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Rezension von Benjamin Hellings, Yale University Art Gallery Anzahl Wörter : 2143 Wörter Online publiziert am 2018-02-21 Zitat: Histara les comptes rendus (ISSN 2100-0700). Link: http://histara.sorbonne.fr/cr.php?cr=3338 Bestellen Sie dieses Buch
The aim of this edited volume is to develop the history of the Gallo-Roman countryside. It is the first of two volumes of the Rural Landscape in north-eastern Roman Gaul project (Rurland), led by Michel Reddé and financed by the European Research Council. The study region of the Rurland project encompasses northern and eastern Gaul and the Germanic provinces, from the Seine basin to the limes and from the North Sea to the Upper Rhine. It therefore incorporates six different modern states (France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Luxemburg, and Switzerland). Chronologically the project has been confined between 150/120 B.C. and the end of the fifth century A.D. Each of the seventeen chapters focuses on a different and smaller area within the Rurland study region. The resulting volume is truly pioneering, bringing together a diverse array of evidence ranging from development-led archaeological excavations and LiDAR data to botanical and osteological remains, in order to come to grasp with the considerable and emerging body of material.
In his preface, Reddé provides a broad account of countryside research as well as the objectives and methodology of the project. One of the central objectives of the volume is to investigate the agricultural economy of the extensive and morphologically diverse study region and the manner in which this affected the development of the countryside. Reddé goes on to concede that the methodological approach employed throughout the volume does not represent the ideal. Rather, it embraces what is most practical and feasible in order to overcome the difficulties using various databases, the often difficult to access reports, as well as the available evidence (p. 14). It is clear that one single volume cannot offer an exhaustive overview as well as apply a systematic approach for such a large area due to differences in the available evidence. In spite of this, the tome still totals 868 pages with 17 contributions. An additional 161 pages of an appendix, which could not be included as part of the printed volume, are available online testifying to the immense wealth of research and data contained (or rather, not contained) within this first volume. Given the size and scope of this volume, this review will therefore focus on some generalities rather than attempting to offer a summary for each individual chapter. The second volume will offer a general synthesis of the data presented in the first, where presumably an attempt to reconcile differences in methodological approaches will also (need to) occur.
Each contribution follows a similar general framework and offers a useful outline of past historical and archaeological enquiry within its studied area before presenting ‘new’ evidence. The contributors then employ the evidence in different ways that allows for an initial analysis of the spatial and historical developments within their studied area. Some contributions also provide a brief historical narrative of Roman rule in the area. An introduction to the geography of the studied area is also included, although to differing levels of detail.
A commonality for most contributions is that the ‘new’ evidence often dates from the 1990s but has not been subject to systematic (or any) analysis. It also usually derives from development archaeology and therefore is subject to modern activity. It is in this respect that the volume offers a wealth of data, little known to the non-specialist. One significant difference between the contributions, however, is the type and amount of evidence that is available. In some instances, it is possible to study a large area in detail, such as the ‘Cologne Bay’ area or the Lower Rhine Plain, due to lignite and gravel extraction efforts (chapter 1). Elsewhere, intersections across the entire studied area are available for study, such as in the Amiens region as a result of highway and TGV Nord construction work (chapter 7). In yet other chapters, archaeological evidence is spread throughout the studied area in an unsystematic and coincidental scheme (e.g. chapter 11). In the Centre-Est of France LiDAR data is employed to overcome some of these challenges (chapter 14). These differences clearly dictate the analyses and narratives one can produce, which is readily acknowledged throughout the volume, with the contributors addressing valid concerns whether the developed picture of the countryside is indeed accurate or simply reflective of modern archaeological investigations (e.g. chapter 10, pp. 487-8).
Within each contribution, the form and development of building structures in the countryside is fundamental. This is the evidence most archaeologists will be comfortable with even if not a specialist in the various types of indigenous Gallo-Roman farmsteads. Discussions concerning villae serve as useful referential points and have been included to differing degrees of detail. The chapter focusing on the vallée de l’Aisne exclusively relies on structural types and their development in order to study the agricultural economy and the transformation of the countryside (chapter 9). This contrasts with most other chapters where the discussion of the settlement landscape is placed alongside other data. Again, these differences are often unintended, dictated by the survival of evidence and the available opportunities to study the countryside. The observed differences noted throughout the Rurland study region works to highlight the difficulty of offering any sort of generalization. These different developmental trajectories point towards an interesting point of enquiry for scholars to explain how and why it occurred, as well as the sorts of generalizations that are possible to make.
One important factor used to explain different developmental trajectories throughout the settlement landscape is the highly varied geomorphic terrain of the Rurland study region. Even within single smaller studied areas significant differences are noted muddying our ability to develop broad generalizations. The contribution considering the Hesbaye and Conroz areas succinctly demonstrates, through logistic regression modeling, the complexities understanding how, when, where, and why settlements developed as they did (chapter 4). Throughout the volume, several other contributions devote significant space to the presentation and analysis of geomorphic evidence together with the sites (chapters 6 and 15). These valuable discussions are crucial to help refine our understanding how and why the countryside developed as it did, while creating a mosaic layer upon which the settlement landscape developed.
Several chapters within the volume encompass botanical and osteological remains to an exceptional level of detail (e.g. chapters 5, 8, 11, 13). These will certainly be of interest and great use to those unfamiliar with this material. As this body of evidence is ever-increasingly collected and recorded during archaeological excavations, archaeologists have new opportunities to utilize sets of ‘big-data’ to refine the picture of productive activity in the countryside. The availability and use of these kinds of remains, however, is not uniform and once again affects the types of analyses one can undertake. Moving forward, this body of evidence taken together with geomorphic studies can have a great impact in ways we understand and study the agricultural economy of the countryside.
Throughout the volume, several chapters extend well beyond the presentation of the archaeological evidence and offer proposed models of ancient life within their studied area by considering the population and its size (e.g. chapters 2 and 12). Other contributions consider non-agricultural activity in the countryside, such as metal working (chapters 16 and 17) or quarrying and mining (chapter 3). These analyses bring the archaeology to life, expand the realm of the countryside beyond agricultural production, and begin what presumably will be a core component of the second anticipated volume.
The challenges of the Rurland project, with its ambitious goal of uniting different forms of archaeological evidence, understanding their nature, while covering the entire geographic as well as the chronological scope is not to be underestimated. There are certainly gaps in the evidence but this is to be expected and all the contributions outline the challenges and limitations faced within their case study areas. Despite the biases and limitations with the available material, the contributors demonstrate admirable skills to manage such diverse sets of data and to optimize them in ways that provide an important step forward. This reviewer, however, would have expected to see some explanation for the inclusion of these studied areas to the exclusion of others. Significant progress elsewhere within the Rurland’s delimitated geographic area could easily have formed contributions to the publication (if volume size were not a deterrent). The most notable absence is a summary of civitas Batavorum, which some might consider one of the best-studied areas within the Rurland’s purview. Work on neighboring areas, such as the civitates of the Cananefates and the Menapii, could have offered coverage for a large contiguous area. Similarly, the work undertaken in Germany and Switzerland is also underrepresented despite significant results in these areas as well. While it may not be possible to include every area within the Rurland’s overall geographic domain, their absence should be explained and will hopefully find some inclusion in the second volume. As it stands, the vast majority of the studied areas belong to France (see table of contents below).
The volume would also have benefited from more proofreading and editing. The extent and variety of errors differ significantly throughout the volume, and include slips of the following nature: the inconsistent use of italics for limes (cf. p. 38 and 64-5), the inconsistent labeling of tables as figures or tables (most egregious is within a single chapter three different ways are used to do this. See pp. 21, 35, 57), a widowed semi-colon (p. 183), a cut-off figure legend (p. 358), a missing space for “années120 a.C.” (p. 385), a disordering of authors in the bibliography (p. 553), and an incorrect reference to a figure (p. 686 and 688 appear to refer to fig. 8, not fig. 7). The English contributions also contain some unusual wordiness or phrases that could have been avoided.
These copyediting criticisms are minor points in light of the project’s significant contribution. The volume is modestly priced (€60) especially in view of the lavish production with over 544 figures, all in color, and is certainly welcomed in a world where books are becoming increasingly expensive. The work within is a treasure trove for archaeologists and historians. All the contributors and Reddé are to be applauded for their tenacious audacity to tackle such an extensive part of the Roman Empire to such great detail. If the second volume is anything like the first, the two together will doubtless serve as a key archaeological reference work and pave the way for future studies.
Table of Contents
Le projet “Rurland”: Michel Reddé. p. 11 Chapter 1: The Roman Rhineland. Farming and Consumption in different Landscapes: Marion Brüggler, Karen Jeneson, Renate Gerlach, Jutta Meurers-Balke, Tanja Zerl, and Michael Herchenbach. p. 19 Chapter 2: Rural Habitation in the Area of the Texuandri (southern Netherlands/northern Belgium). A Roman Villa in a peripheral Region: Nico Roymans and Ton Derks. p. 97 Chapter 3: The ancient Quarrying and Mining District between the Eifel and the Rhine: Ricarda Giljohann, Angelika Hunold, and Stefan Wenzel. p. 125. Chapter 4: The Hesbaye and Condroz Regions (Belgium). Analysis of archaeological Site Patterns from Roman to Merovingian Times through logistic Regression Modelling: Hanne De Brue, Gert Verstraeten, Bastiaan Notebaert, Annick Lepot and Amélie Vallée. p. 153. Chapter 5: Les campagnes du territoire Nervien : approches croisées: Raphaël Clotuche, Marie Derreumaux, Fabienne Pigière, Gaëtan Jouanin, Sidonie Preiss, and Jean-Hervé Yvinec. p. 179. Chapter 6: La basse vallée de la Seine: Jérôme Spiesser, Christophe Petit, and Alain Giosa. p. 211. Chapter 7: La région d’Amiens: Nicolas Bernigaud, Lydie Blondiau, Stéphane Gaudefroy, Sébastien Lepetz, and Véronique Zech-Matterne, in collaboration with Christophe Petit. p. 249. Chapter 8: La vallée de l’Oise: François Malrain, Denis Maréchal, Marjolaine de Muylder, Sébastien Lepetz, Patrice Méniel, and Véronique Zech-Matterne, in collaboration with Valérie Burban-Col and Céline Coussot. p. 303. Chapter 9: La vallée de l’Aisne: Laurent Duvette. p. 353. Chapter 10: L’Île-de-France: Nicolas Bernigaud, Alain Berga, Johann Blanchard, Olivier Blin, Muriel Boulen, Lionel Boulenger, Marie Derreumaux, Sébastien Lepetz, Françoise Toulemonde, and Véronique Zech-Matterne, in collaboration with Gilles Desrayaud, Cyril Giorgi, Pierre Ouzoulias, and Jean-Marc Séguier. p. 389. Chapter 11: Les modes d’occupation du sol chez les Rèmes: Nathalie Achard-Corompt, Alexandre Audebert, Marion Dessaint, Raphaël Durost, and Vincent Le Quellec. p. 495. Chapter 12: La Lorraine: Antonin Nüsslein, Nicolas Bernigaud, Karine Boulanger, Gaël Brkojewitsch, Geneviève Daoulas, Murielle Georges-Leroy, Nicolas Meyer, and Simon Ritz, in collaboration with Guillaume Asselin, Valentina Bellavia, Sylvie Deffressigne, Marc Griette, Dominique Heckenbenner, Jean-Denis Laffite, Régis Leclerc, Patrick Millot, Paul Nüsslein, Roger Poinsot, Gilbert Savini, Simon Sedlbauer, Jean-Claude Stucka, Sébastien Viller, and Julian Wiethold. p. 555. Chapter 13: L’Alsace: Antonin Nüsslein, Pascal Flotté, Mathias Higelin, Olivier Putelat, and Muriel Roth-Zehner. p. 657. Chapter 14: Le Centre-Est de la France: Pierre Nouvel. p. 683. Chapter 15: Les campagnes des Tricasses: Michel Kasprzyk. p. 733. Chapter 16: L’occupation rurale en Côte-d’Or. Approches croisées: Jacky Bénard, Alexandra Cordier, Frédéric Devevey, Dominique Goguey, Yves Pautrat, and Valérie Taillandier, in collaboration with Chloé Duseau. p. 757. Chapter 17: Le Finage Dolois: François Favory dir., Nicolas Bernigaud, Catherine Fruchart, and Patrice Nowicki, in collaboration with Guillaume Bellec, David Billoin, Gérard Chouquer, Élise Fovet, Luc Jaccottey, Hervé Laurent, Pierre Nouvel, Gilles Wawrzyniak. p. 817.
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Herausgeber: Lorenz E. Baumer, Université de Genève ; Jan Blanc, Université de Genève ; Christian Heck, Université Lille III ; François Queyrel, École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris |
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