A Study of Vernacular Architecture in Late Bronze/Early Iron Age Crete

Abstract of paper read at the International Conference on Vernacular Architecture as a Frame of Life in Historic and Ancient Communities, Technische Universität Berlin & Freie Universität Berlin, 4-7 April 2019.Vernacular architecture is closely linked to both time and place and reflects what most people in a community or region consistently build and use, working with local materials, and traditional techniques and forms. It is a product of design decisions intended to create a built environment that accommodates a community’s own sociocultural needs and ways of living. Our study of the architecture of the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age settlement at Kavousi Vronda (Crete) offers a case study in methods of documentation, analysis, and interpretation of ancient vernacular architecture. First excavated by Harriet Boyd Hawes in 1900, the site of Kavousi Vronda was the focus of more extensive archaeological investigation from 1987-1992 under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. This work revealed a small rural settlement dating to the Late Minoan IIIC period (ca. 1170-1050 B.C.) with 15-20 houses, a large building with storerooms where communal feasting and drinking rituals took place, a freestanding temple of the “goddess with upraised arms,” and a kiln. All of these structures, regardless of function, were built using the same techniques and local materials: unworked fieldstones, bedrock boulders, mud mortar, and timber beams covered with clay for the flat roofs. While abandonment and post-abandonment processes have resulted in much disturbance, Vronda provides a wealth of data for understanding domestic architecture, household activities, religion and society. In this paper, a close reading of the Vronda settlement architecture allows us to interrogate how human interaction at both the household and suprahousehold levels were expressed in the built environment. Field documentation of the rubble architecture at the time of excavation included scale drawings and photographs. In our subsequent study of the site, we have employed additional tools (e.g., photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and space syntax analysis) and have borrowed approaches used in modern architectural design, urban planning, ethnography, and anthropology. An archaeological perspective also allows us to observe changes to individual buildings and the settlement over time. Our analysis suggests that the domestic complexes are distributed throughout the settlement and show agglutinative growth that reflects the expansion of the co-residential groups who inhabited each complex over several generations. By comparison, the structures with specialized functions occupy more prominent positions and do not provide any evidence of architectural phasing to show that they were modified over time. The identification of common and exceptional material characteristics, spatial relationships, and change over time reveals the efforts of the community to address their needs and establish their identity and sense of place in the built environment

Architectural Context and Aspects of Ritual Behavior at Late Minoan IIIC Kavousi Vronda

Abstract of poster presented at the 121st Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, Washington, DC, January 2–5, 2020.The Late Minoan IIIC settlement at Kavousi Vronda, located in the northern foothills of the Thriphti mountain range in eastern Crete, consisted of about twenty houses clustered in complexes around the slopes and summit of the ridge, a large “special status” building on the summit where communal feasting and drinking rituals took place, a shrine or temple on the southwest slope in which were dedicated numerous terracotta statues of the “goddess with upraised arms,” and a kiln. Evidence suggests that the settlement may have been inhabited for four generations (or around 120 years, ca. 1170–1050 B.C.E.) before being abandoned at the end of the LM IIIC period. As an extensively excavated and published settlement site, Kavousi Vronda has provided insight into domestic activities, architecture, religion, and social organization of a small community during the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age transition on Crete. In this poster, we present an architectural analysis of the shrine/temple (Building G) focusing on building materials, construction techniques, design, morphology, and spatial qualities that define the physical context for ritual activities. Our approach responds to the methodological framework of earlier scholars, including Renfrew and Prent, who proposed a system of archaeological correlates for cult activity in the prehistoric Aegean. We use Building G as a case study in non-monumental, vernacular architecture to focus on the contribution of the constructed space to ritual activity. In association with terracotta statues and other cult equipment (e.g., snake tubes, kalathoi, plaques) found within and around it, the architecture of Building G provides important evidence for understanding the ritual behavior and religious practices of the Vronda community, especially in terms of the construction of space for dedication and display, attention focusing devices, and the potential for participation by members of the community both inside and outside of the building

A Study of Vernacular Architecture in Late Bronze/Early Iron Age Crete

Abstract of paper read at the International Conference on Vernacular Architecture as a Frame of Life in Historic and Ancient Communities, Technische Universität Berlin & Freie Universität Berlin, 4-7 April 2019.Vernacular architecture is closely linked to both time and place and reflects what most people in a community or region consistently build and use, working with local materials, and traditional techniques and forms. It is a product of design decisions intended to create a built environment that accommodates a community’s own sociocultural needs and ways of living. Our study of the architecture of the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age settlement at Kavousi Vronda (Crete) offers a case study in methods of documentation, analysis, and interpretation of ancient vernacular architecture. First excavated by Harriet Boyd Hawes in 1900, the site of Kavousi Vronda was the focus of more extensive archaeological investigation from 1987-1992 under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. This work revealed a small rural settlement dating to the Late Minoan IIIC period (ca. 1170-1050 B.C.) with 15-20 houses, a large building with storerooms where communal feasting and drinking rituals took place, a freestanding temple of the “goddess with upraised arms,” and a kiln. All of these structures, regardless of function, were built using the same techniques and local materials: unworked fieldstones, bedrock boulders, mud mortar, and timber beams covered with clay for the flat roofs. While abandonment and post-abandonment processes have resulted in much disturbance, Vronda provides a wealth of data for understanding domestic architecture, household activities, religion and society. In this paper, a close reading of the Vronda settlement architecture allows us to interrogate how human interaction at both the household and suprahousehold levels were expressed in the built environment. Field documentation of the rubble architecture at the time of excavation included scale drawings and photographs. In our subsequent study of the site, we have employed additional tools (e.g., photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and space syntax analysis) and have borrowed approaches used in modern architectural design, urban planning, ethnography, and anthropology. An archaeological perspective also allows us to observe changes to individual buildings and the settlement over time. Our analysis suggests that the domestic complexes are distributed throughout the settlement and show agglutinative growth that reflects the expansion of the co-residential groups who inhabited each complex over several generations. By comparison, the structures with specialized functions occupy more prominent positions and do not provide any evidence of architectural phasing to show that they were modified over time. The identification of common and exceptional material characteristics, spatial relationships, and change over time reveals the efforts of the community to address their needs and establish their identity and sense of place in the built environment

Architectural Context and Aspects of Ritual Behavior at Late Minoan IIIC Kavousi Vronda

Abstract of poster presented at the 121st Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, Washington, DC, January 2–5, 2020.The Late Minoan IIIC settlement at Kavousi Vronda, located in the northern foothills of the Thriphti mountain range in eastern Crete, consisted of about twenty houses clustered in complexes around the slopes and summit of the ridge, a large “special status” building on the summit where communal feasting and drinking rituals took place, a shrine or temple on the southwest slope in which were dedicated numerous terracotta statues of the “goddess with upraised arms,” and a kiln. Evidence suggests that the settlement may have been inhabited for four generations (or around 120 years, ca. 1170–1050 B.C.E.) before being abandoned at the end of the LM IIIC period. As an extensively excavated and published settlement site, Kavousi Vronda has provided insight into domestic activities, architecture, religion, and social organization of a small community during the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age transition on Crete. In this poster, we present an architectural analysis of the shrine/temple (Building G) focusing on building materials, construction techniques, design, morphology, and spatial qualities that define the physical context for ritual activities. Our approach responds to the methodological framework of earlier scholars, including Renfrew and Prent, who proposed a system of archaeological correlates for cult activity in the prehistoric Aegean. We use Building G as a case study in non-monumental, vernacular architecture to focus on the contribution of the constructed space to ritual activity. In association with terracotta statues and other cult equipment (e.g., snake tubes, kalathoi, plaques) found within and around it, the architecture of Building G provides important evidence for understanding the ritual behavior and religious practices of the Vronda community, especially in terms of the construction of space for dedication and display, attention focusing devices, and the potential for participation by members of the community both inside and outside of the building

Improved Current Densities in MgB2 By Liquid-Assisted Sintering

Polycrystalline MgB2 samples with GaN additions were prepared by reaction of Mg, B, and GaN powders. The presence of Ga leads to a low melting eutectic phase which allowed liquid phase sintering and produces plate-like grains. For low-level GaN additions (5% at. % or less), the critical transition temperature, Tc, remained unchanged and in 1T magnetic field, the critical current density, Jc was enhanced by a factor of 2 and 10, for temperatures of \~5K and 20K, respectively. The values obtained are approaching those of hot isostatically pressed samples.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 4 figures, accepted in Applied Physics Letter

Introduction

This book analyzes the challenges facing public service media management in the face of ongoing technological developments and changing audience behaviors. It connects models, strategies, concepts, and managerial theories with emerging approaches to public media practices through an examination of media services (e.g. blogs, social networks, search engines, content aggregators) and the online performance of traditional public media organizations. Contributors identify the most relevant and useful approaches, those likely to encourage creativity, interaction, and the development of innovative content and services, and discuss how such innovation can underpin the continuation or expansion of public service media in the changing mediascape

Conclusions

This book analyzes the challenges facing public service media management in the face of ongoing technological developments and changing audience behaviors. It connects models, strategies, concepts, and managerial theories with emerging approaches to public media practices through an examination of media services (e.g. blogs, social networks, search engines, content aggregators) and the online performance of traditional public media organizations. Contributors identify the most relevant and useful approaches, those likely to encourage creativity, interaction, and the development of innovative content and services, and discuss how such innovation can underpin the continuation or expansion of public service media in the changing mediascape

Emerging Leadership Through Coloring: Stories of the Indiana Women of Achievement

Engaging adults in learning can occur through arts-based methods. Building on an oral-history project, we tell women’s leadership stories through both narrative and images through an adult coloring book

Integrated Quality Assurance Program for the Hydra-70 Solid Rocket Motor

The Hydra-70 uses small solid rocket motors, which are produced in large numbers. It is used by all branches of the US armed forces and those of several other countries. A research and development program was initiated in 1994 which had the objective of improving the quality of the motors. The motors use solid fuel grain and the effort reported in this paper focuses on providing motors with higher reliability in terms of performance and safety, and at the same time achieving a significant reduction in inspection costs