Eva Mol

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Greg Woolf

New York University

Martin Joachim Kümmel

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

David Goldstein

University of California, Los Angeles

Antonis K . Petrides

Open University of Cyprus

Zsolt Simon

Universitat de Barcelona

Goran Vidović

University of Belgrade

Zinon Papakonstantinou

University of Illinois at Chicago

Hans Bork

Stanford University

Javier de Hoz

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

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Cornell University

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Papers by Eva Mol

New Materialism and Posthumanism in Roman Archaeology: When Objects Speak for Others

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Apr 17, 2023

Theories derived from the ontological, posthumanist, or the new materialist turn have been increa... more Theories derived from the ontological, posthumanist, or the new materialist turn have been increasingly employed in various fields within archaeology in the past decade. Recently, Roman archaeology also picked up on these theories: however, critical integration as well as more theoretical refinement is necessary to show the real potential of such theories. New materialism is not about writing a 'history of objects', but about a better ontological positioning of the non-human and human otherness. For Roman archaeology it can therefore be a powerful tool to broaden our perspectives on material culture and diverse social issues such as inequality, marginalized communities, slavery and coloniality. In this paper I will show how we can regard ontological fluidity in the Roman world through a new theoretical lens.

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New Materialism and Posthumanism in Roman Archaeology: When Objects Speak for Others

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AIAC-Round Table Discussion. Diversity in the Past, Diversity in the Present? Issues of Gender, Whiteness, and Class in 'Classical' Archaeology

In light of the dismay of many concerning the initial all-male keynote panel at AIAC 2018, this s... more In light of the dismay of many concerning the initial all-male keynote panel at AIAC 2018, this session is aimed at discussing broader issues concerning diversity and intersectionality in the field of Greco-Roman archaeology. As archaeologists, we have made it one of our principal tasks to bring to the fore ‘the people without history’; women, slaves, the poor, the disabled, and show a more diverse image of the Greek and Roman past. Then why is this diversity not reflected in the discipline itself? The all-male panel we believe, is symptomatic of more fundamental problems that the discipline suffers from, concerning gender and its inseparably related issues of whiteness, class, and the ‘Classical’. The AIAC session will be a meeting ground in which we can discuss how to approach matters of inequality and injustice in our field; at conferences in teaching, research and during fieldwork. This is not just a case of female representation; if we want to survive as a discipline, we must change in more fundamental ways. We therefore wish to initiate a constructive round table debate, addressing issues of inequality and discussing the future and viability of Greek and Roman archaeology. This session also intends to produce practical and structural proposals to be presented to the AIAC council, to prevent future imbalance. We would like to invite people to participate in this discussion and address and share specific issues of imbalance, statistics, demographics, comparisons, and solutions to make Greek and Roman archaeology more accessible for a diverse group of people. The session will be open to all, please get in touch with us if you want to contribute. We will create a round table with short 5 to 10 minute contributions by those who wish to participate as panel member, followed by discussion.

Object ontology and cultural taxonomies

Materialising Roman Histories

Playing the Past

Playing the Past, 2008

Egypt in material and mind : the use and perception of Aegyptiaca in Roman domestic contexts of Pompeii

This dissertation was written within the NWO VIDI project __Cultural innovation in a globalising ... more This dissertation was written within the NWO VIDI project __Cultural innovation in a globalising society, Egypt in the Roman world__, (Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University) directed by dr. Miguel John Versluys. The general aim of this project is devoted to the understanding of the different contexts in which Egypt as style, imagery, object, and text, was integrated in the Roman world. It thereby wishes to give Egypt its proper place within the process of Roman cultural innovation through carefully studying its material and textual remains in the context in which they were created and appropriated. Studies on the Roman perception of Egypt, concerning both textual and archaeological sources, generally approach Egypt from fixated and normative concepts. For example, Aegyptiaca have traditionally been interpreted within a framework of oriental cults or Egyptomania. The research project, in contrast, demonstrates that the dichotomy Rome versus Egypt should be approached with care. B...

Hidden Complexities of the Frankish Castle: Social Aspects of Space in the Configurational Architecture of Frankish Castles in the Holy Land, 1099-1291

Dit volume in de ASLU-serie bestudeert Frankische kastelen met als doel het in kaart brengen van ... more Dit volume in de ASLU-serie bestudeert Frankische kastelen met als doel het in kaart brengen van de relatie van de toenmalige bewoners met de geconstrueerde ruimte. Dit onderzoek biedt nieuwe inzichten in het functioneren van het fort, zowel in de functie als bescherming tegen vijandige machten, als de invloed van het gebouw op het gedrag van de bewoners binnen de muren van deze kastelen. This volume of ASLU presents an approach to Frankish castles with the space syntax, a method and theory that aims to study the relationship people have with built space. Employing space syntax on crusader castles brought new insights into the functioning of the fortress both in the social structure and behaviour of the inhabitants of the castles.

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‘Trying to Hear with the Eyes’: Slow Looking and Ontological Difference in Archaeological Object Analysis

Norwegian Archaeological Review, 2021

This article presents an alternative to archaeological object observation through an exercise in ... more This article presents an alternative to archaeological object observation through an exercise in alterity and slow looking. It is inspired by the movement of Slow Archaeology, and based on the art of slow looking, perspectivism, and 16th century Japanese object aesthetics in the context of the Japanese tea ceremony. The exercise experiments with different vantage points, embodiment, and empathy related to theories of the ontological turn and non-discursive knowledge. Stimulating ourselves to employ different ways of looking can be a helpful tool in starting to think about difference and alterity, but can also possibly reach new insights on ancient object-use, performance, and perception. It can therefore form an additional instrument to formal object analyses already practiced in archaeology, as well as be a form of emancipation in education as it draws on other, non-discursive, forms of knowledge.

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Roman Cyborgs! On Significant Otherness, Material Absence, and Virtual Presence in the Archaeology of Roman Religion

European Journal of Archaeology, 2019

In this article I explore different ways archaeologists can contribute to and learn from theorizi... more In this article I explore different ways archaeologists can contribute to and learn from theorizing the digital world beyond the traditional functionalistic means of applying computational methods. I argue that current digital technologies can be a very constructive tool to create non-human experience and awareness. I pursue this argument by presenting ideas from a work-in-progress project experimenting with the post-human and the virtual, and by exploring significant otherness in Roman religion and the dark spots in human perception, through the analysis of an absent temple in Rome. Applying post-human philosophies and an expanded concept of virtuality beyond the digital makes it possible to change our approach to object/human/divine relations in Roman cults and how we present Roman heritage towards a post-humanist framework. Through this, digital archaeology can become one of the ways of re-examining and reinventing our ideas of the human, the past and the digital.