Wat is de oorsprong van de vaak zo klassiek ogende Gandharakunst uit het oude India? Dit artikel biedt een historisch overzicht, benoemt recente archeologische onderzoeksresultaten, en beschouwt... Show moreWat is de oorsprong van de vaak zo klassiek ogende Gandharakunst uit het oude India? Dit artikel biedt een historisch overzicht, benoemt recente archeologische onderzoeksresultaten, en beschouwt tot slot de implicaties voor het erfgoed- en museumbeleid aangaande deze sculpturen. Show less
Amarasinghe, Kalaycı, and van Aerde study the Silk Road network as an object of political infrastructure. Their aim is to shed light on the modern “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) project led by... Show moreAmarasinghe, Kalaycı, and van Aerde study the Silk Road network as an object of political infrastructure. Their aim is to shed light on the modern “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) project led by China. The authors begin their investigation by highlighting the Silk Road’s intricate history, composed of multiple agents ranging from individuals to empires. They scrutinize the normative historiography of the Silk Road and pinpoint the problematic areas in the narrative. Their focus is mainly to identify the Chinese contributions to this Eurasian project, as well as how the current narrative is selectively exploited by the BRI project as a proxy for China’s ambition to achieve global governance. Show less
The dissertation is focused on three interrelated aspects: 1) the development of a decolonial theoretical framework and collaborative research methodology with the Kamëntšá people centred on the... Show moreThe dissertation is focused on three interrelated aspects: 1) the development of a decolonial theoretical framework and collaborative research methodology with the Kamëntšá people centred on the respect for Kamëntšá ethics, principles and social norms, and the consequent reconstruction, revitalization and dignification of Kamëntšá knowledge, arts, spirituality and notions of time and space; 2) the history and colonization processes of the Kamëntšá people and Uaman Tabanok, its ancestral lands, with a specific emphasis on the work of the Capuchin missionaries, particularly their concept of enculturation and how it transformed and resignified Kamëntšá culture and religion using its own arts, narratives and rituals which were in harmony with Christianity; and 3) the concept of “cultural heritage” and the role of academic disciplines, research practices, government institutions and cultural policies in the perpetuation of colonialism through the appropriation, interpretation, control and resignification of the objects, monuments and cultures of Indigenous peoples, and their consequent contribution to maintaining inequality, racism and historical social injustices. Show less
Harkel, A.T. ten; Dierendonck, R. van; Farber, E.; Dee, M.; Doeve, P.; Hamerow, H.; ... ; Deckers, P. 2023
THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medievalNorth Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on... Show moreTHIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medievalNorth Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on portablematerial culture. In recognition of the fact that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the identities of people basedon finds assemblages, two pilot projects have been completed that involved bioarchaeological analyses of cemetery pop-ulations associated with these sites. The first of these, the Investigating the Dead in Early Medieval Domburg project,undertook multi-disciplinary analyses of the (very small) surviving burial population from the mostly destroyed sitesin the Domburg area (Netherlands), combining isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating, biological anthropology, dendro-chronology, and provenancing and study of previous use of coffin wood. The second, the Medieval Migrants of theNorth Sea World project, inventoried available isotopic evidence for human remains from emporia sites in England,the Netherlands and Scandinavia, alongside contextual archaeological information. This paper presents both projects,providing the detailed information from Domburg in its wider, international context, and highlighting the need for acomprehensive research agenda to fill current gaps in our understanding of early medieval emporia populations. Show less
Sykora, T.; De Lima, R.; De Meyer, M.J.C.; Vergauwen, M.; Willems, H. 2023
With the interdisciplinary project “Puzzling Tombs,” a team of Egyptologists and engineers of KU Leuven aims to document and reconstruct the architecture and iconography of the Middle Kingdom elite... Show moreWith the interdisciplinary project “Puzzling Tombs,” a team of Egyptologists and engineers of KU Leuven aims to document and reconstruct the architecture and iconography of the Middle Kingdom elite cemetery at Dayr al-Barsha in a virtual environment. Such a tool allows the manipulation of the thousands of tomb fragments, and virtually solve the puzzle they represent. Structured light technology is used to accurately record the fragments, while the remaining standing architecture is documented by terrestrial laser scanning. The resulting 3D meshes are processed on a game engine which allows for coping with the dense polygonal structures that compose the digital models. In combination with this virtual reconstruction, digital epigraphy following the Chicago House method is carried out in the well-known tomb of the Twelfth Dynasty governor Djehutihotep. This detailed documentation will be integrated as an additional layer in the virtual environment. Show less
De Meyer, M.J.C.; Claes, W.; Mahran, N.M.A.; Perre, A. van der; Gräzer Ohara, A. 2023
The volume is dedicated to the ‘supporting characters’ in the history of Egyptology who are not often in the limelight. This is not intended to work to the detriment of the lead actors, nor is the... Show moreThe volume is dedicated to the ‘supporting characters’ in the history of Egyptology who are not often in the limelight. This is not intended to work to the detriment of the lead actors, nor is the intention to politicize disciplinary history. Rather, it is meant as an appreciation and recognition of the range of agents involved, and relationships within their networks. Rendering disciplinary history more inclusive is a long process. The case-studies assembled in this volume do not aspire to represent the complete range of possible stakeholders. Instead, it is intended to open-out the discourse, and to demonstrate various modes in which individuals have advanced research into ancient Egypt. To cite but two ‘marginalized’ groups, women have often been presented as subservient spirits, assisting their Egyptologist-husbands, with perhaps the concession that ‘behind every great man there has to be a great woman’. For a long time all-but-excluded from academia, such individuals’ contributions have been disregarded. Second, exclusion from academia was also the fate of most early Egyptian Egyptologists. Within the frame of post-colonial studies, they have only recently garnered serious attention. Yet, even then, the paradigm of ‘Western’ disciplinary history has been replicated, concentrating on the outstanding figures and lead players in the field, often to the detriment of lesser-known scholars, officials, and local actors such as the Quftis and workmen. This volume is thus not meant to criticise previous endeavours in the recent development of disciplinary history but, rather, as a constructive contribution or complement to these. We cannot make amends for past implicit slights, or restore a person’s role in the history of Egyptology to its ‘rightful place’, but the aim is to broaden the perspective of the history of Egyptology, while at the same time paying more attention to its diversity. Show less
The Late Medieval and Early Modern periods in the Netherlands are marked by an upsurge in the production, use and repurposing of casks in cities. This is inextricably linked with the growing marine... Show moreThe Late Medieval and Early Modern periods in the Netherlands are marked by an upsurge in the production, use and repurposing of casks in cities. This is inextricably linked with the growing marine and riverine trade markets and the increase in artisan production. Casks have been found on shipwrecks, where they were used as containers for merchandise (primary purpose) and in urban areas, where they were repurposed as shafts for wells or cesspits (secondary purpose). As a result, the initial production phase of the lifecycle of casks often remained undetected. This study aims to generate an overview of the dendrochronological studies conducted in the past decades by Dutch dendrochronologists on casks from Dutch archaeological context, in which the felling year of the wood used to construct the casks can be dated from the 12th to 18th centuries, to gain insight into their production by coopers. The first objective is to better understand the diverse provenance areas detected in the coopers’ timber, after which the diachronic developments in the use of the timber from specific provenance areas can be addressed. The main objective is to assess whether it is possible to distinguish locally produced casks from casks used to import merchandise, which was successful in some cases. In addition to the dendrochronological and archaeological data, archival sources were used to contextualize and substantiate the analyses and interpretations. Show less
The use of fire is considered to be one of the most important cultural innovations in human evolution. Understanding the taphonomy of fire remains is an important prerequisite for valid... Show moreThe use of fire is considered to be one of the most important cultural innovations in human evolution. Understanding the taphonomy of fire remains is an important prerequisite for valid interpretations of hominin fire-related behaviour. Presented here are the results of a series of laboratory-based experiments testing the effect of different pH conditions (acidic, neutral, alkaline) on the physical and chemical properties of heated bone (charred and combusted). By taking a fundamental-research approach the study gives insight into the specific effect of pH exposure and its underlying chemical processes, and provides data that can be applied to heated bone from any context and time period. Results show that diagenesis has a significant impact on the preservation potential of heated bones, as well as on the reliability of the analytical techniques used to reconstruct past heating conditions. The study provides reference data and a toolkit for the analysis of heated bone, that explicitly takes diagenesis into account, and in doing so offers a significant improvement to the accuracy with which we can reconstruct heating conditions and fire-related human behaviour in the past. Show less
We live in the digital era, and archaeologists are increasingly engaging with 'big' data. A recent project at Oxford sought new answers about the landscapes of early medieval England from the... Show moreWe live in the digital era, and archaeologists are increasingly engaging with 'big' data. A recent project at Oxford sought new answers about the landscapes of early medieval England from the longue durée. Show less
The oral cavity is a heterogeneous environment, varying in factors such as pH, oxygen levels, and salivary flow. These factors affect the microbial community composition and distribution of species... Show moreThe oral cavity is a heterogeneous environment, varying in factors such as pH, oxygen levels, and salivary flow. These factors affect the microbial community composition and distribution of species in dental plaque, but it is not known how well these patterns are reflected in archaeological dental calculus. In most archaeological studies, a single sample of dental calculus is studied per individual and is assumed to represent the entire oral cavity. However, it is not known if this sampling strategy introduces biases into studies of the ancient oral microbiome. Here, we present the results of a shotgun metagenomic study of a dense sampling of dental calculus from four Chalcolithic individuals from the southeast Iberian peninsula (ca. 4500–5000 BP). Interindividual differences in microbial composition are found to be much larger than intraindividual differences, indicating that a single sample can indeed represent an individual in most cases. However, there are minor spatial patterns in species distribution within the oral cavity that should be taken into account when designing a study or interpreting results. Finally, we show that plant DNA identified in the samples is likely of postmortem origin, demonstrating the importance of including environmental controls or additional lines of biomolecular evidence in dietary interpretations. Show less
This paper presents the initial report of our “Karakorum Rescue Project 2020-21” in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. The petroglyphs of the Karakorum Mountains are very important as it was... Show moreThis paper presents the initial report of our “Karakorum Rescue Project 2020-21” in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. The petroglyphs of the Karakorum Mountains are very important as it was crucial crossroads throughout ancient times and different routes were used by a wide diversity of merchants, travellers, caravans and pilgrims for thousands of years. These rock art sites in the region are in danger due to the construction of dam, destruction and vandalism of especially the Buddhist rock art continue to threaten the existence of these historical petroglyphs, including many that have as yet never been documented before. For the preservation and documentation of this heritage, we initiated this project with the support of the Prince Claus Heritage Emergency Grant and the Aliph Alliance. This helps us to outline the academic and fieldwork strategies we used and how we combined a (non-invasive) archaeological photographical rescue campaign with an active and inclusive outreach to the local communities of the research region. Show less
The importance and character of exchange in the Carolingian period has long been a subject of academic debate. There is much discussion on the relative importance of local, regional and... Show moreThe importance and character of exchange in the Carolingian period has long been a subject of academic debate. There is much discussion on the relative importance of local, regional and international exchange, the role of various groups of actors, and the nature of exchange. What is largely lacking is a consideration of non-elite rural dwellers as constitutive elements in the economy. The present study focusses on the role of rural communities in the development of exchange systems during the Carolingian period. To what extent did the consumptive preferences of rural communities influence the flow of goods at a regional and interregional level? This is examined by cataloguing the finds from Carolingian sites in the Netherlands and comparing their distributions between regions. It can be demonstrated that rural dwellers indeed played a part in developments in the production and distribution of goods. At the same time the conducted analyses do not allow the establishment of a single model of how rural dwellers participated in exchange networks of the period. In fact, this study contends that there is little meaning in determining the relative importance of different groups in society for the establishment and maintenance of exchange networks at any one time. Show less
Arctic mining has a bad reputation because the extractive industry is often responsible for a suite of environmental problems. Yet, few studies explore the gap between untouched tundra and messy... Show moreArctic mining has a bad reputation because the extractive industry is often responsible for a suite of environmental problems. Yet, few studies explore the gap between untouched tundra and messy megaproject from a historical perspective. Our paper focuses on Advent City as a case study of the emergence of coal mining in Svalbard (Norway) coupled with the onset of mining-related environmental change. After short but intensive human activity (1904–1908), the ecosystem had a century to respond, and we observe a lasting impact on the flora in particular. With interdisciplinary contributions from historical archaeology, archaeozoology, archaeobotany and botany, supplemented by stable isotope analysis, we examine 1) which human activities initially asserted pressure on the Arctic environment, 2) whether the miners at Advent City were “eco-conscious,” for example whether they showed concern for the environment and 3) how the local ecosystem reacted after mine closure and site abandonment. Among the remains of typical mining infrastructure, we prioritised localities that revealed the subtleties of long-term anthropogenic impact. Significant pressure resulted from landscape modifications, the import of non-native animals and plants, hunting and fowling, and the indiscriminate disposal of waste material. Where it was possible to identify individual inhabitants, these shared an economic attitude of waste not, want not, but they did not hold the environment in high regard. Ground clearances, animal dung and waste dumps continue to have an effect after a hundred years. The anthropogenic interference with the fell field led to habitat creation, especially for vascular plants. The vegetation cover and biodiversity were high, but we recorded no exotic or threatened plant species. Impacted localities generally showed a reduction of the natural patchiness of plant communities, and highly eutrophic conditions were unsuitable for liverworts and lichens. Supplementary isotopic analysis of animal bones added data to the marine reservoir offset in Svalbard underlining the far-reaching potential of our multi-proxy approach. We conclude that although damaging human–environment interactions formerly took place at Advent City, these were limited and primarily left the visual impact of the ruins. The fell field is such a dynamic area that the subtle anthropogenic effects on the local tundra may soon be lost. The fauna and flora may not recover to what they were before the miners arrived, but they will continue to respond to new post-industrial circumstances. Show less
The creation of new capital cities are watershed moments in the lives of ancient empires. Assyria, arguably the most successful imperial state of the ancient Near East, repeatedly engaged in... Show moreThe creation of new capital cities are watershed moments in the lives of ancient empires. Assyria, arguably the most successful imperial state of the ancient Near East, repeatedly engaged in capital creation. Capital creation denotes the development of a monumental capital, either in a new location or through the profound transformation of a pre-existing settlement. This dissertation focusses on the rationale, construction, and function of the imperial capitals of Assyria: Kār-Tukultī-Ninurta, Kalḫu, Dur-Šarrukēn, and Nineveh.By exploring three key questions – why was a capital created, how was a capital created, and what were the functions of the capital – this study presents a comparative analysis of these four urban centers and presents a new perspective on their creation, as well as an innovative framework for the study of capital creation from antiquity to today. Show less
This thesis presents an investigation into how geopolitical change and religious control are reflected in the composition of copper-alloy costume artefacts, recovered from Roman and early medieval... Show moreThis thesis presents an investigation into how geopolitical change and religious control are reflected in the composition of copper-alloy costume artefacts, recovered from Roman and early medieval contexts. It engages with the challenging topic of portable X-ray Florescence Spectrometry use in archaeology, especially as applied to corroded copper-alloy artefacts. The relevance is twofold. Firstly it helps us better understand the globalising effects of the Roman Empire on distant cultures and the emergence of the western economy after the end of antiquity. This is investigated by detecting changes in craft production, considered a proxy for understanding changes in past economies and societies. Secondly it advances a methodology for the study of copper-alloy objects. Subsequently the composition of Roman brooches from Germania Inferior, suggested a strong link between brass and Roman military production. This connection was also seen in other parts of the Roman world, suggesting a degree of centralisation or control. The earliest roman objects found in the Baltic States, far north of the Limes frontier, are also in this 'Roman' alloy. These objects had a lasting impact on the peoples of this region. They adopted and adapted them stylistically to suit their local preferences for centuries after they first appeared. Show less