The Genesis of Monuments among the Mediterranean Islands

Kolb, Michael

doi:10.1002/9780470773536.ch7

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…As the Nuragic period developed during the Middle to Recent Bronze Age, settlements increased in number, size, and elaboration, culminating in complex nuraghi (Depalmas, 2009a(Depalmas, ,2009b(Depalmas, ,2009cMelis, 2017), such as at Su-Nuraxi/Barumini. With an estimated 7000 nuraghi found across Sardinia (Klob, 2005), the Bronze Age in Sardinia is seen as a period of considerable population increase, similar to northern Italy. Although nowhere else hosts such elaborate sites in such high densities, parallel traditions to the nuraghi occur in other western Mediterranean islands, such as the Torre of southern Corsica (Peche-Quilichini & Cesari, 2017), Sesi in Pantelleria (Orsi, 1899) and Talayots on the Balearic Islands (Gili Suriñach et al, 2006).…”

Section: The Bronze Agementioning

confidence: 99%

Radiocarbon Dated Trends and Central Mediterranean Prehistory

et al. 2021

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This paper reviews the evidence for long term trends in anthropogenic activity and population dynamics across the Holocene in the central Mediterranean and the chronology of cultural events. The evidence for this has been constituted in a database of 4608 radiocarbon dates (of which 4515 were retained for analysis following initial screening) from 1195 archaeological sites in southern France, Italy and Malta, spanning the Mesolithic to Early Iron Age periods, c. 8000 to 500 BC. We provide an overview of the settlement record for central Mediterranean prehistory and add to this an assessment of the available archaeological radiocarbon evidence in order to review the traditional narratives on the prehistory of the region. This new chronology has enabled us to identify the most significant points in time where activity levels, population dynamics and cultural change have together caused strong temporal patterning in the archaeological record. Some of these episodes were localized to one region, whereas others were part of pan-regional trends and cultural trajectories that took many centuries to play out fully, revealing prehistoric societies subject to collapse, recovery, and continuing instability over the long-term. Using the radiocarbon evidence, we model growth rates in the various regions so that the tempo of change at certain points in space and time can be identified, compared, and discussed in the context of demographic change. Using other published databases of radiocarbon data, we have drawn comparisons across the central Mediterranean to wider prehistoric Europe, and northern Africa. Finally, we include a brief response to the synchronously published but independently developed paper (Palmisano et al. in J World Prehist 34(3), 2021). While there are differences in our respective approaches, we share the general conclusions that large-scale trends can been identified through meta-analyses of the archaeological record, and these offer new perspectives on how society functioned.

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Section: The Bronze Agementioning

confidence: 99%

Radiocarbon Dated Trends and Central Mediterranean Prehistory

et al. 2021

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“…In an example form historical archaeology, Leone and Hurry (1998) show how the designers of St. Mary's City in colonial Maryland employed European Baroque principles of urban planning, such as "lines of sight to direct eyes to points of reference in space that represented hierarchy, and monarchy in particular" (Leone and Hurry 1998: 36). Other archaeological studies of monumental architecture and political communication include work by Blanton (1989), Kolb (2005), and Moore (1996b).…”

Section: Architectural Communication Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical Urban Theory for Archaeologists

Smith

2010

J Archaeol Method Theory

152

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I review several bodies of empirical urban theory relevant to the archaeological analysis of ancient cities. Empirical theory is a type of "middlerange theory" (following Robert Merton): sets of concepts and methods that are less abstract, and have greater empirical content, than high-level social theory. The categories of theory reviewed here include environment-behavior theory, architectural communication theory, space syntax, urban morphology, reception theory, generative planning theory, normative theory, and city size theory. Most of these approaches originated in the fields of architecture, planning, and geography, and they directly link the urban-built environment to the actions of people within cities.Keywords Urbanism . Theory . Planning . Middle-range theory . Built environment Archaeological research on ancient cities and urbanism exhibits a wide range of perspectives on the use of theory. Some archaeologists pursue descriptive research with little explicit use of theory, while others embrace high-level social theory. Still others chart a course between these poles by using lower-level concepts. Work in this latter category is more abstract than empirical description but more grounded and less abstract than high-level social theory. I call this body of work "empirical urban theory," and in this paper I argue that this is an especially productive explanatory approach for understanding ancient cities and urban life. In defining "theory" I follow anthropologist Roy Ellen, who states that theories, provide us with a framework through which we can explain and interpret data, and they should do so parsimoniously. So, we might define theory as 'A supposition or body of suppositions designed to explain phenomena or data' (Ellen 2010: 390).

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“…Some of these social implications have already been exposed by different authors (Bonanno et al, 1990;Kolb, 2005;Renfrew et al, 1974), who have developed theoretical models in Mediterranean islands with megalithic sites. Aspects such as social complexity, elites, specialized knowledge, and even common identity have been explained thanks to the study of these monumental remains in Malta and Corsica.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Evidence of Quarrying at the Iron Age Site of Torre d’en Galmés, Menorca, Spain

Perez-Juez¹,

Goldberg²

2018

Bol. geol. min.

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The island of Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) contains numerous megalithic structures (e.g., watchtowers, sanctuaries) and private buildings (e.g., domestic spaces, storage areas). Until recently, archaeological research has concentrated on architecture (and associated material remains), but research on the raw materials (source, method of quarrying and their social implications) in constructing these monuments has been very sparse. This paper summarizes some initial results of our recent excavations at Torre d'en Galmés, which show that the quarrying of limestone was widespread: within buildings, in open spaces between buildings, and beyond the limits of the main occupation of the site. Inhabitants exploited joints and bedding planes in the Miocene limestone that covers the southern half of the island, ignoring softer marls, which have been quarried for construction only since the Roman conquest. The sizes and shapes of the quarried blocks can be used to reflect on social aspects, since quarrying of small blocks within buildings could have been whereas the extraction, transport, and construction of large standing uprights from outside the limits of the site would have required a greater communal effort.

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The Genesis of Monuments among the Mediterranean Islands

Cited by 8 publications

References 38 publications

Radiocarbon Dated Trends and Central Mediterranean Prehistory

Radiocarbon Dated Trends and Central Mediterranean Prehistory

Empirical Urban Theory for Archaeologists

Evidence of Quarrying at the Iron Age Site of Torre d’en Galmés, Menorca, Spain

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