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EAA2012 - Session List
reconstructions of the organization of past prehistoric and early historic societies in Europe as the explaining factor behind our archaeological data. At the same time our understanding of local social organization is crucial for insight in the interconnectedness between societies in Europe and beyond. It is obvious that the roughly contemporary processes leading to social inequality and social change across Europe are not isolated and thus every study that tries to shed more light on these processes should be welcomed. It is important that studies on social complexity should be extended also in the direction of non-formal systems of social inequality. Instead of answering the question on the origin of social inequality we need to redirect our questions towards questions on social change and on the benefits of social inequality. This session welcomes papers dealing with any study on prehistoric or early historic social complexity. We encourage both regional case studies and studies from a long term and large scale perspective. Especially welcome are studies dealing with interconnectedness of societies and studies on "lower strata" in social complexities.
Death and Burial in Post-Medieval Europe Organisers: Sarah Tarlow (University of Leicester; UK) and Jenny Nyberg (Stockholm University; Sweden) Contact: sat12[at]le.ac.uk Over the last two or three decades post-Medieval burial archaeology has developed into a particular field of study within archaeology both through excavations and laboratory research. This field is however still small and scholars are spread out, often feeling rather isolated in their respective countries as well as over Europe as a whole. This session will examine some important recent developments, and lay the foundations on which to build an international research group for the exchange of information and ideas to vitalise and enrich the research field of post-Medieval burial archaeology across Europe. In many parts of Europe research on post-Medieval burial customs has focused on the commemorative aspects of burial practice through the mediums of grave stones and monuments. In this session we would like to place focus on the very driving force behind the funeral ceremony i.e. the dead body itself. How is the materiality of the dead body handled throughout this time period? What are the material traces of attitudes towards the dead body and views on death? How can developments in the treatment of the dead body be related to wider changes in society such as aspects of faith, politics, law, social status, gender, emotions and medical science? We would like to encourage a wide variety of papers on this topic from all over Europe - and considering Protestant, Catholic and other post-Medieval societies - so that similarities and differences relating to religious faith can be discussed. We invite contributions on any aspect of death and disposal in the postMedieval period (between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries); our focus is on mortuary practice rather than the scientific study of human remains as an approach to demography, disease, or other aspects of lived experience.
Entangled Colonialism: Changes in Material Culture and Space in the Late Medieval through to the Modern Period Organisers: Jonathan Finch (University of York; UK), Magdalena Naum (University of Cambridge; UK) and Jonas M. Nordin (National Historical Museum; Sweden) Contact: jonas.nordin[at]historiska.se Early modern European colonialism with a legacy from the Reconquista in late 15th century Portugal and Spain meant vast changes in material culture, global migrations and the rise of modes of production, use of space, etc. This session aims to discuss archaeological aspects of colonialism and the colonial world, detectable in material culture and text in Europe and overseas. Moreover, the session aims to provide a broader perspective on colonialism and its outcomes mingling the experiences of relatively peripheral and small time agents, such as Denmark/Norway and Sweden/Finland with those of the major agents, such as England, France, The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Although the archaeological studies of colonialism currently are in a vital stage and are conducted worldwide, more general for a addressing both the empirical as well as the theoretical issues are still lacking. This session intents to create a platform for archaeologists dealing with questions of colonialism and related subjects of power, domination, creolization and hybridization in the colonial periods from the late middle ages to the modern period. The session welcomes a wide range of papers dealing with research on material culture, buildings, art and texts in the context of the rise of colonialism.
European Hunter-Gatherer Bog-sites: Data, Models, Perspectives Organisers: Lars Larsson (University of Lund; Sweden), Harald L端bke (Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology; Germany) and Nicky Milner (University of York; UK) Contact: Lars.Larsson[at]ark.lu.se European hunter-gatherer bog sites with well-preserved organics have an enormous importance for the understanding of our past especially for the temperate climatic zone north of the Alps. They enrich our understanding of this important period not only because of their well preserved rare cultural material but also because of their high resolution climatic and www.eaa2012.fi/programme/session_list
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