Archaeological Heritage Research Articles

Looking Up for prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in mountain landscapes in Europe

This paper introduces Looking Up, an intradisciplinary project combining archaeology and geological perspectives to contribute to the management of hunter-gatherer archaeological heritage in mountain landscapes, with a case study based in the Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland. Looking Up, which ran from 2021–2023, used a combination of original archaeological research – especially the development of predictive models of the location of areas of high archaeological potential – and new geological models which provided new information on the timing of deglaciation and numerical models of palaeo-glaciers. This was combined with extensive stakeholder and public engagement to develop best practice guidelines on the management of hunter-gatherer archaeological sites in mountain landscapes.

Правовые последствия выявления объекта археологического наследия для собственника земельного участка

Owners and users of land plots, when carrying out any type of work, may be faced with the identification of objects on their territory that have signs of an archaeological heritage property. Identification of such objects imposes serious restrictions on the owner or user and can lead to the complete impossibility of using the land plot for construction or other purposes related to excavation work. The author proposes to change the approach to civil circulation of archaeological heritage properties in order to clarify and protect the rights and obligations of this land owners.

Geospatial Analysis of Archaeological Sites in Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria has rich and diverse archaeological heritage. The research employed geospatial technologies, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing, to analyze and document the archaeological sites in Ikara. The research aims to assess the Geospatial distribution of Archaeological sites in the study area by mapping to locate the Archaeological sites in the study area, determine the pattern of distribution of the Archaeological sites and examine the finds and features in the sites. The research employed a mixed-method approach that combines field surveys, archival research, and geospatial analysis. The research findings show fifteen (15) archaeological sites dispersedly distributed across the Eight (8) wards in the study area with Ikara ward having the highest number of archaeological sites. Also, the dominant cultural materials across the sites are finds in forms of potsherds and features in form of House foundation. The cultural remains on the Archaeological sites are House foundations, mounds, granary, potsherds, iron slag, open grave, stone tools and grinding stones. Based on the findings, dispersed pattern of the Archaeological sites in the study area was deduced from the data collected especially at the southern part of the area of study where the sites are found to be most concentrated. Base on the research findings, it is recommended that further research shall be undertaken using GIS and Remote Sensing Technology for effective Archaeological site discovery, management and preservation.

Museums of Landscape. A Project for the Tuscia’s Archaeological Heritage

In recent decades, numerous initiatives have seen the aims of Italian architects and archaeologists converge on the necessity to found the country’s future on the basis of a renewal of cultural heritage that represents it. “Patrimonio al futuro” (Volpe, 2015), “Il nuovo dell’Italia è nel passato” (Carandini, 2012), “Architettura e patrimonio: progettare in un paese antico” (Franciosini and Casadei, 2015) are just some of the most recent publications that testify to this orientation. The contribution presents a proposal, winner of the first prize in an idea’s competition, focused on the valorisation of the Tuscia territory, that is an internal landscape of middle Italy, in which the archaeology-landscape dualism is the main structuring character. In this framework, the idea of “Museums of landscape” was born: going beyond the canonical concept that identifies the museum as a monumental building closed in itself, to give rise to a sort of an “exploded museum” in the territory. It is an accessible network where the archaeological areas are conceived as open-air exhibition rooms spread throughout the territory, in which archaeology and landscape intertwine to form a unified narrative, both physical and virtual, able to host different events in the new inclusive archaeological “rooms”. Keywords: architectural design, archaeological heritage, architecture for archaeology, museums of landscape, cultural landscape.

Against Conservation: Towards a New Model of Archaeological Heritage Management in Chinchero

ABSTRACT In the Peruvian Highland town of Chinchero, mainstream heritage conservation policies have proven to be at odds with vernacular practices of land management and uses of the material past. The temporal regimes involved in the strict conservation paradigm collide with local understandings of time and history, rooted in a dynamic tradition based on principles of alternation and circulation, and with a utilitarian approach towards ancient physical remains. The consequences of current archaeological management have turned the Inca ruins into a highly regulated space from which community members have been largely dispossessed. This goes against the legal consideration of the site as a cultural landscape. In order to remedy the temporal and spatial disjunctions derived from mainstream archaeological policy at the site, a new model, inspired in traditional landscape practices, local ideas of time, and movement patterns is proposed as a critical counternarrative to a global hegemonic conservation paradigm. For this purpose, two specific practices come into scrutiny where Andean temporalities as forms of knowledge are embedded. One is Muyuy, a long-standing principle of socioeconomic organization by which communal land is periodically rotated and worked. The other one is Linderaje, or the ancient custom of walking around community boundaries while honoring the milestones identified with the ancestors. Both are proposed as a solution to current conservation dilemmas in town.

Territorial Palimpsest and Archaeological Heritage in Puebla, Mexico

Puebla reúne una importante riqueza arqueológica. El artículo tiene como objetivo comprender de qué manera la fundación de las ciudades coloniales y su crecimiento contemporáneo ha impactado en la preservación, transformación o pérdida del patrimonio arqueológico del Valle Puebla-Cholula. Metodológicamente, estudiamos el estado de los sitios arqueológicos en contextos urbanos desde los conceptos analíticos de dimensión arqueológica de la ciudad y palimpsesto a través de la revisión bibliográfica y trabajo de campo. El valle se interpreta como un palimpsesto territorial compuesto por una serie de capas de usos humanos del pasado y del presente que producen espacios donde se conjugan diferentes temporalidades y usos sociales, en ocasiones conflictivos.

Genesis of the development of liability for encroachment on archaeological heritage sites: the Soviet period (1917–1991)

The article is devoted to the study of the Soviet period of development of liability for encroachment on archaeological heritage sites. The main legal acts inherent in this period are identified.
 Having studied the peculiarities of the Soviet period, the author establishes that during the existence of the Soviet State the regulation of liability for trespass to cultural property, cultural and archaeological heritage has undergone significant changes, and as a result, this period can be divided into two stages.
 The first stage is characterized by the fact that cultural property ceases to be the subject of special protection, being the subject of a crime, it is subject to protection by criminal law in the general order, if it falls under their scope. The legislative field is dominated by contradictory, ideologically aligned legal acts. Thus, the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR of 1922 was characterized by weak legal protection of cultural property. In addition, the lack of regulation of other types of encroachments on cultural property, such as theft, destruction or damage, etc. was a gap in the criminal legislation of the Ukrainian SSR. The subsequent Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR of 1927 contained only one provision protecting historical and cultural monuments from criminal attacks. It established liability for concealing collections and monuments of antiquity and art subject to registration, accounting, or transfer to state storage facilities.
 At the second stage (from the mid-1940s), the state and society gradually realized the public danger of encroachments on cultural property. Legislation was updated, and responsibility for the destruction or damage of historical and cultural monuments was introduced and gradually increased. The Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR of 1960, on the one hand, abolished such a crime as concealment of collections and monuments of antiquity and art and archival materials subject to registration, accounting or transfer to state repositories, and on the other hand, introduced liability for the destruction or damage of cultural monuments. In 1983, the range of objects that could be encroached upon under Article 207 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR was expanded. In 1991, the Law of the USSR «On Criminal and Administrative Liability for Violation of Legislation on the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Monuments» was adopted, which established criminal liability for the following criminal acts: intentional destruction, destruction or damage to historical and cultural monuments (para. 1, Art. 1; intentional destruction, destruction or damage to historical and cultural monuments committed repeatedly or causing grave consequences (para. 2, Art. 1); desecration of a historical and cultural monument committed with exceptional cynicism (Art. 3); desecration of a historical and cultural monument without the signs provided for in Article 3 (Art. 5). The above provisions were to be incorporated into the criminal and administrative codes of the union republics. However, the legislator did not introduce the relevant amendments to the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR.

Mott–Schottky Analysis of Historical and Archaeological Copper–based Objects

AbstractThe application of Mott–Schottky (M−S) analysis of impedance data to sub–micro samples extracted from the corrosion patina of copper, bronze, and brass archaeological artifacts attached to graphite electrodes is described. The corresponding theoretical approach is developed to account for the contribution of the composition and structure of the corrosion patina and the effect of the bare graphite substrate. Experimental data in contact with 0.10 M Na2SO4 aqueous solution at pH 6.28 are consistent with the p‐type semiconducting nature of the main copper corrosion products, cuprite, and tenorite. The values of the apparent flat band potential and the slope of the M−S plots allow archaeological samples to be grouped according to their M−S parameters (slopes and intercepts). Assuming equivalent conditions of corrosion, the resulting grouping is judged to be dependent on the composition, and/or method of manufacture, and/or age. Studied samples include Renaissance statues from the Hofkirche in Innsbruck and a variety of objects from museums and Archaeological Heritage Office (soprintendenza) in Austria (Bad Aussee, Johanneum Graz, and the Tyrolean State Museums), and Italy (Genoa and San Remo), dating from the Bronze Age to the 18th century. Complementary data are provided by voltammetry of immobilized particles.

Positioning UAE archaeological sites in tourism supply chains

Purpose The purpose of this study is to address the relevance of archaeological heritage in the context of supply chains for the tourism industry. It does so by providing converging ideas on the usefulness of individual sites, not in their strict scientific or latent value but as an enhancer for optimizing cultural production in a wider scenario of aggregate demand.Design/methodology/approach While examples from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) illustrate this reasoning, the underlying principles have a widespread application and point to a need for defragmenting and realigning tangible heritage as a key production factor. Methods used consist of an inductive approach, based on secondary sources and semi-structured interviews.Findings Results indicate that, while archaeological resources remain central to the promotion of cultural tourism in the UAE, suppliers face challenges when incorporating particular sites into consumer-friendly packages.Practical implications The study contributes to the identification of common risks and opportunities for archaeological resource management in the development of UAE tourism products.Originality/value This represents an original angle, given the focus on the specific regional, cooperative added value of archaeological resources and the need for optimizing them in a functional supply chain.

Place and role of specially protected natural areas in the preservation of cultural heritage objects

The article emphasizes the special purpose of heritage sites located in specially protected natural areas (SPNA). Historical memory of the interaction between man and nature is preserved and our understanding of the authenticity of heritage is expanded due to these objects, as true authenticity can only be achieved through the cultural and natural landscapes, that contain heritage sites, for many years they remained unaffected by intensive human activity or were used for traditional environmental management – hunting, fishing, grazing, farming and other activities not associated with a destructive impact on natural landscapes. The leading role of protected areas is most noticeably manifested in connection with the preservation of sacred, ethnographic and archaeological heritage, monuments of traditional environmental management, ethnology, historical communications, and examples of traditional economic and socio-cultural activities. The article raises the question of the need to establish close contacts between bodies for the protection of cultural heritage and nature conservation, as well as institutions subordinate to them, primarily nature reserves, national and natural parks, museum reserves and estate museums.

The Climate Heritage Paradox – how rethinking archaeological heritage can address global challenges of climate change

ABSTRACT For archaeology to address adequately the global challenges of climate change, it needs to resolve the Climate Heritage Paradox which consists of two contradictions. Firstly, in contemporary society, when humanity anticipates and prepares for climate change and associated transformations, archaeological and other cultural heritage predominantly look backward and emphasize continuities. Secondly, when humanity on Earth needs panhuman solidarity, trust, and collaboration to be able to face enormous global challenges together, archaeological and other forms of cultural heritage are still managed and interpreted within frameworks of national governance. There is, therefore, a need for developing new understandings of cultural heritage that (a) are predominantly about stories of change and transformation rather than continuity and spatial belonging, and (b) express a need for humanity to collaborate globally and overcome national boundaries. This will protect and enhance the benefits of archaeology and cultural heritage in the age of climate change.

Categories Beyond: An approach to value and relevance of archaeological heritage. Three case studies in Westphalia, Germany

This short note argues that relevance and acceptance of archaeological heritage, particularly that from the 18th to the 20th centuries, hinge on effective public mediation. To achieve this, it is crucial to focus on the value and legitimisation of monuments from an impartial perspective. Employing an interdisciplinary and open-minded approach is essential in providing pertinent responses to enquiries that resonate with contemporary society. Therefore an approach to archaeological heritage by drawing on extended themes or categories is suitable to make archaeological heritage 'present' and generate public acceptance for heritage work.

Archaeology of Modern Conflict and Heritage Legislation in Lithuania during Thirty Years of Restored Independence

After the Lithuanian National Revival in 1988 and the restoration of independence in 1990, the public on their own initiative searched for the remains of fallen anti-Soviet Lithuanian partisans (1944-1953), excavating the burial sites of partisan remains, their bunkers and dugouts. Such excavations prompted the need to establish regulations and procedures for the exhumation and transfer of the remains of victims of 20th-century conflicts and occupation regimes. Government resolutions adopted in 1992 obliged prosecutors, archaeologists, anthropologists and forensic medical experts to be involved in the exhumation procedure and to carry out the exhumation in accordance with the basic requirements of archaeological research. Owing to the restoration and destruction of authentic partisan bunkers and dugouts, the increase in archaeological investigations at 20th-century conflict sites, as well as the emergence of a distinct field of modern conflict archaeology, the 2022 revision of the Archaeological Heritage Management Regulation stipulated the necessity to carry out archaeological research prior to any excavation works at all 19th- and 20th-century conflict sites. Between 1995 and 2022, a total of 171 permits for archaeological excavations at 20th-century conflict sites were issued. Investigations were mostly carried out at the burial sites of Wehrmacht and Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) soldiers of the Second World War and Lithuanian partisans. Partisan bunkers, dugouts, campsites, battlefields also received considerable attention. Today, more than 1700 20th-century conflict sites have legal protection in Lithuania. These include Lithuanian Partisan War sites (mainly sites of death and burial), burial sites of soldiers from the First and Second World Wars, sites of massacres and burials of Jews, and other sites associated with the Soviet and Nazi occupation regimes. This article focuses on 20th-century conflict sites in Lithuania, examining issues of their protection, heritage conservation and archaeology, as well as current trends in archaeological research methodology.

New Challenges: Archaeological heritage management and the archaeology of the 18th to 20th centuries. Foreword

In many places across Europe, it has long been common practice to protect, preserve and research monuments of the recent past. The many ways to approach archaeologies of the near present and recent past creates both a challenge and an opportunity for archaeological heritage management, and were considered in a number of papers from the 2023 EAC symposium and are now published here.

Managing Contemporary Archaeology in the Mediterranean: Challenges Observed from #pubarchMED

Contemporary archaeology was one of the topics addressed within a large study to improve understanding of archaeological heritage management in the Mediterranean basin by the pubarchMED project. While 19th and early 20th century contexts are often studied, contemporary archaeology in the Mediterranean (especially post World War II period) still represents a challenge both for practitioners and heritage managers. This article delves into some structural issues of archaeological heritage management and archaeological practice of the contemporary world, disentangling the main challenges they reveal and the interesting questions they raise for archaeological practice.

Considering Second World War Archaeological Heritage in France

The archaeology of the Second World War has existed since the 1980s in English-language research. However, the vestiges of this conflict were only officially included in French national heritage at the end of 2013. Only since 2014, the year of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, do preventive archaeology operations prescribe for World War II (WWII) sites. Public research programmes have also been set up to identify and characterise the heritage linked to the conflict, in particular the numerous remains of the Atlantic Wall on France's western seafront. During this decade, several archaeological operations have revealed the strong scientific potential attached to WWII sites throughout the country. At the same time, researchers from the National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) have drawn up a general research theme based on these remains which now form part of an international discussion framework. There are three main lines of research based on the typology of material traces from the conflict. The first of these is dedicated to battlefield remains, which are currently being used to compile an archaeology of military operations in Normandy. The second is the study of defensive structures (bunkers on the Atlantic Wall and passive defence constructions) that are also the subject of exciting discoveries in Normandy and other French regions. The third area of research addresses remains linked to internment and mass crimes. In particular, this concerns the search, currently underway, of the only Nazi concentration camp on French soil, the KL Natzweiler-Struthof. This houses the European Centre of Deported Resistance Members (CERD) and performs important research on other deportation or internment memorials (e.g. Drancy, Mont-Valérien) and on a series of prison camps across France. These sites, long threatened by soil and coastal erosion, development or the looting of militaria, are now crystallising as powerful heritage assets, even though the expression and sharing of this archaeological memory of World War II comes in response to high levels of national and international public expectation.

Dance improvisation as an embodied encounter with heritage site: a case in the archaeological ruins of Liangzhu

ABSTRACT This article explores dance improvisation as an alternative mode of understanding the archaeological heritage site beyond representational knowledge. Drawing on projects undertaken on Liangzhu Archaeological Site over the past five years (2018–2023), we have employed dance improvisation as a method for participants to explore here and now interactions with the heritage site, focusing on their sensing, feeling and thinking. Using an A/r/tography methodology, this study considers how intersections of art-making and writing allow new meanings and bodily interpretation to emerge during the improvisation process. Participant reflection notes reveal how embodied encounters create space for rhizomatic interpretations of the archaeological site, transcending power dynamics embedded in existing politically-sacred and archaeologically-authoritative knowledge systems.

Digital applications for preserving archaeological sites and tourism management

Cultural heritage is an important part of our life, a resource for the identity and the cohesion of communities. The paper aims to identify possible solutions for cultural heritage management of the archaeological sites and monuments from Dobrogea. The authors documented and researched above-ground archaeological structures, analysing their characteristics and suggesting solutions for conservation and promoting of archaeological heritage. The rapid development of digital technologies like augmented reality can help us finding cost-effective solutions for archaeology and cultural heritage tourism.

Archaeological Heritage Management and Science on War and Terror Sites in Brandenburg, Germany

The Brandenburg State Archaeology Museum has been conserving and analysing relics of war and terror for 25 years, and as a result of this work archaeology is now an integral part of Nazi camp research (Kersting et al. 2016a; Theune 2018). Many camp sites have been investigated, including concentration camps and their subcamps, forced labour camps, and prisoner-of-war camps (Kersting 2020; 2022). While most objects of an industrial culture of the 20th century can be quickly assigned a function, functions do change. Such a shift is a characteristic of Nazi camp finds and reflects their context of bondage and deprivation. The identification of the functions of material remains enables their association with different spheres of life in the camp, so that both perpetrator and victim groups are documented archaeologically. Moreover, these finds serve as tangible evidence to refute any relativisation of the crimes.

Massacres in the Arnsberg Forest (abstract)

In recent years, an historical reappraisal by one of us (MW) has been carried out on one of the worst crimes outside of prisons and concentration camps committed in Germany by the SS and Wehrmacht in the final months of the Second World War. In the Arnsberg Forest near Warstein and Meschede (southern Westphalia, western Germany), 208 forced labourers were massacred by the 'Division for Vengeance' (Division zur Vergeltung) of SS General Hans Kammler in March 1945. In the course of this joint project, archaeological research conducted by the Olpe Department of the LWL-Archäologie für Westfalen (Westphalian Archaeological Heritage Service) has pinpointed the exact location of the crime scenes and provided clues for the reconstruction of the course of events in the field (Warstein Langenbachtal, Suttrop, Meschede-Eversberg). It has also enabled the recovery of finds belonging to both the victims and perpetrators. We have also been able to locate and examine the two temporary cemeteries (Warstein Melkeplätzchen, Suttrop). This has provided information about the history of exhumation of the victims in 1964, as well as clarifying the whereabouts of the Soviet obelisk from the Melkeplätzchen, the provisional cemetery of the Langenbach victims located close to the crime scene. This work has also allowed a follow-up search in the temporary cemetery in Suttrop for seven victims who, according to the exhumation documents of 1964, are presumably still lying there. Between 2018 and 2021, almost all of aspects addressed above could be clarified with new insights gained. Our results were summarised at the EAC conference in Bonn 2023 (although not published in this theme). Several publications already report on them and they are listed below. In addition to several German language publications, there is also an extensive English language publication (Baales et al. 2022) where the essential aspects of the interdisciplinary project are presented. In addition, the historical context, research project and numerous images are presented on several websites listed below.