Paper 4: Mechanical Properties of Bricks of the Coudenberg Archaeological Site in View of a Proper Conservation Strategy

Abstract

Archaeological sites are essentially submitted to decay phenomena inherent on their history as well as the environment to which they are exposed after excavation. The history of such archaeological sites is particularly related to their long-term underground conservation conditions during which they were subject to salt migration into the architectural remains. This paper describes the results of drill resistance measurements using a drill resistance measurement (DRMS) device to evaluate the mechanical damage resulting from salt crystallization pressures. Further tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) was applied on powdered bricks of often moist archaeological remains. It was noticed that TEOS serves as potential nutrient for present moulds. The mechanical consolidation effect was evaluated by comparing the hardness profiles after treatment with the reference ones. Bricks used for the construction of the Aula Magna, situated underneath the Royal Square, are characterized by severe patterns of fissures for which the damage diagnosis was built up.     

Paper 5: Historic Mortars from the Coudenberg Archaeological Site: Characterization and Source of Raw Materials

Abstract

The characterization of historic mortars by means of a concise methodology of material analyses can provide crucial information with regard to the origin of the raw materials and the ancient mortar technology. For the analysis of the historic mortars of the Coudenberg archaeological site, the methodology consists of optical and scanning electron microscopy, simultaneous thermal analysis, and an acidic treatment. These analyses were carried out on a total of seventeen samples lifted from various areas in the site, in function of the building chronology resulting from a historic built investigation. The type of binder and aggregate as well as their volumetric ratio were determined.

Both binder and aggregate present distinctive features, which made it possible to identify the probable geological provenance of the raw materials. The observations are verified with available historical records regarding the construction of the main banqueting hall — the Aula Magna — and the use of raw materials such as limestone and sand for the production of lime and construction purposes.     

‘We do have space in Lausanne. We have a large cemetery’: the non-controversy of a non-existent Muslim burial ground

In the context of the administration of spaces assigned by municipalities for the burial of the dead, this article provides a critical analysis of the techniques for the governance of political collectives of citizens implemented by public authorities. More broadly, this article shows how funerary practices (i.e. the social practices surrounding death—the rituals, the legislation, etc.) can be used to develop a critical reading of the social relations that structure the social production of space. To this end, the authors use the conceptual tools provided by critical legal geography to explore the controversy surrounding the development of a ‘carré confessionnel’ (denominational area) within the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery in Lausanne, Switzerland. Here, a focus on the techniques that allow ‘nomosphere’ technicians to convene a subset of the citizens within the public space reveals the administration of cemeteries as a means of governance, a method for mobilising bodies and a paradoxical means of managing flux.     

The democratisation of culture in France in the nineteenth & twentieth centuries: an obsolete ambition?

For generations of cultural administrators and players, extending the benefits of culture to the wider population, enabling the majority to access and be involved in cultural life, has been a moral and political priority; not only for the purposes of enjoyment but because the imparting of Enlightenment values, the acquisition of knowledge, the sharing of artistic creation and emotion and the transmission of cultural heritage have all been considered in this country as an integral part of both republican and democratic undertakings. Democratisation has been the guiding principle, both explicitly and implicitly, of a major part of French cultural policy over the last few decades, the primary reason for public involvement in cultural matters and the ultimate sign of the success or failure of all cultural policies. What have been the manifold faces of this ambition, what forms has it taken throughout the various eras and in what forms does it survive today? These are questions which this article seeks to address.     

Review

Penser l'imaginaire. Essais d'anthropologie psychanalytique. By Bernard Juillerat Lausanne: Editions Payot Lausanne. 2001. Pp. 309 Price: Euro 22.71