This week’s post reports on a recent interdepartmental and multidisciplinary workshop held between the project team and colleagues at the University of East Anglia. Working collaboratively and engaging with a broad range of scholars and academics is central to the Nara to Norwich project, and we are very grateful to all those who contributed.
On Thursday 19 February, we were delighted to host an interdepartmental workshop with colleagues from across the University to discuss our current plans for the project ‘Pilgrimage and the Anthropocene: the impacts of and on landscapes linking sacred and significant sites’. An interdisciplinary approach to the project research is essential to capture the breadth of the experience of pilgrimage for people now and in the past. Topics discussed covered a broad range of themes from the role of Walsingham in the medieval period, to how we define pilgrimage, and even the dispersal behaviour of flower beetles. Below are some thoughts from the workshop.
Professor Simon Kaner began with an introduction to the initial research questions that prompted the creation of the project and raised the issue of how, as archaeologists, we evaluate the importance of religious experience for people of the past? The lively conversation that followed expanded these considerations from the perspective of multiple disciplines.
Theoretical framework and the practice of pilgrimage
A key part of discussions during the workshop related to how we define, understand, perceive, and experience pilgrimage. We were pleased to be joined by colleague Chris Wingfield, Associate Professor in the Arts of Africa, who raised the question of how people’s conceptions of and understandings of walks and pilgrimage might affect their experience, particularly in relation to wellbeing. The role of pilgrimage as an act of reproduction of tradition was also noted by the group, and how it was the very act of pilgrimage, whether that be actual or virtual, that gave so much significance to the site of Walsingham itself and imbued the site with spirituality. John Gordon, CreativeUEA Academic Chair and Professor of Language Arts and Learning, highlighted the relationship between journey and destination, and how this framework mirrors current debates in the field of education. We also welcomed Bibek Raj Shrestha, a PhD researcher exploring the impacts of human activities on biodiversity, and anthropologist Lorena Gomez Ramirez, (Black Oceans Citizens) who noted the different conceptions of travel as we understand it may have differed for people of the past as well as indigenous communities. This fed into discussions regarding comparisons for societies now and in the past regarding freedom of movement, the commodification of travel through pilgrimage, the interrelation of status and travel, and how gender and social class impacted how people became involved in pilgrimage in different periods and places.
The Walsingham Way and the Ise Honkaido
The workshop also discussed some of the archaeology and history of the Walsingham Way. We were grateful to be joined by Meg Bernstein, Lecturer in Medieval History of Art, who gave us important insights into the different artistic and architectural phases that are part of most of the churches along the route. Meg also noted, based on a 12th-century account of the Compostela pilgrimage, how the various subtexts of pilgrimage can often be of great importance. This account noted, for example, the services available on the route which included where to source the best wine. These ideas are central to the research of the project as we investigate the experience of pilgrimage in its entirety, including the practical, social and commercial aspects.
Underpinned by an internationally comparative approach, our conversations explored some of the points of comparison that might be investigated as part of the project. Ecological mythology is a clear part of both routes, such as the bleeding stone of Lyng in Norfolk and the many natural features that have associated myths on the Ise Honkaido, the route in Japan (see our recent blog post for more information). The potential comparisons between post-Reformation England and post-Shinto Japan were also mentioned, and the importance of capturing the diversity of experience as well as points of comparison was underlined.
Ecology
Understanding the role of the landscape is central to the project, and therefore researching and capturing the ecology of the route is an essential part of our investigations. We were delighted to welcome Will Nash to the workshop, Lecturer in Biological Sciences and who has worked with the Norfolk Wildlife Trust as part of the recent MOU between the organisation and the university. Will was able to provide feedback on the possibility of conducting incidental habitat surveys along the route to capture some of the ecological data of this landscape as it stands today. The group also discussed the importance of churchyards in this context, not only as places of pause and reflection along the route, but also their ecological importance as the limited disruption of these spaces by agriculture or development has meant that succession of species is less interrupted than elsewhere in the landscape, often making them havens for wildlife.
During conversations around how far some humans possess an innate desire to travel, Will provided an interesting case from the natural world where a recent lab study at UEA on heritable genetic variation with dispersal behaviour in flower beetles showed that specimens that travelled more also produced offspring that travelled more, potentially linking distance travel to the DNA of some species. We also discussed how pilgrimage, and broader community activities in conservation spaces, can affect the landscape and the delicate balance to strike regarding this – there is a clear management step required to encourage people to visit landscapes and natural spaces to facilitate greater senses of stewardship and engagement, while also ensuring that this human participation does not compromise the biodiversity. For the June walk, we will be involving experts in this field to provide attendees with more information about the important interaction between humans, landscape and ecology.
Mapping our research
The core of this project is research, and understanding how we might communicate and disseminate these findings to various audiences is key to ensuring its success, with the intention of producing an interactive GIS map of both the UK and Japan routes planned as one of our primary outputs, we were grateful for contributions from Katy Appleton, Associate Professor in Environmental Science and resident expert on GIS and mapping. Discussions focussed on the data already available, from historic OS mapping, Historical Character Landscape Assessments, and biological records that could be drawn into the project, as well as proposed data collection during the project and the best tools and integrations to make this as accessible as possible. Given the internationally comparative nature of the project, we will also be investigating data that exists in Japan, where there may be differences between the UK and Japan, and what this can tell us about the understanding of place, heritage and landscape in both spaces.
The workshop was an excellent opportunity to meet and receive feedback from colleagues across a range of disciplines and departments within the University and will feed directly into further research. We are very grateful to all who were involved and look forward to bringing you more news about these collaborations as they progress.