Places of Memory: Spatialised Practices of Remembrance from Prehistory to Today

This book examines spatialised practices of remembrance and its role in reshaping societies from prehistory to today; it presents a reflection on the creation of memories through the organisation and use of landscapes and spaces that explicitly considers the multiplicity of meanings of the past.

Places of Memory takes a new look at spatialised practices of remembrance and its role in reshaping societies from prehistory to today, gathering researchers representing diverse but complementary fields of expertise. This diachronic outlook provides important insights into the great variety of human and social reactions examining memory, encompassing aspects of remembering, the loss of memory, reclaiming memories, and remembering things that may not have happened. The contributions to this volume expand upon Pierre Nora’s concept of lieux des memoire (places of memory) and the notion that memory is not just stored in these places but activated through human engagement. The volume presents a reflection on the creation of memories through the organisation and use of landscapes and spaces that explicitly considers the multiplicity of meanings of the past. Thus, social identities were created, reaffirmed, strengthened, and transformed through the founding, change, and reorganization of places and spaces of memory in the cultural landscape.

Preface Introduction - Christian Horn, Gustav Wollentz, Gianpiero Di Maida and Annette Haug 1. Commemoration and Change: Remembering What May Not Have Happened - Richard Bradley 2. The Multiple Pasts of Archaic Greece: The Landscapes of Crete and the Argolid, 900-500 BCE - James Whitley 3. Aeneas, Romulus, and the Memory Site of the Forum Augustum in Rome - Matthias J. Bensch 4. The Spoils of Eternity: Spolia as Collective Memory in the Basilica of St. Peter during the 4th century AD - Christina Videbech 5. Were TRB Depositions Boundary Markers in the Neolithic Landscape? - Michael Muller 6. Memories Created, Memories Altered: The Case of Kakucs-Turjan Household and Pottery - Robert Staniuk 7. 'These Battered Hills': Landscape and Memory at Verdun (France) - Paola Filippucci 8. Set in Stone? Transformation and Memory in Scandinavian Rock Art - Christian Horn and Rich Potter 9. Art and Practices of Memory, Space and Landscapes in the Roman World - Anne Gangloff 10. Restoring a Memory: The Case of Kowary Barrow (Lesser Poland, Poland) - Anna Gawlik and Marcin Czarnowicz 11. Art, Social Memory and Relational Ontology in the Kimberley, North West Australia - Martin Porr 12. Recursivity in Kimberley Rock Art Production, Western Australia - Ana Paula Motta, Martin Porr, and Peter Veth 13. An Archaeology of Reclaiming Memories - Possibilities and Pitfalls - Gustav Wollentz, Preface ;

Introduction – Christian Horn, Gustav Wollentz, Gianpiero Di Maida and Annette HaugRichard BradleyJames WhitleyMatthias J. BenschChristina VidebechMichael MüllerRobert StaniukPaola FilippucciChristian Horn and Rich PotterAnne GangloffAnna Gawlik and Marcin CzarnowiczMartin PorrAna Paula Motta, Martin Porr, and Peter VethGustav Wollentz

Christian Horn is a researcher and lecturer at the Department for Historical Studies at the University of Gothenburg. His scholarship focuses on Scandinavian rock art and prehistoric conflict. He is the current research coordinator of the Swedish Rock Art Research Archives as well as an advisory board member. ;
Gustav Wollentz is project leader/researcher at the Nordic Centre of Heritage Learning and Creativity. ;
Gianpiero Di Maida is the scientific manager of the DISAPALE project at the Neanderthal Museum. ;
Annette Haug is professor for Classical Archaeology at the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel.

• Edited by Christian Horn
• Edited by Gustav Wollentz
• Edited by Gianpiero Di Maida
• Edited by Annette Haug

In summary, despite the manageable number of 164 pages, the present volume contains a rich fund of newly conceived and further developed approaches that go well beyond the scope of the individual contributions and can also be applied to other archaeological contexts. The readers are shown stimulating possibilities to look at their own research topic from a new perspective - and at the same time to dare to think outside the box in many ways. The range of contributions clearly demonstrates the potential of including theories and concepts of memory in archaeology.

— Lukas Kerk