Theme:
1. Networks, networking, communication: archaeology of interactions
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Round around the Circle – Circular Phenomena and Their Meanings in European Prehistory
Content:
Circular building elements in space separate places from others. Encircling a place, breaking it from its surroundings is a specific act of the communities, which has both practical and symbolic meaning. If the circular arrangement of space was also expressed in other media, we could assume that this repetitive form had added connotation, a symbolic significance. In cases where a clear pattern in using angular (rectangular, cross-shaped) and/or circular forms in everyday ancient life can be determined, archaeologists could rightly ask what the difference in the meaning of these two archetypes was (e.g. The distinction between the dead and living, the sacred and profane or celestial and earthly worlds).
Did the circular arrangement of space indicate networking between communities (e.g. Like the shared “Rondel idea” for the different territorial groups of the Middle European Late Neolithic cultures such as the Lengyel culture etc.)?
We invite papers for this session from all periods of Prehistory starting from the Palaeolithic to the end of the Iron Age, where the circle and its repetition is a common element in the conception of space: earthworks, circular ditch systems, burial grounds (mounds, barrows), settlements, houses, and supporting materials carrying this motif – ceramics, metals etc.). We aim to gather papers showcasing archaeological remains that offer the possibility to decode the choice of circular arrangement separately from or simultaneously with the angular arrangement of space. The recognition, emphasis and understanding of the use of these two distinct forms in the arrangement of space would be the focus of our discussion.
Keywords:
circular, rectangular, space ordering, earthwork, rotunda, symbolism
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Judit P. Barna (Hungary) 1
Co-organisers:
Emília Pásztor (Hungary) 2
Klára Pusztainé Fischl (Hungary) 3
Tamás Pusztai (Hungary) 1
Jaromír Kovárník (Czech Republic) 4
Affiliations:
1. Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Régészeti Örökségvédelmi Igazgatóság
2. Türr István Múzeum, Baja
3. Miskolci Egyetem BTK, Történettudományi Intézet, Őstörténeti és Régészeti Tanszék
4. Univerzita Hradec Králové, Filozofická fakulta, Katedra archeologie
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