The 'Maison du Mage' Project
What Remains for Archaeology?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.29720Keywords:
assemblages, audience, methodology, palimpsest, participationAbstract
This article presents our encounter with the Maison du Mage, an abandoned house in the village of Marsal (Lorraine, France). While highlighting the particular history of the building and the constitution of its complex assemblages, the paper first and foremost aims to address the methodological challenges raised by the shifting nature of this contemporary ruin. It presents the results of our preliminary forays within the house and discusses the difficulty of untangling the material and temporal imbroglio characterizing it. On this basis, the article also provides a general research template which may be of use beyond our particular case study, and may help to stimulate debates on archaeological praxis and encourage a more transparent and systematic appraisal of the practical confrontation with contemporary assemblages.
References
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Bevan, A., D. Pett, C. Bonnacchi, A. Keinan-Schoonbaert, D. Lombraña González, R. Sparks, J. Wexler and N. Wilkin. 2014. “Citizen Archaeologists: Online Collaborative Research about the Human Past.” Human Computation 1 (2): 183–197.
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de Sède, G. 1969. Magie à Marsal. Paris: Julliard.
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____. and M. Gloc. 2011. Le canton de Vic-sur-Seille, entre Seille et Sânon. Paris: Somogy.
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González-Ruibal, A. 2006. “The Past is Tomorrow: Towards an Archaeology of the Vanishing Present.” Norwegian Archaeological Review 39 (2): 110–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/00293650601030073
____. 2008. “Time to Destroy: An Archaeology of Supermodernity.” Current Anthropology 49 (2): 247–279. https://doi.org/10.1086/526099
____. 2011. “In Praise of Depth.” Archaeological Dialogues 18 (2): 164–168. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203811000213
Gould, R. A. 2012. “Disaster Archaeology.” In The Oxford Companion to Archaeology (2nd edition), edited by N. A. Silberman, 409–412. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Graves-Brown, P. 2011. “Archaeology. A Career in Ruins.” Archaeological Dialogues 18 (2): 168–171. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203811000225
____., R. Harrison and A. Piccini (2013). “Introduction.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World, edited by P. Graves-Brown, R. Harrison and A. Piccini, 1–23. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.024
Harrison, R. (2009). “Excavating Second Life: Cyber-archaeologies, Heritage and Virtual Communities.” Journal of Material Culture 14 (1): 75–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183508100009
____. (2011a). “Archaeologies ‘Now’: Creative Interventions in the Present for the Future.” Archaeological Dialogues 18 (2): 180–196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203811000250
____. (2011b). “Surface Assemblages: Towards an Archaeology In and Of the Present.” Archaeological Dialogues 18 (2): 141–161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203811000195
____. and J. Schofield, J. (2010). After Modernity. Archaeological Approaches to the Contemporary Past. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Lucas, G. 2012. Understanding the Archaeological Record. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mathis, D. 2011. “«Quand l’armée s’en va». Approche géohistorique des restructurations des espaces militarisés: l’exemple du sud mosellan.” Revue Géographique de l’Est 51 (1–2). Available online: http://rge.revues.org/3249
Myers, A. T. 2011. “Contemporary Archaeology in Transit: The Artifacts of a 1991 Van.” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 15 (1): 138–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-010-0131-9
Olivier, L. and J. Kovacik, 2006. “The ‘Briquetage de la Seille’ (Lorraine, France): Proto-industrial Salt Production in the European Iron Age.” Antiquity 80 (309): 558–566. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00094035
Olsen, B. (2010). In Defense of Things: Archaeology and the Ontology of Objects. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
Pétursdóttir, Þ. 2012. “Small Things Forgotten Now Included, or What Else Do Things Deserve?” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 16 (3): 577–603. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-012-0191-0
Salzmann, J. P., ed., 2008. Vauban, militaire et économiste sous Louis XIV. Tome 1: Vauban et Marsal à l’époque de Louis XIV. Le sel, la fiscalité et la guerre. Luxembourg City: Publications de la section historique de l’Institut Grand-Ducal de Luxembourg.
Schofield, J. 2013. “‘A Dirtier Reality?’ Archaeological Methods and the Urban Project.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World, edited by P. Graves-Brown, R. Harrison and A. Piccini, 466–478. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.001
Tognolli, G. 2011. “L’énigme de Marsal!” Available online: http://www.als.uhp-nancy.fr/conferences/dossiers/21mai2011/07-Mage%20de%20Marsal.pdf
Zimmerman, L. J. 2013. “Homelessness.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World, edited by P. Graves-Brown, R. Harrison and A. Piccini, 336–350. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.023
____., C. Singleton and J. Welch. 2010. “Activism and Creating a Translational Archaeology of Homelessness.” World Archaeology 42 (3): 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2010.497400
Bevan, A., D. Pett, C. Bonnacchi, A. Keinan-Schoonbaert, D. Lombraña González, R. Sparks, J. Wexler and N. Wilkin. 2014. “Citizen Archaeologists: Online Collaborative Research about the Human Past.” Human Computation 1 (2): 183–197.
Buchli, V. and G. Lucas. 2001. “The Archaeology of Alienation: A Late Twentieth-century British Council House.” In Archaeologies of the Contemporary Past, edited by V. Buchli and G. Lucas, 158–167. London and New York: Routledge.
Caviglioli, F. 1968. “Les enfants du mage.” Le Nouvel Observateur, 9 December, 1968, 28–29.
de Sède, G. 1969. Magie à Marsal. Paris: Julliard.
Decomps, C. 2003. Marsal, Moselle. Itinéraires du patrimoine 284. Metz: Serpenoise.
____. and M. Gloc. 2011. Le canton de Vic-sur-Seille, entre Seille et Sânon. Paris: Somogy.
Fowles, S. and K. Heupel. 2013. “Absence.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World, edited by P. Graves-Brown, R. Harrison and A. Piccini, 178–191. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.002
González-Ruibal, A. 2006. “The Past is Tomorrow: Towards an Archaeology of the Vanishing Present.” Norwegian Archaeological Review 39 (2): 110–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/00293650601030073
____. 2008. “Time to Destroy: An Archaeology of Supermodernity.” Current Anthropology 49 (2): 247–279. https://doi.org/10.1086/526099
____. 2011. “In Praise of Depth.” Archaeological Dialogues 18 (2): 164–168. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203811000213
Gould, R. A. 2012. “Disaster Archaeology.” In The Oxford Companion to Archaeology (2nd edition), edited by N. A. Silberman, 409–412. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Graves-Brown, P. 2011. “Archaeology. A Career in Ruins.” Archaeological Dialogues 18 (2): 168–171. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203811000225
____., R. Harrison and A. Piccini (2013). “Introduction.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World, edited by P. Graves-Brown, R. Harrison and A. Piccini, 1–23. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.024
Harrison, R. (2009). “Excavating Second Life: Cyber-archaeologies, Heritage and Virtual Communities.” Journal of Material Culture 14 (1): 75–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183508100009
____. (2011a). “Archaeologies ‘Now’: Creative Interventions in the Present for the Future.” Archaeological Dialogues 18 (2): 180–196. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203811000250
____. (2011b). “Surface Assemblages: Towards an Archaeology In and Of the Present.” Archaeological Dialogues 18 (2): 141–161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203811000195
____. and J. Schofield, J. (2010). After Modernity. Archaeological Approaches to the Contemporary Past. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Insoll, T. (2007). Archaeology: The Conceptual Challenge. London: Duckworth.
Inter actualités magazine. 1969. “Inter actualités de 20H00 du 28 janvier 1969.” Audio. Available online: http://www.ina.fr/audio/PHF04011502/inter-actualites-de-20h00-du-28-janvier-1969-audio.html
Jusseret, S., L. Olivier, M. Watteaux, N. G. Riddiford and N. P. Branch. 2015. “Le briquetage de la Seille (Moselle): géoarchéologie et archéogéographie d’un complexe d’exploitation intensive du sel à l’âge du Fer.” In Les Gaulois au fil de l’eau. Actes du 37e colloque international de l’AFEAF (Montpellier, 8-11 mai 2013). Volume 1: Communications, edited by F. Olmer and R. Roure, 515–538. Bordeaux: Ausonius.
Kiddey, R. and J. Schofield. 2010. “Digging For (Invisible) People.” British Archaeology 113: 18–24.
Knappett, C. 2005. Thinking Through Material Culture: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812202496
Laurence, A. 1999. “Le «Mage» de Marsal emporte son secret.” In Le Journal du Dimanche, 11 April, 1999. Available online: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/fr.soc.religion/sNv949o9IBc
Letesson, Q. and S. Jusseret. 2017. “The Maison du Mage Project: Surveying Contemporary Assemblages.” In Clashes of Times, edited by J.-M. Blaising, J. Driessen, J.-P. Legendre et L. Olivier: 79–119. Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses Universitaires de Louvain.
Lucas, G. 2012. Understanding the Archaeological Record. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mathis, D. 2011. “«Quand l’armée s’en va». Approche géohistorique des restructurations des espaces militarisés: l’exemple du sud mosellan.” Revue Géographique de l’Est 51 (1–2). Available online: http://rge.revues.org/3249
Myers, A. T. 2011. “Contemporary Archaeology in Transit: The Artifacts of a 1991 Van.” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 15 (1): 138–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-010-0131-9
Olivier, L. and J. Kovacik, 2006. “The ‘Briquetage de la Seille’ (Lorraine, France): Proto-industrial Salt Production in the European Iron Age.” Antiquity 80 (309): 558–566. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00094035
Olsen, B. (2010). In Defense of Things: Archaeology and the Ontology of Objects. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
Pétursdóttir, Þ. 2012. “Small Things Forgotten Now Included, or What Else Do Things Deserve?” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 16 (3): 577–603. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-012-0191-0
Salzmann, J. P., ed., 2008. Vauban, militaire et économiste sous Louis XIV. Tome 1: Vauban et Marsal à l’époque de Louis XIV. Le sel, la fiscalité et la guerre. Luxembourg City: Publications de la section historique de l’Institut Grand-Ducal de Luxembourg.
Schofield, J. 2013. “‘A Dirtier Reality?’ Archaeological Methods and the Urban Project.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World, edited by P. Graves-Brown, R. Harrison and A. Piccini, 466–478. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.001
Tognolli, G. 2011. “L’énigme de Marsal!” Available online: http://www.als.uhp-nancy.fr/conferences/dossiers/21mai2011/07-Mage%20de%20Marsal.pdf
Zimmerman, L. J. 2013. “Homelessness.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World, edited by P. Graves-Brown, R. Harrison and A. Piccini, 336–350. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.023
____., C. Singleton and J. Welch. 2010. “Activism and Creating a Translational Archaeology of Homelessness.” World Archaeology 42 (3): 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2010.497400
Published
2017-12-04
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Letesson, Q., & Jusseret, S. (2017). The ’Maison du Mage’ Project: What Remains for Archaeology?. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 4(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.29720
