Session: #275

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each

Title & Content

Title:
Human-made environments – The development of landscapes as resource assemblages
Content:
Cultural landscapes bear traces of the use of resources over long periods. These reflect not only ways of using, shaping, organising, controlling and exchanging resources, but also knowledge, perceptions, motivations for actions and related social dynamics. Resources can be material as well as immaterial and constitute the basis for the development and decline of societies. They are usually not exploited in isolation, but as parts of complexes whose specific constellation in time and space can be best described as assemblages.
In this session we intend to debate new concepts of the interrelation of social dynamics and resource use and to discuss case studies in which landscapes were shaped to facilitate the utilisation of resources. The identification of what has been considered to be a resource will be discussed as well as the means through which the corresponding landscapes were transformed and the results. This implies not only material, but also spiritual aspects.

In general we would like to explore aspects like:
· Can we detect a conscious human formation of landscapes in order to suit the exploitation of resources?
· How are landscapes created to serve the needs of resource use? What are the social practices connected to this?
· Is there specific evidence for a personal or group identification with resources/resource use and which ideas and values are linked with these identities?
· Which perceptions of resources and landscapes as well as motivations for action can be traced?
· How are socio-cultural dynamics linked to the use of resources?
Keywords:
landscapes, resources, socio-cultural dynamics
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no

Organisers

Main organiser:
Prof. Dr. Martin Bartelheim (Germany) 1
Co-organisers:
Prof. Dr. Leonardo García Sanjuán (Spain) 2
Prof. Dr. Roland Hardenberg (Germany) 3
Prof. Dr. Laure Salanova (France) 4
Affiliations:
1. Universität Tübingen
2. Universidad de Sevilla
3. Universität Frankfurt
4. CNRS - Institut des Sciences humaines et sociales