La fabrique de la perpétuité

TheTrésor des chartes is probably one of the best preserved single collection of archives of the ancient French monarchy. Paradoxically, however, it was never part of a central record office in the modern sense. This large and confused mass of documentation slowly emerged as a records collection during the XIII^th century. Although it seemed to follow the construction of a State administration, it was already inactive by the middle of the XIV^th century. Its records and charters, prestigious and inaccessible, were kept in the Sainte-Chapelle of Paris, close to the relics of the Passion bought by Louis the Ninth. As a record of the past it played a crucial role in the social construction of a notion of «perpetuity» suitable to the domanial and dynastic ideals of the monarchy. The ambiguities of this medieval heritage became obvious in the early modern period. Although there were a large number of inventories and classifications of theTrésor des chartes, it was never able to incorporate the other State records. The Republic inherited a majestic sanctuary which can certainly be described as a piece of shared memory, but which is unable to summarize the genesis of the Nation.     

Le médiéviste,le lignage et l'effet de réel

This paper tries to understand how «lineage» became a key-notion by medievalists when dealing with the field of kinship about the medieval aristocracy, although it is quite an unsuitable notion. Beside the role given to medieval kinship by the social and scientific imagination which prevailed when the historical sciences were formed in the XIX^th century, an important part is played by the creation of a discourse on «lineage» in late medieval aristocracy, linked to a redefinition of the modes of reproduction of seigniorial power, a vector of which must be found by means of representation portraying a durable kin-group, especially through the formation and transmission of «family archives». Historians submitted to the reality-effect of documentary bodies, which were transmitted and were but a historical social construction, did not pay enough attention to the genuine meaning of the archivistic structure. They believed they had found the «reality» of a social organization while they had merely perceived its ideational aspect- and thus, they contributed to the social construction of «lineage».     

Early Neolithic Agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula

The spread of agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula is documented from at least ca. 5600–5500BC, although botanical data are absent or very limited for large areas. Archaeobotanical information shows from the beginning an imported agrarian system with a great diversity of crops: hulled and naked wheats and barleys, legumes such as pea, lentil, fava bean, vetches and grass peas, flax and poppy. This diversity of plants with different requirements, processing and uses, implies that the first farmers quickly imported or acquired a wide range of agrarian knowledge. Regional and inter-site agrarian differences are discussed in relation to factors like ecology, culture, use of the cultivated plants and management of the risk of crop failure. The adoption of farming resulted in significant ecological, economic, dietary, and social changes for the Neolithic people of Iberia.     

Analysis of Plant Microfossils in Early European Latrine Fills from Russell,Northern New Zealand

Microfossil analysis of latrine fills from the early European (1830s) settlement of Russell, northern New Zealand, provides direct evidence for diet. Microfossils identified include pollen of maize (Zea mays), Brassicaceae (e.g., mustard, broccoli), Allium type (e.g., onion) and mint (Mentha), and starch grains of maize and potato (Solanum tuberosum). Wetland microfossils (pollen and algal spores) provide clues to source and quality of drinking water.     

Roman lead mining in Germany: its origin and development through time deduced from lead isotope provenance studies

High precision lead isotope analysis by Multi Collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry was applied to the investigation of more than 240 Roman lead objects from several archaeological sites in Germany, in order to obtain information on the pattern of Roman mining activity and ore processing in the area. Measurements of ore samples from German deposits east (Siegerland, Lahn-Dill, Ems) and west of the Rhine (Eifel, Hunsrueck) were made and supplemented with data from literature to create a data bank of lead isotope ratios of European lead occurrences. Comparing the isotope ratios of lead objects with those from German ore deposits shows that the source of over 85% of the objects is Eifel ore deposits, but that, in the early years, the Romans also imported lead from the Southern Massif Central and later from Britain.     

The Consumptive Ruins Archaeology of Consuming Past in the Middle East

After the collapse of Ottoman Empire and division of old Iran, the new geography of Middle East needed new identities. The ancient mythical past could not respond the new idea of identity anymore; because of that, the archaeological past replaced the mythical ones. All over the Middle East, the heaven of archaeologists, was excavated; ancient ruins were recovered and redefined. In such a context, the archaeological evidences remained in the hands of Middle Easterner governments. During mid-1960–1970s, Pan Arabism and Pan Aryanism both raised in the region. In both Iran and Syria, the governments celebrated ancient empires. Such festivals have been known responsible for further fundamental thoughts relevant to archaeological past. The world witnessed the demolish of Palmyra ancient ruins by ISIS. Such an action is the other site of propagandist abuse of ancient ruins by governments. Both consume the past, and both try to redefine it: one in form of demolishing and the other in form of propaganda. In this article, the authors endorsed on various forms of consuming the past in the Middle East by opposition groups and by governments.