Professor Christine Morris

Summary

The project comprises the preparation and publication of two closely linked books on the archaeology of Cretan Bronze Age peak sanctuaries. These are a co-edited volume of papers on peak sanctuaries under contract to Cambridge University Press, and a co-authored volume on the clay figurines from the Prinias peak sanctuary. Both publications will make primary, unpublished material available to the scholarly community, and will introduce and innovative digitally-based methods of representing and interpreting this material.

Funding Agency

Irish Research Council

Project Type

Advanced Collaborative Research Project

Person Months

12

Summary

The aim of this project is to create an interactive system between the archaeological ritual assemblage from the Minoan peak sanctuary (c.1900-1700 BC) of Atsipadhes Korakias in western Crete and a G(eographical) I(nformation) S(ystem). This will create an effective research tool for intra-site analysis, that is the study of spatial organisation and patterns of ritual activity in relation to the topography and excavated features of the site, as well as producing high-quality data presentation for publication. The primary archaeological data comprises topographic plans of the site, trench plans and a database of over 5,000 figurine fragments, all plotted during excavation. The project will also provide an innovative model which can be used and developed further for other archaeological sites since the use of GIS for intra-site analysis (as opposed its more familiar use for regional studies) is still relatively rare. Despite the fact that these Bronze Age mountain shrines, with their disposed offerings of figurines and pottery, are recognised as a primary location of cult in the Minoan ritual landscape, and are also intimately connected to the emerging power of early state elites in the second millennium BC, the only other peak sanctuary published in any detail is Petsophas in Eastern Crete in 1903. Unsurprisingly, the nature of ritual activity on these sites is poorly understood and scholarly interpretations (and assumptions) depend on old and limited primary data. Atsipadhes is the only peak sanctuary to have been fully excavated (in 1989) to modern standards with all its finds plotted in situ; it therefore provides a unique opportunity to make a major contribution to our understanding of Cretan Bronze Age ritual. As well as being of central importance within Mediterranean archaeology, the project will also contribute significantly to archaeological methodology (methods of spatial analysis), the cross-cultural study of figurines, and comparative religious/ritual studies.

Funding Agency

IRCHSS small thematic grant

Summary

Description of project Collaborators: Christine Morris; Alan Peatfield (UCD); Will Megarry (UCD) This project will take place in two museums in Crete: Rethymnon Museum where the Atsipadhes material is stored; and Iraklion Museum where material from other peak sanctuaries, in particular, Petsophas, is curated). Permission to do the work during the summer of 2011 has been given by the Directors of both museums. Aims and objectives. The aim of the project is to bring a portable 3D scanner to the museums to scan selected figurines. Preliminary work in establishing the optimum scanning methods (using a very small set of comparable material) has already been completed in Dublin during 2010 in collaboration with colleagues in the School of Archaeology, UCD (which also provided the seed funding to purchase the scanning equipment). Traditionally, artefacts such as figurines are studied and then represented in publications (or in oral presentations) through photographs and/or technical drawings. This project seeks to explore how 3D scanning can complement and enhance these methods with the technology currently available. The overall aim will be to produce high quality scanned images which can be used effectively in an interactive online environment (VRE) where the images can be rotated by the viewer. The images will also enhance the traditional publication and be useful for oral presentations. Research question. Put simply, the project will investigate the strengths and weaknesses of 3D imaging for the recording, analysis and publication of portable clay figurines, as well as producing the 3D images of this type of material for the first time. Methodology (investigative and analytic methods, theoretical frameworks) The investigative/analytic method is 3D scanning, to take place in two Cretan museums on collections of clay figurines from two different sites in western and eastern Crete. As the styles, fabrics and condition/fragmentation of the figurines from the two sites are different, scanning samples of both sets of material is highly desirable. On the practical side, performance (in Greek museum conditions, i.e.heat and dust to contend with), speed and accuracy will be evaluated in order to establish best and most effective practice for such work, given that the material is often fragmentary and may have damaged/abraded surfaces. The project will also make an interesting case study for exploring wider methodological issues concerning digital representation in archaeology. It proposes to contribute to this by considering traditional modes of representation in relation to the opportunities offered by newer technologies. Beyond the purely practical issues of time, skill and accuracy, there are deeper questions of how the different methods of representation impact on how the material is studied (so the interaction between archaeologist and artefact) and on how it is represented and disseminated in publications for both a specialist and more general audience. For this aspect of the work there will be input and discussion between the two archaeologists involved in the figurine study, the archaeological illustator who has drawn much of the Atsipadhes material, and an archaeologist who has expertise with the scanning equipment.

Funding Agency

Arts and Social Sciences Benefaction Fund; Seed funding from UCD for equipment

Project Type

Archaeology; Digital Humanities

Summary

The primary aim of this project was the establishment of an international network ('Unlocking Sacred Landscapes) through the organisation of an archaeological workshop on 'Spatial Analysis of Ritual and Cult in the Mediterranean', organised by Christine Morris and Giorgos Papantoniou. We included papers with a strong methodological focus on spatial analysis and using case studies from across the Mediterranean, ranging from the Bronze Age to the Medieval period. These papers investigated the interaction between political and religious structures, as expressed in sacred landscapes and space. In addition, moving beyond elite and political structures, focus was also given to human experience of the numinous in the creation of personal spiritual identities. The workshop is currently under publication in the form of an edited collective volume.

Funding Agency

Irish Research Council

Programme

New Foundations Scheme

Project Type

Network; workshop; publication