Archaeological Reconstruction of Ceramics in Museum Practice: Principles, Objectives, Opportunities

В статье выявляется потенциал археологической реконструкции древней керамики для решения задач, связанных с сохранением и экспонированием археологического наследия в музеях. Материалами исследования стали результаты научных изысканий в области археологии, теории и практики реставрационного дела, а также международные и российские нормативные правовые акты, регламентирующие различные аспекты сохранения и популяризации культурного наследия. Проведен анализ процессов музейной и археологической реконструкции, в результате чего выявлена тождественность их целей. Поэтапно модулируется процесс воссоздания древней керамики, изготовления памятников от идеи зарождения предмета до стадии использования. Сделан вывод о значении археологической реконструкции как инструмента, с помощью которого в условиях музея можно осуществлять изучение и популяризацию культурного наследия, сохраняя в неприкосновенности подлинники. The article reveals the functional possibilities of archaeological reconstruction of ancient ceramic products that are part of museum collections in the aspect of preserving and popularizing the archaeological heritage in museums. The main materials involved in the research were the results of scientific research in the field of archaeology, theory and practice of restoration work, as well as international and Russian normative legal acts regulating various aspects of the preservation and popularization of cultural heritage. The research methodology is based on a functional approach, while axiological and typological methods, techniques used in archaeological source studies, and methods of reconstruction of artistic and technical processes were important tools. The reconstruction of ancient ceramics, undertaken during archaeological research and carried out by means of experimental and technological methods, is analyzed. The functions of reconstruction in modern archaeological research are determined, and the essence of archaeological reconstruction itself as a process of modeling the corresponding artifacts is characterized. The significance of cultural stereotypes in this process is clarified. The stages of creating a ceramic product are consistently identified. The ceramic product (as, indeed, any thing created by people) is considered as a product of human creativity and at the same time as a source of information about a certain technology. It has been established that reconstruction methods in the field of preserving architectural monuments cannot be the only basis for studying its capabilities in a museum, since they do not go beyond collecting formal data about a monument and creating its analogue in the form of a graphic or three-dimensional model. The technological aspects of creating the material structure of the artifact remain undisclosed. Museum items are considered as elements of the informational text of culture. The modern practice of the reconstruction of ceramic products in museums by creating models using fragments of genuine artifacts has been studied and evaluated. The author concludes that archaeological reconstruction is an effective tool with which it is possible to study and popularize cultural heritage, keeping the originals intact. Conclusions are made about the identity of the goals of the museum and archaeological reconstruction, the set of educational and research tasks solved by archaeological reconstruction in a museum is revealed.

How a Paleogenomic Approach Can Provide Details on Bioarchaeological Reconstruction: A Case Study from the Globular Amphorae Culture

Ancient human remains have the potential to explain a great deal about the prehistory of humankind. Due to recent technological and bioinformatics advances, their study, at the palaeogenomic level, can provide important information about population dynamics, culture changes, and the lifestyles of our ancestors. In this study, mitochondrial and nuclear genome data obtained from human bone remains associated with the Neolithic Globular Amphorae culture, which were recovered in the Megalithic barrow of Kierzkowo (Poland), were reanalysed to gain insight into the social organisation and use of the archaeological site and to provide information at the individual level. We were able to successfully estimate the minimum number of individuals, sex, kin relationships, and phenotypic traits of the buried individuals, despite the low level of preservation of the bone samples and the intricate taphonomic conditions. In addition, the evaluation of damage patterns allowed us to highlight the presence of “intruders”—that is, of more recent skeletal remains that did not belong to the original burial. Due to its characteristics, the study of the Kierzkowo barrow represented a challenge for the reconstruction of the biological profile of the human community who exploited it and an excellent example of the contribution that ancient genomic analysis can provide to archaeological reconstruction.

Re-creating the Past - On the Quality of Archaeological Reconstruction on Gotland

Re-creating the past in full-scale, open-air reconstructions has been done for a long time, but the phenomenon has been accelerating and changing character during the last two decades. The article examines how the reconstruction activities are motivated. Explicit aims are contrasted with implicit motives inherent in reconstruction. Public utility is proposed as an important excuse for the reconstruction activities. As a consequence of the relationship between explicit aims and public utility, we get a rigid form of quality thinking that expresses elitism. Instead of fruitless criticism we can express more clearly what we expect from a reconstruction, and why. Examples used are taken from the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.

The Bryn Celli Ddu Minecraft Experience

This article explores the technical and interpretative issues surrounding the creation of a Minecraft Education Edition world for use by primary age school children (5–11 years). The project team undertook to create a Minecraft version of the prehistoric landscape surrounding the Neolithic passage tomb of Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom. The workflow described here details the process from the initial aims of the project, designed to integrate heritage and STEM education; through the processing of lidar data to create the topography of the world; through the archaeological reconstruction; and then final release. An understanding of the workflow is particularly important for researchers and educators because the successful delivery of our aims resulted in a number of technical obstacles inherent in creating a Minecraft world when a designer is required to navigate several versions of the program—Java architecture, C++ architecture, and the Education Edition—and explains workarounds developed to overcome these issues. The article also considers the interpretative compromises required to translate complex archaeological remains into an accessible and engaging experience for school children set within the strictures of a program that allows a maximum physical resolution of a 1 × 1 m voxel block.

Quantifying marine reservoir effect variability along the Northwest Coast of North America

Recognition of marine reservoir effect (MRE) spatial and temporal variability must be accounted for in any radiocarbon-based paleoclimate, geomorphological, or archaeological reconstruction in a coastal setting. ΔR values from 37 shell-wood pairs across southern Southeast Alaska provide a robust local evaluation of the MRE, reporting a local Early Holocene weighted ΔR average of 265 ± 205, with a significantly higher ΔR average of 410 ± 60 for samples near limestone karst. Integration with our synthesis of extant MRE calibrations for the Northwest Coast of North America suggests that despite local variability, regional ΔR averages echo proxies for coastal upwelling: regional weighted averages were at their highest in the Bølling-Allerød interstade (575 ± 165) and their lowest in the Younger Dryas stade (−55 ± 110). Weighted ΔR averages across the Northwest Coast rose to a Holocene high during the Early Holocene warm period (245 ± 200) before settling into a stable Holocene average ΔR of 145 ± 165, which persisted until the late Holocene. Our quantification of local and regional shifts in the MRE shines a light on present methodological issues involved in MRE corrections in mixed-feeder, diet-based calibrations of archaeological and paleontological specimens.

Mandibular shape prediction using cephalometric analysis: applications in craniofacial analysis, forensic anthropology and archaeological reconstruction

Background The human mandible is variable in shape, size and position and any deviation from normal can affect the facial appearance and dental occlusion. Objectives The objectives of this study were to determine whether the Sassouni cephalometric analysis could help predict two-dimensional mandibular shape in humans using cephalometric planes and landmarks. Materials and methods A retrospective computerised analysis of 100 lateral cephalometric radiographs taken at Kingston Hospital Orthodontic Department was carried out. Results Results showed that the Euclidean straight-line mean difference between the estimated position of gonion and traced position of gonion was 7.89 mm and the Euclidean straight-line mean difference between the estimated position of pogonion and the traced position of pogonion was 11.15 mm. The length of the anterior cranial base as measured by sella-nasion was positively correlated with the length of the mandibular body gonion-menton, r = 0.381 and regression analysis showed the length of the anterior cranial base sella-nasion could be predictive of the length of the mandibular body gonion-menton by the equation 22.65 + 0.5426x, where x = length of the anterior cranial base (SN). There was a significant association with convex shaped palates and oblique shaped mandibles, p = 0.0004. Conclusions The method described in this study can be used to help estimate the position of cephalometric points gonion and pogonion and thereby sagittal mandibular length. This method is more accurate in skeletal class I cases and therefore has potential applications in craniofacial anthropology and the ‘missing mandible’ problem in forensic and archaeological reconstruction.

The Combat Archaeology of the Fifth-Century BC Kopis: Hoplite Swordsmanship in the Archaic and Classical Periods

‘Traditionalist’ scholars of historical Greek warfare assert that hoplites formed a close-order formation that moved slowly and deliberately to overwhelm its enemies. Opposing them the ‘revisionists’, claim that hoplites fought in an ‘open-order’ formation resembling Homeric combat well into the Archaic and even early Classical periods. Existing studies of the physical remains of Greek arms and armour, iconographic representations of hoplites in combat, and literary descriptions of Greek warfare are not decisive. Combat archaeology, i.e. the reconstruction and testing of arms and armour, remains a largely untapped source of evidence. This article presents the results of an experimental archaeological reconstruction of the kopis, a curved sword used in Greek combat from the mid-sixth to fourth centuries BC. A more complete understanding of the use of the kopis sheds light on the realities of hoplite combat and offers strong support for the traditionalist position.