Archaeological Perspective Research Articles

Kostel sv. Petra v Olomouci ve středověku z pohledu archeologických pramenů

Kostel sv. Petra byl nejstarší olomoucký kostel, zmiňovaný v písemných pramenech již k roku 1063 v souvislosti s obnovením moravského biskupství. To bylo v roce 1141 přeneseno ke kostelu sv. Václava. Na počátku 13. století (1207-1213) byly u kostela sv. Petra usazeny augustiniánky, které při něm sídlily až do šedesátých let, v této době byl kostel sv. Petra již farní. V důsledku josefinských reforem byl kostel sv. Petra roku 1792 zbořen.Výkopové práce v letech 1901-1902 a archeologický výzkum v roce 1948 odkryly půdorys gotického kostela, který byl potvrzen i v letech 2015-2017 s doplněním dříve neodkrytých detailů. Chrám s lodí téměř čtvercového půdorysu byl zaklenutý klenbou podepřenou středovým pilířem. Dva menší pilíře před západní průčelní zdí uvnitř lodi nesly kruchtu se schodištěm na jihozápadní straně. Presbytář byl ukončen polygonálním závěrem. V ose západního průčelí se nacházela hranolová věž čtvercového půdorysu. Stavba byla zajištěna opěrným systémem. Kromě toho byly jižně od kostela zjištěny základy do skály zasekané prostory, interpretované jako krypta renesanční kaple sv. Šebestiána a Rocha. V prostoru lodi kostela byla odkryta starší torza zdí jiného charakteru než vlastní kostel. Šlo o románskou hradbu vystavěnou v letech 1204-1212 a následně zbořenou v šedesátých letech 13. století, kdy došlo iniciativou biskupa Bruna ze Schauenburku k přestavbě staršího biskupského dvorce, kde se nacházel románský kostel sv. Petra. Zbořením původního kostela sv. Petra a jeho translací spolu s klášterem augustiniánek došlo k vytvoření nového církevního areálu v jihovýchodní části Předhradí. Poloha staršího románského kostela sv. Petra mohla být někde v prostoru jihovýchodního nároží dnešní budovy Tereziánské zbrojnice, kde se nacházel biskupský dvorec.

Use-wear and residue analysis of pounding tools used by wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) from Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brazil)

Bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) from Serra da Capivara National Park (Brazil), perform the widest range of activities using stone tools of all the non-human tool-using primates. The behaviours behind this range of tool-use have been closely documented, but little is known about the characteristics of the tools themselves. Here we redress this imbalance and adopt an archaeological perspective to the analysis of capuchin pounding tools. We apply, for the first time, systematic microscopic techniques to the analysis of capuchin stone tools used for digging, cracking cashew nuts and seed processing to characterise their damage patterns combined with residue spatial distribution and micro-remains analysis. This work presents a standardized methodology for future primate archaeological use-wear studies as well as forming a reference collection which can be used to identify different activities within the primate archaeological record. Furthermore, understanding the archaeologically visible traces of primate percussive behaviours represents an initial step in developing a methodology to investigate if similar activities were practiced by early hominins and to help identify these activities in the Plio-Pleistocene archaeological record.

Following the Roman Army between the Southern Foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains and the Northern Plains of Castile and León (North of Spain): Archaeological Applications of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Tools

Sixty-six new archaeological sites have been discovered thanks to the combined use of different remote sensing techniques and open access geospatial datasets (mainly aerial photography, satellite imagery, and airborne LiDAR). These sites enhance the footprint of the Roman military presence in the northern fringe of the River Duero basin (León, Palencia, Burgos and Cantabria provinces, Spain). This paper provides a detailed morphological description of 66 Roman military camps in northwestern Iberia that date to the late Republic or early Imperial eras. We discuss the different spatial datasets and GIS tools used for different geographic contexts of varied terrain and vegetation. Finally, it stresses out the relevance of these novel data to delve into the rationale behind the Roman army movements between the northern Duero valley and the southern foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains. We conclude that methodological approaches stimulated by open-access geospatial datasets and enriched by geoscientific techniques are fundamental to understand the expansion of the Roman state in northwestern Iberia during the 1st c. BC properly. This renewed context set up a challenging scenario to overcome traditional archaeological perspectives still influenced by the cultural-historical paradigm and the pre-eminence of classical written sources.

Excavating fashion film: a media archaeological perspective

In the emerging ‘video-first world’ of the last decade, global fashion brands have made the moving image an integral component of their digital marketing strategies. As a result, both the industry and popular perceptions of fashion film have been increasingly colonized by the notions of branding and promotion. Recent scholarship on fashion film too has put the fashion brand at the centre of analysis. This article argues against any such premature fixing of fashion film’s identity. Instead, it proposes shifting the existing perspective by reframing fashion film as not only a product of the fashion industry and associated media but also one of the cinema industry and culture. Drawing on media archaeological models of ‘excavation’ and ‘parallax historiography’, the article examines contemporary digital fashion film in parallel with fashion film of the early 20th century – a juxtaposition that helps to recapture the phenomenon’s remarkable diversity and open possibility in both periods.

Power in Food on the Maritime Frontier: A Zooarchaeology of Enslaved Pearl Divers on Barrow Island, Western Australia

Use of Indigenous divers on nineteenth-century northwest Australian pearling luggers gave rise to a transregional apparatus of coercion, physical mistreatment, and arguably, slavery. Where accounts of conditions experienced by divers are limited to the documents of contemporary colonial men, our contribution explores a rare archaeological perspective. Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the Bandicoot Bay campsite, Barrow Island, evokes an exploitative labor relationship inherited from a wider colonial process yet actively renegotiated by its participants through subsistence practices. The operation’s pearlers selected a camp that advantaged concerns for labor organization and resource management while their divers seized opportunities for self-directed subsistence.

Living with socialism: Toward an archaeology of a post-soviet industrial town

While the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, it left a heavy legacy in the form of industrial towns, residential buildings, infrastructure networks, and ecological damage that extends the Soviet Union's effective history into the present day. This paper explores this legacy through the perspective of contemporary archaeology to better understand how material culture from the Soviet period is being reused in the present concerning the resource extractive industry. Research focuses on the nickel, copper, and cobalt-processing town of Monchegorsk, Murmansk Oblast in northwest Russia. By employing a combination of historical sources and fieldwork, the paper demonstrates how things from the Soviet past are being repurposed in the post-Soviet present. This in turn limits possibilities for imagined possible futures by its residents. The paper concludes by highlighting the need to pay attention to the material culture of the resource extraction industry itself when studying its persistent legacies.

Technology and Tradition in Mesoamerica after the Spanish Invasion: Archaeological Perspectives

Technology and Tradition in Mesoamerica after the Spanish Invasion: Archaeological Perspectives

Exploring the common ground of landscape ecology and landscape archaeology through a case study from eastern Anatolia, Turkey

Landscape archaeology has a lot to offer to landscape ecology, being an interdisciplinary approach that emphasizes the study of long-term human–environment dynamics. We outline different conceptualizations of landscape in landscape archaeology and illustrate the potential of the approach for collaborating with landscape ecologists by describing a case study from the multi-period site of Arslantepe, located in the Malatya province of eastern Anatolia, Turkey. We use an agent-based modeling platform to understand the socio-economic transformations at Arslantepe during the Early Bronze Age-I. These simulations revealed long-term dynamics of grassland and woodland under different climate and population scenarios. It was found that both grassland and woodland responded most strongly to changes in population, with woodlands being more sensitive. Further, it becomes evident that the adapted site-tethered pastoralism could have brought more sustainable land use practices. The example shows the tremendous potential landscape archaeology has for studying long-term sustainability issues, especially related to modes of production. The landscape archaeological perspective can be linked with expertise provided by landscape ecologists, and we propose more in-depth collaboration of these two fields that offer diverse yet complementary perspectives.

Evaluation of the Excavations Carried Out between 2010 and 2017 in Diyarbakir Grand Mosque Complex for Restoration Work; Hanafis Section and Eastern Maksurah

ABSTRACT Diyarbakir is a city that its history goes down 7000 BC.There are many historical buildings in the traditional urban texture surrounded by walls. The Grand Mosque is one of these valuable buildings.An important restoration work was carried out in the Grand Mosque between 2010 and 2017. In these works, some excavations were made to obtain some research and information. New information about mosque and city history was learned from these excavations. This study aims to present the findings and their contributions to the restoration work and to evaluate them from an archaeological perspective while explaining the reasons for the excavations carried out in the Eastern Maksurah with the Hanafis Section in the scope of the comprehensive restoration work carried out between 2010 and 2017. At the same time, it is also aimed to emphasize the necessity and significance of research excavations in restoration applications.

Conflict on the Northern Front: Archaeological Perspectives on the Spanish Civil War at Monte Bernorio, Palencia, Spain

The archaeology of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) has experienced an important development over the last two decades. Several field projects have studied aspects such as mass graves, forced labor camps, and battlefields. In this paper, we present a case study from the so-called “Northern Front” (Frente Norte). The impressive mountain of Monte Bernorio, situated at the foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains, controls one of the main communication routes between the central Spanish plateau (Meseta) and the Cantabrian Sea. Due to this strategic position, the site has played an important military role during two episodes of war separated by nearly 2,000 years: the Roman conquest of northern Iberia under Emperor Augustus in the 20s BCE, and the Spanish Civil War in the years 1936-37. The ongoing archaeological excavations and surveys are uncovering abundant remains of trenches, battering positions, barracks, and munitions belonging to the Civil War period, when Bernorio was a highly disputed position in the confrontation between “Republicans” and “Nationalists.” Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this paper combines archaeological evidence, oral history, and written documents that shed light on one of the main episodes of Franco’s conquest of northern Spain.

Representing quantitative documentation of 3D cultural heritage artefacts with CIDOC CRMdig

In this paper, we will explore the theme of the documentation of 3D cultural heritage assets, not only as entire artefacts but also including the interesting features of the object from an archaeological perspective. Indeed, the goal is supporting archaeological research and curation, providing a different approach to enrich the documentation of digital resources and their components with corresponding measurements, combining semantic and geometric techniques. A documentation scheme based on CIDOC, where measurements on digital data have been included extending CIDOC CRMdig, is discussed. To annotate accurately the components and features of the artefacts, a controlled vocabulary named Cultural Heritage Artefact Partonomy (CHAP) has been defined and integrated into the scheme as a SKOS taxonomy to showcase the proposed methodology. CHAP concerns Coroplastic, which is the study of ancient terracotta figurines and in particular the Cypriot production. Two case studies have been considered: the terracotta statues from the port of Salamis and the small clay statuettes from the Ayia Irini sanctuary. Focussing both on the artefacts and their digital counterparts, the proposed methodology supports effectively typical operations within digital libraries and repositories (e.g. search, part-based annotation), and more specific objectives such as the archaeological interpretation and digitally assisted classification, as proved in a real archaeological scenario. The proposed approach is general and applies to different contexts, since it is able to support any archaeological research where the goal is an extensive digital documentation of tangible findings including quantitative attributes.

(Im)material culture: towards an archaeology of cybercrime

ABSTRACT Cybercrime is ubiquitous. People now inhabit a digital environment comprising permanent risk, exponential threats, and multiple virtual/physical harms, forming a global community of malefactors and the criminally exploited. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, through an archaeological lens, to characterize the new materiality of cybercrime (including its artefacts and architecture alongside digital/virtual manifestations). And second, to explore the potential for new perspectives on cybercrime borne out of this archaeological approach. In short: what is the archaeology of cybercrime and can new understandings emerge from an archaeological perspective? In undertaking this research we also challenge the long-held presumption that non-physical traces cannot be studied archaeologically. It is our contention that they can.

Metal detecting as a social formation: A longitudinal survey study from Finland

The hobby of metal detecting has mostly been examined from the perspectives of archaeology and heritage administration. Although fulfilling archaeological needs, such an approach neglects the social analysis of this pastime. In 2019, we conducted a survey of metal detector enthusiasts and heritage professionals in Finland, the results of which are compared with those of a corresponding survey carried out in 2014. Within five years, metal detecting has become an established practice, and following the Finnish custom, registered associations for amateurs have emerged to organize the field. This longitudinal survey highlights its importance to civil society, with regard to the ways in which metal detecting develops as a hobby and as a means for amateurs to engage with heritage management.

Julius Caesar's Battle for Gaul: New Archaeological Perspectives. Edited by A.P. Fitzpatrick and C. Haselgrove. Oxbow, Oxford, 2019. Pp. 336, illus. Price: £38.00. isbn 9781789250503.

Julius Caesar's Battle for Gaul: New Archaeological Perspectives. Edited by A.P. Fitzpatrick and C. Haselgrove. Oxbow, Oxford, 2019. Pp. 336, illus. Price: £38.00. <scp>isbn</scp> 9781789250503.

The Self-Driving Car: A Media Machine for Posthumans?

This article discusses the self-driving car as a media machine, thinking about its character and broader implications from media archaeological and posthumanist perspectives. Self-driving or autonomous vehicles challenge traditional ideas about agency. Car culture has usually been considered human-centered. While there have been concerns about the “human factor” and the consequences of poor and distracted driving, the human behind the steering wheel has also been considered a guarantee of safety. The introduction of the self-driving car displaces the human from an active role as an agent and introduces forms of material agency as a replacement. This shift has huge consequences, which will be explored from various perspectives. The study will also situate the self-driving car historically within plans about automated highways, also discussing their discursive manifestations within popular media culture. The study introduces the idea of “traffic dispositive”, which it applies on multiple levels. One of the basic points underlying the discussion is that the autonomous car can never be fully autonomous. It is linked with data networks and other frameworks of factors that affect its uses and also its potential passengers. We must ask: How will the potential adoption of self-driving cars affect the human/posthuman relationship?

Spaces for Creativity in Mediterranean Archaeological Heritage Management

AbstractPublic Archaeology in the Mediterranean Context (#pubarchMED) is a project that focuses on the management of archaeological heritage in the Mediterranean context from the perspective of public archaeology. Ranging from fully public models where preventive archaeology itself is a challenge to mixed models where the outsourcing of this work has been accomplished to a full extent, the variety of solutions is wide and with a common trend: struggle with mitigation and little space for creativity. This article will delve into the range of models that exist in the Mediterranean, exploring the way they approach, first of all, preventive/rescue archaeology, and then, the relationship between archaeology and society in the process. Building on the challenges of an underfunded scheme for an extremely archaeologically rich territory, different solutions have been set in practice—in some cases, under the auspices of competent administrations in the form of public policy—in the endeavor to include public archaeology in the practice, mostly encouraged by professionals as a personal or corporate initiative, and sometimes even consciously avoided. The discussion will offer some ideas for creative mitigation in the different scenarios, built on the comparative study and the broad possibilities to engage stakeholders positively in the process.

The Contradictions of Engaged Archaeology at Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico

Engaged archaeology, like other forms of research, is replete with contradictions. Over the last several years, members of the Punta Laguna Archaeology Project—a community-based endeavor in Yucatan, Mexico—have encountered and sought to address several paradoxical questions. Do attempts to mitigate certain forms of inequality unintentionally sustain other forms of inequality? Can the production of capital alleviate rather than exacerbate unequal social relationships? And, can Western social theories be marshalled to advocate for and increase Maya and other Indigenous perspectives in archaeology? This article examines these contradictory questions and analyzes them as potential sources of dialectical change. To conclude, the article suggests three new foci for engaged archaeology: intersectionality, control, and authoritative speech.

Reconstructing medieval eroded landscapes of the north-eastern Zuyder Zee (the Netherlands): a refined palaeogeographical time series of the Noordoostpolder between a.d. 1100 and 1400

ABSTRACT This paper considers large-scale erosion of late medieval peatland landscapes along the inland lagoon rims of the north-eastern Zuyder Zee area (today: Noordoostpolder, the Netherlands) and integrates palaeogeographical reconstruction, material archeological and spatial archaeohistorical research. The dynamic regional history of coeval loss of peaty coastal plains and boom of maritime activities is studied from archaeological, geological and historical data perspectives. In the first half of the Middle Ages (a.d. 500–1000), vast peatlands and interconnected lakes characterised the study area. During the late Middle Ages (a.d. 1000–1500), increased storm surges and tidal incursions allowed for extensive progressive erosion of inhabited peatlands, transforming the central Netherlands into the Zuyder Zee tidal lagoon. In the north-eastern quadrant of the expanding water body, medieval terrestrial geological and archaeological records fell prey to erosion, re-working and uptake into lagoon-floor deposits. These deposits have been intensively surveyed since the 1940s when the quadrant was reclaimed and made into arable land, and are revealed to contain spatially clustered late medieval archaeological objects. Whereas lagoon floor re-working has hindered making a detailed palaeogeographical reconstruction based on geological data alone, including the mapping of archaeology has helped resolve the pacing of lagoon expansion. The key to resolving the lost peatland palaeogeography for the time frames 1100 and 1400, was to put the archeological data density patterns first and geological lagoon-floor facies descriptions second in process order, while for earlier periods or other regions the opposite order is the convenient choice. We present a map series beginning with an updated map for a.d. 900 (the youngest geological reconstruction), introducing the first detailed palaeogeographical maps for 1100 and 1400 (honouring the late medieval terrestrial and maritime archaeological evidence) and ending with a landscape reconstruction for 1600 (complying with the oldest historical maps of the lagoon), revealing the intertwined landscape history of land and sea as the backdrop for shifts in the human use of both.

Things in Antarctica. An archaeological perspective

ABSTRACT The representation of Antarctica as the last wilderness overlooks not only the presence of humans but also of material things, and does not reflect the reality of contemporary Antarctica. Human-thing relationships have existed there, although largely unnoticed, since the nineteenth century. This article contributes to thinking about the genealogy of human-thing relationships in Antarctica by presenting an analysis of how the process of living with things has developed over time. Based on available historical and archaeological information, this study explores human-thing relationships during sealing and whaling activities, inside the huts of the Heroic Era of Antarctic exploration, throughout the period of the settlement of permanent scientific stations, and after the coming into force of the Madrid Protocol. From an archaeological perspective this article emphasises how things are not inert, they change, establish relations and that humans in Antarctica have often become entrapped in their relations with things. It is my hope that this introductory exploration into the topic will stimulate critical thoughts on human-thing relationships in Antarctica.

The extended evolutionary synthesis and human origins: Archaeological perspectives.

Recent developments in evolutionary biology have led to a call for an extension of standard evolutionary theory, with its emphasis on processes such as selection and drift, into a much larger theoretical framework that includes processes such as niche construction, developmental plasticity, inclusive inheritance, and developmental bias. Skeptics argue that these processes are already subsumed within the standard theory and thus an extension is not required. Here, we outline what this evolutionary "rethink" might mean for the study of human origins. Specifically, can paleoanthropologists benefit from an extended theoretical toolkit? The papers in this special issue suggest it can be useful but may not be necessary, depending on the kinds of questions that are being asked.