Heritage and national identity: Exploring the relationship in Romania

Abstract

Within heritage studies the relationship between national heritage and national identity is frequently taken as axiomatic. The construction of a national heritage is an important part of nation‐building, and historic buildings and monuments can be powerful symbols of a nation's aspirations and identity. Yet this relationship has received relatively little empirical investigation. This paper reports an exploratory study of the heritage/national identity relationship in Romania which focuses on just one Roman monument – Trajan's bridge. For many Romanians the monument is a powerful symbol of their identity representing Dacian and Roman origins, Latinity, and the continuity of Romanian settlement in Transylvania. The monument was also seen by some as an important symbol of Romania's attempt to construct a post‐Communist identity, and to forge closer links with western Europe. However, the meanings of the monument are not shared by all Romanians, and in particular are strongly contested by Romania's Hungarian minority.     

Placing the Pillar of Eliseg: Movement,Visibility and Memory in the Early Medieval Landscape

THE LANDSCAPE CONTEXT of the early 9th-century monument known as the Pillar of Eliseg is interrogated here for the first time with GIS-based analysis and innovative spatial methodologies. Our interpretation aims to move beyond regarding the Pillar as a prominent example of early medieval monument reuse and a probable early medieval assembly site. We argue that the location and topographical context of the cross and mound facilitated the monument’s significance as an early medieval locus of power, faith and commemoration in a contested frontier zone. The specific choice of location is shown to relate to patterns of movement and visibility that may have facilitated and enhanced the ceremonial and commemorative roles of the monument. By shedding new light on the interpretation of the Pillar of Eliseg as a node of social and religious aggregation and ideological power, our study has theoretical and methodological implications for studying the landscape contexts of early medieval stone monuments.     

THE GRANITE COLUMN IN MODON: HOW TO MAKE A STONE SAY WHAT YOU WANT IT TO SAY!

Summary.   The 3 km long ramparts of the castle of Modon survive remarkably unscathed despite the attacks of Man and Nature over the centuries. The most interesting monument which remains, a column of red granite, crowned with a capital and a stone slab, has escaped the looters of antiquities who often passed by Modon. It has also escaped the scholars who have failed to give a reliable interpretation of the monument. This paper seeks to deal with this question and to set the monument in its proper historical context.     

Determining the provenance of black limestone artifacts using petrography,isotopes and EPR techniques: the case of the monument of Bocco

This paper investigates the provenance of the black limestone of the monument known as Bocco, named after the king of Mauretania who presented Silla with this work as a sign of his submission to the power of Rome. A multi-method approach, comprising petrographic observations, carbon and oxygen isotope composition and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra characteristics, was used for this purpose. The monument is part of a reconstruction of a rectangular base (approx. 8 × 2 m) which is likely to have served as the base for a bronze statuary group and is currently composed of six blocks of limestone whose exterior is engraved with a fine frieze. The results of the different analyses were compared with the data of a published database of the most important black limestone quarries exploited during Roman times in the Mediterranean area. The petrographic and physico-chemical parameters did not prove to be very effective in determining the provenance of the black limestone of Bocco; the isotopes result even raised some uncertainty as to whether all six blocks came from the same quarry, though this doubt was dispelled by the EPR data and, above all, by the evident petrographic similarity between them. Differences in the isotopic composition of the various blocks may be due to an in situ rock alteration process caused by interaction with an aqueous fluid. It was, however, impossible to determine with certainty the origin of the material of the stone artifact using the database available; it is possible that the black limestone of Bocco came from an ancient quarry that is likely to be located in north western Africa but has not yet been uncovered. An alternative hypothesis, according to which the limestone used for the monument of Bocco came from the ancient quarry of Ain el Ksir, one of the Tunisian quarries present in the database, is also discussed.     

MONUMENTS AND SOCIAL COMPLEXITY: A NEW LINE OF ENQUIRY?

Summary. Studies of prehistoric monuments have suggested that there may be a relationship between the amount of labour needed to build them and the complexity of contemporary society. To some extent such work has been influenced by the rich ethno-historical record of the Polynesian chiefdoms. This article compares the role of large monuments in Polynesia with ethnographic evidence describing monument building in an Indian tribe. It concludes that an important contrast between the two examples is that in simpler societies monument building may be essentially an 'event', whilst in more complex societies monuments can be maintained for a substantial period after their erection.
Similar contrasts can be found in the archaeological record in Britain and suggest that whilst Neolithic earthworks may have made greater demands on human labour, it was only in the Iron Age that society possessed the capacity to undertake regular maintenance of large monuments.     

Remarks on British and Roman Urns

The parish church of St Andrew at Irnham in Lincolnshire possesses a richly carved stone monument dating to around 1340 which bears the arms of Sir Geoffrey and Agnes Luttrell, associated with the celebrated Luttrell Psalter. The form, imagery and function of this monument are problematical and are discussed first in order to create a context for an unusual aspect of its architecture, namely that its inner vault is a miniature copy, unique in this part of England, of the main vault of the choir of Wells Cathedral, a so-called ‘net’ vault. Amongst the reasons for such an unusual citation may be the existence in Somerset, in the diocese of Wells, of one branch of the Luttrell family at the time this monument was raised.     

Coalport Bridge: A Study in Historical Interpretation

Abstract

Industrial archaeologists frequently demand the preservation of monuments. Such preservation can be justified on the grounds that a monument has an educational function, or sometimes that it has potential for excavation. It is the purpose of this article to suggest that a surviving monument continually poses questions about its own past, and about wider historical issues, and to show how the understanding of one particular monument, the Coalport Bridge, has increased over the last twelve years, not just because new documentary sources have come to light, but because it has been possible to use the evidence of the structure itself to test the authenticity of other sources.     

The Monument to Victory in Bolzano: desacralisation of a fascist relic

The Monument to Victory in Bolzano, raised to remember Italian soldiers who fell in the First World War and to celebrate the victory over the Austro-Hungarian army, was contested from the moment of its installation in 1928. The German-speaking inhabitants of Bolzano were offended by its expression of Italian patriotism and the monument continued to symbolise the antagonism between the Italian- and the German-speaking population in the period following the end of Second World War. The monument’s explicit fascist propaganda attracted strong polemical reactions and some political groups even asked for it to be demolished. A recently-opened permanent exhibition in the crypt of the monument explores the twentieth-century dictatorships of Italy and their impact on Bolzano. Its historicisation offers a new interpretation of the monument – not one based on a schism between the populations of Bolzano, but rather one proposing reconciliation. This historicisation happens through the contextualisation of the monument, an efficient tool for the ‘desacrilisation’ of politically charged buildings; by exposing the detested ideology that they represent, they are stripped of their original ‘sacred’ character. This process also shows that it is possible for controversial, politically significant structures to become legitimate parts of a country’s modern heritage.     

Stability and conservation of the Maxentius Basilica in the Roman Forum

Abstract

Originally extended over 6500 square metres, the Basilica of Maxentius was one of the biggest and most outstanding buildings of Roman architecture. Only one third of the monument is still standing. In celebration of the Christian Holy Year of 2000 (the Jubilee), the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma (SAR) started an extended project with the purpose of restoring the terrace and of studying the structural problems of the monument. CISTeC was appointed to the structural part of the project, including the study of the foundations and the proposal for the consolidation project.

The present paper reports the conclusions of the static and dynamic studies that were carried out both on the present-day Basilica and on the model of the original basilica. The results concluded that the monument could be subjected to seismic risks. Following such conclusions, a provisional consolidation project (which is currently in progress) and three final consolidation proposals were submitted to SAR. The immediate application of the provisional consolidation will give time to SAR to decide which of the final projects is the most Suitable, while still protecting and preserving the monument. The structural studies and the projects are briefly described in this paper.     

乾隆御制碑病害的现场检测与评估

为了研究首都博物馆乾隆御制碑病害及保存状况,采用数码相机、非金属超声波检测仪、胶带结合力测试条、便携式色差计、便携式视频显微镜等多种无损或微损检测手段,对石碑风化程度、碑体表面裂隙发育情况、石碑表面污染与变色等进行了现场、无损/微损检测与评估。检测结果表明,乾隆御制碑存在的主要表层病害为污染与变色,石碑表面部分位置轻微结壳、结垢、溶蚀与裂隙发育,石碑整体风化不严重,保存状况较好。检测结果可为后续保护提供依据。     

Chronostratigraphy of an Eroding Complex Atlantic Round House,Baile Sear,Scotland

A high-resolution chronostratigraphy has been established for an eroding Atlantic round house at Sloc Sàbhaidh (North Uist, Scotland), combining detailed OSL profiling and dating of sediments encompassing the main bracketing events associated with the monument, radiocarbon AMS dates on bone recovered from excavated features and fills within it, and TL dates on pottery and burnt clay. Concordant OSL and radiocarbon evidence place construction of the wheelhouse in the first to second centuries AD, contemporary with dates from the primary occupation. Beneath the wheelhouse, clay deposits containing burnt material, attest to cultural activity in vicinity to the monument in the preceding second to first centuries BC. At a later date, the southern wall collapsed, was rebuilt, and the interior spaces to the monument re-structured. The chronology for the later horizons identified from the sediment luminescence dates extends to the second half of the first millennium AD, which goes beyond the range of the radiocarbon dates obtained. The data from ceramics encompass both periods. The juxtaposition of the dating evidence is discussed relative to short and longer chronologies for this Iron Age monument. Corollaries of this research are the implications that based on the long chronology, some of the ecofacts (bone) appear to be residual, and that the temporal duration of Hebridean Coarse Ware may extend into the second half of the first millennium AD.     

Thermographic Survey at Hagia Sophia: Main Arches,Pendentives and Tympana

Hagia Sophia is one of the oldest and most complex existing monuments. Many unanswered questions are still open on the historical and constructive evolution of this monument. The boundaries between the different construction phases and the details of the masonry and materials used in the various phases are still not defined with precision.

The thermographic survey, carried out inside the monument, made ??it possible to answer some of these questions by specifying the exact location of the past interventions and the variability of the materials employed allowing a better understanding of the constructive history of the monument. The technique was applied at a great distance and in normal environmental conditions, taking advantage of the high thermal sensitivity of the instrumentation. The results achieved confirm the validity of the technique in the study of ancient buildings.     

Berber Corn-Festival

This article offers a general presentation of the myths and legends associated with the ancient Roman lighthouse of A Coruña (Spain) known as the Tower of Hercules. It reviews legends collected by Alfonso X in his History of Spain (the battle between Hercules and Geryon, or invasion of the Almujuces), as well as earlier versions of them, a number of traditions with similar characteristics, and other stories related to the monument, such as the Irish tradition of the Tower of Breogan or the Iberian tale of Trezenzonius.     

Notices of Books

Abstract

The three greatest German buildings of the first half of the eleventh century were of an ambition not to be found elsewhere in contemporary Europe and were modelled directly on Roman Imperial prototypes. They demonstrate a new grandeur of spirit that is typical of German architecture of the time, but in their precise forms, remarkably enough, they remained unique in that country. Archbishop Heribert's huge rotunda at Deutz was partly inspired by the Pantheon, and since Heribert had been Otto III's chief politician and Italian Chancellor for the previous six years the building was an important monument of Otto III's political policy of ‘Renovatio Imperii Romanorum’. The re-creation of Roman Imperial grandeur that these and other German buildings represent is essentially Romanesque and to call them anything else is not to do them justice. The idea of an Ottonian style of architecture has not been helpful.     

Shifting monument production chains and the implications for gravestone design on Prince Edward Island, 1820–2005

This paper examines changing gravestone design in Prince Edward Island (PEI) (1820–2005) and relates these changes to changing modes of production in the monument industry. Information from field surveys, newspaper advertisements and business correspondence reveals how supply-side factors helped shape the morphogenesis of the island's cemetery landscapes. Among these, different sources of raw materials and manufacturing innovations over time resulted in the use of harder, more durable types of stone. With these changes, gravestone production and design moved increasingly away from local monument works towards off-island producers in Vermont, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Since the early 20^th century, PEI's gravestone suppliers vertically integrated along Fordist mass-production lines and increased choices available to local monument sellers and their consumers.     

Saving the Sweet Track: The in situ preservation of a Neolithic wooden trackway,Somerset, UK

Abstract

The Sweet Track is the oldest known wooden trackway in Europe. Part of the trackway is preserved in situ in a nature reserve under an active system of hydrological management, designed to prevent damage to the monument from desiccation. The English Heritage-funded project, reported here, was established to assess the condition of the monument and the effectiveness of the management regime. The results have shown that although the trackway is highly deteriorated it still holds a wealth of archaeological information. The decay of the wood probably occurred gradually over several thousand years but the present management regime should be able to ensure its continued survival.     

Bronze Age landscape dynamics: spatially detailed pollen analysis from a ceremonial complex

The late Neolithic and early Bronze Age are periods marked by the construction of conspicuous concentrations of ‘ritual’ complexes, used for funerary rituals, seasonal gatherings and communal activities. Understanding the environmental context of monuments may provide detailed insights into relationships between the physical environment and the activities undertaken at individual monuments. Raised burial mounds (barrows) are generally assumed to have been constructed in open landscapes (the so-called ‘landscape openness’ hypothesis) thus rendering them highly visible in the surrounding landscape. This paper seeks to test to what extent vegetation (and in particular openness) around a dense concentration of barrows was actively managed, using three pollen sequences in close spatial juxtaposition to the archaeology. The local vegetation histories, supported by radiocarbon dating, demonstrate spatial differences in vegetation pattern both during the time of monument construction and use (c. 2000–1500 cal BC) and during subsequent periods. They do not support the ‘landscape openness’ hypothesis. This suggests that there is no single ‘blueprint’ for vegetation structure on and around these types of monument complexes. There is no evidence for major restructuring of the landscape during the early Bronze Age. The data describe a major transformation of the vegetation around 1500 cal BC (the Middle Bronze Age) in an area not known for archaeology of this date. This serves to emphasize the role of palaeoecology in augmenting the archaeological record of landscape re-organisation and transformation in prehistory.     

New AMS Dates from the Lambourn Long Barrow and the Question of the Earliest Neolithic in Sourthern England: Repacking the Neolithic Package?

This paper reassesses the chronological status of the Lambourn long barrow, which has provided one of the earliest dates from a mortuary monument in Britain. Three new AMS dates on short-lived material indicate that the construction and primary use phase of the monument lies within the period 3760–3645 cal BC, and that the earlier estimate obtained on charcoal (4555–3780 cal BC) is likely subject to the old wood effect, or is residual. This is followed by a consideration of the implications of the new dates in the context of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, the timing of which remains poorly understood. It is argued that the evidence is increasingly pointing to a more rapid neolithization process, and that this had implications for the mechanisms involved.     

刘碑寺造像碑研究

刘碑寺造像碑,是河南现存最大的造像碑,清代金石著录对其多有介绍,但仅限于造像铭文,其精美的造像未有著录和专文介绍,不被世人关注。本文主要对刘碑寺造像碑的现状、造像内容进行详细介绍,并对造像题材、风格以及艺术成就进行探索研究。