Several marble sarcophagi, including both plain or fluted coffins and chests decorated with garlands, friezes, and elaborate compositions framed by columns and covered with roof-shaped or kline lids, are attested in the Roman burial grounds at Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey). Because of their repetitive, standardized pattern, fluted sarcophagi have been dismissed by scholars as the formulaic, more affordable output of local workshops. Contrary to the apparent simplicity, however, each item is highly individual with respect to the morphology of its mouldings and flutes, surface treatment, and decorative details. The majority of the pieces from the North Necropolis seem to have been carved in response to individual requirements. While rationalized modes of production likely dominated the economic landscape of the Roman sarcophagus industry, customers could exercise a significant degree of control over the pieces carved by local quarry-based workshops. Exploration of these processes, operational flows, and histories may yield new perspectives on the social and economic relationships that underpinned the production and trade of Roman sarcophagi.
{"title":"Seriality and Individualization: Carving the Fluted Sarcophagi from Hierapolis of Phrygia","authors":"Anna Anguissola","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0337","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0337","url":null,"abstract":"Several marble sarcophagi, including both plain or fluted coffins and chests decorated with garlands, friezes, and elaborate compositions framed by columns and covered with roof-shaped or <jats:italic>kline</jats:italic> lids, are attested in the Roman burial grounds at Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey). Because of their repetitive, standardized pattern, fluted sarcophagi have been dismissed by scholars as the formulaic, more affordable output of local workshops. Contrary to the apparent simplicity, however, each item is highly individual with respect to the morphology of its mouldings and flutes, surface treatment, and decorative details. The majority of the pieces from the North Necropolis seem to have been carved in response to individual requirements. While rationalized modes of production likely dominated the economic landscape of the Roman sarcophagus industry, customers could exercise a significant degree of control over the pieces carved by local quarry-based workshops. Exploration of these processes, operational flows, and histories may yield new perspectives on the social and economic relationships that underpinned the production and trade of Roman sarcophagi.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"85 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pottery-making practices have been approached by the use and application of the concept of chaîne opératoire in different parts of the world. This concept has allowed researchers to re-evaluate the social dimensions of technological studies as well as to explore aspects related to technical and social identity of ancient and modern artisans. In this article, we examine the use of grog (crushed sherds) to temper specific ceramic vessels (infant funerary urns) as material practice often used by ancient potters during Late (c. 950–1450 AD) and Inca (c. 1450–1532 AD) Periods in the Northwestern Argentine (NWA) region. The research shows that this practice can be understood as a ritual material practice with a long-standing tradition in the NWA region. Additionally, several alternative interpretations of this practice are explored in the light of different – animistic – understandings of how the Andean world works, and how people interact each other, with material things, and with landscape.
{"title":"Making Vessels for the Dead: Pottery-Making Practices, Chaîne Opératoire and the Use of Grog (Crushed Sherds) as a Technological and Cultural Choice during Late and Inca Periods in the Northwestern Argentine Region (Southern Andes)","authors":"Guillermo A. De La Fuente, Sergio D. Vera","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0338","url":null,"abstract":"Pottery-making practices have been approached by the use and application of the concept of <jats:italic>chaîne opératoire</jats:italic> in different parts of the world. This concept has allowed researchers to re-evaluate the social dimensions of technological studies as well as to explore aspects related to technical and social identity of ancient and modern artisans. In this article, we examine the use of grog (crushed sherds) to temper specific ceramic vessels (infant funerary urns) as material practice often used by ancient potters during Late (c. 950–1450 AD) and Inca (c. 1450–1532 AD) Periods in the Northwestern Argentine (NWA) region. The research shows that this practice can be understood as a ritual material practice with a long-standing tradition in the NWA region. Additionally, several alternative interpretations of this practice are explored in the light of different – animistic – understandings of how the Andean world works, and how people interact each other, with material things, and with landscape.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"85 2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alice Vassanelli, Cristiana Petrinelli Pannocchia, Elisabetta Starnini
This article discusses the chaîne opératoire concept in prehistoric archaeology, traditionally employed for the study of lithic industries and ceramic production, and focuses on personal ornament manufacture. This category of non-functional objects has been analysed with the operational sequence approach in the framework of a research project aimed at the techno-functional study of prehistoric marble artefacts. Throughout an experimental approach, the study presents the actions and choices made by the artisans to produce marble beads and tries to understand the role and social-cultural meaning that these items had for the Copper Age communities in Tuscany. Finally, our study proved that the beginning of the use of the Apuan marble can be traced back to the sixth millennium BC, and it was connected with the production of personal ornaments, reaching its peak during the Copper Age.
{"title":"The Chaîne Opératoire Approach for Interpreting Personal Ornament Production: Marble Beads in Copper Age Tuscany (Italy)","authors":"Alice Vassanelli, Cristiana Petrinelli Pannocchia, Elisabetta Starnini","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0334","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0334","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses the <jats:italic>chaîne opératoire</jats:italic> concept in prehistoric archaeology, traditionally employed for the study of lithic industries and ceramic production, and focuses on personal ornament manufacture. This category of non-functional objects has been analysed with the operational sequence approach in the framework of a research project aimed at the techno-functional study of prehistoric marble artefacts. Throughout an experimental approach, the study presents the actions and choices made by the artisans to produce marble beads and tries to understand the role and social-cultural meaning that these items had for the Copper Age communities in Tuscany. Finally, our study proved that the beginning of the use of the Apuan marble can be traced back to the sixth millennium BC, and it was connected with the production of personal ornaments, reaching its peak during the Copper Age.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138690834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
For a millennium, turf was the primary building material in Iceland. It was used for dwellings, outhouses, boundary walls, raised roads, and other man-made structures. Turf is known as an earthen building material in many countries, especially in northern latitudes, but the knowledge of how to build using it has mostly disappeared. As turf was used well into the twentieth century in Iceland, the skilled craft of locating, harvesting, and building with this material has been retained. This is also facilitated by still standing historical buildings and the need for continual maintenance. Archaeologists also benefit from learning about turf as they frequently interpret the remains of turf walls in the archaeological record. This means that Iceland is in a unique position to disseminate knowledge on this important intangible heritage. However, because of a lack of adequate funding and strategies for maintaining the craft, these skills are in danger of disappearing in Iceland as well. In this article, we discuss the state of knowledge on turf, what turf is, the preservation of the intangible building heritage, the revival of interest in turf, and how the various strands of evidence serve as background for the interpretation of turf as heritage and as an archaeological material.
{"title":"Turf Building in Iceland – Past, Present, and Future","authors":"Guðný Zoëga, Sigríður Sigurðardóttir, Bryndís Zoëga","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0345","url":null,"abstract":"For a millennium, turf was the primary building material in Iceland. It was used for dwellings, outhouses, boundary walls, raised roads, and other man-made structures. Turf is known as an earthen building material in many countries, especially in northern latitudes, but the knowledge of how to build using it has mostly disappeared. As turf was used well into the twentieth century in Iceland, the skilled craft of locating, harvesting, and building with this material has been retained. This is also facilitated by still standing historical buildings and the need for continual maintenance. Archaeologists also benefit from learning about turf as they frequently interpret the remains of turf walls in the archaeological record. This means that Iceland is in a unique position to disseminate knowledge on this important intangible heritage. However, because of a lack of adequate funding and strategies for maintaining the craft, these skills are in danger of disappearing in Iceland as well. In this article, we discuss the state of knowledge on turf, what turf is, the preservation of the intangible building heritage, the revival of interest in turf, and how the various strands of evidence serve as background for the interpretation of turf as heritage and as an archaeological material.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"286 2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138628691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article is an introductory contribution to our Special Issue Reconsidering the Chaîne Opératoire: Towards a Multifaceted Approach to the Archaeology of Techniques. The chaîne opératoire is a central and fundamental concept for archaeological studies that has been fully appropriated and repurposed by several generations of researchers. In this paper, we would like to present some of the points discussed and illustrated by the various articles in this special issue. The aim is to highlight theoretical and practical considerations in various fields, with a diachronic focus. From the biographical approach to the study of artefacts to the challenges of interdisciplinarity through cognitive and sensory approaches, the theoretical discussion is rich and innovative, acknowledging that the chaîne opératoire can be used as a tool for deciphering the complex network of artefacts, environments, and societies of the past and present.
这篇文章是对我们的特刊《重新考虑cha ne opsamatoire:朝向技术考古学的多面方法》的介绍性贡献。cha ne opsamatoire是考古研究的核心和基本概念，已被几代研究人员充分利用和重新利用。在这篇文章中，我们想提出一些在这期特刊的各种文章中讨论和说明的观点。其目的是突出各领域的理论和实践考虑，具有历时性的焦点。从传记方法到人工制品的研究，再到通过认知和感官方法的跨学科挑战，理论讨论丰富而创新，承认cha ne opsamatoire可以用作破译人工制品、环境和过去和现在社会的复杂网络的工具。
{"title":"Reconsidering the Chaîne Opératoire: At the Crossroad Between People and Materials","authors":"Marie-Elise Porqueddu, Claudia Sciuto, Anaïs Lamesa","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0296","url":null,"abstract":"This article is an introductory contribution to our Special Issue <jats:italic>Reconsidering the Chaîne Opératoire: Towards a Multifaceted Approach to the Archaeology of Techniques</jats:italic>. The <jats:italic>chaîne opératoire</jats:italic> is a central and fundamental concept for archaeological studies that has been fully appropriated and repurposed by several generations of researchers. In this paper, we would like to present some of the points discussed and illustrated by the various articles in this special issue. The aim is to highlight theoretical and practical considerations in various fields, with a diachronic focus. From the biographical approach to the study of artefacts to the challenges of interdisciplinarity through cognitive and sensory approaches, the theoretical discussion is rich and innovative, acknowledging that the <jats:italic>chaîne opératoire</jats:italic> can be used as a tool for deciphering the complex network of artefacts, environments, and societies of the past and present.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138628701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The aim of this work is to analyse recent studies which have raised new hypotheses concerning aural architecture as an emerging trend in humanities research, with a particular focus on the intersection of sacred space, rituals, and sound in the past. These studies have highlighted how sacred buildings not only defined a sacred place as a physical and symbolic expression of a specific form of worship but also established the setting for performative and multisensorial ceremonies in which music, dance, and other sonic events played an important role. In this contribution, we investigate studies on aural architecture to explore if the location of sacred spaces indicates whether ancient people reacted to ritual and musical developments by modifying sanctuaries or by designing and constructing new buildings and spaces for performances. In addition, this article explores studies on aural architecture to obtain an overview of how specific sonic features could have influenced the soundscape of sacred spaces, which consisted not only of songs, music, prayers, recitations and religious sonic and vocal utterances but also of natural elements, such as animals, water, and wind. This overview also takes into consideration how digital technologies and virtual acoustics can help shape our understanding of the architecture-sound nexus.
{"title":"Listening in Sacred Spaces: The Sanctuary of Poseidonia and Selinunte’s Main Urban Sanctuary","authors":"Angela Bellia","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0344","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0344","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this work is to analyse recent studies which have raised new hypotheses concerning aural architecture as an emerging trend in humanities research, with a particular focus on the intersection of sacred space, rituals, and sound in the past. These studies have highlighted how sacred buildings not only defined a sacred place as a physical and symbolic expression of a specific form of worship but also established the setting for performative and multisensorial ceremonies in which music, dance, and other sonic events played an important role. In this contribution, we investigate studies on aural architecture to explore if the location of sacred spaces indicates whether ancient people reacted to ritual and musical developments by modifying sanctuaries or by designing and constructing new buildings and spaces for performances. In addition, this article explores studies on aural architecture to obtain an overview of how specific sonic features could have influenced the soundscape of sacred spaces, which consisted not only of songs, music, prayers, recitations and religious sonic and vocal utterances but also of natural elements, such as animals, water, and wind. This overview also takes into consideration how digital technologies and virtual acoustics can help shape our understanding of the architecture-sound nexus.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138581060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Undecorated ceramic roof tiles and their fragments are one of the most enduring and numerous remains of the earthen architecture of the Roman period to survive to us from many parts of the Roman world, especially from the Mediterranean region. Despite this, we have huge gaps in our knowledge regarding this material due to the sparsity in specialist studies and published excavation or survey records. The most detrimental gap is a lack of sufficiently fine-grained tile typology to easily situate and compare any tile material found. This work will outline the methodology used in the author’s recent research concerning Roman-period ceramic roof tiles in the Eastern Mediterranean and discuss the different ways we can approach undecorated roof tiles as material to gain valuable data. The work will also touch on the current limitation we have for further research in using this material as a dataset based on the status of research (limited and biased), the methodologies that would be most valid for research (e.g. is typology still a valid tool?), and the means we have in increasing the value of this material as a source for knowledge (better documentation). Such research allows us to gain meaningful and interesting new information on style, production, and transfer of knowledge and technology, which ultimately will help us to better understand how past societies functioned and interacted.
{"title":"Undecorated Roman-Period Roof Tiles – An Old Material Providing New Results","authors":"Pirjo Hamari","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0339","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0339","url":null,"abstract":"Undecorated ceramic roof tiles and their fragments are one of the most enduring and numerous remains of the earthen architecture of the Roman period to survive to us from many parts of the Roman world, especially from the Mediterranean region. Despite this, we have huge gaps in our knowledge regarding this material due to the sparsity in specialist studies and published excavation or survey records. The most detrimental gap is a lack of sufficiently fine-grained tile typology to easily situate and compare any tile material found. This work will outline the methodology used in the author’s recent research concerning Roman-period ceramic roof tiles in the Eastern Mediterranean and discuss the different ways we can approach undecorated roof tiles as material to gain valuable data. The work will also touch on the current limitation we have for further research in using this material as a dataset based on the status of research (limited and biased), the methodologies that would be most valid for research (e.g. is typology still a valid tool?), and the means we have in increasing the value of this material as a source for knowledge (better documentation). Such research allows us to gain meaningful and interesting new information on style, production, and transfer of knowledge and technology, which ultimately will help us to better understand how past societies functioned and interacted.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138541725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Giulia Ricci, Benjamin Audiard, Antonin Tomasso, Leïla Hoareau, Marie-Anne Julien, Carlo Mologni, Louise Purdue, Guillaume Porraz
The Mesolithic technology in Western Europe depicts the last cultural expressions and adaptations of hunter-gatherers before the adoption of Neolithic agro-pastoral practices. Many questions arise when investigating the timing, nature, and historical significance of the Mesolithic. The development of the Mesolithic culture is usually associated with the onset of milder environmental conditions at the beginning of the Holocene. Hunter-gatherer societies would have adopted new subsistence and territorial strategies in response to environmental changes, which would have consecutively impacted their technological system. This assertion considers the Mesolithic in South-western Europe as one homogeneous phenomenon and eludes the putative role that early Holocene climatic fluctuations may have played in hunter-gatherer organizations. In this study, we aimed at questioning the archaeological variability of the first Mesolithic by taking benefit from new data provided by recent excavations at La Baume de Monthiver (Comps-sur-Artuby, France). La Baume de Monthiver is a small rock shelter located along the Jabron Valley in the southern French pre-Alps. The rock shelter records several Mesolithic occupations documenting Sauveterrian technological traditions. By studying the Baume de Monthiver, we take the opportunity to explore the Sauveterrian in its longue durée and address the question of its diachronic variability. In this study, we investigated the M-B′ archaeological assemblage and question its homogeneity at the transition of the 10th- and 9th-millennium cal. BP. Our results document stable technological and subsistence practices before and after the climatic fluctuations at the end of the 10th-millennium cal. BP, supporting the hypothesis of well-adapted Mesolithic societies to the climatic “instability” characterizing the early Holocene.
西欧中石器时代的技术描述了在采用新石器时代农牧实践之前狩猎采集者的最后文化表达和适应。在研究中石器时代的时间、性质和历史意义时，出现了许多问题。中石器时代文化的发展通常与全新世初期较为温和的环境条件有关。狩猎采集社会会采用新的生存和领土策略来应对环境变化，这些变化会对他们的技术系统产生持续的影响。这种说法认为欧洲西南部的中石器时代是一个同质现象，并回避了全新世早期气候波动可能在狩猎-采集组织中所起的假定作用。在这项研究中，我们旨在通过利用最近在La Baume de Monthiver (Comps-sur-Artuby，法国)发掘的新数据，质疑第一个中石器时代的考古可变性。La Baume de Monthiver是一个小岩石避难所，位于法国南部阿尔卑斯山脉前的Jabron山谷。岩石掩体记录了几个中石器时代的职业，记录了沙特人的技术传统。通过研究Baume de Monthiver，我们借此机会探索Sauveterrian在其长期的时间跨度，并解决其历时变异性的问题。在这项研究中，我们调查了M-B的考古组合，并质疑其在10 - 9千年的过渡时期的同质性。我们的研究结果记录了10千年前气候波动前后稳定的技术和生存实践，支持了中石器时代社会对全新世早期气候“不稳定”特征的良好适应假设。
{"title":"Mesolithic Occupations During the Boreal Climatic Fluctuations at La Baume de Monthiver (Var, France)","authors":"Giulia Ricci, Benjamin Audiard, Antonin Tomasso, Leïla Hoareau, Marie-Anne Julien, Carlo Mologni, Louise Purdue, Guillaume Porraz","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0341","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0341","url":null,"abstract":"The Mesolithic technology in Western Europe depicts the last cultural expressions and adaptations of hunter-gatherers before the adoption of Neolithic agro-pastoral practices. Many questions arise when investigating the timing, nature, and historical significance of the Mesolithic. The development of the Mesolithic culture is usually associated with the onset of milder environmental conditions at the beginning of the Holocene. Hunter-gatherer societies would have adopted new subsistence and territorial strategies in response to environmental changes, which would have consecutively impacted their technological system. This assertion considers the Mesolithic in South-western Europe as one homogeneous phenomenon and eludes the putative role that early Holocene climatic fluctuations may have played in hunter-gatherer organizations. In this study, we aimed at questioning the archaeological variability of the first Mesolithic by taking benefit from new data provided by recent excavations at La Baume de Monthiver (Comps-sur-Artuby, France). La Baume de Monthiver is a small rock shelter located along the Jabron Valley in the southern French pre-Alps. The rock shelter records several Mesolithic occupations documenting Sauveterrian technological traditions. By studying the Baume de Monthiver, we take the opportunity to explore the Sauveterrian in its <jats:italic>longue durée</jats:italic> and address the question of its diachronic variability. In this study, we investigated the M-B′ archaeological assemblage and question its homogeneity at the transition of the 10th- and 9th-millennium cal. BP. Our results document stable technological and subsistence practices before and after the climatic fluctuations at the end of the 10th-millennium cal. BP, supporting the hypothesis of well-adapted Mesolithic societies to the climatic “instability” characterizing the early Holocene.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"94 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138541726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Research into prehistoric buildings in northwest Europe has identified the ubiquitous use of turf. The study first introduces direct and proxy evidence for the material’s detection in the field, then analyses individual case studies to demonstrate how this locally available and renewable material shaped buildings and building practices. Turf, grown and sourced on or near a site, ties buildings to their landscape, while creating flexible shells that can shift as needed, metamorphosing built space and volume accordingly. Turf’s capacity to then compost and regrow embeds its buildings into a prehistoric circular economy that interweaves dwellings, people, animals, plants, soils, and nutrients into a holistic understanding of a “curated” rather than a “built” environment – an architecture borrowed from the soil to which it can return. The characteristics of turf blocks as a malleable and arguably metamorphosing building material call for a rethink of turf architecture, not resulting in static products but in ongoing circular processes. This new concept operates within an extended lifecycle of houses, not as in traditional approaches from birth (built) to death (abandoned), but within a cyclical, cradle-to-cradle approach. An experimental training project now translates this prehistoric cyclical model into modern sustainable turf building practice to demonstrate its potential for positive climate action today.
{"title":"The Building Blocks of Circular Economies: Rethinking Prehistoric Turf Architecture Through Archaeological and Architectural Analysis","authors":"Tanja Romankiewicz","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0331","url":null,"abstract":"Research into prehistoric buildings in northwest Europe has identified the ubiquitous use of turf. The study first introduces direct and proxy evidence for the material’s detection in the field, then analyses individual case studies to demonstrate how this locally available and renewable material shaped buildings and building practices. Turf, grown and sourced on or near a site, ties buildings to their landscape, while creating flexible shells that can shift as needed, metamorphosing built space and volume accordingly. Turf’s capacity to then compost and regrow embeds its buildings into a prehistoric circular economy that interweaves dwellings, people, animals, plants, soils, and nutrients into a holistic understanding of a “curated” rather than a “built” environment – an architecture borrowed from the soil to which it can return. The characteristics of turf blocks as a malleable and arguably metamorphosing building material call for a rethink of turf architecture, not resulting in static products but in ongoing circular processes. This new concept operates within an extended lifecycle of houses, not as in traditional approaches from birth (built) to death (abandoned), but within a cyclical, cradle-to-cradle approach. An experimental training project now translates this prehistoric cyclical model into modern sustainable turf building practice to demonstrate its potential for positive climate action today.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138541723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pirunkirkko (“Devil’s Church”) is one of the famous caves in Finland. Tradition says that this crevice leading into the mountain was a meeting place for sages, who typically used sound to contact the spirit world. Today, the place is visited by practitioners of shamanism, who organise drumming sessions at the back of the cave. This article examines Pirunkirkko and the related traditions from the perspective of acoustics, hypothesising that the acoustic characteristics of the crevice might have played a role in the ritualisation of the place and the power of its rituals. Methods employed include impulse response recording, spectrum analysis, archival research, and interview of a shamanic practitioner. The results indicate that the back of the cave houses a distinct resonance phenomenon. A standing wave between the parallel walls generates a ringing tone at 219–232 Hz that stays audible after sharp impulses or vocalisations at the same frequency. The local folklore or the interviewed practitioner does not mention this phenomenon at all. Instead, they speak about the “spirit of the cave,” “special energy,” or “new horizons” opened up by drumming. This leads to reflection on cultural frameworks of thought that guide sensory perceptions leading to differing experiences and interpretations.
{"title":"Ringing Tone and Drumming Sages in the Crevice Cave of Pirunkirkko, Koli, Finland","authors":"Riitta Rainio, Elina Hytönen-Ng","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0328","url":null,"abstract":"Pirunkirkko (“Devil’s Church”) is one of the famous caves in Finland. Tradition says that this crevice leading into the mountain was a meeting place for sages, who typically used sound to contact the spirit world. Today, the place is visited by practitioners of shamanism, who organise drumming sessions at the back of the cave. This article examines Pirunkirkko and the related traditions from the perspective of acoustics, hypothesising that the acoustic characteristics of the crevice might have played a role in the ritualisation of the place and the power of its rituals. Methods employed include impulse response recording, spectrum analysis, archival research, and interview of a shamanic practitioner. The results indicate that the back of the cave houses a distinct resonance phenomenon. A standing wave between the parallel walls generates a ringing tone at 219–232 Hz that stays audible after sharp impulses or vocalisations at the same frequency. The local folklore or the interviewed practitioner does not mention this phenomenon at all. Instead, they speak about the “spirit of the cave,” “special energy,” or “new horizons” opened up by drumming. This leads to reflection on cultural frameworks of thought that guide sensory perceptions leading to differing experiences and interpretations.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138541716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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