Humans and materiality
This research group focuses on past human materiality to gain insight into, and develop knowledge about our past.
Main content
The group will contribute to the discussions, research, and dissemination of studies investigating the human past through available material traces from human interaction with their environment.
Humans, by utilizing and engaging with their natural surroundings, shape their environment and are shaped by it in turn. They are in constant interaction with their physical surroundings and engage all their senses doing so. Studying our ancestors’ use of and interaction with their physical environment allows us to learn something about their past activities.
Since the majority of human ancestry takes place in prehistory, the only way for us to learn about the past is through analysis of material traces resulting from past human activities. It is therefore not possible to understand human prehistory or history without taking past human surroundings and materiality into consideration. Throughout our past, human-environment interactions resulted in the creation of material culture. However, in some cases mere focus on humans is not sufficient for a successful interpretation of past human activity, rather humans may be understood as a connective tissue.
This research group focuses on past human materiality to gain insight into, and develop knowledge about our past. The group will contribute to the discussions, research, and dissemination of studies investigating the human past through available material traces from human interaction with their environment. The group will provide a forum for work-in-progress seminars and the development of ideas as well as possible theoretical and methodical applications. Most importantly, it will provide a venue for students and staff to discuss their relevant work and ideas, regardless of geographical location or time period.
Programme spring 2025
16 Jan. 14.15–15.45 | Kick-off meeting Discussion about the future of the research group under changing economic circumstances, and priority topics for the coming year. | |
6 Feb 14.15-15.45 | Guest lectures: Tina Paphitis, UiB: Walking with ghosts: legend tripping as method Torgeir Bangstad, UiB: The beetle in the collection: housekeeping and ecologies of care at the open-air museum Abstract Tina Walking is a central act in numerous folk practices and performances, connecting people, nonhumans and things to places and temporalities through bodily and sensory encounters. One such practice is legend tripping: the act of visiting a place for its associated legend. This has predominantly been studied in the US as an adolescent practice in relation to contemporary legends, but the concept of legend tripping can be applied to various groups, places and periods. This talk explores the idea of moving beyond the legend trip and its participants as subjects of study towards using legend tripping as a research method, particularly within walking methodologies. Through an example of experimental fieldworking in Shetland, it will consider the impact of the legend tripping act on researchers and their entanglement with landscapes and narratives, and how such a method can enhance our engagement with humans, nonhumans and things across place and time.
Abstract Torgeir Museums cared for objects long before modern conservation science saw the light of day in the late 19th century, and the experience of losing vulnerable objects to hungry insects and rot was common despite the idea of museum collections as permanent. Organic chemistry influenced conservation science from the outset, and a wide range of pesticidal products were recommended by specialists to ensure the persistence of collections. Dangerous chemicals were domesticated and found their way into conservation departments as tools used in ordinary collection housekeeping. Conservation science incorporates a duality in the term ecology (oikos + logos), of a manageable household (oikos) with the material ‘repository’ on the inside and the intrusive forces of 'nature' on the outside. This talk will explore museums as more-than-human ecologies where the 'remainder', the beetle in the collections or chemical residues, transgress these boundaries. Using open-air museum bygningspleie as case, the talk will look at ways of 'keeping house' and caring for things which range from repairs and traditional crafts to comprehensive chemical treatments of buildings. | |
5 March 14.15-15.45 | Guest lecture: Liubomira Romanov, Bergen: Integrating archaeological, historical and biological data to uncover the past of the Yakuts (Eastern Siberia, Russia) Abstract Yakutia is the coldest region in the Northern Hemisphere, with record winter temperatures below -70°C. The Yakut people’s ability to adapt to such extreme cold has been key to their survival. They are thought to descend from an ancient population that migrated from their original homeland in the Lake Baikal region following the Mongol expansion between the 13th and 15th centuries AD. Originally, they led a semi-nomadic lifestyle centered on horse and cattle breeding, which provided transportation, clothing materials, meat, and milk. Early Russian colonization in the first half of the 17th century AD, followed by further expansion, profoundly impacted the indigenous population. Among other effects, Russian conquest led to significant socio-economic and cultural changes. For 15 years, the French Archaeological Mission in Eastern Siberia (MAFSO) has excavated and studied over 150 bodies preserved in Yakutia’s permafrost. The exceptional preservation of tombs and biological remains, along with historical and ethnographic documents from the post-colonial period, enables interdisciplinary research combining social science and biological methods to explore the transformation of Yakut society and culture. This talk is in collaboration with the Environmental Humanities research group. | |
| 20 March 14.15–15.45 | Writing session with cake! Everyone complains about the lack of writing time, so these two hours can be dedicated to productive writing under mild social pressure, but with sweets. Bring your own laptop (and a writing project!). | |
4 June 14.15–15.45 | Guest lecture: Asia Alsgaard, UiB: Anchored by the sea: fish as a stable resource during the Middle and Later Stone Ages in South Africa Abstract to follow. Lecture in English.
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