Category Archives: Material Culture

Archaeologists Discover a Sumerian Tavern

Posted on February 22, 2023 by briansandberg

Archaeologists working in Iraq have discovered the remains of a Sumerian tavern in the ruins of the city of Lagash. “Archaeologists found a seven-room structure featuring an open courtyard with benches and a large open cooking area with a 10-foot-wide … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient History, Cultural History, Food and Cuisine History, History of the Western World, Material Culture, Urban History, World History | Leave a comment

History of Cartography Lecture at the Newberry Library

Posted on October 24, 2022 by briansandberg

The Newberry Library in Chicago has truly impressive cartographic collections and also hosts the Hermon Dunlop Smith Center for the History of Cartography. The Smith Center holds a major annual lecture series on the history of cartography at the Newberry … Continue reading →

Posted in Art History, Cartographic History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Intellectual History, Lectures and Seminars, Material Culture, Renaissance Art and History, World History | Leave a comment

Teaching Technologies in the Early Modern Classroom

Posted on September 1, 2022 by briansandberg

The Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library has published a new blog post about early modern teaching technologies. This blog post focuses on the use of hornbooks in teaching basic reading. The post also briefly discusses early modern … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, History of the Book, Intellectual History, Material Culture, Rare Books and Pamphlets, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, Social History | Leave a comment

Making Scents of the Past

Posted on April 7, 2022 by briansandberg

The history of perfumes, fragrances, food, and medicines in the early modern period are closely intertwined. Early modern Europeans crafted “recipes” by experimenting with different ingredients from plants, animals, minerals, and other sources. The DURARE research team questions: “Is it … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, European Studies, Food and Cuisine History, History of Medicine, History of Science, Manuscript Studies, Material Culture, Renaissance Art and History | Leave a comment

Gruyère: The Latest Round in the Food Culture Wars

Posted on January 13, 2022 by briansandberg

Food is Culture! This proclamation is a both a popular idea and a serious anthropological approach to food, cuisine, and agricultural production. Food historians take the cultural dimensions of food production and consumption seriously as revealing important social dynamics. Food … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Culture, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Environmental History, European Studies, European Union, Food and Cuisine History, Francophonie, French History, Globalization, History in the Media, Italian History, Material Culture, Renaissance Art and History, United States History and Society, World History | Leave a comment

Digital Humanities and Renaissance Letter-Writing

Posted on January 11, 2022 by briansandberg

Renaissance letter-writing is being re-examined using Digital Humanities tools to explore letterlocking techniques of securing correspondence. The New York Times explains: “To safeguard the most important royal correspondence against snoops and spies in the 16th century, writers employed a complicated … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Court Studies, Cultural History, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, European Wars of Religion, French History, French Wars of Religion, Information Management, Manuscript Studies, Material Culture, Noble Culture and History of Elites, Political Culture, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, Strategy and International Politics, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

NEH Summer Seminar on Reformation Printing

Posted on December 28, 2021 by briansandberg

The Ohio State University will be hosting a NEH Summer Seminar on Printing and the Book during the Reformation: 1450-1650, during Summer 2022. This seminar is a great opportunity for university professors and independent researchers interested in the Reformation, print … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, History of the Book, Information Management, Intellectual History, Lectures and Seminars, Material Culture, Rare Books and Pamphlets, Reformation History, Religious History | Leave a comment

Teaching the Early Modern Book

Posted on October 26, 2021 by briansandberg

The Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library is hosting a research methods workshop on Teaching the Early Modern Book: Ways of Seeing, Ways of Thinking. This is a great opportunity for graduate students interested in the history of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Graduate Work in History, History of the Book, Intellectual History, Lectures and Seminars, Material Culture, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History | Leave a comment

New Research at Cahokia Mounds Site in Illinois

Posted on May 3, 2021 by briansandberg

New archaeological excavations at Cahokia, Illinois, have been investigating evidence of deforestation and flooding at the site of a major indigenous urban center. The New York Times reports that “A thousand years ago, a city rose on the banks of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Environmental History, Illinois History and Society, Material Culture, Medieval History, Museums and Historical Memory, United States History and Society, Urban History, World History | Leave a comment

Rescuing Sacred Music of the Renaissance

Posted on April 14, 2021 by briansandberg

Renaissance music is being studied in new ways at the Medici Archive Project in Florence, Italy. A news magazine piece on “Rescuing Sacred Music of the Renaissance” from CBS Sunday Morning features Music and the Medici, a research program of … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Art History, Court Studies, Cultural History, Current Research, Digital Humanities, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, History in the Media, History of the Book, Italian History, Manuscript Studies, Material Culture, Mediterranean World, Museums and Historical Memory, Music History, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, World History | Leave a comment