Moritz Kinzel

Çatalhöyük is one of the key sites of Neolithic research since James Mellaart had started his work there back in 1958. Diana Kirkbride joint his excavation team for the 1963 season. During this season she took photos - mainly slides - for her personal use as a member of the excavation team. We can see excavation activities, recovery works and documentation taking place. Kirkbride’s slides of burials, wall paintings, and architectural remains are published here for the first time.

Conservation Handbook for Al Zubarah Archaeological Site/Qatar, 1st edition, 2013 contains all studies (climate, materials, etc.) and manuals to assess, consolidate, monitor and manage the conservation of architectural remains at Al Zubarah.

Architectural developments during the Neolithic period show important innovations, e.g., the discovery and use of the right angle and the use of activity floors placed on top of each other. Although these developments influenced our building history and our understanding of architecture in general, archaeological studies on Near eastern Neolithic architecture focussing on the building processes are rare.
Based on the architectural findings, (preliminary) reports, archaeological records and field studies by the author, the Pre-Pottery-Neolithic B (PPNB) architecture of Shkārat Msaied and Baʻja, both located in the Greater Petra area in Jordan, is analysed, interpreted and reconstructed using archaeological and building archaeological methods. The results of the building archaeological studies will help to understand better also the architecture of other Neolithic sites in the Southern Levant.
A particular focus of this study is the scientific reconstruction of early Neolithic architecture. The reconstruction covers not only common building principles during the PPN, but also aspects of appearance, structure and construction, as well as space and life concepts.
To gain a better understanding of the PPNB architecture of Shkārat Msaied and Baʻja the buildings and archaeological contexts are compared with the architecture of other Neolithic sites in the Near East and (sub-) recent traditional architecture of areas around the world with comparable climatic and geographic parameters. Besides structural and functional aspects, the study focuses on the building processes, knowledge transfer of building technologies, and the site formation processes as well as the creation and development of space and societies.

Original language German
Place of Publication Berlin
Publisher Ex oriente
Number of pages 570
ISBN (print) 978-3-944178-04-2
State Published - 2014
Name Studies in early Near Eastern production, subsistence, and environment
Volume 17
ISSN (print) 0947-0549

This contribution presents the heritage conservation measures developt at Al Zubarah Archaeological Site for the protection, consolidation and preservation of the fragile architectural remains of Al Zubarah town in the framework of the Qatar Islmaic Archaeology and Heritage Project  a coopration of the UNiversity of Copenhagen and Qatar Musuems.

Previous hypothese have seen Göbekli Tepe interpreted as a highly specialised ritual site with no or few indications for domestic activities. In this context, there are frequent references to the intentional burial of the large monumental special buildings at the end of their use-lives. In this contribution we challenge these ideas by combining results from recent architectural and chipped stones studies. Our interdisciplinary study sheds new light on site formation processes and the stratigraphy of the site.

Al Zubarah Archaeological Site was inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2013 as Qatar’s first site on the list. the property include the late Islamic town Al Zubarah, the settlement of Murayr and Al Zubarah Fort, the most recent built structure as a link between past and present.The contribution presents some results of the building  archaeological research and restoration of Al Zubarah Fort carried out by the Qatar Islamic Archaeology and Heritage Project.

In 2005, two short campaigns were undertaken at the Neolithic site of Shkarat Msaied, Southern Jordan (Fig. 1), under the direction of Charlott Hoffmann Jensen (spring), Ingolf Thuesen (fall) and Bo Dahl Hermansen (spring and fall) and with Talal al-Amarin as representative of the Department of Antiquities. This year's efforts turned out to be fruitful, especially in four areas of research.

sen et al. 2006; cf. http://shkaratmsaied.tors. ku.dk/). Phase IV is dated to the Late Neolithic and Phase V represents the Nabatean / Roman Period (Kinzel 2013). In the MPPNB Shakārat al-Masā‘īd is characterized by circular buildings of various sizes (between 5m2 and 27m2). More than 25 circular buildings have been identified and provide evidence of complex and long lasting use histories (Jensen et al. 2005; Kinzel 2013). The main objective of the 2014 and 2015 excavation seasons was to consolidate the exposed architecture which had been affected by heavy winter rains in 2013. Additionally, illicit diggings and vandalism has been noted in 2013 and damaged the architectural remains of two buildings (Unit B and Unit R). The severe damage necessitated salvage excavation to document the state of destruction and to carry out immediate actions to consolidate and stabilize the affected architecture. A looting pit in Unit R was used to investigate the earlier use history of the building as...

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Shakarat Al-Musay’id, 1999-2004 C.H. Jensen, B.D. Hermansen, M. Bille Petersen, P. Bangsgaard, I. Thuesen, M. Kinzel, M.M. Hald, N. Lynnerup

In a paper recently published in this journal, Martin B. Sweatman and Dimitrios Tsikritsis from the University of Edinburgh (School of Engineering) have suggested an interpretation for the early Neolithic monumental enclosures at Göbekli Tepe as space observatories and the site's complex iconography the commemoration of a catastrophic astronomical event ('Younger Dryas Comet Impact'). As the archaeologists excavating this site, we would like to comment on a few points that we feel require consideration in this discussion.

How do we document architectural contexts? For which purpose do we document them? Why
are we documenting in 2D or 3D? By doing so, do we actually document all the aspects of an
architectural context that we want to capture? How do we record structural changes over time
(building phases)? These and other aspects require consideration when documenting architectural contexts in the framework of archaeological fieldwork. The choice of approaches defines
the methods and techniques we apply to achieve the results and final product that we seek or
wish to present. Based on a case study from Göbekli Tepe, various aspects of 3D Structure from
Motion (SfM) -recording and modelling will be discussed in this contribution.

Since the identification and interpretation of some built structures
as “temples”, cult, communal or ritual buildings, the
focus of interest has shifted again away from the “normal” or
“domestic” to the “special” or “non-domestic” buildings. The
“more” complex context seems to be so much more rewarding
for the understanding of the Neolithic than the “domestic” structures.
However, why are some buildings regarded as “special”?
This paper will discuss some aspects of “special buildings” in
the context of Near Eastern Neolithic architecture from an architectural
and building archaeological perspective. Cases from
Shkārat Msaied will show the complexity and duality of “special
buildings”.

The Neolithic site of Shkārat Msaied is under excavation since 1999 by a Danish team of the University of Copenhagen. During the last seasons we have focused on building unit F and its surroundings. Unit F contains a series of burials offering striking insights into the PPNB mortuary practices. The contribution presents the fieldwork and research carried out at the site in recent years. Shkārat Msaied is one of the PPNB sites in the Petra area showing the transition from round to rectangular buildings and the use of the “vertical” space highlighting the long building tradition in the region.

Beginning with the concept of structure and space in the architecture of the aceramic Neolithic period B (PPNB) we shall try to show that already in Neolithic times attempts to fashion ›roads‹ and sequences of spaces were developed and realized. Here we present and explain the various constructive elements used to organize space by examples of the greater Petra region, especially Shkārat Msaied, Ba’ja and Basta. Until now spatial relations were almost exclusively investigated for the functional or social aspects in reference to the »social logic of space« (Hillier – Hanson 1984) and from an archeological perspective, reduced to ground plans read typologically. The fashioning of ›ways‹ in Neolithic architecture can under no circumstances be only read horizontally, but rather as a complex multi-layered system, which renders possible a very differentiated perception of spaces and guidance within the space. We took the topic of the colloquium to consider as an example the PPNB architecture of southern Jordan, to introduce first investigation results and to initiate a discussion about the tensions between archeological findings and interpretation.

... This individual was buried in the stone cist found inside the building just to the right (east) when entering, and marked by a large monolithic slab (cf. Hermansen and Jensen 2002: 92, fig. ... A fallen wall segment with at least 16 courses of stones was traced on the surface (Fig. ...

The destruction of cultural heritage is an complex issue. There is no simple solution to stop the destruction of heritage or to protect it. Too many factors and players are involved defining what has the value to whom and how to treat and keep it. This contribution tries to look at the phenomenon from various perspectives to show the dilemma of heritage conservation in times of conflict.

Die im 18. Jahnhundert an der Nordwestküste Katars entstandene Handelsstadt Al Zubarah  bildet den Forschungsschwerpunkt des Qatar Islamic Archaeology and Heritage Projects (QIAH), das die Universität Kopenhagen in Zusammenarbeit mit der Katarischen Museumsbehörde (QMA) seit 2009 durchführt. Neben der archäologischen Erforschung der Stadtanlage und ihrer Elemente, stehen die Erhaltung und Präsentation des Fundortes und seiner Bauten von Anfang an ebenfalls im Fokus der Arbeiten.  Auf Grundlage der Projektarbeit wurde 2011 der Antrag auf  Aufnahme von Al Zubarah in die Weltkulturerbe eingereicht.
Die Stadtanlage ist ein einzigartiges Beispiel für eine planmäßig angelegte Stadt mit allen typischen Elementen einer orientalischen Stadt: Souq, Moschee, Hofhausquartiere und turmbewehrter Stadtmauer. Die Blütezeit von Al Zubarah währte nur gut 50 Jahre. 1811 wurde sie bereits wieder zerstört. Einige Jahre später auf einem Sechstel der ursprünglichen Siedlungsfläche wiedererrichtet und dann im ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert / beginnenden 20. Jahrhundert endgültig aufgeben. Die Stadt lebt als Legende im Bewusstsein der katarischen Bevölkerung, doch der Name wird heute nicht mit der Stadtanlage sondern wird weitgehend mit dem 1938 errichteten Fort verbunden. Die Existenz und genaue Lokalisierung der eigentlichen Stadt ist kaum bekannt. Ein Ziel des QIAH-Projektes ist dies zu ändern.
Ausgehend von den archäologischen Befunden soll ein Überblick über die laufenden Erhaltungsmaßnahmen und die Konzepte der Fundortpräsentation gegeben werden. Der Erarbeitung des Konservierungskonzeptes gilt ein besonderes Augenmerk. Das Konzept reflektiert dabei den früheren Umgang mit den Ruinen und zeigt Lösungsansätze, die sich aus der Merkmale von Stein- und Erdarchitektur vereinenden Charakteristik der Bauten  ergeben. Die extremen klimatischen und naturräumlichen Bedingungen erfordern ebenfalls ein Umdenken im Umgang mit der historischen Bausubstanz. Neben den Konzepten werden die bereits ausgeführten Arbeiten des Winters 2011/2012 vor- und zur Diskussion gestellt.

ALCOTECTURE
– construction, architects and alcohol
ARCHITECTURE: From its earliest history, architecture
has been closely associated with alcohol. This article
looks at how alcohol has been involved in architectural
planning, decision-making and construction processes,
and presents prominent examples of “alcotecture”,
from the earthy wine cellar to the ethereal
realm of the cocktail bar.

WNC 2024 G18 - The Impact of Neolithic Architecture – the Emergence of Human Built Environment

This session aims to highlight the impact of the emergence of architecture (in the Neolithic) on human social behaviour, the changes in the perception of space and development of building technology. Neolithic architecture can be understood as a largescale laboratory for testing structural and spatial solutions; some of them are lasting until today.