Settlement dynamics of the Iron Age in South Westphalia – A study of the appropriation processes in settlement landscapes of the low mountain range on the right bank of the Rhine
ReForm Scholar
Growing up in the southern Siegerland and gaining my first excavation experience in the DFG project “Latènezeitliche Eisenwirtschaft im Siegerland: Interdisziplinäre Forschungen zur Wirtschaftsarchäologie” I have a high interest in this archaeological research. Furthermore, it became apparent while working on my postgraduate thesis that South Westphalia is usually reduced to mining areas, hillforts, and its environmental unattractive and peripheral location. Overcoming these prejudices by a change of perspective is long overdue.
The aim of my ongoing dissertation project is to investigate the settlement dynamics of Iron Age in South Westphalia (Siegerland and Wittgensteiner Land) against the background of a Cultural Appropriation of Spaces and Things (CAST). By considering CAST, resource-related investigations are possible beyond eco-deterministic perspectives and thus can be linked to settlement dynamics and social processes instead, to give way to a relational understanding of humans and their environment. The idea of appropriation also builds a bridge between current archaeological theoretical debates on practices, spacing and resources by adding socio-pedagogical space analyses. This combination enables the usage of architectural and spatial sociological approaches not only for urban but also for rural settlements in areas of the lower mountain ranges on the right-hand side of the Rhine.
The project follows the hypothesis that the habitus-specific practices of a collective manifest themselves in the way of appropriation World in dealing with things, natural events, and bodies of knowledge, in which social spaces always arise as “relational arrangements of living beings and social goods in places” (Löw 2018, translated). Things provide information about people’s habitual spatial knowledge due to their respective effective powers that enable or hinder appropriation. Based on CAST, GIS-supported landscape archaeological investigations can be used to partially reveal social spaces as spaces of practice in landscapes.
Investigations will be directed to the CAST of the Iron Age people in South Westphalia, considering the theoretical framework and its practical application:
- Which theories and terms are essential for socio-spatial issues and cultural appropriation processes?
- What is Cultural Appropriation of Spaces and Things (CAST), and which aspects are usable for archaeological investigations of social spaces?
- What methodological approaches are applicable for a social space analysis?
- Are there differences and similarities of CAST in South Westphalia?
- What conclusions can be drawn from this for the Iron Age settlement dynamics in the study area?
- What value does CAST have for a better understanding of the Iron Ages in German low mountain ranges?
CAST is considered to enable more versatile interpretations of Iron Age settlement processes in the lower mountain ranges of Germany by focusing on strategies of appropriation and spaces of practice. The project is funded by Gerda Henkel Stiftung since January 2022. There are no publications about this topic so far.
Updates
Poster contribution to the Interweaving Resources conference: Landscaping in Iron Age Siegerland (PDF download)
