Session: #482

Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each

Dwelling places are vibrant, hybrid, participant and continuously changing: entangled within a meshwork of multiple symmetric and fluid connections between matter, people, animals, plants, things, places and landscapes, they are suffused with meanings, memories and different temporalities. How do we, then, approach the task of recounting their complex social histories?

Over the years, a number of theoretical advances in addressing the nature of various places have been made: these include phenomenological and cultural biography approaches, as well as various network and agency theories. At the same time, the expansion of scientific techniques ranging from non-destructive and digital technologies to an array of geoarchaeological techniques has enabled the study of particular places at an unprecedented level of detail. Yet dialogue between archaeological theorists and archaeological scientists on the nature of dwelling places has too often been non-engaging.

With this session, we aim to bring together scholars who are keen to integrate various theories and scientific techniques in order to achieve a more complete and nuanced understanding of dwelling places and their particular place-power
(cf. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/documents/places-that-make-us-research-report.pdf). Possible themes include a discussion of both theoretical and scientific perspectives on:

1) how places make us, and how we make places;
2) how a sense of identity and belonging is shaped through people’s interactions with particular places; and
3) how places can be understood through the lens of power tensions, as triggered by different social engagements with them.

dwelling place, theories, methods, integration

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Ms Agni Prijatelj (Slovenia) ¹

Dr Barbora Wouters (Belgium) ^2,3