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In the past two decades, conflict archaeology has become firmly
established as a promising field of research, as reflected in
publications, symposia, conference sessions and fieldwork projects.
It has its origins in the study of battlefields and other
conflict-related phenomena in the modern Era, but numerous studies
show that this theme, and at least some of its methods, techniques
and theories, are also relevant for older historical and even
prehistoric periods. This book presents a series of case-studies on
conflict archaeology in ancient Europe, based on the results of
both recent fieldwork and a reassessment of older excavations. The
chronological framework spans from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity,
and the geographical scope from Iberia to Scandinavia. Along key
battlefields such as the Tollense Valley, Baecula, Alesia,
Kalkriese and Harzhorn, the volume also incorporates many other
sources of evidence that can be directly related to past conflict
scenarios, including defensive works, military camps,
battle-related ritual deposits, and symbolic representations of
violence in iconography and grave goods. The aim is to explore the
material evidence for the study of warfare, and to provide new
theoretical and methodological insights into the archaeology of
mass violence in ancient Europe and beyond.
Interlacing varied approaches within Historical Ecology, this
volume offers new routes to researching and understanding
human-environmental interactions and the heterarchical power
relations that shape both socioecological change and resilience
over time. Historical Ecology draws from archaeology, archival
research, ethnography, the humanities and the biophysical sciences
to merge the history of the Earth's biophysical system with the
history of humanity. Considering landscape as the spatial
manifestation of the relations between humans and their
environments through time, the authors in this volume examine the
multi-directional power dynamics that have shaped settlement,
agrarian, monumental and ritual landscapes through the long-term
field projects they have pursued around the globe. Examining both
biocultural stability and change through the longue duree in
different regions, these essays highlight intersectionality and
counterpoised power flows to demonstrate that alongside and in
spite of hierarchical ideologies, the daily life of power is
heterarchical. Knowledge of transtemporal human-environmental
relationships is necessary for strategizing socioecological
resilience. Historical Ecology shows how the past can be useful to
the future.
Interlacing varied approaches within Historical Ecology, this
volume offers new routes to researching and understanding
human-environmental interactions and the heterarchical power
relations that shape both socioecological change and resilience
over time. Historical Ecology draws from archaeology, archival
research, ethnography, the humanities and the biophysical sciences
to merge the history of the Earth's biophysical system with the
history of humanity. Considering landscape as the spatial
manifestation of the relations between humans and their
environments through time, the authors in this volume examine the
multi-directional power dynamics that have shaped settlement,
agrarian, monumental and ritual landscapes through the long-term
field projects they have pursued around the globe. Examining both
biocultural stability and change through the longue duree in
different regions, these essays highlight intersectionality and
counterpoised power flows to demonstrate that alongside and in
spite of hierarchical ideologies, the daily life of power is
heterarchical. Knowledge of transtemporal human-environmental
relationships is necessary for strategizing socioecological
resilience. Historical Ecology shows how the past can be useful to
the future.
In the past two decades, conflict archaeology has become firmly
established as a promising field of research, as reflected in
publications, symposia, conference sessions and fieldwork projects.
It has its origins in the study of battlefields and other
conflict-related phenomena in the modern Era, but numerous studies
show that this theme, and at least some of its methods, techniques
and theories, are also relevant for older historical and even
prehistoric periods. This book presents a series of case-studies on
conflict archaeology in ancient Europe, based on the results of
both recent fieldwork and a reassessment of older excavations. The
chronological framework spans from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity,
and the geographical scope from Iberia to Scandinavia. Along key
battlefields such as the Tollense Valley, Baecula, Alesia,
Kalkriese and Harzhorn, the volume also incorporates many other
sources of evidence that can be directly related to past conflict
scenarios, including defensive works, military camps,
battle-related ritual deposits, and symbolic representations of
violence in iconography and grave goods. The aim is to explore the
material evidence for the study of warfare, and to provide new
theoretical and methodological insights into the archaeology of
mass violence in ancient Europe and beyond.
This volume challenges previous views of social organization
focused on elites by offering innovative perspectives on 'power
from below.' Using a variety of archaeological, anthropological,
and historical data to question traditional narratives of
complexity as inextricably linked to top-down power structures, it
exemplifies how commoners have developed strategies to sustain
non-hierarchical networks and contest the rise of inequalities.
Through case studies from around the world - ranging from Europe to
New Guinea, and from Mesoamerica to China - an international team
of contributors explores the diverse and dynamic nature of power
relations in premodern societies. The theoretical models discussed
throughout the volume include a reassessment of key concepts such
as heterarchy, collective action, and resistance. Thus, the book
adds considerable nuance to our understanding of power in the past,
and also opens new avenues of reflection that can help inform
discussions about our collective present and future.
In many regions of Europe and beyond fortifications belong to the
most impressive of archaeological remains. Their study has a long
tradition and today a multitude of aspects about architecture,
function or symbolism has been explored. However, fortifications
are generally examined in a temporally, regionally or culturally
limited context. Going a step further, this volume aims to bring
into focus concepts of fortifications, which can be socially,
symbolically or functionally, but also chronologically and
supra-regionally aligned. An important question is to determine
which fortification elements are culture-specific, and which can be
regarded as convergence or even universal phenomena. Adopting a
comparative view, the central aim of the volume is to highlight the
diversity and the structural similarities of ancient
fortifications. The chronological framework goes from the Neolithic
to the Late Iron Age, and the geographical scope from the Ural
steppes to the Iberian Peninsula.
Our current world is characterized by life in cities, the existence
of social inequalities, and increasing individualization. When and
how did these phenomena arise? What was the social and economic
background for the development of hierarchies and the first cities?
The authors of this volume analyze the processes of centralization,
cultural interaction, and social differentiation that led to the
development of the first urban centres and early state formations
of ancient Eurasia, from the Atlantic coasts to China. The
chronological framework spans a period from the Neolithic to the
Late Iron Age, with a special focus on the early first millennium
BC. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach structured around the
concepts of identity and materiality, this book addresses the
appearance of a range of key phenomena that continue to shape our
world.
Exploring the origins of urbanism - the emergence and development
of the first cities, has long constituted one of the main
challenges of archaeological and ancient historical research.
Studying cities in a long-term and cross-cultural perspective links
the past with the present, allowing a better understanding of one
of the most important developments in human history. Moreover,
archaeological research on ancient cities can contribute to a
better understanding of contemporary processes of urbanisation. The
21 papers in this volume aim bring together the latest continental
and English-speaking research with contributions by
well-established researchers and younger colleagues providing
innovative perspectives. The whole Iron Age - ca. 800 BC to the
beginning of the Common Era - is considered on an international
basis to consider such topics as the similarities and differences
observed between centralisation and urbanisation processes of the
Early and Late Iron Age; new approaches to the internal
organisation of settlements and their formation processes; the
supply management of central places and economic support from their
environment; and the crucial role of sanctuaries in the formation
of urban settlements. Contributions cover an area stretching from
central Spain to Moravia and from southern France to Britain. The
aim has been to produce a work of reference for readers interested
in Iron Age archaeology in particular, and in urbanisation
processes in general.
The majority of humanity have lived out their lives in a 'rural'
context, and even in our increasingly urbanised world almost half
of the global population still live in rural areas. In the European
Iron Age, the vast mass of the population clearly lived in small
hamlets and farmsteads, and this overarching 'rurality' is
important for understanding these societies. While there has been a
pronounced focus in recent archaeological research on patterns of
centralisation and urbanisation, there is a need to reincorporate
'rural life' or rurality into these discussions of how people
lived. This book is a contribution to the study of rural life in
Iron Age Europe, collating case studies extending from southern
Spain to northern Scotland and from Denmark to the Balkans. Papers
are grouped thematically to open up cross-regional comparisons,
ranging across studies of buildings, farms - the basic unit of Iron
Age life consisting of its inhabitants, its livestock and
associated agricultural lands - to wider settlement patterns and
land use strategies. The 29 papers in this volume discuss the
disposition, form and organisation of rural settlements, as well as
underlying social and economic networks, illustrating both the
variability between regions, and also common themes in cultural,
economic and social interactions. This volume provides an
up-to-date overview of current research, presenting new results for
the Iron Age specialist as well as a wider audience interested in
the rich tapestry of rural settlement in Europe.
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