Session: #305

Content:

A town is a palimpsest of different periods of building and development. New buildings arise above older ones, and older buildings are reused. A famous example is the Roman Theatre of Marcellus. In many cases re-use was not confined to buildings, but all or part of the urban fabric was re-used as well. Earlier urban forms are preserved in modern street plans. The Roman origins of many places are evident today. Components of medieval town plans – burgage plots, market places and town walls – are often embedded in the grain of the modern urban landscape. At the same time parts have been erased. This process of negotiation and compromise continues today: heritage management is often about incorporating older buildings and areas in new developments in order to preserve them.

This main session of the EAA Urban Archaeology Community focuses on unravelling this palimpsest. This can be about modern urban development, but also about urban development in previous ages. We would like to focus on two specific themes:
- The re-use and integration of buildings;
- The re-use and integration of space.

The main questions are how this re-use is manifested and why and when. Are these local or supra-local phenomena? Are connections between towns, regions and periods recognisable and how are they represented? Is there a connection with the landscape? How can we preserve the old urban fabric, but also weave new threads into it, so that it may still serve the inhabitants’ needs?
In this session we will explicitly not focus on one specific period and region. Exploring diversity through time and space can help us develop a better understanding of underlying patterns and interconnections. This will also be the focus in the discussion slots of this session.

We welcome papers from within and outside Europe.

Session: #305

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