Fig. 1 Soil Range of typical pH values with local Alpine juniper and mountain azalea preferences in local geosols (plant habitat can be a good indicator of soil pH) Fig. 2 Juniperus communis alpina Fig. 3 Rhododendron ferrugineum ssp. Fig. 4 Patrick Hunt at Grand-St-Bernard Pass in alpine Roman road excavation during 1997, initial phase…
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A comment on “A Symmetrical Archaeology at TAG”
Some thoughts and feedback on the Symmetrical Archaeology Session at TAG This was a great session. The room was packed, with all seats taken and people sitting on the stairs – testifying to the topicality and importance of the topics discussed. The papers were stimulating and thought provoking, and it was only a pity that…
Alpine Archaeology: Stone Sourcing of a Jupiter Temple and Petrographic Provenance
Fig 1a Calc-Schist from Fenetre-de-Ferret, 2700 m elevation (left), Petrographic Photo (400 x) Both Temple and Quarry Stone, Calcite (gray-green) and Mica (yellow-green) grains; Fig. 1b Quartzite from Gran San Bernardo Valley, 2300 m elevation (right) Petrographic Photo (400 x) fused quartz grains [both in cross-polarized light] Field provenance of stone sources – matching archaeological…
A Symmetrical Archaeology at Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), Sheffield, UK
The first installment of A Symmetrical Archaeology was organized as a full session at the TAG gathering in Sheffield, UK (December 19-21). Organized by Bjornar Olsen, Michael Shanks, Timothy Webmoor and Christopher Witmore – spearheaded by Chris – the session brought together an international and trans-disciplinary group of thinkers to present a Manifesto for Symmetry…
Carolingian Era Roman Spolia at the Medieval Church of Bourg-St-Pierre, Valais
Fig. 1 Bourg-St-Pierre with Churchyard in town center, 9th.c CE and later Fig. 2 Map of Bourg-St-Pierre with Church (toward south end of town, marked by cross east-west) Spoliation of Roman material is common wherever there is continuity between Roman and medieval communities, even when a considerable time has ensued between abandonment and reuse and/or…
Triptolemos, Hemitheos and Judge at Eleusis and Beyond? Plato’s Apologia 41a
Great Eleusis Frieze, Eleusis Museum, Greece, late 5th c. BCE What was the role of Triptolemos in the Eleusinian Mysteries? This question is still unanswered – and may never be answered – despite considerable attention and voluminous studies spanning many centuries. Even the earliest Patristic commentators like Clement of Alexandria, Lactantius, Macrobius and others have…