Cultural geology

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Cultural geology is a term for a large number of interdisciplinary activities that combine geosciences and areas of cultural history .

Example of cultural geological activity:
Unica quarry in Villmar with a polished front. The Villmarer Lahn marble from Central Devonian reef limestone is listed as a national geotope .

Definition of terms and goals

According to Wolfgang Vetters, cultural geology creates a connection between earth sciences and cultural history; By considering from a cultural-historical and geological point of view, a new picture emerges for what is already there.

Specifically, the Austrian ARGE Kulturgeologie formulated: “By this we mean all points of contact that result from the - above all historical - human engagement with the geogenic basis. These are the diverse interactions between geology, landscape form, land use and their influence on the grown culture. A large area is, for example, the use of natural raw materials (ores, building materials, jewelry and decorative materials, raw materials for household, trade and industry). ... It finally feels obliged to convey research results to the public in the context of school and adult education - in order to make the population more familiar with geological research and its findings. "

For more than 150 years, publications, lectures and guided tours have described the interrelationships that exist between mineral raw materials, their mining and human cultural achievements. The previously classic form is an explanation of building and decorative stones on prominent architectural monuments.

In addition, other subject areas have developed. A common activity are related representations of ore mining and the application of the raw materials it provides, for example the complex process from ore extraction to metal object.
Other exemplary topics are the mining of sandstone and marble and their use as millstones , floor slabs or stone for foundation walls. This clearly illustrates the interdisciplinary approach of cultural geology.

The main objectives of many cultural geology activities are:

  • Providing knowledge about geoscientific topics
  • Sensitization of people to local historical contexts
  • Design issues with building and decorative stone or other raw materials and their origin
  • Demonstration of geological phenomena as the basis and as a limiting factor of cultural-historical developments.

The high social value of cultural geology lies in the broad participation of many people in scientific and cultural development in several sectors. This allows you to understand the relationships and their historical development.

The Austrian geologist Alois Kieslinger combined with his publications on building and decorative rocks a consideration of the stone extraction sites and the respective building and architectural history. This earned him the reputation of being the founder of cultural geology.

Start of activities

The term “cultural geology” has been appearing increasingly publicly at the universities of Salzburg and Vienna since 1989 in connection with research into the complex relationships between geosciences and cultural studies . However, activities of a similar kind have been documented for around 150 years and have increased significantly in the second half of the 20th century.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries the natural history cabinets, as collections of natural objects, attracted a great deal of attention and generated great sensitivity among the population with regard to nature observation. Ultimately, the establishment of initially multiple private collections led directly to the development of special scientific branches (e.g. paleontology ) and in this way initiated the establishment of large public collections.

The earliest publicly known cultural-geological contribution to natural stones in architecture, their mining locations as well as stratigraphic classification and fossil components can be found in a lecture by Eduard Suess on April 28, 1862 to the members of the Association for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge in Vienna . The lecturer focused on the mineral raw materials of the Vienna Basin , such as sand , limestone , clay and quarries . The efforts of Eduard Suess are to be seen in connection with his lecturing activities, which have been aimed at an interested Viennese public since 1857 with paleontological topics.

The lectures by Felix Karrer (1825–1903) and his unusual collection activities in Vienna can be seen as another early example of explicitly cultural-geological activities in the modern understanding and of central importance for these concerns . On January 24, 1878, he gave a lecture in the Vienna Scientific Club on the submerged animal world in the building materials of Vienna . The resulting great attention to palaeontological traces in rocks led to a donation by the building direction of the Union-Baugesellschaft of numerous sample boards (12 × 8 × 3 cm) from quarries to the Hof-Mineralien-Cabinet . As a result, this collection was expanded to include all building stones previously used in Vienna and major cities of the Danube monarchy to a volume of around 2000 copies. Another generous donation from the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects added a further 2500 copies to the collection in 1883. In 1886 this collection from the kk Naturhistorisches Hofmuseum (today the Natural History Museum Vienna ) had about 5000 samples of ashlar from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and an unspecified number of marbles from older collections. With that it had grown in size into a unique collection. That was probably the reason why the curator of this unusual collection, Felix Karrer, gave a lecture on February 22nd, 1886 at the Scientific Club in Vienna with the title Monumental Buildings in Vienna and their Building Materials . In it, he not only showed the great variety of natural stones used in Viennese architecture and art, but was also able to demonstrate the stratigraphic relationships over great geographical distances through vivid rock comparisons. Finally, he referred to the importance of the Austrian clay deposits for brick production, the limestone deposits for the production of cement and building lime as well as quaternary sand deposits, which serve as indispensable sources of raw materials for building materials and aggregates.

This development can be seen as an essential historical prerequisite for the development of the term “cultural geology” in Austria from the complex of extensive modern activities. The longstanding public relations work by the Federal Geological Institute also made an important contribution to this .

In this context it is noteworthy that in the Report on National Museum 1886 published in 1887 by George P. Merrill, the then collection curator in the Department of Geology and Physical Geology, a comprehensive treatise on American natural stones was given. In this work, Merrill lists many representative buildings in a table and notes the most important rocks of their architecture and the year of construction.

Examples of activities (selection)

This selection should briefly outline the activities to be recorded and show their international distribution.

Germany

In Germany, geology tours have been held in a growing number of cities for decades and some of them have been integrated into the teaching of schools and universities.

France

France emerges as a cultural nation through excellent activities in the field of cultural geology. A considerable number of elaborate publications are mainly based on a broad-based approach to monument preservation.

Great Britain

In Great Britain there are particularly numerous publications on the architecture and road surfaces in cities, which are aimed at interested people. Its conceptual structure is particularly characterized by easily understandable texts and illustrations, which suggests a special didactic accent.

Republic of South Africa

In the South African metropolis of Cape Town , geology tours are offered by the Natural History Club and selected buildings are presented.

Russia

In Russia as early as the early 20th century, geologists from the Polytechnic Institute in Saint Petersburg pointed out the use of innumerable Russian natural stones in the exterior and interior architecture of important buildings. Noteworthy recent activities are present in Saint Petersburg.

United States

In the United States, under the umbrella of the Geological Society of America , the North-Central department developed the concept of cultural geology during a number of symposia . In the course of these activities, a large number of publications on the use of natural stones in American cities have emerged since the end of the 20th century.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Vetters: The extraction of the obelisks in ancient Egypt as an example for thoughts on a cultural geology. in: Forum Archaeologiae - Journal for Classical Archeology 30 III, 2004 ( Online )
  2. ↑ [1]
  3. ^ German National Library , accessed on June 5, 2010
  4. ^ W. Vetters: Kulturgeologie - Examples from antiquity and modern times; Chapter 8, Postscriptum (PDF; 624 kB)

literature

  • Douglas I. Cole: The building stones of Cape Town. A geological walking tour (Popular Geoscience Series; Vol. 3). Council for Geoscience, Cape Town 2002, ISBN 1-919908-19-6 .
  • Joseph T. Hannibal, Sabrina F. Thomas, W. Thomas Straw: Building stones and cultural geology of Evansville, Indiana, USA . In: Anton H. Maria, Ronald C. Counts (Eds.): From the Cincinnati Arch to the Illinois Basin. Geological Field Excursions along the Ohio River Valley (GSA Field Guide; Vol. 12). GSA, Boulder, Colo. 2008, ISBN 978-0-81370-012-0 , pp. 81-103.
  • Zdenek Hanzl et al .: Kámen v rukodělné výrobě českého venkova . Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, Prague 2003, ISBN 80-7106-536-6 .
  • Pascal Julien (text), Jean-Claude Lepert (photographs): Marbres de carrières en palais. Du midi à Versailles; you sang des dieux à la gloire des rois; XVIè - XVIIIè siècle . Le bec en l'air éditions, Manosque 2006, ISBN 978-2-916073-02-6 .
  • Alois Kieslinger : The stones of St. Stephan . Herold, Vienna 1949.
  • Toni P. Labhart: Steinführer Bundeshaus Bern (Swiss Art Guide; Vol. 719). GSK, Bern 2002, ISBN 3-85782-719-X .
  • Toni P. Labhart, Manuel Kehrli: Chimneys made of Bernese marble, Jegenstorf Castle . Jegenstorf Castle Foundation, Basel 2003, ISBN 3-9522728-0-9 .
  • Graham Lott, Bill Barclay: Geology and building stones in Wales (south) . BGS, Nottingham, 2002, ISBN 0-85272-422-5 .
  • Wolf Mayer: Images in stone. A guide to the building stones of Parliament House . AGPS, Canberra 1996, ISBN 0-644-35725-8 .
  • Ulrich Obojes, Walter Hauser, Peter W. Mirwald: Natural stone and monument preservation in Tyrol. Stone as a building material, research object and cultural asset (cultural assets in Tyrol; vol. 7). Tyrolean Art Cadastre, Department of Culture in the Office of the Tyrolean Provincial Government, Innsbruck, 2007, 56 pp.
  • Rino Sartori: Pietre e “Marmi” di Firenze, Notes storiche, antiche cave, genesi e presenza nei monumenti . Alinea Editrice, Florence 2002, ISBN 88-8125-642-8 .
  • Johannes H. Schroeder (Ed.): Natural stone in architecture and building history of Berlin. Geology city ​​stroll between Alexanderplatz and Großem Stern (Guide to the geology of Berlin and Brandenburg; Vol. 6). 2nd edition. Self-published Geoscientists in Berlin and Brandenburg eV, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-928651-12-7 .
  • Robert Seemann, Herbert Summesberger: Viennese stone hiking trails . The geology of the big city . Christian Brandstätter Verlag, Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-85447-787-2 .
  • Michel Septfontaine (text), Stefan Ansermet (photographs): Belles et utiles pierres de chez nous . Musée cantonal de géologie, Lausanne 1999, ISBN 2-97001-491-2 (catalog of the MCG exhibition of the same name, January 14 to March 21, 1999).
  • Wolfgang Vetters: Cultural Geology - A New View of Earth Sciences . In: Proceedings of International Symposium on Earth System Sciences, 8-10. September 2004. Dedicated to the memory of Prof. Sirrı Erinç . University, Istanbul 2004, pp. 169-172, ISBN 97-5404-733-2 .

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