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Metaphorical Journeys: Landscape, Monuments, and the Body in a Scottish Neolithic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Shannon Marguerite Fraser
Shannon Marguerite Fraser
Affiliation:
The National Trust for Scotland, NE Regional Office, The Stables, Castle Fraser, Sauchen, Inverurie AB51 7LD
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Abstract

Choosing as its subject the Clyde series of megalithic mortuary monuments on the Isle of Arran, in south-west Scotland, this paper explores the way in which natural and built form interact through the medium of the human body, a dynamic interplay that engendered particular understandings of the world in the 4th millennium BC. Examining one monument in detail at the outset is a device by which a series of physical and intellectual themes may be introduced, which run through the wider grouping of chambered cairns on the island. These are general principles which are worked through and around the characteristics of specific places, rather than regulatory structures which impose a strictly repetitive order upon the relationship between architecture and landscape. The ways in which these themes are expressed across the range of Clyde cairns on Arran are then teased out further in a wider synthetic discussion.

The over-arching theme of the study is consideration of the situated nature of archaeological endeavour as a form of engagement with the contemporary world, in which a broad spectrum of textual representation – from the typological to the experiential – may be drawn upon in the production of a unified archaeological narrative.

Résumé

Choisissant comme sujet la série Clyde de monuments funéraires mégalithiques de l'île d'Arran dans le sud-ouest de 1'Ecosse, cette étude explore la manière dont les formes naturelles et baties agissent les unes sur les autres par l'intermédiaire du corps humain, une interaction dynamique qui a engendré des compréhensions particulières du monde au 4ème millénaire av. J.-C. Commencer par examiner un monument en détail est un moyen par lequel on peut introduire une série de thèmes physiques et intellectuels, qui se retrouvent parmi le groupe plus étendu des cairns à couloirs de l'île. Ce sont des principes généraux qui sont travaillés et adaptés en fonction des caractéristiques de lieux spécifiques, plutôt que des structures régulatrices qui imposent un ordre strictement répétitif sur la relation entre l'architecture et le paysage. Les différentes manières dont ces thèmes s’expriment au travers de la gamme de cairns de la Clyde sur l'île d'Arran sont ensuite développées plus longuement dans une discussion synthétique plus étendue.

Le thème clé de voûte de cette étude est que l'on considére la nature localisée de l'entreprise archéologique comme une forme d'engagement avec le monde contemporain, qui offre une large gamme de represéntation textuelle – du typologique à l'empirique – dans laquelle on peut puiser afin d'arriver à un narratif archéologique unifié.

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Beitrag wählt die megalithischen Grabdenkmäler von Clyde auf der Isle of Arran in Südwest Schottland, um zu untersuchen, wie die natürliche und die gebaute Form durch das Medium des menschlichen Körpers in einem dynamischen Zusammenspiel interagieren, was ein besonderes Verständnis der Welt im 4. Jahrtausend BC erzeugte. Indem ganz zu anfangs ein Denkmal detailliert untersucht wird, kann eine Reihe von physischen und intellektuellen Themen angesprochen werden, die sich innerhalb der großen Gruppe der Steinkammergräber auf der Insel wieder finden lassen. Es handelt sich dabei eher um allgemeine Prinzipien, die zu Merkmalen von besonderen Plätzen ausgearbeitet werden, als um regulierende Strukturen, die eine sich genau wiederholende Ordnung der Beziehung von Architektur und Landschaft vorgeben. Wie diese Themen bei den Clyde Steinhügeln auf Arran ausgedrückt werden, wird anschließend in einer weiterführenden synthetischen Diskussion ausgeführt. Das allumfassende Thema dieser Untersuchung ist die Betrachtung archäologischer Arbeit als eine Form der Beschäftigung mit der heutigen Welt; in dieser Arbeit stützt man sich bei der Produktion einer vereinheitlichten archäologischen Erzählung auf ein breites Spektrum inhaltlicher Darstellungsweise, die von einer typologischen bis zu einer experimentellen Darstellungsart reichen können.

Résumen

Este papel escoge como tema de investigatión la serie de monumentos mortuorios megalitícos de Clyde en la Isla de Arran, en el suroeste de Escocia, y explora el modo en el que se relacionan las formas naturales y construidas a través del medio del cuerpo humano, una interactión dinámica que engendró una comprensión particular del mundo en el cuarto milenio a.C. El examen detallado de un monumento al inicio es el mecanismo a través del cual pueden ser presentados una serie de temas intelectuales y físicos, que son encontrados también en el grupo mas amplio de túmulos de piedra a cámara de la isla. Estos constituyen principios generales que son trabajados a través y alrededor de las características de lugares específicos, mas que estructuras regulatorias que imponen un orden estrictamente repetitivo sobre la relación entre arquitectura y paisaje. Los modos en los que estos temas se expresan a lo largo de la serie de túmulos de piedra de Clyde en Arran son despúes más desarrollados en una discusión sintética más amplia.

El tema principal del estudio es la consideratión del esfuerzo arqueológico como forma de encuentro con el mundo contemporaneo, en el cual se puede recurrir a una amplia gama de representatión textual – de lo tipológico a lo experiencial – para producir una narratión arqueológica unificada.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 70 , 2004 , pp. 129 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 2004

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