Hans-Georg Stephan
Encyclopedia
Hans-Georg Stephan is a German university professor specializing in European medieval archaeology
and post-medieval archaeology
.
in the German state
of North Rhine-Westphalia
. He studied archaeology
, European ethnology (Volkskunde), and historical ancillary sciences at the University of Münster
, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Cardiff University
. After that, he worked at the University of Kiel
and in Lübeck
as city archaeologist until 1977. From then until 2004, he worked at the University of Göttingen's Department of Prehistory and Early History (i.e., archaeology). He completed his habilitation
in 1992. In 2004, he was appointed professor of medieval and post-medieval archaeology at the Institute for Prehistoric Archaeology at Martin Luther University
in Halle
-Wittenberg
, Germany.
Stephan is married and has two children.
and second millennia
A.D., medieval settlement and landscape archaeology
, urban topography
and architectural history
, renaissance
material culture
(especially ceramics, glass, and oven tiles), economic history
(especially pottery, metallurgy
and glass production), and archaeometry.
He and his research team discovered an abandoned village
, near Nienover
castle in 1992. The land was untouched since medieval times, the town never rebuilt, presenting an excellent site for archaeological exploration. Excavation work began in 1996. Stephan is the lead archaeologist into long-term research into the settlement, which was founded ca.
1200. The project is the most extensive research project of an abandoned village in Europe.
Excavation work took place with groups of other archaeologists, assistants and students, many from other countries, totaling hundreds of researchers over the years. Excavation work in the village of Schmeeson took place between 2004 and 2007. Initially, Stephan and his team thought they had found a small, squarish building, but in 2004, the site was covered by brush, later cleared away by the local historical society, which supports the project. This enabled Stephan to see that he had been standing on much more.
Stephan is working on a book about his research in the Solling
.
purchased the castle at Nienover in 2005, later selling it to Mireille van Meer, a Dutch horse breeder. Stephan, who spent twelve years researching and excavating the site, criticized Hartmut Möllring (CDU
), state finance minister
, for selling the castle at a "fire sale
price" without bothering to secure the rights to continue the scientific work to its conclusion. This caused the demise of what Stephan called "a unique opportunity in Germany" to excavate an untouched medieval site. The new owner prohibited excavation of a well 40 metres (131.2 ft) deep, despite private funding, including that of Lower Saxony's former Minister of Science and Culture, Thomas Oppermann
. A large part of the site's approximately 150 houses cannot be further researched.
Medieval archaeology
Medieval archaeology is the study of humankind through its material culture, specialising in the period of the European Middle Ages. At its broadest, the period stretches from the 5th to the 16th century and refers to post-Roman but pre modern remains. The period covers the upheaval caused by the...
and post-medieval archaeology
Post-medieval archaeology
Post-medieval archaeology is a term used in Europe to describe the study of the material past over the last 500 years. Increasingly the field is referred to as Historical archaeology, a term in international usage. It is closely related to Industrial archaeology, although Post-medieval archaeology...
.
Biography
Stephan was born in in BeverungenBeverungen
Beverungen is a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Location :Beverungen lies in the Weser Uplands on the side of the Weser opposite Solling roughly 10 km south of Höxter. In parts of the eastern municipal area near the river, the town has a share of the Weser Valley,...
in the German state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
. He studied archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, European ethnology (Volkskunde), and historical ancillary sciences at the University of Münster
University of Münster
The University of Münster is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The WWU is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities...
, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Cardiff University
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
. After that, he worked at the University of Kiel
University of Kiel
The University of Kiel is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 23,000 students today...
and in Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
as city archaeologist until 1977. From then until 2004, he worked at the University of Göttingen's Department of Prehistory and Early History (i.e., archaeology). He completed his habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
in 1992. In 2004, he was appointed professor of medieval and post-medieval archaeology at the Institute for Prehistoric Archaeology at Martin Luther University
University of Halle-Wittenberg
The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg within Saxony-Anhalt, Germany...
in Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
-Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
, Germany.
Stephan is married and has two children.
Research specialization
Stephan's areas of specialization include interdisciplinary archaeological research in the first1st millennium
File:1st millennium montage.png|From left, clockwise: Depiction of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity; The Colosseum, a landmark of the once Roman Empire; Gunpowder is invented during the latter part of the millennium, in China; Chess, a new board game, takes on popularity across the globe;...
and second millennia
2nd millennium
File:2nd millennium montage.png|From left, clockwise: In 1492, Christopher Columbus; The American Revolution; The French Revolution; The Atomic Bomb from World War II; An alternate source of light, the Light Bulb; For the first time, a human being sets foot on the moon in 1969 during the Apollo 11...
A.D., medieval settlement and landscape archaeology
Landscape archaeology
Landscape archaeology is the study of the ways in which people in the past constructed and used the environment around them. Landscape archaeology is inherently multidisciplinary in its approach to the study of culture, and is used by both pre-historical, classic, and historic archaeologists...
, urban topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
and architectural history
Architectural History
Architectural History is the main journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain .The journal is published each autumn. The architecture of the British Isles is a major theme of the journal, although it includes more general papers on the history of architecture. Member of...
, renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
material culture
Material culture
In the social sciences, material culture is a term that refers to the relationship between artifacts and social relations. Studying a culture's relationship to materiality is a lens through which social and cultural attitudes can be discussed...
(especially ceramics, glass, and oven tiles), economic history
Economic history
Economic history is the study of economies or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis in economic history is undertaken using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and by applying economic theory to historical situations and institutions...
(especially pottery, metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
and glass production), and archaeometry.
He and his research team discovered an abandoned village
Abandoned village
An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages were deserted for a variety of causes...
, near Nienover
Nienover
Nienover is a rural housing estate which is part of Bodenfelde. It is located in the Solling and contains one of the largest deserted medieval towns in northern Europe.- Local history :...
castle in 1992. The land was untouched since medieval times, the town never rebuilt, presenting an excellent site for archaeological exploration. Excavation work began in 1996. Stephan is the lead archaeologist into long-term research into the settlement, which was founded ca.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1200. The project is the most extensive research project of an abandoned village in Europe.
Excavation work took place with groups of other archaeologists, assistants and students, many from other countries, totaling hundreds of researchers over the years. Excavation work in the village of Schmeeson took place between 2004 and 2007. Initially, Stephan and his team thought they had found a small, squarish building, but in 2004, the site was covered by brush, later cleared away by the local historical society, which supports the project. This enabled Stephan to see that he had been standing on much more.
Stephan is working on a book about his research in the Solling
Solling
The Solling is a range of hills up to high in the Weser Uplands in the German state of Lower Saxony, whose extreme southerly foothills extend into Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia....
.
Excavation halted
The German state of Lower SaxonyLower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
purchased the castle at Nienover in 2005, later selling it to Mireille van Meer, a Dutch horse breeder. Stephan, who spent twelve years researching and excavating the site, criticized Hartmut Möllring (CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
), state finance minister
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...
, for selling the castle at a "fire sale
Fire sale
A fire sale is the sale of goods at extremely discounted prices, typically when the seller faces bankruptcy or other impending distress. The term may originally have been based on the sale of goods at a heavy discount due to fire damage...
price" without bothering to secure the rights to continue the scientific work to its conclusion. This caused the demise of what Stephan called "a unique opportunity in Germany" to excavate an untouched medieval site. The new owner prohibited excavation of a well 40 metres (131.2 ft) deep, despite private funding, including that of Lower Saxony's former Minister of Science and Culture, Thomas Oppermann
Thomas Oppermann
Thomas Oppermann is a German politician with the Social Democratic Party . From 1998-2003, he was the Minister for Science and Culture in the German state of Lower Saxony. He has been the speaker of the SPD faction in the Bundestag since November 2007.- Life and career :Oppermann received his...
. A large part of the site's approximately 150 houses cannot be further researched.
Selected publications
- Archäologische Beiträge zur Frühgeschichte der Stadt Höxter. Münstersche Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte 7, 1973.
- Archäologische Studien zur Wüstungsforschung im südlichen Weserbergland. Münstersche Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte 10-11, 1978-79.
- Coppengrave - Studien zur Töpferei des 13. -19. Jahrhundert in Nordwestdeutschland. Materialhefte zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte Niedersachsens 17, 1981.
- "The Development and Production of Medieval Stoneware in Germany. In: P. Davey, R. Hodges (eds.), Ceramics and Trade: The Production and Distribution of Later Medieval Pottery in North-West Europe, 1983, 95-120.
- Großalmerode. Ein entrum der Herstellung von technischer Keramik, Steinzeug und Irdenware in Hessen. Die Geschichte der keramischen Gewerbe in Großalmerode und die Entwicklung ihrer Produktion vom 12 bis zum 19. Jahrhundert. Teil I, 1986.
- Die bemalte Irdenware der Renaissance in Mitteleuropa. Ausstrahlungen und Verbindungen der Produktionszentren im gesamteuropäischen Rahmen. Forschungshefte des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums München 12, 1987.
- "Urban Archaeological Research in Germany: A Regional Review of Medieval Topographic Development," in: D. Denecke, G. Shaw (eds.), Urban Historical Geography. Recent Progress in Britain and Germany. - Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography 10, 1988 (c), 53-68, 347-354.
- Kacheln aus dem Werraland. Die Entwicklung der Ofenkacheln vom 13. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert im unteren Werraraum. Schriften des Werratalvereins Witzenhausen 23, 1991.
- Keramik der Renaissance im Oberweserraum und an der unteren Werra. Beiträge der Archäologie zur Erforschung der Sachkultur der frühen Neuzeit. Zeitschrift für Archäologie des Mittelalters, Beiheft 7, 1992.
- Großalmerode. Ein europäisches Zentrum der Herstellung von technischer Keramik. Die Geschichte der keramischen Gewerbe in Großalmerode und Epterode und die Entwicklung ihrer Produktion vom 12. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert. Teil II: Technische und Baukeramik, Tonpfeifen, Knicker, Steingut. Porzellan, Aspekte von Handel, früher chemischer Industrie, Bergbau und Gewerbegeschichte, 1995.
- C. Zientek, H. Urban, H. J. Bollingberg, A. König, and H.-G. Stephan, "Analytical Results of Copper Alloys from Medieval Saxonian Artifacts," In S. Demirci, A. M. Özer, and G. D. Summers (eds.), The Proceedings of the 29th International Symposium on rchaeometry, Ankara 1996, 53-57.
- Studien zur Siedlungsentwicklung und -struktur von Stadt und Kloster Corvey (800-1670). Eine Synopse auf der Grundlage der archäologischen Quellen. Göttinger Schriften zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte 26, Bd. 1-3, 2000.
- M. Koch, J. Lepper, U. Siewers, and H.-G. Stephan "Iron Ore Occurrences in the Mesozoic Uplands of Southern Lower Saxony and Northern Hesse (Germany and Their Geochemical Characterization for an Archaeometallurgical Project," Archaeometallurgy in Europe. International Conference. 14.25.26 September 2003 Milan, Italy Proceedings" vol. 2, 507-513.