ReForm in Rom
A record-breaking 5000 archaeologists met digitally and on-site for 4 days this summer in the Eternal City to discuss current topics in archaeological research at the 30th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (30th EAA Annual Meeting in Rome, Italy 28 – 31 August 2024) (link to the abstracts[1]). Apart from highly diverse sessions all over the campus of Sapienza University, delegates were able to visit several archaeological sites in Lazio and beyond and enjoy Rome’s vast heritage.
Funded by ReForm, I was able to contribute to this variety of topics and research by presenting my ongoing dissertation project in session #895 “Perceiving and Shaping Landscapes” organised by Stefanie Schaefer-Di Maida (Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, CAU Kiel; CRC 1266), Gianpiero Di Maida (CCEHN Project – Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Hannover) and Gustav Wollentz (Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning and Creativity).
By reimagining mining landscapes beyond technological and functional perspectives, the paper summarized the theoretical framework of social spaces and cultural appropriation and its practical implementation to traditional GIS-analysis in the Siegerland (North Rhine-Westphalia). Further, it explored the potential of including sensual experiences gained by experimental archaeology to reconstruct areas of perception on smelting and forging sites and thus analyse mining sites as diversley perceived and shaped spaces. By combining these aspects, the interrelationships of different sites become clearer and reveal how sensual perception and spatial practices relate to one another.
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[1] https://www.e-a-a.org/EAA2024/Programme.aspx
Carmen Maria Stähler
is doing her doctorate on the topic of "Settlement dynamic processes of the Iron Age in South Westphalia - An investigation into the appropriation processes in settlement landscapes of the low mountain range on the right bank of the Rhine" and has been a member of ReForum since 2022.
