Digital Sensoriality: The Neolithic Figurines from Koutroulou Magoula, Greece

Papadopoulos, Konstantinos; Hamilakis, Yannis; Kyparissi-Apostolika, Nina; Diaz-Guardamino, Marta

Abstract

The image-based discourse on clay figurines that treated them as merely artistic representations, the meaning of which needs to be deciphered through various iconological methods has been severely critiqued and challenged in the past decade. This discourse, however, has largely shaped the way that figurines are depicted in archaeological iterations and publications, and it is this corpus of images that has shaped in turn further thinking and discussion on figurines, especially since very few people are able to handle the original, three-dimensional, physical objects. Building on the changing intellectual climate in figurines studies, we propose here a framework that treats figurines as multisensorial, affective and dynamic objects, acting within distinctive, relational fields of sensoriality. Furthermore, we situate a range of digital, computational methods within this framework in an attempt to deprive them of their latent Cartesianism and mentalism, and we demonstrate how we have applied them to the study of Neolithic figurines from the site of Koutroulou Magoula in Greece. We argue that such methodologies situated within an experiential framework, not only provide new means of understanding, interpretation, and dissemination, but, most importantly, enable researchers and the public to explore the sensorial affordances and affective potential of things, in the past as well as in the present.

Citation

Papadopoulos, K., Hamilakis, Y., Kyparissi-Apostolika, N., & Diaz-Guardamino, M. (2019). Digital Sensoriality: The Neolithic Figurines from Koutroulou Magoula, Greece. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 29(4), 625-652. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774319000271

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 28, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jul 9, 2019
• Publication Date: Nov 30, 2019
• Deposit Date: Apr 25, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 25, 2019
• Journal: Cambridge Archaeological Journal
• Print ISSN: 0959-7743
• Electronic ISSN: 1474-0540
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 625-652
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774319000271
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1297862