CALL FOR PAPERS
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"Breaking and Shaping Beastly Bodies: Animals as Material Culture in the
Middle Ages"
A one-day conference on Saturday 19th March 2005 at the McDonald
Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge.
Deadline for abstracts: November 15 2004
Synopsis
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The utilisation of animal bodies for food and as raw materials for a
diverse range of products in medieval societies is widely acknowledged,
even taken for granted. However, as other disciplines exploring the
Middle Ages break new ground in understandings of the production,
perception and consumption of written and artistic material, it is time
for a fresh look at the archaeology of medieval animal use. The
boundaries of current understandings can be extended with questions such as:
- How were animal bodies treated?
- What was the nature of their 'consumption'?
- What was their 'lifespan' and how often were they reused or modified?
- Was the breaking and reshaping of their body parts guided by social as
well as practical concerns?
- To what extent was the animal physically or conceptually visible in
the finished product and does this reflect a transformation in identity?
- How differently were human remains treated and does this reflect the
relative value of animals in medieval societies?
These questions – ranging from the socio-ecological to the cosmological
– are intended to provoke a range of interesting responses, and
categories of material culture include (but are not restricted to)
tools, ornaments, vellum, clothing and food, whilst related activities
range from hunting and butchery through to trade, art and consumption.
The conference will be subdivided into four sessions (two in the morning
and two in the afternoon) of 20-minute papers. The theme and content of
each session will be ascertained after all the abstracts have been
received.
Papers are invited on any topic relating to animals as material culture
in the Middle Ages (from the end of Antiquity to the Reformation) and
abstracts of around 200 words should be sent by November 15 2004 to:
Aleks Pluskowski
Department of Archaeology
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3DZ
UK
Or emailed to: [log in to unmask]
Papers from research students especially welcome!!!!
Abstracts and registration details will be available here
(http://www.beasts-in-the-woods.org/conference.html) by the end of November.
Any comments and questions can also be sent to the addresses listed above.
Aleks Pluskowski
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Clare College,
Trinity Lane,
Cambridge CB2 1TL
Department of Archaeology
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3DZ
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.beasts-in-the-woods.org
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