Alan A D Peatfield | University College Dublin (original) (raw)
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Papers by Alan A D Peatfield
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2016
Abstract In many regions of Europe, bronze metalwork survives in excellent states of preservation... more Abstract In many regions of Europe, bronze metalwork survives in excellent states of preservation that enable us to examine traces of use on objects that are indicative of the ways in which they were used. This is a relatively young field of archaeometric research and the methodologies employed are as yet to be consolidated. A systematic relationship typically exists between experimental archaeology and the analyses of ancient objects to understand the character and causation of traces of use on objects. Mediation between these approaches has typically been undertaken using physical casts of damage on ancient objects or primary documentation and illustration by hand. We propose in this paper that advances in digital 3D modelling provide a new and dynamic interlocutor between artefact analyses and experimental archaeology. To this end, we evaluate the pros and cons of two of the affordable and commonly used modes of 3D data capture – laser scanning and structure from motion/photogrammetry – for studying the wear on bladed metal objects. We conclude that 3D modelling has considerable potential for enhancing metalwork wear analysis and object biography research. This is due to the dynamics of storing and displaying wear data for particular objects and by linking the study of traces of use on ancient objects more generally with those developed through experimental research.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics, 2016
The Annual of the British School at Athens, 1984
In Part I, a survey of the Minoan town at Palaikastro recording architectural features and sherd ... more In Part I, a survey of the Minoan town at Palaikastro recording architectural features and sherd densities is presented. The survey allows for the town limits to be drawn and the probable location of the town centre to be identified. Possible approach routes are noted and an extension of the town to the Promontory and East Beach areas is examined. Part II is a report on building materials at Palaikastro and the Minoan quarries at Ta Skaria, where large quantities of calcareous sandstone were extracted. A magnetic survey of the central, unexcavated part of the site is presented in Part III. A short report on ancient remains at Kouremonos is given in Part IV. Part V is a summary of the previous parts, pointing out important results such as the evidence for ribbon development along approach routes in MM III/LM I and the likelihood that almost 1,000 cubic metres of calcareous sandstone used in ashlar masonry were extracted from the Minoan quarries but remain unaccounted for at Palaikast...
Open Archaeology, 2018
The largest corpus of clay figurines from the Cretan Bronze Age comes from ritual mountain sites ... more The largest corpus of clay figurines from the Cretan Bronze Age comes from ritual mountain sites known as peak sanctuaries. In this paper, we explore how the ‛Figures in 3D’ project contributes to our understanding of these figurines, aiding in the study of the technologies of figurine construction and the typological analysis of distinctive styles. We discuss how the project has, more unexpectedly, begun to create new dialogues and opportunities for moving between the material and the digital by taking a multifaceted approach that combines the data from 3D models and 3D prints with experimental work in clay.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Archaeology of Spiritualities, 2012
Previous work by the authors has argued for a shamanic element to Cretan Bronze Age religion. Lat... more Previous work by the authors has argued for a shamanic element to Cretan Bronze Age religion. Late Minoan gold rings with engraved ritual scenes show clear affinities with imagery expressive of ecstatic religious experience in other ancient and traditional societies. We interpret the clay figurines from Minoan peak sanctuaries as similarly expressive of the participants’ spiritual experience, whereby the body was a medium to access altered states. The authors’ excavation of the western Cretan peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakies is presented as a case study. Our work has been firmly located within current archaeological interest in the body, and in experiential and experimental methodologies. We also argue for the importance of a fully sensory archaeology, which engages with the dynamics of ritual and spirituality on these mountain shrines. In this chapter we explicitly address the issues raised by our own encounters and experimentation with shamanic practices in a Cretan context, particularly the apparent tension between objective and subjective analysis, and how that may be resolved.
… and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum, 2001
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1994
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 1992
The Minoan mountain peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakias (Rethymnon, Crete) was excavated by the... more The Minoan mountain peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakias (Rethymnon, Crete) was excavated by the author in 1989. This article presents the first published account of that excavation and addresses its contribution to broader issues, methodological and interpretative, of Cretan Bronze Age religion. The spatial distribution of over 7500 finds was recorded, enabling the detailed reconstruction of the use and function of the sanctuary. This reconstruction is compared with other approaches to the identification of prehistoric cult places in Greece. Of the other excavated peak sanctuaries, the best known are élite sanctuaries associated with palatial centres; Atsipadhes Korakias is a poor, rural sanctuary, and offers a counterbalanced perspective on Minoan peak sanctuaries.
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 1994
Neuman, ]., 1993. Climatic changes in Europe and the Near East in the second millennium BC. Clima... more Neuman, ]., 1993. Climatic changes in Europe and the Near East in the second millennium BC. Climatic Change 23, 231-45. Ortloff, CR & AC Kolata, 1993. Climate and collapse: agro-ecological perspectives on the decline of the Tiwanaku state. ]ournal of Archaeological Science 20, ...
Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 1995
The Function of the Minoan Palaces, 1987
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2016
Abstract In many regions of Europe, bronze metalwork survives in excellent states of preservation... more Abstract In many regions of Europe, bronze metalwork survives in excellent states of preservation that enable us to examine traces of use on objects that are indicative of the ways in which they were used. This is a relatively young field of archaeometric research and the methodologies employed are as yet to be consolidated. A systematic relationship typically exists between experimental archaeology and the analyses of ancient objects to understand the character and causation of traces of use on objects. Mediation between these approaches has typically been undertaken using physical casts of damage on ancient objects or primary documentation and illustration by hand. We propose in this paper that advances in digital 3D modelling provide a new and dynamic interlocutor between artefact analyses and experimental archaeology. To this end, we evaluate the pros and cons of two of the affordable and commonly used modes of 3D data capture – laser scanning and structure from motion/photogrammetry – for studying the wear on bladed metal objects. We conclude that 3D modelling has considerable potential for enhancing metalwork wear analysis and object biography research. This is due to the dynamics of storing and displaying wear data for particular objects and by linking the study of traces of use on ancient objects more generally with those developed through experimental research.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics, 2016
The Annual of the British School at Athens, 1984
In Part I, a survey of the Minoan town at Palaikastro recording architectural features and sherd ... more In Part I, a survey of the Minoan town at Palaikastro recording architectural features and sherd densities is presented. The survey allows for the town limits to be drawn and the probable location of the town centre to be identified. Possible approach routes are noted and an extension of the town to the Promontory and East Beach areas is examined. Part II is a report on building materials at Palaikastro and the Minoan quarries at Ta Skaria, where large quantities of calcareous sandstone were extracted. A magnetic survey of the central, unexcavated part of the site is presented in Part III. A short report on ancient remains at Kouremonos is given in Part IV. Part V is a summary of the previous parts, pointing out important results such as the evidence for ribbon development along approach routes in MM III/LM I and the likelihood that almost 1,000 cubic metres of calcareous sandstone used in ashlar masonry were extracted from the Minoan quarries but remain unaccounted for at Palaikast...
Open Archaeology, 2018
The largest corpus of clay figurines from the Cretan Bronze Age comes from ritual mountain sites ... more The largest corpus of clay figurines from the Cretan Bronze Age comes from ritual mountain sites known as peak sanctuaries. In this paper, we explore how the ‛Figures in 3D’ project contributes to our understanding of these figurines, aiding in the study of the technologies of figurine construction and the typological analysis of distinctive styles. We discuss how the project has, more unexpectedly, begun to create new dialogues and opportunities for moving between the material and the digital by taking a multifaceted approach that combines the data from 3D models and 3D prints with experimental work in clay.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2015
Archaeology of Spiritualities, 2012
Previous work by the authors has argued for a shamanic element to Cretan Bronze Age religion. Lat... more Previous work by the authors has argued for a shamanic element to Cretan Bronze Age religion. Late Minoan gold rings with engraved ritual scenes show clear affinities with imagery expressive of ecstatic religious experience in other ancient and traditional societies. We interpret the clay figurines from Minoan peak sanctuaries as similarly expressive of the participants’ spiritual experience, whereby the body was a medium to access altered states. The authors’ excavation of the western Cretan peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakies is presented as a case study. Our work has been firmly located within current archaeological interest in the body, and in experiential and experimental methodologies. We also argue for the importance of a fully sensory archaeology, which engages with the dynamics of ritual and spirituality on these mountain shrines. In this chapter we explicitly address the issues raised by our own encounters and experimentation with shamanic practices in a Cretan context, particularly the apparent tension between objective and subjective analysis, and how that may be resolved.
… and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum, 2001
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1994
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 1992
The Minoan mountain peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakias (Rethymnon, Crete) was excavated by the... more The Minoan mountain peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakias (Rethymnon, Crete) was excavated by the author in 1989. This article presents the first published account of that excavation and addresses its contribution to broader issues, methodological and interpretative, of Cretan Bronze Age religion. The spatial distribution of over 7500 finds was recorded, enabling the detailed reconstruction of the use and function of the sanctuary. This reconstruction is compared with other approaches to the identification of prehistoric cult places in Greece. Of the other excavated peak sanctuaries, the best known are élite sanctuaries associated with palatial centres; Atsipadhes Korakias is a poor, rural sanctuary, and offers a counterbalanced perspective on Minoan peak sanctuaries.
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 1994
Neuman, ]., 1993. Climatic changes in Europe and the Near East in the second millennium BC. Clima... more Neuman, ]., 1993. Climatic changes in Europe and the Near East in the second millennium BC. Climatic Change 23, 231-45. Ortloff, CR & AC Kolata, 1993. Climate and collapse: agro-ecological perspectives on the decline of the Tiwanaku state. ]ournal of Archaeological Science 20, ...
Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 1995
The Function of the Minoan Palaces, 1987