1,720,960 research outputs found
Shipshape and Roman fashion:space at sea in late antiquity
No full textThis chapter examines the overlooked aspects of the phenomenology of space and architecture aboard ships in Late Antiquity. It sheds light on the implications this perspective can have on the way we study maritime archaeology through drawing on the concept of lived space to leverage material evidence, artistic depictions, and literary sources to reconstruct the ship as a multifaceted cultural entity. It investigates how everyday activities were influenced by the ship’s material realities, ultimately shaping human behaviour. Through an archaeological case study and a comparison with ancient representations, the chapter unveils the architectural and social organisation of these vessels. It explores various contexts, including religious practices, domestic arrangements, social interactions, and foodways, revealing how these routines were intertwined with the ship’s spatial design. Through doing so, it offers a new look into the everyday spaces of ships in Late Antiquity as well as ways we can gain fresh insights into maritime society in the ancient world
Space and place:late antique churches and place remaking
No full textThe transformation of the religious landscape from polytheistic to monotheistic took place over a period of around 300 years. Understandably, some of this transformation was organic, but in order for it to be successful, elements of it had to have been planned. In both conditions, place-making and remaking was a fundamental part of successful conversion. Literary, epigraphic and archaeological data reveal a number of ways in which this happened: from the carefully chosen location to the architectural form to associated figures and stories and use of emotion, memory and the senses. Furthermore, the socio-economic context for the construction of the earliest churches in the East was in part shaped by protracted forced displacement of populations in the fourth century due to conflict as well as environmental and economic reasons. Place-making helps to create shared experiences, favouring tolerance for religious diversity. It is an obvious way to help restore communities and it is possible that Christian communities may have seen this as an opportunity for supporting others, using it to help make process of transition as peaceful as possible, as well as proselytising. The aim of this chapter is to explore the role of place-making and remaking in the construction of churches in Greece from the fourth century onwards. In doing so, we will highlight the diversity of Christianisation processes and the importance of the maintenance of community identity in place-making and remaking
Introduction:Lived spaces in late antiquity
No full textSpace is a fundamental dimension of human experience. This chapter reviews different approaches to space in late antique studies, arguing that focusing on space might provide a new and invaluable light into the archaeology, history, and culture of the late antique period. Mobilising cultural, economic, and political resources, space is a social construct that brings together different and often contradictory historical dynamics, including diverse social groups. In turn, space shapes social life and its hierarchies. As such, “lived space” is a key perspective for the study of Late Antiquity, which allows scholars from different disciplines to reconsider this crucial historical period beyond traditional dichotomies between continuity and change
Lived space and social change in late antique Rome:the Campus Martius
No full textThis chapter examines the evolution of the Campus Martius in Late Antiquity, examining the relationship between lived space and social change. It analyses how different social groups, from emperors and their officials to workers and beggars helped to shape this part of Rome as an area of political display, exploitation, and resistance, at the same time that their experiences were shaped by the spaces they frequented. The chapter argues that the physical transformation of Campus Martius played a crucial role in the social life of this area, at the same time that it expressed the broader trends of late antique Rome’s social history
Suburban saints:space, place and environment in Theodoret’s 'Religious History'
No full textThis chapter charts some of the features that make Theodoret’s representation of space in the Religious History both typical of fifth-century hagiography more broadly, in its portrayal of the tension between wild landscape and human culture, and in some respects quite distinctive and unusual. The first section surveys the text’s representation of the relationship between saints and cities, with reference to Theodoret’s manipulation of the long tradition of representing mountains as spaces on the edges of urban territory, both within and beyond human control. Some of his subjects inhabit mountain territory that is represented as being outside human civilisation, but there is also a repeated pattern whereby even these figures are absorbed within urban society; others inhabit suburban spaces on the very edges of the city. To some extent those patterns reflect the distinctive geography of the upper Euphrates valley where many of Theodoret’s subjects lived, with high ground rising up sharply above the river valleys. I then move on in the second half of the chapter to look at Theodoret’s representation of human–environment relations from an ecocritical perspective, arguing that there is a closely related tension between anthropocentric and ecocentric visions of ascetic practice running through the text: any account which attempts to ascribe it to one or other of those categories is likely to end up with an oversimplified view. Images of the saints immersed in the environments they inhabit – sometimes quite literally, by their contact with the ground – or as figures who challenge the distinction between human and animal alternate with images of human mastery over the environment, for example by Theodoret’s repeated comparison of his subjects with Moses exercising control over the natural world
600 leagues under the sea : maritime communities and commercial connectivity in the western Mediterranean world of late antiquity
No full textThis thesis focuses on the relational connections inherent in the maritime economies of the late antique western Mediterranean, combining archaeological material from both land and sea along with environmental and literary evidence to produce a new account of the dynamic changes in interconnectivity and distribution networks which occurred over the course of this period. By employing social network analysis coupled with an investigation of maritime cultural landscapes, it sheds light on how maritime
exchange was structured in late antiquity, as increased fragmentation and regionalisation, combined with changing economies, saw major shifts in the organisation of the western Mediterranean system. After detailing the methodology that is utilised for modelling maritime networks, the fijirst part of the thesis focuses on the social, environmental, and archaeological background to maritime commerce. This includes examining ships, navigation, sea routes, and mercantile business before shifting to deliver an overview of what the material we possess from shipwreck sites can truly tell us about seaborne trade given the issues inherent in its collection and analysis. The second part is centred around outlining the distribution networks and trading communities represented by the remains included in the collected archaeological dataset. Drawing on a combination of network and geostatistical models, it examines the ties between types of goods being shifted across the Mediterranean, using them to better understand the connections between areas of production and consumption as well as the formation and spatial limits of communities. These are then combined with an overview of archaeological fijinds from on land in a series of case studies which explore how the models which were created line up with this source of information and what a synthesis of this data can tell us about regional dynamics and gaps within the underwater record. From the evidence that is presented in the thesis as a whole, I argue that regionalisation accelerated over the course of late antiquity as longdistance connections became increasingly selective, creating new patterns of maritime distribution and heavily disturbing pre-existing webs of connectivity. However, this process was uneven and also significantly mediated by specific conditions within the maritime landscape of each region."Finally, this thesis would not have been possible without the generous support provided by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities. I am extremely grateful for their willingness to fund my research over these four years. I would also like to thank both SGSAH and the University for providing travel funds, without which I would not have been able to attend nearly as many conferences as I did."--Fundin
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Lived spaces in late antiquity
No full textThis volume considers “lived space” as a scholarly approach to the past, showing how spatial approaches can present innovative views of the world of Late Antiquity, integrating social, economic and cultural developments and putting centre stage this fundamental dimension of social life. Bringing together an international group of scholars working on areas as diverse as Britain, the Iberian Peninsula, Jordan and the Horn of Africa, this book includes burgeoning fields of study such as lived spaces in the context of ships and seafaring during this period. Chapters investigate the history, function and use of different spaces in their own right and identify the social and historical logic presiding over continuity and/or change. They also explore the fluidity of lived space in both its physical and conceptual dimensions, analysing issues like agency and intentionality as well as meaning and social relations. Space is the fundamental dimension of social life, the arena where it unfolds and the stage where social values and hierarchies are represented; analysis of space allows us to understand history through different means of shaping, occupying and controlling space. Considering Late Antiquity through a spatial perspective offers a complex and stimulating picture of this pivotal period, and this volume provides avenues for the development of further research and discussion in this area
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