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Digital Sensoriality: The Neolithic Figurines from Koutroulou Magoula, Greece

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

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Authors

Konstantinos Papadopoulos

Yannis Hamilakis

Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika



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

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