Papers by John Whitehouse
The Ancient Near East Today, 2023
Journal of African Archaeology, 2023
The experience and legends of local communities in Tunisia who lived within archaeological sites ... more The experience and legends of local communities in Tunisia who lived within archaeological sites and shared long-standing connections with those sites has been poorly recognised and documented. The extent to which elements of the cultural memory of local communities refer back to the pre-Islamic period has often been hinted at, but rarely explored in detail. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between local communities and archaeological sites in Tunisia, and the extent to which modern cultural memory in a community embeds elements or cultural markers from the Roman, Punic and Numidian past. This case study examines the cult of Oum Khoula at the site of Dougga (ancient Thugga). The marabout of Oum Khoula is in the cisterns of Aïn El-Hammam, at the end of the major Roman aqueduct to Dougga. Oum Khoula is remembered by local inhabitants as associated with a range of legends stretching back to the Roman and pre-Roman past. The cult has continued to be revered to the modern day. Whether the cultural memory illustrated by the cult of Oum Khoula at Dougga represents continuity with the past cannot be proved or disproved and is ultimately not the important issue. The cult of Oum Khoula at Dougga represents an example of the persistence of references from Numidian, Punic and Roman periods in the Maghreb. That cultural memory is a function of the community's sense of place and significant references to that place derive from the archaeological remains and its associated oral traditions and symbols found at Dougga. The question of how modern archaeologists respond to and interpret this cultural memory is discussed.
Starinar , 2022
As part of a comprehensive archaeological survey of the area around the site of Glac in the north... more As part of a comprehensive archaeological survey of the area around the site of Glac in the north-west of Serbia, a detailed examination has been undertaken of the pattern of the Roman roads, including the location of a vicinal road that led from the eastern periphery of ancient Sirmium along the Sava river to the Great Canal of the emperor Probus, the present-day
Jarčina channel. The context of vicinal roads in the general pattern of Roman roads together with the implications of the road construction and usage throughout the Roman period including changes in the settlements pattern along its route are explored.
Extract from Miles and Greenslade, The Bir Messaouda Basilica. Pilgrimage and the Transformation of an urban landscape in Sixth Century AD Carthage, Oxford: Oxbow Books, p. 365 - 384, 2020
This paper examined the likely location of the Maritime Forum of Carthage in North Africa, built ... more This paper examined the likely location of the Maritime Forum of Carthage in North Africa, built in the reign of Justinian according to Procopius. It examines textual references and previous archaeological investigation and suggests the most probable location. It places the Maritime Forum in the context of the urban topography of Roman and Byzantine Carthage.
Journal of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, Vjesnik Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu (VAMZ), 2022
KEY WORDS
Sirmium, Bassianae, Glac, Imperial Weaving Houses (gynaecea), Notitia Dignitatum, Shee... more KEY WORDS
Sirmium, Bassianae, Glac, Imperial Weaving Houses (gynaecea), Notitia Dignitatum, Sheep Grazing, Roman Pannonia, Wool Production
ABSTRACT
As part of the Joint Australian – Serbian archaeological project at Glac near ancient Sirmium, an archaeological survey is being undertaken of a Study Area of a 700 km² slice of the catchment of the Sava River. Two of the objectives of the survey are to understand the environmental conditions and the nature of the rural economy in the Study Area during the Roman period. As part of this survey an examination has been undertaken of existing literary, epigraphical and archaeological evidence relating to the area in the Roman period. Consideration has been given to the Notitia Dignitatum ("The List of Offices") that lists two imperial weaving houses (gynaecea) at Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica) and Bassianae (adjoining the modern village of Donji Petrovci). The location of two imperial weaving houses in such close proximity to each other is unprecedented, subject to a peculiarity at Salona and Split, and has not previously been noted. The potential implications of the existence of two imperial weaving houses in such close proximity are considered together with potential implications on the likely rural economy and the environmental conditions of the area in the late Roman period.
The Bir Messaouda Basilica, 2020
The earliest urban centres in the Near East, where they exhibit any regular urban planning, appea... more The earliest urban centres in the Near East, where they exhibit any regular urban planning, appear to prefer an axial arrangement. The development of the grid system of urban planning was attributed to the Greek, Hippodamos of Miletus 3. Roman urban planning built upon the Greek tradition adding refinements arising from the Roman skills in land surveying, the planning of military camps, and the provision of water and drainage 4. In its simplest, a Roman urban grid plan consisted of a square shaped perimeter with two principal roads bisecting the town, one east-west, the Decumanus maximus, and one north-south, the Cardo maximus. Thereafter parallel roads to the principal arteries ran at regular intervals throughout the town creating standard urban blocks, known as insulae. Near the centre at the intersection of the two principal arteries is located the Forum, the commercial and civic heart of the town 5. The principles for the location and planning of the forum were set out by Vitruvius Pollio. In relation to the location of the forum, Vitruvius wrote: "Having laid out the alleys and determined the streets, we have next to treat of the choice of building sites for temples, the forum, and all other public places, with a view to general convenience and utility. If the city is on the sea, we should choose ground close to the harbour as the place where the forum is to be built; but if inland, in the middle of the town." 6 In relation to the size of a forum, Vitruvius wrote: "The size of a forum should be proportionate to the number of inhabitants, so that it may not be too small a space to be useful, nor look like a desert waste for lack of population. To determine its breadth, divide its length into three parts and assign two of them to the breadth. Its shape will then be oblong, and its ground plan conveniently suited to the conditions of shows." 7
In The Donatist Schism. Controversy and Contexts, (ed) Richard Miles, Translated Texts for Historians, Contexts 2, Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 2016
Starinar, 2021
As part of a comprehensive archaeological survey of the area around the site of Glac, near ancien... more As part of a comprehensive archaeological survey of the area around the site of Glac, near ancient Sirmium, a detailed examination has been undertaken of the location of the via militaris from Sirmium to Bassianae in light of previous studies and new field surveys. In locating the road, the questions of the findspot of two Roman milestones, the location of the eastern gate of the city of Sirmium, the nature of road way stations including mutationes, and the likely location of the way station at Fossae mentioned in the Bordeaux Itinerary and Ravenna Cosmology have been considered. The implications of the road construction on the patterns of rural settlement and economy in the Glac Study Area are highlighted.
Books by John Whitehouse
Development and Planning Law in New South Wales, 2012
Development and Planning Law in New South Wales is a comprehensive text dealing with the law rega... more Development and Planning Law in New South Wales is a comprehensive text dealing with the law regarding planning and development assessment in New South Wales, Australia. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the operations of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), with particular emphasis on environmental planning instruments, the processing of development applications and development consents, environmental impact assessment and existing use rights.
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Papers by John Whitehouse
Jarčina channel. The context of vicinal roads in the general pattern of Roman roads together with the implications of the road construction and usage throughout the Roman period including changes in the settlements pattern along its route are explored.
Sirmium, Bassianae, Glac, Imperial Weaving Houses (gynaecea), Notitia Dignitatum, Sheep Grazing, Roman Pannonia, Wool Production
ABSTRACT
As part of the Joint Australian – Serbian archaeological project at Glac near ancient Sirmium, an archaeological survey is being undertaken of a Study Area of a 700 km² slice of the catchment of the Sava River. Two of the objectives of the survey are to understand the environmental conditions and the nature of the rural economy in the Study Area during the Roman period. As part of this survey an examination has been undertaken of existing literary, epigraphical and archaeological evidence relating to the area in the Roman period. Consideration has been given to the Notitia Dignitatum ("The List of Offices") that lists two imperial weaving houses (gynaecea) at Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica) and Bassianae (adjoining the modern village of Donji Petrovci). The location of two imperial weaving houses in such close proximity to each other is unprecedented, subject to a peculiarity at Salona and Split, and has not previously been noted. The potential implications of the existence of two imperial weaving houses in such close proximity are considered together with potential implications on the likely rural economy and the environmental conditions of the area in the late Roman period.
Books by John Whitehouse
Jarčina channel. The context of vicinal roads in the general pattern of Roman roads together with the implications of the road construction and usage throughout the Roman period including changes in the settlements pattern along its route are explored.
Sirmium, Bassianae, Glac, Imperial Weaving Houses (gynaecea), Notitia Dignitatum, Sheep Grazing, Roman Pannonia, Wool Production
ABSTRACT
As part of the Joint Australian – Serbian archaeological project at Glac near ancient Sirmium, an archaeological survey is being undertaken of a Study Area of a 700 km² slice of the catchment of the Sava River. Two of the objectives of the survey are to understand the environmental conditions and the nature of the rural economy in the Study Area during the Roman period. As part of this survey an examination has been undertaken of existing literary, epigraphical and archaeological evidence relating to the area in the Roman period. Consideration has been given to the Notitia Dignitatum ("The List of Offices") that lists two imperial weaving houses (gynaecea) at Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica) and Bassianae (adjoining the modern village of Donji Petrovci). The location of two imperial weaving houses in such close proximity to each other is unprecedented, subject to a peculiarity at Salona and Split, and has not previously been noted. The potential implications of the existence of two imperial weaving houses in such close proximity are considered together with potential implications on the likely rural economy and the environmental conditions of the area in the late Roman period.