Pub Date : 2024-05-03DOI: 10.1017/s1380203824000047
Assaf Nativ, Nimrod Marom, Hagar Reshef, Ron Shimelmitz
Focusing on the late prehistoric southern Levant, we recently suggested that the diffused low-frequency distribution of large predator bones (lion, leopard and bear) coalesces into a coherent temporal pattern when observed at a sufficiently long timescale. While in the previous research we sought to determine what sort of sociocultural mechanism might explain this pattern, effectively drawing it into the orbit of the familiar, in this brief provocation, we push in the other direction, towards the unfamiliar: how can a process or phenomenon be culturally significant yet meaningless at the human and societal levels? How is a phenomenon substantial in the long term and insubstantial in the short term?
{"title":"How far does culture go?","authors":"Assaf Nativ, Nimrod Marom, Hagar Reshef, Ron Shimelmitz","doi":"10.1017/s1380203824000047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1380203824000047","url":null,"abstract":"Focusing on the late prehistoric southern Levant, we recently suggested that the diffused low-frequency distribution of large predator bones (lion, leopard and bear) coalesces into a coherent temporal pattern when observed at a sufficiently long timescale. While in the previous research we sought to determine what sort of sociocultural mechanism might explain this pattern, effectively drawing it into the orbit of the familiar, in this brief provocation, we push in the other direction, towards the unfamiliar: how can a process or phenomenon be culturally significant yet meaningless at the human and societal levels? How is a phenomenon substantial in the long term and insubstantial in the short term?","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140833266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-04DOI: 10.1017/s1380203824000023
Konstantinos P. Trimmis, Christina Marini, Zoe Katsilerou, Maria Marinou, Konstantza Kapsali, Melpomeni Perdikopoulou, Valentina Soumintoub, Kristina Brkić Drnić, Ivan Drnić, Eleftheria Theodoroudi, Lita Tzortzopoulou Gregory, Christianne L. Fernee, Konstantina Kalogirou
Object biography, amended and expanded by the newer and ontologically updated concept of object itineraries, is a well-established analytical tool for documenting human–object interactions. The present paper explores its intersection with art, and proposes the concept of Creative Object Biography, as a step forward in the discourse and as a means for articulating and sharing alternative narratives and imageries not only among specialists but also – and especially – with the wider public, aiming to render discussions on materiality relevant to diverse audiences. The paper uses as a case study a group of three every-day objects associated with the Vlach pastoral transhumance of northern Greece, whose entanglements and cultural itineraries functioned as the inspiration for the creation of three original short films.
{"title":"A study on creative object biographies. Can creative arts be a medium for understanding object–human interaction?","authors":"Konstantinos P. Trimmis, Christina Marini, Zoe Katsilerou, Maria Marinou, Konstantza Kapsali, Melpomeni Perdikopoulou, Valentina Soumintoub, Kristina Brkić Drnić, Ivan Drnić, Eleftheria Theodoroudi, Lita Tzortzopoulou Gregory, Christianne L. Fernee, Konstantina Kalogirou","doi":"10.1017/s1380203824000023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1380203824000023","url":null,"abstract":"Object biography, amended and expanded by the newer and ontologically updated concept of object itineraries, is a well-established analytical tool for documenting human–object interactions. The present paper explores its intersection with art, and proposes the concept of Creative Object Biography, as a step forward in the discourse and as a means for articulating and sharing alternative narratives and imageries not only among specialists but also – and especially – with the wider public, aiming to render discussions on materiality relevant to diverse audiences. The paper uses as a case study a group of three every-day objects associated with the Vlach pastoral transhumance of northern Greece, whose entanglements and cultural itineraries functioned as the inspiration for the creation of three original short films.","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"73 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140038067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-12DOI: 10.1017/s1380203824000011
Ben Raffield, Christina Fredengren, Anna Kjellström
To date, traditional narratives of the Late Iron Age have focused almost exclusively on discussions of the elite. These were the martial rulers and major landholders who occupied the upper strata of Scandinavian society. The lives of lower-status population groups, including enslaved and other ‘unfree’ or dependent peoples such as landless farmers, have long been marginalized in archaeological discourse. We have little knowledge of the ways in which the lifeways of subaltern peoples were shaped by the construction and maintenance of socio-political hierarchies and networks, or of how social inequality permeated and impacted the daily lives of communities. In this article, the authors propose that the concept of structural violence, developed by sociologist Johan Galtung, has the potential to offer an interdisciplinary framework for multi-proxy studies of (bio)archaeological and textual data.
{"title":"Narratives of inequality. Towards an archaeology of structural violence in Late Iron Age Scandinavia","authors":"Ben Raffield, Christina Fredengren, Anna Kjellström","doi":"10.1017/s1380203824000011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s1380203824000011","url":null,"abstract":"To date, traditional narratives of the Late Iron Age have focused almost exclusively on discussions of the elite. These were the martial rulers and major landholders who occupied the upper strata of Scandinavian society. The lives of lower-status population groups, including enslaved and other ‘unfree’ or dependent peoples such as landless farmers, have long been marginalized in archaeological discourse. We have little knowledge of the ways in which the lifeways of subaltern peoples were shaped by the construction and maintenance of socio-political hierarchies and networks, or of how social inequality permeated and impacted the daily lives of communities. In this article, the authors propose that the concept of <jats:italic>structural violence</jats:italic>, developed by sociologist Johan Galtung, has the potential to offer an interdisciplinary framework for multi-proxy studies of (bio)archaeological and textual data.","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139754014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1017/S1380203823000090
W. Crist
and archaeologists have long told stories while having fun in the process, either when sharing present archaeological data with the public and other scholars or as a tool to help them interpret the past (Grima 2017, 76). On a similar note, the use of play and games in archaeology is perhaps viewed in the same way with duality (if not multiplicity) in mind: as a medium to engage with the public, students and other academics, and as a tool to explore and interpret the past. In this regard, the paper offers a refreshing perspective on play in archaeology and thus almost strips away the guilt of those who enjoy playing and having fun in our field: which is in itself a beautiful playground and often exactly the reason we became archaeologists in the first place, affording us the chance to play with dirt under the sun, discover exciting artefacts from the past and interpret them, creating stories about the people who were here before us.
{"title":"Fun in ruins: Archaeology’s serious rut","authors":"W. Crist","doi":"10.1017/S1380203823000090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203823000090","url":null,"abstract":"and archaeologists have long told stories while having fun in the process, either when sharing present archaeological data with the public and other scholars or as a tool to help them interpret the past (Grima 2017, 76). On a similar note, the use of play and games in archaeology is perhaps viewed in the same way with duality (if not multiplicity) in mind: as a medium to engage with the public, students and other academics, and as a tool to explore and interpret the past. In this regard, the paper offers a refreshing perspective on play in archaeology and thus almost strips away the guilt of those who enjoy playing and having fun in our field: which is in itself a beautiful playground and often exactly the reason we became archaeologists in the first place, affording us the chance to play with dirt under the sun, discover exciting artefacts from the past and interpret them, creating stories about the people who were here before us.","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"30 1","pages":"22 - 24"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47399622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1017/S1380203823000107
Aris Politopoulos, Angus A. A. Mol, S. Lammes
tivities that are relevant to the play of games from other cultures. The history of play is not all fun and games, as colonialism and capitalism have had effects on the cultural heritage of play. European board games have replaced local games, as pressure to behave in ways similar to Europeans led to the spread of football and cricket (Appadurai 1995) as well as the standardized European rules of chess, which were introduced to South Asia and replaced local versions of chaturanga, the original form of the game; moreover, reintroduced versions of local games (e.g. Ludo and snakes and ladders) were commercially appropriated in Europe and resold to their communities of origin (Mukherjee in press). Even today, video and commercial games are replacing traditional forms of play, leading to their disappearance. Organizations have begun to address this issue – again, largely focusing on sports. To date, only one board game has been inscribed by UNESCO on its list of intangible cultural heritage (UNESCO 2020). There is still much to accomplish to bring the archaeological study of play to where it should be, and to more completely integrate it into a holistic archaeological approach to understanding ancient life. After all, isn’t the whole point of life, with all the economic, political and ritual choices we make, meant to be being able to enjoy ourselves – to have fun? This is not so different from life in the past, and recognizing this will lead us to better understand the motivations, interactions and daily lives of the people we study. We have a lot of work to do to solve this puzzle, so to echo the authors’ sentiment, let the games begin!
{"title":"This was fun!","authors":"Aris Politopoulos, Angus A. A. Mol, S. Lammes","doi":"10.1017/S1380203823000107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203823000107","url":null,"abstract":"tivities that are relevant to the play of games from other cultures. The history of play is not all fun and games, as colonialism and capitalism have had effects on the cultural heritage of play. European board games have replaced local games, as pressure to behave in ways similar to Europeans led to the spread of football and cricket (Appadurai 1995) as well as the standardized European rules of chess, which were introduced to South Asia and replaced local versions of chaturanga, the original form of the game; moreover, reintroduced versions of local games (e.g. Ludo and snakes and ladders) were commercially appropriated in Europe and resold to their communities of origin (Mukherjee in press). Even today, video and commercial games are replacing traditional forms of play, leading to their disappearance. Organizations have begun to address this issue – again, largely focusing on sports. To date, only one board game has been inscribed by UNESCO on its list of intangible cultural heritage (UNESCO 2020). There is still much to accomplish to bring the archaeological study of play to where it should be, and to more completely integrate it into a holistic archaeological approach to understanding ancient life. After all, isn’t the whole point of life, with all the economic, political and ritual choices we make, meant to be being able to enjoy ourselves – to have fun? This is not so different from life in the past, and recognizing this will lead us to better understand the motivations, interactions and daily lives of the people we study. We have a lot of work to do to solve this puzzle, so to echo the authors’ sentiment, let the games begin!","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"30 1","pages":"24 - 30"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49134750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1017/S1380203823000089
Karen D. Bellinger
The authors emphasize the role of play and fun in the past and the present, and aim to make it a central topic in archaeology based on Huizinga ’ s (2016) seminal work on the topic. It is of course hard to disagree with this, just as it is for other contributions that urge us to pay more attention to aspects of past lives outside of those studied by the mainstream, including light, sound, childhood, etc. Giving play in the past the attention it deserves will enrich archaeology and make it even more
{"title":"Do we need rules for a ‘playful’ archaeology?","authors":"Karen D. Bellinger","doi":"10.1017/S1380203823000089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203823000089","url":null,"abstract":"The authors emphasize the role of play and fun in the past and the present, and aim to make it a central topic in archaeology based on Huizinga ’ s (2016) seminal work on the topic. It is of course hard to disagree with this, just as it is for other contributions that urge us to pay more attention to aspects of past lives outside of those studied by the mainstream, including light, sound, childhood, etc. Giving play in the past the attention it deserves will enrich archaeology and make it even more","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"30 1","pages":"15 - 17"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48022154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1017/S1380203823000065
C. Horn
The authors emphasize the role of play and fun in the past and the present, and aim to make it a central topic in archaeology based on Huizinga ’ s (2016) seminal work on the topic. It is of course hard to disagree with this, just as it is for other contributions that urge us to pay more attention to aspects of past lives outside of those studied by the mainstream, including light, sound, childhood, etc. Giving play in the past the attention it deserves will enrich archaeology and make it even more
{"title":"Archaeologists just wanna have fun","authors":"C. Horn","doi":"10.1017/S1380203823000065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203823000065","url":null,"abstract":"The authors emphasize the role of play and fun in the past and the present, and aim to make it a central topic in archaeology based on Huizinga ’ s (2016) seminal work on the topic. It is of course hard to disagree with this, just as it is for other contributions that urge us to pay more attention to aspects of past lives outside of those studied by the mainstream, including light, sound, childhood, etc. Giving play in the past the attention it deserves will enrich archaeology and make it even more","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"30 1","pages":"17 - 20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43923250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1017/S1380203823000077
D. Sampatakou
friends. Lastly, there is yet another dimension to seriousness and fun. Incredibly, there are fun serious tasks, and what they are depends on the individual archaeologist. We know that the authors find it hard to have fun writing grant proposals, but I consider creating a new research project and writing it down to be one of the more fun activities. Summarizing the last two sections, I would urge every archaeologist to give serious tasks (boring, fun, annoying or otherwise) the same care, commitment and attention, and to avoid prioritizing solely to maximize fun, as this is what enables us to have fun in the end and heightens the enjoyment we can get out of it.
{"title":"Thoughts on moving forward towards a playful archaeology: a commentary","authors":"D. Sampatakou","doi":"10.1017/S1380203823000077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203823000077","url":null,"abstract":"friends. Lastly, there is yet another dimension to seriousness and fun. Incredibly, there are fun serious tasks, and what they are depends on the individual archaeologist. We know that the authors find it hard to have fun writing grant proposals, but I consider creating a new research project and writing it down to be one of the more fun activities. Summarizing the last two sections, I would urge every archaeologist to give serious tasks (boring, fun, annoying or otherwise) the same care, commitment and attention, and to avoid prioritizing solely to maximize fun, as this is what enables us to have fun in the end and heightens the enjoyment we can get out of it.","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"30 1","pages":"20 - 22"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46698190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1017/S1380203823000053
Aris Politopoulos, Angus A. A. Mol, S. Lammes
Abstract Games and other forms of play are core human activities, as vitally constitutive of cultural and social practices in the past as they are today. Consequently, play, games and fun should be central in archaeological theory, but our review shows they are anything but. Instead, very few studies deal with these concepts at all, and most of those that do focus on how the affordances play offers link it to ritual, power or other ‘more serious’ phenomena. Here, we offer an explanation as to why play has taken such a backseat in archaeological thought and practice, relating it to the ambivalent aesthetics of having fun with the past in our own discipline. Building on our own playful practices and those of other scholars in the ancient board gaming and archaeogaming communities, we propose a move towards a more playful archaeology, which can provide us with a new window into the past as well as into our own professional practices.
{"title":"Finding the fun: Towards a playful archaeology","authors":"Aris Politopoulos, Angus A. A. Mol, S. Lammes","doi":"10.1017/S1380203823000053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203823000053","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Games and other forms of play are core human activities, as vitally constitutive of cultural and social practices in the past as they are today. Consequently, play, games and fun should be central in archaeological theory, but our review shows they are anything but. Instead, very few studies deal with these concepts at all, and most of those that do focus on how the affordances play offers link it to ritual, power or other ‘more serious’ phenomena. Here, we offer an explanation as to why play has taken such a backseat in archaeological thought and practice, relating it to the ambivalent aesthetics of having fun with the past in our own discipline. Building on our own playful practices and those of other scholars in the ancient board gaming and archaeogaming communities, we propose a move towards a more playful archaeology, which can provide us with a new window into the past as well as into our own professional practices.","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"30 1","pages":"1 - 15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41534941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-23DOI: 10.1017/S1380203823000041
S. Radchenko, Dmytro Kiosak
Abstract This reaction to the Paul Newson and Ruth Young paper entitled ‘Post-conflict ethics, archaeology and archaeological heritage. A call for discussion’ (Archaeological dialogues, 2022) supports the call for a discussion regarding archaeological ethics in post-conflict zones. Following the agreement on the fuzzy border between the state of ‘conflict’ and ‘post-conflict’, it reflects on the continuity between these two. Furthermore, the reaction adds an additional issue to the discussion, which is the ethical ground of ‘being above the conflict’. Applying a ‘holistic ethic’ approach, it reflects on the ethical assessment of archaeological practices performed by Russian archaeologists in the zones that were damaged during conflict, escalated due to the actions of the Russian government. A series of examples are shown to consider the complexity of ethical judgements in this particular case. Last but not least, the reaction claims that in some cases ethical judgements are possible and effective due to the convergence of numerous factors.
{"title":"Always take a look back. Ethics in post-conflict archaeology","authors":"S. Radchenko, Dmytro Kiosak","doi":"10.1017/S1380203823000041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203823000041","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This reaction to the Paul Newson and Ruth Young paper entitled ‘Post-conflict ethics, archaeology and archaeological heritage. A call for discussion’ (Archaeological dialogues, 2022) supports the call for a discussion regarding archaeological ethics in post-conflict zones. Following the agreement on the fuzzy border between the state of ‘conflict’ and ‘post-conflict’, it reflects on the continuity between these two. Furthermore, the reaction adds an additional issue to the discussion, which is the ethical ground of ‘being above the conflict’. Applying a ‘holistic ethic’ approach, it reflects on the ethical assessment of archaeological practices performed by Russian archaeologists in the zones that were damaged during conflict, escalated due to the actions of the Russian government. A series of examples are shown to consider the complexity of ethical judgements in this particular case. Last but not least, the reaction claims that in some cases ethical judgements are possible and effective due to the convergence of numerous factors.","PeriodicalId":45009,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Dialogues","volume":"30 1","pages":"89 - 93"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45712778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"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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