Storytelling Consumptionscapes between modernity and traditionality

A virtual encounter with the archaic Monte Iato, Sicily (6th/5th century BC)

Abstract: 

What did it mean to live between modernity and tradition 2,500 years ago? To what extent was life at that time already shaped by a tension between cosmopolitanism and rootedness, between global flair and local authenticity, between newcomers and the long-established—especially in rural regions?

These are the questions we have explored on Archaic Monte Iato (6th–5th century BC), located in the mountainous hinterland of western Sicily.

The goal of the proposed science communication project is to make our research findings on this dynamic interplay between “modernity” and “tradition” on Archaic Monte Iato virtually accessible. This will be achieved through “Narrative Consumption Landscapes”—an interactive 3D visualization system that allows users to click through a variety of consumption stories, each of which revolves around this very tension.

The multimedia foundation for this project is an archaeological map, in which all multivariate data and spatial relationships generated by our research have been stored. This map will be transformed into a digital narrative medium, allowing the stored data on archaeological finds—among them audio files—to take on the role of storytelling themselves, narrating their own tales of consumption. Multiple entry points within the storyboard layout will enable users to choose where and with which consumption story they wish to begin, drawing them into the storytelling process and keeping them engaged.

All of these virtually re-experienced stories of consumption ultimately converge—regardless of the chosen starting point—into one shared storyline:
The long-established inhabitants of Monte Iato responded to the tension between the new and the old world by revitalizing seemingly ancient traditions within their cultic center and by archaising religious rituals, thereby asserting themselves as “natives” both among themselves and in contrast to others.

Even today, the question of who counts as “native” remains one of pressing political relevance. For this reason, the virtual exhibition on Archaic Monte Iato is aimed at the broadest possible public audience. Three levels of zoom allow for progressively deeper exploration of the mechanisms and logics of “becoming native.”

The first zoom level presents the process of becoming native as a time- and context-bound phenomenon specific to Archaic Monte Iato.

The second and third levels invite users to look beneath the sociocultural surface of this process and to understand it as a response by the long-established population to what they perceived as threats of modernization and migration.

Following an initial testing and refinement phase—conducted with virtual reality headsets in the Visual Laboratory at the University of Innsbruck and involving teachers, students, journalists, and policymakers—the interactive 3D exhibition will be permanently hosted on the digital platform of the University’s research center “Cultural Encounters – Cultural Conflicts.”

On the research center’s homepage, a new category titled “Interactive Encounter with…” will be established under the section Dialog. This format is designed to promote sustained virtual engagement with the research center’s themes and projects, also among non-academic audiences. The interactive encounter with Archaic Monte Iato will mark the beginning of this new format.