Material Culture and Typology

The active and discursive nature of material culture is the subject of this paper. It will, however, be approached from the point of view of typology and in particular the debate about the 'Swedish Typology’ (Gräslund 1974). Typology is probably the archaeological method or theory through which the discipline has most explicitly stated its view on the nature of the archaeological object. Inspired by the idea of naturalised epistemology as the basis for understanding how knowledge is constructed within the sciences (as discussed by Thomas 1996: 194), it is here argued that what we do, as archaeologists, is of importance rather than the theorising about our actions. Through a discussion of typology as expressed in archaeological practice, this paper will propose that the relationship between the object and typology is much simpler and more complex than our habitual use of the concept tends to suggest. It is proposed that the creation of typologies reveals the quite decisive influence which the object has upon the archaeological constructions. Typologies, moreover, are intimately connected to prehistoric production strategies. It is the relationship between these two dimensions of typologies, that we must understand in order to fully realise their potentials and understand their roles in archaeological practice.

DIGITAL CULTURE, UMWELT AND ALETHEIA AN ONTOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION

The paper presented here focuses on the idea of interpreting the digital culture as an image of the material culture rather than a mere copy of it. First of all, we should ask ourselves what an image really is; it is in investigating its deep meaning, which is often devalued due to the enormous dissemination of void images, that we can overcome the superficial concept of the digital as a digitalised copy. The description of an archaeological artifact cannot prescind from its physical and material appearance, but has to go further towards its profound nature and meaning. Considering the so-called aura of archaeological and artistic objects as an engagement between the hic et nunc of the object and the hic et nunc of the observer it will be possible to go beyond in the comprehension of the agency of the objects. Moreover, it is necessary to consider technology as a way through which objects could reveal themselves in a process of ἀλήθεια and not just a tool with the only scope of showing itself and its capacities. Considering digital copies as images could yield compelling challenges: every archaeological object, at any scale from the very little to the very big, has its own lost Umwelt: a way of being entangled in the world in which it was created. Probably, no answer will be provided within this paper, but suggestions to move towards an ontology of digital objects and their relationship with virtual realm.

A Türbe of the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century in Solkhat (new materials)

Research objectives: To present data about a newly discovered architectural monument of the Golden Horde’s Solkhat/Krym. Research materials: As the result of excavations of the medieval settlement of Solkhat in 2018–2019, we have revealed an unknown archaeological object – a türbe (mausoleum) belonging to the Islamic community of the town. The research materials contain architectural measurements and plans, a description and analysis of the burial structures, along with data on coins and other finds, including female jewelry found in one of the burials. Results and novelty of the research: During archaeological surveys in 2018 in the southeastern part of the Golden Horde’s Solkhat, not far from the modern reservoir, a new archaeological object was discovered and identified as a medieval Muslim mausoleum (türbe). As a result of the 2018–2019 excavations, it was found that it is a ruined structure, preserved at the level of the lower rows of the foundation. The plan of the mausoleum is based on a rectangle oriented to the cardinal directions. The structure consists of two parts – the southern which is the entrance and the northern which contains the actual tombs (gurkhan). In the northern part of the türbe at the floor level, two burial underground chambers were discovered: burial 1, constructed of square Golden Horde bricks, and burial 2, constructed of rubble stones. The first female burial contained fragments of architectural details and a pair of golden earrings with a translucent sub-square inlay. The design features of the earrings indicate a style distinctive to Central Asia and China. The gender of the buried individual is confirmed by anthropological analysis. The second burial is a collective one, with bone remains of at least three individuals, two of them being males. According to the numismatic finds, the mausoleum dates to the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. The presence of female jewelry among the funeral inventory of burial 1 formally contradicts the traditions of Islamic funeral rites. Apparently, gold earrings, mar­king the social status of the deceased (among other details of clothing that have not reached us), indicate the persistent preservation of traces of steppe traditions.

Do sítio arqueológico ao museu: um percurso (também) didático

Any archaeological site, by itself, allows to question the meaning of archaeology as a science that “produces” ruin. The historical knowledge inevitably leads to consequent action in relation to its structures, which musealized or left to abandon, are witnesses of historical memory. The approach currently perceived is distinct according to the archaeological object in question, its context or its intended role. In fact, recently, the musealization of archaeological sites has aroused ambivalent interests, as the ruins serve as a motto for iconic projects which, in many cases, go beyond the purpose for which they were created. Not everything deserves musealization, but all that is musealized requires a dignified framework for the object itself.

NEM TUDO ESTÁ PERDIDO: ARQUEOLOGIA E HISTÓRIAS DE VIDA NA CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO DE OBJETO ARQUEOLÓGICO DO MAE/UFBA

Neste artigo utilizo a perspectiva das “histórias de vida” com o objetivo de contextualizar e indicar o provável local de coleta feita por moradores locais de uma urna funerária, posteriormente resgatada pelo arqueólogo Valentín Calderón nos anos 60 do século XX, no município de Morro do Chapéu, Bahia. Tomando como ponto de partida a minha história e as minhas memórias pessoais, identifiquei interlocutores que viveram este episódio e fiz o enlace das suas “histórias de vida” com dados arqueológicos e com informações salvaguardadas no Mae/Ufba. Este caminho percorrido permitiu a obtenção de elementos comuns das “histórias de vida” dos diferentes atores sociais para a criação de uma nova narrativa sobre o objeto arqueológico. Assim, é possível compreender melhor esse objeto, então sob a salvaguarda do museu, e indicar caminhos futuros para novas pesquisas. Abstract: In this article I use the perspective of “life histories” with the purpose of contextualizing and indicating the probable place of collection by local residents of a funeral urn, later rescued by the archaeologist Valentín Calderón in the 60s of the 20th century, in the municipality of Morro do Chapéu, Bahia. Taking as my starting point my story and my personal memories, I identified interlocutors who lived through this episode and linked their “life histories” with archaeological data and information safeguarded in Mae/Ufba. This path allowed me to obtain common elements of the “life histories” of the different social actors for the creation of a new narrative about the archaeological object. Thus, it is possible to better understand this object under the safeguard of the museum and indicate future paths for further research.

Integrating Remote Sensing, Machine Learning, and Citizen Science in Dutch Archaeological Prospection

Although the history of automated archaeological object detection in remotely sensed data is short, progress and emerging trends are evident. Among them, the shift from rule-based approaches towards machine learning methods is, at the moment, the cause for high expectations, even though basic problems, such as the lack of suitable archaeological training data are only beginning to be addressed. In a case study in the central Netherlands, we are currently developing novel methods for multi-class archaeological object detection in LiDAR data based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). This research is embedded in a long-term investigation of the prehistoric landscape of our study region. We here present an innovative integrated workflow that combines machine learning approaches to automated object detection in remotely sensed data with a two-tier citizen science project that allows us to generate and validate detections of hitherto unknown archaeological objects, thereby contributing to the creation of reliable, labeled archaeological training datasets. We motivate our methodological choices in the light of current trends in archaeological prospection, remote sensing, machine learning, and citizen science, and present the first results of the implementation of the workflow in our research area.

PREFERENCES OF USING GEOINFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR FIXATION ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBJECTS

The paper proposes examples of archaeological objects fixing using Geoinformation system (GIS) as an effective computer-supported system used for a digital visualization and analysis of geographic features and events happening on them. The main preference of using these methods is disclosed due to elaborations of specialists worked in Architectural-archaeological expedition of Archaeology Institute of NASU for several years. There is an experience gained in field and urban space. According to this thesis main preferences that is noticed by authors are: 1) an accuracy of fixing in a difficult conditions; 2) multipurpose and flexibility of coordinate system; 3) a unique format of different file types; 4) an opportunity of object reconstruction based on earlier drawing; 5) creation a topography ground (basic plan) for future excavations; 6) combining in one GIS model different types of information that is appropriate to an archaeological object; 7) join the attribute tables of database related to archaeological objects fixed during the excavation in GIS formats. An effective algorithm of object fixing is proposed by using the most basic methods of GIS.