Paper short abstract:

Birds can play an important role in liminal island landscapes. This paper considers liminal avian-human relationships economically and symbolically.

Paper long abstract:

Small or marginal islands are an interesting phenomenon being neither mainland nor sea, and thus inhabiting a realm of liminality. These island locations are one of the places in which we see a continued and often very necessary relationship with wild resources extending beyond prehistory and even up until the last century. In these situations where resources may be limited, birds and particularly sea birds, can play a significant role in people's diets, lives and economies.

This paper considers the importance of birds in the economies and identities of small island worlds and their importance for maximising resources in marginalized locations. The subsistence value of birds will be explored alongside the other economic, social and symbolic aspects of avian-human relationships. This will allow us to consider the role of birds in food and in the ideologies and identities of liminal island populations.

Paper short abstract:

In the study of regional manifestations of quintessential Atlantic European rock art, it is suggested here that the exploration of the geological characteristics of decorated stones may reveal if, and to what extent prehistoric communities 'selected' surfaces in the production of rock art.

Paper long abstract:

In the study of regional manifestations of quintessential Atlantic European rock art, it is suggested here that the exploration of the geological characteristics of decorated stones may reveal if, and to what extent prehistoric communities 'selected' surfaces in the production of rock art. If we approach rock art as a culturally dynamic relic, then the concept of the 'art' itself (in regards to the motifs used and the over-all composition) will serve as a starting point to investigate both form and the inter-play with the geological surface, the 'canvas' itself. Were specific rock surfaces chosen to be formalized or redefined through virtue of decoration?

This approach is largely concerned with the raw material of this tradition, the cultural reflections or narratives contained within, and the sensitivities to local terrain observed. Essentially this research will consider whether the geological attributes of certain rocks had an active role in the creation of rock art. Setting, form, tactile qualities, the presence of natural hollows, scarring and even the presence of trace fossils may have formed qualities which were recognized and reacted to by prehistoric communities in their engagement with stone. The character of regional geology which ultimately effects the shape and complexities of a distinct region through the form of watersheds, slopes and skylines, will also be explored. A range of locations will be regarded to address the potential of this type of investigation in the analysis of sites broadly embodied within the rock art tradition in Ireland and beyond.

Paper short abstract:

This paper introduces the work of Red Earth arts group and, with reference to past and future performance projects responding to and taking place in Neolithic landscapes, explores performance as a valuable experiential methodology for exploring liminality.

Paper long abstract:

This paper proposes that as a phenomenological exercise, site-specific performance in the landscape (created in direct response to place) is an unconventional yet valuable vehicle for interpreting the Neolithic mindset and its implied acknowledgement of liminality within the context of the constructed Neolithic landscape. Performance of this nature enables us, through experiential immersion, to directly access a liminalised landscape and a mindset potentially acknowledged by our prehistoric ancestors.

By default, performance creates liminal space: in one form or another it imposes on or responds to a space. We enter a meta-reality within a meta-landscape, a temporary mythological precinct, a boundary zone between the mundane and the epic.

Contemporary performative events can effectively transport us psychologically and emotionally, inducing a liminal state by the amplification of atmosphere and resonance of a particular place. Landscape becomes the protagonist, where sound, vision and action combine to manifest an immersive experience, where we can explore 'being' in a liminal zone.

This is arguably leftfield phenomenology: the performance experience takes us not just to the landscape, but also into it. Aural and visual stimuli enhance our sensory experience and induce a sense of heightened presence: a ritual in which all action has meaning and significance and is interconnected with an intensified landscape.

We suggest there is value in the non-rational yet highly provocative site-responsive performative experience as a counterpoint to classical, intellectualised reconstructions of the Neolithic world, helping us to better contemplate, if not actually understand the Neolithic mindset and its relationship with landscape.

Paper short abstract:

An examination of the changing perceptions of chambered tombs in Anglesey, North Wales, from the seventeenth century to today. Their misinterpretation as druidic relics, and their 'adoption' as symbols of patriotism and cultural legitimacy during the early Celtic Revival, add depth to their 'life-histories' and lead us to question the significance of these monuments in the contemporary landscape.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will examine the 'life-histories' of megalithic burial chambers in southern Anglesey, and explore the ways in which biographies of these monuments have been created and modified over the last 300 years. Throughout the later post-medieval period, the symbolic meanings of these monuments shifted to reflect different cultural paradigms and to justify contemporary socio-political agendas. The manipulation and symbolic 'claiming' of the past, as embodied by these ancient megaliths, was closely linked with attempts to formulate a Welsh national identity. Moreover, the incorporation of these monuments into the landscape gardens of country estates in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was indicative of the extent to which they captured the contemporary imagination. No longer seen as crude and primitive in a pejorative sense, as reminders of the power of time and the fragility of human endeavour, the 'cromlech' epitomised the picturesque aesthetic. Meanwhile, in rural communities, megaliths were viewed with varying degrees of superstitious fear and pragmatism, ultimately leading to their widespread destruction and incorporation into walls and boundaries across the island.

Whether interpreted as burial chambers, sacrificial altars or druidic dungeons, these monuments were perceived to be inhabited by the image of a mythical ancestral figure, a key concept in the 'Welsh Renaissance'. This idea endured in the popular imagination, even as archaeological advances showed that the chambered tombs are, at least temporally, much farther removed from contemporary Welsh society. This leads us to question what function these sites perform in cultural heritage and identity today.

Paper short abstract:

During the last two decades, archaeological activity has been increasing in Portugal due to the development of Commercial Archaeology. Even if Zooarchaeology is definitely established in experts and other resources, the scientific production of this area, in relation with the Commercial Archaeology, its almost absent.

Paper long abstract:

The boost of archaeological activity in Portugal throughout the last two decades is due mainly to the augment of Commercial Archaeology. Recently, this phenomenon is being a matter of debate in what concerns to its scientific production, or even social benefits. In this contribution, we try to comprehend how this growth meets the development of Zooarchaeology and the study of archaeofaunal remains in general.

At the moment, there are an unquestionable and considerable number of conditions and tools that are supposed to assist the formation of specialists and the enlargement of zooarchaeological studies in Portugal. We refer essentially to the Archaeozoology Laboratory of the IPA and its vertebrate reference collection, but also to the incorporation of signatures linked to the study of archaeofaunas in the higher education, to be precise, some masters degrees of the Universities of Lisboa, Algarve and Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro/Instituto Politécnico de Tomar.

Nowadays, the discussion about the value of faunal studies is no longer made, nevertheless, despite the evolution of entrepreneurial activity in Portuguese Archaeology and the maturity of Zooarchaeology as a scientific area of knowledge, the crossing of the "two ways" remains rare; the scientific literature derived from the supposed joint relation of Commercial Archaeology and Zooarchaeology is really reduced. Moreover, the initiative by Archaeology companies to promote studies of archaeofaunas is a very diminished percentage of the published data even.

Paper short abstract:

Sites of water are fundamental in expanding territories by dynamic (corporal) forces and establish those territories as stable (flexible volumes). Spatial aspects are crossed and enhanced by dynamic social activities of identity groups. These general issues shall be looked at closer by the example of the development of architectural structures of water displaying sites in the Roman Empire from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, the „nymphaea“:

Paper long abstract:

Water is a fundamental human necessity: physically, aesthetically and symbolically. The structure and quality of water itself reflects this: fluency and liquidity are physical aggregate qualities. Osmotic qualities attract the human senses, especially the functions of the skin, and lead to an aesthetic perception of water by the senses. Symbolic qualities as force ("Urgewalt"), infinite iteration ("panta rhei", e.g. phenomena like rain, periodically dry wells, tempests) and the relation of water to light (clearness, transparence, optical fraction) create respect and estimation of water. Relations of cult places to water reflect these topics. The sites of water are fundamental in expanding territories by dynamic (corporal) forces and establish those territories as stable (flexible volumes). Spatial aspects are crossed and enhanced by dynamic social activities of identity groups. These general issues shall be looked at closer by the example of the development of architectural structures of water displaying sites in the Roman Empire from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, the "nymphaea":

- Does monumental architectonic structuring of sites, where water is on display, create identity via aesthetic perception?

- What are the primary elements of this identity building process: material (water, stone), dynamics (fluent water) or sensual qualities (impression, refreshment)?

- What is the character of this identity: individual or social, private (copies of the architecture in private houses) or public (space is filled with recognizable structures, creation of social memory)?

- Are the nymphaea to be seen as the final products of logistic and architectonical establishment of space via dynamic structuring processes (self-creating space by own dynamics)?