- Dept. of Archaeology
Downing St.,
Cambridge CB2 3DZ
England
Marie Louise Stig Sørensen
University of Cambridge, Archaeology, Faculty Member
- Archaeology, Gender, Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Material Culture Studies, Archaeological Method & Theory, and 66 moreFunerary Archaeology, Death and Burial (Archaeology), Archaeological Theory, Cultural Heritage Management, Mediterranean prehistory, Bronze Age Europe (Archaeology), Heritage Studies, Archaeology of Religion, Social Archaeology, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Archaeometallurgy, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology, Gender Archaeology, Household Archaeology, Ancient Technology (Archaeology), Celtic Archaeology, Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), Bronze Age (Archaeology), Theoretical Archaeology, Landscapes in prehistory, Religion and ritual in prehistory, Archaeology of ethnicity, Neolithic Europe, Cultural Resource Management (Archaeology), Prehistoric Settlement, Landscape, Heritage Management, Textile Archaeology, British Prehistory (Archaeology), Balkan prehistory, Conflict Archaeology, Prehistoric Technology, Memory and materiality, Prehistoric Europe (Archaeology), Archaeological Ethics, Archaeology of the Contemporary Past, Craft production (Archaeology), Nationalism and Archaeology, Archaeology and politics, Indigenous Archaeololgy, Dress and Personal Adornment (Archaeology), Prehistoric religion and r ritual a, Scandinavia (Archaeology), Illicit Antiquities Trade, Archaeological theory and practice, History Of Disease, Archaeology of Place, Archaeology of Personal Adornment, Contemporary Archaeology, Metal Finds (Archaeology), Gender and identity (Archaeology), Iron Age Germany (Archaeology), Ornament (Archaeology), Corded Ware Culture, Irish/British prehistory, Later prehistoric Britain and Europe, Late Bronze Age Bioarchaeology, Archaeology of Contemporary Past, Combat Archaeology, Kurgans, Archaeology of Law, Archaeology of Health, Archaeological dyeing, Archaeology of Colonialism, Historical Archaeology, and Iron Ageedit
- Trained as an archaeologist at Aarhus University, Denmark. and Cambridge, UK. Interest in European prehistory (esp Br... moreTrained as an archaeologist at Aarhus University, Denmark. and Cambridge, UK. Interest in European prehistory (esp Bronze Age), archaeological Theory, Gender, and various aspects of Heritage Studies. Employed at the University of Cambridge (since 1987), current positions: Professor of Prehistoric Europe and Heritage Studies. Field projects in Hungary (the Bronze Age tell at Szazhalombatta) and Cape Verde.edit
This volume offers new insights into the radical shift in attitudes towards death and the dead body that occurred in temperate Bronze Age Europe. Exploring the introduction and eventual dominance of cremation, Marie Louise Stig Sørensen... more
This volume offers new insights into the radical shift in attitudes towards death and the dead body that occurred in temperate Bronze Age Europe. Exploring the introduction and eventual dominance of cremation, Marie Louise Stig Sørensen and Katharina Rebay-Salisbury apply a case-study approach to investigate how this transformation unfolded within local communities located throughout central to northern Europe. They demonstrate the deep link between the living and the dead body, and propose that the introduction of cremation was a significant ontological challenge to traditional ideas about death. In tracing the responses to this challenge, the authors focus on three fields of action: the treatment of the dead body, the construction of a burial place, and ongoing relationships with the dead body after burial. Interrogating cultural change at its most fundamental level, the authors elucidate the fundamental tension between openness towards the 'new' and the conservative pull of the familiar and traditional.
Research Interests:
This volume offers new insights into the radical shift in attitudes towards death and the dead body that occurred in temperate Bronze Age Europe. Exploring the introduction and eventual dominance of cremation, Marie-Louise Stig Sørenson... more
This volume offers new insights into the radical shift in attitudes towards death and the dead body that occurred in temperate Bronze Age Europe. Exploring the introduction and eventual dominance of cremation, Marie-Louise Stig Sørenson and Katharina Rebay-Salisbury apply a case-study approach to investigate how this transformation unfolded within local communities located throughout central to northern Europe. They demonstrate the deep link between the living and the dead body, and propose that the introduction of cremation was a significant ontological challenge to traditional ideas about death. In tracing the responses to this challenge, the authors focus on three fields of action: the treatment of the dead body, the construction of a burial place, and ongoing relationships with the dead body after burial. Interrogating cultural change at its most fundamental level, the authors elucidate the fundamental tension between openness towards the 'new' and the conservative pull of the familiar and traditional.
Research Interests:
An extended excerpt from the introduction can be found at:
http://assets.cambridge.org/97811084/21362/excerpt/9781108421362
http://assets.cambridge.org/97811084/21362/excerpt/9781108421362
Research Interests:
Creativity is an integral part of human history, yet most studies focus on the modern era, leaving unresolved questions about the formative role that creativity has played in the past. This book explores the fundamental nature of... more
Creativity is an integral part of human history, yet most studies focus on the modern era, leaving unresolved questions about the formative role that creativity has played in the past. This book explores the fundamental nature of creativity in the European Bronze Age. Considering developments in crafts that we take for granted today, such as pottery, textiles, and metalwork, the volume compares and contrasts various aspects of their development, from the construction of the materials themselves, through the production processes , to the design and eff ects deployed in fi nished objects. It explores how creativity is closely related to changes in material culture, how it directs responses to the new and unfamiliar, and how it has resulted in changes to familiar things and practices. Written by an international team of scholars, the case studies in this volume consider wider issues and provide detailed insights into creative solutions found in specifi c objects.
Research Interests:
The body is the main forum for learning about how to do, think and believe and it is a starting point for the granting and forming of many forms of meaning. Fourteen papers explore the relationship between knowledge and the body through a... more
The body is the main forum for learning about how to do, think and believe and it is a starting point for the granting and forming of many forms of meaning. Fourteen papers explore the relationship between knowledge and the body through a series of historical and archaeological case studies. More specifically, it considers the concept of embodied knowledge by exploring some of the apparent diverse and yet shared forms of what may be called embodied knowledge. The papers share a focus on knowledge as it is implicit and expressed through the human body and bodily action, and as it formed through intentional practices. But what is this kind of knowledge? Using specific case studies of knowledgeable actions, the book explores embodied knowledge through a focus on practice. It does so through two different, yet interconnected aspects of how such knowledge expresses itself: belief and technology.
1. Embodied knowledge. Reflections on belief and technology: Introduction (Marie Louise Stig Sørensen and Katharina Rebay-Salisbury)
Part I
2. Introduction to Part I: belief as practice. (Marie Louise Stig Sørensen)
3. Inhumation and cremation: how burial practices are linked to beliefs (Katharina Rebay-Salisbury)
4. Delusion and disclosure: human disposal and the aesthetics of vagueness (Tim Flohr Sørensen)
5. Material culture, embodiment and the construction of religious knowledge (Mads Dengsø Jessen)
6. Sealed by the cross: protecting the body in Anglo-Saxon England (Helen Foxhall Forbes)
7. The role of healing in the Jesuit mission to China, 1582-1610 (Mary Laven)
8. Protest re-embodied: shifting technologies of moral suasion in India (Jacob Copeman)
Part II
9. Introduction to Part II: technology as practice. (Lise Bender Jørgensen)
10. The language of craftsmanship (Harald Bentz Høgseth)
11. Conceptual knowledge as technologically materialised: a case study of pottery production, consumption and community practice (Sheila Kohring)
12. Many hands make light work: potting and embodied knowledge at the Bronze Age tell at Százhalombatta, Hungary (Sofaer and Sandy Budden)
13. Spinning faith (Lise Bender Jørgensen)
14. The sound of fire, taste of copper, feel of bronze, and colours of the cast: sensory aspects of metalworking technology (Maikel Henricus Gerardus Kuijpers)
1. Embodied knowledge. Reflections on belief and technology: Introduction (Marie Louise Stig Sørensen and Katharina Rebay-Salisbury)
Part I
2. Introduction to Part I: belief as practice. (Marie Louise Stig Sørensen)
3. Inhumation and cremation: how burial practices are linked to beliefs (Katharina Rebay-Salisbury)
4. Delusion and disclosure: human disposal and the aesthetics of vagueness (Tim Flohr Sørensen)
5. Material culture, embodiment and the construction of religious knowledge (Mads Dengsø Jessen)
6. Sealed by the cross: protecting the body in Anglo-Saxon England (Helen Foxhall Forbes)
7. The role of healing in the Jesuit mission to China, 1582-1610 (Mary Laven)
8. Protest re-embodied: shifting technologies of moral suasion in India (Jacob Copeman)
Part II
9. Introduction to Part II: technology as practice. (Lise Bender Jørgensen)
10. The language of craftsmanship (Harald Bentz Høgseth)
11. Conceptual knowledge as technologically materialised: a case study of pottery production, consumption and community practice (Sheila Kohring)
12. Many hands make light work: potting and embodied knowledge at the Bronze Age tell at Százhalombatta, Hungary (Sofaer and Sandy Budden)
13. Spinning faith (Lise Bender Jørgensen)
14. The sound of fire, taste of copper, feel of bronze, and colours of the cast: sensory aspects of metalworking technology (Maikel Henricus Gerardus Kuijpers)
Research Interests:
This volume grew out of an interdisciplinary discussion held in the context of the Leverhulme-funded project 'Changing Beliefs in the Human Body', through which the image of the body in pieces soon emerged as a potent site of attitudes... more
This volume grew out of an interdisciplinary discussion held in the context of the Leverhulme-funded project 'Changing Beliefs in the Human Body', through which the image of the body in pieces soon emerged as a potent site of attitudes about the body and associated practices in many periods.
Archaeologists routinely encounter parts of human and animal bodies in their excavations. Such fragmentary evidence has often been created through accidental damage and the passage of time - nevertheless, it can also signify a deliberate and meaningful act of fragmentation. As a fragment, a part may acquire a distinct meaning through its enchained relationship to the whole or alternatively it may be used in a more straightforward manner to represent the whole or even act as stand-in for other variables.
This collection of papers puts bodily fragmentation into a long-term historical perspective. The temporal spread of the papers collected here indicates both the consistent importance and the varied perception of body parts in the archaeological record of Europe and the Near East. By bringing case studies together from a range of locations and time periods, each chapter brings a different insight to the role of body parts and body wholes and explores the status of the body in different cultural contexts.
Many of the papers deal directly with the physical remains of the dead body, but the range of practices and representations covered in this volume confirm the sheer variability of treatments of the body throughout human history. Every one of the contributions shows how looking at how the human body is divided into pieces or parts can give us deeper insights into the beliefs of the particular society which produced these practices and representations. 176p, 89 b/w illus (Oxbow Books 2010)
http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/88229
Archaeologists routinely encounter parts of human and animal bodies in their excavations. Such fragmentary evidence has often been created through accidental damage and the passage of time - nevertheless, it can also signify a deliberate and meaningful act of fragmentation. As a fragment, a part may acquire a distinct meaning through its enchained relationship to the whole or alternatively it may be used in a more straightforward manner to represent the whole or even act as stand-in for other variables.
This collection of papers puts bodily fragmentation into a long-term historical perspective. The temporal spread of the papers collected here indicates both the consistent importance and the varied perception of body parts in the archaeological record of Europe and the Near East. By bringing case studies together from a range of locations and time periods, each chapter brings a different insight to the role of body parts and body wholes and explores the status of the body in different cultural contexts.
Many of the papers deal directly with the physical remains of the dead body, but the range of practices and representations covered in this volume confirm the sheer variability of treatments of the body throughout human history. Every one of the contributions shows how looking at how the human body is divided into pieces or parts can give us deeper insights into the beliefs of the particular society which produced these practices and representations. 176p, 89 b/w illus (Oxbow Books 2010)
http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/88229
The reconstruction of society after conflict is complex and multifaceted. This book investigates this theme as it relates to cultural heritage through a number of case studies relating to European wars since 1864. The case studies show in... more
The reconstruction of society after conflict is complex and multifaceted. This book investigates this theme as it relates to cultural heritage through a number of case studies relating to European wars since 1864. The case studies show in detail how buildings, landscapes, and monuments become important agents in post-conflict reconstruction, as well as how their meanings change and how they become sites of competition over historical narratives and claims. Looking at iconic and lesser-known sites, this book connects broad theoretical discussions of reconstruction and memorialisation to specific physical places, and in the process it traces shifts in their meanings over time. This book identifies common threads and investigates their wider implications. It explores the relationship between cultural heritage and international conflict, paying close attention to the long aftermaths of acts of destruction and reconstruction and making important contributions through the use of new empirical evidence and critical theory.
Research Interests:
Abstract as listed by Oxbow This volume grew out of an interdisciplinary discussion held in the context of the Leverhulme-funded project 'Changing Beliefs in the Human Body', through which the image of the body in pieces soon emerged as a... more
Abstract as listed by Oxbow
This volume grew out of an interdisciplinary discussion held in the context of the Leverhulme-funded project 'Changing Beliefs in the Human Body', through which the image of the body in pieces soon emerged as a potent site of attitudes about the body and associated practices in many periods.
Archaeologists routinely encounter parts of human and animal bodies in their excavations. Such fragmentary evidence has often been created through accidental damage and the passage of time - nevertheless, it can also signify a deliberate and meaningful act of fragmentation. As a fragment, a part may acquire a distinct meaning through its enchained relationship to the whole or alternatively it may be used in a more straightforward manner to represent the whole or even act as stand-in for other variables.
This collection of papers puts bodily fragmentation into a long-term historical perspective. The temporal spread of the papers collected here indicates both the consistent importance and the varied perception of body parts in the archaeological record of Europe and the Near East. By bringing case studies together from a range of locations and time periods, each chapter brings a different insight to the role of body parts and body wholes and explores the status of the body in different cultural contexts.
Many of the papers deal directly with the physical remains of the dead body, but the range of practices and representations covered in this volume confirm the sheer variability of treatments of the body throughout human history. Every one of the contributions shows how looking at how the human body is divided into pieces or parts can give us deeper insights into the beliefs of the particular society which produced these practices and representations. 176p, 89 b/w illus (Oxbow Books 2010)
This volume grew out of an interdisciplinary discussion held in the context of the Leverhulme-funded project 'Changing Beliefs in the Human Body', through which the image of the body in pieces soon emerged as a potent site of attitudes about the body and associated practices in many periods.
Archaeologists routinely encounter parts of human and animal bodies in their excavations. Such fragmentary evidence has often been created through accidental damage and the passage of time - nevertheless, it can also signify a deliberate and meaningful act of fragmentation. As a fragment, a part may acquire a distinct meaning through its enchained relationship to the whole or alternatively it may be used in a more straightforward manner to represent the whole or even act as stand-in for other variables.
This collection of papers puts bodily fragmentation into a long-term historical perspective. The temporal spread of the papers collected here indicates both the consistent importance and the varied perception of body parts in the archaeological record of Europe and the Near East. By bringing case studies together from a range of locations and time periods, each chapter brings a different insight to the role of body parts and body wholes and explores the status of the body in different cultural contexts.
Many of the papers deal directly with the physical remains of the dead body, but the range of practices and representations covered in this volume confirm the sheer variability of treatments of the body throughout human history. Every one of the contributions shows how looking at how the human body is divided into pieces or parts can give us deeper insights into the beliefs of the particular society which produced these practices and representations. 176p, 89 b/w illus (Oxbow Books 2010)
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Detailed analysis of fish remains from the Százhalombatta Bronze Age that aims to investigate whether and how different recovery methods affect the fish remains data. The research relates to the long-standing question about the apparent... more
Detailed analysis of fish remains from the Százhalombatta Bronze Age that aims to investigate whether and how different recovery methods affect the fish remains data. The research relates to the long-standing question about the apparent lack of fish remains on MBA sites in the region and therefore the standing of the Danube as a supplementary subsistence source.
Research Interests:
The museological celebration of archaeology and archaeologists. Reflections from a recent field trip to China.
Research Interests:
This article explores the use of the UNESCO Memory of the World programme in claims for recognition of atrocities, focusing on two recent nominations: Documents of Nanjing Massacre and Voices of the ‘Comfort Women’. We argue that amid... more
This article explores the use of the UNESCO Memory of the World programme in claims for recognition of atrocities, focusing on two recent nominations: Documents of Nanjing Massacre and Voices of the ‘Comfort Women’. We argue that amid domestic and international contestation of memories and historical accounts, cultural programmes, such as the Memory of the World, have become increasingly politicised and used to push for international recognition of past atrocities. The article reflects on the character of the Memory of the World programme and the core reasons for nominations to such programmes. It also considers the possible consequences of registration as it transposes the heritage of memory from the local to the global stage (and back) and in the process subjects both memory and heritage to various forms of authorised transformation and reification. We bring attention to how official recognition by the Memory of the World affects ongoing collective memory formation, and express concerns about the appropriation of individual and local memories, as they are granted universal value.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: History and Bronze Age
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Art and Political Science
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Bronze Age and Bronze
Since independence, the elusive goal of ‘development’ has been central to the agenda of African nations. This chapter is critical of persistent ‘crisis’ narratives; nonetheless, it recognizes that many parts of Africa face complex... more
Since independence, the elusive goal of ‘development’ has been central to the agenda of African nations. This chapter is critical of persistent ‘crisis’ narratives; nonetheless, it recognizes that many parts of Africa face complex challenges. It argues that three aspects are crucial for understanding the ways in which the role and potentials for heritage may be particularly relevant for Africa: the socioeconomic and political pressures, the legacy of colonialism, and the roles of traditional connections with heritage. From these emerge a need to better understand and plan for the role of heritage in sustainable development and to find ways to ensure it may remain a meaningful presence in the lives of various communities. The chapter suggests that African nations will have to address the question of how to domesticate both the concepts of ‘sustainable development’ and ‘heritage’ to make them appropriate for the needs of the continent and its constituent parts.
Research Interests:
The bronze sculpture known as the Isted Lion is an interesting example of a memorial site of continuously changing meaning. Not only its meaning but also its physical location has changed over time—as it has been moved between towns and... more
The bronze sculpture known as the Isted Lion is an interesting example of a memorial site of continuously changing meaning. Not only its meaning but also its physical location has changed over time—as it has been moved between towns and countries. Each move has been part of a process of politically motivated reinterpretations not just of the war, which the monument marks, but also of the wider context of the conflict and of changing political aspirations. The changing meanings and political interpretations have been closely intertwined with strong emotions and debates in the German-Danish borderland over some 150 years. But why this monument in particular? A concise answer is: because it has been able to act as the receptacle of widely different and contradictory remembrances. It speaks of an important event, possesses an inherent value as a work of art, and embodies a cultural heritage that is uncomfortable for both nations, but in its present location it also stands for reconciliation and a rejection of nationalist sentiments. This chapter aims to trace the history of this monument and its changing interpretations, and it details the debates that have surrounded its successive roles and meanings. In doing so it provides a close reading of how changing meanings are fabricated.
Research Interests: History and Friendship
Research Interests:
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... more
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 influe...
Research Interests:
This final chapter discusses how the introduction of wool affected societies substantially and in ways that we are only now beginning to comprehend.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Responding to recent advances in knowledge about the first arrival of woollen sheep in Europe and linked investigations of textile remains on the Continent, this paper argues that our insight into the role of wool in the English Bronze... more
Responding to recent advances in knowledge about the first arrival of woollen sheep in Europe and linked investigations of textile remains on the Continent, this paper argues that our insight into the role of wool in the English Bronze Age needs rethinking. We argue that the relevant questions are: when did the procurement of and working with wool become a routine aspect of settlement life, and did the change from plant fibres to wool affect communities differently? The paper outlines some of the core research questions we need to consider and points to the necessity of triangulating between the evidence provided by textiles, faunal remains, and textile working tools to reach more comprehensive insights. The paper ends by indicating a further research question – namely whether the apparent differences in the ‘wool economy’ in different parts of Bronze Age Europe may suggest differences in ‘body politics’.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
With a strong emphasis on data, the two volumes of this book demonstrate that mobility was essential to the European Bronze Age by exploring the shared cultural expression of Bronze Age societies in contrast to their simultaneous... more
With a strong emphasis on data, the two volumes of this book demonstrate that mobility was essential to the European Bronze Age by exploring the shared cultural expression of Bronze Age societies in contrast to their simultaneous development of new local and regional characteristics. During this seminal epoque, cultural and social formations of an entirely new kind and magnitude came to characterize Europe. The intense and dynamic relations between local and large-scale change processes coincided with increased mobility in different domains and forms, forging new identities and shaping the emergence of Europe as a distinct cultural zone. Through over fifty essays by leading Bronze Age scholars, the reader engages with cultural mobility and connectivity and the ways in which these forces affected and transformed human behaviour. The two volume set includes four parts; this volume contains parts 1 (Materiality and Construction of Identities) and 2 (Economic and Political Foundations o...
Research Interests:
After the Portuguese discovered the Cape Verde Islands in AD 1456 they divided its main island, Santiago, into two governing captaincies. The founding settlement in the south-west, Cidade Velha, soon became the Islands’ capital and a... more
After the Portuguese discovered the Cape Verde Islands in AD 1456 they divided its main island, Santiago, into two governing captaincies. The founding settlement in the south-west, Cidade Velha, soon became the Islands’ capital and a thriving trade centre; in contrast, that in the east, Alcatrazes, only lasted as an official seat from 1484–1516 and is held to have ‘failed’ (see Richter 2015).
Research Interests:
What is the fate of the material from old excavations? This article aims to generate attention towards this question by discussing the fragmentation of assemblages due to long and disjointed excavation campaigns as well as the eagerness... more
What is the fate of the material from old excavations? This article aims to generate attention towards this question by discussing the fragmentation of assemblages due to long and disjointed excavation campaigns as well as the eagerness of museums to have representative objects from famous sites. The challenge emerging is the need to explore ways of reinstating objects that may be widely dispersed and entirely decontextualized into our database. The tell at Tószeg-Laposhalom, Hungary, is used as a case study with particular attention to the campaign of 1927. This case is important for several reasons. Tószeg is a key European Bronze Age site. It is also a good example of a site with numerous excavation campaigns and many different teams being involved. Moreover, the 1927 campaign, which is documented through the correspondence between the partners, was V.G. Childe's first excavation, and the data recovered played a key role in his Central European Bronze Age chronology.
Research Interests:
Interpretations of tells have traditionally been linked to questions about the relationships between different types of sites. It is usually assumed that tells had the highest rank and most central role within a regional settlement... more
Interpretations of tells have traditionally been linked to questions about the relationships between different types of sites. It is usually assumed that tells had the highest rank and most central role within a regional settlement hierarchy. The tell-building regions in Bronze Age Europe do indeed provide evidence of a particular settlement system, one in which there must have been various kinds of differentiations between the settlements. This much is unambiguous and generally agreed upon. It is not clear, however, what these differences meant. Nor is it obvious how to reach data-informed interpretations of the socio-political as well as economic dimensions of the co-existence of such diverse forms. The differences between various sites would have affected how people lived within them. They would also have informed fundamental aspects of life such as how people related to each other, their sense of generational time, and notions of belonging within a particular place. The core question about the nature of the relationships between these sites remains, however, as challenging and as unanswerable as ever. Sufficiently fine-grained comparative data from the range of sites, from small one-layered households to the densely settled long-duration tells, are still missing from our archaeological ‘data reservoir’.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Jorgen Jensens bog om det danske rav er den forste samlede fremlaeggelse af dette sagnomspundne materiale fra vor forhistorie. Ravet blev forst introduceret i dansk arkaeologisk debat omkring midten af forrige arhundrede, da dets... more
Jorgen Jensens bog om det danske rav er den forste samlede fremlaeggelse af dette sagnomspundne materiale fra vor forhistorie. Ravet blev forst introduceret i dansk arkaeologisk debat omkring midten af forrige arhundrede, da dets betydning som ...
s Analysing the interconnection of age and gender has emerged as a new and important field of research that focuses upon the historical contingency of how these dimensions of identity are understood and how their connections are explored... more
s Analysing the interconnection of age and gender has emerged as a new and important field of research that focuses upon the historical contingency of how these dimensions of identity are understood and how their connections are explored within particular cultural contexts. With the aims of illustrating how these identities are involved with specific social discourses two examples from prehistory are considered, one is the Early Bronze Age cemetery at Gemeinlebarn F, Austria, the other is Late Bronze Age cemeteries from northern Europe. The selection of two different periods of the Bronze Age and two different regions aims to outline how distinctly differently age and gender may be articulated.
Research Interests:
This major new textbook explores the relations between gender and archaeology, providing an innovative and important account of how material culture is used in the construction of gender. Throughout this lively and accessible text,... more
This major new textbook explores the relations between gender and archaeology, providing an innovative and important account of how material culture is used in the construction of gender. Throughout this lively and accessible text, Sorensen engages with the question of how gender is materially constituted, and examines the intersection of social and material concerns from the Palaeolithic Age to the present day. Part One discusses a range of important general issues, beginning with an overview of the recent role of gender and gender relations in our appropriation of past societies. After introducing the debate about feminist or gender archaeology, Sorensen examines archaeology's concern with the sex/gender distinction, the nature of negotiation, and feminist epistemological claims in relation to archaeology. In Part Two, the author focuses on the materiality of gender, exploring it through case studies ranging from prehistory to contemporary society. Food, dress, space and conta...
Research Interests:
The recent focus on historic cities and the built environment represented by the papers collected here, marks the analytical opening up of the city as a special kind of heritage site. In particular, current discussions signal a shift from... more
The recent focus on historic cities and the built environment represented by the papers collected here, marks the analytical opening up of the city as a special kind of heritage site. In particular, current discussions signal a shift from the singular focus on the tangible elements of individual buildings and monuments to the intangible characteristics of the architectural heritage within historic cities. Behind this shift lies the central question of how conflicting values and changing meanings of historic city landscapes can be interpreted and how in turn they should be responded to through specific management policies.
Research Interests:
This volume grew out of an interdisciplinary discussion held in the context of the Leverhulme-funded project 'Changing Beliefs in the Human Body', through which the image of the body in pieces soon emerged as a potent site of... more
This volume grew out of an interdisciplinary discussion held in the context of the Leverhulme-funded project 'Changing Beliefs in the Human Body', through which the image of the body in pieces soon emerged as a potent site of attitudes about the body and associated practices in many periods. Archaeologists routinely encounter parts of human and animal bodies in their excavations. Such fragmentary evidence has often been created through accidental damage and the passage of time - nevertheless, it can also signify a deliberate and meaningful act of fragmentation. As a fragment, a part may acquire a distinct meaning through its enchained relationship to the whole or alternatively it may be used in a more straightforward manner to represent the whole or even act as stand-in for other variables. This collection of papers puts bodily fragmentation into a long-term historical perspective. The temporal spread of the papers collected here indicates both the consistent importance and ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests: History and Archaeology
INTRODUCTION The Als Project is a regional study based on field sur-vey. Its aims, in addition to investigating the develop-ment of the local cultural landscape, are to contribute to ongoing discussions of field methodology and... more
INTRODUCTION The Als Project is a regional study based on field sur-vey. Its aims, in addition to investigating the develop-ment of the local cultural landscape, are to contribute to ongoing discussions of field methodology and the-oretical debates. Field survey has been widely ...
Research Interests:
The COVID-19 lockdown of society in 2020 deprived people of access to many heritage sites. This made the public uniquely aware of why they visited heritage sites and what they valued about the visits, once heritage sites reopened. In... more
The COVID-19 lockdown of society in 2020 deprived people of access to many heritage sites. This made the public uniquely aware of why they visited heritage sites and what they valued about the visits, once heritage sites reopened. In particular, regaining access framed visits in terms of personal agency and wellbeing. Notions of capability, social connections, ontological security, and trust-all important elements of wellbeingwere widely shared values. Heritage sites also offered distinct opportunities for combining hedonic (subjective) and eudaimonic (psychological) wellbeing effects. While heritage value cannot be reduced to wellbeing effects, we suggest that constructive awareness of how these effects may be generated can enhance the outcome of visits to heritage sites.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Acceso de usuarios registrados. Acceso de usuarios registrados Usuario Contraseña. ...
Abstract This paper considers three different ways that heritage can be considered fragileas a reference to the conservation status of the physical heritage, as a concern for the meaning of the heritage, and in terms of threats to the... more
Abstract This paper considers three different ways that heritage can be considered fragileas a reference to the conservation status of the physical heritage, as a concern for the meaning of the heritage, and in terms of threats to the knowledge potentials. It also briefly ...
Research Interests:
RefDoc, THE reference in scientific document supply / Refdoc, la référence en fourniture de documents scientifiques ...
Research Interests:
The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Heritage Research. In E. Waterton and S. Watson (eds). Basingstoke & NY: Palgrave McMillan.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The project ‘Iron Age female identities in the southern Carpathian Basin’ stresses gender as something that is particular to time and place. The paper explores both data and inferential reasoning to zoom in on what may have produced... more
The project ‘Iron Age female identities in the southern Carpathian Basin’ stresses gender as something that is particular to time and place. The paper explores both data and inferential reasoning to zoom in on what may have produced particular settings for gender within these communities. Some of the changes in social organisation over the 1st millennium BC may have related to, and caused, fundamental changes in social relations at different scales. The increased social complexity would affect people’s relationships with each other, widening their spheres of interaction, and potentially threatening or challenging the degrees of
control over their lives, such as control of the body’s reproductive capacity. In terms of the wider project of understanding gender, investigating how gender relations were impacted as well as a partner to these important social and political transformations is a complex task — but also one of significance in terms of providing fuller insight into what we mean when we state that gender is a ‘social construct’.
control over their lives, such as control of the body’s reproductive capacity. In terms of the wider project of understanding gender, investigating how gender relations were impacted as well as a partner to these important social and political transformations is a complex task — but also one of significance in terms of providing fuller insight into what we mean when we state that gender is a ‘social construct’.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The Százhalombatta Excavation Project – SAX Project – represents both the continuity of the Hungarian Bóna tell-excavation school and through international co-operation the exploration of new methods and theoretical approaches. The focus... more
The Százhalombatta Excavation Project – SAX Project – represents both the continuity of the Hungarian
Bóna tell-excavation school and through international co-operation the exploration of new methods and
theoretical approaches. The focus of this paper is the methodological advances that have taken place on the
Százhalombatta-Földvár tell site, including their benefits and in some cases their disadvantages. We demonstrate how detailed sampling, small finds analysis and single context excavation can add to our understanding of site use and site formation processes. After a short overview of the documentation system that has come
to be used at Százhalombatta, we concentrate on the development of the theoretical approaches applied to
the site. In conclusion, we reflect on these new methods and interpretative concerns in the hope that some of
them may become new standards in settlement research in general.
Bóna tell-excavation school and through international co-operation the exploration of new methods and
theoretical approaches. The focus of this paper is the methodological advances that have taken place on the
Százhalombatta-Földvár tell site, including their benefits and in some cases their disadvantages. We demonstrate how detailed sampling, small finds analysis and single context excavation can add to our understanding of site use and site formation processes. After a short overview of the documentation system that has come
to be used at Százhalombatta, we concentrate on the development of the theoretical approaches applied to
the site. In conclusion, we reflect on these new methods and interpretative concerns in the hope that some of
them may become new standards in settlement research in general.
Research Interests:
This paper explores the intellectual interactions-formative and difficult-between the 'east' and the 'west' through the excavation of the Bronze Age tell at Százhalombatta-Földvár, starting in 1998 and still ongoing. Revealing that the... more
This paper explores the intellectual interactions-formative and difficult-between the 'east' and the 'west' through the excavation of the Bronze Age tell at Százhalombatta-Földvár, starting in 1998 and still ongoing. Revealing that the 'west' has not been a static homogeneous entity but composed of widely different theoretical approaches and that the 'east' was not merely passively waiting to import new ideas from outside, the paper questions whether the concept of paradigm shift is helpful in its expectations about how intellectual changes take place and what causes them. Exploring the 'biography' of the excavation, from the first ideas to the now well-established project, the paper argues that the most fundamental change in comparison to earlier excavations was the introduction of the single-context excavation strategy and the focus on the use of space beyond the houses, but it also argues that the roots of these intellectual innovations, while differently argued, did not 'belong' only in the west.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract: As a theoretical support for the aims of theorizing the Viking Age as a diaspora, this paper reflects on the impact of diaspora on identity, especially gender. The concept of gender is considered from three positions and within... more
Abstract: As a theoretical support for the aims of theorizing the Viking Age as a diaspora, this paper reflects on the impact of diaspora on identity, especially gender. The concept of gender is
considered from three positions and within the intellectual framework of gender archaeology. First, the development of a concept of gender as a fluid negotiated identity, made not given, is introduced.Thereafter the relationship between material culture and gender is considered, arguing that it is through material things and practices that gender gains substance and is experienced. Thirdly, the disruptive yet formative effects of diaspora are outlined from a gender perspective. Throughout
the intellectual arguments are related to Viking-Age studies by reference to case studies within Viking-Age archaeology.
Keywords: gender, identity, material culture, diaspora, Viking Age
considered from three positions and within the intellectual framework of gender archaeology. First, the development of a concept of gender as a fluid negotiated identity, made not given, is introduced.Thereafter the relationship between material culture and gender is considered, arguing that it is through material things and practices that gender gains substance and is experienced. Thirdly, the disruptive yet formative effects of diaspora are outlined from a gender perspective. Throughout
the intellectual arguments are related to Viking-Age studies by reference to case studies within Viking-Age archaeology.
Keywords: gender, identity, material culture, diaspora, Viking Age
Research Interests:
In this chapter I explore data from three regions (western Denmark, Sicily and Hungary) in an attempt to discuss characteristics of the Bronze Age household. I was especially interested in whether we can discern differences at the... more
In this chapter I explore data from three regions (western Denmark, Sicily and Hungary) in an attempt to discuss characteristics of the Bronze Age household. I was especially interested in whether we can discern differences at the fundamental social level constituted by households and whether these would relate to life-ways and the experience of cohabiting. It seems to me that some of the most interesting differences are in terms of the biography of the house and in terms of the variability in the material culture used by the household including arrangement for the preparation and servicing of food.
Research Interests:
This paper considers three different ways that heritage can be considered fragile—as a reference to the conservation status of the physical heritage, as a concern for the meaning of the heritage, and in terms of threats to the knowledge... more
This paper considers three different ways that heritage can be considered fragile—as a reference to the conservation status of the physical heritage, as a concern for the meaning of the heritage, and in terms of threats to the knowledge potentials. It also briefly considers any special conditions that may characterise the threats to heritage in Africa and the consequential challenges to its heritage managers and politicians. On this basis, the experiences of working on one of the first systematic archaeological projects in Cape Verde are used to think about how these challenges are encountered within a specific place but from the viewpoint of foreigners and archaeologists.
Research Interests:
In this paper I try to explore the concept of culture - how much or how little it has changed compared with its 19th century roots. I also introduce the idea (from Uzzell) of hot and cold interpretations and speculate on how this may be... more
In this paper I try to explore the concept of culture - how much or how little it has changed compared with its 19th century roots. I also introduce the idea (from Uzzell) of hot and cold interpretations and speculate on how this may be utilized to reflect on culture in terms of people's experiences.
Research Interests:
In this paper I try to consider what we mean by typology and why it should matter to us. Looking at some of the early substantial discussion about typology within European prehistoric research I propose we are in danger of loosing... more
In this paper I try to consider what we mean by typology and why it should matter to us. Looking at some of the early substantial discussion about typology within European prehistoric research I propose we are in danger of loosing theoretical awareness of typology and that the current 'material turn' is not yet moving towards rejuvenating this core concept.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Full Citation Vandkilde, H, Hansen, S. Kotsakis, K., Kristiansen, K., Müller, J., Sofaer J. & Sørensen, M.L.S. 2015. “Cultural Mobility in Bronze Age Europe”. In: Suchowska-Ducke, P, Reiter S. S. & Vandkilde, H. (eds.). Forging... more
Full Citation
Vandkilde, H, Hansen, S. Kotsakis, K., Kristiansen, K., Müller, J., Sofaer J. & Sørensen, M.L.S. 2015. “Cultural Mobility in Bronze Age Europe”. In: Suchowska-Ducke, P, Reiter S. S. & Vandkilde, H. (eds.). Forging Identities. The Mobility of Culture in Bronze Age Europe. Report from a Marie Curie Project 2009-2012 with Concluding Conference at Aarhus University, Moesgaard 2012. Volume 1: p. 5-37. BAR International Series S2771. Oxford: Hadrian Books.
Vandkilde, H, Hansen, S. Kotsakis, K., Kristiansen, K., Müller, J., Sofaer J. & Sørensen, M.L.S. 2015. “Cultural Mobility in Bronze Age Europe”. In: Suchowska-Ducke, P, Reiter S. S. & Vandkilde, H. (eds.). Forging Identities. The Mobility of Culture in Bronze Age Europe. Report from a Marie Curie Project 2009-2012 with Concluding Conference at Aarhus University, Moesgaard 2012. Volume 1: p. 5-37. BAR International Series S2771. Oxford: Hadrian Books.
In this presentation I aimed to reflect on the methodological challenges of doping gender research.
Food is culture; supremely so. It not only makes and nourishes our bodies, but it also partakes in the building of sociability and in the performance of identities. Through food we make ourselves, and exercise and experience social... more
Food is culture; supremely so. It not only makes and nourishes our bodies, but it also partakes in the building of sociability and in the performance of identities. Through food we make ourselves, and exercise and experience social qualities such as communality and exclusions. Commensality, the process of eating together, may be seen as both a central social glue and a stage-setting of social relations, including differences within and between groups. It is also common for the making and processing of food to reference earlier events and traditions, whether the meal is a feast or an everyday activity. Food is also materiality, and its various elements have been, and are, objects of manipulation ranging from the long-term genetic story of modifications and mutations to the short-term daily processes of food making.
Research Interests:
The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Heritage Research. In E. Waterton and S. Watson (eds). Basingstoke & NY: Palgrave McMillan.
Research Interests:
The project ‘Iron Age female identities in the southern Carpathian Basin’ stresses gender as something that is particular to time and place. The paper explores both data and inferential reasoning to zoom in on what may have produced... more
The project ‘Iron Age female identities in the southern Carpathian Basin’ stresses gender as something that is particular to time and place. The paper explores both data and inferential reasoning to zoom in on what may have produced particular settings for gender within these communities. Some of the changes in social organisation over the 1st millennium BC may have related to, and caused, fundamental changes in social relations at different scales. The increased social complexity would affect people’s relationships with each other, widening their spheres of interaction, and potentially threatening or challenging the degrees of control over their lives, such as control of the body’s reproductive capacity. In terms of the wider project of understanding gender, investigating how gender relations were impacted as well as a partner to these important social and political transformations is a complex task — but also one of significance in terms of providing fuller insight into what we mean when we state that gender is a ‘social construct’
Research Interests:
This chapter discusses the classic heritage tensions and challenges that are linked to the proposed reconstruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues. Arguing that the most fundamental question is not how but why they should be reconstructed,... more
This chapter discusses the classic heritage tensions and challenges that are linked to the proposed reconstruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues. Arguing that the most fundamental question is not how but why they should be reconstructed, the reasoning formulated around three core aspects are considered. The first is about authenticity. Classical examples of how reconstructions articulate with authenticity are outlined as a background to the recently softening up of the concept and to argue that understanding authenticity as a malleable and discursive quality could provide inspirational for the reconstruction of the Buddha statues. The second concern relates to political and socioeconomic aspects arguing that the reconstruction efforts are essentially political as the destruction and reconstruction are conceptually interconnected with the latter lending support for competing national/regional historiographies. This calls for foresight and carefulness in decision making. As regards the third aspect, the role of the local residents, the chapter points to the tendency of systematic neglect of local residents in terms of meaningful engagement, and some of the ways this manifests itself. It also argues that it is not enough that all agree that this is regretful, we need to work on methods aiming at more meaningful and sustainable involvement.
Research Interests:
A chapter that reflects on the various questions that have arisen from the changed understanding of wool and when it became available. The reflections focus on various aspects of prodcution and consumption arguing that this largely... more
A chapter that reflects on the various questions that have arisen from the changed understanding of wool and when it became available. The reflections focus on various aspects of prodcution and consumption arguing that this largely invisible technology may have had a substantial impact on Bronze Age communities - labour divions , landscaoe use, and economy - from cirka 2000 BC onwards.
www.cambridge.org/9781108493598
www.cambridge.org/9781108493598
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Concluding Panel session
Research Interests:
This final chapter discusses how the introduction of wool affected societies substantially and in ways that we are only now beginning to comprehend.
Research Interests:
Brief reflection on the Borneo longhouse (website text)