Elemental theory: a dummies’ guide for archaeologists
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 26/05/2016

In recent months, as we have showcased our thoughts on the value of elemental theory in archaeological interpretation, it has become apparent that few practitioners in our discipline are aware of elemental theory and fewer still understand its guiding principles. As an introduction to this session, therefore, the fundamentals of elemental theory—at least as it was understood in the Greek, Roman, and medieval European worlds—will be presented. It will be demonstrated how elemental theory was implicated in every aspect of human experience: its foundational role in humoral theory; how the months and seasons were reckoned in elemental terms; how elemental theory mapped on to the human life-style; how it guided thoughts about the planets, meteorology and even terrestrial geography. It’s cosmic man!

@archaeoelement represented here by Richard JONES (University of Leicester)