3 - 4 pm (CET)

Dr. Sabine Huy

In modern Europe, we are used to cities where buildings from different eras coexist. The architectural ensembles combine the past, the present and, through planned projects, also the future into a kaleidoscope of multiple temporalities. Dealing with these multiple temporalities in the living environment – be it the conversion or continued use of old buildings, the acceptance of ruins in the cityscape, their rejection and replacement or the complete new construction of buildings – is a constant process of social communication and negotiation.

From an archaeological perspective, the premise of cities as built archives of time must first be examined and concretised in terms of its validity for past societies. 

In my talk, I will do this using the ancient settlement of Myrmekion (Crimean peninsula) as an example. In its centre, multi-room brick architecture was repeatedly replaced by so-called ash hills. These ash hills are artificially created mounds of ash and loam layers that existed for decades or even centuries. Unlike stone architecture, however, they never reach a finished stage; rather, they were in a state of constant change due to the ongoing deposition of sediments. In this way, they already challenge the notion of a sequential progress – that is, an orderly, chronological sequence of buildings. The rivalry with other building structures at the same site also points to competing conceptions within the population of Myrmekion. The ash hills had no regard for either older, synchronously existing or projected structures. They extended over several generations and occupied considerable areas of building land until they in turn were superbuilt again or flattened. The ash hills are therefore particularly interesting monuments for analysing temporal complexity in the built environment and the different ways of dealing with multiple temporalities within an ancient urban society.­­

Participants can join the online Chronoi Talk by clicking on the following link:

https://fu-berlin.webex.com/fu-berlin-en/j.php?MTID=m98f7cee256bd9245219ce2f2cf45fd40

The conference room can be accessed using the following methods:

• Joining directly in your browser; simply click the link above, and look for a button with this option near the bottom of the webpage.

• Downloading the program to your computer (instructions can be found by following the meeting link)

• Using the smartphone app called “Cisco Webex Meetings."

You are welcome to enter the online conference room up to 15 minutes in advance of the start time.