Session: #603

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
Theories and methods in archaeological sciences
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each

Title & Content

Title:
Alibi Archaeologies: Excavating in Archives, Museums and Storerooms
Content:
This session focuses on archaeological excavations alibi, i.e. not on site, and, in particular, on the study of artefacts and documents deposited in the repositories of archaeological sites and museums and archives, often unpublished and inaccessible long after their original discovery and production:
an increasingly rich data source, to be analysed with stratigraphic and philological method, in order to enhance their information potential. In fact, all too often “archaeology” equals “excavation on site”, leaving the long-term study of the materials out of the spotlight of funding and research.
Many European excavation sites have long and intriguing histories of excavation, archiving, storage and inventorying the finds. Finds and documents – in various stages of processing, study and publication – may have been accumulated for many decades, even for centuries. The main intent of this session is to confront current methodologies of working on such accumulated archives of archaeological materials, in order to find common nominators and solutions to their similar problems and challenges.
The session, all in all, has the intention to call attention and to assign more value to these important resources in the archaeological process, including the problem of ever growing archaeological archives and storage.
Keywords:
history of excavations, archives, storage
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no

Organisers

Main organiser:
dr. Ria Berg (Finland) 1
Co-organisers:
prof. Antonella Coralini (Italy) 2
dr. Elena Calandra (Italy) 3
dr. Luana Toniolo (Italy) 4
Affiliations:
1. University of Tampere
2. University of Bologna
3. Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MIBACT), Istituto Centrale di Archeologia
4. Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (MIBACT), Parco Archeologico di Pompei