Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Title:
Transforming peatlands. Change and continuity reflected through prehistoric and historic sites in fens and bogs
Content:
Peatlands are extra-ordinary archives for understanding prehistoric and historic landscape change and cultural processes. As a characterizing element of many lowland areas in Northern and Central Europe they have long been embedded in socio-cultural life and have undergone a range of natural and anthropogenic transformations. On the one hand, climate change, agriculture and urbanization continues to have a severe impact on many peatlands, some of these processes enable the discovery of and subsequent research into peatland archaeological sites and processes.
In this session we want to address different aspects related to the value of peatlands as cultural and ecological archives as well as the extended insight they provide into prehistoric and early historic life. New discoveries and studies are welcomed that provide insight into (pre)historic landscape, life, and lifeways such as overarching projects that embed archaeological sites within their cultural and ecological context. Threats to peatland related cultural remains (e.g. peat extraction, agriculture and infrastructural developments) and potentials, methods, and possibilities of protecting them shall be addressed. We similarly welcome contributions dealing with topics like integrating public or political actors within archaeological research into peatland sites.
We hope to foster discussions about European perspectives on peatland archaeology and further development of research methods, approaches and standards. The session might serve as a ‘stepping stone’ towards a European agenda for understanding the past and preserving into the future these valuable but fragile landscapes.
Keywords:
wetland archaeology, landscape, culture
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Main organiser:
Daniel Groß (Germany) 1
Co-organisers:
Roy van Beek (Netherlands) 2
Benjamin Gearey (Ireland) 3
Affiliations:
1. Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA)
2. Wageningen University & Research
3. Department of Archaeology, University College Cork
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