Experiencing sense of place in virtual and physical Avebury.

This paper discusses the findings from a project to construct a simulation of Avebury henge, a Late Neolithic/ Early Bronze Age monument in SW Britain, in a 3D, virtual world environment. The aims of the study were to explore the archaeological research and interpretation necessary to plan and construct such a simulation in an interactive, online environment, to identify which aspects of visualisation and soundscape design appear to have the greatest impact upon users’ sense of place in the virtual simulation and to explore the experiences of a small group of users in the virtual simulation and the effects of those experiences upon their sense of place at the physical site. The findings from this project demonstrated that in undertaking a simulation of an ancient site, a core set of sources need to be selected to create the main parts of the simulation. There is often much debate in archaeological literature regarding the way in which archaeological findings are interpreted, and a different virtual Avebury would be constructed if different interpretations had been chosen. Any simulation of an ancient site should therefore clearly recognise and state the basis upon which it has been designed. The evaluation showed that responses to virtual environments, and the resulting effect upon responses to physical environments, are complex and personal, resulting in a range of experiences and perceptions, suggesting that the range of users’ experiences might be a more significant issue than attempting to find any general consensus on user reactions to simulated ancient sites

Phenomenology and phenomenography in virtual worlds: an example from archaeology

This chapter discusses a project to construct a simulation of Avebury Henge, a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age monument in the SW of the U.K., in a 3D, virtual world environment, and to use phenomenological and phenomenographic methods for its evaluation. We explore notions of place and digital being in virtual worlds, and the potential of these methods in understanding virtual worlds and their applicability to evaluations of virtual archaeology. The phenomenological approach to archaeology tends to stress the importance of the archaeologists’ senses, working through their physical presence in a landscape to enable an appreciation of the materiality, or physicality, of an environment. In this study, phenomenology was applied to the experience of a virtual environment where sight and hearing senses are restricted, and the senses of smell and touch are deprived altogether. So, the immersion of all the body’s senses in a landscape, to the exclusion of all other experiences, cannot be achieved. We argue that the phenomenological narrative describing one author’s experiences in Virtual Avebury (VA) has demonstrated that experiencing a landscape from an archaeological point of view can be achieved in a virtual environment, but that the nature of the experience is different to that in the physical world. The ability to experiment with designing landscapes, to change environmental aspects in simulations of places that could not otherwise be experienced, and to meet with others in those places to discuss, explore and experience them together, has the potential to offer a new practice of phenomenology in archaeology, and in virtual worlds research. The phenomenographic method used to explore the range of experiences of members of a small evaluation group found that five categories of experience emerged. These were sense of place in VA, recall of VA at Avebury, sense of place in Avebury, effects of sounds and soundscapes and a sense of Avebury’s original purpose. Based upon these findings, we make recommendations for wider research in phenomenological methods of enquiry in virtual worlds

Virtual Avebury: Exploring sense of place in a virtual archaeology simulation

This paper describes and discusses creating and evaluating a virtual reality simulation of Avebury Stone Circle and Henge complex as it might have appeared and sounded circa 2300 BCE. Avebury is a Neolithic heritage site in the UK which is part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site. The overall aim of the project was to better understand the sense of place and presence that visitors can experience in virtual simulations of heritage sites. We investigated how virtual spaces might become experienced as places by visitors through their exploration, active participation, sensory stimulation and communication with other visitors in the simulation. More than 1200 members of the public experienced the simulation, both at Avebury itself and at three public exhibitions. The specific objectives of the project were to explore if and how the believability of a simulation was associated with feeling a sense of place in the virtual landscape, and if some personal characteristics, viz. age, disability, sex, immersive tendency, familiarity with IT and frequency of playing computer games, were associated with levels of enjoyment in, and learning from, the simulation. We analysed the data from a detailed questionnaire completed by 388 of the 702 visitors to Avebury from June to September 2018 who experienced the simulation, supported by observational data from all participants at all events. We found that believability was associated with a sense of place in the simulation, i.e. that the more believable the simulation appeared, the greater the sense of place experienced by the participants. We also found that personal characteristics had very little influence upon visitor reactions to the simulation, suggesting that such simulations might have wide appeal for heritage and museum visitors, regardless of age, gender or familiarity with technology

Bodies and everyday practices in designed urban environments

In recent years, the centres of many towns and cities have been reshaped by urban design projects, but little attention has been paid to how these transformations are experienced everyday by users of the city. In other words: how do the users of urban centers, such as shoppers, cleaners, or workers, perceive these changes, as embodied subjects in specific material environments? This paper analyses how bodies in two intensely designed urban spaces – the shopping centre of Milton Keynes, a 1960s new town, and Bedford's recently redeveloped historic town centre – are affected by elements of the built environment. 'Affected' is a term borrowed from Latour (2004), and the paper works with, and elaborates, some of his and others' work on how bodies are effectuated by other entities. Such Latourian work pays a great deal of attention to how bodies are affected by both human and non-human entities of many kinds, and we examine how certain aspects of the built environment in these two towns affects bodies in specific ways. However, we also emphasise the variability in this process, in particular that bodies seem unaware – or ambivalently aware – of many entities' affordances

Historic Landscapes and Mental Well-being

Using archaeological sites and historic landscapes to promote mental health well-being represents one of the most significant advances in archaeological resource management for many years. Its potential contribution to health-care and wellness initiatives is boundless. Prompted by the Human Henge project working within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, this volume provides an overview of work going on across Britain and the near Continent at many different scales. Contributors share experiences, and discuss the outcomes, implications, and theoretical underpinnings of heritage-based well-being projects

Equality Studies, the Academy and the Role of Research in Emancipatory Social Change

If people are structurally excluded from democratic engagement with research practice, they are precluded from assessing its validity in an informed manner. They are effectively disenfranchised from controlling the generation and dissemination of knowledge about themselves and/or the institutions within which they live and work. This issue is especially acute for marginalised groups and communities who are the subjects of so much social scientific research. Such research is frequently undertaken without the involvement of the groups or communities in question. The ownership of data gives researchers and policymakers power over the groups which may add to their marginalisation; there are now people who can claim to know you better than you know yourself. Without democratic engagement therefore, there is a real danger that research knowledge can be used for manipulation and control rather than challenging the injustices experienced. This paper analyses the role of research in relation to social change. It explores, in particular, the implications of utilising an emancipatory research methodology in the study of issues of equality and social justice. While recognising the difficulties involved in developing an emancipatory approach to research, it is argued that such an approach is analytically, politically, and ethically essential if research with marginalised and socially excluded groups is to have a transformative impact.

Dreaming the Ancestors: An Investigation into Contemporary British Druidry and the Ritualisation of Death.

This thesis is an investigation into the various ways in which Druids in the opening decades of the 21st Century think about and ritualise death. Section A begins with a detailed discussion of the nature of modern British Spiritual Druidry; tracing it from its origins at the end of the 18th Century to the diverse ways in which it manifests in modernity. It will attempt to reach some conclusions about how Druidry is best understood through a consideration of Druids’ own understandings of their identity and their place in the modern world. In particular, it will consider the extent to which Druidry in Britain can be categorised as indigenous religion in Britain. Section B consists of a broad overview of the ways in which modern Druids approach death. Particular consideration is given to the concept of Ancestors in Druidry, and the role they play in the spiritual lives and practices of Druids, as well as in funeral and other rituals concerned with the dead. The section concludes with an investigation into the phenomenon of ‘new barrows’ that are currently being built in various locations in the south of England. These are built in deliberate imitation of the chambered burial mounds of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages and are designed to take human cremated remains interred in niches in the walls. The significance of these barrows as funeral venues, both to Druids and in wider society will be discussed at length. The thesis will conclude that there are several aspects of the way that death is understood and ritualised in Druidry that are highly distinctive in contemporary Western society. It will further suggest that much can be learnt from both Druidry and the new barrows as models for the construction of meaningful and useful funerals

Trace and the makers of meaning

One of the greatest accessible records of trace and the past is the landscape, which over time acts as a repository of evidence from natural forces and things that humans have created or changed. This thesis considers trace as material and nonmaterial evidence, remnants, marks, vestiges of events past and forgotten or remembered. How can a past that is evidenced only by its traces be read within a landscape context by disciplines of knowledge production? The subsequent interpretation, generation of meaning and understanding of traces contributes to the knowledge, mythology and perceptions of reality for differing groups in different places. At the same time this research considers my own arts practice, paintings which are derived from a unique process of casting various found surfaces (wood, metal, brick, etc) and extracting the ‘traces’ in acrylic paint, removing and transferring a thin layer of the original surface material which may or may not be reworked further. The paintings, from the environment of a bygone time, remind us of what we see and yet often may not notice. They invite us to consider our relationship to a past from which we may have become alienated. ‘Trace’ connects ‘lived’ time, the past, with ‘physical’ time, the present. Traces invite us to contemplate the ephemeral quality of time and consider the synergy of time continuum – the connection of past and present – and in so doing compel us to consider the question of the future

You don't need eyes to see, you need vision: performative pedagogy, technology and teaching art to students with vision impairment

This paper links experiential learning and Performance Art with public pedagogy on sight/visual negation and contributes to knowledge by drawing together performance as pedagogy to demonstrate how teaching styles can accommodate those with vision impairment and adapt (performance) art to make it more accessible. In so doing it seeks to develop inclusion for students with a vision impairment. Intermeshing practice, teaching and research around issues of access, participation and education, it builds upon previous work exploring teaching strategies for the visually impaired within contemporary art practice (Axel and Levent, 2003; Hayhoe, 2008; Allan, 2014) and shares useful adaptations to help make learning about art more accessible for students with vision impairment. It also sheds light upon aspects of the question, ‘What are the basics that an educator needs to know when designing art programs for persons with visual impairment?’ (Axel and Levent, 2003: 51). This paper can be read as a benchmark for critical engagement in its attempt to combine performative pedagogy with an emphasis on technological means, access and visual impairment. While vision is favoured over other senses (Jonas, 1954) and with the increasing importance of digital and virtual realities as a major component of students’ lives, never has there been a time in which the meanings of access are so broadened via technological mediation—that draw on all senses—to which artworks, as suggested, respond. Relying on all senses becomes an aspect of public pedagogy that is more inclusive