Archaeological Cases: Blood from Stone

Chapter 2 investigates sociopolitical needs and precedents for history expressed through buildings--archaeological and architectural sites where needs for a documented past can be seen as a driving force behind monuments. Topics covered include the following: the use of tombs to claim land in prehistory: Bronze Age cases from Denmark, Sardinia (Italy) and Greece; a brief history of relevant aspects of the Greek “Dark Age”; a discussion of the significance of the dead body and present-day tombs of “the unknown soldier”; the case of Abraham’s land claim in Genesis; monumentalized land claims in protohistory: the Iron Age case of the Argive Heraion in Greece, and a discussion the theme of fabrication; the proactive re-use of old monuments in ancient and medieval times: the cases of Constantinople and Rome, and a discussion of the nature and meaning of spoliation (and of quotation); present-day “readings” of historic spolia-buildings: the cases of the churches of Ayia Triada/Merbaka and the Little Metropolis in Greece; and a discussion of metaphorical “play-worlds” and their meaning for human existence.