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Abstract: Abstract A sacred landscape is the result of human actions and subsequent evolution, and it serves as a backdrop for mytho-historical re-enactments. While it may represent divinity and spirituality, sacred landscapes are more complex, dynamic landscapes built on an unrestrained and chaotic environment, which can be easily juxtaposed for a tourist destination. This paper investigates this ideology based on the study of two major holy towns, Vrindavan and Pushkar. Both sites, being integral parts of the Hindu pilgrimage, invite millions of pilgrims annually who are in search of spiritual essence and religiosity. However, along with pilgrimage these towns also tend to act as a destination for leisure tourism, leading to an inevitable contestation between the urban development process of these towns, where the spatial structure of the town is constantly evolving to cater the need of the pilgrims as well as the tourists. It can be evidently observed in both the towns that the spiritual construct that once bound the meanings associated with several spiritual activities have lost their significance over time. These towns are now heavily promoted as tourist destinations, which has altered the traveling patterns and have led to a widespread commodification and commercialization of culture and heritage, where new emerging economic buoyancy and changing urban structure have given these towns homogeneous character and have led to the formation of new building typologies, which dominate the skyline of these towns, ultimately resulting in the formation of numerous commodified sacred spaces with diminishing place-based memories and associations. Using a case study approach and a purposive survey method, the paper attempts to identify such contested areas that impede not only the spiritual experience of these cities but also the community's well-being, eventually proposing strategies to regenerate and reclaim these spaces in such sacred territories. PubDate: 2024-08-05
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Abstract: Abstract The place of local community vis-a-vis non-local agents (science, state, capital) in relationships with archaeological heritage is explored through an oblique reading of a singular case in northwestern Andean Argentina. While the conflicts of territorial interests can be predicted to grow alongside the evolution of the entangled relations within the territory, the Saujil situation shows a different picture. Heritage claiming is starred by local inhabitants consciously independent from non-local discourses and powers, albeit adopting actions that are locally seen as “officially” correct (cleaning the vegetation, signalling, guiding tourists). Delving one step deeper, this research asks not just for the particular contents of local knowledge (if local or non-local) but for the local ideas about what knowledge is. Within this local theoretical framework, the relationships with the ruins developed along the process of heritage claiming described so far can be seen within a territorialized bodily, concrete and intersubjective regime of care, a local theory of relatedness. PubDate: 2024-08-01
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Abstract: Abstract Late Neolithic long barrows are commonly found throughout Central and Northwestern Europe, within the Funnel Beaker Culture territory. The sites of this Culture are known from Bohemia covering a period between 3900 and 3400 BC. However, long barrows have not been detected in Bohemia for a long time. The main reason is that they are located in areas where they were affected by modern ploughing. A significant contribution to their recognition was the remote sensing of modern fields, especially aerial archaeology. Current research in Bohemia provided new evidence of dozens of long barrows of several types, significantly expanding our knowledge of this phenomenon in the southeastern margins of its distribution. A new type of long barrow has been identified in Bohemia using remote sensing and current excavation data. The characteristic parameters of the long barrows in Bohemia are an east-west orientation with the ceremonial place in the eastern front and the delineation of the perimeter by a palisade trough or a ditch. The mounds can be divided into at least two structural and chronological forms. The first is the narrow and sometimes extremely long mound with perimeter defined by a palisade trough dating to the 3900–3800 BC. The second type of barrow is enclosed by a trapezoidal ditch. Based on radiocarbon dating, these structures were constructed during the 3700–3600 BC. This type of monument is currently known exclusively from Bohemia. PubDate: 2024-08-01
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Abstract: Abstract Visual analysis of artefacts is fundamental to archaeological research. However, learning and teaching the methods of artefact analysis can be challenging, since it is cognitively demanding to observe and explain how visual processing works. This paper addresses this challenge and evaluates eye movement modelling examples, a newly adopted method for teaching visual analysis of artefacts. Educational materials containing recordings of eye movements of experts analysing artefacts have been shown to be beneficial to students. As a consequence, they may boost the accessibility of archaeological knowledge, both for in-class and remote education. PubDate: 2024-07-24
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Abstract: Abstract During the first half of the 20th century, the lumber industry played an instrumental role in the economic development of the Témiscouata valley in eastern Québec, Canada. Considering the strong working-class lumber heritage in Témiscouata, a public archaeology approach was used as a tool to engage community in the documentation of their own history. Based on the results of a public archaeology programme led at a 1940s lumber camp site, this study explores how the archaeological experience acts as a “memory trigger” leading individuals to share personal stories and local knowledge. Ultimately, this research illustrates the importance of public archaeology for accessing and shaping collective memory. PubDate: 2024-07-10
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Abstract: Abstract Few archaeological studies of Pre-Columbian Maya peoples mention enslaved individuals. While ethnohistoric texts attest to the likelihood of Indigenous Maya enslavement practices before the arrival of Spanish conquistadores and friars, archaeologists are reluctant to consider such practices and peoples into interpretative frameworks because of their tremendous ambiguity in the archaeological record. This paper embraces and probes the ambiguity of the archaeological record to interrogate the possibility of hidden histories of captive and enslaved Maya individuals in general and captive and enslaved Maya women in particular during the Classic and Postclassic periods. It argues that such women cannot be found in particular types of artifacts or hieroglyphic texts but at the intersection of names and landscapes. PubDate: 2024-06-28
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Abstract: Abstract While ethnoarchaeological studies on megalith-building traditions in a few communities in India’s northeastern region have enriched our knowledge, a knowledge gap remains regarding how traditional societies mobilized the workforce for transporting and erecting stone monuments. This paper aims to fill this research gap with an ethnographically documented case of building a monolith in 2020 in Willong Khullen, a village inhabited by the Maram Nagas (an indigenous Tibeto-Burman ethnic community) in the Indian state of Manipur. After participating in the undertaking, I argue that traditional networks of support among sub-clans and clans in the village, as well as among neighboring and distant villages, may have ensured the free mobilization of workforce. The survey also revealed that work feasts and a grand feast, where the host expends maximum resources, are crucial for accessing social support networks, including the mobilization of labor participants. These feasts serve as a means of reciprocating the labor participants for their voluntary labor and time. The survey results support the claim of the high cost of such undertakings and supplement that feasts may have served similar functions in the past among other Naga communities in the region. PubDate: 2024-06-13 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09507-7
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Abstract: Abstract This study reveals the early results of diverse community archaeology activities taking place in a contemporary archaeological site, a cardboard hospital built in 1912 in the Vall Fosca (Catalan Pyrenees). This isolated valley, formerly used to breed cattle, had three hydroelectric power facilities erected in the twentieth century. In 2019, the Torre Capdella Town Council and the National Museum of Science and Technology of Catalonia initiated a project involving local communities. The main scope of this work is to comprehend the materiality of the working class and to provide new narratives about the people who built them and subsequently occupied part of the valley. PubDate: 2024-05-27 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09504-w
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Abstract: Abstract The UK’s housing crisis is at breaking point, caused primarily by deregulation, the diminished provision of public housing and the marketing of housing as property assets rather than homes. Yet the role of the heritage industry within these processes has been insufficiently analysed. This paper outlines multiple intersections between heritage and the housing crisis by examining the regeneration of one of London’s post-World War II public housing estates, the Aylesbury. It will illustrate how heritage methods and discourse have been instrumentalised by property developers and estate residents and discuss the implications this has for the heritage sector. PubDate: 2024-05-18 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09505-9
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Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract Boreda Indigenous knowledge prescribed that humans respect all entities with whom they co-inhabit, including stone. Humans, stone, and water’s reciprocal relationships prompted their participation in each other becoming fetuses, infants, children, youth, married adults, mature adults, elders, and ancestors. Life was a co-production between humans and non-humans, such that stone and water could inflict harm or bring well-being to humans. Non-human beings, such as flaked stone tools, were evidence of engaging in correct interaction ‘practice’ (time, place, and actor) with other beings—a process of mutual respect and responsibility and one in which there was no end or final “product.” PubDate: 2024-03-13 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09500-0
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Abstract: Abstract Earthen architecture, an enduring legacy of human ingenuity, has historically served as a source of durable and sustainable shelter across civilizations. Despite this significance, several of the world’s earthen architectural sites are now facing abandonment and obsolescence, as is the case of Ksar Khanguet Sidi Nadji in the Algerian Sahara. To address this critical situation, we propose a sustainable, eco-friendly, and cost-effective solution for the restoration of the urban fabric of the Ksar that takes into account the needs of its residents and its heritage value. Our approach utilizes the anastylosis method which implies that we reuse original on-site components as building materials whenever possible. We introduce new materials only when necessary, after subjecting them to rigorous testing and control. Additionally, we take into account the complex challenges of human, natural, and technical factors involved in the restoration process, offering a practical solution to restore and preserve the earthen heritage of the Ksar while benefiting its residents. PubDate: 2024-03-11 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09501-z
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Abstract: Abstract Ethnographic and ethnohistoric research concerning Maya conceptions of stone illustrate that the Maya consider stone animate. In archaeology, discussions of animate stone focus on ritual contexts. ‘Utilitarian’ objects, like debitage, are recognized as symbolic when deposited in ritual spaces but not in quotidian ones. However, the animate nature of stone suggests that its significance should be discussed in quotidian contexts. We compare chert debitage from ritual and production areas in the Maya lowlands utilizing ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and epigraphic information about the agency of stone, specifically chert. These discussions highlight the integration of Indigenous perceptions of non-human objects in archaeology interpretation. PubDate: 2024-03-03 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09497-6
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Abstract: Abstract The enigmatic presence of uniquely shaped, spherical stones attracted the attention of archaeologists at Oldowan sites in Africa as early as a century ago. Shaped stone balls (SSBs) are among the oldest implements used by humans. For nearly 2 million years, they accompanied ancient humans as a stable cultural anchor throughout the Lower Paleolithic period and beyond. These tools reflect techno-cultural processes and Lower Paleolithic human perceptions of their relationships with the non-human animal world. Nonetheless, the few techno-functional studies focussing on these items have only scraped the surface of their research potential. In this paper, I will explore evidence suggesting that SSBs embody the relations of ancient humans with a particular animal—the horse—and propose that they might have played an active role in the social and cosmological realms of Lower Paleolithic (LP) ontology. Several previous studies indicate that they were shaped through a meticulous process. Traces of use and organic residues of marrow/fat associate them with bone-breaking activities. Furthermore, a comprehensive contextual analysis points to a correlation, observed at various sites, between SSBs and large herbivores, specifically horses. This correlation supports the premise that early humans relied on SSBs to extract calories from horses and points to a possible link between the simultaneous disappearance of large horses and SSBs from the Levantine landscape at the end of the LP. The role of horses in Paleolithic diet and culture is well reflected in the archaeological record. Following recent anthropological views, I advocate that SSBs played an important role in the human–horse alignment, embodying within them the world of perceptions and relationships of ancient humans with this non-human animal who shared their habitat. PubDate: 2024-02-28 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09492-x
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Abstract: Abstract Bored stones are prolific in South Africa and found across much of sub-Saharan Africa. Most are surface finds, but some have been excavated from Pleistocene Stone Age deposits dating to between about 11,000 to 45,000 years ago. Others are found in association with late Holocene Iron Age farmer occupations, and in some places, they have been used during historical times. The relationships between humans and these objects, therefore, transcend socio-economical boundaries. The stones are mostly thought of as weights for digging sticks—but some groups in sub-Saharan Africa also had/have ritualised, symbolic relationships with them. Here, I explore bored stones in their ritual and spiritual contexts, drawing largely on historical accounts. I also provide a summary of archaeological finds to demonstrate the possible time depth of such relationships. PubDate: 2024-02-24 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09494-9
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Abstract: Abstract The inherent qualities of stone (hardness, durability, etc.) can explain why it serves as a prime medium of the sacred in different cultures, and stones commonly fix boundaries and territorialize the religious landscape. An investigation of the qualia of stone thus provides a useful baseline for cross-cultural comparison. However, an analysis of Andean and Angkorian rock veneration demonstrates that the power of stones often lies not in their obdurate stasis but in their fluid capacity to interact with liquids and precipitate metamorphosis and deterritorialization. Ultimately, the worlds created by stony beings varied significantly, as determined by historically specific cosmologies. PubDate: 2024-02-23 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09495-8
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Abstract: Abstract Evidence from the Levantine Late Lower Paleolithic sites of Jaljulia and Qesem Cave suggests that Quina scrapers, an innovation in a category of tools used mostly for butchery, emerged with changes in hunting practices. Quina scrapers were often made of non-local flint from the Samarian highlands, a home range of fallow deer populations throughout the ages. The predominance of fallow deer in the human diet following the disappearance of megafauna made scrapers key tools in human subsistence. Particular stone tools and particular prey animals, thus, became embedded in an array of practical, cosmological, and ontological conceptions whose origin we trace back to Paleolithic times. The mountains of Samaria, a source of both animals and stone under discussion, were part of this nexus. We present archaeological and ethnographic evidence of the practical and perceptual bonds between Paleolithic humans, animals, stones, and the landscape they shared. PubDate: 2024-02-23 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09493-w
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Abstract: Abstract Enactivism advocates for the dynamic character of human perception, regarding it as a multidirectional network comprising human presence and self-awareness within the world (eg., with materials, with objects, with and within locations). Thus, perception is not created by mental representations alone but by human presence and sensorimotor action and interaction in the world. This study emphasizes the vital role of perception and perceptual experience as enactive in human ontological perspectives concerning choosing and collecting stones and minerals. It will also suggest that the enactive perceptual experience of the environment occurs in its absence through memory and material relationships. PubDate: 2024-02-19 DOI: 10.1007/s11759-024-09490-z
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