#ioniccolumn

[artmanutah]

The I(c)onic Archer - fractured perspective 2024....Digital graphics

www.manfulldesign.com

[aandvarchaeology]

Hello! I wanted to ask what kind of sites do you work on in Germany and what are the conditions like when you excavate? Also are there some artefacts that are more common to find then others?

Hi @ioniccolumns, thanks for the question and sorry for the delay!

Again, Mod V supplying the first part of the answer, since Mod A is currently still huddled under 1000 blankets and drinking vast amounts of tea.

EDIT MANY WEEKS LATER: Double sorry for the double delay, Mod A answered his part, I wanted to edit some things in mine, and then Term Paper Hell happened. Ask me about medieval slate roofing if you want to hear the rant of a lifetime, I dare you.

The short answer to your questions: It depends. 😅

The long answer:

We have a vast richness of time periods in Germany, and pretty much the whole country is covered in archaeology one way or another. It is entirely possible to start a dig going through 1920s scrap metal hoards, dig your way through a high medieval road, an early medieval settlement, and a roman villa rustica and end up in a neolithic causewayed ditch enclosure. In general: If you are digging in a city you'll probably find a latrine and/or a graveyard. You will find medieval ceramics and some kind of crop marks on many many fields. If you are within the bounds of the Roman empire you will most likely find Roman stuff, be that architecture or something else.

As to the conditions: How do you mean? Working conditions? (Imagine your average construction site, only with vastly more nerds.) Preservation conditions? (It varies greatly, we have everything from peat bogs to gravel plains to brown earth, it really depends on where you're digging. Though I WILL mention the Rhenish mining area for its particularly spectacular wood preservation. We literally got paleolithic hunting spears in pretty much working condition out of there.) Soil conditions? (It varies greatly, have a look at the Bodenatlas Deutschland if this particularly interests you!)

And artefacts - again, it depends xD. Though, most medieval digs will turn up incredible amounts of ceramics (my beloved), and it would be terrible of me not to show you our prime example of a find, especially if you're digging in prehistoric time periods: The Glorious Post Hole.

Foto by Brigitte Schlüter, liscence: CC BY-SA 3.0, online here [last viewed March 25, 2025].

~ Mod V

ETA: Mod A (that's me) Has Risen From The Dreadful Pits Of Illness!

In addition to So Many Time Periods in regards to sites, I feel I should mention that most excavations in Germany are so-called Verursachergrabungen (lit. person responsible [pays] excavations) meaning that whoever dug up the monument needs to pay for its excavation. Specific laws surrounding this differ by state, but usually the state office for heritage management will get involved. As V has mentioned, we also have a decent amount of rescue excavations, mainly associated with open-pit mining for gravel and coal, and numerous excavations of scientific interest - the big ones are usually focused on the formerly Roman parts of Germany.

The most common artefact is definitely pottery, followed by flint flakes and stone tools of all kinds. There is one find category that didn't get much attention for decades that actually should be really common though: burnt loam, also known as Hüttenlehm (lit. hut loam). This category covers daub, plaster and mud bricks, but for a long time only painted plaster was recognised because the others look too similar to normal soil - especially when wet. Only the impressions left by the wattle and the temper used to bind the clay of the mud bricks will give them away and all too often those are missed in non-university excavations.

Which brings me to the last part: work conditions! The excavations run by an university on its own are usually comprised of a team of students working towards their Bachelor's or Master's degree, headed by either a PhD student in cooperation with a teacher (who may or may not be a professor) or just a teacher (more likely not to be a professor). Occasionally there may be volunteers from the local archaeological society, but around here they are more closely connected with the state office.

On the excavations run by the state office or in cooperation with them you'll have excavation techs (aka shovelbums) and such fancy things as an excavator who takes care of the topsoil for you. So while the former is the "building site with an accumulation of nerds" V mentioned, the latter is more "building site with a few nerds and the usual annoying foreman who tells you that you're on a tight timetable". [Mod V would also like to mention that the state office does not do its own digs in all German states. If it does, you have to hire them if something turns up on your construction site. If not, they're technically involved from a legal standpoint, but you have your pick of commercial dig companies to do the actual excavating. The annoying foreman is a fixture of both versions.]

University excavations usually will work with more care for the preservation of artefacts while state department (and private excavation companies) will be able to cover more ground, but sometimes lead to damage on pottery and the like.

(In fact, getting an excavator license and specialising on archaeological digs is a very lucrative job because they are always needed, highly recompensated and some excavator drivers can work with mindblowing precision. Those are worth their weight in gold and will get recommended to the head archaeologist's colleagues.)

More specific conditions like accomodation, pay and adherence to OSHA depends on where you're digging (middle of nowhere, near a settlement, middle of the city, etc.), your degree, how much money the organiser was able to secure for financing the project, whether you're there as an intern (usually paid a pittance (i. e. my last intern dig was 3,13€/h paid as lump sum of 500€ at the end of the four weeks)) or as a hired worker (minimum wage, which currently is 12,82€/h). Student interns will usually get free accomodation of varying quality but have to do their own shopping, cooking and cleaning. Hired workers are expected to commute, so they'll usually be chosen for how close they live to the excavation site or will move there for the duration of the dig.

That's all I can think of for now! I hope I was able to answer your questions, let us know if there's more you'd like to know!

~ Mod A

[thearchdemongreatlydisapproves]

URL Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @asocialpessimist

Rules: spell your url with song titles and tag as many people as the letters!

T- The Chain- Fleetwood Mac

H- Himna Generacije- Dubioza Kolektiv

E- Exit Music (For a Film)- Radiohead

A- Am I Dreaming- Metro Boomin

R- Railroad Track- Willy Moon

C- Chant- Hadestown

H- Human- The Killers

D- Dog Days Are Over- Florence and the Machines

E- Enjoy the Silence- Depeche Mode

M- Mage Pride- Inon Zhur

O- Oxbow- Lorn

N- Non-Stop- Upsurt

G- Guggenheim Assemble- Daniel Pemberton

R- Rabbit- Joyhauser

E- Empire- Of Monsters and Men

A- A Man Without Love- Engelbert Hmperdinck

T- The Last Agni Kai- The Track Team

L- Little Black Angel- Death In June

Y- You Want It Darker- Leonard Cohen

D- Disco 2000- Pulp

I- I Wll Never Die- Delta Rae

S- Safe In Mind (Please Get This Gun From Out My Face)- UNKLE

A- A Divided Land- Sarah Schachner

P- Pala Tute- Gogol Bordello

P- Perspektiva- S.A.R.S.

R- Rasputin- Boney M

O- Oh Grey Warden- Maryden Halewell

V- Völuspá- Wardruna

E- Ezio's Family- Jesper Kyd

S- Sing Along- Sturgill Simpson

Also yeah I'm not tagging that many people, sorry I have too much anxiety for this

I'm gonna tag as many as I feel comfortable with and if anyone wants to join please do!

@time-traveling-machine @elvhenn @hanarinhightown @callista-curations @lilolilyr @korblez @sleepingfancies @ioniccolumns

[lucindervention]

Who doesn’t love an ionic column? 🏛 #architecture #ionic #column #greekrevival #architecturalhistory #history #preservation #historic #architectural #historicpreservation #ioniccolumn #architecturalconservation #conservation #philadelphiablogger #philadelphiapa #philadelphia (at Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank)

[houtexusa]

#WBW, August 2004, #GreekArchitecture and #GreekStatue in #Athens #Greece. #IonicColumn (at Athens, Greece) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9DtFzzJU3C/?igshid=4mjl72zaqsxl

[franklloydwrightfan]

Wright being Ionic? #franklloydwright #architecture #architecturephotography #georgeblossomhouse #bootleghouses #chicago #illinois #ioniccolumns #flwsites #houses (at Chicago, Illinois) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdasXhdr1FO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[warner-york]

IonicColumns...

To The Manner Born (Again)

[mindcontrolartist]

I saw this at the mall today with @abbottmagic ... It's great to see the amount of work and dedication the people over at @lastweektonight put into this. It's fabulous and funny, while exceedingly clever. - - - - - #marlonbundo #loveislove #booklaunch #ioniccolumn #story #freedom #individuality #love #charming #illustratedbook #picturebook #storytelling #lrabbitsofinstagram #bunniesofinstagram #dutchrabbit #dutchbunny #bunnyrabbitt #kawaii #cute #newbook #bunnies #rabbits #rabbitbooks #bookstagram #thejapanroom #bunnylovers #instafollow (at Galleria at Sunset) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtuytduHdVq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1muwc20afm1xg

[nicks-lunchbox-service]

11.1.19 Lunchtime drawing: No. 41 Bank Street with an egg and dart molding and Ionic columns on either side of the door.

[gts53655365]

Lapis lazuli ring in silver 925 with gold plating and Greek column decorations #etsy #gold #lapislazuli #blue #bohohippie #geometric #ioniccolumns #greekcolumns #etsyfinds #etsygifts #etsymarketplace #lapislazuliring #instafinds #instagifts #lapisoninstagram #greekjewelry #ancientgreece https://etsy.me/3Sa9Xtv https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci5RR3GIIG6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[artmanutah]

Untitled - 1982.....Multi-plate intaglio

(sadly it doesn’t scan very well)

www.manfulldesign.com

[djjfell]

So run Right Right back to school Check it Look back I sift through all the cliques Roaming' the halls all year, making me sick While everyone's out trying to make the cut What? #backtoschool #deftones #minimaggit #abandoned_af #abandoned_seekers_ #abandoned_world #abandonedschool #neoclassicalarchitecture #beauxartarchitecture #ioniccolumns #decay_illife #decay_dreams #decay_world #urbex_disciple #urbex_apocalypse (at Abandoned America) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv4f4cJgm7w/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1l8mlozkc3nby

[warburtonlabs]

Lunch Columns #columns #ioniccolumns #ancienttemple #archeology #greekarchitecture #classicarchitecture #lunchbags #apples #lunchdoodles #lunchbag #lunchbagcustom #kidslunches #artistsoninstagram #instaart

[fujiarchives]

Vancouver Art Gallery by A Legendary Architect, Arthur Erickson

[lucindervention]

@independencenps social media has ceased due to the Federal shutdown. This is a photo of the rear library entrance and it is chock full of fun #architectural features: #ioniccolumns (those are the ones with the scrolls) #keystone #archwindow #detils // #savingplaces #thisplacematters #philadelphia #philadelphiahistory #historicphilly #historicphiladelphia #greekrevival (at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/BssbXwuA6cS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=14sn1396ffm8l

[kanewithacamera]

#america #usa #newyorkstate #nys #newyorkcity #nyc #manhattan #greenwichvillage #westvillage #building #architecture #exteriordesign #ioniccolumn #fireescape #bluesky #whiteclouds https://www.instagram.com/p/BqahsralH1A/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1q7bd5lsbw7qf