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- Almevik, Gunnar, 1969, et al.
(författare)
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Traditional craft skills as a source of historical knowledge Reconstruction in the ashes of the medieval wooden church Södra Råda
- 2015
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Ingår i: Mirator. ; 16:1, s. 72-102
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In November 2001 the medieval church Södra Råda burnt to the ground in an act of pyromania. The church had a log timbered structure dating to 1320 and world famous wall paintings by Master Amund from 1494. Among Sweden’s 3400 churches and chapels, only 10 medieval corner timbered churches remains. Hence, the Swedish national heritage board initiated a process, still ongoing, proclaiming that the church should be reconstructed “as a pedagogical example to enhance craft practice and historical knowledge of medieval churches”. This paper investigates the new findings on medieval wooden church building as well as the methodology in full-scale reconstruction, using craft skills as means of interpretation of historical knowledge. The reconstruction functions as a trans-disciplinary laboratory, testing findings from archaeological excavations, archive studies and in-depth survey and dendrochronology analysis of the remaining medieval wooden churches.
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| 2. |
- Avango, Dag, 1965-
(författare)
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Constructing Svalbard and its natural resources : industrial futures in a contested Arctic space
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Arctic is often envisioned as a future supply area for fossil energy and shipping, a development bound to occur because of the decreasing Arctic Ocean sea ice. In the Assessing Arctic Futures project we have challenged this deterministic future vision, arguing that natural resources are social constructions, constructed within networks of actors who ascribe value to them.Based on a theoretical model developed in this project, I will present cases on the construction of resources in the Svalbard coal mining industry (1898-present). How and why have actors envisioned Svalbard as a place for settlement and extraction? How did they build influence for their visions and why were some of those visions realized? The paper will suggest that explanations of why resource utilization in the Arctic occur (or not) is far more complex than the relative amount of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean.
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- Avango, Dag, 1965-
(författare)
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Heritage in Action : Industrial heritage in sovereignty conflicts
- 2012
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this paper is to analyze the role of cultural heritage in international disputes over polar areas, through the lens of heritage sites in the Arctic and Antarctic.Over the last centuries, entrepreneurs and states have competed for control over territories and resources in the Arctic and Antarctic. Previous research has analyzed this struggle on different arenas – in diplomacy and in the Polar landscapes, where scientific research and resource utilization has served as bases for claims to political influence or exclusive extraction rights. Less is known about the role of the historical remains of these activities, in current sovereignty controversies in the Arctic and Antarctic. What is the role of heritage sites in the competition for influence and resources in the Polar Regions?The paper analyzes industrial heritage sites in two contested areas in the Polar Regions – the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia in the Antarctic, and Svalbard in the Arctic – sites remaining from large scale whaling and mining in the 20th century. The analysis is based on extensive industrial archaeological field research conducted in the Arctic and Antarctic within the framework of the International Polar Year project LASHIPA (Large Scale Historical Exploitation of Polar Areas).The cases analyzed shows that industry heritage sites have been used in the struggle between the main competitors for sovereignty in those regions, through practical re-use, by narration and through heritage management. The results show that industrial heritage sites in the Polar Regions can play a significant role in competitions for political influence and resources there. By enrolling the heritage sites into actor networks, competing stakeholders populate sparsely populated places with allied actors and actants. In these networks, the heritage sites can play different roles, defending national prestige, attracting tourists, creating a sense connectedness to distant polar places, as well as legitimizing claims for influence over territories and natural resources.
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| 9. |
- Avango, Dag, 1965-
(författare)
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Constructing industrial futures for the Arctic
- 2012
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The circumpolar north has become increasingly important as a potential supply area for minerals, fossil energy resources and new shorter routes for international shipping. Allthough mining, oil and gas extraction are not new activities in the Arctic, the prospect of an ice free Arctic ocean may open possibilities for resource extraction in areas where such activities used to be unthinkable. Such visions of the future of the Arctic are not new however, there are several examples in the history of the Arctic of economic actors formulating visions of what the future of the region should be. The objective of this paper is to analyze the production of future visions for the Arctic by actors within large scale natural resource utilization industries historically and their influence on the economy and politics of the region. The paper will focus on actors involved in the coal mining industry in the Arctic archipelago Spitsbergen / Svalbard from 1898-present. The main research questions are: what futures visions have been produced by actors within the Spitsbergen coal mining industry and why? To what extent have these future visions gained influence in different time periods and why? How has companies and governments interacted in order to strengthen political influence and/or control over natural resources? The paper is based on analyses of sources from two contexts in which companies outlined their visions of the future of Spitsbergen – in written documents and material objects. Companies promoted their visions of the future in the form of narratives published in company prospects, expedition reports, annual reports, articles in professional journals and in correspondence with potential allies such as government bodies. They also formulated their visions by constructing buildings and technological systems in the landscape of Spitsbergen – material representations of potential, real or unlikely futures, economic and / or political. I will show that the Spitsbergen mining companies used their future visions in order to build actor networks. By constructing narratives about potential futures, they tried to enroll capital owners and political actors in to actor-networks strong enough to realize their visions. In a similar way, actors within politics and science included industry in their future visions in order to push their own agendas. Therefore, although the future visions of Arctic industry had many similar traits, the actors producing the visions often had quit different motives for producing them – economic visions hiding political agendas and strategic considerations. Moreover, the future visions has changed over the course of the 20th century, as result of the changing economic and political contexts on Svalbard and in Europe and the USA. The results suggest that Arctic future visions produced by industrial companies become influential if the companies share common interests with other influential actors (governments) and if they are able to build strong networks with such actors. Moreover, they show that Arctic future visions are most often elements in strategies aimed at achieving goals outside of the Arctic. The results can be used to deepen our understanding of the mineral and energy projects that underpin contemporary Arctic futures.
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