More than a feeling: Towards an archaeology of atmosphere

Abstract

Contemporary philosophies of atmosphere hinge on the presence of an experiencing subject through which atmosphere is conceptualised and analysed, and it is argued that one has be exposed to atmosphere in order to appreciate it. This stipulation will be referred to as the ‘clause of subjectivity’ in this article. The clause implies, fundamentally, that it is impossible to approach atmospheres in the past, at least the past located before living memory. This article seeks to challenge this condition, exploring the potential for analysing atmospheres in the prehistoric past. It is suggested that we need to build a notion of atmosphere that is particular to the study of non-experiential contexts, capable of accommodating the material infrastructure of social spaces (e.g. architecture, lighting and sensuous qualities) and movement (the corporeal staging of particular channels of experience) in order to move towards past atmospheres. Monumental tombs, known as passage graves, from the South Scandinavian Middle Neolithic, form the exemplification of this proposal, offering the opportunity for not only exploring the possibility for approaching atmosphere in the remote past, but also for addressing the affective properties of architecture in a broader sense.