SACRIFICAL COMPLEX FROM TAT-BOYARY BURIAL 33 OF EMANAEVO ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE: INFORMATION POTENTIAL

The paper introduces into scientific discourse materials of the sacrificial complex, unique in its content, recovered from burial 33 of the 6-8 cen. Tat-Boyary cemetery. The site correlates with the early medieval formation of the western part of the Ancient Perm oecumene in the Kama-Volga Interfluve, and from the archaeological perspective - with the Emanaevo culture. The sacrificial complex is a birch bark box with a number of artifacts that was located in a special niche of the cenotaph. The paper gives a detailed description of the sacrificial complex consisting of bronze and silver elements of the detachable pectoral plate, belt, set of pectoral decorations, and the wallet, as well as fabric and leather elements of the female ceremonial costume. A wide range of parallels quoted in the paper allows to date the complex to the 8 or, possibly, the early 9century and to justify the high-scale involvement of the Vyatka population into the ethnocultural and trade Eurasian long- and close-distance contacts. They demonstrate the most stable contacts with the Volga-Finnish world and Ancient Perm cultures of the Cheptsa and Kama basins. Being introduced into scientific discourse, the materials of the Tat-Boyary sacrificial complex enhance our insight into the cultural specifics of the Vyatka population in the Middle Ages; besides, they are important to a better understanding of archaeological origin of the Kama-Vyatka Interfluve local ethnographic costumes.

Paesaggio, pianificazione, partecipazione: una prospettiva archeologica

In Italy, the management and protection of historic landscapes are regulated though a variety of tools, i.e. planning regulations and cultural heritage law, at different levels (from local to regional and national). Within this framework, this paper focuses on cultural heritage law, and in particular on the definition of the ‘zones of archaeological interest’ (art. 142, comma 1, letter m of the d.lgs. 42/2004). The common juridical interpretation of this sentence is compared to the theories at the basis of landscape archaeology. Adopting an archaeological perspective in landscape management could facilitate a participatory approach encouraged by the European Landscape Convention, as exemplified by some recent experiences.

Archaeological Approaches to and Heritage Perspectives on Modern Conflict

From a wider disciplinary perspective, modern conflict archaeology is now a thoroughly established and mature sub-discipline. However, a significant problem conflict archaeologists in the Netherlands face is that modern eras, including both World Wars, have so far not received serious attention. Although both World Wars appeal strongly to the popular imagination, until recently Dutch researchers had not approached modern conflict from an academic archaeological perspective to any great extent. This is partly the result of problematic legislation on archaeological activity in the Netherlands. When applied and interpreted appropriately, archaeology can play an important role in the preservation, contemporary experience and historical reconstruction of recent conflicts. However, as this book argues, research methods other than excavations will be needed in order to conduct conflict archaeology in the Netherlands effectively. This study aims to develop a Dutch approach to conflict archaeology, integrating archaeology, heritage research and history at a landscape scale.

Multispecies Pasts and the Possibilities of Multispecies Futures in the Age of the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene emerges as an aftermath of the long-held, pervasive belief in human exceptionalism, and a wake-up call to reconsider our being in the world as entangled with a plethora of other living selves. Along with ecological and social challenges facing all life on Earth, the very boundaries between Nature and Culture, biological and social, human and nonhuman are being destabilized. From an archaeological perspective, particularly relevant is the understanding of diachronic change through shifting webs of interspecies relations (sensu Tsing). By engaging with various strands of thought within archaeology, anthropology, ecology and ethology, this paper aims to offer a more inclusive, multispecies view of the past. Ultimately, a consideration of human and nonhuman histories as entangled, bears important implications for multispecies futures.

On Tools Making Minds: an Archaeological Perspective on Human Cognitive Evolution

Using a model of cognition as extended and enactive, we examine the role of materiality in making minds as exemplified by lithics and writing, forms associated with conceptual thought and meta-awareness of conceptual domains. We address ways in which brain functions may change in response to interactions with material forms, the attributes of material forms that may cause such change, and the spans of time required for neurofunctional reorganization. We also offer three hypotheses for investigating co-influence and change in cognition and material culture.