Materials library collections as tools for interdisciplinary research

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how materials libraries are used as tools for interdisciplinary collaboration in 3 research projects that inhabit a disciplinary triangle between materials research, design and user needs: PhysFeel, which explores how materials collections can be used in psychological therapies; Light.Touch.Matters, a design-led project to develop new smart materials; and Hands of X, which uses materials collections to develop a bespoke prosthetics service. The paper analyses and contrasts these case studies to better understand the affordances and limitations of materials collections when used as research, translational and design tools. We conclude that in collaborations between materials researchers, designers and end users, tensions arise as a result of the primacy that each partner gives to creativity, the development of new knowledge and to solving societal problems. The use of a materials library addresses many of these issues but is not a panacea for all the problems associated with interdisciplinary working.     

Pure and impure gestes: the generation of history in Jean d’Outremeuse's Myreur des histors

ABSTRACT

Scholars have long debated the place in medieval historiography of Jean d’Outremeuse's Myreur des histors, a universal history in celebration of Liège written in French around 1399. The abundance of Old French epic material in a chronicle that, according to its author, contained translations of only Latin sources, was once a source of outrage. The Myreur now holds significant interest, however, for its evidence of late medieval narrative strategies. This study demonstrates the Myreur's deliberate adaptation of epic material to glorify Liège. The author reimagines the Carolingian past as a source for future historical narratives by knowingly altering the genealogical framework of the chanson de geste universe. Carrying tales of sexual impurity, he describes the demise of the Carolingian line and transforms figures from epic to function within his linear history. This inventive approach allowed him to create a new hero- and history-generating lineage for his universal history.     

“Obra de arte yo too”: Eduardo Mendicutti on soccer,glamour, and the “Beckham effect”

ABSTRACT

La Susi en el vestuario blanco (2003) is a fictional chronicle of life in the Real Madrid locker room, a privileged insight into the sanctum sanctorum of the world's richest soccer team. The hiring of Susi as glamour coach ostensibly aims to boost the competitive advantage of the galácticos in foreign as well as local markets (reflecting the reality of the club at the time). In Mendicutti's homoeroticizing gaze, it also serves to uncover the homophobic substrate reportedly still common in male team sports and teases at the anxieties of the players. This article explores the peculiar function of Susi as she sets the comic tone of the work and engages with the varied virilities before her. It examines the notions of “glamour” and “identification” both as tongue-in-cheek team objectives and as phenomena with wider relevance for the way spectators relate to sport and players relate to the world around them.     

Barbarian interest in the Excerpta Latina Barbari

Joseph Justus Scaliger dubbed the text of Parisinus Latinus 4884, the sole surviving witness to a Merovingian Latin translation of a now lost Greek world chronicle, the Excerpta Latina Barbari. The name was essentially a judgement on the linguistic abilities of the translator, but it is suggestive. What is there in the chronicle to appeal to the ‘barbarian’ inhabitants of Gaul? An answer to this question can offer some insight into the provenance of a neglected, but intriguing text. It will be proposed that the Greek original of the Excerpta was composed as a gift for the Austrasian king Theudebert I and was intended to elicit his aid in the war against the Ostrogothic rulers of Italy. The translation is another matter. It seems to have been undertaken about two centuries later in the context of the missionary push to the north and east from Frankish territory.     

Euhemerus and the Chronicle of John Malalas

In spite of Warren Treadgold's recent contention to the contrary, no new insights on the Sacred History of Euhemerus of Messene are to be gleaned from John Malalas and the account of the gods found in his chronicle. They cannot be directly connected to Euhemerus, or even to a complete version of Diodorus Siculus’ lost sixth book, which related a version of the Sacred History. We would, nevertheless, like to know the source for what Malalas says about the gods. Previous efforts to identify the author of the euhemeristic narrative in the chronicle of Malalas prove unavailing and misleading. Taking into account the parallel version of this narrative found in the Excerpta Latina Barbari, it would seem that the most likely author is Bouttios, one of the authorities cited for a few other items by Malalas. Treadgold has included this Bouttios in the list of authors he considers to be nothing more than inventions of Malalas. But, unlike the others on Treadgold's list, the existence of Bouttios can be independently corroborated. We are, moreover, in a position to offer some speculations about Bouttios and his work.     

Book reviews

Leonard Blussé. Strange company: Chinese settlers, mestizo women, and the Dutch in VOC Batavia . xiii, 302 pp. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1986. (Verhandelingen van het Kononklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde, 122.) Guilders 35.

John S. Guy. Oriental trade ceramics in South‐East Asia, ninth to sixteenth centuries. With a catalogue of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai wares in Australian collections, xiv, 161 pp. Singapore, etc: Oxford University Press, 1986. (Oxford in Asia Studies in Ceramics.) £47.50.     

Reading versus Seeing? Winckelmann's Excerpting Practice and the Genealogy of Art History

From his arrival in Italy in 1755, Winckelmann's work is infused throughout by a fundamental antinomy: reading versus seeing. This antinomy possesses for him a decidedly epistemological significance: it allows him to present himself as the father of a discipline deserving of its name, i.e., the history of art. In Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums (1764), he claims to break with a long tradition of art discourse which had been primarily supported by ancient texts, basing his book instead on the direct observation of the artworks. The aim of this paper is to critically examine this antinomy. How does seeing relate to reading in his working method? What relationship does art history, in the empirical dimension Winckelmann wanted to give it, have to book knowledge? Winckelmann's excerpts collection provides valuable answers to these questions. Following an old scholarly tradition, Winckelmann used to write down passages of his readings, constituting a vast handwritten library of excerpts which never left him. The result of this intense excerpting practice consists in some 7,500 pages, which allow to better define the share of empirical observation and book-based knowledge in his approach to ancient art.     

The Preacher Facing a Reluctant Audience According to the Testimony of Exempla

Abstract

In spite of the fact that from a theological point of view disobedience can sometimes be positive, in the preachers’ sermons to the people (ad populum), disobedience is always a strongly condemned sin. We focus on the sermones vulgares of Jacques de Vitry and on collections of exempla. In order to analyse the forms of reluctance and contestation to the norms proclaimed by the sermons, we evaluate the steps of this resistance ranging from lack of attention and disrespect to criticism and even hostility. Nevertheless, sometimes one must recognize that it is the preacher’s incompetence that leads to the failure of his pastoral care, for example when the preacher prepares unclear sermons (like Jacques de Vitry when he was a beginner) or is unable to tell a story or to make himself heard. It is even worse when the preacher conveys bad opinions. However, the biggest trouble comes when inattentive and disrespectful listeners are able to interrupt the preacher to contest any inconsistencies in the sermon or mistakes in the doctrine. When the sermon has no effect on the audience, it has clearly failed to get its message across. The preacher can also face competition from singers, jugglers and dancers who can distract the audience from the sermon.     

SOUSA VITERBO AND THE IDEA OF INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of Sousa Viterbo's contribution to industrial archaeology. This Portuguese historian and archaeologist not only employed and printed both the terms ‘archaeology of industry’ and ‘industrial archaeology’ in the late 19th century, but also left behind a number of writings which secure his place as a true ancestor of the current industrial archaeology. Selected excerpts of three of Viterbo's texts written between 1896 and 1902 are here translated into English for the first time.     

Excavator Bias at the Site of Pech de l'Azé IV,France

Abstract

Existing archaeological collections hold great potential for archaeologists who seek to answer specific research questions with minimal investment of time and money. Unfortunately, biases introduced in the field and during curation require us to evaluate and reorganize collections before and during analysis. Biases are reflected in collections as a result of research design, recovery methods, interpersonal variability, and the storage of both objects and documentation. By comparing collections from two different excavations at the Middle Paleolithic site of Pech de l'Azé IV, France, a number of biases in the older collection were identified and corrected. While all older collections are not affected by the same problems, our experience serves as a useful example to others who work with them.     

Artifacts of the neurosciences: A resource guide to museums and collections

ABSTRACT

Medical museums and collections care for important artifacts relating to the history of the neurosciences across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. This essay highlights the collections and galleries of greatest interest and worth a visit. It also provides a list of online directories of medical museums and bibliography of related publications.     

Archaeological and Historical Materials as a Means to Explore Finnish Crop History

ABSTRACT

In Northern Europe, barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) has been cultivated for almost 6000 years. Thus far, 150-year-old grains from historical collections have been used to investigate the distribution of barley diversity and how the species has spread across the region. Genetic studies of archaeobotanical material from agrarian sites could potentially clarify earlier migration patterns and cast further light on the origin of barley landraces. In this study, we aimed to evaluate different archaeological and historical materials with respect to DNA content, and to explore connections between Late Iron Age and medieval barley populations and historical samples of barley landraces in north-west Europe. The material analysed consisted of archaeological samples of charred barley grains from four sites in southern Finland, and historical material, with 33 samples obtained from two herbaria and the seed collections of the Swedish museum of cultural history.

The DNA concentrations obtained from charred archaeological barley remains were too low for successful KASP genotyping confirming previously reported difficulties in obtaining aDNA from charred remains. Historical samples from herbaria and seed collection confirmed previously shown strong genetic differentiation between two-row and six-row barley. Six-row barley accessions from northern and southern Finland tended to cluster apart, while no geographical structuring was observed among two-row barley. Genotyping of functional markers revealed that the majority of barley cultivated in Finland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was late-flowering under increasing day-length, supporting previous findings from northern European barley.     

The evolution of the concept of synesthesia in the nineteenth century as revealed through the history of its name

ABSTRACT

Synesthesia is a rare perceptual condition causing unusual sensations, which are triggered by the stimulation of otherwise unrelated modalities (e.g., the sensation of colors triggered when listening to music). In addition to the name it takes today, the condition has had a wide variety of designations throughout its scientific history. These different names have also been accompanied by shifting boundaries in its definition, and the literature has undergone a considerable process of change in the development of a term for synesthesia, starting with “obscure feeling” in 1772, and ending with the first emergence of the true term “synesthesia” or “synæsthesiæ” in 1892. In this article, we will unpack the complex history of this nomenclature; provide key excerpts from central texts, in often hard-to-locate sources; and translate these early passages and terminologies into English.     

Of reaflac and rapina: accusations of violence in two Old English lawsuits and the Libellus Æthelwoldi

This article examines the meaning and function of the Old English noun reaflac in two tenth-century lawsuit documents, Sawyer 877 and Sawyer 1211. It suggests that reaflac was the vernacular counterpart to the Latin terms violentia and rapina. Such connected terminology suggests that a collection of now lost tenth-century Old English charters, like S 877 and S 1211 in form, was the original source for the twelfth-century Ely house chronicle, the Libellus Æthelwoldi. Charter draftsmen purposefully selected a language of violence in order to delegitimize a rival party’s claim to an estate, regardless of whether any acts of violence had taken place. Reaflac formed part of this narrative strategy in early English lawsuit documents because of its association with contemporary discourses on moralized wrongdoing.     

Archaeometric Clearinghouse XXI

Abstract

A repository of archaeometric research collections and records has been established at the Conservation Analytical Laboratory of the Smithsonian Institution. It will not only preserve analyzed artifactual and raw material that has been bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution, but also maintain computer files of current and past analytical work in a form accessible to archaeologists and archaeometrists. This is a report on the origin and scope of this new enterprise, and a call to the archaeometric community to contribute information and materials to SARCAR.