Visualizing Territoriality. Studying the earliest Boundary Stones of Basel digitally and through a theoretical framework.

Recent social developments have led to an increased interest in borders. Today, borders are understood as highly dynamic phenomena, that are subject to political-territorial and socio-symbolic interaction. The emergence of new interdisciplinary border studies, as well as advances in technological tools, provide an opportunity for archaeology to examine the cultural phenomenon of boundary marking systems from new perspectives. The master’s thesis re-examines six boundary stones from the late 15th and 16th centuries, raising new methodological and theoretical questions about the objects and considering the new conception of borders. The approach involves examining the stones through image-based 3D models, iconographic and iconological analysis, and a contextualised historical interpretation. The theoretical concept of territoriality will also be applied. It will be established that boundary stones fulfil a variety of functions and tasks. These stones are employed as tools of territoriality, with the aim of controlling relationships, people, or things within a geographical area. Their use follows regular criteria that serve to link the owner’s influence to the land, to define the extent of his authority, and to secure and permanently maintain the ownership and the power associated with it. The intentions and tasks invested in boundary stones make them complex objects of material culture that contain aspects of the social, political, and cultural context. This allows us to draw conclusions about the past context of their use. The utilisation of digital tools will illuminate hitherto unidentified aspects of boundary marking practice, suggesting that similar research would be beneficial for other boundary marking systems. Moreover, the identification of boundary markers as a tool of territoriality raises further implications that require further in-depth research in the future. The use of territoriality suggests that state-building processes were involved in the period un