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
Games and other forms of play are core human activities, as vitally constitutive of cultural and social practices in the past as they are today. Consequently, play, games and fun should be central... Show moreGames and other forms of play are core human activities, as vitally constitutive of cultural and social practices in the past as they are today. Consequently, play, games and fun should be central in archaeological theory, but our review shows they are anything but. Instead, very few studies deal with these concepts at all, and most of those that do focus on how the affordances play offers link it to ritual, power or other ‘more serious’ phenomena. Here, we offer an explanation as to why play has taken such a backseat in archaeological thought and practice, relating it to the ambivalent aesthetics of having fun with the past in our own discipline. Building on our own playful practices and those of other scholars in the ancient board gaming and archaeogaming communities, we propose a move towards a more playful archaeology, which can provide us with a new window into the past as well as into our own professional practices. Show less
This book is the first comprehensive monographic treatment of the New Kingdom (1539–1078 BCE) necropolis at Saqqara, the burial ground of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, and addresses... Show moreThis book is the first comprehensive monographic treatment of the New Kingdom (1539–1078 BCE) necropolis at Saqqara, the burial ground of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, and addresses questions fundamental to understanding the site’s development through time. For example, why were certain areas of the necropolis selected for burial in certain time periods; what were the tombs’ spatial relations to contemporaneous and older monuments; and what effect did earlier structures have on the positioning of tombs and structuring of the necropolis in later times? This study adopts landscape biography as a conceptual tool to study the long-time interaction between people and landscapes. 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
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
From an Ancient Egyptian plague to the Black Death and Spanish flu, epidemics have often spurred societal transformations. Understanding why can help us create a better world after covid-19
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
Saqqara, the prime necropolis site of Memphis in the New Kingdom, exists largely in museum collections around the world. The study of its dispersed blocks has enabled Nico Staring to unlock the... Show moreSaqqara, the prime necropolis site of Memphis in the New Kingdom, exists largely in museum collections around the world. The study of its dispersed blocks has enabled Nico Staring to unlock the identify of an anonymous tomb excavated in 2013. Show less
In 2015, the Museo Egizio in Turin joined the Leiden expedition to Saqqara, in the area south of the Unas causeway. This report presents the expedition’s new approach as well as some first results... Show moreIn 2015, the Museo Egizio in Turin joined the Leiden expedition to Saqqara, in the area south of the Unas causeway. This report presents the expedition’s new approach as well as some first results of this new cooperation. In the 2018 season, the Leiden-Turin expedition worked in the northern sector of its concession, covering an area of ca. 250 sqm just north of the tomb of Maya. Here Late Antique layers overlie a windblown deposit containing some simple burials and numerous “embalmers’ caches”, some of which yielded marl clay cups with hieratic labels. An overview of both the pottery and the human remains found during this season is provided in the present report. Below the wind-blown deposit is a level with Ramesside funerary chapels and shafts. One of them has a remarkable decoration including six small-format figures carved in high relief in the middle of its back wall. The shaft of another chapel was also excavated, revealing several plundered chambers which yielded only scanty finds. A large mud-brick wall exposed during the previous season turned out to belong to the outer wall and pylon entrance of a monumental tomb, whose owner’s name has not been found yet.A photogrammetric survey by a team of the Politecnico di Milano yielded a 3D model of the dig (included in the web version of this report), as well as several 3D models of the monumental tombs (completed or in the making). During the season, conservation work was carried out on several tombs and on the newly discovered Ramesside chapel. Show less
This article presents three hitherto unpublished objects in the collection of the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in Berlin. The faience stela ÄM 19718 and the pyramid panels ÄM 1631–1632... Show moreThis article presents three hitherto unpublished objects in the collection of the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in Berlin. The faience stela ÄM 19718 and the pyramid panels ÄM 1631–1632 derive from the Saqqara tomb of the early Nineteenth Dynasty Mayor of Memphis, Ptahmose. This paper also explores the way in which the objects came to Berlin and how the stela was subsequently lost – and found. A careful study of the objects provides new insights into the architectural development of monumental tombs at Saqqara, and revealssomething about the identity of the craftsman who was responsible for the tombs’ decoration. Show less
Roxburgh, M.A.; Heeren, S.; Huisman, H.; Os, B. van 2016
We present herea compositional study ofa large number of copper-alloy broochesusing Handheld X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (HHpXRF). The brooches, which come fromthe area of Nijmegen, date from... Show moreWe present herea compositional study ofa large number of copper-alloy broochesusing Handheld X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (HHpXRF). The brooches, which come fromthe area of Nijmegen, date from the Late IronAgeuntil the 2nd c.A.D. Our aim is to explore the ways in which artefact production was organized both in the context of Roman centresand in the countryside. Show less
My thesis provides a comparative analysis of early cilivilisations through archaeological sources. The two selected cases are Mycenaean Greece and the Late Preclassic lowland Maya. Specifically the... Show moreMy thesis provides a comparative analysis of early cilivilisations through archaeological sources. The two selected cases are Mycenaean Greece and the Late Preclassic lowland Maya. Specifically the study focuses on art and its role in social life of the two cases. Major methodological reflections are included. Show less
In onze moderne tijd wordt aan het goed functioneren van infrastructuur grote aandacht besteed. In het hier gepresenteerde onderzoek heb ik getracht aan te tonen dat ook in de Grieks-Romeinse... Show moreIn onze moderne tijd wordt aan het goed functioneren van infrastructuur grote aandacht besteed. In het hier gepresenteerde onderzoek heb ik getracht aan te tonen dat ook in de Grieks-Romeinse wereld de doorstroming als een cruciaal punt werd beschouwd. Niet alleen de infrastructuur zelf, ook datgene wat via de infrastructuur wordt getransporteerd moet aan hoge kwaliteitseisen voldoen om de (Grieks-Romeinse) stad leefbaar te houden. Evenals tegenwoordig werd ook in de Grieks-Romeinse wereld het functioneren van een stad of gebied soms vergeleken met een menselijk lichaam. In beide gevallen is sprake van voedsel- en drinkwatervoorziening, uitscheiding van afvalproducten en een interne infrastructuur die de producten naar en van hun plaats moet brengen en als zodanig de stad c.q. het lichaam in stand moet houden. Wanneer de infrastructuur echter niet meer kan functioneren __ te weinig capaciteit, een onderbreking of een verkeerde inhoud __ komt de doorstroming in gevaar en lopen lichaam en stad de kans ziek te worden met uiteindelijk de dood als gevolg. De infrastructuur m__t in bedrijf zijn en blijven. Stadsbesturen zagen in dat iedereen baat had bij een goed functionerende stad en troffen voorzieningen om de leefbaarheid van een stad te optimaliseren. Show less
