Archaeology of the Night

As twilight settled in the ancient world, a host of activities ensued, some of which were significantly different from what people did during the daytime. Some artifacts, features, and buildings associated with these activities were particular to the dark, while other material culture was transformed in meaning as the sun set. Night offers refuge from the heat and demands of the day but can also bring with it nightmares, night raids, and other dark doings. Sleep, sex, socializing, stargazing, storytelling, ceremony, work, play—so much of our economic, social, and ritual lives take place at night—yet relatively little archaeological research focuses specifically on nightly quotidian practices. This symposium examines the archaeology, mythology, iconography, and epigraphy of nocturnal doings, and in the process will challenge our familiar reconstructions of ancient life. Topics include the liminal periods of dusk and dawn, the cultural diversity of sleep patterns, the practical and psychological effects of artificial light, and the origins of the ‘nightshift.’ Contributors explore the concept of the nighttime within a comparative anthropological framework in order to provide the broadest possible interpretation of individual case studies drawn from a wide range of ancient and prehistoric cultures from diverse areas of the globe.