Reuben Thorpe | University College London (original) (raw)

Books by Reuben Thorpe

Berytus is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to archaeological and ethnoarchaeologic... more Berytus is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to archaeological and ethnoarchaeological studies on Syria and Lebanon from prehistoric to Islamic times, but will also publish articles on neighbouring regions and in related fields. Berytus is published annually by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the American University of Beirut (AUB). The subscription rate is US$ 30 per volume plus postage, payable by credit card or bank draft.

Archaeology of the Beirut Souks 3: The Insula of the House of the Fountains, 2019

This document is an Archaeological Assessment commissioned by Team International engineering and ... more This document is an Archaeological Assessment commissioned by Team International engineering and management consultants. After giving some preliminary background to the report and the methods used in its compilation, it addresses all the sites proposed for ground works in the Beirut area (figs.1&2) while outlining their known historical development. It also specifies the types of archaeological material that may be found on each site and suggests the most prudent mitigation strategy. The report gives some wider background history for several wider areas that may be affected by the proposed development and assesses the likely level of preservation of archaeological remains in these areas as well as likely nature, date and relative significance. The concluding sections deal with visible archaeological trends present in the data and also the recommended mitigation strategies along with possible options of work for each site. Two appendices are also attached of the individual site reports, their references, and figures which characterise and outline the archaeological significance of each area based on the survey.

Papers by Reuben Thorpe

What Is Medicine?Western and Eastern Approaches to Healing, 2009

Reconsidering Archaeological Fieldwork, 2012

This paper has had a long gestation which began in 1997 as an article Chris Cumberpatch and I (Cu... more This paper has had a long gestation which began in 1997 as an article Chris Cumberpatch and I (Cumberpatch and Thorpe 1997) began to put together where we questioned the focus of the debate, played out in the pages of Antiquity, between Fekri Hassan and Ian Hodder (Hassan 1997; Hodder 1997, 1998). Later, in 2004, I was fortunate enough to be asked to contribute an overview paper to the proceedings of the Stratigraphy Conference held at York in 2001. Unfortunately the first paper was never completely finished and the publication of the Stratigraphy Conference proceedings has been cancelled. This chapter then draws together aspects of both papers, as the debate is still one with relevance today and includes an expansion of my thinking (up to June 2010) on other areas addressed by my original paper given in the Reconsidering the on-site relationship between subject, object, theory and practice session of the Theoretical Archaeology Group conference in at York in 2007.

Digging in the dirt: excavation in a …, 2004

Transactions of the …, 1994

Page 1. An Iron Age and Romano-British Enclosure System at Normanton le Heath, Leicestershire by ... more Page 1. An Iron Age and Romano-British Enclosure System at Normanton le Heath, Leicestershire by Reuben Thorpe and Josephine Sharman with Patrick Clay. A system of enclosures and droveways, known from aerial reconnaissance ...

Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1997

Berytus Archaeological Studies, 1997

... Autores: Reuben Thorpe, Helga Seeden; Localización: Berytus: Archaeological Studies, ISSN 006... more ... Autores: Reuben Thorpe, Helga Seeden; Localización: Berytus: Archaeological Studies, ISSN 0067-6195, Nº 43, 1997-1998 , págs. 221-254. Fundación Dialnet. Acceso de usuarios registrados. Acceso de usuarios registrados Usuario. Contraseña. Entrar. Mi Dialnet. ...

The Antiquaries Journal, 2003

This insula, which lay on the western margin of the earlier Iron Age city, was uncovered during p... more This insula, which lay on the western margin of the earlier Iron Age city, was uncovered during post-war reconstruction work carried out in Beirut during 1994–6. Laid out in the Hellenistic period, the insula was filled out with a series of small courtyard houses after the Roman annexation. A public portico was added along a main street in the second quarter of the second century, before a period of relative inactivity. The district was revived and rebuilt in the middle of the fourth century and was home to a series of handsome town houses in the fifth century, before being devastated by earthquake in AD 551. The site was then left derelict until the early nineteenth century. This interim report sets these findings within their broader historical and archaeological context, as well as summarizing the results of recent work on the site's ceramics and stratigraphy.

Rescue Archaeology Foundations for the future, 2015

This paper is an attempt to give air-time to issues around the procurement, funding and execution... more This paper is an attempt to give air-time to issues around the procurement, funding and execution of rescue archaeology in England the conduct of which is situated within the sphere of land planning and its practice within the world of commerce.

"This paper has had a long gestation which began in 1997 as an article Chris Cumberpatch and I (C... more "This paper has had a long gestation which began in 1997 as an article Chris Cumberpatch and I (Cumberpatch and Thorpe 1997) began to put together where we questioned the focus of the debate, played out in the pages of Antiquity, between Fekri Hassan and Ian Hodder (Hassan 1997; Hodder 1997, 1998). Later, in 2004, I was fortunate enough to be asked to contribute an overview paper to the proceedings of the Stratigraphy Conference held at York in 2001. Unfortunately the first paper
was never completely finished and the publication of the Stratigraphy Conference proceedings has been cancelled. This chapter then draws together aspects of both papers, as the debate is still one with relevance today and includes an expansion of my thinking (up to June 2010) on other areas addressed by my original paper given in the Reconsidering the on-site relationship between subject, object, theory and
practice session of the Theoretical Archaeology Group conference in at York in 2007. In the following paper I agree with Shanks and McGuire (1996), Berggren and Hodder (2003) and Chadwick (2003) that for the actual excavator and specialist
much current practice is characterised by alienation from the process of interpretation. Where I disagree is with the attribution of the causes of this alienation. In my view the causes do not lie in a tradition of pseudo-objectivity within British Archaeology,
nor are they to be found in revisionist and partial readings of the history of the development of approaches to archaeological fieldwork in Britain. Alienation from the process of interpretation is not a consequence of processual field methodology,
nor the specific absence of a post-processual field method. Instead, I argue that the current state of archaeological field practice in Britain is due almost entirely to the social, political and economic context of the production of archaeological data.
I conclude that any attempt to (re)empower the interpretive arm of the excavator must actively engage with and address, first and foremost, these circumstances "

This paper represents a conflation and augmentation of incomplete and/or unpublished work 1 under... more This paper represents a conflation and augmentation of incomplete and/or unpublished work 1 undertaken/presented/produced while the author was resident in the Republic of Macedonia between 2006 and 2009. The core of this paper broadly concerns itself with aspects of the theory and praxis of cultural heritage management, specifically the management of archaeological resources, and seeks to explore how inexpensive, non-destructive, archaeological techniques might, if there is the political will and capacity, enable the identification, quantification, protection and management of the archaeological resource of the Republic of Macedonia.

The paper narrates the stratigraphic sequence within one room of a Roman and Byzantine bathing co... more The paper narrates the stratigraphic sequence within one room of a Roman and Byzantine bathing complex. It goes on to explain the structure used used to interpret the room as a means of illustrating how (in their strictest sense) the Laws of Archaeological Stratigraphy (Harris 1979, 1989) and the archaeologists who apply them are challenged by sites that exist as partially extant, though essentially buried, ruins. The final sections of the paper considers issues of archaeological methodology and the recognition of stratigraphic complexity complexity, concluding that more traditional methodologies, as practised on the archaeology of the Middle East, and more recent thinking on archaeological method, as expounded by Hodder 1997, fails to address deposit, site and stratigraphic complexity adequately.

A quarter of a century ago Martin Carver articulated, in print, three general processes, site for... more A quarter of a century ago Martin Carver articulated, in print, three general processes, site formation processes if you like, that operate on any "urban" archaeological site terming them as part of the process of "urban development". These physical processes of dismantling, levelling up and levelling down, in towns at least, are the manifestation of what he termed the urban motor, the making and re-making of a town and presumably urban life.

The aim of this paper is to briefly examine some of the practical and philosophical issues around... more The aim of this paper is to briefly examine some of the practical and philosophical issues around post-excavation. I will try to illustrate some of my points with recourse to the development and practice of post-excavation in England; but I am not doing this to hold up English practice as exemplar of best practice. For the purposes of this paper, I want to get away from contrasting national post excavation practices between Council of Europe states. I think what we need to consider are underlying principles. What is post excavation? What is its purpose? What is its point? I use the example of England because that is the area I know best having run projects in the public, private and university sector before and after the introduction of the market to archaeology in the UK. Thinking about defining underlying principles is necessary, not because it is a worthy exercise in its own right, which it is, but because post-excavation is underpinned by the theoretical paradigms and practices that underpin the excavations they are post of. There are many practices of archaeology in Europe, differing excavation traditions, differing theories of method. There is no consensus on what might constitute European best practice in excavation, we all dig and record differently. Why should post excavation be any different? Are common P a p e r a s p r e s e n t e d a t E u r o p e a n A s s o c i a t i o n o f A r c h a e o l o g i s t s c o n f e r e n c e i n O c t o b e r 2 0 1 0

This document was supposed to provide an outline guide to what constitutes a fully checked drawn ... more This document was supposed to provide an outline guide to what constitutes a fully checked drawn and written record for those excavating in Beirut as part of the Anglo-Lebanese excavation team.

Paper from November 2007 outlining research aims and progress in the review of my first year doin... more Paper from November 2007 outlining research aims and progress in the review of my first year doing my PhD

Archaeology of the Beirut Souks 3: The Insula of the House of the Fountains, 2019

What Is Medicine?Western and Eastern Approaches to Healing, 2009

Reconsidering Archaeological Fieldwork, 2012

Digging in the dirt: excavation in a …, 2004

Transactions of the …, 1994

Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1997

Berytus Archaeological Studies, 1997

The Antiquaries Journal, 2003

Rescue Archaeology Foundations for the future, 2015

There are many ways to phase a site depending on where and for who you have worked and what type ... more There are many ways to phase a site depending on where and for who you have worked and what type of site you are on. The actual mechanics of doing it however are quite similar

This paper has had a long gestation which began, initially, in 1997 as something Chris Cumberpatc... more This paper has had a long gestation which began, initially, in 1997 as something Chris Cumberpatch and I began to put together which questioned the focus of the debate, played out in the pages of Antiquity between Fakhri Hassan and Ian Hodder. Later, in 2004, I was asked to contribute a paper to the BAR from the proceedings of Stratigraphy conference at York in 2001. Unfortunately, the first paper was never completely finished and the second has yet to appear. This paper draws on both of these sources as the debate is still one with relevance today.

The town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, has a proud and rich historic and political heritage spanni... more The town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, has a proud and rich historic and political heritage spanning the 17th century to the closure of the mines and the abandonment of its manufacturing base in the late 20th cent. The rich heritage of Chesterfield however extends further, documentary references to Chesterfield date as far back as 955 AD, when a CESTERFELDA, meaning ‘the open country near (or by) the Roman station’ is mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon Charter. Chance finds in the 18th and 19th centuries provided the first evidence that Chesterfield had its origins in the Roman period. The Derbyshire Sites and Monuments Record reports a number of individual finds made during the last three centuries. However, the history of archaeological archives and provision for curation in Derbyshire since 1983 is not altogether a happy one, for reasons that cannot be addressed here. This paper presents work undertaken by myself and Chris Cumberpatch to relate excavations undertaken in the 1970's, with more recent projects. This has much to teach us about changes in fieldwork practice, allowing interesting comparisons between the excavations and the archives of different periods to emerge.

In the first part of this paper I would like to give a relatively detailed narration of the Imper... more In the first part of this paper I would like to give a relatively detailed narration of the Imperial Thermae on site BEY 045 and then proceed to offer some observations on the urban topography of the immediate area. I will then follow this brief statement by arguing that an archaeology of meaning is of more relevance to understanding the past and cities than merely as Philip Barker put it the archaeology of "what is there". That investigative strategies aimed at research led problem solving can be integrated into an Urban rescue framework and that this approach requires that we as archaeologists challenge ourselves individually, challenge our data, and importantly the paradigms under which this has been collected.

The excavations in downtown Beirut have had an international if not always favourable profile, ar... more The excavations in downtown Beirut have had an international if not always favourable profile, articles have appeared and continue to appear in many respected popular and academic journals. Nearly all however deal with what has been described as the holy trinity of Lebanese archaeology, ie that which is essentially western in outlook and concerns the archaeological remains of the Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians. Later Islamic and Ottoman deposits have so far received little mention in published works, a situation which forces one to ask if this has been due to their absence from many sites or whether it has been removed wholesale with little archaeological record in order to rapidly gain access to what is commonly perceived to be the culturally “more important” classical material below?
In this paper I hope to present a sample of the Later Mamluk and Ottoman archaeology encountered on three sites BEY 006, 007 and 045 excavated by an Anglo Lebanese team from the AUB and ACRE (Archaeological Collaboration for Research and Excavation) in downtown Beirut between 1995 and 1997.

In this presentation I wanted to speak briefly about issues relating to the management of the his... more In this presentation I wanted to speak briefly about issues relating to the management of the historic environment and its archaeological resource. I intend to use examples from recent work undertaken at Scupi as part of a pilot project funded by the British Embassy to illustrate how a range of inexpensive techniques and technologies already owned by Macedonian national and regional institutions can rapidly and cost effectively enhance our ability to pro-actively manage the archaeological resource. This project, which commenced in 2006 had three aspects.

Conflicting regional traditions in the practice of archaeological methodology may denude the valu... more Conflicting regional traditions in the practice of archaeological methodology may denude the value of archaeological enquiry as part of the development process if intra-national research agendas cannot be formulated, likewise intra-national research frameworks cannot be formulated without their being a degree of commonality in the practice of archaeo0ogy within Europe. The case study of excavations in Beirut in the 1990s' is used to draw some of these issues out.