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The Public Forum and the Space Between: the Materiality of Social Strategy in the Irish Neolithic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Shannon Marguerite Fraser
Shannon Marguerite Fraser
Affiliation:
The Council for Scottish Archaeology, c/o National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF
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Abstract

Framed within an interpretive, humanistic ‘archaeology of inhabitance’, the study explores the means by which a social, intellectual order particular to time and place is embedded within the material universe. Through the mediation of the human body, natural and architectural space is considered to be a medium for the production and reproduction of social relations. The specific materiality of places inhabited in the past is explored in detail, focusing on possibilities for and constraints upon the body and the senses.

The phenomenon of monumentality at the Loughcrew passage tomb cemetery in east-central Ireland is considered in the context of changing narratives of place and biographies of person and landscape. In contrast to many previous studies, the focus is upon engagement with the exterior spaces of the complex: the more frequent and larger-scale involvement of the communal body in these ‘public’ spaces will have played a critical role in the validation of knowledges and claims to authority which a more restricted group will have articulated within the confines of tomb chambers and passages.

The earlier tombs draw out qualities latent within the landscape, placing particular emphasis on prior, natural boundaries. Through time, the regionalisation of the Loughcrew hills acquires increasing architectural definition, by means of which a series of interconnecting spaces emerge at a much more human scale. The latest architectural and spatial developments may well form part of material strategies through which were engendered particular structures of authority carrying the potential for substantially heightened individual prominence within increasingly exclusive kinship solidarities. Ultimately, mediation between the physical and metaphysical elements of existence may be controlled with reference to distinct lines of descent rather than to a more generalised ancestral community. At the same time, the range of hills is gradually transformed from a meaningful locus which conceals within it the human efforts of monumental construction, to a landscape that derives its significance from massive summit cairns visible from considerable distances. This appropriative transformation may be seen as a material strategy which moves communities' conceptions of existence from an integrated, cultural whole in which people and landscape are embedded in each other, towards a vision of individuals and places as increasingly separate and self-contained.

Résumé

Encadrée dans une “archéologie d'habitation“ interprétative et humaniste, cette étude examine les moyens par lesquels s'enfonce un ordre social et intellectuel à temps et à lieu spécifiques dans l'univers matériel. Par moyen du corps humain, l'espace naturel et architectural est considéré comme un médium pour la production et la reproduction des relations sociales. La matérialité spécifique de lieux habités au passé est tracée en détail, mettant 1' accent sur les possibilités et les constraintes sur le corps et ses sens.

Le phénomène de monumentalité à la sépulture à souterrain de Loughcrew au centre-est de l'Irlande est discuté dans le contexte de narrations changeantes concernant le lieu et de biographies changeantes concernant les personnes et le paysage. Par rapport aux études antérieures, on met ici le point sur l'engagement avec les espaces extérieurs du complexe: l'engagement plus fréquent et à grande échelle du corps communal dans ces lieux “publics“ aura joué un rôle décisif dans la validation de savoirs et de prétention d'autorité qui s'articulait chez un groupe plus restreint dans les limites des chambres et des souterrains des sépultures.

Les tombes plus anciennes expriment des qualités latentes dans le paysage, mettant l'accent sur des limites antérieures et naturelles. A travers le temps, la régionalisation des collines Loughcrew acquiert une définition architecturale croissante, par où une série d'espaces liant l'un à l'autre se produit sur une échelle humaine. La plus récente évolution architecturale et spatiale fait peut-être partie de stratégies matérielles par lesquelles ont été engendré des structures particulières d'autorité qui portaient le potentiel pour la prominence bien plus évoluée d'individus à l'intérieur des solidarités de parenté de plus en plus exclusives. En fin de compte, la médiation entre les éléments physiques et métaphysiques d'existence peut être vérifiée en regardant les lignes distinctes de descendance plutôt qu'une communauté ancestrale plus généralisée. En même temps, la rangée de coteaux se transforme d'un lieu signifiant qui y cache les efforts humains de construction monumentale en un paysage qui gagne sa signification en possédant d'enormes cairns au sommet visibles de distances considérables. La transformation appropriative peut être considérée comme une stratégie matérielle qui pousse les conceptions d'existence des communautés d'un ensemble culturel intégré dans lequel s'enfoncent les gens et le paysage l'un et l'autre, vers une vision d'individus et de lieux qui sont de plus en plus isolés et indépendants.

Zusammenfassung

Im Rahmen einer interpretierenden humanistischen ‘Archäologie der Bewohner' erforscht diese Studie die Möglickeiten, im welchen Maße eine gesellschaftliche intellektuelle Ordnung, die einer bestimmten Zeit und einem bestimmten Platz zugeeignet ist, im materiellen Universum verankert ist. Durch die Vermittlung des menschlichen Körpers wird natürlicher und architektonischer Raum als Medium zur Produktion und Reproduktion gesellschaftlicher Beziehungen weitgehend betrachtet. Die spezifische Bedeutung der Substanz in einem einst bewohnten Ort wird in Detail erforscht, wobei man sich besonders auf die Möglichkeit der Pros und Kontras der Einschränkungen auf den Körper und die Sinne konzentriert, erforscht.

Die phänomenale Größe des Langhcrew-Friedhofes mit seinen Kammergräben in Mittelirland wird im Kontrast zu den sich abwechselnden Entwicklungen zwischen Ort-, Personen- und Landschaftbiographien erforscht. Im Gegensatz zu früheren Studien ist hier der Fokus: die Funktionen der äußerlichen Räume dieses Komplexes; die öfter vorkommenden, im größerem Umfang bestehende Verwicklung des Gemeinwesens in diesen 'öffentlichen Räumen' wird bestimmt eine kritische Rolle in der Auswertung des Wissens und der Anrechte auf Autorität gespielt haben, während eine beschränktere Gruppe inmitten dieser Grenzen der Grabmächer und Gängen anders artikuliert hätte.

Die früheren Gräber machen auf die in der Umgebung latente Eigenschaften aufmerksam. Dabei wird besondere Aufmerksamkeit den frühen natürlichen Grenzen gewidmet. Allmählich, nach langer Zeit, entstand die Regionalisierung der Langhcrew-Hügel und dadurch wiederum eine Reihe von miteinander verbundenen Zwischenräumen, die in einem sehr viel menschlicheren Ausmaß aufgetreten sind. Die späteren architektonischen und zwischenräumlichen Weiterentwicklungen könnten wohl einen Teil materieller Strategien dargestellt haben, durch welche besonders Hierarchien-Strukturen entstanden sind, die das Potential eine wesentliche, persönliche Prominenz inmitten der Solidarität der immer exklusiveren Verwandtschaft zu haben, erhöhte. Schließlich nun, die Vermittlung zwischen den körperlichen und methaphysichen Elementen des Lebens hätte eher im Bezug auf eine klar erkennbare Abstammungslinie als auf eine mehr verallgemeinerte Ahnengemeinde kontrolliert werden können. Zur gleichen Zeit wurden die Hügelhöhen allmählich von einem bedeutungsvollen geometrischen Ort, der menschliche Bemühungen in sich barg, enorme Konstruktionen zu bauen, in eine Umwelt umgewandelt, deren Bedeutung von den sehr weit sichtbaren massiven Kammergrab stammt. Diese angemessene Umwandlung könnte als materielle Strategie gesehen werden, die die Lebensauffassungen der Bevölkerungsschichten eines kulturellen Ganzens, in dem Menschen und Umwelt vereint waren, in eine Vision rückten, wo Individuen und Orte sich immer weiter separierten und entfernten.

Résumen

Enmarcado dentro de una “arqueología de la ocupación” interpretativa y humanística, este estudio explora los medios por los cuales un orden social e intelectual específico a un tiempo y a un lugar es injertado dentro del universo material. A través de la mediación del cuerpo humano, el espacio natural y arquitectónico se entiende como un medio para la producción y reproducción de relaciones sociales. El artículo explora en detalle la materialidad específica de los lugares habitados en el pasado, concentrandose en las posibilidades para y las limitaciones relativas al cuerpo y a los sentidos.

El fenómeno de monumentalidad en la necrópolis de Loughcrew, Irlanda centro-oriental, es considerado en el contexto de los cambios de narrativa de lugar y las biografías de persona y paisaje. En contraste con muchos estudios previos, el enfoque es el de la relación con los espacios externos del complejo: una participación más frecuente é importante de la comunidad en estos espacios “públicos” habría desempeñado un papel crucial en la validación de conocimientos y pretensiones de autoridad, que un grupo más restringido habría expresado dentro de los confines de las cámaras mortuorias y pasillos.

Las tumbas más antiguas utilizan cualidades latentes en el paisaje, poniendo particular énfasis en limites naturales ya existentes. Con el tiempo, la regionalización de las colinas de Loughcrew adquiere una definición arquitectónica creciente, a través de la cual emergen una serie de espacios interconectados en una escala mucho más humana. Los cambios arquitectónicos y espaciales más tardios, bien pudieran ser parte de estrategias materiales a través de las cuales se desarrollaron estrategias de autoridad específicas, con potencial para una mayor preeminencia del individuo dentro de sistemas solidarios de parentesco cada vez más exclusivos. Finalmente, la mediación entre los elementos físicos y metafísicos de la existencia se puede constatar conreferencia a linajes, en vez de a una comunidad ancestral más generalizada. Al mismo tiempo, el grupo de colinas es transformado gradualmente de lugar significativo que encierra en si el esfuerzo humano de construcción monumental, en un paisaje que deriva su importancia de los gigantescos túmulos de piedra en las cimas que son visibles desde una distancia considerable. Esta transformación apropiativa puede ser entendida como una estrategia material, que transforma las concepciones sobre la existencia de la comunidad como un todo cultural e integrado, en el que la gente y el paisaje estan injertados el uno en el otro, en una visión de los individuos y lugares cada vez más separados y autónomos.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 64 , January 1998 , pp. 203 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1998

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