The decision to shelter archaeological sites Three case-studies from Sicily

Abstract

The decision to provide a protective shelter for exposed archaeological remains is illustrated by examining case studies of three sites in Sicily that were provided with protective measures in the 1950s. The three protective shelters were designed by the same architect, Franco Minissi, for the sites of Gela, the Villa Romana del Casale (Piazza Armerina) and Heraclea Minoa. His work on protective shelters is viewed in the broader context of the development at that time in Italy of Cesare Brandi's theory of restoration and of Minissi's own philosophy of 'musealizzazione' for the protection of historic sites and their integration into contemporary society.     

Mapping the risk of damage from tree roots for the conservation of archaeological sites: the case of the Domus Aurea,Rome

Abstract

Damage caused by tree root growth to archaeological monuments buried underground, over the course of centuries, has been frequently reported in the city of Rome. The Domus Aurea, Nero's Imperial residence, now lies under the Horti Traianei (Trajan's Park) on the Oppian hill. These gardens, planted at the beginning of the last century, are located only 3–4m above the surviving archaeological structures. In some cases roots have damaged the underlying vaults, sometimes creating serious structural problems. Results of the study show that a variety of species with strong root systems growing for many metres laterally, and to depths of several metres, are present. Identification of the plants responsible for the damage has been achieved through a study of the anatomy of their wood. A real and potential assessment of the risk posed by tree roots to the archaeological structures has been attempted. The data collected will contribute to evaluating the risk to monuments under similar conditions and will also help to avoid errors made in managing the plant cover of archaeological sites     

The Contested Landscapes of World Heritage on a Tourist Island: the case of Garajonay National Park,La Gomera

This paper considers the World Heritage Site of Garajonay National Park on the island of La Gomera (Canary Islands). It is based on a research project carried out during 1999-2000 that explored the circumstances surrounding its declaration as a National Park and inclusion into the World Heritage List, in conjunction with the consequences for local communities which ensued. The proximity of Garajonay National Park to a large concentration of mass coastal tourism constitutes a further source of potential conflict which may have a wider relevance to other sites of a similar and indeed diverse nature. This paper, therefore, examines the configurations of space and social relations occasioned by the processes of social change, conservation and tourism development in and adjacent to this protected forest. In doing so it elucidates the manner in which these processes are locally mediated in and through contested values over the meaning and purpose of nature conservation in this 'world heritage space'. It argues that a sense of the forest as a place of cultural belonging has been marginalised in favour of its intrinsic ecological value.     

Methodology,consetvation criteria and performance evaluation for archaeological site shelters

Abstract

The many intersecting issues that arise when deciding whether to shelter an archaeological site should be approached using a values-based methodology, one that has demonstrated its validity arid practical worth in conservation over recent decades. Nonetheless, pitfalls abound in the decision-making process and in establishing effective conservation criteria which should be based principally on a thorough understanding of the threats to the resource and the specific deterioration mechanisms operating, with the objective of creating a shelter that will preserve the site's identified values. An aspect that has received almost no attention in the past is evaluation of a shelter's performance, both qualitative and quantitative, in preserving the site. It is urged that this receive priority when establishing the conservation criteria during the initial phases of a sheltering project. Issues are illustrated from a range of diverse sites, including a number of published shelters. The paper first looks at the examples of the Laetoli (Tanzania) and Lark Quarry (Australia) trackway sites in the context of decision-making and conservation criteria, and then discusses two examples of evaluation: one quantitative, using an experimental shelter and the other discussing publications on a petroglyph site shelter.     

Interpreting the past: Presenting archaeological sites to the public

Abstract

A wide range of methodologies have been applied to promote the conservation of exposed and managed archaeological sites, including shelters. Commonly used as a protective measure in many areas of the world, shelters are not as common in the USA. In addition there have been few efforts to evaluate scientifically their use and efficacy. As a response to the recognized need to further scholarship and dialogue about shelters, a colloquium on the topic was held in Tumacacori, Arizona, in January 2001. The colloquium goals focused on research, exchange of information, the advancement of methodological approaches, incorporation of sheltering concepts into planning processes and identifying field needs. To achieve these aims, the following four themes were developed:

? deciding to shelter

? establishing conservation, design and construction criteria

? designing and constructing shelters

? evaluating shelter performance.

The colloquium followed a course of presentations, site visits and a final plenary session summing up the issues put forth. Participants represented a cross-section of disciplines and a range of international experiences.     

The Baimoral Bridge of I. K. Brunel

Abstract

A considerable number of I. K. Bruner's railway bridges are still operational, varying in size from the great Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar to a host of small masonry bridges for accommodation roads over or under his broad-gauge main lines and subsidiary routes like the Taff Vale Railway. There were, however, few bridges built by him apart from his railway works, and it could have been safely assumed that all such bridges which survive would have been clearly recognized as having been built by him. Yet this has not been so with one particular road bridge, for which Bruners responsibility has been either doubted or ignored, even though it survives in excellent working order. The bridge in question is that over the River Dee at Balmoral.     

The impossibility of resurrecting the past: Reconstructions on archaeological excavation sites

Abstract

Since the beginnings of archaeological research, scientists have attempted to explain the past to a larger public. In the nineteenth century the quality of reconstruction drawings by architects was high but, after excavations were finished, the sites were left as they were, without conservation, while the movable finds were exhibited in the great museums of the European capitals. Today's mass tourism, however, demands attractions at the original ancient sites. The tourist industry, which brings by far the largest pool of visitors to the sites, sets the standards, but its interests centre on quick and simple ‘consumption’ of impressive ruins. Different methods have been employed in creating tourist attractions – from reconstructing ancient buildings to having museum staff in costume demonstrate elements of daily life in history. But it is the ruins on excavation sites, even in their damaged state, that are the irreplaceable, authentic records of the past. Archaeological preservation, therefore, has to mean uncompromising conservation of the damaged original remains. They should not be sacrificed for the sake of questionable ‘progress’ or popularization.     

Glassmaking in Bagot’s Park,Staffordshire, in the 16th Century

Abstract

Out of 15 glass-making sites found in Bagot’s Park during land reclamation, one, Site 4, was left for examination. Two furnaces were excavated; the larger was for the melting of glass in six crucibles, and was typical of late medieval English practice, being built of brick and stone with a clay dome; it was the first to be excavated with clear evidence of an all-over timber and tile roof. The second, built partly of brick, was for annealing. The main product was Crown window glass; the amount of Broad glass and vessel found was insufficient to say with certainty that they were made on the site.

Archaeological evidence supported by documentary references suggested that the site was in use in the early 16th century, well before the agreement of 1585 between the Bagots and the Lorrainer Henzey family. Such evidence of glass production in this period suggests that the weakness of the English glass industry before 1567 may have been exaggerated.     

The Research and Production Plant,Parkgate, Dublin: Archaeological Investigations of a World War II Munitions Facility

Abstract

This paper describes the structures, operations, and history of the Research and Production Plant, Parkgate, a munitions facility developed by the Irish State in the early years of World War II (referred to in Ireland as 'the Emergency'). Located on the edge of the city of Dublin and within the historic curtilage of Phoenix Park, its emissions were the cause of some controversy and resulted in a local health scare, suppressed and censored by the Fianna Fáil government of the day. The Plant's eventual closure was brought about by complaints from the Office of Public Works regarding severe chemical damage in the adjacent Peoples' Garden and to trees and other vegetation further away in the Park proper. In the meantime, production had switched to service a private concern, which was to benefit further from the arrangement before restrictions on the importation of phosphorus and other chemicals were lifted in 1946. The structures were identified and recorded over the summer of 2007 and the research conducted the following winter, based on files held in the Military Archives and contemporary parliamentary reports.     

Architectural Paint Research and the archaeology of buildings

ABSTRACT

Architectural Paint Research (APR) is the archaeological study of interior and exterior applied decoration. Over time, applied layers of paint and other decorative finishes build up on the surface of a built structure, encapsulating microscopic deposits of material evidence. This evidence can be used to inform the phase dating of a structure or illuminate the historic function of a space. It can challenge preconceived ideas of how specific areas were decorated and track the changes in aesthetics over time. It can identify when architects’ ideologies have been balanced by practical considerations. It can provide an insight into the intangible and ephemeral atmosphere that decoration gives to a room. Finally, it can examine the dirt trapped between the layers of decoration and thus categorise the physical environmental conditions that surrounded a building at varying points in its history. Although used in the commercial heritage and conservation sectors, APR is almost completely unknown to building archaeologists. This article aims to introduce APR to a new audience and argues that is an invaluable tool in the archaeological interpretation of buildings.     

Beached Shipwrecks from Channel Islands National Park,California

Abstract

Three shipwreck sites of the 19th century in Channel Islands National Park, California form case studies in evaluating the contribution of beached shipwrecks to maritime and historical archaeology. Two of the sites are consistent with the historically-documented Pacific coast lumber schooners J. M. Colman and Dora Bluhm, but the archaeological record is sparse. Material remains are compared to primary documents, such as original 19th-century construction contracts and insurance classifications, to make a case for the beached shipwreck scatters belonging to these ships. A third site, Comet, presents the other end of the spectrum; its remains have been conclusively identified by historical photographs and the site is a partially-intact hull embedded in the beach sand. This site was also recorded in detail and the formation processes of all three sites were examined to aid in archaeological interpretation.     

Beginning geography: a human and technical perspective

Abstract

A first course in human geography has been designed for majors and students from the more technical fields at university. It is built around five computer exercises, none of which require any programming or computer skills. Problems and exercises are designed to enhance carry‐over skills and humane awareness.     

GEOPHYSICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE CLEMENT SITE,A CADDO MOUND COMPLEX IN SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA

Abstract

Since the 1960s, few professional archaeological excavations have been conducted at Caddo sites in southeastern Oklahoma. This article summarizes the initial phase of a research program designed to increase our knowledge of this area. Geophysical and archaeological investigations at the Clement site (34Mc8) were conducted during the summer of 2008 by the University of Oklahoma. These revealed deep middens, intact mound stratigraphy, and architecture, and suggest that Clement had multiple Caddo occupations spanning approximately 300 years.     

The 'Coiled-Tube' Pump

Abstract

The remains of the lead industry are now recognised as an integral part of the 'natural beauty' of the Yorkshire Dales which the Yorkshire Dales National Park Committee has a statutory duty to preserve and enhance. The landscape impact of the industry, on woodland, settlement and communications as well as at mining and processing sites themselves, is briefly described, together with threats to the remains and protective measures taken. The latter include the National Park's management agreements and consolidation programmes at Grinton, Old Gang and Surrender Lead Smelting Mills in Swaledale.     

CONCRETE FILLER-JOIST FLOORS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANCASHIRE COTTON SPINNING MILLS

Abstract

The concrete filler-joist floor was a form of fireproof flooring developed in the second half of the 19th century that came to be used quite extensively in industrial and commercial buildings. Iron, later steel, joists embedded in concrete provided a crude form of reinforcing. This form of flooring came to be adopted in Lancashire cotton spinning mills from the late 1870s, but there has been some confusion over the issue, which this paper seeks to clarify. The Bolton architect J.J. Bradshaw was the first known user. Some mill architects followed this lead, but others preferred forms of brick-arch flooring. Filler-joist floors ceased to be used, both generally and in Lancashire cotton mills, after around 1909 as other forms of reinforced flooring became available. Spinning mill construction moved towards the freestanding steel frame, although reinforced concrete framing was not adopted in Lancashire. Lancashire architects have been seen as conservative. However, it is argued that this was not necessarily a bad thing, and that they were willing to use new methods where these were seen as advantageous.     

The architecture of ethnic logic: Exploring the Meaning of the Built Environment in the 'Mixed' City Of Lod – Israel

This article analyses the evolution of the built environment in Israel's 'mixed cities' in Israel; sites shaped by the logic of ethno–nationalism, and characterized by patterns of segregation between the Jewish dominant majority and the Arab subordinate minority. The paper investigates the changes and dynamics of the urban landscape from the British Mandate period to recent times, focusing on the interrelations between ideology and architecture in its wider sense, i.e. referring to the practices of urban design and planning. The production of urban landscapes in Israeli 'mixed cities', I will argue, is a result of the social construction of an ethnic logic, and thus cannot be seen as autonomous from the existing socio–political context. Rather, I would propose, the architecture of the 'mixed city' reflects on one hand, and shapes on the other the struggle over identity, memory and belonging, rooted in urban colonialism discourse.
Empirically, this paper focuses on the city of Lod/Lydda where as in other previously Palestinian cities, a strategy of colonization had been implemented, forming the city's central planning policy since the Mandate period. The paper analyzes in detail various aspects and sites of this process, and explores the role of planners and architects in the construction of a sense of place in tangible as well as discursive levels, which are often neglected in the body of knowledge that deals with urban–ethnic conflicts.     

The architecture of ethnic logic: Exploring the Meaning of the Built Environment in the 'Mixed' City Of Lod – Israel

This article analyses the evolution of the built environment in Israel's 'mixed cities' in Israel; sites shaped by the logic of ethno–nationalism, and characterized by patterns of segregation between the Jewish dominant majority and the Arab subordinate minority. The paper investigates the changes and dynamics of the urban landscape from the British Mandate period to recent times, focusing on the interrelations between ideology and architecture in its wider sense, i.e. referring to the practices of urban design and planning. The production of urban landscapes in Israeli 'mixed cities', I will argue, is a result of the social construction of an ethnic logic, and thus cannot be seen as autonomous from the existing socio–political context. Rather, I would propose, the architecture of the 'mixed city' reflects on one hand, and shapes on the other the struggle over identity, memory and belonging, rooted in urban colonialism discourse.
Empirically, this paper focuses on the city of Lod/Lydda where as in other previously Palestinian cities, a strategy of colonization had been implemented, forming the city's central planning policy since the Mandate period. The paper analyzes in detail various aspects and sites of this process, and explores the role of planners and architects in the construction of a sense of place in tangible as well as discursive levels, which are often neglected in the body of knowledge that deals with urban–ethnic conflicts.     

Resources for Teachers from the Educational Department of Fine Arts of Seville for Archaeological Sites

Abstract

The province of Seville, situated in the south-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, contains a large number of archaeological sites. Some of them are of great significance: for example, the ancient Roman cities of Itálica and Munigua, the megaliths in Valencina de la Concepción, or the Roman necropolis in Carmona. These four mentioned above receive a considerable number of educational visits by students between the ages of twelve and sixteen, and a number of educational projects have been carried out there. This article outlines the types of resource material provided at these four sites.     

Measurement and Proportion in Hindu Temple Architecture

Abstract

Proportion and measure interacted in the evolution and construction of the Hindu temple from the 5th through the 15th century AD, but, throughout this history, proportion dominated as the tool to give the monument both validity and form. This review analyzes the ritual force of proportion and its function in the planning of temples by architects. The diagrams that accompany the article are the result of field research and the analysis of built structures.     

‘Mr Bourne's dilemma’. Consumer culture,property speculation and department store demise: the rise and fall of Bourne and Hollingsworth on London's Oxford Street

This paper explores the twentieth-century rise and fall of the traditional department store Bourne and Hollingsworth in London's Oxford Street as a means of re-examining the historical geographies of metropolitan consumption cultures. The research moves away from a preoccupation with urban retail's novelty and spectacle towards a consideration of the more conventional and conservative kinds of consumption that have been a vital part of the retail ecology of many major cities in the twentieth century. The paper analyses the intersections of different dimensions of the history of metropolitan consumption: with a culturalist focus on consumer identity and urban microgrographies; but also an examination of this as a family-owned, paternalistic business, and as a material space, both as a building designed and refurbished by its owners, management, architects and shopfitters, and as a particular site within the routes and flows of the West End. The final approach to Bourne and Hollingsworth as urban property, as a distinctive form of capital asset in the city, allows a new understanding of the vulnerability of this kind of retailing by the later twentieth century. The study shows that an emphasis on the significance of cultures of consumption provides at best a partial explanation for changes in the landscapes of consumption: it is argued that cities are the sites of complex intersections between cultural practices and other kinds of geography, in this case those of asset values and opportunities for property speculation.