, late specimens exhibit significant morphological variation and difference, as some specimens were shaped very elaborately whereas others were quite simple. The same difference has been observed for the subsequently used flint daggers. It is suggested that this difference reflects the emergence of a more stratified society.Many battle axes appear to have been deposited as broken pieces. As the ratio of cutting edges to butt ends is unequal (2:1) both in SH and in a wider region and as many pieces have “decorations” (Applikationen, pars pro toto shaft holes), battle axes are regarded as intentionally deposited. Accordingly, a large proportion of single finds are regarded as intentional depositions.Another focus was set on examining the transition to the YN. It is argued that many aspects that are said to characterize the YN are rooted in the preceding Middle Neolithic. A novelty is that social role becomes marked in funerary contexts. Thus, the transformation to the YN marks a certain point where already initiated societal changes become visible for first time. The examination of certain attributes revealed furthermore that there are differences between western and eastern SH which are not determined by chronological changes only. Rather, general differences appear between western and eastern regions, an in a wider geographical as well as temporal frame, which might be linked to different social orientations – either collectively or individually acting groups.Scales of Transformation SeriesThis is the publication series of the Kiel University research project “CRC 1266” which takes a long-term perspective, from 15,000 BCE to 1 BCE, to investigate processes of transformation in a crucial period of human history, from late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers to early state societies.Funded by the German Research Foundation, the CRC combines research of around 60 scientists from eight institutions and the Johanna-Mestorf-Academy of the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel as well as the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA) and the Archaeological State Museum Schloss Gottdorf.

Read more less

This study relates the vicissitudes of the Amerindian peoples who lived or still inhabit the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, from the earliest occupants, ca. 8000 BC, until at present. Using archaeological, ethnohistorical and linguistic data, it discusses the social, political, economic, and religious development of indigenous society through the ages. The Amerindian struggle with European colonization is chronicled in detail, following centuries of independent existence during pre-Columbian times, as well as the survival of the current people of indigenous ancestry in the twin-island republic.“This book fills a long-standing gap in the history of Trinidad & Tobago, and the southern Caribbean more generally. It provides a clearly written, authoritative account and analysis of the Amerindians (First Peoples) who lived (and still live) in the two islands, from the very earliest human settlement there up to the present. Based on up-to-the-minute scholarship in several disciplines – archaeology, ethnography, history, linguistics – Boomert dispels many myths and misconceptions about these peoples, and carefully traces the complex history of their settlement, in successive waves of migration, in both islands, their interactions with Europeans arriving from 1498, and their “decline” in the post-contact period.”Dr. Bridget Brereton, Emerita Professor in History, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.“This book is a welcome addition to the literature we are now seeking to inform our work here at the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community, as it brings to light important aspects of our buried history. Of particular interest is the information on the involvement of the Dutch in the struggles of the First Peoples, and the connection with Hierreyma, our great Nepuyo Chieftain. It is an inspiration to those of us who are currently engaged in efforts to secure the rightful place of the First Peoples of this land – Kairi.”Ricardo Bharath Hernandez, Chief Santa Rosa First Peoples Community, Arima, Trinidad, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

Read more less

This book provides detailed disciplinary and interdisciplinary insights into social inequality, oral health and dietary strategies of a Bronze Age population buried in the North Caucasian foothills, 2200-1650 BCE.

Read more less

Grand Narratives of colonization, especially ones related to the Spanish and Portuguese Americas, began circulating soon after 1492. The danger of these Grand Narratives is that they are often mistaken as reality and eclipse all other possible narrations pertaining to a particular place and/or time. As more Caribbean territories become independent, the questioning of Grand Narratives has permeated many disciplines in the region, and archaeology is no exception.This work attempts to examine the lifeways at the archaeological site of Concepción de la Vega during its occupation from 1494 through 1564, using a Decolonial approach. Situated in present-day Dominican Republic (Hispaniola island), this site was one of the earliest and most affluent in Caribbean colonial history.The Decolonial approach used here critically analyzes and reinterprets primary data about Concepción from the point of view of those colonized, particularly non-elite, Indigenous peoples, and those of African descent. This approach uses various sources of data to recreate early lifeways, and helps gain a better understanding of the process through which the Spanish-American cultural tradition was created, and later disseminated, to the rest of Latin America.

Read more less

Chariots, the racing cars of the ancient world, first appeared in Egypt about 1600 BC, and quickly became not only the preferred mode of transport for royalty and the elite, but also revolutionised military tactics and warfare. Remains of chariots have been found in Egyptian tombs –Tutankhamun’s tomb contained six chariots, which tripled the number of ancient Egyptian chariots known before the discovery of his tomb. However, none of the chariots was complete, as all lacked their leather casings, which were only known from images on tomb and temple walls.In 2008, the Ancient Egyptian Leatherwork Project (AELP) working in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, found a cache of several trays of red and green leather containing some 60 large leather fragments. Some of these had been noted before, but the find had been largely ignored and buried in the depths of the museum. This remarkable object entered the museum in 1932, a purchase from the Tano family, reputable dealers at that time, hence the nick-name ‘Tano Chariot’.The Tano leather all came from a single chariot, including portions of the bow-case, the body’s casing and the horse housing. The leather is elaborately decorated in appliquéd green and red or beige leather. Parallels for some of these fragments are found in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in Berlin, many of which, until their appearance in this volume, are unpublished. This includes the chariot leather from the tombs of Amenhotep II, III, Tuthmose IV and Tutankhamun.This book presents the Tano material with fully illustrated, detailed descriptions. Chariot related texts and technological analyses – together with detailed comparisons with other chariots and associated leather remains – help provide possible dates for it. The find is put into context with chapters on relevant hieroglyphic texts, and a study of representations of chariots that help identify the various parts, and highlight the role of the chariot in Egyptian religion, propaganda, and culture.The Tano Chariot leather, despite being unprovenanced, is a unique find, which reveals a great deal about ancient Egyptian leatherwork technologies, warfare, weapons, and chariotry.

Read more less

‘Authenticity’ and authentication is at the heart of museums’ concerns in displays, objects, and interaction with visitors. These notions have formed a central element in early thought on culture and collecting. Nineteenth century-explorers, commissioned museum collectors and pioneering ethnographers attempted to lay bare the essences of cultures through collecting and studying objects from distant communities. Comparably, historical archaeology departed from the idea that cultures were discrete bounded entities, subject to divergence but precisely therefore also to be traced back and linked to, a more complete original form in the (even) deeper past.Much of what we work with today in ethnographic museum collections testifies to that conviction. Post-structural thinking brought about a far-reaching deconstruction of the authentic. It came to be recognized that both far-away communities and the deep past can only be discussed when seen as desires, constructions and inventions.Notwithstanding this undressing of the ways in which people portray their cultural surroundings and past, claims of authenticity and quests for authentication remain omnipresent. This book explores the authentic in contemporary ethnographic museums, as it persists in dialogues with stakeholders, and how museums portray themselves. How do we interact with questions of authenticity and authentication when we curate, study artefacts, collect, repatriate, and make (re)presentations? The contributing authors illustrate the divergent nature in which the authentic is brought into play, deconstructed and operationalized. Authenticity, the book argues, is an expression of a desire that is equally troubled as it is resilient.Published in co-operation with the Dutch National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden.

Read more less

Ce livre est consacré à la recherche sur le développement de la production et des échanges céramiques entre le continent et les îles de Bretagne, du Néolithique à la période gallo-romaine. L’analyse archéométrique de la céramique est utilisée pour explorer le développement des réseaux de communication: la circulation des personnes et des produits entre les îles et le continent. Ces îles produisaient-elles leur propre poterie ou étaient-elles dépendantes de la production continentale?En déterminant si la poterie a été produite ou importée localement, il est possible d’identifier les degrés variables de connexion ou d’isolement avec des réseaux plus larges. Plusieurs méthodes d’analyse ont été utilisées pour examiner 368 tessons de poterie provenant de 25 sites. Des observations macroscopiques ont été effectuées afin de documenter les traitements de surface, ainsi que l’examen microscopique de coupes céramiques minces pour l’identification de la composition minéralogique de l’argile et pour déterminer ses origines géologiques et géographiques. Ces techniques ont été complétées par des analyses chimiques: SEM-EDS, XR-D et P-XRF.Enfin, une nouvelle approche méthodologique a été utilisée pour la provenance des argiles: l’analyse LA-ICP-MS. Cette méthode est basée sur des comparaisons chimiques des inclusions minérales dans les pâtes céramiques avec les mêmes types de minéraux dans les roches mères. Elle permet de déterminer plus précisément les origines des argiles, surtout lorsque les pâtes n’offrent pas d’éléments caractéristiques qui permettent de les distinguer des autres productions.La longue portée chronologique de cette étude nous permet de documenter l’évolution des caractéristiques céramiques et les lieux changeants de l’approvisionnement en argile et de la production de poterie. Les résultats de cette recherche apportent de nouvelles preuves de l’occupation préhistorique des îles bretonnes.English AbstractSea, ceramics and islands in western France: archaeometric approach to paleo-economic relations of island populations from the Neolithic to AntiquityThis book is about research on the development of ceramic production and exchange between the mainland and islands of Brittany from the Neolithic to the Gallo-Roman period. Archaeometric analysis of ceramics is used to explore the development of communication networks: the movement of people and of products between the islands and the mainland.Did these islands produce their own pottery or were they dependent on mainland production? By determining whether pottery was locally produced or imported, it is possible to identify the changing degrees of connection with, or isolation from, wider networks.Several analytical methods have been employed to examine 368 sherds of pottery from 25 sites. Macroscopic observations were made in order to document surface treatments, as well as microscopic examination of ceramic thin sections for the identification of the mineralogical composition of the clay, and to determine its geological and geographic origins. These techniques have been complemented with chemical analyses: SEM-EDS, XR-D and P-XRF. Finally, a new methodological approach has been used to provenance the clays: LA-ICP-MS analysis. This method is based on chemical comparisons of the mineral inclusions in the ceramic pastes with the same mineral types in the parent rocks. It can determine more precisely the origins of clays, especially when the pastes do not offer characteristic elements that allow them to be distinguished from other productions.The long chronological scope of this study allows us to document the evolution of ceramic characteristics and the changing locations of clay supply and pottery production. The results of this research provide new evidence about the prehistoric occupation of the islands of Brittany.

Read more less

Past Landscapes presents theoretical and practical attempts of scholars and scientists, who were and are active within the Kiel Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes” (GSHDL), in order to disentangle a wide scope of research efforts on past landscapes. Landscapes are understood as products of human-environmental interaction. At the same time, they are arenas, in which societal and cultural activities as well as receptions of environments and human developments take place. Thus, environmental processes are interwoven into human constraints and advances.This book presents theories, concepts, approaches and case studies dealing with human development in landscapes. On the one hand, it becomes evident that only an interdisciplinary approach can cover the manifold aspects of the topic. On the other hand, this also implies that the very different approaches cannot be reduced to a simplistic uniform definition of landscape. This shortcoming proves nevertheless to be an important strength. The umbrella term ‘landscape’ proves to be highly stimulating for a large variety of different approaches.The first part of our book deals with a number of theories and concepts, the second part is concerned with approaches to landscapes, whereas the third part introduces case studies for human development in landscapes. As intended by the GSHDL, the reader might follow our approach to delve into the multi-faceted theories, concepts and practices on past landscapes: from events, processes and structures in environmental and produced spaces to theories, concepts and practices concerning past societies.

Read more less

As reflected in the title From Microcosm to Macrocosm: Individual households and cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia, both a micro-approach introducing microhistories of individual sites according to recent archaeological fieldwork incorporating interdisciplinary methods as well as general patterns and regional developments in Northeast Africa are discussed.This combination of research questions on the micro-level with the macro-level provides new information about cities and households in Ancient Egypt and Nubia and makes the book unique. Architectural studies as well as analyses of material culture and the new application of microarchaeology, here especially of micromorphology and archaeometric applications, are presented as case studies from sites primarily dating to the New Kingdom (Second Millennium BC). The rich potential of well-preserved but still not completely explored sites in modern Sudan, especially as direct comparison for already excavated sites located in Egypt, is in particular emphasised in the book.Settlement archaeology in Egypt and Nubia has recently moved away from a strong textual approach and generalised studies to a more site-specific approach and household studies. This new bottom-up approach applied by current fieldwork projects is demonstrated in the book. The volume is intended for all specialists at settlements sites in Northeast Africa, for students of Egyptology and Nubian Studies, but it will be of interest to anyone working in the field of settlement archaeology. It is the result of a conference on the same subject held in 2017 as the closing event of the European Research Council funded project AcrossBorders at Munich.

Read more less

This book contains a selection of nineteen articles published by K.R. Veenhof, focusing on his main field of study: law and trade in the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian society of the early second millennium B.C. They were originally published in journals, conference proceedings and collective volumes over the past fifty years. Their reissue here is motivated by their lasting value and their fundamental importance to the study of these subjects.It includes both “broad” articles, which give an introduction to or an overview of a specific subject, e.g. Old Assyrian trade and the practice of justice in Babylonia in the early second millennium B.C., and “narrow” ones that give an in-depth study of a single issue or a single text, such as a problematic paragraph of Hammurabi’s law code or the meaning of the noun iṣurtum. The first two articles provide a general introduction to the subject; the next nine focus on Old Assyrian society, and the final eight concern Old Babylonian.The inclusion of “broad” and “narrow” articles makes this publication of interest both to the well-informed general reader interested in the Ancient Near East and to the specialist working on Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian society.Prof. dr. Klaas R. Veenhof (1935) was a teacher at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, professor at the Free University of Amsterdam and from 1982 until his retirement in 2000 professor at the University of Leiden. Key publications are his dissertation “Aspects of Old Assyrian Trade and its Terminology” (1972), “The Old Assyrian list of year eponyms from Karum Kanish and its chronological implications” (2003), and several editions of Old Assyrian texts, especially “Altassyrische Tontafeln aus Kültepe” (1992) and Kültepe Tabletleri 5 and 8 (2005 and 2010).

Read more less

Landscape archaeology projects have had a significant impact on our understanding of the deep history of the Greek countryside, but have overwhelmingly been limited to the plains and have rarely placed the Ottoman period at their core. This investigation of Zagori in Northwest Greece explores the archaeology and cultural history of a mountainous area that famously thrived in the Ottoman period.This engagement with an upland region in the early modern period sheds light on previously neglected aspects of Greek landscape history. The inclusive methodology combines critical historiography, archival research, oral history and landscape-archaeological survey to achieve novel insights into this montane landscape and its distinctive history and cultural heritage.Contrary to the dominant nationalist historiography, it demonstrates the continuity of regional elites from the Byzantine to Ottoman period in Epirus and reveals how this shaped settlement patterns and elite/non-elite sedentary adaptations in this montane region. It also gives voice from within to the labour-intensive, engendered, cultural landscape of the Zagori peasantry and challenges the view of external scholarly observers that mountains support a predominantly pastoral way of life.

Read more less

Past Landscapes presents theoretical and practical attempts of scholars and scientists, who were and are active within the Kiel Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes” (GSHDL), in order to disentangle a wide scope of research efforts on past landscapes. Landscapes are understood as products of human-environmental interaction. At the same time, they are arenas, in which societal and cultural activities as well as receptions of environments and human developments take place. Thus, environmental processes are interwoven into human constraints and advances.This book presents theories, concepts, approaches and case studies dealing with human development in landscapes. On the one hand, it becomes evident that only an interdisciplinary approach can cover the manifold aspects of the topic. On the other hand, this also implies that the very different approaches cannot be reduced to a simplistic uniform definition of landscape. This shortcoming proves nevertheless to be an important strength. The umbrella term ‘landscape’ proves to be highly stimulating for a large variety of different approaches.The first part of our book deals with a number of theories and concepts, the second part is concerned with approaches to landscapes, whereas the third part introduces case studies for human development in landscapes. As intended by the GSHDL, the reader might follow our approach to delve into the multi-faceted theories, concepts and practices on past landscapes: from events, processes and structures in environmental and produced spaces to theories, concepts and practices concerning past societies.

Read more less

This edited volume explores how (what is today) Scotland can be compared with, contrasted to, or was connected with other parts of Early Medieval Europe. Far from a ‘dark age’, Early Medieval Scotland (AD 300–900) was a crucible of different languages and cultures, the world of the Picts, Scots, Britons and Anglo-Saxons. Though long regarded as somehow peripheral to continental Europe, people in Early Medieval Scotland had mastered complex technologies and were part of sophisticated intellectual networks.This cross-disciplinary volume includes contributions focussing on archaeology, artefacts, art-history and history, and considers themes that connect Scotland with key processes and phenomena happening elsewhere in Europe. Topics explored include the transition from Iron Age to Early Medieval societies and the development of secular power centres, the Early Medieval intervention in prehistoric landscapes, and the management of resources necessary to build kingdoms.

Read more less

Depuis 2001, des recherches archéologiques sont menées dans l’archipel de Molène. Ce secteur s’avère particulièrement riche en vestiges du Néolithique et de l’Age du Bronze. Une concentration exceptionnelle de monuments mégalithiques y a été mise en évidence.Plusieurs habitats sont attestés par la présence de dépotoirs domestiques. A la pointe de Beg ar Loued (île Molène), l’un de ses amas coquilliers fit l’objet d’un premier sondage en 2003 marquant le début d’une série de campagnes de fouilles. Dès la deuxième année, celle-ci prit un tournant décisif avec la reconnaissance des premiers murs en pierres sèches, correspondant à un bâtiment conservé sous la dune. Pendant près d’une décennie, ce site fit l’objet de fouilles par une équipe interdisciplinaire. Les données obtenues par l’étude de l’habitat renseignent sur la chronologie des différentes occupations du site et permettent de documenter la transition IIIe-IIe millénaire avant notre ère, fourchette chronologique encore très mal connue dans la moitié nord de la France.Outre l’apport d’une chronologie relative, l’approche architecturale donne une meilleure compréhension des choix ayant présidé aux différentes phases de construction du bâtiment occupé pendant plus de trois siècles. Les éléments de la culture matérielle (céramique, lithique, métallurgie) viennent aussi soulever le voile sur une période essentiellement connue en Bretagne à travers les monuments funéraires.Pour la première fois dans cette région, grâce à la conservation des vestiges organiques, il est permis d’esquisser l’économie (élevage, agriculture pêche, collecte des coquillages, etc.) des hommes ayant occupé les rivages de la mer d’Iroise. Leur mode de vie suggère une communauté sédentaire à économie vivrière, exploitant l’ensemble des ressources insulaires sans pour autant être coupée du continent (style céramique, métallurgie).Afin de mieux comprendre l’évolution globale de cet environnement insulaire, de nouvelles recherches ont été menées sur les variations du niveau marin corrélées à l’étude du paysage végétal, de la géomorphologie, de la géologie et de la faune.English abstractSince 2001, archaeological research has been conducted in the Molène Archipelago, an area that is particularly rich in remains from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, with an exceptional concentration of megalithic monuments. Several settlements are attested by the presence of domestic refuse dumps. At the point of Beg ar Loued (Molène Island), one of those shell middens was the object of an initial sondage in 2003, and that marked the beginning of a long series of excavations. Fieldwork took a decisive turn during the second year with the recognition of the first dry stone walls, belonging to a building preserved within the sand dunes. For nearly a decade, this site has been excavated by an interdisciplinary team. The data that have been obtained from this fieldwork provide information on the chronology of the various periods of occupation of the site and help to document the 3rd–2nd millennium BC transition, a period still largely unknown in the northern half of France. In addition to providing a relative chronology, the architectural approach gives us a better understanding of the choices that governed the different construction phases of the building, which was occupied for over three centuries. The elements of material culture (pottery, lithics, metalwork) also shed light on a period essentially known in Brittany through its funerary monuments. For the first time in this region, thanks to the preservation of organic remains, it is possible to sketch the lifestyle (livestock management, agriculture, fishing, shell gathering, etc.) of the people who occupied the shores of the Iroise Sea. In order to understand better the overall trends in this insular environment, new researches have been carried out on sea level changes in tandem with the study of the palaeoenvironment, geomorphology, geology and wildlife.

Read more less

As it appears in diverse guises – and notably as a founding narrative – the past is at the core of every functioning human society. The idea that the past can be known through scientific research has long been a fundamental challenge for western societies and for European researchers, from all disciplines concerned.Through more than four decades of outward-looking archaeological practice, the scholar, teacher and intellectual Jean-Paul Demoule has elaborated a truly global approach to European cultures and their transformations, spanning from the social inequality in Neolithic times to Indo European research to contemporary links between heritage and politics. His colleagues – British, Bulgarians, Czechs, Danes, Dutch, French, Germans, North-Americans, Spaniards, Swiss and Russians – seek to extend and enrich his vision. With contributions (written in French and in English) spanning from prehistory to the modern world, they bring in this volume new insights and data to such issues as the processes of identity construction at different scales, migratory movements in Europe, the status of gender, the role of prestige objects and megalithic monuments in the emergence of social hierarchy and in the semiology of power… without forgetting the myths and realities surrounding the Indo-European phenomenon.—Le passé sous diverses formes – et notamment celle d’un récit fondateur – est au cœur du fonctionnement de toute société humaine. L’idée que le passé puisse être connaissable par une recherche scientifique est un enjeu essentiel, particulièrement abordé par les sociétés occidentales et notamment par des chercheurs européens, toutes disciplines confondues.Par sa pratique de l’archéologie et son érudition, le chercheur et le professeur Jean-Paul Demoule a su élaborer un tableau global des cultures européennes et de leurs transformations, incluant autant les origines néolithiques des inégalités sociales que l’émergence du mythe indo-européen ou encore les rapports entre patrimoine et politique. Dans cet ouvrage, ses collègues allemands, britanniques, bulgares, danois, espagnols, français, néerlandais, nord-américains, russes, suisses et tchèques prolongent et enrichissent – en anglais ou en français – sa vision. Ils y apportent leurs réflexions et leurs données concernant les perspectives de l’archéologie du XXIe siècle, les processus de la construction identitaire à différentes échelles, les mouvements migratoires de l’Europe, le statut du genre, le rôle des objets de prestige et des monuments mégalithiques dans l’émergence de la hiérarchisation sociale et de la sémiologie du pouvoir… sans oublier la mythologie et les réalités du phénomène indo-européen.

Read more less

This book presents a group of small and inconspicuous barrows that were recently discovered in the forest of Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. They are part of an extensive barrow landscape of which little was yet known. Fieldwork carried out in and around them yielded a wealth of new data. It was discovered that even the most inconspicuous and heavily damaged mound of this group still contained many special features.This special place was anchored around a site that probably had a particular significance in the Late Neolithic, and where special rituals were carried out during the Bronze Age, resulting in the construction of an enigmatic row of pits – rituals the likes of which have not previously been attested around barrows in the Netherlands, but which are known elsewhere in Europe. The dead were buried at locations that were probably only later covered by monuments. During the Bronze Age (between the 18th and 15th centuries BC) the mounds of this small barrow group were used as collective graves for what was probably perceived as one specific ‘community of ancestors’.The burial practices in the mounds show strong similarities and it is argued that these barrows were each other’s successors, representing the funeral history of people who wished to unite their forebears in death as one unproblematic whole without distinctions. The fieldwork showed that even small-scale, partial excavations of a seemingly minor barrow group can inform us on the significance of the extensive barrow landscapes they are part of – a knowledge that can help us to understand the prehistoric legacy of the Netherlands and to protect it for the future as heritage.

Read more less

This volume combines scholarly contributions on the relation between values and cleaning processes in different places, cultures and times. The core disciplines are archaeology and anthropology with interdisciplinary additions from sinology, classic philology, philosophy, sociology and fine arts.

Read more less