scholarly journals Basic Methods of Conserving Underwater Archaeological Material Culture

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 379
Author(s):  
Katherine Singley ◽  
Donny L. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Archaeological Material

scholarly journals Studije tehnologije i studije materijalne kulture: mogućnosti bliže saradnje na primeru koštanih artefakata

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 703
Author(s):  
Selena Vitezović ◽  
Ivan Vranić
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Affairs

Bone artefacts are among the less thoroughly studied classes of archaeological material, especially in the case of particular periods and regions. The reasons behind this are not uniform. The most obvious and general are linked to the research practices of culture-historical archaeology, often neglecting bone artefacts, considering them not sufficiently attractive or informative. The most significant shift towards recognition of a set of potential information gained from bone objects was achieved in the framework of studies of prehistoric technology during the second half of 20th century, especially in the French archaeological school.  This research strategy raised a number of questions concerning the acquisition of raw material, modes of production and usage of objects, whose interpretative potential gained in power, leading to the increased attention paid to faunal remains in archaeological investigations. Yet this source of information on the actual details of relations between people and material culture, opened by technology studies, has not been sufficiently explored.  It may be suggested that the reasons are the narrow specialization of researchers and insufficient inclusion of the gathered information into the wider interpretive framework, various traditions and lack of cooperation among the national archaeological “schools”, language barriers etc. However, the main reason behind this state of affairs may be sought for in non-integrated theoretical perspectives and the lack of clearly articulated interpretive position of researchers seeking to apply the knowledge gained from technology studies, considering this strategy as an “objective, scientific method”, providing concrete answers clearly complying to the expectations of the dominant archaeological paradigm.The paper offers a critical review of a number of examples of application of technology studies in archaeology and possible directions of a more integrated and theoretically informed approach. One of the obvious solutions may be sought in the direction of another research strategy – material culture studies. The aim of the paper is thus to link these two approaches, whose theoretical foundations are not uniform today, but the history of the ideas and the mode of articulation of the basic theoretical assumptions indicate similar theoretical roots.

Post-Meroe in Upper Nubia

2021 ◽  
pp. 730-757
Author(s):  
Mahmoud El-Tayeb
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Pottery Production ◽  
Mortuary Practice ◽  
Blue Nile ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Close Observation ◽  
Tangible Evidence ◽  
White Nile ◽  
Comprehensive Studies

Upper Nubia stretches from the Second Cataract upstream to the Gezira region south of Khartoum, including Sinnar-Roseires on the southern Blue Nile and Kosti on the White Nile, a distance of not less than 1,500 km. Close observation of the material culture excavated in this ample territory shows a subdivision of Upper Nubia into three zones after the Meroitic Period, in spite of the broad similarities within this cultural horizon. Aspects of regionalism are based on geographical and natural elements in addition to the variety of mortuary practice and pottery production, which are the main sources of information about the period under study. One of the major problems is the lack of organized comprehensive studies in Upper Nubia. Therefore, still debatable are the conventional theories on the Axumite and Noba invasions, while as demonstrated in this text, there is no tangible evidence for such theories in archaeological material. Still open for discussion is the term “Post-Meroe.”

scholarly journals Materiality and the urban: recent theses in archaeology and material culture and their importance for the study of urban history

Urban History ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 564-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE FENNELLY
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Short Supply ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Material Environment ◽  
Material Turn ◽  
Strong Position ◽  
Archaeological Sciences ◽  
Structured Approach

Half a century on from Ivor Noel Hume's reference to archaeology as the ‘handmaiden to history’, historical-period archaeology has come quite a way. From disparate origins, in anthropological approaches to material and rescue archaeology in North America, and industrial and buildings archaeology in Britain and Europe, the sub-discipline has coalesced into a structured approach to the recent past. Hume's comment is often misinterpreted as a critique of archaeology's supposed inferiority to history, yet his comment actually refers to the potential for archaeological material to inform historical narratives, fill in gaps and populate the histories of non-literate peoples with a material culture. Unfortunately, overlap between the two disciplines is still in relatively short supply. In light of the recent material turn in the humanities, however, as well as an increased interest amongst historians and geographers in engaging with material culture, archaeological approaches to artifacts, sites and built heritage are in a strong position to inform methods for examining the historical material environment. Collaboration is now not only necessary, but timely, and this review of theses is an attempt to further that potential for co-operation amongst those who study the past. The doctoral theses reviewed here explore changes and developments in the modern city from a material perspective, evidencing both the breadth of approaches and the potential for research in the arts and archaeological sciences to stimulate new studies across different disciplines.

Rock art as a source of the history of prehistory (An account to promote the understanding of prehistoric rock art)

Abgadiyat ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-35
Author(s):  
Hamdi Abbas Ahmed Abd-EI-Moniem
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Remote Past

Abstract Some may believe that the history of mankind begins with the appearance of writing only a few several thousands of years ago (cf. 4000-3000 BCE). Our history, however, extends beyond that date millions of years. The history of mankind, indeed, is deeply rooted in the remote past which is called 'prehistory'. With the lacking of any form of writing, this 'prehistoric' period can be examined directly solely by recourse to the study of archaeological remains. The purpose of this account is to introduce rock art to the readers and show the significant role of this sort of archaeological material in studying the history of mankind before the appearance of written records. The current work, therefore, is divided into three main sections: the first deals with definition of rock art and its nature; the second section is devoted to showing the significance of this aspect of material culture in exploring a long and mysterious period of the early history of man characterized by the complete absence of written records or historical documents; the third and last section, which is a vital and integral part of this work, comprises an explanatory pictorial record to promote the understanding of prehistoric rock art as a source of information needed for writing the history of prehistory.

scholarly journals ORIGIN OF HEAD CROWNS IN ANCIENT AESTIA AND PRUSSIANS

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (07) ◽  
pp. 99-109
Author(s):  
V.I. Kulakov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Ancient Society ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Trade Route ◽  
The Baltic

The archaeological material of the south-eastern Baltic States contains several rare specimens of typeset head corollas for the antiquities of the Western Balts. The conclusions obtained as a result of the analysis of the head corollas of the Western Balts of the I-XIV centuries can be presented as follows: 1. Northern European masters at the beginning of our era created their own versions of head wreaths, based on examples of ancient votive wreaths. The latter were used both in triumphal events and at the burial of notable members of ancient society. It remains unclear under what conditions the Scandinavians could adopt the idea of a votive wreath, reworking it in the form of head corollas. 2. In phase B1, individual representatives of the northern tribes appear on Sambia, who brought crowns with them to the Amber Coast as part of the matrimonial "import", which were attached in especially solemn (cult ?) in cases of head covering. 3. In Roman times, head crowns did not find their place in the material culture of the population of the western outskirts of the Baltic world. In the early Middle Ages, through the mediation of master jewelers of south-eastern Europe, the tradition of wearing corollas made using Byzantine traditions spread in the Baltic States. It is possible that these traditions came to the Baltic States with groups of artisans along the Vislin trade route – the ancient Great Amber Road.

scholarly journals Formation of social-cultural units in the Gulf of Finland region in changing Early and Middle Holocene environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-186
Author(s):  
Dmitriy Vladimirovitch Gerasimov ◽  
Margarita Alekseevna Kholkina
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Gulf Of Finland ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
Climatic Event ◽  
Early And Middle Holocene ◽  
Late Mesolithic ◽  
The Gulf Of Finland

Stone Age archaeological material from the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland region are evident of presence here a stable border between cultural areas from the Late Mesolithic till the end of Neolithic. Differences between those areas are mostly become apparent in the certain categories of archaeological finds - first of all in pottery (Sperrings, Narva and Late Neolithic types) as well as in decorations and mobile art. The border survives through millennia though sufficient cultural transformations in material culture developed during that time in the region. The border could arise in the Late Mesolithic, in the 7th - middle of the 6th ca. BC. Hypothetically its arising could be related to appearance of new people in the region, and possibly with the 8200 cal. BP climatic event. The border is visible in archaeological material till the mass migration of the Corded Ware culture people in the region about the turn of 4th and 3d ca. BC. The phenomenon of the Typical Combed Ware culture that existed in the region from the end of 5th till the second half of the 4th ca. BC probably was not related to the new people coming but can reflect integration of the aborigine population in response to some outer (socio-cultural?) factors.

Distribution of archaeological material scatters and soils at the site of Abila of the Decapolis, northern Jordan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Lucke ◽  
Jago Birk ◽  
Michael Zech ◽  
Nora Voss ◽  
Günther Schörner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
City Center ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
N Isotopes ◽  
Land Surfaces ◽  
Soil Distribution ◽  
The City ◽  
Biblical Sources

<p>Patterns and intensities of past land use are mostly unknown. However, soils in the vicinity of archaeological sites usually carry significant amounts of material culture (mostly pottery sherds) which testify to past human activity. We surveyed surface transects of material culture and soil distribution, radiating from the city center of ancient Abila of the Decapolis. The city had been abandoned during the Medieval and was never resettled, which minimizes the presence of material culture from younger periods. In addition, earlier studies suggested that soil erosion of the rather level limestone plateau surrounding the site was rather limited, indicating that actual land surfaces largely represent those of antiquity. Our survey encountered strongly varying quantities of material culture, which correspond to some soil properties such as concentrations of faeces biomarkers of pork excrements. As the material culture mainly dates to Late Antiquity, and as pork consumption during the Islamic periods is rather unlikely, this indicates that the distribution of the archaeological material was to some degree connected with pig breeding during Antiquity. A possible practice leading to sherd deposition on fields could be manuring, such as from applying dung including pork excrements, but ratios of N-isotopes do not suggest that fields surrounding Abila were subject to application of larger amounts of manure. Therefore, it seems very likely that material culture deposition on the land surrounding Abila was partly connected with the herding of pigs, a land use practice that is attested in Biblical sources on the region.</p>

scholarly journals Material Correlates Analysis (MCA)

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gantley ◽  
Harvey Whitehouse ◽  
Amy Bogaard
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Relevant Variables ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Historical Resources ◽  
Integrate Data

ABSTRACTTheories developed and validated using ethnographic and historical resources are often difficult to examine using sparse or fragmentary archaeological material. However, a number of statistical techniques make it possible to integrate data from ethnographic, historical, and archaeological resources into a single analytical framework. This article introduces Material Correlates Analysis (MCA)—a new method of filling gaps in the archaeological data using a strategic combination of data collection, multidimensional scaling, principal component analysis, and generalized liner modeling. Generalized liner modeling is a particularly useful tool in formal inferential statistics for comparing a priori classified groups of historical and/or ethnographic (known) cases with archaeological (unknown) ones on the basis of relevant variables. MCA allows us to overcome the inherent material culture limitations regarding data on key variables by using available historical or ethnographic evidence to make statistically testable inferences regarding archaeological data. Using the Modes of Religiosity theory as an example, we demonstrate how major gaps in the evidentiary record can be overcome using the techniques we outline. Specifically, we use the MCA approach to ascertain whether the agricultural transition in southwest Asia was associated with a shift from an imagistic to an increasingly doctrinal mode of religiosity.

scholarly journals The Materiality of Odors: Experiencing Church Burials and the Urban Environment in Early Modern Northern Sweden

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Titta Kallio-Seppä ◽  
Annemari Tranberg
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Northern Sweden ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The Town ◽  
The Church

Abstract Archaeological material from early modern Sweden reveals that material and social meaning was intertwined in townscape odors; that is, odors and their association with unhygienic conditions affected the physical structure of the town, its material culture, and different traditions in the use of “townspace.” During the latter half of the 18th century, the town of Oulu suffered from unpleasant smells related to ponds and wet areas, and the odor of decomposing flesh from under-floor church burials greeted church visitors, despite the tradition of placing fragrant plants inside coffins. In the 18th century the town underwent deliberate changes: the ponds were drained and filled, burials under the church floor were prohibited, and one of the first graveyards located outside the town and separate from the church was constructed. These actions to change the town’s “smellscape” reflect emergent notions of regularity and cleanliness related to the Age of Enlightenment.

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