Making sense of subterranean conflict : engaging landscapes beneath the Western Front, 1914-2015
Through the adoption of a modern conflict archaeology framework this work represents the first interdisciplinary study of the subterranean landscapes of the Western Front. Research areas were confined to places where the geology allowed for work underground to be carried out, but the findings of this thesis are representative of the Western Front as a whole. Relatively little information has been published on the underground conflict during the First World War, and what there is tends to focus on the military history of events, places and the units involved. The work presented here interrogated the human experience of life in these subterranean places, combining an assessment of the soldiers' corporeal engagement with these complex modern conflict landscapes, and the material culture they contain. Implicit in this approach is an understanding of the Western Front, and particularly its subterranean elements, as being a deeply sensorial palimpsest. By assessing the underground world of the Western Front in this manner this thesis aims to contribute new and valuable data to the archaeological and anthropological record of the conflict in Northern Europe. Extensive archaeological and anthropological research was
Leonard, Matthew
Making sense of subterranean conflict : engaging landscapes beneath the Western Front, 1914-2015. Through the adoption of a modern conflict archaeology framework this work represents the first interdisciplinary study of the subterranean landscapes of the Western Front. Research areas were confined to places where the geology allowed for work underground to be carried out, but the findings of this thesis are representative of the Western Front as a whole. Relatively little information has been published on the underground conflict during the First World War, and what there is tends to focus on the military history of events, places and the units involved. The work presented here interrogated the human experience of life in these subterranean places, combining an assessment of the soldiers' corporeal engagement with these complex modern conflict landscapes, and the material culture they contain. Implicit in this approach is an understanding of the Western Front, and particularly its subterranean elements, as being a deeply sensorial palimpsest. By assessing the underground world of the Western Front in this manner this thesis aims to contribute new and valuable data to the archaeological and anthropological record of the conflict in Northern Europe. Extensive archaeological and anthropological research was
making_sense subterranean conflict engaging landscape beneath western_front adoption modern conflict archaeology framework work represent first interdisciplinary study subterranean landscape western_front area confine place geology allow work underground carry finding representative western_front whole relatively_little information publish underground conflict first_world_war tend_focus military history event place unit involve work_present human_experience life subterranean place combine assessment soldier corporeal engagement complex modern conflict landscape material_culture contain implicit western_front particularly subterranean element deeply sensorial palimpsest assess underground world western_front manner aim_contribute new valuable data archaeological_anthropological record conflict northern_europe extensive archaeological_anthropological