Startseite Science in a Time When the World Is Growing Apart and Coming Together
Artikel Open Access

Science in a Time When the World Is Growing Apart and Coming Together

  • Joakim Goldhahn EMAIL logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 1. April 2021
Veröffentlichen auch Sie bei De Gruyter Brill

Challenging times. 2020 was a year like no other. A constant flow of alarming news about an escalating climate crisis. The hottest year on record. Polar ices and glaciers are melting, some bringing new objects from the past into the world again. Ecocides. Animals, birds, and bugs are becoming extinct at a rate that we have never seen before. On top of that, Covid-19, like a flash from a blue sky, hit us all with shock. Lockdowns and the fear of becoming sick, losing family and kin, project collaborators and collegian friends. Too many lost their lives; others struggle to get back on track. For many people around the world, 2020 will be remembered as a year of mourning.

Covid-19 did not pass the academic or archaeology field without notice. Education, conferences, and research projects were cancelled or put on ice. Many universities that are dependent on international students took a hard economic dip in 2020. For some, it will take years to recover. Hard times. As a response, redundancies and the cessation of hiring staff. All possible loose ends are cut. Early career scholar's opportunities seem to vanish by the minute. Academics in solitudes tend to write more, and we see an increase in submitted journal articles generally, and this is also the case for Open Archaeology, something that we welcome. At the same time, there are alarming indications worldwide that rooted gender biases within the academic field are growing again. This also seems to be the case for publications, manifested through an increasing number of articles first authored by men. We at Open Archaeology will oversee this trend. Moreover, reports from Sweden indicate that students’ well-being is decreasing. Similar trends have been noted worldwide. Many of the students feel detached, alone, and stressed about their education and future. 2020 was a year like no other.

And amid the turmoil, the show must go on.

Now, writing in 2021, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccines prove their value, and the numbers of sick and passing are falling. Slowly. At the same time, working from home, we adapt and connect in new ways: online meetings and conferences, teaching, disputations, and even after-work gatherings on Friday afternoons. After the first blast of isolation, we witnessed how the world slowly started to grow together in a new and somewhat exciting way. Some have even proposed that this will be “the new normal.” However, the gaze of “an old-time” conference or symposia has never been more desiring. Hold on. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

That said, we at Open Archaeology are looking forward to a busy 2021 of publishing research from all over the world. The numbers of submitted articles are rising, and we are also happy to see that the scope of published articles in Open Archaeology 2020 and submitted articles under review is widening. Our partnership with the international conferences “Meso’2020,” held online from Toulouse in France last September, on publishing its proceedings (coordinating editors: Thomas Perrin, Benjamin Marquebielle, Sylvie Philibert, and Nicolas Valdeyronas), pledges that our readers can look forward to an exciting year. There are also calls out for several interesting special topical issues of Open Archaeology, including “Archaeological Practice on Shifting Grounds” (coordinating editors: Åsa Berggren and Antonia Davidovic-Walther), “Creativity and Automation: Sharing 3D Visualization Practices in Archaeology” (coordinating editors: Loes Opgenhaffen, Martina Revello Lami, and Hayley Mickleburgh), “At the Crossroads of the Mediterranean: Malta and the Central Mediterranean During the Roman Period” (coordinating editors: David Cardona, Davide Tanasi, and Robert Brown), an issue in cooperation with “The 1st Conference on the Early Neolithic of Europe” (coordinating editors: Ferran Borrell, Ignacio Clemente, Miriam Cubas, Juan J. Ibáñez, Niccolò Mazzucco, Ariadna Nieto, Marta Portillo, Xavier Terradas and Silvia Valenzuela), and “The Black Gold That Came from the Sea: Advances in the Studies of Obsidian Sources and Artifacts of the Central Mediterranean Area” (coordinating editors: Franco Italiano, Franco Foresta Martin, and Maria Clara Martinelli). Information about these and the future special topical issues can be found on the journal‘s home page.

Last but not least, we at Open Archaeology wish our readers a healthy and productive year. Stay safe. Keep socially connected. Reach out to your students, colleagues, and friends. Hopefully soon there will be an end to “this new normal.” Let's wish that the light in the tunnel keeps getting brighter…

Joakim Goldhahn

Editor-in-Chief

Received: 2021-03-10
Accepted: 2021-03-10
Published Online: 2021-04-01

© 2021 Joakim Goldhahn, published by De Gruyter

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Editorial
  2. Science in a Time When the World Is Growing Apart and Coming Together
  3. Research Articles
  4. Exploring the Cave Rock Art of Siberian Trans-Baikal: Fertility, Shamanism, and Gender
  5. Wild Resources in the Economy of Bronze and Early Iron Ages Between Oder and Bug Rivers – Source Overview
  6. Communities Beyond Society: Divergence of Local Prehistories on the Bothnian Arc, Northern Europe
  7. A New Method for the Large-Scale Documentation of Pottery Sherds Through Simultaneous Multiple 3D Model Capture Using Structure from Motion: Phoenician Carinated-Shoulder Amphorae from Tell el-Burak (Lebanon) as a Case Study
  8. Settlement Patterns and Urbanization in the Yautepec Valley of Central Mexico
  9. Waterscape and Floods Management of Greek Selinus: The Cottone River Valley
  10. Review Article
  11. Andronovo Problem: Studies of Cultural Genesis in the Eurasian Bronze Age
  12. Rapid Communication
  13. Microscopic Re-Examination of an Unique Bone Artefact: The Figure of a Theatrical Actor Found at The Roman Fort Iža/Leányvár (Slovakia)
  14. Erratum
  15. Erratum to “On the Emerging Supremacy of Structured Digital Data in Archaeology: A Preliminary Assessment of Information, Knowledge and Wisdom Left Behind”
  16. Special Issue on at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean: Malta and the Central Mediterranean During the Roman Period, edited by Davide Tanasi, David Cardona, & Robert Brown
  17. A Most Notable Dwelling: The Domus Romana and the Urban Topography of Roman Melite
  18. Melite Civitas Romana in 3D: Virtualization Project of the Archaeological Park and Museum of the Domus Romana of Rabat, Malta
  19. Revisiting Ramla l-Ħamra Villa – New Discoveries and Observations on the Roman Villa Complex in Xagħra, Gozo
  20. A Diachronic Maltese Islandscape: Rural Ta’ Qali and ix-Xarolla
  21. The Perseverance of Archaeology: New Data from a Rescue Investigation at Triq Fejġel in Rabat and its Contribution to the Punic and Roman Maltese Funerary Context
  22. Past, Present, Future: An Overview of Roman Malta
  23. The Melite Civitas Romana Project: The Case for a Modern Exploration of the Roman Domus, Malta
  24. Special Issue ‘The Black Gold That Came from the Sea. Advances in the Studies of Obsidian Sources and Artifacts of the Central Mediterranean Area’, edited by Franco Italiano, Franco Foresta Martin & Maria Clara Martinelli - Part II
  25. Obsidian from the Site of Piano dei Cardoni, Ustica (Palermo, Italy): Preliminary Results on the First Occupation of the Island
  26. Obsidian from the Neolithic Layers of “Grotta di San Michele Arcangelo di Saracena” (Cosenza), Italy. A Preliminary Report
  27. Special Issue on Art, Creativity and Automation. Sharing 3D Visualization Practices in Archaeology, edited by Loes Opgenhaffen, Martina Revello Lami, Hayley Mickleburgh
  28. Art, Creativity and Automation. From Charters to Shared 3D Visualization Practices
  29. Track and Trace, and Other Collaborative Art/Archaeology Bubbles in the Phygital Pandemic
  30. 3D Reconstructions as Research Hubs: Geospatial Interfaces for Real-Time Data Exploration of Seventeenth-Century Amsterdam Domestic Interiors
  31. Dynamic Collections: A 3D Web Infrastructure for Artifact Engagement
  32. Visualizing Archaeologists: A Reflexive History of Visualization Practice in Archaeology
  33. The Use of 3D Photogrammetry in the Analysis, Visualization, and Dissemination of the Indigenous Archaeological Heritage of the Greater Antilles
  34. A Theoretical Framework for Informal 3D Rendered Analysis of the Roman Lararium from Apollonia-Arsuf
  35. Heritage Artefacts in the COVID-19 Era: The Aura and Authenticity of 3D Models
  36. Virtual Archaeology of Death and Burial: A Procedure for Integrating 3D Visualization and Analysis in Archaeothanatology
  37. Expanding Field-Archaeology Education: The Integration of 3D Technology into Archaeological Training
  38. Born-Digital Logistics: Impacts of 3D Recording on Archaeological Workflow, Training, and Interpretation
  39. Filling the Void in Archaeological Excavations: 2D Point Clouds to 3D Volumes
  40. Evaluation of an Online 360° Virtual Reality World Heritage Site During COVID-19
  41. C.A.P.I. Project in the Making: 3D Applications at Poggio Imperiale Between Materiality and Virtual Reality (Poggibonsi, IT)
  42. Special Issue on Archaeological Practice on Shifting Grounds, edited by Åsa Berggren and Antonia Davidovic-Walther
  43. Algorithmic Agency and Autonomy in Archaeological Practice
  44. Provenance Illusions and Elusive Paradata: When Archaeology and Art/Archaeological Practice Meets the Phygital
  45. Skeuomorphism in Digital Archeological Practice: A Barrier to Progress, or a Vital Cog in the Wheels of Change?
  46. Worlding Excavation Practices
  47. From Drawing into Digital: On the Transformation of Knowledge Production in Postexcavation Processing
  48. Choreographies of Making Archaeological Data
  49. Legacy in the Making – A Knowledge Infrastructural Perspective on Systems for Archeological Information Sharing
  50. Tradition in Transition: Technology and Change in Archaeological Visualisation Practice
  51. On the Emerging Supremacy of Structured Digital Data in Archaeology: A Preliminary Assessment of Information, Knowledge and Wisdom Left Behind
  52. Figurations of Digital Practice, Craft, and Agency in Two Mediterranean Fieldwork Projects
  53. Special Issue on THE EARLY NEOLITHIC OF EUROPE, edited by F. Borrell, I. Clemente, M. Cubas, J. J. Ibáñez, N. Mazzucco, A. Nieto-Espinet, M. Portillo, S. Valenzuela-Lamas, & X. Terradas - Part I
  54. Mineral Resources, Procurement Strategies, and Territories in the Linear Pottery Culture in the Aisne Valley (Paris Basin, France)
  55. Disruption, Preference Cascades, Contagion, and the Transition to Agriculture in Northern Europe
  56. Timing and Pace of Neolithisation in the Dutch Wetlands (c. 5000–3500 cal. BC)
  57. Models of Neolithisation of Northeastern Iberian Peninsula: New Evidence of Human Occupations During the Sixth Millennium cal BC
  58. Social Rules and Household Interactions Within the LBK: Long-Standing Debates, New Perspectives
  59. Ceramic Traditions in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Eastern Europe
  60. The Mechanisms of Neolithisation of Western Europe: Beyond a South/North Approach
  61. Early Neolithic Settlement Patterns in Northern Dalmatia
  62. New Evidence from Galeria da Cisterna (Almonda) and Gruta do Caldeirão on the Phasing of Central Portugal’s Early Neolithic
  63. The Use of Rock Shelters During the Early Neolithic in the North of Alicante (Spain). The Site of Penya Roja de Catamarruc (Alicante, Spain) as a Case Study
  64. Stone and Osseous Adornments in the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic of the Iron Gates
  65. The Neolithisation of the Adriatic: Contrasting Regional Patterns and Interactions Along and Across the Shores
  66. A Very Early “Fashion”: Neolithic Stone Bracelets from a Mediterranean Perspective
  67. Anthropomorphic Symbols on Neolithic Vessels from Puglia
  68. Decorated or Undecorated: Analysis of the Early-Middle Neolithic Transition in Western Iberia Through the Ceramic’s Stylist Techniques and Decorative Motifs
  69. Animist Ontologies in the Third Millennium BCE? Hunter-Gatherer Persistency and Human–Animal Relations in Southern Norway: The Alveberget Case
  70. Neolithization Processes of East Belgium: Supra-Regional Relationships Between Groups Highlighted by Technological Analysis of Lithic Industry
  71. Territoriality and Settlement in Southern France in the Early Neolithic: Diversity as a Strategy?
  72. The Cardial–Epicardial Early Neolithic of Lower Rhône Valley (South-Eastern France): A Lithic Perspective
  73. Funerary Practices as a Testimony of Ideology in Western Linearbandkeramik Culture
  74. A Quantitative Study of the Linear Pottery Culture Cemetery “Aiterhofen-Ödmühle”
  75. An Operative Sequences Network: The Technical Organization at Casa Montero Early Neolithic Flint Mine (Madrid, Spain)
  76. The Routes of Neolithisation: The Middle Struma Valley from a Regional Perspective
  77. Mountains, Herds and Crops: Notes on New Evidence from the Early Neolithic in the Southern Central Pyrenees
  78. Developing a Reference Collection for Starch Grain Analysis in Early Neolithic Western Temperate Europe
  79. Reflections on the Other Side. A Southern Iberia Origin for the First Pottery Production of Northern Morocco?
  80. Early Neolithic Settlement Patterns in the Polish Lowlands – A Case Study of Selected Micro-Regions in Eastern Kuyavia
  81. Domesticated Water: Four Early Neolithic Wells in Moravia (CZ)
  82. Exploring the Broad Spectrum: Vegetal Inclusions in Early Neolithic Eastern Balkan Pottery
  83. A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Early Neolithic Pyrotechnological Structures. The Case Study of Portonovo (Marche, Italy)
  84. Socialising the Landscape in the Early Neolithic of Thessaly, Greece
  85. Early Neolithic Husbandry in the Pre-Pyrenean Area. The Management of Herds at the Cova Colomera (Serra del Montsec, Spain) and Its Implications for the Early Occupation of the Region
  86. Transition from Swifterbant to Funnelbeaker: A Bayesian Chronological Model
  87. Keeping the Frontier: Steps “Towards Neolithization” in the Eastern Gulf of Finland
  88. Pastoral Practices, Bedding and Fodder During the Early Neolithic Through Micromorphology at Cova Colomera (Southeastern Pre-Pyrenees, Iberia)
  89. Similarities and Differences Between Italian Early Neolithic Groups: The Role of Personal Ornaments
  90. The Phenomena La Hoguette and Limburg – Technological Aspects
  91. Setting the Boundaries of Early Neolithic Settlement Sites: The Ditch-Digging Practices in the Eastern Balkans
  92. Geoarchaeological and Paleo-Hydrological Overview of the Central-Western Mediterranean Early Neolithic Human–Environment Interactions
  93. The First Italian Farmers: The Role of Stone Ornaments in Tradition, Innovation, and Cultural Change
  94. Distribution of Organic-Tempered Pottery in Southeast Europe and the Near East: A Complex Picture. The Case of Northern Greece
  95. The Loom Weight, the Spindle Whorl, and the Sword Beater – Evidence of Textile Activity in the Early Neolithic?
  96. The Subsistence Strategy of Linear Pottery Culture in Moravia (Czech Republic): Current State of Knowledge
  97. The First Neolithic Occupation of La Cova del Randero (Pedreguer, Alicante, Spain)
  98. Innovations of the Beginning of the Sixth Millennium BC in the Northern Pontic Steppe
  99. Herders and Pioneers: The Role of Pastoralism in the Neolithization of the Amblés Valley (Ávila, Central Iberia)
  100. Sign-Objects Among Neolithic Faunal Remains, Visible Symbols
  101. Different Paths of Neolithisation of the North-Eastern Part of Central Europe
  102. New Kids on the Block?” Reappraising Pottery Styles, aDNA, and Chronology from Western Iberia Early Neolithic
  103. Neolithic Long Barrows and Enclosures as Landmarks of Ritual Landscape of Central and North Bohemia
Heruntergeladen am 24.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/opar-2020-0128/html
Button zum nach oben scrollen