Current Research Postgraduates
Miss Agni Prijatelj
(email at agni.prijatelj@durham.ac.uk)
Research Topic
Beneath the surface: cultural constructions of underground places in the Eastern Adriatic
Abstract
Caves may be liminal places, but are rarely marginal in landscape biographies. This interdisciplinary research seeks to significantly enhance understanding of long-term transformations in human relations with caves, by:
1) cutting across period-based specializations and stressing the longue durée (from Mesolithic to 21st century);
2) drawing upon an unparalleled but under-studied and politically divided regional dataset; from the Slovenian and Italian Karst; and
3) addressing three sets of research questions:
● Cave narratives: How have the lives of caves and cave-dwellers been studied, interpreted and presented in archaeological narratives? How are modern scientific techniques changing these?
● Culturally modified caves: What are the affordances and constraints of particular caves and rockshelters for humans? What kind of human activities are attested in and around caves? What is the level of dis/continuity and change in cave practices over time? In what ways are caves embedded within wider landscapes and lifeways? What is the significance of cave-related oral history? What is the relevance of caves today?
● Economic, social and ritual significance: To what extent should we separate these aspects of cave use? How and why are particular caves chosen as dwelling/work/sacralized places? In what ways are these activities controlled and understood by different participants?
In practice, the research seeks to integrate positivism of quantitative scientific techniques (soil micromorphology and GIS) and experiential approach of archaeological phenomenology.
This is the first use of GIS analysis, soil micromorphological research and experimental research of sensory data on Slovenian caves. Through this unique combination of current research methods, our understanding of the status of caves in archaeological narratives and their long-term cultural significance should be enhanced within the broader fields of landscape and cultural studies.
This research is funded by Javni sklad Republike Slovenije za razvoj kadrov in štipendije.
Is supervised by
Research Groups
- Prehistory of Eurasia Research Group
