The constructional geometry of early Javanese temples

The early development of Hindu Javanese architecture can be traced through interpretation of epigraphs, archaeological excavations, and comparison of extant temples with other traditions. However, while many scholars have speculated on connections between Javanese Hindu temples and presumed antecedents in India, these have been made on the basis of visual comparison and epigraphic interpretations. No Indian temple has been conclusively shown to be a model for the earliest Javanese temples. Archaeologist and temple historian Michael Meister has shown in his analysis of the geometric composition of early Hindu temples in South Asia how a ritual sixty-four square mandala was the geometric basis of temple construction during the formative period (fifth to eighth century) of the Indian architectural tradition. Working from an understanding of temple construction sequence as well as their ritual underpinnings, Meister found that the sixtyfour square mandala's dimensions correlate closely to the constructed dimensions at the level of the vedibandha (which corresponds with the plan level of the sanctuary threshold). Furthermore, he shows how the horizontal profile of the cella depends on the number of offsets and the proportional relationships between ech offset based on the subdivision of the sixty-four square grid. The authors have investigated whether a similar compositional basis can be found for the earliest Javanese temples on the Dieng Plateau in the highlands of central Java, despite differences in architectonic and symbolic expression. The analysis of relationships between ritual geometry and actual temple layouts for these buildings has the potential to furthering our understanding of the connections between Hindu temples in Java and those in India.

Determining research significance in archaeological collections from historic sites

This thesis presents a model for assessing the research significance of Australian historical archaeological collections. It identifies the criteria, and provides step-by-step guidelines, for conducting such an assessment. The model is an important tool for managing and justifying the long term preservation of increasing numbers of archaeological collections.

Picturing the nation : The Celtic periphery as discursive other in the archaeological displays of the museum of Scotland

Using the archaeological displays at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, this paper examines the exhibition as a site of identity creation through the negotiations between categories of same and Other. Through an analysis of the poetics of display, the paper argues that the exhibition constructs a particular relationship between the Celtic Fringe and Scottish National identity that draws upon the historical discourses of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland as a place and a time 'apart'. This will be shown to have implications for the display of archaeological material in museums but also for contemporary understandings of Scottish National identity.

Conservation of archaeological daga (adobe) structures, Domboshaba National Monument, Botswana

Domboshaba is a Zimbabwe culture site in eastern Botswana. It had been suffering from neglect until an Africa 2009 documentation workshop was held there. This workshop recommended remedial conservation to arrest the deterioration of the dry stone walls and daga (abode) structures at the site. This paper presents some of the accomplishments of the workshop and the methods used to preserve the daga structures at Domboshaba. It also offers recommendations for others managing these types of sites in southern Africa.

Tasmania : archaeological and palaeo-ecological perspectives

Tasmania, at the south of the land-mass, experienced the Glacial Maximum as a properly cold affair. Recent archaeological work, some in country now difficult of human access, has developed an intricate story of changing adaptations. At the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, a major reorganization of Aboriginal adaptation strategies is seen in the archaeological record, argued to follow late-Pleistocene environmental amelioration.

China's prehistoric ages : how mythological texts and archaeological evidence can contour our understanding.

How mythological texts and archaeological evidence can contour our understanding

Simultaneous pattern and size optimisation of rock bolts for underground excavations

Designing a rock bolt reinforcement system for underground excavation involves determining bolt pattern, spacing, and size. In this paper, a topology optimisation technique is presented and employed to simultaneously optimise these design variables. To improve rock bolt design, the proposed technique minimises a displacement based function around the opening after bolt installation. This optimisation technique is independent of the material model and can be easily applied to any material model for rock and bolts. It is also extremely flexible in that it can be applied to any mechanical analysis method. To illustrate the capabilities of this method, numerical examples with non-linear material models and discontinuities in the host rock are presented. It is shown that the complexity of systems optimised using this approach is only restricted by limitations of the method used to analyse mechanical system responses.