Rural Archaeology

The settlement pattern in the region of Nyland (Fi. Uusimaa), southern Finland, changed dramatically during the 12th and 13th centuries, due to a large-scale wave of colonization from Sweden into a region which had previously been only sparsely populated by Finnish-speaking inhabitants. Written sources tell us little about the relationship between the two settlement groups during this period, but recent archaeological excavations at medieval village sites offer new material for discussion. When this material is studied in detail, alongside information from place names and written records, it is possible to trace different signs of conflict or cooperation between the language groups. In this paper, material from four sites in central Nyland is discussed, illustrating examples of different strategies the two groups may have utilized during the course of their encounters.

This thesis addresses the 19th century sequence of Kerkplaats, a farm in the central Karoo, Northern Cape, South Africa. Over this period different colonialisms of varying power and effect were introduced. The first was to local Khoe, San and Griqua communities in the form of one of the first London Missionary Society stations in the early 19th century. A second phase between 1830 and 1860 was to sheep farmers of German, Dutch and mixed descent, who absorbed and moulded the increasing impacts of British influence and materiality into older worlds of cultural resilience and practice. From 1860, a third phase saw a flood of mass produced British goods enter the region, similar to other colonial contexts around the world. Amount, availability and choice changed significantly and provided the material substrate in which rural stock farmers re-expressed themselves within the growing stature of Empire. It is suggested that for some rural farmers, expressive cultural practice worked to underpin increased affluence brought by merino sheep farming for global markets. Through this sequence different expressions of identity, domesticity, and economic scale are assessed through a close reading of documentary and archaeological evidence. While the material opportunities through the 19th century are the result of global processes, how this material is understood has to consider local context. It is suggested that material expression and identity change is most dramatic from the middle of the 19th century, when patterns of consumption reflect the globalisation of British production.

The subterranean root cellar is the quintessential feature of rural nineteenth-century archaeological sites in Ontario and much archaeological, historical, and architectural research on rural farmsteads has focused on defining and understanding these structures. However, this work has neglected an important component of this feature – the root cellar drain. Unlike the root cellars which are generally standardized, rectangular deposits, their drains show extreme variations in length, width, depth, and construction. This paper contextualized these features within their broader nineteenth-century ideals of drainage and goes on to tackle the topic from a “big data” approach by running statistical analyses on the associated geological, social, and economic attributes. The discussion presents opportunities that are present from the vast quantities of historical sites that have been excavated in the past several decades. Going beyond simple comparisons of small handfuls of sites, one future for historical archaeology lies in similar big data approaches.

Findings in burial complexes discovered on the chora of the European part of Bosporos include a specific group of materials of natural origin – layers of mollusk shells at the bottom of graves and at the entrance to tombs, offerings of single shells of sea and river mollusks. Such objects, when placed into the sacred space of the necropolis, were endowed with new meanings and included in the system of the funeral rite. Marine attributes were included in the context of ritual actions determined by the archaic ideas about the world model, which sustained among the rural population during the centuries. According to a three-part model of the world, the sea/water was the equivalent of a chthonic lower sphere. Aquatic mollusk shells, on the one hand, symbolized abundance, fecundity, and in this meaning belonged to the circle of symbols of fertility gods. On the other hand, they marked the lower cosmic zone, comparable to the chthonic world, were applied in the rites of passage, which set up the connection between the levels of the universe in accordance with the archaic model of the world. In this aspect, the shells associated with the water element carried the idea of transformation and were endowed with the functions of mediators. This effect made shells important in rituals that accompanied the burial of children (especially newborns), which, in the ancients' views, had the status of a
liminal entity, embodied the idea of life, and were placed in the sacred space on the border of the earthly and extramundane worlds and required special treatment after death.

Представлена интерпретация специфической группы материалов природного происхождения из погребальных комплексов, открытых на территории боспорской хоры. Эта группа так называемых экофактов включает подсыпки из морских раковин на уровне дна могил и у входа в гробницы, приношения в виде единичных раковин морских и речных моллюсков. В погребально-обрядовой сфере раковины водных моллюсков были включены в контекст ритуальных действий, обусловленных устойчивыми среди сельского населения архаическими представлениями о трёхчленной модели мира, где море выступало эквивалентом хтонической, нижней сферы. Раковины моллюсков, с одной стороны, выражали идеи изобилия, плодовитости и в этом смысле принадлежали кругу символов богов, воплощавших плодоносные силы природы. С другой стороны, они маркировали нижнюю космическую зону, сопоставимую с хтоническим миром, применялись в обрядах перехода, в которых конституировалась взаимосвязь между уровнями мироздания в соответствии с архаической картиной мира. Экофакты, связанные с водной стихией, несли идею преобразования, в сакральной сфере выступали символами-медиаторами. В этом смысле раковины применялись в ритуалах погребения детей (особенно новорожденных), имеющих у древних статус лиминальных существ, воплощавших жизненное начало. Они помещались в сакральном пространстве на границе земного и потустороннего миров и требовали особого обхождения после смерти.

Layers of mollusk shells on the floors are feature of any rural sanctuary in the Crimean Azov region. Single shells, as well as fish bones, were found in some places of sacrifices. In the ritual practice of rural sanctuaries marine attributes were included in the context of ritual actions determined by the archaic ideas about the world model, which sustained among the rural population during the centuries. «Sea» attributes, on the one hand, symbolized abundance, fecundity, and in this meaning belonged to the circle of symbols of fertility gods. On the other hand, they marked the lower cosmic zone, comparable to the chthonic world, were applied in the sacrifice ceremonies, which set up the connection between the levels of the universe in accordance with the archaic model of the world.

Подсыпки из раковин моллюсков – едва ли не обязательный признак любого святилища в Крымском Приазовье. Отдельные раковины, а также кости рыб встречаются в составе некоторых жертвоприношений. В обрядовой практике сельских святилищ Крымского Приазовья морские экофакты были включены в контекст ритуальных действий, обусловленных устойчивыми среди сельского населения архаическими представлениями о модели мира. В сакральной сфере «морские» атрибуты, с одной стороны, выражали идеи, связанные с изобилием, плодовитостью, и в этом смысле принадлежали кругу символов богов, воплощавших плодоносные силы природы. С другой стороны, они маркировали нижнюю космическую зону, сопоставимую с хтоническим миром, применялись в обрядах жертвоприношений, в которых конституировалась взаимосвязь между уровнями мироздания в соответствии с архаической картиной мира.

The aim of this study is to introduce the rural area of Karadiğin Hill, which is located in the northeast of Kremna ancient city in Central Pisidia, and provide information about rural settlements in the region, while evaluations were made on the architectural features of the houses in the settlement and different suggestions are presented. As a result of this study, it has been shown for first time that a rural settlement organization was formed in the central Pisidia. The new findings helped to understand the formation of Roman settlements with rural areas mainly in the 2nd century AD. When looking at the settlement order of Karadiğin Hill, it is noteworthy that it consists of rectangular, one-room simple hybrid spaces. This model mainly constitutes the building block of rural settlements in Central Pisidia. In fact, the Roman rural settlements have been a follow up of the rural settlement model that has been going on since the Iron Age with minor changes. The topographic structure that characterizes the settlement order made it compulsory for the rural population to cluster on high rocky hills close to the valley slopes or agricultural lands. The documented findings at Karadiğin Hill reveal that olive and olive oil production was a favorable occupation in the region; and it seems that olive-olive oil production is popular in rural areas similar to Karadiğin Hill geomorphology (e.g. İnarası, Hisarköy Asartepe), whereas in regions such as Karapınar Asartepe and Kumaryaylası, grape-wine production is preferred. As a result of our long-term studies in the region, it was determined that the urban population and rural population dispersed at the same rate during the Roman period.

Excerpt from the introduction:


"While Umm el-Jimal is renowned for its extant Late Antique basalt-hewn architecture, the site was founded much earlier in the Nabatean/Early Roman period (mid-/late first century AD). The first few centuries of occupation have been comparatively little studied, due in large part to a paucity of surviving stratigraphy and architecture dated to that period, save for military structures and poorly preserved remains in the village south-east of the town. Since 2012, renewed excavations at Umm el-Jimal, along with analysis of unpublished contexts from previous campaigns, have shed new light on these formerly obscured periods.


This paper presents the current ceramic evidence for the Nabatean/Roman through Early Byzantine period at Umm el-Jimal, focusing on two types of pottery: common wares (tableware, cooking ware, and thin-walled storage ware) and fine wares. Three key datasets will be interrogated: quantified deposits from the 2012 and 2014 excavations at Houses XVII–XVIII (c. mid-/late first century to eighth century) and from the 2015 and 2017 excavations at the Commodus Gate Area (c. mid-/late first century to third century), and unquantified ceramics from the Northern Dump (c. mid-/late first century to third century) excavated in 1981.


While some badiyah sites have been subject to excavation and other archaeological research, and surveys have been conducted in the region, ceramic analysis has been rare. As a consequence, knowledge of pottery types, their origin, and any transitions over time are poorly understood. The new ceramic evidence from Umm el-Jimal presents, therefore, an important case study in both local and regional ceramic consumption."