Theme:
1. The Material Record: Current Trends and Future Directions
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Earthen Architecture and Its Environmental Dimension, from the Past to the Future
Content:
Earthen architecture is known in different forms and building techniques, from wattle and daub, to mudbricks, to shaped or rammed earth, and is documented across all time periods and continents (except for Antarctica). Earth is rarely used alone in architecture, but combined with other materials, such as plants. It is a fragile construction type that suffers from erosion and, partially due to its vegetal component, it has even been deliberately damaged by governmental policies (e.g., the sebakh in Egypt during the 19th and 20th centuries). Diverse research has focused on the study of past earthen architecture, although many questions remain open, such as the environmental impact of the extraction of tons of mud from the surroundings of a settlement or its integration into plant economy strategies providing either the support for the construction or as tempering material.
This session welcomes papers dealing with:
- The identification of earthen architecture in unexpected contexts, such as burials.
- New techniques for the study of earthen remains, that help us understand the technology used, the origin of the raw materials (including plants), the maintenance work of the constructions, as well as their original appearance (e.g., painted plaster, but also of the parts of the construction built with more perishable organic materials), including 3D modelling efforts, etc.
- The correspondence between certain earthen construction types and the local environmental conditions and agricultural practices, as well as the environmental impact of earthen constructions.
- The sustainability of archaeological heritage in earthen architecture and current and future challenges regarding its preservation.
- Reflections on the connections between past, present, and future of earthen architecture and the environmental lessons we can learn.
Papers presented to this session will be invited to be submitted to the forthcoming Special Issue on the same topic in World Archaeology.
Keywords:
Earth building, Environmental archaeology, Sustainability, Heritage, Plants, Climate change
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:
María Pastor Quiles (Spain) 1
Co-organisers:
Ferran Antolín (Germany) 2,3
Affiliations:
1. University of Alicante
2. DAI
3. University of Basel
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