Archaeological Interest Research Articles

Multimodality and media archaeology: Complementary optics for looking at digital stuff?

Abstract This article brings current core concerns of multimodality into dialogue with approaches identified with media archaeology. I begin by considering the development of multimodality in relation to the emphasis that media archaeologists place on non-linear and parallel histories, the relativity of ‘newness’, and cyclical thinking. I then move on to consider some of the respective conceptual undergirding of multimodality and media archaeology, focussing on key issues of materiality and media specificity, signs and signals, media convergence and commensurability. I argue that this juxtaposition brings fresh perspectives to the question of ‘mode’. Significantly, these are attuned both to social and formal considerations, but in ways that differ from both social semiotic orientations and other approaches to multimodality. Having considered these fundamentals, I turn to questions of interactivity, product, and process, and the blurring of boundaries between categories such as reading and writing. As a final intersection, I bring the growing interest in integrating quantitative, corpus-based methods in multimodal analysis into dialogue with the prioritization of the digital archive as a site of specific media archaeological interest with inherent potential for algorithmic manipulation. I conclude with some observations about the status of multimodality and media archaeology as communities and, more specifically, the potential for complementarity between them.

Notes on the Poster “Map of Natural Stones from Sardinia (Italy)”

Sardinia (Italy) produces a vast array of natural stones for ornamental use. Besides the internationally known pink and gray granites and the famous limestone known as Orosei marble, a wide range of vulcanites (basalts and “trachytes”) and phyllites - including yellow and ghiandone granites - are also produced. Orosei marbles are some of the most requested types today, which are marketed especially to China. However, there are a number of Sardinian natural stones, which have been quarried and marketed for fifty years, although no image or footage has been published yet: a mention of this natural stones has been only made in some old list of Sardinian stones. For this reason, authors suggested the publication of a poster (70 cm x 100 cm) showing a collection of natural stones quarried for ornamental purposes in Sardinia over the last fifty years. The poster includes a user-friendly map that has been adapted for school use and as a public resource in libraries. There are no previous publications showing a similar wide range of Sardinian stones. The poster offers scientific information about lithology, quarrying sites, dimension stone producing areas, quarries of historical and/or archaeological interest, historical trend in quarries output, technical properties, stone surface workability and a glossary.

A multidisciplinary approach to archaeological research in Sant’Arsenio (Salerno, Italy): new methodologies and consolidated practices for the knowledge of cultural heritage

The paper presents the data collected for the municipality of Sant’Arsenio through the use of new open source Remote Sensing and Earth Observation technologies and normal archaeological research techniques. Sentinel-2 data, Google tools and Italian Ministry of Environment resources have been very useful. Multispectral images, high-resolution satellite images and aerial photos were combined with information from historical and modern bibliography and field surveys to maximise information. The study allowed us to discover several areas of archaeological interest and provide their location to the municipality of Sant’Arsenio for their preservation, protection and enhancement.

Suitability of Automatic Photogrammetric Reconstruction Configurations for Small Archaeological Remains.

Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction is a useful technique for the documentation, characterization, and evaluation of small archeological objects. In this research, a comparison among different photogrammetric setups that use different lenses (macro and standard zoom) and dense point cloud generation calibration processes for real specific objects of archaeological interest with different textures, geometries, and materials is raised using an automated data collection. The data acquisition protocol is carried out from a platform with control points referenced with a metrology absolute arm to accurately define a common spatial reference system. The photogrammetric reconstruction is performed considering a camera pre-calibration as well as a self-calibration. The latter is common for most data acquisition situations in archaeology. The results for the different lenses and calibration processes are compared based on a robust statistical analysis, which entails the estimation of both standard Gaussian and non-parametric estimators, to assess the accuracy potential of different configurations. As a result, 95% of the reconstructed points show geometric discrepancies lower than 0.85 mm for the most unfavorable case and less than 0.35 mm for the other cases.

Beyond Amplitudes: Multi-Trace Coherence Analysis for Ground-Penetrating Radar Data Imaging

Under suitable conditions, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements harbour great potential for the non-invasive mapping and three-dimensional investigation of buried archaeological remains. Current GPR data visualisations almost exclusively focus on the imaging of GPR reflection amplitudes. Ideally, the resulting amplitude maps show subsurface structures of archaeological interest in plan view. However, there exist situations in which, despite the presence of buried archaeological remains, hardly any corresponding anomalies can be observed in the GPR time- or depth-slice amplitude images. Following the promising examples set by seismic attribute analysis in the field of exploration seismology, it should be possible to exploit other attributes than merely amplitude values for the enhanced imaging of subsurface structures expressed in GPR data. Coherence is the seismic attribute that is a measure for the discontinuity between adjacent traces in post-stack seismic data volumes. Seismic coherence analysis is directly transferable to common high-resolution 3D GPR data sets. We demonstrate, how under the right circumstances, trace discontinuity analysis can substantially enhance the imaging of structural information contained in GPR data. In certain cases, considerably improved data visualisations are achievable, facilitating subsequent data interpretation. We present GPR trace coherence imaging examples taken from extensive, high-resolution archaeological prospection GPR data sets.

Students Are Stakeholders in On-Campus Archaeology

ABSTRACTA consistent challenge in community and collaborative archaeologies has been the appropriate identification and understanding of project constituencies. A key step in stakeholder analysis is understanding and harmonizing the goals of archaeological work to the social role of the institutions for which we work. To illustrate the value of such a stance, we examine on-campus archaeology programs at colleges and universities, arguing that treating students as vital stakeholders is an important ethical obligation for both researchers and administrators. Including students as stakeholders in campus archaeology provides pedagogical benefits and a meaningful way to instill an appreciation of archaeology in an important constituency of potential voters and future decision-makers. We present a case study from Santa Clara University (SCU), reporting results of an online survey of undergraduates that was intended to gauge community interests in campus archaeology and heritage. We also detail activities undertaken by SCU's Community Heritage Lab in response to survey findings in order to raise the profile of the archaeological and other heritage resources on our campus.

Fugitive stones: the temple of Athena Nike, Athens in nineteenth-century photographs

What happens when early cameras are turned to 5th century BCE monuments and sculptures on the Acropolis of Athens? In what ways might the fragile surface of a daguerreotype, a salted paper print or an albumen print be said to have ‘captured’ a pentelic marble fragment? These questions were thrown into bold relief following the public announcement of the daguerreotype in 1839 when travellers to Greece in search of sites of archaeological interest began to take cameras with them. With rapid developments in photographic technology, photographs joined landmark texts and a body of drawings, paintings, engravings, plaster casts to alter established relationships with antiquities. Highly emotive material objects, photographs spoke a new language of loss and fragmentation; through the relative ease of their reproducibility photographs newly facilitated memory and forms of aesthetic resurrection. My essay charts nineteenth-century photographs of fragments of relief sculptures of Nikai from the exterior face of the parapet of the Ionic Temple of Athena Nike. Excavation and rebuilding of the Temple during 1835 and 1836 drew the eye of many travellers to the Acropolis. Resurrection of the classical temple shortly preceded the new technology of photography and, in representing a monument described by Wheler and Spon among others, photographs rehabilitated ‘lost’ stones. Exploring, alongside travel narratives, newly fugitive representations of winged and apterous Nikai, I consider what Walter Benjamin termed the collector’s relationship to ‘the scene, the stage’ of the ‘fate’ of a material object.

Authority and Subject (in the Archaeological Discourse in Austria and Germany)

The primary task of archaeological heritage management is to represent the public interest in archaeology. How this is constituted and determined has changed significantly over the past 200 years. As this paper demonstrates, a modern, egalitarian, democratic approach has yet to be established within Austrian and German archaeological heritage management: the relationship between heritage management bureaucracy and the civic subject is anachronistic, stuck in a pre-1848 Revolution mindset. Due to the lack of a public discourse and the nature of scholarly engagement with archaeological heritage management, the power of (state) archaeologists is not imaginary, but very real.

Other-Than-Human Persons, Mishipishu, and Danger in the Late Woodland Inland Waterway Landscape of Northern Michigan

Other-than-human persons and the role they play in transforming social, economic, and ideological material realities is an area of expanding interest in archaeology. Although the Anishinaabeg were an early and vital focus of cultural anthropological studies on nonhumans given their significant relationships with other-than-human persons, known to them asmanitou, emerging archaeologies advancing this topic are not largely centered on ancestral Anishinaabeg sites and artifacts. This article analyzes a set of nonvessel ceramic artifacts from Late Woodland archaeological sites in the Inland Waterway in northern Michigan, which are interpreted to be ceramic renderings of manitou. I argue that these were manitou-in-clay, vibrant relational entities that are brought into being for and through use in ceremonial perspective practices related to Mishipishu—a complexly powerful, seductive, and dangerous nonhuman being known as the head of all water spirits. I contextualize the making and breaking of Mishipishu manitou-in-clay as acts of petition by hunter-fishers who had been seduced by this manitou in dreams, as they headed out on necessary but high-risk early-spring resource harvesting in the inland lakes of the Inland Waterway. This case advances insights into how relationships with other-than-human persons were coproductive of the world in the northern Great Lakes region during the Late Woodland period.

Alignment of Old Land Surveys for Accurately Locating Archaeological Sites: The 1634 and 1646 Palisades in Middle Plantation, Colonial Virginia

The location of magnetic north has changed significantly during times relevant to historical archaeologists. To accurately locate sites of archaeological interest mentioned in old land surveys, which used magnetic compass bearings, alignment of those old surveys with true (geographic) north is required. This paper describes the method for doing this and provides an archaeological example of this approach for refining the locations of 17th-century wooden palisades in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Chérif Keïta: A Professional Narrative

Chérif Keïta:A Professional Narrative Dianna Bell "In Mande culture," Chérif Keïta explains, "it is said that your ears are older than yourself. Your eyes are often limited to the contemporary. But it is first through your ears that you will learn about events that happened centuries before your existence." This statement proves the importance of listening in the building of a personhood, mògòya, in the Mande world. Named for Cheikh Mouhammad Chérif (1874–1955), a holy man in Kankan (Guinea) whom Keïta's mother had consulted upon having trouble conceiving a child, Keïta grew up in the village of Djoliba (Koulikoro region of Mali) hearing himself called many names: "Karamògò" (teacher), "Sekouba" (big Sheikh), and "Karamògòba" (big teacher). Despite inheriting the nickname "Teacher," Keïta never envisioned that he would one day become an educator. He grew up in a compound surrounded by teachers, those who first taught him in the school of Djoliba and who, because they were often single men, chose his parents as their hosts or jatigiw in the village. Later, his father used his own money to build the first public school in his remote home village of Nana-Kenieba, thirty kilometers from Siby. When asked about learning French, Keïta laughed and said, "I don't think any Malian who learned French in school found it easy." Yet through these teachers, Keïta had extra access to help at home when he was working on mastering the French language as a young pupil. Owing to the Cold War and the closeness of Mali to the Soviet Bloc since the days of Modibo Keita, each high school in Bamako had to choose one of three languages to teach: Russian, Chinese, or German. His high school, which was also Modibo Keita's school, the Lycée de Badalabougou, chose Russian. In 1972, at the age of nineteen, Keïta left Mali for Belgium, which was designated for his training, with the goal of becoming an English-Russian translator for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although his high school aptitude tests had put Keïta on the course to work as a translator, Keïta retained an interest in archeology and history. Eventually, he decided that he did not want to work for the Malian military government of the day and instead embarked for the United States in 1977 to study African literature at the master's level. Soon his interests [End Page 177] led him into a PhD program at the University of Georgia, and Keïta could see that life was leading him to be a teacher, a "karamogo," without his ever having planned for it. In retrospect, he admits that destiny had guided his professional choices. Keïta had a lot of decisions to make upon finishing his PhD in African and Caribbean literature. He felt uneasy about the critical discourse that surrounded the novels and the literature that he loved. The discourse between scholars, Keïta worried, had become too obscure and needlessly inaccessible, owing to unnecessary jargon and theoretical hair-splitting. He wondered what exactly he could contribute to the field and, more seriously, if he could have a satisfying life engaging in this type of scholarship. Ultimately, he would find his place in teaching and publishing about music, oral epics, and Mande culture in general. When asked what he does during moments of despair, Keïta reminded me of the importance of our ears and said that he listens to music, to traditional Malian music. "Music is a rich source of information about culture, and it's there also to counsel you. It tells you that times may be difficult today, but tomorrow will be better." Indeed, better times found Keïta, and in 1985 he joined the faculty of French and Francophone studies at Carleton College. The essays to follow, offered by his former students and protégés, attest to the striking impact that he has had as an educator. Professionally, Keïta remembers 1988 as a crucial year in his career. He received a letter from a man named David Conrad. Conrad asked Keïta to...

Travels of Count Michał Tyszkiewicz to Africa, his excavations in 1861–1862, and the origin of his collection of Egyptian antiquities

Count Michał Tyszkiewicz (1828–1897) was one of the most renowned collectors of the ancient classical art at the end of the 19th century. His interest in archaeology and ancient art was developed during his travel through Egypt in 1861. His Journal of the Travel to Egypt and Nubia, fortunately found in 1992 in Poznań, recounts this journey. From Egypt, Michał Tyszkiewicz brought a collection of antiquities, estimated to have comprised c. 800 objects; today, over a half of them can be found in museums in Paris (Louvre), Warsaw, Vilnius, Kaunas, and Moscow. The majority of the objects originated from excavations conducted by the count, particularly in Thebes (Luxor area), by virtue of an official licence granted to him exceptionally by Mohamed Said Pasha – the then head of the Egyptian state. The present article discusses the circumstances of granting of this permission in the period when a strict state monopoly was imposed on archaeological investigations and presents the course of the excavations along with their results.

‘Van koper blijf je proper, van ijzer wordt je niets wijzer’: klooster Yesse, metaalvondsten uit 2017 en 2018

The Yesse monastery: Metal finds from 2017 and 2018. The female Cistercian monastery at Yesse (1215–1594), situated on what is today the southern edge of city of Groningen (province of Groningen), has recently experienced increased archaeological interest in its history and inhabitants. In addition to ceramic, botanical and zooarchaeological finds, metal objects reflect economic activities as well as activities of daily life which, at first glance, may not present the sobriety of monastic life. On the contrary, they tell of (supra-)regional trade, craftsmanship, metalworking, administrative duties, and the presence of books, that allowed the convent to flourish and become an important economic actor. While the reconstruction of the cloister lay-out on the basis of metal finds is not conclusive, the find locations of specific objects seem to indicate that Yesse followed the classic pattern of Cistercian cloisters, with a secular western side and a religious eastern side.

Kaunas Castle from Another Perspective: the Chemical Composition of Iron Construction Elements

The chemical composition of iron construction elements is not usually a topic of interest in Medieval archaeology. This article focuses attention on the chemical composition of iron elements such as nails. For compositional analysis, the XRF method was used. A comparison was made between XRF results and physical measurements. The aim of this article was to identify the amount of iron in metal elements that were possibly used in constructing castles, and to find a connection between the chemical composition of objects and their physical measurements.

Remote sensing and GIS techniques for reconstructing the military fort system on the Roman boundary (Tunisian section) and identifying archaeological sites

Southern Tunisia is one of the most significant areas of historical and archaeological interest as, since the Roman period, it has played a key role as a land bridge controlling the passage from the Saharan plain to plateaus and to the north of the mountain range between Chebika and Metlaoui. Because of the difficult geography, the investigation of ancient sites in this region is not easy and, therefore, satellite-based investigation can play an important role in the detection and documentation of archaeological sites. In this study, we combined high-resolution remote sensing (RS) imagery with in situ investigations to assess the suspected archaeological sites detected using satellite data and historical documentation. The suspected sites were confirmed according to the geometric features of the sites as they appeared in the remotely sensed imagery these sites had not been detected during earlier field investigations. In particular, we aimed to use 1-m spatial resolution WorldView-2 (WV2) imagery of the Wadi El-MelahValley (WMV) in Gafsa (also named Capsa). The satellite data were processed using statistical analysis and unsupervised classification.WV2 satellite imagery of WMV, Southwestern Tunisia, was processed within ArcGIS 10.2 to identify spatial features linked to the sites. The study outlines three different feature-extraction methods (GIS-based, unsupervised classification-based and statistical analysis-based). The satellite-based analysis and archaeological records were evaluated by RS and GIS prospecting in the area of the field survey to confirm the new discoveries. The results of remotely sensed data combined with field survey enabled us to reconstruct the military defense system consisting of is a linear defensive structure (limes) and forts related to the Imperial Roman period. Taken together, the results of our investigations provide new insights into some important sections of the Roman limes in the southern part of the empire. Other concealed remains are still to be found and explored.

Multiscale techniques for 3D imaging of magnetic data for archaeo‐geophysical investigations in the Middle East: the case of Tell Barri (Syria)

AbstractRecent techniques of three‐dimensional (3D) imaging of potential field anomalies are effective in estimating the source position in the subsurface by exploiting both the differentiation of the field and the stability of the method. Such a processing is fast and especially suitable for detecting isolated and compact sources, as usually are those of archaeological interest. Among these methods we employed techniques that take advantage from innovative concepts like the multiscale transformation and the scaling function, going well beyond the standard procedures usually employed for data processing with archaeological purposes. We interpreted magnetic data acquired during two geophysical surveys carried out in 2008 and 2010 at Tell Barri, in north‐eastern Syria. Tell Barri is a relevant site for the history of North Mesopotamia. The earliest settlement dates back to the end of the fourth millennium bce whereas the site has been occupied – with no major breaks – until the fourteenth century ce. Based on the magnetic data interpretation, we have selected a test area as a target for an archeological excavation. The excavation found ancient structures closely matching the magnetic source revealed by the geophysical imaging. Since both the ground soil and the material of buried archaeological structures are representative of several ancient settlements in a much larger area (Upper Mesopotamia), we believe that such a geophysical approach could be successful in many archaeological sites scattered through this broad region.

Deep in a Paleolithic archive: Integrated geophysical investigations and laser-scanner reconstruction at Fumane Cave, Italy

In this paper we used an integrated geomatics and geophysical investigation to gain insight about the Upper Pleistocene Cave deposit of Grotta di Fumane, located near to Verona city, Italy. Geophysical techniques are seldom considered for investigation of Paleolithic sites, mostly because as is typical in such a context, the physical properties of archaeological remains do not possess a clear contrast, with respect to the background and because of their tiny size, are difficult to detect As such, the main goals of this combined survey is to reconstruct the volume of the Paleolithic deposit, in terms of visible geometry, sediments distribution and thickness, and map the morphology of the inaccessible karst bedrock that still await to be excavated. These are achieved by using laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques, to create a three-dimensional digital model of the visible portion and using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) to map the resistivity distribution in the subsurface. Additionally, single station passive seismic measurements were used to provide an indirect confirmation of the sediments thickness by inverting experimental spectral ratio of microtremors. Geophysical results delivered valuable quantitative information about sediments texture spatial distribution highlighting areas of major archaeological interest. Such information guided the 2014–2017 excavations and continuo providing support for long-term planning of future interventions. Finally, the integrated methodology used in this specific context will lead the way for the use of latest technologies to setup a new prospective for enhanced online visualization and virtual reality for the benefits of both cultural and scientific outreach.

A Role for Immersive Visualization Experiences in Teaching Archaeology

As archaeologists continue to utilize digital 3D visualization technologies, instruction can also benefit from purpose-driven uses of these data. This paper outlines a pilot project that used previously captured 3D data in a large-scale immersive environment to supplement the instruction of basic archaeological concepts to an undergraduate introductory anthropology class. The flexibility of the platform allowed excavation trenches to be investigated in three-dimensions, enhancing the understanding of excavation methods and providing additional insight in the choices of the excavators. Additionally, virtual investigation of the artifacts provided a way for students to interact with objects on the other side of the world in a more complete way. Instructor-led immersive virtual experiences have significant potential to widen the interest in archaeology and enhance the instruction of archaeological concepts. They allow students to interact with the content, guided by an expert, and in the presence of each other. While the facilities are not available at every university at the current time, the cost effectiveness and ability to deliver these experiences via head-mounted displays represents an exciting potential extension for complementary self-paced, yet guided, exploration.

Evaluation of Diammonium hydrogen phosphate and Ca(OH)2 nanoparticles for consolidation of ancient bones

Abstract The development of innovative conservation strategies for the restoration and conservation of bone finds of historical and archaeological interest is crucial to warrantee the fruition of the relics and, most important, to maintain the long-term access to the biological information recorded in the bones. The approach purposed in this study is based on smart nanostructured inorganic materials with both high physical and chemical compatibility with the treated support. In particular, an aqueous solution of diammonium hydrogen phosphate (DAP), which is a precursor agent for the growth of a 3D crystalline network of hydroxyapatite (HAP) has been used for the consolidation of degraded ancient bones of historical and archaeological interest to restore a continuous crystalline HAP network in the regions of the bone relics affected by degradation phenomena. The consolidation performance of the HAP has been evaluated also after a pre-treatment with Ca(OH)2 nanoparticles (NPs), successfully used in the last years for the consolidation of both carbonatic matrixes of artistic interest and of bone relics. The treated bone relics have been characterized in terms of porosity and surface area through gas porosimetry measurements: the in-situ precipitation of hydroxyapatite with or without pre-treatment with Ca(OH)2 NPs affects the overall porosity and the adsorption-desorption isotherms obtained through the Brunauer Emmet and Teller (BET) theory indicate a decrease of surface area and pore volume of 45% and 64% respectively. X-ray microtomography images clearly show, after the treatment, the formation of a homogeneous dense phase, confirming the consolidating effect on the bone relics. Moreover, it has been also observed that the consolidation treatment induces an increase of the Vickers microhardness higher than the 40%. Additionally, by means of a paleogenetic analysis we showed that authentic genetic data could be retrieved from bones even after the consolidating treatments.

The King's Health Partners Cancer Centre at Guy's Hospital, London

This paper discusses the design and construction of the King's Health Partners Cancer Centre, including the constraints imposed by an inner-city site of archaeological interest, the requirements associated with specialist medical equipment, and the incorporation of extensive off-site construction methods into the structural design.