Much literature on the disaster-culture nexus focuses on tangible elements such as demograpics or geography and adopts an anthropocentric Western and positivistic mindset. In contrast, this Working Paper applies an epistemological ‘disaster*cultures’ approach to Indonesia. We put the onus on construction processes, interpreting and finding meaning rather than on identifying set patterns, and highlight how culture does not refer to ‘exotic’ processes that can only be studied at the community level. Researchers, practitioners and policy-makers all approach disasters and risks through their own specific (disciplinary) lenses. The first part of thiw Working Paper will introduce our disaster*cultures-approach. Subsequently, analysing academic literature in English and Bahasa Indonesia, but also poems, art, toponyms, grey literature and selected exchanges conducted with Indonesian tsunami scientists and disaster management officials in 2022 as part of the TSUNAMI_RISK research project, we review the socio-historical ways through which multi-ple disaster*cultures have formed in Indonesia. The remainder of the Working Paper details the main disaster stakeholders, policies and practices at play in Indonesia today, particularly in re-gard to the Indonesian Tsunami Warning System (InaTEWS) and efforts to detect non-seismically induced tsunamis. As such, we aim to provide disaster scholars and practitioners with a holistic overview of the Indonesian contexts in which they operate, and to facilitate more socio-culturally sensitive technology and warning system development.

Das südbrasilianische Blumenau, gegründet als Privatkolonie durch den Chemiker Hermann Blumenau, galt in deutschen Kolonialdiskursen als Beispiel für ein erfolgreiches Kolonisierungsprojekt in Übersee und in brasilianischen Kreisen als „deutscher“ Ort. Während des Estado Novo (1937–1945) wurde es von der Regierung, der Armee und einem Teil der brasilianischen Intellektuellen als Grenzgebiet der Nation betrachtet. Aus diesem Grund war es eines der Hauptziele der Nationalisierungspolitik für Einwanderer und ihre Nachkommen. Die Unterdrückung, die Verbote und die Einführung von Praktiken, die darauf abzielten, die „Brasilianität“ aufzubauen, wirkten sich auf das kulturelle und politische Leben in der Gemeinde aus. Ziel des Buches ist es, die Veränderungen und Kontinuitäten in den Identitätsdiskursen der Bevölkerung von Blumenau zwischen zwei Gedenkfeiern zu untersuchen: dem hundertsten Jahrestag der deutschen Einwanderung nach Santa Catarina (1929) und dem der Gründung der Kolonie Blumenau (1950). Die Autorin zeigt die enge Beziehung zwischen Kultur und Politik und beleuchtet die Akteure, Reaktionen, Aushandlungen, Widerstände und Anpassungen der lokalen Eliten in der Zeit des Vargismus (1930–1945) und des Zweiten Weltkriegs sowie die Auswirkungen auf die Neuformulierung von Identitätsdiskursen. Wie das Buch zeigt, war der Diskurs, der Blumenau 1929 als „engere Heimat“ in Brasilien oder sogar als „Musterkolonie“ dank der Aufrechterhaltung des Deutschtums darstellte, nach dem Ende des Krieges und des Estado Novo-Regimes in der Öffentlichkeit tabu. 1950, im Kontext der Demokratisierung, verteidigten einige Mitglieder der lokalen Eliten das Recht auf kulturelle Besonderheiten und betrachteten die „Pluralität der Kultur“ als Faktor für wirtschaftlichen Fortschritt, während sie gleichzeitig die „Brasilianität“ der Stadt bekräftigten. Der verbotene Diskurs über die Überlegenheit der „deutschen“ Arbeit wurde angepasst, indem die Rolle der europäischen Einwanderer bei der Industrialisierung von Blumenau und des Itajaí-Tals betont wurde.

Bei der vorliegenden Studie handelt es sich um eine kulturwissenschaftliche Doktorarbeit, die an der Universität Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS) in São Leopoldo im brasilianischen Bundesstaat Rio Grande do Sul verteidigt wurde. Zentrales Thema sind die Repräsentationen und Debatten über Deutschtum, Schule und Lehrer in der Allgemeinen Lehrerzeitung für Rio Grande do Sul, dem Vereinsblatt des Deutschen Evangelischen Lehrervereins in Rio Grande do Sul, das zwischen 1902 und 1938 monatlich erschien. Die Zeitschrift ist eine wichtige Quelle für die Geschichte der deutschsprachigen Presse in Brasilien und für die Geschichte des brasilianischen Bildungswesens. Darüber hinaus besteht eine Beziehung zur deutschen Geschichte, da die Redakteure und Autoren der Lehrerzeitung, von denen die meisten Deutschlehrer waren, Darstellungen des Deutschtums, der Schule und des Lehrers konstruierten, die deutsche Identität vor Ort verwalteten, Verhaltensregeln aufstellten und Lektüreempfehlungen für Lehrer gaben, die an den sogenannten deutsch-brasilianischen evangelisch-lutherischen Schulen arbeiteten, die die Hauptleserschaft der Zeitschrift bildeten. Die Studie diskutiert auch die Rolle der Schule für die brasilianische Nationalisierungspolitik und den Nationalsozialismus. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Verhandlungsstrategien, die sich in der Zeitschrift finden lassen, um das deutsch-evangelische Privatschulwesen aufrechtzuerhalten, das die Förderung des Deutschtums und die Erziehung zu brasilianischen Staatsbürgern zum Ziel hatte. Auch die Beziehung zwischen dem Deutschen Evangelischen Lehrerverein und der Riograndenser Synode, die damals eine der wichtigsten Stützen des Deutschtums war, wird erörtert.

In order to shed light on the status and economic model of Banassac’s Early Empire terra sigillata workshop, systematic surveys were carried out on the karstic terrain of the area surrounding the town. Due to a shortage of sources, the project was carried out as an integrative ‘community archaeology’ project, from the definition of the scope of research to the drawing of conclusions and consideration of results.With the synthesis of settlement dynamics from the Mesolithic times to the Middle Ages provided by the study and precise data about occupied sites in Roman times (38 villae and 55 workshops),it is now possible to see at Banassac a villa controlling a fundus through an integrated economic system linking clay, pitch and iron.

It was between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age when wool was introduced as raw material for textile production. It is expected that this innovation had a comprehensive effect on the socio-economic life of people and their environment. However, little is known about spatio-temporal trajectories of the process and the environmental influences it actually had. The approach presented demonstrates how such a comprehensive and complex research question may be operationalized. Decomposition of the overall process and gathering of information from different fields allows to reconstruct particular aspects of the phenomenon and their diachronic change. Subsequent synthesis enables addressing the overall question. This paper focuses on the role of landscape within the process of wool sheep introduction. Besides covering the particular approach to reconstruct herdingrelated landscape changes it is shown how deeply different disciplinary approaches are interconnected. Finally, difficulties and constraints of data integration are addressed.

After a decade of research the functions of circular enclosures of the middle Neolithic are still debated. In a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) two of these roundels were excavated in order to learn more about their structure, history of construction, their function as well as their spatial characteristics. Based on high-resolution digital elevation models, possible orientations towards topographical and astronomical features are systematically investigated using a GIS-based visibility analysis and a self-developed tool in Wolfram Mathematica. In this article preliminary results of two (partially) excavated roundels in the northern Forelands of the Harz Mountains are presented.

The Widawa catchment area is located in Northeastern Silesia, Poland, and belonged to the southwestern distribution area of the Przeworsk culture from the younger pre-Roman period until the younger Roman period. It is estimated that iron smelting was introduced to this area with the emergence of the Przeworsk culture, circa the 2nd century BCE. Certain cultural and environmental requirements must have been met in order for this technology to spread to this area. Within the framework of interdisciplinary research, the archaeological context of an archaeological site as well as the natural archives were investigated to explore the preconditions and to describe the beginning of early iron smelting in this region.

This paper will discuss a pedagogical approach to integrating the humanities and the natural sciences. Our approach calls for extended collaboration between the two fields and a capacity to integrate the experimental and deductive lines of reasoning within the natural sciences with the holistic and critical perspectives of the humanities. This paper will describe and discuss how this notion is applied to the construction of a pedagogical framework or a learning environment constituted from landscape theory, GIS, and pedagogical principles derived from EBL and PL. The paper highlights how a landscape approach in combination with the interactive and dynamic properties of GIS can be used as an active learning environment crossing the interfaces of the disciplines.

For the environs of the Late Bronze Age fortification enclosure Iarcuri the hydro-morphological relief characteristics are combined with archaeological evidences. Target of the study is to evaluate the impact of settlement activities in the surroundings of Iarcuri on the development of the channel network. Data analysis is based on topographic map-derived and high resolution DEMs provided by LiDAR scanning; derivatives of the DEMs are used to characterize the different sub-catchments that show varying influences by the fortification ramparts. The tributaries reaching the receiving stream close to the central settlement area source close to the gates in the ramparts in the Late Bronze Age built-up areas. Additionally, also the geometry of these tributaries differs from that of other tributaries. The distinct character of the channel network with repeatedly occurring rectangular bends indicates the capture of channels, which developed as gullies along paths by retrogressive erosion.

Since uncertainty is part and parcel of archaeology, using the scientific method to reconstruct historical processes is an absolute priority. This is even truer for prehistoric contexts, where human traces on the territory are ephemeral and less invasive. Working on prehistoric landscapes presents the researcher with complex methodological issues that must be dealt with. GIS technology is a leading method of highlighting the elements that condition settlement choices; it clarifies the interaction among different types of sources and increases their informative potential. This contribution describes the methodological workflow we applied to deal with such issues through a case study of settlement strategies during the Bronze Age in Tuscany, Italy.

The ancient city of Anuradhapura (4th century BCE to 11th century CE), established on the banks of the river Malwathu Oya in north-central Sri Lanka, is one of that country’s most important archaeological sites. Numerous ancient buildings and monuments occur throughout the entire settlement. The preserved parts of the Anuradhapura ancient built environment are mostly solid masonry constructions. However, foundations, floor areas, pillars, and entrance units of the buildings provide evidence that rock materials were prominently used in constructions. This study focuses on the investigation of former rock quarry locations in the surroundings of Anuradhapura, their distributional pattern and their classification according to their morphological and archaeological significance. The majority of quarrying traces detected in the survey are distributed along a central rock outcrop line which runs across the city area. Altogether, 65 ancient rock quarries were identified in the area and classified into six categories. Moreover, numerous of historic stone buildings in the monasteries are also situated along the exposed rock outcrops line.