Tobias L . Kienlin | Universität zu Köln (original) (raw)
Books and edited volumes by Tobias L . Kienlin
This is the second part of a study on Bronze Age tells, and on our approaches towards an understa... more This is the second part of a study on Bronze Age tells, and on our approaches towards an understanding of this fascinating way of life drawing on the material remains of long-term architectural stability and references back to ancestral place. Focusing on a rather specific way of organising social space and a particular materiality as a medium of past social action, this is also a study with wider implications for the study of European prehistory and theoretical issues of archaeological interpretation. Unlike the reductionist macro perspective of mainstream social modelling, inspired by aspects of practice theory outlined in this book, the account given seeks to allow for what is truly remarkable about these sites, and what we can infer from them about the way of life they once framed and enabled.
The social is never a static given, but is situated in space and time where it constantly unfolds anew. The stability seen on tells, and their apparent lack of change on a macro scale, are specific features of the social field, in a given region and for a specific period of time. They come about as the result of social life unfolding in a specific way, and not another, that leaves the total nexus of practices and the material arrangements that together make up human sociality seemingly unchanged in outward appearance. In a community thus favouring tradition over change, norms and shared ends not only link and orient actions into practices, as they always do, but may effectuate the broadly speaking unchanged persistence of traditional practices and discourage deviation by social actors, without ever reducing them, of course, to mere dummies. Similarly, the material world that is always both the outcome of action and structures that action in the context of organised practices, by virtue of its longevity and apparent givenness may come to prefigure the social future in likenesses of the past more consistently than is otherwise the case. The social process, however, will always be fundamentally open and indeterminate, as social actors do have agency and intentionality in pursuit of their notion of a life well accomplished. Both stability and change are contingent upon specific historical contexts, including traditional practices, their material setting and human intentionality. They are not an inherent, given property of this or that ‘type’ of society or social structure.
For on our tells, it is argued here, underneath the specific manifestation of sociality maintained, we clearly do see social practices and corresponding material arrangements being negotiated and adjusted. Echoing the argument laid out in the first part of this study, it is suggested that archaeology should take an interest in such processes on the micro scale, rather than succumb to the temptation of neat macro history and great narratives existing aloof from the material remains of past lives.
Deeply stratified settlements are a distinctive site type featuring prominently in diverse later ... more Deeply stratified settlements are a distinctive site type featuring prominently in diverse later prehistoric landscapes of the Old World. Their massive materiality has attracted the curiosity of lay people and archaeologists alike. Nowadays a wide variety of archaeological projects are tracking the lifestyles and social practices that led to the building-up of such superimposed artificial hills. However, prehistoric tell-dwelling communities are too often approached from narrow local perspectives or discussed within strict time- and culture-specific debates. There is a great potential to learn from such ubiquitous archaeological manifestations as the physical outcome of cross-cutting dynamics and comparable underlying forces irrespective of time and space.
This volume tackles tells and tell-like sites as a transversal phenomenon whose commonalities and divergences are poorly understood yet may benefit from cross-cultural comparison. Thus, the book intends to assemble a representative range of ongoing theory- and science-based fieldwork projects targeting this kind of sites. With the aim of encompassing a variety of social and material dynamics, the volume’s scope is diachronic – from the Earliest Neolithic up to the Iron Age–, and covers a very large region, from Iberia in Western Europe to Syria in the Middle East. The core of the volume comprises a selection of the most remarkable contributions to the session with a similar title celebrated in the European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting held at Barcelona in 2018. In addition, the book includes invited chapters to round out underrepresented areas and periods in the EAA session with relevant research programmes in the Old World.
Originally published in paperback Bronze Age Tell Communities in Context – An Exploration Into Cu... more Originally published in paperback Bronze Age Tell Communities in Context – An Exploration Into Culture, Society and the Study of European Prehistory Part 1 – Critique: Europe and the Mediterranean by Tobias L. Kienlin. vi+168 pages; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white. Print ISBN 9781784911478, Archaeopress 2015. Paperback edition available here. This version published in Archaeopress Open Access 2015, available here. For more information regarding Archaeopress Open Access please visit the Archaeopress website.
Direct link to Print book: http://archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id={A9CE4A63-76D9-4635-A366-34EA8A3CB165}
This is the second part of a study on Bronze Age tells, and on our approaches towards an understa... more This is the second part of a study on Bronze Age tells, and on our approaches towards an understanding of this fascinating way of life drawing on the material remains of long-term architectural stability and references back to ancestral place. Focusing on a rather specific way of organising social space and a particular materiality as a medium of past social action, this is also a study with wider implications for the study of European prehistory and theoretical issues of archaeological interpretation. Unlike the reductionist macro perspective of mainstream social modelling, inspired by aspects of practice theory outlined in this book, the account given seeks to allow for what is truly remarkable about these sites, and what we can infer from them about the way of life they once framed and enabled.
The social is never a static given, but is situated in space and time where it constantly unfolds anew. The stability seen on tells, and their apparent lack of change on a macro scale, are specific features of the social field, in a given region and for a specific period of time. They come about as the result of social life unfolding in a specific way, and not another, that leaves the total nexus of practices and the material arrangements that together make up human sociality seemingly unchanged in outward appearance. In a community thus favouring tradition over change, norms and shared ends not only link and orient actions into practices, as they always do, but may effectuate the broadly speaking unchanged persistence of traditional practices and discourage deviation by social actors, without ever reducing them, of course, to mere dummies. Similarly, the material world that is always both the outcome of action and structures that action in the context of organised practices, by virtue of its longevity and apparent givenness may come to prefigure the social future in likenesses of the past more consistently than is otherwise the case. The social process, however, will always be fundamentally open and indeterminate, as social actors do have agency and intentionality in pursuit of their notion of a life well accomplished. Both stability and change are contingent upon specific historical contexts, including traditional practices, their material setting and human intentionality. They are not an inherent, given property of this or that ‘type’ of society or social structure.
For on our tells, it is argued here, underneath the specific manifestation of sociality maintained, we clearly do see social practices and corresponding material arrangements being negotiated and adjusted. Echoing the argument laid out in the first part of this study, it is suggested that archaeology should take an interest in such processes on the micro scale, rather than succumb to the temptation of neat macro history and great narratives existing aloof from the material remains of past lives.
Deeply stratified settlements are a distinctive site type featuring prominently in diverse later ... more Deeply stratified settlements are a distinctive site type featuring prominently in diverse later prehistoric landscapes of the Old World. Their massive materiality has attracted the curiosity of lay people and archaeologists alike. Nowadays a wide variety of archaeological projects are tracking the lifestyles and social practices that led to the building-up of such superimposed artificial hills. However, prehistoric tell-dwelling communities are too often approached from narrow local perspectives or discussed within strict time- and culture-specific debates. There is a great potential to learn from such ubiquitous archaeological manifestations as the physical outcome of cross-cutting dynamics and comparable underlying forces irrespective of time and space.
This volume tackles tells and tell-like sites as a transversal phenomenon whose commonalities and divergences are poorly understood yet may benefit from cross-cultural comparison. Thus, the book intends to assemble a representative range of ongoing theory- and science-based fieldwork projects targeting this kind of sites. With the aim of encompassing a variety of social and material dynamics, the volume’s scope is diachronic – from the Earliest Neolithic up to the Iron Age–, and covers a very large region, from Iberia in Western Europe to Syria in the Middle East. The core of the volume comprises a selection of the most remarkable contributions to the session with a similar title celebrated in the European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting held at Barcelona in 2018. In addition, the book includes invited chapters to round out underrepresented areas and periods in the EAA session with relevant research programmes in the Old World.
Originally published in paperback Bronze Age Tell Communities in Context – An Exploration Into Cu... more Originally published in paperback Bronze Age Tell Communities in Context – An Exploration Into Culture, Society and the Study of European Prehistory Part 1 – Critique: Europe and the Mediterranean by Tobias L. Kienlin. vi+168 pages; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white. Print ISBN 9781784911478, Archaeopress 2015. Paperback edition available here. This version published in Archaeopress Open Access 2015, available here. For more information regarding Archaeopress Open Access please visit the Archaeopress website.
Direct link to Print book: http://archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id={A9CE4A63-76D9-4635-A366-34EA8A3CB165}
This paper presents new information on the domestic architecture in the outer settlement of a Bro... more This paper presents new information on the domestic architecture in the outer settlement of a Bronze Age tell in the Great Hungarian Plain. This data is the result of archaeological fieldwork carried out between 2021 and 2023 at the tell-based settlement complex in Toboliu (western Romania). The fieldwork consisted of an extensive coring survey of the outer settlement and targeted excavations of two off-tell house locations. In order to explore the various household configurations at this complex site, a comparison of on-tell and off-tell houses is also made, focusing on construction details and building techniques.
Crisia, 2023
During the 2022 excavation campaign in the outer settlement of the Brozne Age tell at Toboliu (Bi... more During the 2022 excavation campaign in the outer settlement of the Brozne Age tell at Toboliu
(Bihor County, Romania), an anthropomorphic figurine was discovered in a shallow pit located
inside a house. Seven cups were also found in the pit. In this paper, a description of the finds and
their context is given, together with possible interpretations. Special emphasis is placed on the
way the figurine was modelled. The discussion also includes an overview of Bronze Age
anthropomorphic figurines from the wider region.
The Bronze Age on both sides of the Carpathians. Studies in Honor of Tudor Soroceanu at 80 Years, 2024
The aim of this paper is to present and analyse two decorated hearths excavated in 2021 in the Br... more The aim of this paper is to present and analyse two decorated hearths excavated in 2021 in the Bronze Age tell-based settlement complex at Toboliu (Romania). The hearths were found in a domestic context in the outer settlement surrounding the Toboliu tell. After a detailed description of their find context, the discussion focuses on their decoration, construction techniques, structural characteristics, and building materials. In order to provide a broader perspective, the paper will also include an overview of Bronze Age decorated hearths from the wider region. Additionally, stylistic and technological comparisons will be made between the Toboliu finds and contemporary decorated hearths from across the Carpathian Basin.
Cronica Cercetărilor Arheologice din România. Campania 2021, 2022
Crisia, 2021
In this paper we present a new research project dedicated to the interdisciplinary investigation ... more In this paper we present a new research project dedicated to the interdisciplinary investigation of the complex Bronze Age site in Toboliu (Bihor County, Romania). Using a multidisciplinary approach, the project aims to reveal the interplay of factors that contributed to the development and subsequent decline of this site. To this end, the planned investigations feature both archaeological fieldwork and comprehensive scientific analyses; the main disciplines involved here are geoarchaeology, archaeozoology, arcaheobotany and molecular archaeology. Hence, this project contains two closely integrated parts (archaeology and natural sciences), which in cooperation will hopefully provide a broad spectrum of new information about a Bronze Age tell in terms of the chronological and spatial development of the entire site structure, as well as subsistence practices and social and economic developments.
Gesta, 2018
Așezarea de epoca bronzului de la Toboliu-Dâmbu Zănăcanului este cunoscută în literatura de speci... more Așezarea de epoca bronzului de la Toboliu-Dâmbu Zănăcanului este cunoscută în literatura de
specialitate încă de la jumătatea secolului al XX-lea. Cercetări arheologice propriu-zise au fost efectuate
în anii 60 și 70 ai secolului trecut de către Nicolae Chidioșan, Sever Dumitrașcu și Doina Ignat. Noi
cercetări au fost inițiate în anul 2014, fiind continuate până în prezent. În urma acestor cercetări s-a
constatat că este vorba despre o așezare multi-stratificată atribuită stilului ceramic Otomani care a
funcționat pe parcursul bronzului mijlociu (cca. 2000/1900-1600/1500 BC). Partea centrală a sitului este
reprezentată de o movilă antropică, înconjurată de două șanțuri concentrice și o așezare secundară de
mari dimensiuni.
access link on: http://ufg.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/aktuelles/praehistorisches-kolloquium-ringvorlesung
The past two decades have seen exciting advances in modelling the interplay of society and the ma... more The past two decades have seen exciting advances in modelling the interplay of society and the material world. Part of the interest in the interrelation of sociality and materiality has its origin in the field of practice theory that emerged across a broad spectrum of the social and cultural sciences and continues to thrive in recent debates. Archaeology and other disciplines studying the ancient world have engaged with a range of pertinent ideas originally developed in sociology and anthropology. However, in some sections of this debate the focus recently has shifted towards questions of agency and actor-network-theory, embracing notions of material agency, which overemphasize the role of objects at the expense of human agency. In this lecture series, we will explore recent approaches in practice theory and showcase examples that demonstrate its potential and limitations for interpretation in specific social, material and historical contexts. The series assembles contributions from the ancient world, history, sociology and anthropology and is designed to bring audiences from different backgrounds together for discussion and debate.
CfP Neolithic and Bronze Age tells and their networks in the Carpathian Basin and beyond
Based on recent archaeological research, the planned conference session seeks to address the Euro... more Based on recent archaeological research, the planned conference session seeks to address the European perspective on Neolithic and Bronze Age tells. The main focus will be on the emergence and abandonment of the tells of these two major prehistoric periods as functions of a particular geographical region. In addition to looking at the unique space/time dimensions of tells, our goal is to identify the shared traits of tells as well as to determine general trends and patterns based on various case studies. Another focus will be on how tells are embedded in the period's networks and their multiscalar relations, whereby we can broaden the overall contexts of their investigation and historic evaluation. In addition, we would like to provide a forum for multidisciplinary research and the potentials of geospatial applications. It is our hope that the proposed frameworks will provide fruitful discussions of the benefits of both the bottom-up and top-down approach as part of the session. Call for papers ends on 13 February 2020
We would like to draw your attention to the session “Current Approaches to Tells and Tell-like Si... more We would like to draw your attention to the session “Current Approaches to Tells and Tell-like Sites in the Prehistoric Old World” that we are organising at this year’s 24th EAA Annual Meeting in Barcelona (https://www.e-a-a.org/eaa2018). The session will focus on multi-layer sites in Eurasia from the Earliest Neolithic up to the Iron Age, and from Western Europe to the Middle East, envisaged as a transversal phenomenon whose commonalities and divergences are poorly understood yet may benefit from cross-cultural comparison. Contributors are encouraged to present synthetic overviews or cases studies in social terms from theoretically-informed and methodologically innovative perspectives on this cultural phenomenon. Papers should address key questions such as: what social practices (e.g. dwelling, gathering, maintenance or abandonment chores) contributed to their characteristic formation in contrast to those held on flat sites?; what are these deeply-stratified sites made of (e.g. everyday refuse or middens, sun-dried mud, daub or stone building debris)?; how can we measure and correlate time with sedimentation rates/accumulation trajectories using ‘micro-archaeological’ science-based methods (micromorphology, taphonomy)?; how did these sites relate to mobility/sedentarism and high/low-density aggregation dynamics?; how cutting-edge excavation and survey datasets may support sounder social interpretations?; what cultural rationales, sensory experiences or arenas for social action may have fostered/afforded such archaeology (in terms of genealogies, history making and cultural memory, monumentalization, movement and perception, legitimation of ownership claims)? Submission is now open at https://eaa.klinkhamergroup.com/eaa2018/ until 15 February 2018. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us (ablancoglez@gmail.com; tkienlin@uni-koeln.de) Best wishes, Antonio Blanco-González and Tobias L. Kienlin