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Introduction
This page lists in alphabetical order the bibliographical references pertinent to the present topical book.
Each bibliographical entry is displayed in an abbreviated form (Author + year + title), with two links:
- the publication year refers to the full bibliographical entry in the eLibrary website, where one one will generally find an abstract and an extended summary;
- the link below the title refers to the place(s) within this website where the publication is cited.
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NOTE. Entries highlighted in yellow give the label to be used in the A NAME entry in the MEL file.
Petrie 1904
Petrie, F., 1904 “Methods and Aims in Archaeology” (available online here)
principles, practical methods, and intellectual objectives of archaeological research. establish archaeology as a scientific discipline based on systematic observation, accurate documentation, material evidence, and the critical interpretation of the archaeological record. He places particular emphasis on the systematic recording of observations during excavation. Notes, measurements, plans, drawings, and the precise marking of archaeological features are indispensable because excavation is a destructive process: once deposits have been removed, their original relationships cannot be reconstructed through direct observation. Field documentation must therefore preserve as much information as possible about the original position and relationships of archaeological remains.
Droop1915
Droop, J. P. 1915 “Archaeological Excavation” (available online here)
excavation is an irreversible process, and the archaeologist must preserve through observation and documentation the information that is destroyed during the investigation.
Albright1938
Albright, W. F. 1938: “The Excavation of Tell Beit Mirsim, Vol. II, The Bronze Age” (Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 17 1936-1937)
Albright in the excavation at Beit Mirsim in Palestina the “Locus-to-Stratum Method,” which, for the first time, placed at the centre of stratigraphic practice the separate examination of homogeneous, clearly distinguishable deposits and their dating on the basis of the pottery types found within them (Albright 1939, The Excavation of Tell Beit Mirsim, Vol. II: The Bronze Age). However, Albright's concept of a “stratum” does not refer to a directly observable stratigraphic entity. The published sections, moreover, show only architectural remains, seemingly suspended in an otherwise undefined context. This method was subsequently further developed and refined by M. Wheeler and K. Kenyon.
Dunand1939
Dunand, M. 1939, “Fouilles de Byblos 1, 1926-1932” (Bibliothèque Archéologique et Historique 24)
In 1926, Maurice Dunand took over the excavations at Byblos on the Lebanese coast from Pierre Montet. Dunand was critical of the excavation methods commonly used in the Near East up to that time, which he considered to be excessively influenced by interpretation and speculative assumptions. In particular, he regarded the unequivocal and objective distinction between the complex relationships of walls, layers, and successive settlement phases – their juxtaposition, superposition, and interpenetration – as problematic. For Dunand, objectivity was the central methodological objective. Archaeological remains should be documented as directly as possible, exactly as they were encountered during the excavation process, in order to ensure that the observations could be independently verified. Accordingly, he consistently oriented his excavation method towards verifiable and standardised documentation, both verbal and graphic. Dunand had the tell excavated in successive, strictly horizontal removal units (levées), each approximately 20 cm thick, proceeding from the highest point down to the natural ground. In total, approximately fifty such strata were defined and numbered from top to bottom using Roman numerals. All finds and archaeological features were systematically recorded according to these strata. When wall structures were encountered, they were documented stone by stone. The uppermost course of stones was levelled, and the walls were left standing until their foundations were reached. Only then were they dismantled. By recording both the upper and lower limits of each wall, it was possible to assign every structure precisely to specific strata and publish it accordingly. Dunand was convinced that this systematic three-dimensional documentation of finds and archaeological features would make it possible to establish their chronology retrospectively, independently of the excavation process itself.
Wheeler1954
Wheeler, M. 1954, Archaeology from the Earth
Following the First World War, Wheeler initially developed his excavation methods in England and subsequently applied them in the Levant and India. An important step forward was the systematic use of section drawings with numbered archaeological features. An early and particularly clear example of this practice can be found in the excavations at Maiden Castle in southern England, where Wheeler, from 1934 onwards, consistently documented sections and systematically recorded and numbered the stratigraphic units visible within them. In this context, he also critically challenged the previously widespread practice of exposing buildings primarily by simply tracing walls (“find a wall and follow it”). Instead, he emphasised the need to deliberately excavate sections across wall structures in order to make stratigraphic relationships visible and derive relative chronologies from them. The so-called Wheeler-Kenyon method takes the actual stratification of a tell as the starting point for archaeological analysis. Its primary objective is to distinguish clearly between successive superimposed layers and to establish a coherent and verifiable stratigraphic sequence. Only in a second step is the chronological sequence of the architectural remains and finds embedded within these layers established. Although these principles were already present in embryonic form in earlier excavations, they had neither been systematically developed nor explicitly formulated as a methodological approach. Wheeler's excavation methodology, particularly the introduction of excavation grids (grid system), is considered pioneering. It enabled the controlled observation of stratigraphic sequences through the systematic creation of sections in each individual grid square and established an approach that became fundamental to modern archaeological fieldwork..
Hachmann1969
Hachmann, R. 1969, “Vademecum der Grabung Kamid-el-Loz” (Saarbrücker Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 5)
An internal excavation vade mecum, serving as a methodological and documentary guide for the excavations at Kamid el-Loz. It established an explicitly stratigraphically oriented excavation method. “A purely stratigraphic excavation presents certain difficulties compared with these methods. It is more difficult to carry out, but offers invaluable advantages in terms of the knowledge it can provide.... The main difficulty of stratigraphic excavation lies above all in the fact that, when excavating horizontally across an area, it is often extremely difficult to recognise the boundaries of a layer clearly and in good time.” (p. 45) One of Rolf Hachmann's major contributions lies in the systematisation of terminology that had previously been used rather imprecisely and inconsistently in the german archaeological publications. He clearly defined and distinguished terms such as stratigraphic unit (Schicht), stratigraphy (Stratigraphie), stratum, settlement phase (Siedlungsschicht), construction phase (Bauschicht), and state of construction (Bauzustand). The identification of construction phases (Bauschichten) is based on the evaluation of horizontal plans and sections. The most important criterion for associating layers with individual buildings is the relationship between the walls intersected in section and the deposits adjoining them.
Echt1984
Echt, R. 1984, “Kamid el-Loz. 5. Die Stratigraphie” (Saarbrückener Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 34)
Publication of the whole Stratigraphy of Kamid el-Loz with an introduction of the methodological approach of excavation, documentation and definition of archaeological terms. Concept further developed from Hachmann1968
Eichmann1989
Eichmann, R. 1989, “Uruk. Die Stratigraphie. Grabungen 1912-1977 in den Bereichen Eanna und Anu-Ziggurat” (Ausgrabungen in Uruk-Warka Endberichte 3)
The book presents the full publication of the earlier excavations in the Eanna precinct at Uruk. The methodological approach published by Echt1984 is here further developed. Eichmann estabilishes a systemic framework for the methodological and terminological presentation of previously excavated archaeological data.
Pfälzner2001
Pfälzner, P. 2001, “Haus und Haushalt: Wohnformen des dritten Jahrtausends vor Christus in Nordmesopotamien (Mainz am Rhein) available online Uni Heidelberg
Archaeological, typological, functional analysis of Third Millennium B.C. houses in north Mesopotmaia with a methodological and terminological introduction
Kühne2005
Kühne, H. 2005, Die Ausgrabung Tall Šeḫ Ḥamad. Eine Einführung in die methodischen Grundlagen, in: H. Kühne (Hg.) Magdalu/Magdala. Tall Šeḫ Ḥamad von der postassyrischen Zeit bis zur römischen Kaiserzeit (Berichte der Ausgrabung Tall Šeḫ Ḥamad/Dūr Katlimmu 2) available online here
The excavation and documentation methods employed at the site of Tall Šēḫ Ḥamad are described, together with definitions of the various terms used in the field documentation and publications, including Erdlage and Fundstelle (stratigraphic unit), Befundeinheiten, Bauzustand, Bauphase, Installation, Nutzungsphase, and Schnittstellen/Interfaces. Particular emphasis is placed on the three-dimensional documentation of the features of the earth (Erdbefund within its stratigraphic context, including the indicators embedded within it, such as artefacts, organic materials, and architectural remains. These indicators provide evidence for establishing chronology, function, and typological classification.
Author’s summary:
The observation of the features of the earth record (Erdbefund) assumed priority over building stratigraphy (“Baustratigraphie”). Since then, the basic concept holds the conviction hat primarily the archeological features of the earth record (Erdbefund) allow the identification of the proccsses which led to their accumulalion as well as the construction and use of architecture. Two units are observed and documented, the so-called “Fundstellen” and the “Erdlagen”. The “Fundstellen” are the smallest archaeological units, which reftect a singular, short-tenned action within the processual rccord. By contrast, the “Erdlagen” represent continuous and/or repetitive actions within the processual record. However,
both reflect the dynamics of every day life of the cultural-historical processes, whereas architecture rather reflects the static elements
of these processes.- Beyond the theorelical definitions, their praclical application also will be described and finally established in this
paragraph.
Novák2008
Novák, M. 2008, Erdlage und Bauschicht: Bemerkungen zu stratigraphischen Prinzipien in der Vorderasiatischen Archäologie. In: D. Bonatz – R. Czichon – J. Kreppner (Hg.) Fundstellen: Gesammelte Schriften zur Archäologie und Geschichte Altvorderasiens ad honorem Hartmut Kühne (2008), 335-341
The article gives an overview of the excavation methods and terminology used in excavations in Mesopotamia
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Alphabetical order
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Barrett, J. C.
Bednarik, R. G.
Buccellati, F.ederico
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| 2016 |
Three-dimensional Volumetric Analysis in an Archaeological Context.
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| Perception
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Buccellati, F.; Dell’Unto, N.; Forte, M.
Buccellati, G.
Buccellati, G. and M. Kelly-Buccellati
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Harris, E.
Hopkinson, B. and G. Buccellati
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Kelly-Buccellati, M.
Kreuzer, Marcus
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| 2023
| The Grammar of Time: A Toolbox for Comparative Historical Analysis. By Marcus Kreuzer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Portal, J. and H. Kinoshita
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| 2007
| The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army. London: British Museum Press / Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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| Epistemics. Principles
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B 2006 Conservation
B 2006 Presentation
Buccellati 2012 Linguistic model
B 2017 Critique
Buccellati 2019 Persistence
B 2022 Entanglement
B & mKB ARTANES 2
B mKB 1996 version
B mKB 2020 digital narratives
B mKB 2022 Transformative
B mKB 2024 Balzan Of dirt and People
Delougaz Pottery, see UGR
Miera 2023 Inference and Narration
Snyder and Paley 2001 Experiencing
Svenaeus 2025 Hermeneutics
Tufte 1971 Grammar as style
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