Battlefield Archaeology

Deze rapportage gaat over een versterking in de vorm van een loopgraaf en geschutsstelling uit de IIe Wereldoorlog in de omgeving van de Wessemerdijk in Nederweert. Een onderdeel van een Duitse verdedigingslinie uit de herfst van 1944 toen Kanaal Wessem-Nederweert ongeveer twee maanden frontlijn vormde. De aanleg ervan valt te dateren tussen 21 september 1944 (toen de Duitsers begonnen met de aanleg van versterkingen op de oostoever van het kanaal) en 14 november van dat jaar (toen Britse troepen in Operatie Mallard het kanaal overstaken).

Restanten van deze loopgraaf werden in 1987 ontdekt bij de uitvoering van de kanaalverbreding van Kanaal Wessem-Nederweert in de gemeente Nederweert (een groot infrastructureel project dat overigens nog werd afgerond).

Ten tijde van de ontdekking vond op de kanaaloevers archeologisch onderzoek plaats van een Romeinse en een laatmiddeleeuwse nederzetting. Daarbij werd de oorlogsversterking gedocumenteerd. Vanuit dat perspectief is de vondst van de restanten van de loopgraaf als een bijzonder interessante bijvangst te beschouwen. En is het, gezien zin de context van flankerend bronnenonderzoek, een klein maar fraai voorbeeld van conflictarcheologie.

Gettysburg National Military Park is an immense park, encompassing and preserving a large section of the battlefield. What many don’t realize, however, is that the battlefield was not confined only to the areas that have been preserved, but also to a much larger section of the greater Gettysburg area. Where now stands the Giant supermarket was once home to land that the Confederates retreated over and also, more importantly, to a large battlefield hospital, Camp Letterman.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the difference in our picture of three events on the early iron age battlefields depending on the material that is examined. This paper is basing the comparative analysis on historical texts and archaeological findings to analyze the three battles: battle of Alesia, battle of Teutoburg forest and battle of Harzhorn. The theoretical framework of this paper is built on battlefield archaeology, all three battlefields have been archaeologically excavated to different extents using this method.

Sinds begin 2020 worden we dagelijks geconfronteerd met de woorden corona, covid-19 en pandemie. Regelmatig wordt de link gelegd met de Spaanse griep die een dodelijke wolk trok over de wereld in 1918 en 1919. Dit artikel zal de Spaanse griep niet bekijken vanuit virologisch perspectief, maar vanuit historisch perspectief met regelmatige verwijzingen naar de huidige crisis. Meer bepaald zal dieper worden ingegaan op de gevolgen van de pandemie in 1918 voor het Belgisch leger en de burgerbevolking.

In Sweden, a wave of new monuments can currently be observed, both in terms of what is being monumentalized, and in how it is being executed. This article seeks to understand what is at stake in these processes, which bear similarities to various international examples, by employing the concept of postmonuments. Inspired by Marianne Hirsch’s notion of postmemory, the concept focuses on the temporal and commissioning aspects of the “post,” rather than on the transmission of memory. The three projects discussed were all initiated between 2018 and 2019 and, at the time of writing remain incomplete. The first of these is a discountinued monument commemorating Swedish colonialism, the second is an LGBTQI+ monument soon to be realized, and the third a prospective Antiracist monument.

Öz: Türkiye’de savaş alanı arkeolojisine yönelik halihazırda devam eden en kapsamlı proje olan “Malazgirt Savaş Alanının Tespiti, Tarihi ve Arkeolojik Yüzey Araştırması”, 2020 yılının mayıs ayından bu yana çalışmalarına devam etmektedir. Proje ekibi, Prof. Dr. Adnan Çevik’in bilimsel danışmanlığında 12 üniversiteden 40’ı aşkın akademisyenle sahayı etüt etmeye başlamıştır. Ekip, savaşın evrelerini ve büyük muharebenin izlerini 153 km²’lik geniş bir coğrafyada sürmektedir. Tarih, arkeoloji, sanat tarihi, coğrafya, jeoloji, antropoloji ve epigrafi gibi farklı disiplinlerden uzmanları bir araya getiren projede orduların büyüklükleri, lojistiği, savaşta kullandıkları taktikler, savaş aletleri ve insan kayıplarının yanı sıra Malazgirt şehrinin tarihsel kimliği ile ilgili sis perdesinde kalan noktaların aydınlatılması planlanmaktadır. Proje ekibi, arkeoloji açısından görece genç bir araştırma alanını ülkeye tanıtırken tarihçileri yalnızca arşivlerde değil sahada çalışmaya teşvik etmektedir. Daha önce Türkiye’de savaş alanı arkeolojisine yönelik bu çapta bilimsel bir çalışma yapılmadığı için alanda metodoloji, tecrübe ve uygulama açısından büyük bir boşluk bulunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, ortadaki eksikliği gidermek ve gelecekteki bilimsel çalışmalara yol haritası teşkil edecek bir metodoloji ortaya koymayı amaçlayan projenin hazırlık ve başlangıç safhaları mercek altına alınmıştır. Bu doğrultuda 2020 yılında, üç etaplık saha araştırmalarının ön hazırlık mahiyetindeki ilk iki etabında gerçekleştirilen faaliyetler anlatılmıştır. Ayrıca aynı sene araziden elde edilen bulgulara da yer verilmiştir. // “Detection, History, and Archaeological Survey of the Battlefield of Malazgirt” currently the most comprehensive project in Turkey focusing on battlefield archaeology, has been ongoing since May 2020. Under the supervision of Prof. Adnan Çevik, the project team initiated field surveys with more than 40 scholars from 12 universities. The team traces the phases of the war and the great battle across a vast area of 153 km². Bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines such as history, archaeology, art history, geography, geology, anthropology and epigraphy, the project aims to shed light on the size of armies, logistics, tactics used in warfare, weapons and human losses, as well as the historical identity of the city of Malazgirt. Not only introducing a relatively young field of archaeological research, but also the project team encourages historians to engage in fieldwork, not solely relying on archival sources. Since there has never been a scientific research in this scale on battlefield archeology in Turkey before, there is a huge gap in terms of methodology, experience and practice in the field. In this paper, the preparatory and initial stages of the project, which aims to address this gap and establish a methodology that will serve as a roadmap for future scientific research, have been examined closely. In line with this, the activities conducted in the first two stages of the three-stage survey in 2020, which are preliminary, are shown. In addition, the findings obtained from the field in the same year are also included.

In 2020, Hangö Sommaruni (Hangö summer university) arranged a two-week-long conflict archaeology field school, that focused on the archaeological research of the Hanko Front. The excavations uncovered remains of a burnt dugout, which were then associated with a dugout described in a memoir by lieutenant Åke Kretz (2004). In further research, the charred remains were excavated in order to discover the cause of the fire. Among a plenty of personal items, a fallen storm lantern was found in the middle of the shelter, suggesting that an accident had led to the unfortunate events.

After finding objects from French Flak guns at a World War 2 anti-aircraft (Flak) site in Arnhem (the Netherlands), a small (private) archaeological investigation was started. This deviant type of weapon was used as Beutewaffen by the German Wehrmacht. With the help of experts, I wrote this article on the 7.5 cm Flak M 36 (f) gun in use in the Netherlands, around Arnhem and Deelen airfield, during operation Market Garden and other periods, focussing on the finds done in the Arnhem site. This document simply serves as the documentation of these finds, so the archaeological relevance and historical context of them can be understood.

Tiré de les Opérations Militaires durant la Guerre de Succession d'Autriche par Henri Moris d'après des documents inédits découverts dans les Archives de Breil par le Baron Cachiardy de Monfleury alors maire de la cité. Avants Propos. : En l'absence de photographies, depuis des ballons captifs, ou d'aéroplane, il était difficile d'établir des cartes précises des massifs alpins. Les géomètres topographes des différentes armées et forces en présences qui assuraient la triangulation furent assistés par des dessinateurs illustrateurs qui figèrent certain décors que les graveurs « eaux fortes » interprétèrent à leur tour. Une des difficultés rencontré lors des mouvements des Armées, fut l'état des voies de communications ; en effet par suite des conséquences des intempéries, les ponts pouvaient avoir été emportés par des crues, un vallon comblé par une avalanche, le tracé d'un sentier anéantis par un glissement de terrain. Evidement les passages les plus faciles étaient souvent les mieux gardés et les mieux fortifiés (redoutes pourvues de canons disposants d'effectifs pouvant activer des feux de mousqueterie dévastateurs). Ils fallait alors les contourner par des itinéraires plus difficiles qu'il fallait aménager pour permettre aux mulets (moins de 100 Kg par charge) et à l'Artillerie de passer (l'artillerie de siège mortiers, et cannons étant tractée souvent par des boeufs nécessitait plus de largeur de passage, que les colonnes de fantassins ou de cavaliers (cheval à la bride) qui à la queuleuleu empruntait d'étroites corniches qui frisaient l'abîme. La guerre dans les Alpes était une activité saisonnière en effet les zones de montagnes étant par la nature du terrain et ses ressources pauvres, elles ne pouvait fournir les subsistances aux effectifs engagés. Ainsi ne pouvant garantir les communications et l'intendance avec ses bases arrières , les opérations militaires s'arrêtaient ; en gros les forces Austro-Sardes regagnaient les plaines du Piémont et les Franco-Espagnols celles de la Provence plus clémentes. Et l'années d'aprés dès avril, sûr des nouveaux plans élaborés à base de l'expérience précédentes par les états-majors, on remettait çà ! Il est aussi à noter que le volumes des pertes de part et d'autres révèlent l'acharnement et la violence des engagements malgré des technologies militaires qui peuvent nous paraitre archaïques. «Le feu tue» : c'était l'une des maximes du colonel et professeur Pétain, opposé dès avant la guerre aux offensives à outrance mal préparées. Auquel Paul Valéry avait répliqué lors de sa réception à l'Académie Française :Vous avez découvert ceci: Que le feu tue... Je ne dirai pas qu'on l'ignorât jusqu'à vous. On inclinait seulement à désirer de l'ignorer. Je ne me suis pas penché sur des textes plus anciens, ceux de la Conquête Romaines ou ceux de l'époque de François 1er ; mais toujours est-il que les montagnes étant des êtres immobiles qui évoluent très peu, ; il est fort à parier que les sites stratégiques évoqués soient restés les même jusqu'en avril 1945.

Among the manuscript papers and letters of Leibniz (1646-1716) that are preserved chiefly at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library in Hanover, Germany, and are being published in the context of the Leibniz Academy Edition, there are a number of documents relating to the Jacobite War in Ireland of 1689-91. The intention of this paper is to direct attention to and discuss these items, consisting of a series of passages in Leibniz's political and historical correspondence and a hitherto unnoticed eye-witness account of the Battle of the Boyne. The former, paraphrased in English, are incorporated in the text, whereas the latter is given in full translation.

Monohydrocalcite (MHC) is considered to be rare mineral in geological settings due to its metastability. It was recently found in old mine gallery at famous abandoned copper deposit Špania Dolina (central Slovakia) which is popular among mineral collectors for well developed oxidation zone with large amount of secondary minerals. MHC is associated with other carbonates calcite, aragonite and vaterite. MHC shows increased Cu content (up to 0.01 apfu) and slight enrichment in SO3. Empirical formula of MHC can be written as (Ca0.99Cu0.01)CO3·H2O. The unit-cell parameters of MHC refined for the trigonal space group P31 are a 10.554(1) Å, c 7.5537(8) Å, V 728.68(18) Å 3. Raman spectroscopy confirmed water content in MHC structure and revealed presence of vaterite. Raman bands of the O-H stretching vibrations occurred in MHC spectra between 3100 3500 cm-1. MHC from Špania Dolina deposit can be product of meteoric waters enriched in Cu ions which serve as catalysator for MHC crystallizatio...