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International audience; As with geography, ceramic decorations are essentially spatial organisations of features. Therefore, they should be analysed with spatial indexes. But spatial analyses, at the shard or the complete ceramic scale, are often difficult to set up, mostly because of the contiguity of graphical features.This paper presents a new method to record and analyse ceramic decoration. We use graph theory, with a GIS interface and Python programming, to analyse ceramic decoration in a bottom-up process. A priori definitions are minimal and only concern elementary units (morphological, graphical and plastic) which compose the ceramic.The studied corpus is composed of ceramic decorations belonging to the Mailhac I facies (Late Bronze Age), characterised by complex figurative compositions. Each decoration — complete or fragmented — is considered as a spatialized network (i.e. geometric graph). Graph theory provides tools to record and measure proximities between units and normalised indexes to compare different decorations, whatever their completeness. The GIS offers a graphic interface and ensures the correctness of spatial relationships between these units. The typology of these units is realised in a hierarchical oriented graph. This structure allows processes of generalisation (going up the tree) and specification (going down the tree), permitting comparison between units with different kinds of resolution and/or complexity. The method presented here can be used for other types of mediums(statuary, rock art, etc.).

The iconographic, formal and technical analysis of the decoration elements of El Castillo and La Pasiega (Cantabria) highlights a heterogeneous distribution of the main themes, with distribution logics that are very different in each of the caves. In El Castillo, the main themes appear in distinct sectors, each one containing a central area with a high density of motifs and an end that sets its limit. Consequently, the decoration appears as a mosaic formed of small sets of motifs. In contrast, using the same analysis criteria for the cave of La Pasiega shows that, besides motifs of the same type spread in the network space, there are more structured decorated sets. The set of Gallery A shows an increasing number of motifs from the beginning to the end of the sector, with a maximum density at the level of the back areas. In turn, the set of Gallery B comprises animal figures that stood out all the more to the viewers that they were illuminated by natural light. Whereas the decoration of Gallery A is organised in the manner of deep sanctuaries, the ornamentation of the Salle du Mégacéros of Gallery B falls rather in the logic of open-air sanctuaries. info:eu-repo/semantics/published SCOPUS: ar.j

The British Neolithic transition, occurring around 4000 BC, at least one millennium after the continental part of Northwest Europe, is still subject to important debate these days. Various studies suggest that the Neolithic start involved farming immigrants from various parts of the Continent. However, ceramics of the Early Neolithic of Britain became increasingly distinct from their Continental roots, particularly in the Southwest and Southeast of England. We recently completed two important projects, one on Early Neolithic British and Irish pottery and the other on Peterborough Ware, integrating a new way of considering these early productions through a technological approach and the observation of various steps of the chaîne opératoire. This paper is the opportunity to present preliminary results which shed a new light on the evolution of pottery wares during the fourth millennium BC in Southern Britain. It specifically highlights strong connections between Early Neolithic and Middle Neolithic pottery, in terms of style, but above in terms of manufacturing techniques.

À partir d’une étude croisée de la littérature savante sur la polychromie antique et industrielle et de données issues d’une enquête de terrain sur une architecture contemporaine qui prend ses distances avec les couleurs fonctionnelles de l’architecture moderniste, cet article montre qu’une approche ethnographique des pratiques coloristes permet de dégager une historiographie largement sous-évaluée des travaux sur l’art coloriste en architecture moderne. En rendant compte des entretiens que j’ai eus avec Patrick Bouchain et Daniel Buren sur leurs positions théoriques sur la coloration des murs et en confrontant leurs réponses aux théoriciens du XIXe siècle en Europe, j’aborde la délicate question de la coloration du Centre Pompidou Mobile. Relève-t-elle ou non d’une démarche « décorative » ? Based on a cross-examination of scholarly literature on antique and industrial polychromy and data from a fieldwork about a contemporary architecture that takes its distances from the functional colors of modernist architecture, this paper examines how an ethnographic approach to colorist practices reveals a widely undervalued historiography on colorist art in modern architecture. In reviewing the interviews I had with Patrick Bouchain and Daniel Buren about their ideas about coloring of walls and in comparing their answers to the nineteenth-century european theorists, I address the delicate question of the coloring of the Center Pompidou Mobile. Is it a « decorative » approach ?

Session 203: Relics at the Interface between Textuality and Materiality, c. 400-c. 1200, II: Inscribing the Relics; International audience; Concentrating on inscriptions on late antique reliquaries from the eastern Mediterranean and on early medieval reliquaries from Western Europe, this panel explores how epigraphic texts participated in the presentation of the relics in their cult sites and how they contributed to explaining the relics’ or the reliquaries’ significance to the intended audience. The proposed papers approach the relations between textual contents, material characteristics of writing, supports and contexts via questions of visibility, legibility, and function of inscriptions.

Abstract The Shahi ʿIdgah at Rapri (Uttar Pradesh), which dates to 1312, was built by Malik Kafur, the general of the Delhi sultan ʿAla⁠ʾuddin Khalji (1296–1316). The village of Rapri was part of Malik Kafur’s fief and an important station for the army, as it commanded a ford on the Yamuna River. ʿĪdgāhs, sometimes translated as “wall-mosques,” are extra-urban, open prayer spaces for accommodating large congregations during the two main religious festivals (ʿīds). The Rapri ʿīdgāh constitutes a major landmark in the architecture of the Delhi Sultanate, mainly because of its exceptional decoration of turquoise-glazed tiles, the oldest example of its kind still in situ. Although often considered a technique that originated in the Iranian domains, the making of glazed tiles was already known in the Kushan period (first to fourth century CE), and some findings have been excavated from Buddhist contexts in the nearby Mathura region. This study shows the link between the tiles of Rapri and later fourteenth century examples, and with glazed pottery.

Session 203: Relics at the Interface between Textuality and Materiality, c. 400-c. 1200, II: Inscribing the Relics; International audience; Concentrating on inscriptions on late antique reliquaries from the eastern Mediterranean and on early medieval reliquaries from Western Europe, this panel explores how epigraphic texts participated in the presentation of the relics in their cult sites and how they contributed to explaining the relics’ or the reliquaries’ significance to the intended audience. The proposed papers approach the relations between textual contents, material characteristics of writing, supports and contexts via questions of visibility, legibility, and function of inscriptions.

Abstract The Begumpuri or Jamiʿ (Friday) Masjid of Jahanpanah (Delhi) is an impressive monument built during the Tughluq period, circa 1343. Although often credited to Firuz Shah (1351–88), the mosque was probably ordered by Muhammad Shah Tughluq (1325–51), since it was situated next to his royal palace in the heart of his capital (Jahanpanah). The Begumpuri Masjid represents a particular phase in the sequence of Tughluq architecture, both for its plan and elevation, and for its architectural decoration. It has often been described as a “Persianate” four-iwan mosque, although such a designation seems inappropriate. This article explores the probable patronage of the mosque by Muhammad Tughluq and its siting at the center of Jahanpanah. The plan and elevation of the mosque are detailed, with a discussion on the possible models for the building, together with its vernacular characteristics. We then present a study of the architectural decoration, made in stone, stucco, and turquoise glazed tiles. The peculiar features of the Begumpuri Masjid make it a unique monument celebrating the grandeur of Muhammad Tughluq through its huge and void court, as well as in its mulūk khāna (Royal Loggia).

AbstractThe Grotte Cosquer (southeastern France) is a Paleolithic painted cave only accessible by a deep-water dive. The cave has yielded numerous Paleolithic engravings and drawings, which were produced from wood charcoal. This article presents new radiocarbon dates obtained on samples collected in 2012 directly on 17 parietal representations and at the soil surface, and discusses the 14C results obtained since the discovery of the cave in 1992. A total of 41 samples were dated with ages ranging from 33,000 to 20,000 cal BP. They show that the cave was intermittently decorated over about 10,000 yr.

The Chauvet-Pont d’Arc Cave (Ardèche, France), famous for its remarkable rock art, also contains unique thermal-alterations such as rock spalling and color changes on the walls. These alterations resulted from intense fires that have not been observed in the other decorated caves thus far discovered. The functions of these unusual fires challenge archaeologists. To characterize these combustions, we used a numerical tool, previously validated with experimental data, to study the thermo-alterations in the Megaceros Gallery. This unprecedented approach in cave art research enabled us to assess the wood quantities and locations of the hearths responsible for the thermo-alterations. We report here that at least ten fires took place in the Megaceros Gallery while burning more than 170 kg of wood. Both simulation and in situ observations suggest that the branches were arranged in a tepee shape and purposefully positioned, some distance from the walls. This method therefore enables further analysis of the functions of these fires.