Past Landscapes: The Dynamics of Interaction between Society, Landscape, and Culture

Past Landscapes presents theoretical and practical attempts of scholars and scientists, who were and are active within the Kiel Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes” (GSHDL), in order to disentangle a wide scope of research efforts on past landscapes. Landscapes are understood as products of human-environmental interaction. At the same time, they are arenas, in which societal and cultural activities as well as receptions of environments and human developments take place. Thus, environmental processes are interwoven into human constraints and advances. This book presents theories, concepts, approaches and case studies dealing with human development in landscapes. On the one hand, it becomes evident that only an interdisciplinary approach can cover the manifold aspects of the topic. On the other hand, this also implies that the very different approaches cannot be reduced to a simplistic uniform definition of landscape. This shortcoming proves nevertheless to be an important strength. The umbrella term ‘landscape’ proves to be highly stimulating for a large variety of different approaches. The first part of our book deals with a number of theories and concepts, the second part is concerned with approaches to landscapes, whereas the third part introduces case studies for human development in landscapes. As intended by the GSHDL, the reader might follow our approach to delve into the multi-faceted theories, concepts and practices on past landscapes: from events, processes and structures in environmental and produced spaces to theories, concepts and practices concerning past societies.

Institute of Classical Studies / Classical Archaeology, CAU Kiel (present). Studies of Classical Archaeology, Art History and Prehistory in Heidelberg and Paris, binational Phd 2003, Habilitation Leipzig 2009, LMU München Heisenberg Fellow; Professor of Classics, especially Classical Archaeology at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel 2012, Co-Coordinator of the Kiel Graduate School ‘Human Development in Landscapes’ 2016–. Key publications: Haug 2003: A. Haug, Die Stadt als Lebensraum. Eine kulturhistorische Analyse zum spätantiken Stadtleben in Norditalien. Internationale Archäologie 85 (Rahden 2003). Haug 2012: A. Haug, Die Entdeckung des Körpers. Körper- und Rollenbilder im Athen des 8. und 7. Jh. v. Chr. (Berlin/New York 2012). Haug/Steuernagel 2014: A. Haug/D. Steuernagel, Das Haus XV B in Megara Hyblaia. Studien zur antiken Stadt 14 (Wiesbaden 2014). Haug 2015: A. Haug, Bild und Ornament im frühen Athen (Regensburg 2015). Haug/Steuernagel 2014: A. Haug/D. Steuernagel (eds.), Hellenistische Häuser und ihre Funktionen. Internationale Tagung Kiel, 4. bis 6. April 2013 (Bonn 2014). Haug/Kreuz 2016: A. Haug/P.-A. Kreuz (eds.), Stadterfahrung als Sinneserfahrung in der Römischen Kaiserzeit (Turnhout 2016).

Studies of Classics in Tübingen and Oxford, PhD 1990, Habilitation 1997, Professor of Classics, especially Greek Literature at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel 1999-, Ordinary Member of the German Archaeological Institute 2000-, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities 2006-2008, Co-Coordinator of the Kiel Graduate School ‘Human Development in Landscapes’ 2007-2016; Speaker of the University’s Research Focus ‘Social, Environmental, Cultural Change’ 2007–.

Johannes Müller (PhD, University of Freiburg, 1990) is a Professor and Director of the Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University, Germany. He is the founding director of the Johanna Mestorf Academy, Speaker of the Collaborative Research Centre “Scales of Transformation: Human-environmental Interaction in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies” and of the Excellence Cluster “ROOTS – Social, Environmental, and Cultural Connectivity in Past Societies”. He conducts research on Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe, including the challenge of interlinking natural, social, life sciences, and the humanities within an anthropological approach of archaeology. Intensive fieldwork was and is carried out in international teams, e.g., on Tripolye mega-sites in Eastern Europa, the Late Neolithic tell site of Okolište in Bosnia-Hercegovina, different Neolithic domestic and burial sites in Northern Germany, and Early Bronze Age sites in Greater Poland. Ethnoarchaeological fieldwork has been conducted, e.g., in India. Within the Kiel Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes”, now the Young Academy of ROOTS, and the Scandinavian Graduate School “Dialogues of the Past”, Johannes Müller promotes international PhD projects. Key publications: Johannes Müller Müller, J. and Diachenko, A. 2019. Tracing long-term demographic changes: The issue of spatial scales. PLoS ONE 14, e0208739. Müller, J., 2019. Boom and bust, hierarchy and balance: From landscape to social meaning – Megaliths and societies in Northern Central Europe, in: Müller, J., Hinz, M., Wunderlich, M. (eds.), Megaliths – Societies – Landscapes. Early monumentality and social differentiation in Neolithic Europe. Dr. Rudolf Habelt GMBH: Bonn, 29-74. Müller, J., 2018. Social memories and site biographies: construction and perception in nonliterate societies, in: Bakels, C.C., Bourgeois, Q.P.J., Fontijn, D.R., Jansen, R. (eds.), Local communities in the Big World of prehistoric Northwest Europe. Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 49. Sidestone Press: Leiden, 9-17. Müller, J., Arponen, V.P.J., Hofmann, R., Ohlrau, R. 2017. The Appearance of Social Inequalities: Cases of Neolithic and Chalcolithic Societies. Origini 38 (2015-2), 65-86. Müller, J., Rassmann, K., Videiko, M., 2016. Trypillia Mega-Sites and European Prehistory: 4100- 3400 BCE. Themes in Contemporary Archaeology. London: Routledge. Müller, J. and Peterson, R., 2015. Ceramics and Society in Northern Europe, in: Fowler, C., Harding, J., Hofmann, D. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Neolithic Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Müller, J., Hinz, M., Ullrich, M. 2015. Bell Beakers – Chronology, Innovation and Memory. A Multivariate Approach, in: Martinez, M.P.P. and Salanova, L. (eds.), The Bell Beaker Transition in Europe. Oxford: Oxbow, 57–68. Müller, J., 2014. 4100–2700 B.C. Monuments and Ideologies in the Neolithic Landscape, in: Osborne, J.F. (ed.), Approaching Monumentality in Archaeology. New York: New York University Press, 181–217.