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Landscape, Memory and Material Culture: Interpreting Diversity in the Iron Age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Helen L. Loney  and
Andrew W. Hoaen
Helen L. Loney
Affiliation:
University of Glasgow, Crichton Campus, Rutherford-McGowan Building, Bankend Road, Dumfries, DG1 4ZLUKh.loney@crichton.gla.ac.uk
Andrew W. Hoaen
Affiliation:
10 Albany Lane, Dumfries, DG1 1JL, UK. awhoaenl@mac.com
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Abstract

Landscape studies offer the archaeologist a way to move towards the holistic integration of disparate aspects of research, such as excavation, survey, and specialist analysis. Because landscape perception is socially constructed, like other forms of material culture, it is possible to approach social behaviour in a way which previously was only argued for portable artefacts. Memory studies have allowed historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists to link observable human behaviour with long-term human thought. Memory is also being used as a way of linking the otherwise invisible mind with the material by-products of society, such as monumental architecture. This paper will investigate how two contemporaneous settlements of Late Iron Age peoples, situated on the northern shores of Lake Ullswater, in the Lake District, Cumbria, manipulated their material landscapes as part of the process of transmitting cultural memories. Further, this information will be used in order to find a way of approaching the similarities of their cultural practices with each other and with the wider Iron Age community of Britain.

Résumé

Les études du paysage offrent à l'archéologue un moyen de s'approcher, d'une intégration holistique des aspects disparates de la recherche, tels que les fouilles, la prospection et l'analyse des spécialistes. Parce que la perception du paysage est un construit social, comme les autres formes de culture matérielle, il est possible d'aborder le comportement social d'une manière qui auparavant n'était argumentée que pour des objets portables. Des études de la mémoire ont permis aux historiens, aux anthropologues et aux archéologues d'établir un lien entre le comportement humain observable et la pensée humaine à long terme. La mémoire est également utilisée comme moyen de relier l'esprit, autrement invisible, avec les sousproduits matériels de la société, comme l'architecture monumentale par exemple. Cet article va examiner comment deux occupations contemporaines de peuples de l'âge du fer final, situées sur les rives nord du lac d'Ullswater dans la Région des Lacs, en Cumbria, ont manipulé leurs paysages matériels au cours du procédé de transmission de la mémoire culturelle. De plus, ces renseignements seront utilisés afin de trouver une façon d'aborder les similarités des pratiques culturelles, entre elles, et avec la communauté plus étendue de l'âge du fer en Grande-Bretagne.

Zusammenfassung

Landschaftsstudien bieten dem Archäologen eine Möglichkeit der holistischen Integration ungleichartiger Forschungsbereichen, wie z.B. Ausgrabung, Survey und spezialisierte Analysen. Da Landschaftswahrnehmung, wie auch andere Bestandteile materieller Kultur sozial konstruiert sind, kann man soziales Verhalten in ähnlicher Weise erforschen, wie es bisher nur bei transportierbaren Artefakten unternommen wurde. Studien, die sich mir Erinnerung beschäftigen, haben es Historikern, Kulturanthropologen und Archäologen ermöglicht, beobachtbares menschliches Verhalten mit langfristigem menschlichen Gedanken zu verbinden. Erinnerung wird auch dazu benutzt, den anders nicht sichtbaren Geist mit materiellen Nebenprodukten der Gesellschaft, wie z.B. mit monumentaler Architektur zu verbinden. Dieser Artikel untersucht, wie zwei gleichzeitige Siedlungen der späten Eisenzeit am nördlichen Ufer des Ullswater Sees im Lake Distrikt Cumbria ihre materielle Landschaft in einem Prozess der Weitergabe kulturellerer Erinnerungen beeinflusst haben. Diese Information wird weiterhin dazu benutzt einen Weg zu finden, die Ähnlichkeiten ihrer kulturellen Praktiken miteinander als auch innerhalb der Eisenzeitlichen Gesellschaft Großbritanniens zu untersuchen.

Résumen

Los estudios del paisaje ofrecen al arqueólogo un modo de aproximarse a una interpretación integral de los diversos aspectos de la investigación, como la excavación, prospección, y análisis especializados. Puesto que la percepción del paisaje se construye socialmente, como otras formas de cultura material, es posible enfocar el comportamiento social de un modo previamente utilizado sólo para los objetos portátiles. Estudios sobre la memoria han permitido a historiadores, antropólogos, y arqueólogos unir comportamientos humanos observables al pensamiento humano con proyección de futuro. También se está utilizando la memoria como un modo de unir la mente, de otra manera invisible, con las consecuencias materiales de la sociedad, como por ejemplo la arquitectura monumental. Este trabajo investiga como dos poblados contemporáneos de poblaciones de la Baja Edad del Hierro, situados en la orilla norte del Lago Ullswater, en el Distrito de los Lagos, Cumbria, manipularon sus paisajes materiales como parte del proceso de transmitir memorias culturales. Adicionalmente, esta información se utiliza para abordar las similitudes existentes entre sus prácticas culturales, y entre estas y las del resto de la comunidad de la Edad del Hierro de Gran Bretaña.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 71 , 2005 , pp. 361 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 2005

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