Papers by Julia Schönicke
Open Archaeology, 2023
Using case studies from Aşıklı Höyük, Çatalhöyük, Boncuklu Tarla, Göbekli Tepe (all Turkey), and ... more Using case studies from Aşıklı Höyük, Çatalhöyük, Boncuklu Tarla, Göbekli Tepe (all Turkey), and Monjukli Depe (southern Turkmenistan), this study presents a framework for in-depth research on prehistoric earthen architecture in southwestern and central Asia. It demonstrates the challenges and potential for innovative and comparative studies based on interdisciplinary approaches and the use of architectural, microstratigraphic, and microarchaeological analyses. Furthermore, it sheds new light on issues related to various aspects of building continuity which is commonly recognised as a very important phenomenon in the Neolithic but could have different facets. The study attempts to discuss the reasons behind the local decisions to use and recycle specified building materials. In addition, it evaluatesin relation to particular sitesthe usefulness of specific analyses for reconstruction of daily, seasonal, or annual practices. Advanced analyses of floors and fire installations, for instance, can contribute not only to the identification of indoor and outdoor surfaces but also to a better understanding of activity areas and the intensity of use within particular spaces. Variations and different combinations of mudbrick, mortar, and plaster recipes allow for insights into how earth and sediment material were used to mark collective and individual identity through the performance of a building. Recognising reused materials and features allows us to trace further the nature of prehistoric societies and local architectural dialects.
"What Does This Have to Do With Archaeology?" Essays on the Occasion of the 65th Birthday of Reinhard Bernbeck, 2023
In this paper, I focus on the impact of excavations on archaeological sites in the Anthropocene. ... more In this paper, I focus on the impact of excavations on archaeological sites in the Anthropocene. First, different Anthropocene discourses are presented including those of the Capitalocene, Plantationocene, and Chthulucene to raise awareness about the sharpest markers and their onsets. Second, I highlight ruins as interaction spheres in which the different facets of the Anthropocene manifest themselves. Using the example of Göbekli Tepe in the third part of this paper, I demonstrate to what degree the Anthropocene is detectable in the Neolithic layers of the site. How abandoned is the site, actually? The modern interactions of agriculture, excavation, conservation, and tourism have created a new occupation phase that I refer to as the “Anthropocene horizon” and that I add to the site’s biography.
This paper is part of the Festschrift: "What Does This Have to Do With Archaeology?" Essays on the Occasion of the 65th Birthday of Reinhard Bernbeck, Editorial Collective (2023), 421–438. Leiden: Sidestone Press.
Christian W. Hess and Federico Manuelli (eds.) Bridging the Gap: Disciplines, Times, and Spaces in Dialogue Vol. 1. Sessions 1, 2, and 5 from the Conference Broadening Horizons 6 held at the Freie Universität Berlin, 24–28 June 2019. Oxford: Archaeopress Access Archaeology., 2022
Göbekli Tepe is well-known for its monumental buildings with anthropomorphic T-shaped pillars, de... more Göbekli Tepe is well-known for its monumental buildings with anthropomorphic T-shaped pillars, decorated with reliefs of wild animals which have been featured prominently in earlier works. The abandonment which occurred some 1500 years after the initial occupation of the site, however, remains virtually unexplored. This paper attempts to reconstruct abandonment practices and routines within and parallel to phases of occupation. A crucial source of data for the abandonment of Göbekli Tepe
is provided by considerations relating to site formation, including the topography of the site with its mounds, steep slopes, and hollows where strong winter rainfalls potentially favoured erosional processes. I clearly oppose the widespread yet outdated interpretation of ‘ritual backfilling’ of the monumental buildings. Instead, I propose that the inhabitants of the Neolithic settlement were strongly intertwined with their landscape and built environment, which is reflected by the continuous rebuilding of structures as a response to slope slide events, the use of ruins for extracting recycled building material, and the creation of memory spaces by following a specific habitus. I argue that by applying microarchaeological approaches and the social sphere of ‘detachment from place’ the heterogeneity of settlement layout can be reconstructed by including the engagement of ancient people with ruins, abandonment, and memory.
Looking Closely. Excavations at Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan, 2010 – 2014. Susan Pollock, Reinhard Bernbeck and Birgül Ögüt (eds.), Sidestone Press, 2019
In the stratigraphic sequence at Monjukli Depe, changing cultural techniques of keeping and using... more In the stratigraphic sequence at Monjukli Depe, changing cultural techniques of keeping and using fire become clear. A development within the Aeneolithic is clear, in which standardized fire installations no longer belonged to the regular furnishings of a house. Although fire installations were documented in most buildings, they differ considerably from one another. A standardized room arrangement such as that documented for the Jeitun period was no longer present. The increased variability of fire installations indicates a multiplicity of different uses, if we assume that certain actions and modes of production call for specific types of installations. As the cultural history of fire use shows, social and technological change manifest themselves materially in dealing with fire, fire installations, and the practices associated with them. Analysis of the stratigraphic change in fire installations may be drawn upon as an indicator of changing cultural techniques and everyday practices.
Looking Closely. Excavations at Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan, 2010 – 2014. Susan Pollock, Reinhard Bernbeck and Birgül Ögüt (eds.), Sidestone Press, 2019
This chapter presents the Neolithic and Aeneolithic ceramics from Monjukli Depe. I begin with a d... more This chapter presents the Neolithic and Aeneolithic ceramics from Monjukli Depe. I begin with a discussion of the Neolithic pottery which has only been recovered from a few areas at the site. I focus thereafter on the Aeneolithic pottery. Probably the most prominent feature of the latter is the small quantity in which it is present. The Aeneolithic contexts at Monjukli Depe might – with only minimal exaggeration – be described as aceramic, although at the time the technology of ceramic production was well known and widespread. In this respect, Aeneolithic Monjukli Depe marks a strong contrast to the omnipresence of pottery at other 5th millennium sites in Western Asia. There was a marked decline in the density of pottery at the site from the Neolithic to the Aeneolithic period.The basis for any ceramic analysis is the study of production. Increasingly, attempts are also being made to examine ceramic vessels in a sociocultural framework in terms of their contexts of use. Definitions and categorizations of artifacts often place substantial limits on the range of possible interpretations, since they suggest that each object can only be assigned one specific purpose. However, recent discussions on the affordance of things (see, among others, Hodder 2012; for an example from Monjukli Depe, Keßeler 2016) show that objects cannot only be used in narrowly restricted ways, but often contain far-reaching “action possibilities” or affordances (Gibson 2015 [1979]). Thus, they offer possibilities of being used in a variety of ways, with some use options preferred and others neglected. There is also a visual component to affordance, in that things offer multiple perspectives to be seen that in turn affect their handling. This is what I call “visual affordance.”
The second season of excavations at the Neolithic and Aeneolithic site of Monjukli Depe in the Me... more The second season of excavations at the Neolithic and Aeneolithic site of Monjukli Depe in the Meana-Čaača region of southern Turkmenistan was carried out in the summer of 2011. In this report we present a brief description of the excavated units, their stratigraphy, substantial architechture and features. In addition, specific categories of finds are discussed.
Reports by Julia Schönicke
ANAMED Blog, Mar 23, 2021
e- Forschungsberichte des DAI 2018, Faszikel 1, 2018
In spring 2017 a second field season at the Emirate of Fujairah was carried out in the frame of t... more In spring 2017 a second field season at the Emirate of Fujairah was carried out in the frame of the continuation of the cooperation between the Fujairah Tourism & Antiquities Authority and the Orient Department of the DAI. The field season focused on excavations of two Late Bronze – Iron Age multiple burials at the site of Dibba 76.
Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie, 2017
In Spring 2016, the first field season of the Fujairah-German Archaeological Projekt (FGAP), a co... more In Spring 2016, the first field season of the Fujairah-German Archaeological Projekt (FGAP), a cooperation between the Fujairah Tourism & Antiquities Authority and the Orient Department of the German Archaeological institute (DAI), was carried out. The aim was to conduct a joint reappraisal work at the site of Qidfa 3 in the Emirate of Fujairah (UAE) since the results of the former archaological investigations were not published and the importance of that 2nd millennium site was therefore never promoted.
In: R. Eichmann and M. van Ess (eds.), Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 10/2017, p. 312-355
South Qatar Survey Project, 2017
Recording and interpretation of Fire Installations within the framework of the South Qatar Survey... more Recording and interpretation of Fire Installations within the framework of the South Qatar Survey Project by Qatar Museums and DAI/ Orient Department during the 2012-2017 seasons.
This report is part of the publication "South Qatar Survey Project" by Kristina Pfeiffer, Ricardo Eichmann, Christin Keller, and Paul Larson (ed.) 2017; online available (see link below to project page - downloads)
Final Report of the SQSP Project, a cooperation between Qatar Museums and the Orient-Department o... more Final Report of the SQSP Project, a cooperation between Qatar Museums and the Orient-Department of the German Archaeological Institute. The project deals with the results of the spring season 2014, archaeological record of the cultural heritage in Qatar.
Final Report of the SQSP Project, a cooperation between Qatar Museums and the Orient-Department o... more Final Report of the SQSP Project, a cooperation between Qatar Museums and the Orient-Department of the German Archaeological Institute. The project deals with the results of the spring season 2015, archaeological record of the cultural heritage in Qatar.
Final Report of the SQSP Project, a cooperation between Qatar Museums and the Orient-Department o... more Final Report of the SQSP Project, a cooperation between Qatar Museums and the Orient-Department of the German Archaeological Institute. The project deals with the results of the spring season 2016, archaeological record of the cultural heritage in Qatar.
Books by Julia Schönicke
Looking Closely - Excavations at Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan, 2010 – 2014, 2019
Soviet archaeological research in southern Turkmenistan revealed a series of small Late Neolithic... more Soviet archaeological research in southern Turkmenistan revealed a series of small Late Neolithic and Aeneolithic villages strung along the streams that emerge from the Kopet Dag and water the narrow foothill zone separating the mountains from the Kara Kum desert. A commonly accepted premise of their work was that these communities garnered their technological knowledge if not their populations from regions to the south and west in present-day Iran.
Since 2010 we have reinvestigated one of these sites, the small Late Neolithic (ca. 6200-5600 BCE) and early Aeneolithic (ca. 4800-4350 BCE) village of Monjukli Depe. Our research examines microhistories of cultural techniques as a source of insights into long-term and spatially extensive change as well as internal variations and similarities in material practices. This volume presents results of this work. A Bayesian modeling of 14C dates demonstrates a long hiatus between the Neolithic and Aeneolithic strata of the site as well as a hitherto unattested very early Aeneolithic phase (“Meana Horizon”). A sequence of densely built, well preserved Aeneolithic houses exhibits marked similarities to earlier Neolithic architecture in the region. Despite overall standardized plans, the houses reveal significant variations in internal features and practices. Similar flexibility within a set of common dispositions is evident in burial practices. Very limited quantities of pottery offer a stark contrast to the frequent occurrence of spindle whorls, indicating a substantial production of thread, and to a large and varied assemblage of clay tokens. A wide variety of fire installations attests to routinized handling of fire, which did not prevent at least one building from succumbing to a conflagration. Animal herding was heavily based on sheep and goats, while cattle figured prominently in feasts.
The Meana tradition at Monjukli Depe exhibits significant structural similarities to other early village societies in Western Asia and will make this volume of interest to scholars working on similar times and contexts.
Talks by Julia Schönicke
Talk at the NOS-HS Workshop "Earthen Architecture in Nordic research: Historic knowledge, Social ... more Talk at the NOS-HS Workshop "Earthen Architecture in Nordic research: Historic knowledge, Social impact and Sustainability" during the workshop "Earthen architecture in archaeological contexts: micro and macro approaches". Nov 9, 2021, University of Helsinki (online)
BAF-Online: Proceedings of the Berner Altorientalisches Forum, 3 (2018). , 2020
Video of my talk available online via https://bop.unibe.ch/baf/article/view/6586
This talk was he... more Video of my talk available online via https://bop.unibe.ch/baf/article/view/6586
This talk was held on the Berner Altorientalisches Forum 2018, University of Bern/ Switzerland.
My research focuses on architectural analysis such as re-modelling and re-use of buildings, a detailed study of the room fills in combination with the development of a systematic sampling strategy, to examine continuities and discontinuities of abandonment practices in Göbekli Tepe. In my presentation, I will stress the importance of abandonment studies in archaeology and give methodological examples for how I identify abandonment in the archaeological record. The importance of small-scale excavations cannot be overestimated in this context. Furthermore, I will provide insights into my dissertation project, my fieldwork at Göbekli Tepe and first preliminary results.
The talk has the aim to discuss the potential of small-scale or micro-archaeology and its contribution to questions concerning the end of habitations and whole settlements. By examining these processes in detail, the diversity of and the (in-)stability in settlement practices can be reconstructed, refining our understanding of past societies.
Editorials by Julia Schönicke
by Aydin Abar, Maria Bianca D'Anna, Georg Cyrus, Vera Egbers, Barbara Huber, Christine Kainert, Birgül Ögüt, Nolwen Rol, Giulia Russo, Julia Schönicke, and Francelin Tourtet Pearls, Politics and Pistachios. Essays in Anthropology and Memories on the Occasion of Susan Pollock's 65 th Birthday, 2021
This book is a multivocal and heartfelt “Thank You!” present to Susan Pollock on her 65th birthda... more This book is a multivocal and heartfelt “Thank You!” present to Susan Pollock on her 65th birthday. In each of the 46 contributions the 63 authors from West and Central AsiaAmerica and Europs celebrate Susan Pollock as a multi-facetted and brilliant scholar and colleague, as a devoted and outstanding teacher and as an empathetic mentor. The range of topics covered in the articles spans from the first occurrence of Homo sapiens on the Iranian Highland, to the relation of violence and epidemics in North America, to the research of the underrepresentation of female scholars in a male dominated Publikationslandschaft, as well as the role of politics in archaeological practice. Together the authors present the diversity of archaeological practice neither limited by time and space, nor by methodical conventions.
The contributions are organized in three chapters. The first chapter „Taking a Closer Look…“ brings together in-depth studies of prehistoric communities and object analyses. which offer a plethora of different approaches to the past. The second chapter„… While Keeping the Big Picture“ offers contributions of larger scale, in time and geographically, of migrations, prehistoric economies, conflicts within communities and societies, as well as wars between different groups. The closing chapter „Questioning the Discipline“ frames methodological questions, scrutinizes current discourses in archaeologies and the specificities and problems ranging from decolonization to the role of women in archaeological disciplines. The chapters are interlocked with personal anecdotes and essays, chronicling the authors’ experiences they shared with Susan at different times in her career.
A big “Thank You!” from 63 authors in 46 contributions to Susan Pollock for collaborating in joint projects and her manifold support which shaped them into self-determined scholars.
Conferences by Julia Schönicke
Organisers: Julia Schönicke (Freie Universität Berlin), Cornelius Holtorf (Linnaeus University Ka... more Organisers: Julia Schönicke (Freie Universität Berlin), Cornelius Holtorf (Linnaeus University Kalmar), Beverley Butler (University College London), Deadline for submissions: Feb 9, 2023 via https://submissions.e-a-a.org/eaa2023/
The ubiquity of fungi contrasts their underrepresentation in archaeology. It is about time to change that! All contexts we excavate underwent decomposition by fungi. In fact, the soil we are excavating IS the past, transformed by fungi. The story started with a symbiosis of algae and fungi–lichens–creating life on land 400 mya. Fungi challenge our logical thinking, create unimagined communication networks and question whether there is such a thing as an “individual” at all. This opens the stage for new interpretations of past and future lifeways. Yet, most of us meet mushrooms at the dining table and we can assume that this is also true for the past. But where are they in the archaeological record? And in what diverse ways can we grasp them as vibrant and variously curative-deadly heritage entities?
In this session, we aim to explore all kinds of fungi networks that can be investigated through archaeological thinking, critical heritage concepts and related methodologies. Beyond this however we wish to open up our critical perspectives to alternative creative paradigms that may relate further afield to fiction, futurisms, storytelling, legends, performance, artworks and activist interventions. Possible themes may include:
• Evidence in archaeological/ palaeoenvironmental contexts: recipes, textiles, pyrotechnology, iconography, texts, isotopes
• Social spheres: collective collecting, preparing, and eating mushrooms; transfer of knowledge, rituals, transformations of states of being, heritage pharmacology (after Butler)
• Rhizome thinking (after Deleuze & Guattari) vs. tree thinking: alternative approaches to heritage and history(-making)
• Icons of the Anthropocene: atomic mushrooms; part of future studies as agents for de-contamination, sustainable building material; models for neuronal networks
• Multispecies/ companion species networks (after Haraway & Tsing) like the Wood Wide Web formed by mycorrhizae
We invite creative, provocative and subversive contributions from different fields and research back¬ground on any of these themes or completely new thoughts.
Uploads
Papers by Julia Schönicke
This paper is part of the Festschrift: "What Does This Have to Do With Archaeology?" Essays on the Occasion of the 65th Birthday of Reinhard Bernbeck, Editorial Collective (2023), 421–438. Leiden: Sidestone Press.
is provided by considerations relating to site formation, including the topography of the site with its mounds, steep slopes, and hollows where strong winter rainfalls potentially favoured erosional processes. I clearly oppose the widespread yet outdated interpretation of ‘ritual backfilling’ of the monumental buildings. Instead, I propose that the inhabitants of the Neolithic settlement were strongly intertwined with their landscape and built environment, which is reflected by the continuous rebuilding of structures as a response to slope slide events, the use of ruins for extracting recycled building material, and the creation of memory spaces by following a specific habitus. I argue that by applying microarchaeological approaches and the social sphere of ‘detachment from place’ the heterogeneity of settlement layout can be reconstructed by including the engagement of ancient people with ruins, abandonment, and memory.
Reports by Julia Schönicke
Resuming my PhD fellowship year at ANAMED (Koç University Istanbul) while giving some latest insights on my dissertation project "All Places are Temporary Places - Perception and Use of Ruins in the Neolithic Settlement Göbekli Tepe" (working title)
https://anamedblog.com/post/646442936976932864/the-living-dead-perception-and-use-of-ruins
In this short blog post, I discuss human-ruin interactions from the 18th century CE to today and highlight the importance of ruins for archaeological, subcultural, and artistic experiences as well as nature conservation.
In: R. Eichmann and M. van Ess (eds.), Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 10/2017, p. 312-355
This report is part of the publication "South Qatar Survey Project" by Kristina Pfeiffer, Ricardo Eichmann, Christin Keller, and Paul Larson (ed.) 2017; online available (see link below to project page - downloads)
Books by Julia Schönicke
Since 2010 we have reinvestigated one of these sites, the small Late Neolithic (ca. 6200-5600 BCE) and early Aeneolithic (ca. 4800-4350 BCE) village of Monjukli Depe. Our research examines microhistories of cultural techniques as a source of insights into long-term and spatially extensive change as well as internal variations and similarities in material practices. This volume presents results of this work. A Bayesian modeling of 14C dates demonstrates a long hiatus between the Neolithic and Aeneolithic strata of the site as well as a hitherto unattested very early Aeneolithic phase (“Meana Horizon”). A sequence of densely built, well preserved Aeneolithic houses exhibits marked similarities to earlier Neolithic architecture in the region. Despite overall standardized plans, the houses reveal significant variations in internal features and practices. Similar flexibility within a set of common dispositions is evident in burial practices. Very limited quantities of pottery offer a stark contrast to the frequent occurrence of spindle whorls, indicating a substantial production of thread, and to a large and varied assemblage of clay tokens. A wide variety of fire installations attests to routinized handling of fire, which did not prevent at least one building from succumbing to a conflagration. Animal herding was heavily based on sheep and goats, while cattle figured prominently in feasts.
The Meana tradition at Monjukli Depe exhibits significant structural similarities to other early village societies in Western Asia and will make this volume of interest to scholars working on similar times and contexts.
Talks by Julia Schönicke
This talk was held on the Berner Altorientalisches Forum 2018, University of Bern/ Switzerland.
My research focuses on architectural analysis such as re-modelling and re-use of buildings, a detailed study of the room fills in combination with the development of a systematic sampling strategy, to examine continuities and discontinuities of abandonment practices in Göbekli Tepe. In my presentation, I will stress the importance of abandonment studies in archaeology and give methodological examples for how I identify abandonment in the archaeological record. The importance of small-scale excavations cannot be overestimated in this context. Furthermore, I will provide insights into my dissertation project, my fieldwork at Göbekli Tepe and first preliminary results.
The talk has the aim to discuss the potential of small-scale or micro-archaeology and its contribution to questions concerning the end of habitations and whole settlements. By examining these processes in detail, the diversity of and the (in-)stability in settlement practices can be reconstructed, refining our understanding of past societies.
Editorials by Julia Schönicke
The contributions are organized in three chapters. The first chapter „Taking a Closer Look…“ brings together in-depth studies of prehistoric communities and object analyses. which offer a plethora of different approaches to the past. The second chapter„… While Keeping the Big Picture“ offers contributions of larger scale, in time and geographically, of migrations, prehistoric economies, conflicts within communities and societies, as well as wars between different groups. The closing chapter „Questioning the Discipline“ frames methodological questions, scrutinizes current discourses in archaeologies and the specificities and problems ranging from decolonization to the role of women in archaeological disciplines. The chapters are interlocked with personal anecdotes and essays, chronicling the authors’ experiences they shared with Susan at different times in her career.
A big “Thank You!” from 63 authors in 46 contributions to Susan Pollock for collaborating in joint projects and her manifold support which shaped them into self-determined scholars.
Conferences by Julia Schönicke
The ubiquity of fungi contrasts their underrepresentation in archaeology. It is about time to change that! All contexts we excavate underwent decomposition by fungi. In fact, the soil we are excavating IS the past, transformed by fungi. The story started with a symbiosis of algae and fungi–lichens–creating life on land 400 mya. Fungi challenge our logical thinking, create unimagined communication networks and question whether there is such a thing as an “individual” at all. This opens the stage for new interpretations of past and future lifeways. Yet, most of us meet mushrooms at the dining table and we can assume that this is also true for the past. But where are they in the archaeological record? And in what diverse ways can we grasp them as vibrant and variously curative-deadly heritage entities?
In this session, we aim to explore all kinds of fungi networks that can be investigated through archaeological thinking, critical heritage concepts and related methodologies. Beyond this however we wish to open up our critical perspectives to alternative creative paradigms that may relate further afield to fiction, futurisms, storytelling, legends, performance, artworks and activist interventions. Possible themes may include:
• Evidence in archaeological/ palaeoenvironmental contexts: recipes, textiles, pyrotechnology, iconography, texts, isotopes
• Social spheres: collective collecting, preparing, and eating mushrooms; transfer of knowledge, rituals, transformations of states of being, heritage pharmacology (after Butler)
• Rhizome thinking (after Deleuze & Guattari) vs. tree thinking: alternative approaches to heritage and history(-making)
• Icons of the Anthropocene: atomic mushrooms; part of future studies as agents for de-contamination, sustainable building material; models for neuronal networks
• Multispecies/ companion species networks (after Haraway & Tsing) like the Wood Wide Web formed by mycorrhizae
We invite creative, provocative and subversive contributions from different fields and research back¬ground on any of these themes or completely new thoughts.
This paper is part of the Festschrift: "What Does This Have to Do With Archaeology?" Essays on the Occasion of the 65th Birthday of Reinhard Bernbeck, Editorial Collective (2023), 421–438. Leiden: Sidestone Press.
is provided by considerations relating to site formation, including the topography of the site with its mounds, steep slopes, and hollows where strong winter rainfalls potentially favoured erosional processes. I clearly oppose the widespread yet outdated interpretation of ‘ritual backfilling’ of the monumental buildings. Instead, I propose that the inhabitants of the Neolithic settlement were strongly intertwined with their landscape and built environment, which is reflected by the continuous rebuilding of structures as a response to slope slide events, the use of ruins for extracting recycled building material, and the creation of memory spaces by following a specific habitus. I argue that by applying microarchaeological approaches and the social sphere of ‘detachment from place’ the heterogeneity of settlement layout can be reconstructed by including the engagement of ancient people with ruins, abandonment, and memory.
Resuming my PhD fellowship year at ANAMED (Koç University Istanbul) while giving some latest insights on my dissertation project "All Places are Temporary Places - Perception and Use of Ruins in the Neolithic Settlement Göbekli Tepe" (working title)
https://anamedblog.com/post/646442936976932864/the-living-dead-perception-and-use-of-ruins
In this short blog post, I discuss human-ruin interactions from the 18th century CE to today and highlight the importance of ruins for archaeological, subcultural, and artistic experiences as well as nature conservation.
In: R. Eichmann and M. van Ess (eds.), Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 10/2017, p. 312-355
This report is part of the publication "South Qatar Survey Project" by Kristina Pfeiffer, Ricardo Eichmann, Christin Keller, and Paul Larson (ed.) 2017; online available (see link below to project page - downloads)
Since 2010 we have reinvestigated one of these sites, the small Late Neolithic (ca. 6200-5600 BCE) and early Aeneolithic (ca. 4800-4350 BCE) village of Monjukli Depe. Our research examines microhistories of cultural techniques as a source of insights into long-term and spatially extensive change as well as internal variations and similarities in material practices. This volume presents results of this work. A Bayesian modeling of 14C dates demonstrates a long hiatus between the Neolithic and Aeneolithic strata of the site as well as a hitherto unattested very early Aeneolithic phase (“Meana Horizon”). A sequence of densely built, well preserved Aeneolithic houses exhibits marked similarities to earlier Neolithic architecture in the region. Despite overall standardized plans, the houses reveal significant variations in internal features and practices. Similar flexibility within a set of common dispositions is evident in burial practices. Very limited quantities of pottery offer a stark contrast to the frequent occurrence of spindle whorls, indicating a substantial production of thread, and to a large and varied assemblage of clay tokens. A wide variety of fire installations attests to routinized handling of fire, which did not prevent at least one building from succumbing to a conflagration. Animal herding was heavily based on sheep and goats, while cattle figured prominently in feasts.
The Meana tradition at Monjukli Depe exhibits significant structural similarities to other early village societies in Western Asia and will make this volume of interest to scholars working on similar times and contexts.
This talk was held on the Berner Altorientalisches Forum 2018, University of Bern/ Switzerland.
My research focuses on architectural analysis such as re-modelling and re-use of buildings, a detailed study of the room fills in combination with the development of a systematic sampling strategy, to examine continuities and discontinuities of abandonment practices in Göbekli Tepe. In my presentation, I will stress the importance of abandonment studies in archaeology and give methodological examples for how I identify abandonment in the archaeological record. The importance of small-scale excavations cannot be overestimated in this context. Furthermore, I will provide insights into my dissertation project, my fieldwork at Göbekli Tepe and first preliminary results.
The talk has the aim to discuss the potential of small-scale or micro-archaeology and its contribution to questions concerning the end of habitations and whole settlements. By examining these processes in detail, the diversity of and the (in-)stability in settlement practices can be reconstructed, refining our understanding of past societies.
The contributions are organized in three chapters. The first chapter „Taking a Closer Look…“ brings together in-depth studies of prehistoric communities and object analyses. which offer a plethora of different approaches to the past. The second chapter„… While Keeping the Big Picture“ offers contributions of larger scale, in time and geographically, of migrations, prehistoric economies, conflicts within communities and societies, as well as wars between different groups. The closing chapter „Questioning the Discipline“ frames methodological questions, scrutinizes current discourses in archaeologies and the specificities and problems ranging from decolonization to the role of women in archaeological disciplines. The chapters are interlocked with personal anecdotes and essays, chronicling the authors’ experiences they shared with Susan at different times in her career.
A big “Thank You!” from 63 authors in 46 contributions to Susan Pollock for collaborating in joint projects and her manifold support which shaped them into self-determined scholars.
The ubiquity of fungi contrasts their underrepresentation in archaeology. It is about time to change that! All contexts we excavate underwent decomposition by fungi. In fact, the soil we are excavating IS the past, transformed by fungi. The story started with a symbiosis of algae and fungi–lichens–creating life on land 400 mya. Fungi challenge our logical thinking, create unimagined communication networks and question whether there is such a thing as an “individual” at all. This opens the stage for new interpretations of past and future lifeways. Yet, most of us meet mushrooms at the dining table and we can assume that this is also true for the past. But where are they in the archaeological record? And in what diverse ways can we grasp them as vibrant and variously curative-deadly heritage entities?
In this session, we aim to explore all kinds of fungi networks that can be investigated through archaeological thinking, critical heritage concepts and related methodologies. Beyond this however we wish to open up our critical perspectives to alternative creative paradigms that may relate further afield to fiction, futurisms, storytelling, legends, performance, artworks and activist interventions. Possible themes may include:
• Evidence in archaeological/ palaeoenvironmental contexts: recipes, textiles, pyrotechnology, iconography, texts, isotopes
• Social spheres: collective collecting, preparing, and eating mushrooms; transfer of knowledge, rituals, transformations of states of being, heritage pharmacology (after Butler)
• Rhizome thinking (after Deleuze & Guattari) vs. tree thinking: alternative approaches to heritage and history(-making)
• Icons of the Anthropocene: atomic mushrooms; part of future studies as agents for de-contamination, sustainable building material; models for neuronal networks
• Multispecies/ companion species networks (after Haraway & Tsing) like the Wood Wide Web formed by mycorrhizae
We invite creative, provocative and subversive contributions from different fields and research back¬ground on any of these themes or completely new thoughts.