Archaeology of Buildings Research Papers (original) (raw)

RÉSUMÉ Les études récentes consacrées à l’architecture de l’abbatiale Sainte-Foy de Conques montrent que l’approche archéologique du bâti permet de largement renouveler notre vision de la marche du chantier. Ainsi une étude... more

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- Archaeology of Buildings, Romanesque architecture
- by M. Chris Manning
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- Art, Apotropaic Devices, Colonial America, Alchemy

Chapter 7 of The Medieval and Ottoman Hajj Route in Jordan

Stift Göttweig is located approx. 4 km south of the city Krems an der Donau on the hill "Göttweiger Berg" in the foreland of the Dunkelsteinerwald on c. 420 m. The monastery has been founded by bishop Altmann von Passau in 1083 at the latest and was redesigned in the 18th century according to plans by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, who brought the monastery to its present form of landscape-defining appearance. In 2019, geophysical examinations of the entire area were carried out using georadar. The collected data answered architectural questions and created a sustainable basis for planning potential future construction projects and earth movements in the area.

- by Paulo Charruadas and +2
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- Urban History, Archaeology of Buildings, Brussels, History of the Duchy of Brabant (Low Countries)

The Catholic parish church of Sânmartin
(Harghita County, Romania) is a featureless 19th
century building without any obvious historical
arhitectural element. Written sources although
prove that a church already stood in the village
at the beginning of the 14th century. At the same
time, archaeological material collected during field
surveys in the area shows the existence of an earlier
settlement, therefore even the existence of the 12th–
13th century church can be presumed. The Medieval
church was destroyed before the construction of the
actual building, but some Medieval elements (a
Gothic Madonna-statue, bell, tabernacle, font) were
preserved. During the restoration works, in 2015,
we managed to document the walls of the Medieval
church, which had more phases: nave, vestry, and
chancel. On the South wall of the nave, the trace
of the entrance could be observed, and also the
remains, pilasters of the later Western gallery. Two
blocks of secondary altars came to light by the East
corners of the nave. The Late Medieval chancel had a
poligonal plan with buttresses and it was covered by a
vault made of terracotta ribs. On the South wall, an
interior niche (for stalls?) and an exterior buttress
could be documented, furthermore the stone block
of the altar and a trace of a crypt were also visible.
This one very probably belonged to the Becz-family
who were the most important patrons of the church
during the Middle Ages. The vestry is clearly older
then the nave, and very probably earlier than the
chancel. After the archaeological surveillance, one
could separate the most important building phases,
but naturally more details still wait for an answer.

- by Istvan Botar
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- Archaeology, Medieval Studies, Medieval Archaeology, Archaeology of Buildings

Dans cet article, nous faisons le point sur la connaissance de l’architecture vernaculaire en Flandre rurale, du xiiie au xixe s. À cet effet, nous relevons d’abord l’historiographie de la recherche et traitons les principales évolutions architecturales. Dans un second temps, nous traçons les grandes lignes de l’histoire du développement de la ferme flamande à l’aide de l’exemple de la ferme « Ter Hille ». Cet exemple peut certainement constituer un référentiel pour les fermes de la région de Furnes et même de la région du littoral flamand, depuis le fleuve Aa dans le département du Nord de la France, jusqu’à l’Escaut en Flandre zélandaise (Pays-Bas). C’est moins le cas pour la région de Courtrai en Flandre du Sud-Ouest et pour la Flandre orientale, où l’on constate des différences régionales très nettes.

- by Alexander Lehouck and +1
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- Vernacular Architecture, Archaeology of Buildings, Early Modern Architecture, Eighty Years' War (1568-1648)

This study examines above-ground frame buildings and their numerous parallels in various cultures. In Western Siberia, these structures occur throughout the area from the forest-steppe to the northern taiga and over a time span from the Chalcolithic to the Middle Ages. They were especially popular during the Bronze to Iron Age transition. In settlements, remains of these buildings usually look like oval or rounded areas raised above the ground and surrounded by shallow pits or ditches and sometimes by low earthen mounds. Recent ethnographic studies among the Selkups of the Upper Taz River, Krasnoselkupsky District, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, demonstrate that the natives of the northern taiga have been using such constructions until the present time. These frame dwellings, shaped like truncated pyramids, had no foundation pits and were covered with sand and turf. They were called poy-mat, which means “wooden house” in Selkup. Poy-mat was a seasonal dwelling that, in the 20th century, was used by hunters and poor reindeer herders in the winter. Our findings reveal parallels between Selkup and archaeological dwellings and allow us to reconstruct the appearance of ancient buildings, their construction, materials, and usage. This type of building had several adaptive advantages that contributed to its viability over the centuries.

- by Vladimir Adaev and +1
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- Ethnoarchaeology, Archaeology of Buildings, Siberian Ethnography (Anthropology), Ancient building techniques

The Ancient Near East (A.N.E.) is the first hub where agricultural techniques were adopted into early hunter-gathering lifestyles, binding the people to the land through sedentism, glimpsed, through the first farming villages. This led A.N.E., from ~4000 BCE, to become the first home of cities. How did agriculture lead to the “domestication of the human species” (Cauvin,1978,77)? The answer perhaps lies in changing ideology and separation from the natural world which facilitated farming and more importantly sedentism. Furthermore, changing geography, climate, religious and social theories helps understand the formation of early cities such as Uruk, Tell Brak and Eridu. And ultimately what defines a city.

The main component of the Surrey Dendrochronology Project is the accurate dating of 177 ‘dwellings’, nearly all by tree-ring analysis. The dates are used to establish date ranges for 52 ‘key features’, which cover many aspects of timber-framing from building type to details of carpentry. It is shown that changes of method and fashion were in many cases surprisingly rapid, almost abrupt in historical terms. Previous dating criteria for timber-framed dwellings in the county have been refined and new criteria introduced. Clusters of change from the 1440s and the 1540s are shown and some possible historical links suggested.

- by Rod Wild and +1
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- Archaeology, Architecture, Vernacular Architecture, Medieval Archaeology

T. Schöfbeck: Ein unbekannter Kurfürstenhof in Stendal? Beobachtungen und Gedanken zu einer prominenten Hofanlage zwischen Altem Dorf und Jacobikirche, in: Die Altmark von 1300-1600, hrsg. von Jiri Fajt, Wilfried Franzen und Peter... more

Short report about the survival of medieval structural fabric behind and within the Georgian facades of Bath, in this case two complete cross-frames revealed during a shop re-fit in 2000. We didn't have time to get a dendro-date, sadly,... more

- by Hajnalka Herold
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- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Medieval Studies

After having retraced the steps of architectural transfers in church construction in China from the 1840s to the 1940s (‘built together’), this paper defines a collaborative method for developing new knowledge and contributing safeguarding a threatened transcultural heritage through material analysis and accurate value assessments (‘heritagised together’). This method is based on fieldwork and on building archaeological research ––that is investigating the material source in China–– completed with research on archival sources in Europe.

The results of a non-invasive raking light and measured photographic survey of graffiti inscriptions and related markings located in the designated area in advance of the commencement of enabling works associated with the relocation of the organ loft. The purpose of the present survey was to record the location and details of the graffiti, and to assess their origin and the information presented by these inscriptions.

This paper presents some preliminary results about systematic Light Archaeology surveys (integrating Building and Landscape Archaeology) that the author is leading in the village of Al-Jāyyah, SE of the Shawbak castle, within the archaeological investigations on the landscape surrounding the fortress managed by the Italian archaeological Mission 'Medieval Petra,' University of Florence. The aim of the surveys is to investigate the historical connection between the castle and the village, suggested by some Medieval written sources. The research's preliminary outcomes are confirming that even if the present appearance of the village is modern, it preserves significant Medieval material evidences plausibly linked to the Crusader suburb and the Islamic madīnah of Shawbak.

From September 2008 to January 2010, a series of archaeological activities were carried out as a result of the specific modification of the Arrigorriaga urban planning bylaws in the Bentako-Erreka area. These activities included the intense prospecting of the areas to be affected by future building work, the carrying out of prospecting with soil pits and an excavation in Aguirre Tower. As a result, the remains of the Kantarape and Angoti mills were documented, along with the channel that linked them. An interesting stratigraphic sequence was discovered in Aguirre Tower, ranging from the moment of its construction to the moment at which it was abandoned.

- by Raúl Sánchez Rincón
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- Archaeology, Medieval History, Basque Studies, Medieval Studies

This paper will look at some of the excavated material for British urban workers’ housing, built and occupied during the period 1800 to 1950 in the Ancoats area of Manchester: Ancoats was notorious amongst contemporary writers and campaigners for its poor quality and over-crowded housing. This archaeological evidence has emerged as a result of developer-funded excavations and represents part of a growing body of data collected since 1990 from within many of the great industrial cities of Britain (Glasgow, London, and Manchester), as well as excavations in the numerous smaller industrial manufacturing towns of the UK. In this study particular attention is given to the impact of national legislation, private acts and local bye-laws aimed at improving industrialized living conditions and the build quality of 19th century workers’ housing occupied into the 20th century. Using excavated examples from more than 50 houses within Ancoats it will be argued that archaeology can provide a distinctive and unique view of urban domestic life in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, whilst demonstrating continuity in occupation patterns during this period. The evidence for urbanized, industrial, living also compliments the more extensive archaeological studies of manufacturing industry from the period.

The UK has no comprehensive national, regional or local indexes (whether hard copy or database format) for unpublished building records. This paper introduces a building archaeology research database (BARD), designed as an archive for both published and unpublished building records. All data may be searched, entered and amended via the Internet although, for security and quality control, entry is via password and the amendment functionality assignable. The database has been developed to both encourage people’s involvement in building archaeology and as a research tool. BARD is available through a low subscription, with any accumulated surplus being used towards its ongoing development.

- by Richard Haddlesey and +2
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- Archaeology, Architecture, Vernacular Architecture, Archaeology of Buildings

"Studies of industrial sites have tended to focus on purely functional understandings of their origins, layout, design and meaning. Industrial buildings have often been seen as an entity apart from other forms of post-medieval architectural expression. This is symptomatic of the isolation of industrial
archaeology, not only from the broader spectrum of archaeological thought but also from other disciplines which strive towards a deeper understanding of the development of consumer society. This paper explores the origin of the typical industrial complex, arguing that elements of medieval
cognition were retained into the 19th century."

- by Jurgen Wegter
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- Heritage Conservation, Archaeology of Buildings, Building archaeology, Bygningsvern
- by Bernadette McCarthy
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- Archaeology of Buildings, Postmedieval Archaeology
- by Marisa Marthari
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, Heritage Studies

This thesis provides the first detailed documentation of the standing architectural-archaeological remains of medieval Cordoba dating from the 10th to the 16th centuries. It establishes a comprehensive account of the range of building forms, the chronology of their development, and an analysis of their spatial arrangements, designed forms and materiality. It also develops a sophisticated archaeological approach to the study of ethnic community identities within colonial encounters by drawing upon and contributing to sociological and anthropological debates on ethnic expressions and diasporic lifestyles. A new methodology is employed to avoid solely identifying ethnic groupings from data sets of' ethnic signifiers' . A contextual-grammar approach is developed to visualise the everyday practices of different ethnic groups. The methodology focuses on the people and procedures imperative to constructing and living in their buildings. These everyday practices are identified as the "buildways" of ethnic communities. Social and cultural connections are analysed together with family and kinship mechanisms fundamental to ethnic practices. It is posited that varied groups across the social spectrum were actively using technical, syntactic and semantic architectural grammar not just in their artistic expressions but also in their habitual community practices. Within Cordoba's ethnic communities, architectural grammar was a vehicle for meaningful cultural and political dialogue. The creation and maintenance of an urban environment is evoked as a critical factor in the creation and maintenance of the city's ethnic expressions. The argument is made that the communication of each community's ethnic identity was not merely in the reproduction of traditional cultural practices but in their adaptation to local circumstances within what became hybridised building forms. As ethnic practices changed over generations, the continuous reuse of Cordoba's civil, domestic and religious architecture emphasised the continual adaptation of Cordoba's ethnic communities to their social surroundings.

- by Ash Lenton
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- Archaeology, Medieval Archaeology, Diaspora, Archaeology of Buildings

The purpose of the this paper is to highlight key findings from the author's seven year investigation of the archaeology and architectural history of the California mission of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad. Findings include the archaeological discovery and recovery of the Neophyte Plaza, Soldiers' Quarters, Sacristy, Narthex, Women's Quarters, and the aqueduct or zanja identified to date by the author at Mission Soledad.

- by Ruben G Mendoza
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- Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Architecture, Catholic Missionary History
- by Tóth Boglárka Márta and +1
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- Dendrochronology, Wood Science, Archaeology of Buildings, Dendroarchaeology

Questo lavoro riassume e presenta i risultati di tre anni di ricerche condotte nei territori dell’Appenino Tosco-Emiliano, con particolare attenzione per le zone comprese entro i limiti della provincia di Reggio Emilia. L’oggetto principale dell’indagine sono le architetture domestiche medievali, tanto quelle ancora conservate in elevato quanto quelle emerse nel corso delle campagne di scavo archeologico, da quelle più risalenti nel tempo fino alla svolta tardomedievale. L’attenzione è stata rivolta non solo a uno studio tipologico dei modelli architettonici e alla loro evoluzione, ma anche alla comprensione del potenziale bacino di informazioni che questo particolare tipo di fonte rappresenta per la storia sociale, economica, insediativa e culturale del territorio. Si tratta in sostanza di uno studio di archeologia dell’architettura che non intende limitarsi ai temi classici, bensì si propone come punto di incontro tra l’analisi degli alzati e l’archeologia del paesaggio.
Attraverso lo studio intrecciato tra testimonianze archeologiche e fonti scritte si sono messe in luce alcune peculiarità insediative proprie dell’Appennino reggiano, derivanti dagli eventi che hanno plasmato le comunità umane che lo hanno abitato nel corso dei secoli medievali. L’estensione dei metodi propri dell’archeologia degli alzati, già abbondantemente impiegati nello studio di chiese e castelli, alle strutture cosiddette “minori” del paesaggio architettonico ha consentito di comprendere con maggiore chiarezza le relazioni e le strutture sociali che si vennero a determinare, di volta in volta, a fronte dei mutamenti degli assetti politici del territorio.

- by Federico Zoni
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- Cultural Studies, Medieval History, Landscape Archaeology, Medieval Studies

Lecture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, november 14, 2010). Updated english version of: SUÁREZ OTERO, J. (1999), La Tumba de Santiago, entre la Fe y la Arqueología, in VV.AA., Compostela na Historia. Redescubrimento-... more

- by José Suárez Otero
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- Religion, History, Archaeology, Computer Science

(In Finnish) Medieval brickmakers’ marks are a poorly studied set of signs used by brickmakers to sign their production. This article concentrates on the marks found in Aboa Vetus Museum, Turku. These bricks can be dated to late 15th century – early 16th century according to stratigraphy and comparison to similar marks at medieval stone churches. Further studies of the signs could reveal more of the ways brickmakers worked. The signs could also offer a relative dating method for masonry buildings. It’s also suggested that the marks could stand for the attributes of saints, thus hinting at the brickmaker’s given name.

The concept of a visualscape was introduced less than a decade ago as a generic term with the aim of unifying and extending within a GIS the ideas and scope of current analyses of ‘human’ visual space, independently of their scale or context (Llobera 2003, 30). This chapter firstly starts with acknowledging that generic notions which make explicit the conceptual affinities of current visual analyses have the potential to encourage methodological innovation, and precipitate a fuller understanding of the interplay between humans and their surroundings. It then reviews recent works on three-dimensional visibility analysis found in the fields of geography, urban studies and archaeology, and discusses their conceptual contribution to the study of visual space. Focusing on these new developments it is argued that the visualscape could prove a more powerful and useful operational concept, if it is associated more broadly with the full range of technological possibilities used currently to describe the visual structure of landscapes and built spaces, rather than tied specifically to GIS applications.

- by Eleftheria Paliou
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Digital Humanities, 3D GIS

The “aegeanization” (or, alternatively, “mycenaeanization” or “hellenization”) of Cyprus is one of the more contentious debates for those engaged in the study of the island’s Late Bronze and early Iron Age periods. My own contribution to this debate arises from my ongoing study of the relationship between architecture and power on Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age. In reviewing previous studies of this architecture, it became clear that claims of foreign influence are often an important aspect of how Late Cypriot buildings are interpreted and that the origins and nature of such influences have important implications for our understanding of Late Bronze Age (LBA) sociopolitical dynamics. This study therefore represents an initial foray into addressing the issue of Aegean elements in LBA Cypriot architecture based on an approach that views built space as the context for social interaction. I begin by outlining the differing viewpoints in the ongoing debate regarding the aegeanization of Cyprus and then discuss the supposed architectural manifestations of this process. I then introduce a method for analyzing built space that might shed light on the sociopolitical dynamics surrounding one particular innovation—large halls with central hearths. I demonstrate that any aegeanization represented by this innovation should be viewed in the context of selective borrowing and adapting of Mycenaean cultural traits by Cypriot elites, rather than as the product of Mycenaean colonization.

- by Sonia Gutiérrez Lloret and +1
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- Archaeology of Buildings, Archaeology of Architecture, Semiotic Social Space, Household Archaeology
- by Paulo Charruadas and +2
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- Urban History, Archaeology of Buildings, Urban archaeology, Medieval Cities and Urbanism