The Concepts of imitatio and translatio: Perceptions of a Viking‐Age Past

The author presents the results of excavations at Mare Church, North Tr?ndelag. Medieval sources indicate that Mære was the religious centre for Inner Tr?ndelag in pre‐Christian times. It was also the place where the first church (shire church) in Sparbyggjafylke was erected. At Mære if anywhere, therefore, it should be possible to test archaeologically the theory about cult continuity from pagan to Christian times.

Under the present church, which dates from the end of the twelfth century, the remains of an early wooden church surrounded by a churchyard were found, together with vestiges of at least two buildings from pre‐Christian times. On the evidence of loose finds, the oldest of these can be dated to the Migration Period (c. A.D. 500). A series of gold plaquettes were found associated with the later of the two buildings. This find is interpreted by the author as indicating that the building may have been a pagan cult building.     

Qu(e)erying Sex and Gender in Archaeology: a Critique of the “Third” and Other Sexual Categories

In this paper, I will recover the issue of the “third gender” in archaeological analysis in order to argue that the use of a “third,” despite what it may appear at first sight, does not challenge the logic inherent in gender and sexual binaries, that is, the use of universal, ahistorical, and stagnated categories. As an alternative, I will rely on Almudena Hernando’s genealogical work on gender and identity, as well as on Lucía Moragón-Martínez’s arguments regarding corporeality, to state that in “oral societies” (like prehistoric ones), body and person cannot be ontologically distinguished and, as a consequence, the anatomical features that we categorize as “sex” can neither be thought nor defined abstractly. I will further examine the implications of this claim in relation to the sex–gender fluidity that can be seen in those oral societies, formerly pigeonholed into the third gender category. In addition, I will analyze current literature developed by gender archaeologists in order to show the strengths and limitations of my proposal in relation to recent works on the topic.     

Orthodox violence: “Critique of Violence” and Walter Benjamin's Jewish political theology

This paper deals with the role of Judaism in Walter Benjamin's famous 1921 essay on violence and law, Zur Kritik der Gewalt. Despite the intense attention devoted to this essay, the role of Jewish myth in it has not yet been thoroughly explained. This study contends that the association between what Benjamin termed revolutionary violence and the Jewish messianic tradition, which plays a central role in the evaluation of Benjamin's text, is far more problematic than has hitherto been assumed, and poses a serious challenge, which has not been fully examined in its historical context. Second, this essay claims that the subversive elements that many have supposedly found in Benjamin's text and the attempts to link these elements to messianic traditions are also unconvincing. Third, the paper contextualizes Benjamin's thought within the framework of the Jewish political–theological debate of the period. It contends that Benjamin's theory of law and justice should be understood not as a revolutionary, anti-republican text, as has been generally accepted, but as a secularized conservative orthodox one. In doing so, it seeks to shed light not only on Benjamin's early thinking and its influences, but also on the neglected element of Jewish orthodoxy within the broader topic of political theology.     

On the Spacing of Time: On “The Tide of History”

The author discusses aspects of how time appears and is used by the individual and by society. In focus is what the author calls the ideological time scale as it appears in Western society. The concept of the ideological time scale implies systems of strong, ideological signals transferred through time in the human mind from one generation to another. One such signal is the age-old concept of the hero and the symbolism projected around this concept. The paper ends with an admonition to scholars to be aware of and study the kinds of messages transferred through time by this signal system. These messages carry important information about the ways in which society directs itself in the time continuum.     

Concepts of illness and disease: Two‐way communication

Helman, Cecil. Culture, Health and Illness: An Introduction for Health Professionals. Bristol, London, Boston: Wright‐PSG, 1984. xi + 242 pp. including figures, appendix, references, index. $33.00 cloth, $16.50 paper.

Hudson, Robert P. Disease and Its Control: The Shaping of Modern Thought. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983. xvii + 259 pp. including abbreviations of journals, appendix, bibliographic notes, index. $29.95 cloth.     

On the “Belgic Ditches,” and the Probable Date of Stonehenge

The acceptance of Caerlaverock castle into guardianship was followed by consolidation of the masonry and the clearance of the silted moat. In parallel with these operations, a series of excavations was carried out to investigate the nature of the outer defences and any surviving evidence for earlier bridges. Four different phases of timber bridges had crossed the moat to the gatehouse; the first three were dated by dendrochronology to 1277, 1371 and to the second quarter of the fifteenth century. An outer earthwork, originally intended purely to retain the water of the moat, was remodelled in the sixteenth century as an artillery defence. The approach to the castle was remodelled with an additional rock-cut moat, crossed by a timber bridge dated by dendrochronology c. 1559–94. Documentary evidence is examined for the use of these artillery defences, especially in the final siege of Caerlaverock in 1640. A rich assemblage of finds was recovered, mainly from unstratified contexts, both from the excavation of the bridges and from the general clearance work of the moat.     

A Waste of Space? Towards a Critique of the Social Production of Space…

This paper outlines a framework for a critique of Henri Lefebvre's notion of the social production of space, undertaken around five intersecting themes: language and meaning, the separation of space and time, the processes of production and construction, empowerment and value, and space and place.     

On “Economic Types of Rural Settlement”

Topographic maps are found not to be a reliable guide to rural settlement patterns associated with definite types of economic types. In the case of Eastern Siberia, the rural settlement map of V.S. Valov, discussed in the preceding paper, does not correctly reflect the specialization and distribution of economic activity. The discrepancy is explained in part by the incomplete information on ethnic groups and portable dwellings on topographic sheets. However, apparent conflicts between settlement patterns on topographic maps and the actual type of economic activity can serve as a useful guide to correcting or reconstructing settlement patterns to bring them more in line with the particular type of economy.     

“Making Us Uneasy”: Clarke, Wobst, and Their Critique of Archaeology Put into Practice

Both David Clarke and Martin Wobst have had a significant impact on archaeological theory and practice through their critical insights into the nature of archaeological inquiry and their respective challenges to assumptions about what we know and how we know it. This paper examines the development and historical context of some of their ideas, and highlights how their notions of responsibility, self-awareness, and relevance influence or intersect with contemporary archaeological practice.