Archaeology by period / region Books

Book SynopsisMontserrat is a small island in the Leeward islands of the eastern Caribbean and at present a British Overseas Territory. It has suffered greatly in recent times, first from the devastations of Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and since 1995 from the still-ongoing eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano that has caused two-thirds of the island’s population to emigrate and left half the island a dangerous exclusion zone. Archaeological research here began only in the late 1970s, but work over the past four decades has now made it possible to present an archaeological history of Montserrat, from the earliest known traces of human activity on the island about 5,000 years ago to the present.This book draws on all the available archaeological evidence (including that from the co-authors’ own island-wide survey and excavation project since 2010), as well as newly available archival documents, to trace this little island’s long history and heritage. This is not the story of an isolated and remote island: Montserrat is shown rather to be a place intricately connected to the flows of people and goods that have travelled between islands and across the Atlantic at various points in time, both Amerindian and historical. Despite its small size and seeming irrelevance, Montserrat has in fact always been networked into regional and global systems of connectivity. An underlying theme of this volume is resilience. It presents insights from the archaeological and documentary evidence on how the island’s inhabitants have coped with often adverse conditions throughout the course of its history – hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, slavery, disease, invasions, and impoverishment – all while remaining proudly connected to heritage that celebrates the accomplishments of island residents.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments List of figures Introduction: Montserrat’s island setting Archaeology and heritage on Montserrat Box A. Airborne LiDAR on Montserrat 3. First humans on Montserrat Box B. Long Island, Antigua: Montserrat’s source of chert 4. New peoples, new ways of living: the Ceramic Age on Montserrat Box C. Ceramic adornos Box D. Petroglyphs on Montserrat 5. The colonial period begins: European encounters and Amerindian persistence Box E. Arawaks, Caribs, Taínos, and other such confusions 6. Establishing the English colony: new arrivals transform Montserrat Box F. Were there Irish slaves on Montserrat? Box G. The 1673 map of Montserrat in the Blathwayt Atlas 7. Montserrat’s sugar era, 1712–1834 Box H. Sugar processing: A step-by-step guide Box I. Galways Estate: Archaeology reveals the workings of a historic sugar plantation 8. Slavery and the slave experience Box J. A celebration of Irish and Afro-Caribbean heritage: St Patrick’s Day on Montserrat 9. Emancipation and its aftermath Box K. Montserrat’s world-famous citrus limes 10. Disaster, destruction, and development: the future of the past on Montserrat Box L. St Anthony’s Church, Plymouth Box M. The sad story of Gun Hill in Carr’s Bay References Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince early discoveries of so-called Celtic Art during the 19th century, archaeologists have mused on the origins of this major art tradition, which emerged in Europe around 500 BC. Classical influence has often been cited as the main impetus for this new and distinctive way of decorating, but although Classical and Celtic Art share certain motifs, many of the design principles behind the two styles differ fundamentally. Instead, the idea that Celtic Art shares its essential forms and themes of transformation and animism with Iron Age art from across northern Eurasia has recently gained currency, partly thanks to a move away from the study of motifs in prehistoric art and towards considerations of the contexts in which they appear. This volume explores Iron Age art at different scales and specifically considers the long-distance connections, mutual influences and shared ‘ways of seeing’ that link Celtic Art to other art traditions across northern Eurasia. It brings together 13 papers on varied subjects such as animal and human imagery, technologies of production and the design theory behind Iron Age art, balancing pan-Eurasian scale commentary with regional and site scale studies and detailed analyses of individual objects, as well as introductory and summary papers. This multi-scalar approach allows connections to be made across wide geographical areas, whilst maintaining the detail required to carry out sensitive studies of objects.Trade ReviewAs to be expected from an Oxbow publication, the quality of presentation is high: with a generous array of tables, figures and eyecatching photographs to support each contribution. * Later Prehistoric Finds Group *Table of ContentsList of figures and tables List of contributors Introduction: Context, connections and scale Chris Gosden, Helen Chittock, Peter Hommel and Courtney Nimura 1. Art, ambiguity and transformation Chris Gosden 2. Collecting Iron Age art Courtney Nimura, Peter Hommel, Helen Chittock and Chris Gosden 3. Eurasian Iron Age interactions: A perspective on the sources and purposes of La Tène Style (‘Celtic’) art Peter Wells 4. Fantastic beasts and where to find them: Composite animals in the context of Eurasian Early Iron Age art Rebecca O’Sullivan and Peter Hommel 5. Bodies and objects in Iron Age Europe and beyond: An integrated approach to anthropomorphic imagery Helen Chittock 6. How Celts perceived the world: Early Celtic art and analogical thought Laurent Olivier 7. How can Celtic art styles and motifs act? A case study from Later Iron Age Norfolk Jody Joy 8. Visual memory and perceptions in ancient Celtic art Nathalie Ginoux 9. Celtic art before the Early Style: Some new data from south-west Germany and the Heuneburg Dirk Krausse 10. Sign o’the times: The re-use of pre-Roman Iron Age British and European symbols on Late Iron Age Irish equestrian equipment Rena Maguire 11. ‘Damn clever metal bashers’: The thoughts and insights of 21st century goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellers regarding Iron Age gold torus torcs Tess Machling and Roland Williamson 12. Refugees, networks, politics and east–west connections in Early Celtic art: Paul Jacobsthal’s ‘History of a Monster’ in context Sally Crawford and Katharina Ulmschneider 13. The history of a monster Paul Jacobsthal Discussion: Dialogues with Jacobsthal Tim Champion

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe chronological disjuncture, LBK longhouses have widely been considered to provide ancestral influence for both rectangular and trapezoidal long barrows and cairns, but with the discovery and excavation of more houses in recent times is it possible to observe evidence of more contemporary inspiration. What do the features found beneath long mounds tell us about this and to what extent do they represent domestic structures. Indeed, how can we distinguish between domestic houses or halls and those that may have been constructed for ritual purposes or ended up beneath mounds? Do so called 'mortuary enclosures' reflect ritual or domestic architecture and did side ditches always provide material for a mound or for building construction? This collection of papers seeks to explore the interface between structures often considered to be those of the living with those for the dead.Trade ReviewThis electic collection of essays derives from a Neolithic Studies Group seminar held in 2018, and is informed by a wealth of new data. * British Archaeology *As a collection, these papers very forcefully stress the novelty, diversity and creative recombination that is involved in monument construction in the Neolithic ... Because of its thematic unity and the range of case studies, this is a volume that will enrich the bookshelf of any Neolithic scholar. * Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society *The strength of this volume lies in the way that these local, contingent histories are brought out so that the kind of principles to which Healy refers can be appreciated * Archaeological Journal *Table of ContentsForeword by Timothy Darvill and Kenneth Brophy Preface and acknowledgements by Alistair Barcklay, David Field and Jim Leary List of contributors 1. Schrödinger’s Cat: Houses for the living and the dead. Jim Leary, David Field and Alistair Barclay 2. Hypogea and the clubhouse: Neolithic Malta’s houses of the living and houses of the dead. Robert P. Barratt, Caroline Malone, T. Rowan McLaughlin and Eóin W. Parkinson 3. Houses of the living, houses of the dead: A view from the Polish lowlands. Joanna Pyzel 4. ‘Cicéron c’est Poincaré’. Dealing with geometry: Neolithic house plans and the earliest monuments. Philippe Chambon 5. The dead and the Linearbandkeramik longhouse. Penny Bickle 6. The long and short of it: Memory and practice in the Early Neolithic of Britain and Ireland. Alasdair Whittle 7. Measuring up: Longhouses, enclosures or mounds? Roy Loveday 8. Houses foundational: Gathering histories at Dorstone Hill, Herefordshire. Keith Ray and Julian Thomas 9. New work on long barrows in Lincolnshire. Denise Drury and Tim Allen 10. A dialogue with the dead? The relationship between an Early Neolithic rectangular timber building and a chambered tomb on Holy Island, Anglesey, north-west Wales. Jane Kenney 11. House of the living, house of the dead: An open and shut case from Ballyglass, Co. Mayo? Jessica Smyth 12. Shaky foundations: Romantic nationalism and the development of the ‘Irish model’ of Neolithic settlement. Andrew Whitefield 13. Structure, metaphor and funerary practices in Neolithic Scotland. Alison Sheridan 14. The state of play. Frances Healy

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book was inspired by the records made by Carolyn Heighway during the thirty years when she was archaeological consultant at Gloucester Cathedral. The survival of so much of the abbey of 1089 is remarkable, and often not appreciated by the casual visitor since it is ingeniously overlaid by Gothic alterations. Since 2000, surveys have been produced which enable accurate plans and elevations to be made which clarify the late 11th and early 12th century appearance of the building; deductions have also been made from archaeological observations. Since there are almost no documents for the abbey before the 15th century which relate to construction matters, the building itself is primary evidence, and archaeology is an important element. The book is lavishly illustrated with photographs, plans and measured drawings including accurate reconstructions; comparative scale plans of Worcester and Tewkesbury are also included. The late 11th-12th century church is described in detail, along with the surviving claustral buildings. There is a chapter on polychromy and on the surviving 11th-12th century sculpture, and a full bibliography. The whole is set in context by Malcolm Thurlby, who comments on the wider sources and associations.Trade ReviewThis book is a model of its kind … It is superbly illustrated, with images well placed in the text ... a significant advance in our understanding of the building. * Current Archaeology *This book serves as a model for what can be achieved when hard-won, though often very inaccessible, architectural and archaeological surveys of the nation's great churches are synthesized and analysed. * The Archaeological Journal *The great late 11th-century church of St Peter at Gloucester has been the subject of much scholarly debate over the last 40 years … [This book] is well-illustrated and, in tandem with the accompanying verbal descriptions, will serve as a necessary portfolio of data for future research. * Medieval Archaeology *Table of ContentsPreface, Acknowledgements Introduction The eastern arm The transepts and tower The nave The Romanesque claustral buildings Romanesque polychromy Romanesque carving and decoration Sources and associations of the Romanesque abbey church of St Peter at Gloucester by Malcolm Thurlby Summary Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe book delivers a history from below for the first half of Egyptian history covering the earliest settlements, state formation and the pyramid age. The focus is on the Wadjet province, about 350 km south of modern Cairo in Upper Egypt. Here archaeological records provide an especially rich dataset for the material culture of farmers. Histories of Ancient Egypt have focussed heavily on the kings, monuments and inscriptions, while the working population is hardly mentioned. The book investigates the life of people far from the centres of power. One main aim of the book is the interaction between farmers and the ruling classes at the centres of power and locally. How did decisions at the royal centre affect the life of ordinary people? The Introduction offers a critical survey of Egyptologists and their attitudes towards the working class. The social and cultural background of these researchers is analysed to assess how heavily they are influenced by time and their political and cultural background.The First chapter then describes the location and gives a history of previous research and excavations. The archaeological sites and the recorded ancient place names of the province are presented to provide a geographical framework for the book. The following chapters are arranged in chronological order, mainly according to the archaeological phases visible in the province. It appears that in phases of a weak central government, people in the provinces were much better off, while in phases of a strong central government burials of poorer people are almost absent. The reasons for this are discussed.A substantial part of the book comprises descriptions of single burials and the material culture in the province. The archaeology of the poorer people is the main focus. Burial customs and questions of production are discussed. For a fuller picture, evidence from other parts of Egypt is also taken into account. Thus settlement sites in other regions are presented to provide contemporary evidence for living conditions in particular periods.As the book will focus on the lower classes, the Tributary Mode of Production will be used as the main theoretical framework. The Tributary Mode of Production (previously known as the Asiatic Mode of Production) is a term that goes back to Karl Marx, but was mainly used in the 20th century to describe ancient societies whose economies were not based on slaves. A constant question will be the status of the working population. Were they slaves, serfs or free citizens? It will be argued that they were most often in a dependent position comparable to that of serfs, while there is little evidence for slavery. The numerous burials presented in the volume are important for highlighting the diversity of burials in the different periods. Many will be placed in special subchapters. Readers can skip these chapters when they prefer to concentrate on the main text.Trade ReviewIt is accessible, intellectually stimulating and highly relevant. There is no doubt that the people of the Cobra province in Egypt will provoke scholarly debate. This book is an important contribution to scholarly discourse on the social history of Ancient Egypt. * Antiquity *The book is highly readable, packed with information and references and written so that you can choose to read through the overarching historical narrative, delve into the details of individual burials in the province, or explore particular topics. * Ancient Egypt Magazine *All in all, the book succeeds in writing a social history of an ancient time and place, with attention to different views and theoretical frameworks, while laying bare the difficulties of just such an undertaking. It forms an important addition to those interested in the social, provincial, funerary and settlement archaeology of ancient Egypt. * nickyvandebeek.com blog *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. Setting and History of Research in Wadjet Province Chapter 2. Life without kings and the coming of the state (Predynastic and Early Dynastic Period) Chapter 3. Province as a source for manpower (Old Kingdom I) Chapter 4. Heyday in the province, decline at the Residence (Old Kingdom II) Chapter 5. Full centralisation: oriental despotism? (Middle Kingdom) Chapter 6. Central government evaporating (Second Intermediate Period) Appendix Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisArchaeologists excavating burials often find that they are not the first to disturb the remains of the dead. Graves from many periods frequently show signs that others have been digging and have moved or taken away parts of the original funerary assemblage. Displaced bones and artefacts, traces of pits, and damage to tombs or coffins can all provide clues about post-burial activities.The last two decades have seen a rapid rise in interest in the study of post-depositional practices in graves, which has now developed into a new subfield within mortuary archaeology. This follows a long tradition of neglect, with disturbed graves previously regarded as interesting only to the degree they revealed evidence of the original funerary deposit.This book explores past human interactions with mortuary deposits, delving into the different ways graves and human remains were approached by people in the past and the reasons that led to such encounters. The primary focus of the volume is on cases of unexpected interference with individual graves soon after burial: re-encounters with human remains not anticipated by those who performed the funerary rites and constructed the tombs. However, a first step is always to distinguish these from natural and accidental processes, and methodological approaches are a major theme of discussion.Interactions with the remains of the dead are explored in eleven chapters ranging from the New Kingdom of Egypt to Viking Age Norway and from Bronze Age Slovakia to the ancient Maya. Each discusses cases of re-entries into graves, including desecration, tomb re-use, destruction of grave contents, as well as the removal of artefacts and human remains for reasons from material gain to commemoration, symbolic appropriation, ancestral rites, political chicanery, and retrieval of relics. The introduction presents many of the methodological issues which recur throughout the contributions, as this is a developing area with new approaches being applied to analyze post-depositional processes in graves.Trade ReviewThe volume is a must for all those with an interest in funerary archaeology: disturbed remains, previously largely ignored or viewed as insignificant, can be considered with fresh eyes – a paradigm has been shifted. * Current World Archaeology *This is an excellent reference and resource for advanced students and professional scholars interested in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology. * CHOICE *Table of Contents1. The archaeology of post-depositional interactions with the dead. An introduction Edeltraud Aspöck, Alison Klevnäs and Nils Müller-Scheeßel 2. Unruly bones and efficacious stones. Materialities of death in Early Christian post-burial interactions in central eastern Sweden Fredrik Fahlander 3. Grave disturbance in early medieval Poland Leszek Gardeła 4. Disturbed relatives. Post-burial practices among the Nomadic Khazars of the Lower Volga (7th-8th centuries CE) Irina Shingiray 5. Things we knew about grave robbery: reassessing ideas on how and why graves were reopened in the Merovingian period Stephanie Zintl 6. Disturbance of early medieval graves in southwestern Gaul. Taphonomy, burial reopening and the reuse of graves Yves Gleize 7. What happened at Langeid? Understanding reopened graves after time has taken its toll Camilla C. Wenn 8. Iron Age ancestral bonds. Consecutive burials and manipulated graves in the Dürrnberg cemeteries (Austria) Holger Wendling 9. Disturbing the dead. Reopening of stone cists in the Macedonian Gevgelija and Valandovo plains Daniela Heilmann 10. In search of the modus operandi. Reopenings of Early Bronze Age burials at Fidvár near Vráble, southwest Slovakia Nils Müller-Scheeßel, Jozef Bátora, Julia Gresky, Samantha Reiter, Kerstin Stucky and Knut Rassmann 11. Disturbance of graves among the ancient Maya Estella Weiss-Krejci 12. ‘It was found that the thieves had violated them all’. Grave disturbance in Late New Kingdom Thebes David A. Aston

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis edited volume delves into the current state of Iron Age and Early Medieval research in the North. Over the last two decades of archaeological explorations, theoretical vanguards, and introduction of new methodological strategies, together with a growing amount of critical studies in archaeology taking their stance from a multidisciplinary perspective, have dramatically changed our understanding of Northern Iron Age societies. The profound effect of 6th century climatic events on social structures in Northern Europe, a reintegration of written sources and archaeological material, genetic and isotopic studies entirely reinterpreting previously excavated grave material, are but a few examples of such land winnings. The aim of this book is to provide an intense and cohesive focus on the characteristics of contemporary Iron Age research; explored under the subheadings of field and methodology, settlement and spatiality, text and translation, and interaction and impact. Gathering the work of leading, established researchers and field archaeologists based throughout northern Europe and in the frontline of this new emerging image, this volume provides a collective summary of our current understandings of the Iron Age and Early Medieval Era in the North. It also facilitates a renewed interaction between academia and the ever-growing field of infrastructural archaeology, by integrating cutting edge fieldwork and developing field methods in the corpus of Iron Age and Early Medieval studies. In this book, many hypotheses are pushed forward from their expected outcomes, and analytical work is not afraid of taking risks, thus advancing the field of Iron Age research, and also, hopefully, inspiring to a continued creation of new knowledge.Trade ReviewThis affordably priced catch-up on some exciting new work was a pleasure to read and review. The volume adopts a commendably interdisciplinarian approach, at its broadest combining two aspects of material culture, archaeology and text and, at a more micro-level, bringing together several sub-disciplines within archaeology. These fruitful combinations are directed towards exploring (and unsettling) the long-debated concept of centre–periphery. ... [I]t remains an excellent contribution to the field. * Medieval Archaeology *…consider new ways of understanding archaeological landscapes as they use works of art created by Poraj-Wilczynska to question conventional perspectives on landscape. * Antiquity *Table of ContentsIntroduction by Charlotta Hillerdal & Kristin Ilves Settlement and Spatiality 1.Marianne Hem Eriksen - Dream-houses of the Late Iron Age: The house and the self 2.Marte Spangen & Johan E. Arntzen - Sticky Structures and Opportunistic Builders. The Construction and Social Role of Longhouses in Northern Norway 3.Susanna Eklund & Anneli Sundkvist - The Tale of three Tuna Sites. A Classic scholarly problem enlightened by new archaeological material 4.Helena Hulth - Ultuna – a late Iron Age gateway to Uppsala 5.Anders Andren - A new central place in Southwest Scania? Field and Methodology 1.Elin Engström - In the archaeological house 2.Kristin Ilves & Kim Darmark - Striking a blow for the plough layer. Exploring diverging interpretations of a Late Iron Age site 3.Andreas Hennius & John Ljungkvist - Correlations and conflicts between 14C dates and find chronologies in a transition phase – exemplified by the Ottar's mound in Vendel 4.Daniel Löwenborg & Åsa Larsson - The Bright New (Digital) Future of the Past 5.Helena Victor – Sandby Borg – a frozen moment of the Migration Period Text and Translation 1.Bosse Gräslund - Beowulf. The Scandinavian background 2.Jhonny Therus - Rebooting the Gospel for a Germanic audience. A structural analysis of Heliand the Saxon Gospel, an acculturation poem from the 9th century 3.Anne-Sofie Gräslund - “Björn and Torkel they raised all these kumls” 4.Lotte Hedaeger - Knowledge systems of the past? Iconography, typology and change from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages 5.Alex Sandmark – Bog bodies: Iron Age law in the landscape Interaction and Impact 1.Jan-Henrik Fallgren - Settlement reduction or continuity? Reflections on the Early Medieval Åland 2.Charlotta Hillerdal - Negotiating narratives in a newly settled Norse landscape. An emic perspective on the reuse of ancient monuments in the Scottish Isles. 3.Neil Price and Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson - War music: martial funerals from the Viking-Age Scandinavian world 4.Olof Sundqvist - Female Cultic Leaders in Germanic and Ancient Scandinavian Sources 5.Svante Fisher - The Solidus from Slättäng

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume covers the Prehistory of Ukraine from the Lower Palaeolithic through to the end of the Neolithic periods. This is the first comprehensive synthesis of Ukrainian Prehistory from earliest times through until the Neolithic Period undertaken by researchers who are currently investigating the Prehistory of Ukraine. At present there are no other English language books on this subject that provide a current synthesis for these periods.The chapters in this volume provide up-to-date overviews of all aspects of prehistoric culture development in Ukraine and present details of the key sites and finds for the periods studied. The book includes the most recent research from all areas of prehistory up to the Neolithic period, and, in addition, areas such as recent radiocarbon dating and its implications for culture chronology are considered; as is a consideration of aDNA and the new insights into culture history this area of research affords; alongside recent macrofossil studies of plant use, and anthropological and stable isotope studies of diet, which all combine to allow greater insights into the nature of human subsistence and cultural developments across the Palaeolithic to Neolithic periods in Ukraine.It is anticipated that this book will be an invaluable resource for students of prehistory throughout Europe in providing an English-language text that is written by researchers who are active in their respective fields and who possess an intimate knowledge of Ukrainian prehistory.Table of ContentsBiographies of Contributors Dedication – A page or two dedicated to Dmitri Telegin Preface Acknowledgements Introduction (Malcolm Lillie and Inna Potekhina) 1. A brief outline of the study of the Lower and the Middle Palaeolithic of Ukraine: main trends, discussions and results (Vadim N. Stepanchuk) 2. The Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Periods (Leonid Zaliznyak) 3. Landscape change, Human-landscape interactions and Societal developments in the Mesolithic period (Leonid Zaliznyak) 4. The Neolithic Period in Ukraine (VII-III millennia BC) (Nicholas Tovkailo) 5. The Prehistoric Populations of Ukraine: Population dynamics and group composition (Inna Potekhina) 6. Radiocarbon dating of sites in the Dnieper Region and Western Ukraine (Malcolm Lillie, Chelsea Budd and Inna Potekhina) 7. Palaeopathology of the Prehistoric Populations of Ukraine (Malcolm Lillie) 8. The Prehistoric Populations of Ukraine: Stable Isotope studies of fisher-hunter-forager and pastoralist-incipient farmer dietary pathways (Chelsea Budd and Malcolm Lillie) 9. The Adoption of Agriculture: Archaeobotanical Studies and the Earliest Evidence for Domesticated Plants (Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute) 10. The Genetic Landscape of Present-Day Ukraine from the Early Holocene to the Early Metal Ages (Alexey G. Nikitin) 11. An Overview of Ukrainian Prehistory: Future Research Directions (Inna Potekhina and Malcolm Lillie) Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhich ancient army boasted the largest fortifications, and how did the competitive build-up of military capabilities shape world history? Few realise that imperial Rome had a serious competitor in Late Antiquity. Late Roman legionary bases, normally no larger than 5 ha, were dwarfed by Sasanian fortresses, often covering 40 ha, sometimes even 125–175 ha. The latter did not necessarily house permanent garrisons but sheltered large armies temporarily – perhaps numbering 10,000–50,000 men each. Even Roman camps and fortresses of the Early and High Empire did not reach the dimensions of their later Persian counterparts. The longest fort-lined wall of the late antique world was also Persian. Persia built up, between the fourth and sixth centuries AD, the most massive military infrastructure of any ancient or medieval Near Eastern empire – if not the ancient and medieval world. Much of the known defensive network was directed against Persia’s powerful neighbours in the north rather than the west. This may reflect differences in archaeological visibility more than troop numbers. Urban garrisons in the Romano-Persian frontier zone are much harder to identify than vast geometric compounds in marginal northern lands. Recent excavations in Iran have enabled us to precision-date two of the largest fortresses of Southwest Asia, both larger than any in the Roman world. Excavations in a Gorgan Wall fort have shed much new light on frontier life, and we have unearthed a massive bridge nearby. A sonar survey has traced the terminal of the Tammisheh Wall, now submerged under the waters of the Caspian Sea. Further work has focused on a vast city and settlements in the hinterland. Persia’s Imperial Power, our previous project, had already shed much light on the Great Wall of Gorgan, but it was our recent fieldwork that has thrown the sheer magnitude of Sasanian military infrastructure into sharp relief.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn recent decades, there has been a new surge of interest in the history and legacies of the Silk Roads both within academic and public discourses. A field of Silk Roads Studies has come into its own. Consciously mirroring the temperament of its subject, the field has moved out of the narrow niches of particular disciplines to become a truly interdisciplinary endeavor. New research findings about the historical operations of the Silk Roads and interpretations of their legacies for the modern and contemporary world have broken down geographical and temporal divides that once demarcated the Silk Roads as primarily pre-modern and Old World-centered conduits of globalization. In light of these developments, the time is ripe to begin formulating a new definition of the contour of Silk Roads Studies and laying a new foundation for further work in this field. Silk Roads: From Local Realities to Global Narratives brings together leading scholars in multiple disciplines related to Silk Roads studies. It highlights the multiplicity of networks that constituted the Silk Roads, including land and maritime routes, and approaches the Silk Roads from Antiquity to China’s One Belt One Road Initiative from Afro-Eurasia to the Americas. This holistic approach to understanding ancient globalization, exchanges, transformations, and movements - and their continued relevance to the present - is in line with contemporary academic trends toward interdisciplinarity. Indeed, the Silk Roads is such an expansive topic that many approaches to its study must be included to represent accurately its many facets. The volume emphasizes exchange and transformation along the Silk Roads - moments of acculturation or hybridization that contributed to novel syncretic forms. It highlights the multiplicity of networks that constituted the Silk Roads, including land and maritime routes, and approaches to the Silk Roads from Antiquity to China’s One Belt One Road Initiative from Afro-Eurasia to the Americas.Trade ReviewThe papers range geographically across the overland and maritime Silk Routes, and chronologically from antiquity to contemporary issues around China’s One Belt One Road Initiative. As such, it is an amazing volume. * Current World Archaeology *Lerner and Shi argue that “the time is ripe to begin formulating a new definition of the contour of Silk Roads Studies and laying a new foundation for further work in this field” (p. 1); this interdisciplinary volume with its broad-ranging content is certainly a very good start. * Antiquity *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Contributors Introduction Section One: Acculturation and Hybridization 1. The “Birth” of the Silk Road Between Ecological Frontiers and Military Innovation Nicola Di Cosmo 2. Sogdians in Shanxi (386 CE-618 CE): Literary and Archeological Evidence Xiaoyan Qi 3. From Exotic Toys to Objects of Scientific Inquiry: A Special Way of Transmitting European Optical Knowledge in the Qing Dynasty Yunli Shi 4. The Karakorum Highway: Gateway of Empires, Religions, and Commerce Saba Samee Section Two: Understanding Spice Through Interdisciplinarity 5. A TRP Along the Silk Roads: How and Why We Detect and Use Spices Wayne Silver and Cecil J. Saunders 6. Silk Road Pharmacy: Debating Theriac and Defining the Natural World Monique O’Connell 7. Spice and Taste in the Culinary World of the Early Modern Mediterranean Eric Dursteler Section Three: Tradition as Continuity and Change 8. Devotional Prints and Practice: Woodcuts from the Library Cave at Dunhuang Bernadine Barnes 9. Dome of Heaven: From the Lantern Ceiling to the Chinese Wooden Dome Di Luo 10. “Malacca” – From Fabled Port to Muddy Lagoon: A Cautionary Tale of Ecological Disaster Margaret Sarkissian 11. Twenty-first Century Trading Routes in Mongolia: Changing Pastoral Soundscapes and Lifeways Jennifer Post 12. Erasing the Local, Celebrating the Local: Tracing the Contradictions of the Silk Road in Pakistan Chad Haines Section Four: Cultural Transactions 13. Arsacid Economic Activity on the Silk Road Touraj Daryaee 14. Pearls and Power: Chōla's Tribute Mission to the Northern Song Court within the Maritime Silk Road Trade Network James A. Anderson 15. “Flying Cash”: Credit Instruments on the Silk Roads Dan Du Section Five: Long-Distance Commodity Trade 16. The Case for Shipwrecked Indians in Germany Jeffrey D. Lerner 17. Samuel Shaw’s ‘Maritime Silk Road’ from American Independence towards Monopoly, 1784–1794 John A. Ruddiman

Read more less

Book SynopsisDid the Exodus occur? This question has been asked in biblical scholarship since its origin as a modern science. The desire to resolve the question scientifically was a key component in the funding of archaeological excavations in the nineteenth century. Egyptian archaeologists routinely equated sites with their presumed biblical counterpart. Initially, it was taken for granted that the Exodus had occurred. It was simply a matter of finding the archaeological data to prove it. So far, those results have been for naught.The Exodus: An Egyptian Story takes a very real-world approach to understanding the Exodus. It is not a story of cosmic spectaculars that miraculously or coincidentally occurred when a people prepared to leave Egypt. There are no special effects in the telling of this story. Instead, the story is told with real people in the real world doing what real people do.Peter Feinman does not rely on the biblical text and is not trying to prove that the Bible is true. He places the Exodus within Egyptian history based on the Egyptian archaeological record. It is a story of the rejection of the Egyptian cultural construct and defiance of Ramses II. Egyptologists, not biblical scholars, are the guides to telling the Exodus story. What would you expect Ramses II to say after he had been humiliated? If there is an Egyptian smoking gun for the Exodus, how would you recognize it? To answer these questions requires us to take the Exodus seriously as a major event at the royal level in Egyptian history.Trade ReviewThe book is a reminder that myths and legends survive far longer than historical facts and can even shape the destinies of people living three millennia later. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ * Fortean Times *Table of Contents1. The Egyptological Search for the Exodus 2. Egypt, Egyptology, and the Exodus: The Egyptian Cultural Construct 3. The Hyksos: The People of the 400 Year Sojourn 4. The Hyksos: The Triumph and Defeat of Apophis 5. Ramses, the Pharaoh of the Exodus 6. The Exodus 7. Post-Exodus Stress Disorder

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book investigates the complex relationship between funerary treatment and wider social dynamics through a contextual analysis of human skeletal remains and associated mortuary data from Voudeni, an important Mycenaean (1450-1050 BC) chamber tomb cemetery in Achaea, Greece. Voudeni is one of the most significant sites of Achaea, thoroughly investigated under the direction of the Honorary General Director of Antiquities, Dr Lazaros Kolonas. Over 60 chamber tombs, spanning the entire Late Helladic III period, have been excavated, yielding an unprecedented wealth of biocultural information. This study explores the post-mortem treatment of the body in the Voudeni cemetery, through a novel interpretive approach that transcends unproductive cross-disciplinary divisions. This biosocial approach integrates traditional archaeology, current reflections in mortuary archaeological theory and cutting-edge bioarchaeological methods, primarily focused on funerary taphonomy and archaeothanatology of commingled skeletal assemblages. The author proposes that the most effective route to explore the social dimensions of mortuary data is through an emic understanding of historically situated actions and experiences, both of the living actors, the mourners, and of the dead themselves. Human skeletal remains are used as the primary strand of evidence, both as the object of the acts of the living and the subject of their own lived experiences. Most importantly, this study aspires to show how reconciliation between abstract theoretical advances and empirical biocultural data may be possible, providing the most insightful path to a better understanding of the archaeological mortuary record.The book provides a thorough background on Mycenaean mortuary research and explores the topic in successive stages: a) theoretical and methodological framework, b) detailed taphonomic analysis and osteological results of 20 tombs, c) multivariate analysis of bio-cultural data across socio-temporal parameters (with special emphasis on the distinction between the palatial LHIIIA-B and the transitional post-palatial LHIIIC period), and d) final synthesis, addressing questions pertaining to changing social conditions in Achaea and key issues of current Mycenaean mortuary research. These include: tomb re-use; form, diversity, sequence and frequency of mortuary activities; mortality profiles; differential inclusion, visibility and funerary treatment of different groups/identities; changes in treatment of the dead body, reflecting shifts in notions of the self and social relationships. The results shed new light on social developments in Mycenaean Achaea, showing that the complex interaction between changing social conditions and mortuary practice is often reflected in subtle, yet meaningful, shifts of emphasis in the post-mortem treatment of bodies and bones, rather than in blatant radical changes.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of figures List of tables Chapter 1: Setting the stage Chapter 2: Studying mortuary practices Chapter 3: The state of play in Mycenaean mortuary research Chapter 4: A holistic bioarchaeological approach to mortuary practices Chapter 5: Material and methods Chapter 6: Tombs, bones and stories Chapter 7: Exploring the data Chapter 8: Understanding funerary practice Chapter 9: Towards a social bioarchaeology of the Mycenaean period Appendix Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne of the principal characteristics of the European Neolithic is the development of monumentality in association with innovations in material culture and changes in subsistence from hunting and gathering to farming and pastoralism. The papers in this volume discuss the latest insights into why monumental architecture became an integral part of early farming societies in Europe and beyond. One of the topics is how we define monuments and how our arguments and recent research on temporality impacts on our interpretation of the Neolithic period. Different interpretations of Göbekli Tepe are examples of this discussion as well as our understanding of special landmarks such as flint mines.The latest evidence on the economic and paleoenvironmental context, carbon 14 dates as well as analytical methods are employed in illuminating the emergence of monumentalism in Neolithic Europe. Studies are taking place on a macro and micro scale in areas as diverse as Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Germany, the Dutch wetlands, Portugal and Malta involving a range of monuments from long barrows and megalithic tombs to roundels and enclosures. Transformation from a natural to a built environment by monumentalizing part of the landscape is discussed as well as changes in megalithic architecture in relation to shifts in the social structure. An ethnographic study of megaliths in Nagaland discuss monument building as an act of social construction. Other studies look into the role of monuments as expressions of cosmology and active loci of ceremonial performances. Also, a couple of papers analyse the social processes in the transformation of society in the aftermath of the initial boom in monument construction and the related changes in subsistence and social structure in northern Europe.The aim of the publication is to explore different theories about the relationship between monumentality and the Neolithic way of life through these studies encompassing a wide range of types of monuments over vast areas of Europe and beyond.Table of ContentsIntroduction. Gebauer, A. B., Sørensen, L., Teather, A. & A. C. Valera. List of contributors. List of content. Thoughts on Monumentalism Chapter. 1. Teather, A. Neolithic monumentality for the 21st Century. Origin of Monumentalism Chapter. 2. Watkins, T. Monumentality in Neolithic Southwest Asia: making memory in time and space Chapter. 3. Kinzel, M. and Clare, L. Monumental compared to what? A Perspective from Göbekli Tepe Chapter. 4. Hodder, I. From communal to segmentary: an alternative view of Neolithic ‘monuments’ in the Middle East. Comments on chapter 2 and 3 Chapter. 5. Jeunesse, Chr. Elite houses or specialised buildings? Some comments about the special buildings of Göbekli Tepe in relation to chapter 2 and 3 Chapter. 6. Response to comments by Ian Hodder and Christian Jeunesse by Trevor Watkins Chapter. 7. Response to comments by Ian Hodder and Christian Jeunesse by Lee Clare and Moriz Kinzel with notes on a potential Upper Mesopotamian “Late PPNA Hunter-Crisis” Monuments and social change Chapter. 8. Sørensen, L. Monuments and social stratification within the early Funnel Beaker Culture in South Scandinavia . Chapter. 9. Behrens, A. Do Hundreds of megalithic monuments signify a full Neolithic way of life? The establishment of Neolithic societies on Rügen Island, Germany Chapter. 10. Brozio, J. P. From hierarchies in balance to social imbalance - transformation processes in the later Funnel Beaker north societies in the western Baltic Sea region (3100-2900 BCE) Chapter. 11. Müller, J., J. P. Brozio, W. Dörfler and W. Kirleis Narratives of third millennium transformations: new biographies of Neolithic societies, landscapes and monuments Chapter. 12. Nobles, G. Settling the Monumental Issue in the Dutch Wetlands Chapter. 13. Wunderlich, M. Celebrating stones – Megalith building traditions among Angami-Naga, Northeast-India Chapter. 14. Wadskjær, A.V. & G. Hjortlund Megalithic structures and settlements in the Valley of Posic, Amazonas, Northern Peru Funerary monuments Chapter. 15. Larsson, L. Stones as Boundaries – Stones as Markers. A megalithic tomb in Southern Portugal Chapter. 16. Pospieszny, Ł., M. Jakubczak and G. Kiarszys Putting earthen long barrows back on map. Remarks about the Middle Neolithic monumentality of northern Poland Chapter. 17. Papiernik, P., R. Brzejszczak, D. Kacper Płaza, J. Wicha, and P. Wronecki In the search of the lost heritage. Non-invasive exploration of the monumental Funnel Beaker culture long barrows in the area of Wietrzychowice in central Poland Chapter. 18. Sheridan, A. and R. Schulting Making sense of Scottish Neolithic funerary monuments: tracing trajectories and understanding their rationale Chapter. 19. Gebauer, A. B. Group benefits? The story of a cluster of megalithic monuments in Danish Funnel Beaker society Enclosures and Landscapes Chapter. 20. Parkinson, E., S. Stoddart, C. Malone, C. Brogan and R. McLaughlin Storied Structures, Sustainability and Resilience in late Neolithic Malta: Excavations at the Santa Verna, Gozo Chapter. 21. Valera, A. C. Ephemeral and Cosmological Monumentality: the ‘strange’ ditched enclosures of Chalcolithic South Portugal Chapter. 22. Sanches, M. J. and A. M. Vale Connecting stories of the Neolithic in North-Eastern Portugal. Walled enclosures and their relationships with the genealogy of the landscape. Chapter. 23. Czerniak, L., A. Matuszewska, M. Dziewanowski, L. Pospieszny, M. Jakubczak and M. Szubski The Neolithic roundel and its social context on the furthest reaches of the Danubian World. Chapter. 24. Andersson, M. and M. Artursson, The living and the dead – the Early Neolithic monumental landscape of southwestern Scania, southern Sweden. Conclusion: Chapter. 25. Thomas, J. The Lives of Monuments and Monumentalising Life

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe papers in Karia and the Dodekanese, Vol. I, focus on regional developments and interregional relations in western Asia Minor and the Dodekanese during the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic period. Throughout antiquity, this region was a dynamic meeting place for eastern and western civilizations. Cultural achievements of exceptional and everlasting importance, including significant creations of ancient Greek literature, philosophy, art and architecture, originated in the coastal cities of western Anatolia and the adjoining Aegean islands.In the fourth century BC, the eastern cities experienced a new economic boom, and a revival of Archaic culture, sometimes termed ‘The Ionian Renaissance’, began. The cultural revival furthered rebuilding of old major works such as the Artemision at Ephesos, the embellishment of sanctuaries and a new royal architecture, such as the Maussolleion at Halikarnassos. The rich cultural revival was initially promoted by the satrapal family of the Hekatomnids in Karia and in particular by its most famous member, Maussollos, whose influence was not confined to Asia Minor, but included the Dodekanese islands Kos and Rhodos. Partly under the influence of the Karian satrapy, a number of cities were founded on a new common urban model in Rhodos, Halikarnassos, Priene, Knidos and Kos. When Alexander the Great conquered the satrapies in western Asia Minor in 334 BC, the culture initially promoted at the satrapal courts was carried on by gifted thinkers, poets and architects, preparing the way for Hellenistic cultural centres such as Alexandria.Trade ReviewThe diversity of approaches and evidence discussed is consistently stimulating, and the reader gains an insight into the range of projects and methodologies currently being applied to illuminate the entwinement of mainland Anatolia with the communities of the neighbouring islands. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisKaria and the Dodekanese, Vol. II, presents new research that highlights cultural interrelations and connectivity in the Southeast Aegean and western Asia Minor over a period of more than 700 years. Throughout antiquity, this region was a dynamic meeting place for eastern and western civilizations.Modern geographical limitations have been influential on both archaeological investigations and how we approach cultural relations in the region. Comprehensive and valuable research has been carried out on many individual sites in Karia and the Dodekanese, but the results have rarely been brought together in an attempt to paint a larger picture of the culture of this region. In antiquity, the sea did not constitute an obstacle to interaction between societies and cultures, but was an effective means of communication for the exchange of goods, sculptural styles, architectural form and embellishment, education, and ideas. It is clear that close relations existed between the Dodekanese and western Asia Minor during the Classical period (Vol. I), but these relations were evidently further strengthened under the shifting political influences of the Hellenistic kings, the Roman Empire, and the cosmopolitan late antique period. The contributions in this volume comprise investigations on urbanism, architectural form and embellishment, sculpture, pottery, and epigraphy.Trade ReviewThe diversity of approaches and evidence discussed is consistently stimulating, and the reader gains an insight into the range of projects and methodologies currently being applied to illuminate the entwinement of mainland Anatolia with the communities of the neighbouring islands. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe human body serves as a symbolic bridge between communities of the living and the divine. This is clearly evident in mythological stories that recount the creation of humans by deities within ancient and contemporaneous societies across a very broad geographical environment. In certain circumstances, parts of selected humans can become an ideal proxy for connecting with the supernatural, as demonstrated by the cult of human skulls in Near Eastern Neolithic communities, as well as the cult of relics of Christian saints from the early Christian era.To go deeper into this topic, this volume undertakes a cross-cultural investigation of the role played by both humans and human remains in creating forms of relationality with the divine in antiquity. This approach highlights how the human body can be envisioned as part of a broader materialisation of religious beliefs that is based on connecting different realms of materiality in the perception of the supernatural by communities of the living.Table of ContentsContributors 1. The Sacred Body: introduction Nicola Laneri 2. Materializing what matters. Ritualized bodies from a time before text Liv Nilsson Stutz 3. Inscribing bodies in Bronze Age Cyprus Louise Steel 4. Manufacturing relics: the social construction of the ‘sacred things’ Arianna Rotondo 5. You’re in or you’re out: the inclusion or exclusion of sacred royal bodies in the tomb of the 21st Dynasty High Priests of Amen Kathlyn Cooney 6. Materializing the ancestors: sacred body parts and fragments in the ancient Near East Melissa S. Cradic 7. Modified bodies: an interpretation of social identity embedded into bones Yilmaz Selim Erdal and Valentina D’Amico 8. Feeding the divine. Body concepts and human sacrifice among the Classic period Maya Vera Tiesler and Erik Velásquez García About the Material Religion in Antiquity (MaReA) series

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Eastern Fertile Crescent region of western Iran and eastern Iraq hosted major developments in the transition from hunter-forager to farmer-herder lifestyles through the Early Neolithic period, 10,000-7000 BC. Within the scope of the Central Zagros Archaeological Project, excavations have been conducted since 2012 at two Early Neolithic sites in the Kurdistan region of Iraq: Bestansur and Shimshara. Bestansur represents an early stage in the transition to sedentary, farming life, where the inhabitants pursued a mixed strategy of hunting, foraging, herding and cultivating, maximising the new opportunities afforded by the warmer, wetter climate of the Early Holocene. They also constructed substantial buildings of mudbrick, including a major building with a minimum of 65 human individuals, mainly infants, buried under its floor in association with hundreds of beads. These human remains provide new insights into mortuary practices, demography, diet and disease during the early stages of sedentarisation. The material culture of Bestansur and Shimshara is rich in imported items such as obsidian, carnelian and sea-shells, indicating the extent to which Early Neolithic communities were networked across the Eastern Fertile Crescent and beyond. This volume includes final reports by a large-scale interdisciplinary team on all aspects of the results from excavations at Bestansur and Shimshara, through application of state-of-the-art scientific techniques, methods and analyses. The net result is to re-emphasise the enormous significance of the Eastern Fertile Crescent in one of the most important episodes in human history: the Neolithic transition.Table of ContentsContributors Preface and acknowledgements 1. The Neolithic transition in the Eastern Fertile Crescent: project themes, aims and objectives Roger Matthews, Wendy Matthews, Amy Richardson and Kamal Rasheed Raheem 2. Excavation, recording, and sampling methodologies Amy Richardson, Roger Matthews and Wendy Matthews 3. Palaeoclimate and environment of the Iraqi Central Zagros Matt Bosomworth, Dominik Fleitmann and Maria Rabbani 4. Intensive field survey in the Zarzi Region Roger Matthews, Wendy Matthews, Amy Richardson and Kamal Raeuf Aziz 5. Fluxgate gradiometry survey at Bestansur David Thornley 6. Geoarchaeological borehole, sediment and microfossil analyses at Bestansur Chris Green, Rob Batchelor, Maria Rabbani, Alessandro Guaggenti and Wendy Matthews 7. Ethnoarchaeological research in Bestansur: insights into vegetation, land-use, animals and animal dung Sarah Elliott, Robin Bendrey, Jade Whitlam and Kamal Raeuf Aziz 8. Conservation Jessica S. Johnson 9. Excavations and contextual analyses: Bestansur Amy Richardson, Roger Matthews, Wendy Matthews, Sam Walsh, Kamal Raeuf Aziz and Adam Stone 10. Excavations and contextual analyses: Shimshara Wendy Matthews, Roger Matthews, Kamal Raeuf Aziz and Amy Richardson 11. Radiocarbon dating of Bestansur and shimshara Pascal Flohr, Roger Matthews, Wendy Matthews, Amy Richardson and Dominik Fleitmann 12. Sustainability of early sedentary agricultural communities: new insights from high-resolution microstratigraphic and micromorphological analyses Wendy Matthews 13.integrated micro-analysis of the built environment and resource use: high-resolution microscopy and geochemical, mineralogical and biomolecular approaches Wendy Matthews, Aroa Garcia-Suarez, Marta Portillo, Chris Speed, Georgia Allistone, Ian Bull, Jessica Godleman and Matthew Almond 14. Microarchaeology: the small traces of neolithic activities Ingrid Iversen 15. Animal remains and human-animal-environment relationships at Early Neolithic Bestansur and Shimshara Robin Bendrey, Wim Van Neer, Salvador Bailon, Juan Rofes, Jeremy Herman, Mel Morlin and Tom Moore 16. Early Neolithic animal management and ecology: integrated analysis of faecal material Sarah Elliott with contributions from Wendy Matthews and Ian Bull 17. Bestansur molluscs: regional context and local activities Ingrid Iversen 18. The charred plant remains from Early Neolithic levels at Bestansur and Shimshara Jade Whitlam, Charlotte Diffey, Amy Bogaard and Mike Charles 19. Human remains from Bestansur: demography, diet and health Sam Walsh 20. Early Neolithic chipped stone worlds of Bestansur and Shimshara Roger Matthews, Amy Richardson and Osamu Maeda 21. Material culture and networks of Bestansur and Shimshara Amy Richardson 22. Ground stone tools and technologies David Mudd 23. Public archaeology at Bestansur Rhi Smith, Othman Fattah, Hero Salih, Hawar Hawas, Mathew Britten and Wendy Matthews 24. The Neolithic transition in the eastern Fertile Crescent: thematic synthesis and discussion Wendy Matthews, Roger Matthews, Amy Richardson and Kamal Rasheed Raheem Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume brings together recent excavations at two sites in Pocklington, East Yorkshire. The main focus of the volume is examination of Iron Age burials, which included chariots, swords, and spears, along with inclusion of earlier Prehistoric and later Roman activity. The excavations have enabled further scientific evidence for migration and mobility in the Iron Age population and secure chronologies for artefacts. New evidence from osteological analysis gives support for Warrior Graves and burial rites. The volume also examines the Pocklington shield, which has been described as one of the most significant pieces of Iron Age art.The exceptional finds, including a dismantled chariot with horses and an upright chariot also with horses, captured the world’s media and the public imagination. The excavations at Pocklington in 2017 and 2018 were featured on BBC 4’s Digging for Britain series and was voted Current Archaeology Rescue Project of the Year 2018.Anglian elements will be included in an additional volume.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first contacts between Greece, the Aegean and India are thought to have occurred at the beginning of the sixth century BC. There is now evidence of much earlier indirect connections, starting in the middle of the third millennium BC, but greatly diminishing after 1800 BC. These were initially between India with its Indus Civilisation (Meluḫḫa) and the Near East and then finally with the societies of the Early and Middle Bronze Age Aegean, with their slowly emerging palace-based economies and complex social structures. These connections point to a form of indirect or what might be called ‘trickle-down’ contact between the Aegean and India through objects, iconography and commodities, such as tin and lapis lazuli, that formed this contact.This book views the Aegean as part of a greater trade network, that includes commodities as well as more recently discovered objects, which accumulated added value as they fi rst built up a distinguished pedigree of ownership in the Near East and Syro-Palestine. It was the natural extension of trade between the Near East and India. In the Early to Late Bronze Ages, India was an important resource for valuable and indispensable commodities destined for the elites and developing technologies of much of the Old World.Finally, the period after the end of the Bronze Age to the time of Alexander the Great is examined and particularly after the sixth century, when Greeks were beginning to know about India. Within 200 years, India would be known to scholar and non-scholar alike, including those who witnessed the Persian invasions of Greece or who later became Macedonian and Greek foot soldiers marching east.Table of ContentsSummary The Author List of Table and Figures Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Prehistory: The Background The Harappan Civilisation Discovery The Decline of the Harappans Trade and Long Distance Exchange, Seafaring and Caravans Out of Meluḫḫa Farther Westwards The Harappans and Egypt Iconography Weights and Measures 2. Prehistory: The Evidence of Objects Pottery Kernoi Spiral Double Headed Pins Carnelian Beads Agate Seals and Beads Flat Disc Shaped Beads Other Beads Bronzes Pottery 3. Prehistory: The Evidence of Commodities The Role of Shortughai Organic Commodities Spices and Foodstuffs Wood Ivory Textiles Inorganic Commodities Lapis Lazuli: An Indian commodity Jade Gold: An Indian Commodity? Tin: Another Indian commodity 4. Prehistory: A Conclusion Earlier Work Summary of the Evidence 5. From the Iron Age to Alexander the Great The Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age Transition From the Sixth Century BC Greeks in Ancient Sanskrit Literature Early Geographers and Historians Religion and Philosophy Greeks, Macedonians and their Legacy in India Appendix 1. Indica of Ctesias of Cnidus Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the only volume to present significant results of research into the Pleistocene of the Western Desert of Egypt. Research on Pleistocene prehistoric remains in Dakhleh Oasis began during survey in the 1978 Dakhleh Oasis Project (DOP) season, with discovery of the ubiquity of stone artefacts. Dedicated work by both prehistorians and environmentalists continued until 2011. Comparative DOP reconnaissance and geological work in Kharga Oasis began in 1987, which morphed into the Kharga Oasis Prehistory Project (KOPP) in 2001. Papers on the Pleistocene research are focused on geoarchaeological and palaeo-environmental data, reporting on different aspects of the off-site fieldwork conducted in the oases. Pleistocene finds and sequence are included. Detailed analyses of palaeolakes, the meteoritic Dakhleh Event, chronometric dating, and the 'empty desert hypothesis' employ state of the art research strategies and techniques to provide important information on Pleistocene human uses and habitability in the Western Desert. A summary paper and a Catalogue of Pleistocene localities recorded in the Dakhleh Oasis survey are provided.The volume will be a major contribution to the publication of the results of several decades of work in a region where fieldwork is now increasingly difficult. This will be the only volume in which the significant results of the research into the Pleistocene of the Western Desert of Egypt appear. This has been undertaken under the auspices of the Dakhleh Oasis Project and its off-shoot The Kharga Oasis Prehistory Project. The preliminary results have been presented at various conferences and in articles that have all been well received. They incorporate state of the art research strategies and dating techniques. The volume will be a major contribution to the publication of the results of several decades of work in a region where fieldwork is now increasingly difficult.Table of ContentsGreat Lakes in the Dakhleh Oasis: Mid-Pleistocene Freshwater Lakes in the Dakhleh Oasis Depressions, Western Desert, Egypt (Charles S. Churcher and Maxine R. Kleindienst) A Pleistocene Catastrophic Event at Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt (Maxine R. Kleindienst, Charles S. Churcher, Henry P. Schwarcz and Albert F. C. Haldemann) The Khargan Complex vs. the ‘Empty Desert Hypothesis’, A Historical Perspective (Maxine R. Kleindienst) The Survey for Pleistocene Archaeological Localities, Dakhleh Oasis, 1978–2011: Summary of Finds Relation to Palaeolandscapes (Maxine R. Kleindienst) Some Observations on Palaeolakes and on Deposits at Kharga Oasis (Maxine R. Kleindienst) Catalogue of Pleistocene Localities, Dakhleh Oasis Survey (compiled by Maxine R. Kleindienst, 2020)

Read more less

Book SynopsisA study of archaeology and the early Church in Greece is long overdue. So far, no book has been published in English that examines the growth of Christianity in southern Greece from New Testament times until the medieval period, taking into account both contemporary theological expertise and a detailed knowledge of the numerous and exciting current archaeological excavations. Situated between Israel and Italy, Greece is now yielding vital evidence of the development of early Christianity. Mainland Greece and its surrounding islands is a vast region, and I have chosen to focus on an area rich in early Christian remains, namely the region stretching from Athens southwards.The book examines evidence relating to Christianity in New Testament times, particularly through the writings of St Paul and early theologians, and juxtaposes these texts with recent and current excavations at Corinth, with its twin ports of Kenchreai and Lechaion, and its chief sanctuary beyond the city at Isthmia, where St Paul worked during the celebration of the pan-Hellenic Games. Much of the excavation at Lechaion has been carried out underwater by divers pioneering new methods of preserving submerged material, since most of the harbour is entirely submerged.Later, particularly from the sixth century onwards, Christian basilicas were built throughout Greece. A number of these are examined, including those at Nemea and Epidaurus. Nemea provides unique evidence of an agricultural community guided by a bishop; numerous Christian artefacts have been excavated at the site. Epidaurus was honoured as the birthplace of the healing god Asclepius, and early Christians inherited and developed these healing skills in unexpected ways. At other locations, monks developed a wide variety of lifestyles that were little known in the Western Church. The archaeology of Christian sites in Greece is a new and unfolding discipline; this book will hopefully encourage scholars and students to take these studies further.Trade ReviewThe most important findings from archaeological sources are compiled and analysed within their local situation … and local sources are interwoven with a range of texts from different times and places. Through this approach the ancient ruins are filled with life and the continuous rise of Christianity within a multi-religious world becomes recognisable. A well-written book, providing the lay reader with an accessible account of the development of Christian communities in the Eastern Peloponnese and Athens until the 12th century AD. * Current World Archaeology *This well-illustrated publication sets out to describe the archaeological evidence for early Christianity in the NE Peloponnese, Attica and parts of central Greece ... The book is very accessible and shares some interesting observations and engagement with a range of evidence and contemporary views … Overall, the book reveals the deep respect that the author has for understanding the archaeology of the period in its topographic contexts. * Medieval Archaeology *Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1. Phoebe of Kenchreai: a generous woman Chapter 2. Early Christian Kenchreai Chapter 3. Paul at Isthmia: running for a victor’s crown Chapter 4. Early Christian Corinth: a troubled community Chapter 5. Lechaion: a martyrs’ shrine Chapter 6. Two rural churches: Nemea and Sikyon Chapter 7. Athens: a daughter church of Corinth Chapter 8. Healing Gods: Asclepius and Christ

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrinacria, the ancient name for Sicily extending back to Homeric Greek, has understandably been the focus of decades of archaeological research. Recognising Sicily’s rich prehistory and pivotal role in the history of the Mediterranean, Sebastiano Tusa - professor, head of heritage agencies and councillor for Cultural Heritage for the Sicilian Region - promoted the exploration of the island’s heritage through international collaboration. His decades of fostering research initiatives not only produced rich archaeological results spanning the Palaeolithic to the modern era but brought scholars from a range of schools and disciplines to work together in Sicily. Through his efforts, uniquely productive methodological, theoretical and interpretative networks were created. Their impact extends far beyond Sicily and Italy.To highlight these networks and their results, the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, the Swedish Institute in Rome, the Norwegian Institute in Rome, the British School at Rome and the Assessorato dei Beni Culturali of Sicily, with generous support from the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, assembled this anthology of papers. The aim is to present a selection of the work of and results from contemporary, multi-national research projects in Sicily.The collaboration between the Sicilian and international partners, often in an interdisciplinary framework, has generated important results and perspectives. The articles in this volume present research projects from throughout the island. The core of the articles is concerned with the Archaic through to the Roman period, but diachronic studies also trace lines back to the Stone Age and up to the contemporary era. A range of methods and sources are explored, thus creating an up-to-date volume that is a referential gateway to contemporary Sicilian archaeology.Trade ReviewI can only congratulate the organizers for a […] very beautifully printed volume. The work by foreign researchers in Sicily is very impressive and holds good hopes for the future, for a lively and successful archaeology * Opuscula *One must rejoice at the wide-ranging activities of so many international and cross-disciplinary collaborations, which have the potential to enhance significantly our knowledge of Sicily’s unique history and heritage. * Antiquity *Table of ContentsPreface (Valeria Li Vigni Tusa) List of contributors Introduction (Arja Karivieri, Peter Campbell, Kristian Göransson and Christopher Prescott) In memory of Sebastiano Tusa, 2 August 1952–10 March 2019 (Paola Pelagatti) 1. Topographical research and geophysical surveys at Naxos in Sicily 2012–2019 Maria Costanza Lentini, Jari Pakkanen and Apostolos Sarris 2. Francavilla di Sicilia: a Greek settlement in the hinterland of Naxos Kristian Göransson 3. The praedia Philippianorum: a late Roman estate at Gerace near Enna R. J. A. Wilson 4. Akrai, south-eastern Sicily: a multidisciplinary study on the impact of ancient humans on the natural landscape Roksana Chowaniec, Rafał Fetner, Girolamo Fiorentino, Anna Gręzak and Matilde Stella 5. The Marzamemi Maritime Heritage Project: from the seabed to the museum and beyond Justin Leidwanger, Elizabeth S. Greene, Leopoldo Repola and Fabrizio Sgroi 6. The Hellenistic house in motion: reflections on the CAP excavations at Morgantina (2014–2019) D. Alex Walthall 7. The Morgantina baths in their urban context Sandra K. Lucore 8. Sicily in the Iron Age and the concept of the Greek chora Johannes Bergemann with a contribution by Rebecca Diana Klug 9. The Himera Project of the University of Bern: a collaboration with the Parco Archeologico di Himera Elena Mango 10. Halaesa (Tusa, Messina): undertakings of the French Archaeological Mission, 2016–2019: the discovery of the theatre and problems in its excavation Michela Costanzi 11. The research project led by the University of Zurich on Monte Iato: the last 10 years Christoph Reusser 12. The gymnasion of Iaitas/Ietas discovered? New excavations in the eastern quarter on Monte Iato Martin Mohr 13. The Salemi Survey Project: the longue durée of interior western Sicily 1500 BC–AD 1500 Michael J. Kolb, Pierfrancesco Vecchio and Rossella Giglio 14. The ‘Archaeological Map of Lilybaeum’ Donatella Ebolese, Mauro Lo Brutto, Antonella Mandruzzato, Debora Oswald and Martina Seifert 15. Mapping cross-channel connections: the Arizona Sicily Project, preliminary report of the 2018 and 2019 seasons Emma Blake, Robert Schon and Rossella Giglio 16. The Battle of the Aegates Islands, 241 BC: mapping a naval encounter, 2005–2019 Sebastiano Tusa, Peter Campbell, Mateusz Polakowski, William M. Murray, Francesca Oliveri, Cecilia A. Buccellato, Adriana Fresina and Valeria Li Vigni 17. I.Sicily and Crossreads: a digital epigraphic corpus for ancient Sicily Jonathan R.W. Prag

Read more less

Book SynopsisClothing was an essential part of material culture in ancient societies both as a form of body protection and as house equipment. Besides a practical function, textiles played a crucial role in communicating various aspects of social and personal identity.Based largely on the analysis of textile tools, this book is intended to be the first systematic attempt at reconstructing textile culture in ancient Sicily. Textile implements represent the most abundant category of evidence for textile activity in Sicily and in this book they are used as a means to explore the social dynamics within cultural interactions in the final Bronze–Iron Age and Archaic Sicily.The book begins with an overview of the cultural complexity of communities in Sicily and the Aeolian islands, focusing on two crucial periods of Sicilian history, which are characterised by intense movements of peoples from the Italian peninsula and the establishment of Greek and Phoenician settlements. Through the investigation of textile tools, the book discusses several key aspects, including technological features of textile technology and production, knowledge transfer, networks of weavers, as well as the social significance of textile activity.By employing an interdisciplinary perspective, this book is important not only for textile specialists but also for scholars and students dealing with culturally hybrid frameworks of ancient Sicily and provides a springboard for future studies on textile culture and cultural interactions in the ancient world.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Maps List of Tables Abbreviations Introductory Framework Geographical, Chronological and Cultural framework Textile activity in Sicily: Sources and Evidence Textile tools in domestic and workshop contexts Textile tools in votive and sacred contexts Technology and production Tracing textile culture of Sicily Annex A: Analysis of textile tools in Sicily: the case studies Annex B: Analysis of textile tools from the Late-Final Bronze Age settlements at Lipari Annex C: Analysis of loom weights from the so-called Bothros of Aeolus- Lipari Annex D: Analysis of textile tools from Metapiccola (Lentini) Annex E: Analysis of textile tools from the FB-IA Cittadella hill (Morgantina) Annex F: Analysis of textile tools from the Archaic Cittadella hill (Morgantina) Annex G: Analysis of textile tools from the FB-IA settlement of Sabucina Annex H: Analysis of textile tools from the Archaic settlement of Sabucina Annex I: Analysis of textile tools from Himera Annex J: Analysis of textile tools from Monte Maranfusa Annex K: Analysis of textile tools from Monte Polizo Afterword Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Brough of Birsay was the power-centre of the Viking earldom of Orkney and is one of Historic Environment Scotland’s key monuments and visitor attractions on the islands. This publication is the culmination of 60 years of investigations that took place on the site between 1954 and 2014.This new volume incorporates comprehensive accounts of work undertaken by Dr Ralegh Radford and Mr Stewart Cruden between 1954 and 1964, excavations by the Viking and Early Settlement Research Project under the direction of the author on site between 1974 and 1981, a rescue excavation in 1993, a geophysical survey in 2007 and archival research up to 2014.Specialist artefactual and palaeobiological studies of metallurgical material, ogham inscriptions and a gilt-bronze mount of Insular origin are included, together with re-analysis of the radiocarbon dates from all sites in Birsay Bay, and a re-assessment of the architecture and dating of the church and related buildings on the Brough itself.The final two chapters put the Brough, as both a Pictish power-centre and the hub of the Viking earldom, in the overall context of Birsay Bay and Viking and late Norse Orkney, and the wider world between the Pictish and late Norse/Medieval periods.As well as being the author’s third and final volume reporting on work for the Birsay Bay Project, this volume completes a trilogy of studies of the Brough itself, alongside Mrs Cecil Curle’s and Prof John Hunter’s earlier monographs.Table of ContentsList of illustrations List of tables Preface Acknowledgements Part I. Background and context for investigations 1946–2014 1. Background by Christopher D Morris 2. The Birsay Bay Project and the Brough of Birsay by Christopher D Morris Part II. Area I: The church and churchyard 3. Historical background to the 1950s–1960s investigations at the church, associated buildings and churchyard on the Brough of Birsay by C A Ralegh Radford 4. Investigations by Ralegh Radford and Stewart Cruden on the church compiled by Christopher D Morris 5. Investigations by Ralegh Radford and Stewart Cruden on the buildings north of the church compiled by Christopher D Morris 6. An architectural analysis of the church and related buildings on the Brough of Birsay by Richard Fawcett 7. The graves, churchyard enclosures and notable stone monuments compiled by Christopher D Morris 8. Reassessment of the ‘Celtic Enclosure’ in 1981 by Christopher D Morris Part III. Area II: The buildings east of the churchyard 9. Investigations by Radford and Cruden on the area to the east of the churchyard (‘The Viking House’) and excavations in ‘Room 5’ of the ‘Small buildings’ in 1973/4 10. Explorations in 1993 on the cliff-side to the south-east of the churchyard by Christopher D Morris Part IV. Area III: The buildings west of the churchyard 11. Investigations by Radford and Cruden on the buildings to the south-west of the churchyard by Christopher D Morris 12. Area excavations 1974–80 in and around Structure N by Christopher D Morris 13. Area excavations in 1974–5 in and around Structure L and trial excavations in 1977 on features around Structure M by Christopher D Morris 14. Area excavations in 1976–80 in and around Structure E to the west of the churchyardby Christopher D Morris 15. Area excavations in 1977–81 in and around Structures ‘S’ and B to the west and north-west of the churchyard and re-assessment of the dating of Structures F, P and R to the north 16. Specialist studies relating to Area III Part V. The south-western cliff-side area 17. Survey and trial investigations 1979 and re-assessment of the dating of Sites VIII and IXby Christopher D Morris 18. Investigations on the Peerie Brough 1979–81 by Christopher D Morris Part VI. Economy, landscape and analysis 19. The artefactual assemblage by Colleen E Batey 20. The biological assemblage by Christopher D Morris based on work by D James Rackham with others 21. Geophysical prospection 2007 on the Brough of Birsay by Susan Ovenden and David W Griffiths 22. Overall re-assessment of radiocarbon dates from Birsay by Zoe Outram 23. Birsay Bay landscape geophysical surveys, 2003–6 by David W Griffiths with Susan Ovenden Part VII. Drawing the threads together 24. The Brough of Birsay and Birsay Bay in retrospect by Christopher D Morris 25. An overview and final assessment by Christopher D Morris Appendices Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisMarkets emerge in recent historical research as important spheres of economic interaction in ancient societies. In the case of ancient Egypt, traditional models imagined an all-encompassing centralized, bureaucratic economy that left practically no place for market transactions, as many surviving documents only described the activities of the royal palace and of huge institutions, mainly temples. Yet scattered references in the sources reveal that markets and traders were crucial actors in the economic life of ancient Egypt. In this perspective, this volume aims to discuss the role of markets, traders and economic interaction (not necessarily organized through markets) and the use of "money" (metals, valuable commodities) in pre-modern societies, based on archaeological, anthropological and historical evidence. Furthermore, it intends to integrate different perspectives about the social organization of transactions and exchanges and the different forms taken by markets, from meeting places where exchanges operated under ritualized procedures and conventions, to markets in which profit-seeking activities were marginal in respect with other practices that stressed, on the contrary, community collaboration. The book also deals with social forms of pre-modern exchanges in which trust and ethnic solidarity guaranteed the validity of commercial operations in the absence of formal codes of laws or accepted authorities over long distances (trade diasporas, guilds, etc.). Finally, the volume analyzes a critical aspect of small-scale trade and markets, such as the commercialization of agricultural household production and its impact on the peasant economic strategies. In all, the book covers a diversity of topics in which recent research in the fields of economic sociology, archaeology, anthropology, economics and history proves invaluable in order to analyze the role of Egyptian trade in a broader perspective, as well as to suggest new venues of comparative research, theoretical reflection and dialogue between Egyptology and social sciences.Table of ContentsPreface by Gianluca Miniaci and Juan Carlos Moreno García 1. Markets and transactions in pre-modern societies Juan Carlos Moreno García 2. A key commodity: The role of cowries in West Africa Anne Haour 3. Marketplaces and market exchanges in the pre-colonial Americas Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas 4. The enchanting scale: Magic and morality in the Bronze Age economic balance Chris Monroe 5. Markets, efflorescence, and political economy in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East Reinhard Pirngruber 6. Peasants, rural economy, and cash crops in medieval Islam Bethany J. Walker 7. Markets in the shadows, trade diasporas, and self-organizing trading/smuggling networks John B. Owens 8. Market performance in the grain market of late medieval Western Europe (c. 1300–1650) Bas van Leeuwen and Robin C.M. Philips 9. Two tales of pre-modern contraction: Wage differentials in late medieval and early modern Japan Osamu Saito 10. Markets, transactions, and ancient Egypt: New venues for research in a comparative perspective Juan Carlos Moreno García

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinchester’s identity as a royal centre became well established between the ninth and twelfth centuries, closely tied to the significance of the religious communities who lived within and without the city walls. The reach of power of Winchester was felt throughout England and into the Continent through the relationships of the bishops, the power fluctuations of the Norman period, the pursuit of arts and history writing, the reach of the city’s saints, and more. The essays contained in this volume present early medieval Winchester not as a city alone, but a city emmeshed in wider political, social, and cultural movements and, in many cases, providing examples of authority and power that are representative of early medieval England as a whole.Trade Review[T]his volume is a stimulating and insightful collection. * Medieval Archaeology *Table of ContentsEditors' Preface List of Contributors List of Illustrations 1. Communities, Authority and Power in Winchester, c. 800–c. 1200 Katherine Weikert, Ryan Lavelle, and Simon Roffey 2. Capital Considerations: Winchester and the Birth of Urban Archaeology Martin Biddle 3. The King’s Stone: Peace, Power and the Highway in Early Medieval Winchester Alexander James Langlands 4. Royal Burial in Winchester: Context and Significance Barbara Yorke 5. Constructing Early Medieval Winchester: Historical Narratives and the Compilation of British Library Cotton Otho B.XI Sharon M. Rowley 6. Winchester, Æthelings and Clitones: The Political Significance of the City for Anglo-Saxon Royalty and Norman Nobility David McDermott 7. The Execution of Earl Waltheof: Public Space and Royal Authority at the Edge of Eleventh-Century Winchester Ryan Lavelle 8. Queen, the Countess and the Conflict: Winchester 1141 Katherine Weikert 9. Lantfred and Local Life at Winchester in the 960s and 970s Mark Atherton 10. Wælcyrian in the Water Meadows: Lantfred’s Furies Eric Lacey 11. SK27, Or A Winchester Pilgrim’s Tale Simon Roffey 12. The Early Jewish Community in Twelfth-Century Winchester: An Interdisciplinary View Toni Griffiths 13. Henry of Blois and an Archbishopric of Winchester: Medieval Rationale and Anglo-Saxon Sources Alexander R. Rumble 14. Swithun in the North: A Winchester Saint in Norway Karl Christian Alvestad

Read more less

Book SynopsisBefore the Military Revolution examines European Warfare in the Late Middle Ages from 1300 to 1490. It is not restricted only to well-covered conflicts, like the Anglo-Scottish Wars or the Hundred Years War, but gives due weight to all regions of Europe, including the Empire, the Baltic, the Balkans and the Mediterranean, and considers developments in naval warfare. The Hussite Wars and the wars of the Teutonic Order and the Hanseatic League are covered, as is the expansion of Moscow, the Ottomans and Venice, and battles likeAussig (1426), Copenhagen (1428), Chojnice (1454) are discussed alongside Bannockburn and Agincourt.This age witnesses fundamental change. The feudal system of the High Middle Ages crumbled everywhere in Europe due to climatic change, economic crisis and population decline. This triggered a fiscalisation of the military organisation, the establishment of taxes and representation of the estates. This book argues that these changes are the most fundamental ones in the military and political organisation in Europe until the rise of the constitutional state around 1800 and so comes closer to the original concept of a Military Revolution. It also takes a critical look at other often discussed developments of this age, like the Infantry and Artillery Revolution or the decline of cavalry. Combining a chronological and regional narrative with deeper analysis of themes like chivalry, strategy, economic warfare or military publications makes this book an indispensable read for everyone interested in late medieval history.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Medieval Warfare 1000-1300 2. War in Europe 1300-1400 3. War in Europe 1400-1450 4. War in Europe 1450-1490 5. Naval Warfare 6. Guns and Pikesquares: revolutions of medieval warfare? 7. A Revolution of Knowledge 8. From the feudal levy system to mercenary armies: A Social-Military Revolution 9. Military change and the development of the early modern state Conclusions

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents a thematic collection of papers dealing with the Stone Age and Bronze Age archaeology of the Ionian Sea, situated off the south western Balkan peninsula. It is based on an international conference held in Athens, Greece in January 2020.The eastern Ionian occupies a geographically complex area, which since the Pleistocene has undergone significant alterations due to tectonic activity and sea-level fluctuations. This dynamic environment, where islands, mainland, and sea intertwined to present different landscapes and seascapes to the human communities exploring the region at different times in the past, provides an ideal setting for their study from a diachronic perspective.This book deals thematically with the processes of circulation of people, materials, artefacts and ideas by examining patterns of settlement, burial and multi-layered interconnections between the different communities via land and sea. It investigates aspects of regional and interregional communication, isolation, collective memory and the creation of distinct identities within and between different cultural and social groups. It focuses on the islands of the Central Ionian Sea, offering new data from excavations and surveys on Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Ithaki and the smaller islands of the Inner Ionian Archipelago between Lefkada and Akarnania. The cultural interchange between the islands and the continental coasts is reflected in the volume with the addition of chapters dealing with contemporary sites in west Greece and southeast Italy.The Ionian, often regarded as 'at the fringes' of the Aegean, the Balkan and the central Mediterranean archaeological discourse, has lately offered new and exciting data that not only enrich but also alter our perceptions of mobility, settlement and interaction. The collection of papers in this book enhances theoretical discussions by offering a geographically and culturally comparative approach, ranging from the earliest Palaeolithic evidence of human presence in the region to the end of the Bronze Age.Table of ContentsContributors Preface Introduction Part A. Island Archaeology Comparative perspectives in ‘island archaeology’: a view from the Ionian Sea Helen Dawson Part B. Prehistory 1. Lithics as diachronic proxies for the circulation of people and ideas in the dynamic Ionian landscape Christina Papoulia 2. Prehistoric settlement in the Inner Ionian Sea Archipelago and its Ionian island connections Nena Galanidou, Maria Gatsi, Olympia Vikatou, Antonis Vasilakis, Catherine Morgan, Jeannette Forsén, Vivian Staikou, Christina Papoulia and Panagiotis Zervoudakis 3. Palaeolithic chipped stone industries from Zakynthos, Ionian islands, Greece. Interpreting the new evidence within the western Greek and Adriatic context Stefanos Ligkovanlis and Georgia Kourtessi-Philippakis 4. Beyond the horizon. Stone artefacts and social networks in Late Neolithic Drakaina Cave, Kefalonia island, western Greece Georgia Stratouli, Tasos Bekiaris and Vasilios Melfos 5. Evidence of settlements on Kefalonia during the Final Neolithic and the Early Helladic period Andreas Sotiriou 6. The communal ceramic traditions of prehistoric Ithaca Areti Pentedeka, Catherine Morgan and Andreas Sotiriou 7. The Early and Middle Bronze Age in the Ionian Sea. New evidence from Zakynthos Gert Jan Van Wijngaarden, Ayla Krijnen, Nienke Pieters and Corien Wiersma 8. Aitoloakarnania and the Ionian Sea in the Εarly Bronze Age: a history of interaction Venediktos Lanaras Part C. The Late Bronze Age 9. Islands in the stream: a maritime perspective of the south-central Ionian islands in the Late Bronze Age Christina Souyoudzoglou-Haywood 10. The palaeo-geographic development of Livadi Marsh, Paliki: implications for the detection of an ancient harbour and anthropogenic settlement Peter Styles, George Apostolopoulos, John R. Underhill, John Crawshaw, Olympia Vikatou and Eleni Papafloratou 11. The Archaeological Shoreline Research Project on the cultural semantics of coasts: the promontory of Kapros, southeast Kefalonia, in the Bronze Age Evyenia Yiannouli 12. Diverging trajectories within the west Mycenaean koine: the evidence from Kefalonia Odysseas Metaxas 13. Migrants, refugees and social restructuring in Late Helladic Kefalonia Ioannis Voskos 14. The nature of warfare in western Greece and the Ionian islands during the Late Bronze Age Thanasis J. Papadopoulos 15. The Ionian-Adriatic interface as a landscape of mobility Francesco Iacono and Riccardo Guglielmino Appendix: Continuity in the material culture of Kefalonia: from the Late Bronze Age to the historical period in Drakaina cave by Agathi Karadima

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Chalcolithic, the phase in prehistory when the important technical development of adding tin to copper to produce bronze had not yet taken place, is not a term generally used by British prehistorians and whether there is even a definable phase is debated. Is There a British Chalcolithic? brings together many leading authorities in 20 papers that address this question.Papers are grouped under several headings. Definitions, Issues and Debate considers whether appropriate criteria apply that define a distinctive period (c. 2450 - 2150 cal BC) in cultural, social, and temporal terms with particular emphasis on the role and status of metal artefacts and Beaker pottery. Continental Perspectives addresses various aspects of comparative regions of Europe where a Chalcolithic has been defined. Around Britain and Ireland presents a series of large-scale regional case studies where authors argue for and against the adoption of the term. The final section, Economy, Landscapes and Monuments, looks at aspects of economy, land-use and burial tradition and provides a detailed consideration of the Stonehenge and Avebury landscapes during the period in question.The volume contains much detailed information on sites and artefacts, and comprehensive radiocarbon datasets that will be invaluable to scholars and students studying this enigmatic but pivotal episode of British Prehistory.Additional information originally found on included CD ROM can be downloaded here.Table of ContentsDEFINITIONS, ISSUES and DEBATE 1. Case and Place for the British Chalcolithic (STUART NEEDHAM) 2. Drawing Boundaries and Building Models: investigating the concept of the ‘Chalcolithic frontier’ in northwest Europe (BENJAMIN W. ROBERTS and CATHERINE FRIEMAN) 3. A Rumsfeld Reality Check: what we know, what we don’t know and what we don’t know we don’t know about the Chalcolithic in Britain and Ireland (ALISON SHERIDAN) 4. Before 29Cu became copper: tracing the recognition and invention of metalleity in Britain and Ireland during the third millennium BC (PETER BRAY) CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVES 5. The importance of being insular: Britain and Ireland in their North-West European context during the 3rd millennium BC (MARC VANDER LINDEN) 6. Sense and non-sense of the term ‘Chalcolithic’ (MARTIN BARTELHEIM and RAIKO KRAUSS) 7. Growth and expansion; social, economic and ideological structures in the European Chalcolithic (VOLKER HEYD) 8. Dutchmen on the Move? A discussion of the adoption of the Beaker package (HARRY FOKKENS) 9. Working copper in the Chalcolithic; a long term perspective on the development of metallurgical knowledge in Central Europe and the Carpathian Basin (TOBIAS KIENLIN) AROUND BRITAIN & IRELAND 10. Chronology, corpses, copper and lithics (FRANCES HEALY) 11. Is there a Scottish Chalcolithic? (IAN SHEPHERD† (completed by Alison Sheridan and Lekky) ) 12. A date with the Chalcolithic in Wales; a review of radiocarbon determinations for the period 2450- 2100 BC (STEVE BURROW) 13. Searching for the Chalcolithic: continuity and change in the Irish Final Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (NEIL CARLIN and JOANNA BRÜCK) 14. The Chalcolithic in Ireland; a chronological and cultural framework (WILLIAM O’BRIEN) PEOPLE 15. The Beaker People Project: an interim report on the progress of the isotopic analysis of the organic skeletal material (MANDY JAY, MIKE PARKER PEARSON, MIKE RICHARDS, OLAF NEHLICH, JANET MONTGOMERY, ANDREW CHAMBERLAIN, and ALISON SHERIDAN) 16. The Regionality of Beakers and Bodies in the Chalcolithic of North-East Scotland (NEIL CURTIS and NEIL WILKIN) 17. Stepping out together: men, women and their Beakers in time and space (ALEXANDRA SHEPHERD) ECONOMY, LANDSCAPES and MONUMENTS 18. Beaker land-use, animals and economy – a chronological changing point? (MICHAEL J. ALLEN and MARK MALTBY) 19. The present dead: the making of past and future landscapes in the British ‘Chalcolithic’ (PAUL GARWOOD) 20. The Revenge of the Native: monuments, material culture and burial and other practices in the third quarter of the 3rd millennium BC in Wessex (ROSAMUND CLEAL and JOSHUA POLLARD) Index CD 1. Case and Place for the British Chalcolithic (STUART NEEDHAM) Appendix 1.1: Key Chalcolithic grave groups Appendix 1.2: Selected radiocarbon dated ceremonial sites mentioned in the text Bibliography 10. Chronology, corpses, copper and lithics (FRANCES HEALY) Table 10.4 Radiocarbon measurements used in models and/or cited in the text, in laboratory number order Figures 10.3a, 10.3b. 10.3c, 10.3d, 10.3e, 10.5b, 10.5c, 10.5d, 10.5e, 10.5f, 10.5g, and 10.5i Bibliography 15. The Beaker People Project: an interim report on the progress of the isotopic analysis of the organic skeletal material. (MANDY JAY, MIKE PARKER PEARSON, MIKE RICHARDS, OLAF NEHLICH, JANET MONTGOMERY, ANDREW CHAMBERLAIN, and ALISON SHERIDAN) Table 15.1: List of individuals included in the Beaker People Project for isotope analysis 16. The Regionality of Beakers and Bodies in the Chalcolithic of North-East Scotland (NEIL CURTIS and NEIL WILKIN) Appendix 2: Figures 16.9, 16.10, 16.11 and 16.12 17. Stepping out together: men, women and their Beakers in time and space. (ALEXANDRA SHEPHERD) Case studies Borrowstone Cists 1 & 2 Fig 17.11 Borrowstone Cists 4, 5 & 6 Broomhend of Crichie cist 2 Broomhend of Crichie cist 1 Garton Slack 163 Painsthorpe Wold 4 Huggate and Warter Wold 254

Read more less

Book SynopsisHoly Island is a small island just off the west coast of Anglesey, North Wales, which is rich in archaeology of all periods. Between 2006 and 2010, archaeological excavations in advance of a major Welsh Government development site, Parc Cybi, enabled extensive study of the island’s past. Over 20 hectares were investigated, revealing a busy and complex archaeological landscape, which could be seen evolving from the Mesolithic period through to the present day. Major sites discovered include an Early Neolithic timber hall aligned on an adjacent chambered tomb and an Iron Age settlement, the development of which is traced by extensive dating and Bayesian analysis. A Bronze Age ceremonial complex, along with the Neolithic tomb, defined the cultural landscape for subsequent periods. A long cist cemetery of a type common on Anglesey proved, uncommonly, to be late Roman in date, while elusive Early Medieval settlement was indicated by corn dryers. This wealth of new information has revolutionised our understanding of how people have lived in, and transformed, the landscape of Holy Island. Many of the sites are also significant in a broader Welsh context and inform the understanding of similar sites across Britain and Ireland.Trade ReviewThe volume is a valuable addition to the burgeoning canon of archaeological publications resulting from large-scale infrastructure projects on Anglesey and the mainland opposite * Archaeologia Cambrensis - Cambrian Archaeological Association *Providing a fascinating long view of settlement in a slice of Welsh landscape, this publication, well illustrated with site photographs, clear plans and reconstructions, will offer an interesting point of comparison to some excavated landscapes on the western side of the Irish Sea. * Archaeology Ireland *Jane Kenney’s volume offers a detailed window on the transformation of a landscape that has provided a home for human populations for over 8000 years. * Antiquity *Table of ContentsList of figures List of tables Summary Crynodeb 1. Introduction 2. A landscape through time 3. Mesolithic Period 4. Neolithic period – houses, halls and huts 5. Beaker period and earlier Bronze Age – ceremony and settlement 6. Later Bronze Age and Iron Age – settlement and politics 7. Roman and Early Medieval periods – industry, burial and corn dryers 8. Medieval and post-medieval periods – a farming landscape 9. Conclusion Appendix I: Radiocarbon dates from Parc Cybi Appendix II: Project background and methodology Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis first of two volumes presents the archaeological evidence of a long sequence of settlement and funerary activity from the Beaker period (Early Bronze Age c. 2000 BC) to the Early Iron Age (c. 500 BC) at the unusually long-occupied site of Cladh Hallan on South Uist in the Western Isles of Scotland. Particular highlights of its sequence are a cremation burial ground and pyre site of the 18th–16th centuries BC and a row of three Late Bronze Age sunken-floored roundhouses constructed in the 10th century BC. Beneath these roundhouses, four inhumation graves contained skeletons, two of which were remains of composite collections of body parts with evidence for post-mortem soft tissue preservation prior to burial. They have proved to be the first evidence for mummification in Bronze Age Britain.Cladh Hallan's remarkable stratigraphic sequence, preserved in the machair sand of South Uist, includes a unique 500-year sequence of roundhouse life in Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Britain. One of the most important results of the excavation has come from intensive environmental and micro-debris sampling of house floors and outdoor areas to recover patterns of discard and to interpret the spatial use of 15 domestic interiors from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. From Cladh Hallan’s roundhouse floors we gain intimate insights into how daily life was organized within the house - where people cooked, ate, worked and slept. Such evidence rarely survives from prehistoric houses in Britain or Europe, and the results make a profound contribution to long-running debates about the sunwise organisation of roundhouse activities. Activity at Cladh Hallan ended with the construction and abandonment of two unusual double-roundhouses in the Early Iron Age. One appears to have been a smokery and steam room, and the other was used for metalworking.Trade ReviewThe first of two promised monographs (the next will feature artefacts, animal bones and environmental and human remains), this rich compendium presents the site’s stunning stratigraphy – soils, structures, burials, dating and pottery. * British Archaeology *A large publication, this book contains a vast amount of information, including chapters on thin-section soil micromorphology, scientific dating and pottery, that will be of interst and use to other researchers. * Archaeology Ireland *It is not often that one opens the pages of a huge excavation report with a real sense of anticipation, awaiting the depth and detail that a monograph affords to shed light on a site that garnered much media attention … [It] finally allows the context, chronology, and interpretation of these discoveries to be explained in depth … [and] shows how flexible and evolving excavation methodologies and research questions can lead to outstanding results … There is no doubt that the understanding of later prehistoric lifeways, house building, cosmology, burial practices, metallurgical crafts, farming and ceramics have all been augmented by the work at Cladh Hallan and this wonderful volume. * Scottish Archaeological Journal *Lucid writing and communication of the highly complex site stand out throughout the publication … Much more than a primer or scene-setter for the human remains, [this] is a great asset and a superb volume supported by high production values and lavish illustrations. The book evokes 500 years of settlement development and forms a contextualised basis for understanding the dynamic interplay between the dead and the living. [It] thus makes a highly important contribution to our understanding of Scottish and British later prehistory. * Antiquity *It is one of those rare archaeological sites that transform the mundanity of everyday domestic life into something very much extraordinary, generating fascination from academic and lay audiences alike. So, it should come as no surprise that we feel [this volume] on the Bronze Age and Iron Age roundhouses at Cladh Hallan, which are presented in full alongside the buried human remains associated with them, should be very well received by archaeologists and all those interested in the later prehistoric archaeology of Britain … The monograph is also incredibly well illustrated with 575 figures, over 280 of which are in colour … While this volume will immediately appeal to people interested in later prehistoric settlement in Britain, anyone wanting to see a slightly different take on the printed archaeological monograph should also have a look between its covers. * Archaeological Journal *Table of ContentsLIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES CONTRIBUTORS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. The Cladh Hallan excavations and their context M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith 1.1 The site of Cladh Hallan and its environs 1.2 The Bronze Age to Early Iron Age settlement at Cladh Hallan 1.3 Previous discoveries 1.4 Survey, test excavations and trial-trenching 1988–1996 1.5 The evolving research design 1.6 The 1997–2003 excavations 2. Beaker cultivation, Cordoned Urn layers and Early Bronze Age cremation burials (phases 1–3) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by C.A.I. French and H. Manley 2.1 Beaker-period cultivation and activity (phase 1) 2.2 Early Bronze Age settlement remains at Cladh Hallan (phase 2) 2.3 The cremation cemetery (phase 3) 2.4 The gully or ditch under Houses 1370 and 401 (phase 3) 2.5 The cremation platform and pyre (phase 3) 2.6 Area B: the stone structure (phase 3) 2.7 Area C: a disturbed inhumation burial (phase 3) 2.8 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 3. The first houses: Late Bronze Age occupation (phases 4–7) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by C.A.I. French, A. Hale and H. Manley 3.1 The boat-shaped house (2835; phase 4) and its destruction (phase 5) 3.2 The sheep burial in the north-central zone of Area A (phase 4) 3.3 Ard-marks, a post-built structure and an exploratory pit (phases 5–6) 3.4 The cigar-shaped structure (2477; phase 7) 3.5 The tiny roundhouse (3260; phase 7) 3.6 The pit alignment (phases 6–7) 3.7 Pottery from the pits, Structure 2477 and House 3260 (phases 5–7) M. Parker Pearson 3.8 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 4. The construction of the row of roundhouses and digging of the features beneath them (phase 8) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by T. Booth, A. Chamberlain, O. Craig, , J. Evans, J. Hiller, J. Montgomery and C. Willis 4.1 Beneath House 801 4.2 Beneath House 401 4.3 Beneath House 1370 4.4 The double pit outside House 1370 4.5 The sub-floor human burials: a summary 4.6 Construction of House 801 4.7 Construction of House 401 4.8 Construction of House 1370 4.9 The pottery M. Parker Pearson 4.10 Stratigraphic relationships of the skeletons, their contexts of deposition and the house floors M. Parker Pearson 4.11 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 5. The primary occupation of the Late Bronze Age roundhouses (phase 9) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by A. Hale and H. Manley 5.1 House 801: the southern roundhouse 5.2 House 401: the middle roundhouse 5.3 House 1370: the northern roundhouse 5.4 The front yard of the settlement 5.5 The area behind the houses (west of House 401) 5.6 Area D: the southern edge of the settlement and House 2049 5.7 Area C: the midden 5.8 The pottery from phase 9 M. Parker Pearson 5.9 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 6. The sand-blow and the second phase of roundhouse occupation (phase 10) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by A. Hale and H. Manley 6.1 The windblown sand 6.2 Gullies, pits and spademarks over the ruins of House 801 6.3 House 2190 6.4 House 401 in phase 10: its second phase of occupation 6.5 House 1370 in phase 10 6.6 Area C: the midden 6.7 The pottery from phase 10 M. Parker Pearson 6.8 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 7. The third phase of roundhouse occupation (phase 11) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by A. Hale and H. Manley 7.1 Round the back: above the ruins of House 801 and west of House 401 7.2 House 401 in phase 11: its third phase of occupation 7.3 The end of House 1370 7.4 The pottery from phase 11 M. Parker Pearson 7.5 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 8. A single roundhouse at the bronze–iron transition (phase 12) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by A. Hale, H. Manley and J. Peto 8.1 The southern end of Area A: above House 2190 and the deep windblown sand layer 8.2 House 401 in phase 12: its fourth phase of occupation 8.3 The later use of the areas to the front and rear of House 401 8.4 The northern part of the settlement 8.5 The pottery from phase 12 M. Parker Pearson 8.6 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 9. The single roundhouse into the Iron Age (phase 13) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by A. Hale and H. Manley 9.1 House 401in phase 13: its fifth phase of occupation 9.2 After abandonment 9.3 The pottery from phase 13 M. Parker Pearson 9.4 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 10. The double roundhouse in Area C (phases 13–16) M. Parker Pearson, J. Mulville and H. Smith 10.1 House 150: the double roundhouse in Area C 10.2 The pottery from House 150 M. Parker Pearson 10.3 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 11. Final occupation of the roundhouses in the Iron Age (phases 14–16) M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith 11.1 House 401 in phase 14: its sixth phase of occupation 11.2 House 401 in phase 15: its seventh phase of occupation 11.3 House 401 in phase 16: its eighth and final phase of occupation 11.4 House 1500: phase 14 11.5 The pottery from phases 14–16 (House 401 and House 1500) M. Parker Pearson 11.6 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 12. House 640: a double roundhouse (phase 16) in Area A M. Parker Pearson, P. Marshall, J. Mulville and H. Smith with contributions by A. Hale and S. Rhodes 12.1 House 640: a smokery and steam room? 12.2 The pottery from House 640 M. Parker Pearson 12.3 Conclusion M. Parker Pearson 13. Thin-section soil micromorphology L.E. Hamlet and I.A. Simpson 13.1 Research questions 13.2 Methodology 13.3 Descriptions and analyses 13.4 Discussion 13.5 Conclusion 14. Scientific dating P. Marshall, M. Parker Pearson, J.-L. Schwenninger and G. Cook 14.1 Dataset, objectives and sampling strategy 14.2 Methods, presentation of results and chronological modelling 14.3 The chronological model 14.4 The stratigraphic model 15. Pottery and ceramic artefacts V. Parsons, M. Parker Pearson and H. Manley 15.1 Introduction M. Parker Pearson 15.2 Pottery fabrics H. Manley 15.3 Potting clay M. Parker Pearson 15.4 The pottery V. Parsons and M. Parker Pearson 15.5 Artefacts of fired and baked clay M. Parker Pearson 15.6 Overview – chronology and change M. Parker Pearson

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe destruction and deposition of metalwork is a widely recognised phenomenon across Bronze Age Europe. Weapons were decommissioned and thrown into rivers; axes were fragmented and piled in hoards; and ornaments were crushed, contorted and placed in certain landscapes. Interpretation of this material is often considered in terms of whether such acts should be considered ritual offerings, or functional acts for storing, scrapping and recycling the metal. This book approaches this debate from a fresh perspective, by focusing on how the metalwork was destroyed and deposited as a means to understand the reasons behind the process.To achieve this, this study draws on experimental archaeology, as well as developing a framework for assessing what can be considered deliberate destruction. Understanding these processes not only helps us to recognise how destruction happened, but also gives us insights into the individuals involved in these practices. Through an examination of metalwork from south-west Britain, it is possible to observe the complexities involved at a localised level in the acts of destruction and deposition, as well as how they were linked to people and places. This case study is used to consider the social role of destruction and deposition more broadly in the Bronze Age, highlighting how it transformed over time and space.Trade Review[T]his will serve as a source of inspiration for further experimental work, but it will also become essential reading for anyone with an interest in the destruction and burial of Bronze Age metalwork. * Current Archaeology *Table of Contents1. Piece offerings: approaches to the destruction and deposition of Bronze Age metalwork 2. Making sense of the pieces 3. Burnt, broken and buried: the Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age, c. 2450-1500 BC 4. Selective destruction: the Middle Bronze Age, 1500-1150 BC 5. Mass Destruction and Minor Destruction: the Late Bronze Age-Earliest Iron Age c. 1150-600 BC 6. Destruction and deposition of metalwork in south-west Britain in its wider context 7. Final fragments - what do the pieces tell us?

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book focuses on the introduction of Neolithic extraction practices across Europe through to the Atlantic periphery of Britain and Ireland. The key research questions are when and why were these practices adopted and what role did extraction sites play in Neolithic society.Neolithic mines and quarries have frequently been seen as fulfilling roles linked to the expansion of the Neolithic economy. However, this ignores the fact that many communities chose to selectively dig for certain types of stone in preference to others and why the products from these sites were generally deposited in special places such as wetlands. To address this question, 168 near-global ethnographic studies were analysed to identify common trends in traditional extraction practises to produce robust statistics about their motivations and material signatures. Repeated associations emerged between storied locations, the organisation of extraction practices, long-distance distribution of products, and the material evidence such activities left behind. This suggests that we can now probably identify mythologised/storied sites, seasonality, ritualised extraction, and the use-life of extraction site products.The ethnographic model was tested against data from 223 near-global archaeological extraction sites, which confirmed a similar patterning in both material records. It was used to analyse the social context of 79 Neolithic flint mine and 51 axe quarry excavations in Britain and Ireland and to review their European origins. The evidence that emerges confirms the pivotal role played by Neolithic extraction practices in European Neolithisation and that the interaction of indigenous foragers with migrant miners/farmers was fundamental to the adoption of the new agropastoral lifestyle.Table of ContentsList of figures and tables Author details Abstract French language abstract German language abstract Spanish language abstract Acknowledgements Foreword, by John Kelly 1. Setting the scene: the Mesolithic prelude and first contact Neolithic 2. The ethnography of lithic extraction 3. Ethnographic snapshots of traditional extraction practices 4. The archaeology of lithic extraction 5. An ethnoarchaeological analysis of Neolithic extraction sites in Britain and Ireland 6. The products: an ethnoarchaeological analysis of lithic objects from extraction sites 7. Neolithic extraction: a pan-European phenomenon 8. Neolithic stone extraction in Britain and Europe Bibliography Appendix: References to excavation reports and archives, listed alphabetically by site Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisMuch archaeological work is concerned with identifying gaps in our knowledge and developing strategies for addressing them; we perhaps spend less time thinking about how research should proceed when we already know, relatively speaking, quite a lot. ­The programme of dating causewayed enclosures in southern Britain that was published in 2011 as Gathering Time (Oxbow Books) gave us a new, more precise chronology for many individual sites as well as for enclosures as a whole, and as a consequence a far better sense of their significance and place in the story of the British Early Neolithic. Arguably, causewayed enclosures are now the best understood type of Neolithic monument. Yet work continues, and in the last few years new discoveries have been made, older excavations published and further work undertaken on well-known sites. Viewing this research within the new framework for these monuments allows us to assess where our understanding of enclosures has got to and where the focus of future research should lie.This volume originates from a Neolithic Studies Group meeting held in November 2019, which aimed firstly to showcase and explore the wide range of current work on causewayed enclosures and related sites, and secondly to assess what we still want to know about these sites in light of the monumental achievement of Gathering Time. ­The papers collected here comprise reports on recent development-led fieldwork, academic research and community projects, and the volume concludes with a reflection by the authors of Gathering Time.Table of Contents1. Introduction: marking place Jonathan Last 2. Interrogating the Third Dimension: enclosures and surface artefact distributions Joshua Pollard 3. Early Neolithic Tor Enclosures of South-Western England Simon R. Davies 4. Structural and Sequential Complexity in Causewayed Enclosures: implications from Dorstone Hill, Herefordshire Nick Overton, Keith Ray and Julian Thomas 5. A Demographic Perspective on Burial Practices at Early Neolithic Enclosures in South-East England Dawn Cansfield 6. The Freston Causewayed Enclosure, Suffolk: initial insight and hypothetical history Tristan Carter, Nathaniel Jackson, Rose Moir, Peter Allen, Helene Burningham, Daniel Contreras, Tim Schofield and Richard Tipping 7. Expanding the Neolithic of Hembury, East Devon F.M. Griffith and E.M. Wilkes 8. Come, Friendly Bones, Flint And Pots… Datchet’s Fit for the Neolithic Now: recent work at Riding Court Farm, Datchet John Powell 9. Gathering Time for Harlow Robin Webb 10. Butts Brow: Coombe Hill’s Counterpart? Initial excavations at an early Neolithic enclosure monument in Eastbourne Stephen Patton 11. Gathering Space Dave Durkin 12. Made In Hembury: an experimental reconstruction of the Hembury bowl Angie Wickenden 13. A Decade On: revised timings for causewayed enclosures in southern Britain Alasdair Whittle, Alex Bayliss and Frances Healy

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor over a century our knowledge of Egypt’s Western Desert during the Third Intermediate Period relied almost entirely on the Greater and Smaller Dakhleh Stelae. These two significant documents were purchased by Henry Lyons in 1894 in Dakhleh Oasis and indicated the existence of a substantial temple at Mut al-Kharab dedicated to the god Seth. Apart from these sources, very little information from the Western Desert could be dated to this period. Excavations at Mut al-Kharab began in 2000 and in recent years, evidence from the Third Intermediate Period temple has grown considerably. A range of artefacts has been unearthed, including decorated temple blocks, stelae, ostraka, in situ architectural remains, other small finds, and a large collection of well-dated ceramics. The scale of evidence suggests Mut al-Kharab was probably the most significant Third Intermediate Period site in the Western Desert.In light of this new material, a re-examination of activity in the Western Desert during this period has been possible. This volume presents all the available evidence relating to the western oases during the Third Intermediate Period, with a particular focus on the ceramics. Occupation appears to have been more widespread than the limited evidence previously suggested, and these oasis communities were closely connected to the populations in the Nile Valley. The Egyptian central administration continued to be interested in the Western Desert, although political control does not seem to have been consistent. Moreover, subtle yet distinct variations in the material record, including aspects of pottery traditions and religious practices, may reveal the existence of an oasis culture. As such, we are developing a much clearer picture of activity in this region.Table of ContentsCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction A. New fieldwork and new material B. The Third Intermediate Period C. Regionality 1.2 Theoretical and Methodological Approach 1.3 Chapter outline CHAPTER 2: EVIDENCE FROM THE NILE VALLEY AND DELTA 2.1 Textual Sources 2.2 Ceramics 2.3 Chapter summary CHAPTER 3: THE TEMPLE AT MUT AL-KHARAB 3.1 Description of the site 3.2 History and exploration of the site 3.3 The Dakhleh Stelae 3.4 Evidence from Monash University’s excavations A. Decorated temple blocksB. Ostraka from Trench 38BC. Small finds from Trench 38BD. Clay seal impressions 3.5 Chapter summary CHAPTER 4: THE THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD POTTERY FROM MUT AL-KHARAB 4.1 Overview of the material 4.2 Fabrics and wares 4.3 Presentation and discussion of the material 4.4 The Third Intermediate Period pottery deposits A. West of the Temple B. The dump 4.5 Chapter summary CHAPTER 5: CONTEXTUALISING MUT AL-KHARAB: THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIODACTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE WESTERN DESERT 5.1 Dakhleh Oasis 5.2 Kharga Oasis 5.3 Theban Desert Road Survey 5.4 Bahriyya Oasis 5.5 Chapter summary CHAPTER 6: TYPOLOGY OF THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD OASIS CERAMICS 6.1 Wheel-made containers 6.2 Wheel-made non-containers 6.3 Hand-made containers 6.4 Chapter summary CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS 7.1 The Temple of Seth at Mut al-Kharab 7.2 The extent and nature of Third Intermediate Period activity throughout the Western Desert 7.3 The Egyptian state and the western oases 7.4 Regionality – the existence of an oasis culture 7.5 Future directions BIBLIOGRAPHY FIGURES PLATES TABLES APPENDIX 1: The Third Intermediate Period pottery from Mut al-Kharab

Read more less

Book SynopsisTo date, Rome’s intervention to the West from the mid-2nd century BC has not really been looked at with any sense of overview. Instead, there has been an unconnected series of micro-regional studies looking at particular areas, from the River Ebro in Spain round to Italy on the land front, and from the Balearic Islands to Corsica, Sardinia and even Sicily as regards the seaborne aspect. In contrast, this volume pushes the historical and archaeological debates about Romesize=2>’s expansion beyond these traditional geographical boundaries and the discipline-based previous research.The entire north-western Mediterranean is treated as a micro-region and is addressed using various interdisciplinary approaches. The result is to provide an innovative and comprehensive overview of the north-western Mediterranean in a period of historical crossroads, aided particularly by focusing on the connectivity and integration within this region as two interrelated issues. While Republican Rome enforced itself as an expansive power towards the West, all sorts of polities, military operations and individuals also played a significant role in creating interconnectivity and integration of the north-western Mediterranean into a new hybrid reality. In order to uncover such processes of hybridisation, contributors to this volume were encouraged to focus on the historical, archaeological and numismatic material from several areas within the region, and to incorporate aspects of interdisciplinary methodologies in order to address the region’s military, political, social and economic interconnections with Italy, Rome and each other within the overall period.Table of ContentsList of contributors Introduction: The Agency of Integration and Connectivity in the North-Western Mediterranean Toni Ñaco del Hoyo, Jordi Principal and Mike Dobson ROME, ITALY AND THE WEST 1. Rome and the Western Mediterranean (150–70 BC): Empire and War François Cadiou 2. Non-Roman Coins in Italy: the Influence of Western Connections (3rd–1st Centuries BC) Marleen K. Termeer 3. Military Connectivity between Romans and non-Romans in the West Fernando Quesada 4. Transactions, Trading Practices and Structures in the Western Mediterranean: the Impact of Roman Hegemony Alexis Gorgues 5. Ligurians, Gatekeepers of the West 197–118 BC Gerard R. Ventós and Gerard Cabezas-Guzmán HISPANIA CITERIOR AND TRANSALPINE GAUL 6. Initial Indications of a Roman Presence East of the Pyrenees: a Possible Transition Zone between Gaul and Iberia in the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries BC Étienne Roudier, Ingrid Dunyach and Jerôme Bénézet 7. Numantia. A Green and Pleasant Land. Not once the Romans arrived! Mike Dobson 8. Trading Networks in Transalpine Gaul before and after the Conquest of 125 BC Corinne Sanchez 9. Late Iron Age .Iberians from Coastal North-Eastern Hispania and Rome Josep Burch, Ana Costa, Neus Coromina, Josep M. Nolla, Lluís Palahí, Marc Prat, Jordi Sagrera, Josefina Simon, David Vivó and Jordi Vivo 10. Late Iron Age Iberians and Rome in the Segre Valley (North-East Hispania): Transformation and Integration Ignasi Garcés and Borja Martín 11. Tolosa Tectosagum: a Wide-Ranging Connectivity Hub between Transalpine Gaul, Aquitania and Hispania Citerior Pierre Moret 12. Coinage from North-East Hispania Citerior and Rome, c. 150–70 BC Marta Campo 13. A Fistful of Denarii. Coinage, Conquest and Connectivity in Southern Gaul (c. 150–c. 70 BC) Eneko Hiriart and Charles Parisot-Sillon SEABORNE CONNECTIVITY 14. Shipwrecks and Trade in the North-Western Mediterranean during the Third and Second Centuries BC: the Sea as an Agent of Connectivity Franca Cibecchini 15. Emporion and its Port during the Second Century BC Pere Castanyer, Marta Santos, Joaquim Tremoleda and Elisa 16. Exploring the ‘Cultural Revolution’ in Ancient Sicily between Hellenisation and Romanisation: a Reassessment Daniele Malfitana 17. Between Carthage and Rome: Artisans, Businessmen and Colonists in Roman Republican Sardinia (150–50 BC) Antonio Ibba 18. Rome and the Political Dimension of Piracy in the North-Western Mediterranean Alfonso Álvarez-Ossorio 19. Between Traders and Pirates. Connectivity in the Balearic Islands from the Second Punic War to the Mid-First Century BC Bartomeu Vallori-Márquez 20. Rome and the North–Western Mediterranean: Ports-of-Call and Sea Routes Gerard Cabezas-Guzmán and Gerard R. Ventós EPILOGUE 21. The Roman and Italian Economic Diaspora as a Factor of Connectivity between Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean, 150–70 BC Sophia Zoumbaki and Michalis Karambinis 22. A Message in a Bottle Crossing the North-Western Mediterranean Jordi Principal and Toni Ñaco del Hoyo Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis memoir is not really about research questions or main conclusions. It tells the story of a boy growing up in Plymouth, Devon, getting excited about archaeology after visits to mainland Greece and Crete, trying to get into Greek archaeology and re-locating northwards into the Balkans, where he spent a career in prehistoric research. The chapters alternate between museum/university experiences and my major research projects. The experiences of working in that part of the world as the Third Balkan War was starting were dramatic and a history-style chapter is devoted to these beginnings.The Balkan prehistoric club in the west is a very small and select group so there is an intrinsic interest about how westerners did their archaeology there and how they interacted with local colleagues. There is also a sense of a ‘colonial relationship’ between westerners knowledgeable about theory and method, with well-stocked libraries and large research grants and easterners with little of the above. On a basic level, the memoir presents stories with implications for east - west relationships that will soon disappear from living memory. The ways that research projects originated and developed are strongly featured and there is a fund of anecdotes about prehistorians living and dead. The publication of this memoir records those fragments of the discipline’s history that are in danger of being lost forever. But my life story is not erased from this account, which is not an anthropological work but, rather, a participant account with a modicum of relevant personal details. The book providing the archaeological results is the publication Forging identities in the prehistory of Old Europe. Dividuals, individuals and communities 7000-3000 BC - a synthesis of academic research in Balkan prehistory. This memoir provides the insider story to the research results.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of figures List of plates Image credits Preface 1. Growing up 2. Undergraduate days 3. Postgraduate days 4. Museum intermezzo 5. Newcastle upon Tyne 6. The Neothermal Dalmatia Project 7. The background to the Third Balkan War of 1991–1995 8. The Upper Tisza Project 9. The fragmentation breakthrough and other broken stories 10. Working in the European Association of Archaeologists 11. Life in Durham 12. Research in the Balkans in the 2000s 13. The Ukrainian Trypillia Megasites Project 14. Looking back – looking forward Further reading

Read more less

Book SynopsisButrint, ancient Buthrotum , has taken many forms in different ages, shaped by the near-constant interaction between the place, its lagoonal landscape and the Mediterranean. Though Butrint does not appear on any of the records of early Greek colonisation to identify it as a Corcyrean settlement, strong links must have existed between it and the metropolitan Corinthian colony of Corfu. Blessed with springs that possessed healing qualities, a small polis was created - extended to incorporate a healing sanctuary dedicated to Asclepius. Julius Caesar, harbouring at Butrint in urgent need of supplies to sustain his struggle against Pompey, must have viewed the sanctuary, ringed by largely dried-out marshland, as the perfect site to settle veterans as a colony. It was an obvious cornerstone in controlling the passage from the Adriatic to the Aegean. The early settlers seem to have been limited in number and possibly mainly of civilian status. However, the political changes to the city's magistrature were immediate, and within a relatively short time-span fundamental changes to the physical make-up of the city were set in motion. Its new Roman status also located Butrint as a directly before the highest authorities in Rome, and within fifteen years or so, under Augustus's guidance following his victory at Actium, the city was refounded as a colony and awarded a pivotal role in Virgil's court-sponsored foundation epic, The Aeneid. Now linked to the Victory City of Nicopolis rather than in the shadow of Corfu, Butrint prospered. The urban fabric evolved, sometimes faltered, but was essentially sustained until the later 6th century A.D. This present volume is an assessment of the Roman archaeology, a compilation of studies and field reports that focuses upon the foundation and early history of the colony.Table of ContentsIntroduction (Richard Hodges and Inge Lyse Hansen) The artistic and historical evidence The sanctuary of Asklepios (Milena Melfi) La structure politique de la colonie romaine de Buthrotum (Elisabeth Deniaux) Appendix: A dedication to Minerva Augusta from Butrint (John R Patterson) The Trojan connection: Butrint and Rome (Inge Lyse Hansen) The monumental togate statue (Iris Pojani) The Roman coins from Butrint (Sam Moorhead, Shpresa Gjongecaj and Richard Abdy) The archaeological investigations on the Vrina Plain Geoarchaeological investigation at Roman Butrint (David J Bescoby) The archaeology of the Vrina Plain: an assessment (Andrew Crowson and Oliver J Gilkes) Two Roman monuments: proposals for function and context (Ryan Ricciardi) Comparative studies Butrinto e Phoinike a confronto (Sandro De Maria) Butrint and Nicopolis: urban planning and the 'Romanization' of Greece and Epirus (William Bowden) Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe First Stones brings together the results of recent research on the Neolithic long cairns lying in the shadow of the Black Mountains in south-east Wales, focusing upon Penywyrlod and Gwernvale, the two best known tombs within the group, previously excavated in the 1970s.Important results lie in both new site detail and reassessment of the wider context. Small-scale excavation, geophysical survey and geological assessment at Penywyrlod – the largest of the Welsh long cairns – gave further information about the distinctive external and internal architecture of the monument. In turn, this opened the opportunity to reassess the pre-monument sequence at Gwernvale, with re-examination of both Mesolithic and Neolithic occupations, including a timber structure and midden, lithic and pottery assemblages, and cereal remains. The frame for wider reassessment is given by fresh chronological modelling both of the monuments themselves, suggesting a sequence from Penywyrlod and Pipton to Ty Isaf and Gwernvale, probably spanning the 38th to the 36th or 35th centuries cal BC, and of early Neolithic activity in south Wales and the Marches, probably beginning in the 39th century cal BC. A detailed study of the major assemblages of human remains from the Black Mountains tombs includes evidence for diet, trauma and lifestyles of the populations represented. Recent isotope analysis of human remains from the tombs is also reviewed, implying social mobility and migration within local populations during the early Neolithic.The First Stones makes a significant contribution to the study of tomb building, treatment of the dead, place making, the relationship of monuments to landscape, local and regional identities, connections and affiliations across southern Britain and the adjacent continent, and Neolithisation in western Britain. Viewed within the context of tombs within the Cotswold-Severn tradition as a whole, it leads to an appreciation of the local and regional distinctiveness of architecture and mortuary practice exhibited by the tombs in this area of south-east Wales, emerging as part of the intake of a significant inland area in the early centuries of the Neolithic.Table of ContentsPreface William Britnell Acknowledgements List of figures List of tables Summary 1. Penywyrlod and Gwernvale Neolithic long cairns: context and history Alasdair Whittle 2. Penywyrlod Neolithic long cairn revisited William Britnell with contributions by Adrian Humpage, Martin Roseveare, Anne Roseveare, Daniel Lewis and Charlotte O’Brien 3. Gwernvale Neolithic long cairn reconsidered William Britnell 4. A chronology of the Black Mountains tombs and their place in the early Neolithic of south Wales and the Marches Seren Griffiths 5. The beginnings of agriculture in Wales: the evidence from Gwernvale Astrid Caseldine 6. Neolithic people of the Black Mountains: human remains from Penywyrlod, Pipton and Ty Isaf Michael P. Wysocki 7. ‘Local’ or ‘non-local’? Interpreting isotope results from the Black Mountains long cairns Samantha Neil 8. Isotope evidence of human diets at four Neolithic chambered tombs in south Wales Michael Richards 9. Gwernvale: a review of some of the lithic artefacts Elizabeth A. Walker 10. The Neolithic pottery from Gwernvale: an update and review Alistair J. Barclay 11. Organic residue analysis of Early Neolithic pottery from Gwernvale Isabel L. Wiltshire and Lucy J.E. Cramp 12. The first stones: taking and keeping the land Alasdair Whittle, William Britnell and Seren Griffiths Appendix: Monument conservation at Penywyrlod William Britnell Sites to visit Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisBritain is internationally renowned for the high quality and exquisite crafting of its later prehistoric grave goods (c. 4000 BC to AD 43). Many of prehistoric Britain's most impressive artefacts have come from graves. Interred with both inhumations and cremations, they provide some of the most durable and well-preserved insights into personal identity and the prehistoric life-course, yet they also speak of the care shown to the dead by the living, and of people's relationships with 'things'. Objects matter. This book's title is an intentional play on words. These are objects in burials; but they are also goods, material culture, that must be taken seriously. Within it, we outline the results of the first long-term, large-scale investigation into grave goods during this period, which enables a new level of understanding of mortuary practice and material culture throughout this major period of technological innovation and social transformation. Analysis is structured at a series of different scales, ranging from macro-scale patterning across Britain, to regional explorations of continuity and change, to site-specific histories of practice, to micro-scale analysis of specific graves and the individual objects (and people) within them. We bring these different scales of analysis together in the first ever book focusing specifically on objects and death in later prehistoric Britain. Focusing on six key case study regions, the book innovatively synthesises antiquarian reports, research projects and developer funded excavations. At the same time, it also engages with, and develops, a number of recent theoretical trends within archaeology, including personhood, object biography and materiality, ensuring that it will be of relevance right across the discipline. Its subject matter will also resonate with those working in anthropology, sociology, museology and other areas where death, burial and the role of material culture in people's lives are key contemporary issues.Trade Review[T]his is a well-researched and presented book and discussions of the whys and wherefores of grave goods throughout later prehistory are discussed in a generally open-minded way. * Archaeologia Cambrensis - Cambrian Archaeological Association *Table of ContentsList of figures List of tables Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. From 'appurtenances of affectionate superstition' to 'vibrant assemblages': an historiography of grave goods 3. Grave goods: the big picture 4. What goes in a grave? Situating prehistoric grave goods in relation to the wider materials of life 5. Small things, strong gestures: understated objects in prehistoric graves 6. Performing pots: the most common grave good of all 7. Material mobility: grave goods, place and geographical meaning 8. Time's arrows: the complex temporalities of burial objects 9. Discussion: grave choices in a material world Appendix: objects recorded within the Grave Goods database Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume summarizes 30 years of fieldwork in Denmark, some of the evidence for the spread of agriculture and the Neolithic into Scandinavia and some opinions about the origins of agriculture. It is intended to be both academic and personal and to describe the actual process of research, because most projects involve elements of both. Each chapter will deal with one of the components of the project – survey, testing and excavations. Eight sites were excavated from the Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic and these are discussed in this volume. The concluding chapter summarizes research in the area and proffers opinions on a variety of archaeological subjects, with visits to climate change, seasonality and sedentism, hunter-gatherer complexity, aDNA, inequality and the origins and spread of agriculture.Table of ContentsPreface 1. An Introduction – Setting the Table 2. Field Survey 3. Site Testing 4. Smakkerup Huse 5. Trustrup 6. Dragsholm and Bøgebjerg 7. Fårevejle 8. Asnæs Havnemark 9. Conclusions References

Read more less

Book SynopsisAccording to one narrative that received almost canonical status a century ago with Francis Haverfield, the orthogonal grid was the most important development of ancient town planning, embodying values of civilisation in contrast to barbarism, diffused in particular by hundreds of Roman colonial foundations. Its main legacy to subsequent urban development was the model of the grid city, spread across the New World in new colonial cities.This book explores the shortcomings of that all too colonialist narrative and offers new perspectives. It explores the ideals articulated both by ancient city founders and their modern successors; looks at new evidence for Roman colonial foundations to reassess their aims; and considers the many ways post-Roman urbanism looked back to the Roman model with a constant re-appropriation of the idea of the Roman.Table of ContentsSeries preface Acknowledgements List of figures List of contributors 1. Introduction: Decolonising the Roman grid Sofia Greaves and Andrew Wallace-Hadrill Part I. City planning and Ideals of the city 2. Greek colonies and ideals of equality Irad Malkin 3. Ancient ideals and modern interpretations Andrew Wallace-Hadrill 4. Urban ideals in the medieval world: spatial order, ruling the realm and the design of towns under Edward I Keith Lilley 5. The making of men and cities: Francesc Eiximenis and urban development Sam Ottewill-Soulsby 6. Ancient cities in new worlds: neo-Latin views and Classical ideals in the sixteenth century Javier Martínez-Jiménez and Sam Ottewill-Soulsby 7. Ideals of the city in the early Islamic foundation stories of Kufa and Baghdad Edward Zychowicz-Coghill 8. The grid enframed: mapping the enframings of the American Grid Reuben Rose-Redwood Part 2. Roman colonization and urban experimentation 9. The practice of urban settlement in Emilia Romagna: between spontaneous development, master-planning and post-antique adaptation Alessia Morigi 10. The long-term aspects of urban foundation in the cities of Africa Proconsularis Andrew Dufton 11. Late antique new cities Efthymios Rizos 12. Foundational grids and urban communities in the Iberian Peninsula in Antiquity and the Middle Ages Javier Martínez Jiménez 13. Town planning from Falerii to Isurium: understanding and enhancing the archaeological evidence Martin Millett Part 3. The impact of the Roman urban model 14. From Potentia to Porto Recanati: the Roman coastal colony and its modern legacy Frank Vermeulen 15. New towns of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries and the grid plan Wim Boerefijn 16. Re-imagining the grid in the nineteenth century: to be, or not to be Rome Sofia Greaves 17. Searching for Rome: French colonial archaeology and urban planning in Morocco Said Ennahid 18. Planning the colonial capital: Khartoum and New Delhi Robin Cormack 19. Roma rediviva: the uses of Roman heritage in Fascist-era urbanism Aristotle Kallis 20. Urban planning and ideology: the Fascist layer on Rome’s city centre and the EUR district Flaminia Bartolini

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Henry VII and Elizabeth of York marriage bed, rediscovered in 2010, is an exceptional piece of late medieval English royal furniture: no other equivalent example of secular domestic furniture is known to have survived, and, indeed, precious little woodwork from this period remains outside of ecclesiastical settings. As a tour-de-force of medieval royal woodwork, the bed offers an unprecedented insight into elite domestic furniture from this period. Since its rediscovery, the bed has been subjected to a wide array of investigation by furniture specialists, medieval historians, design historians and scientists. Emerging from a decade-long multidisciplinary research project, this book is the first sustained account of the bed: it shows how numerous disciplines covering the arts and conservation sciences can be brought together to assess and interpret such rare historic survivals.Broken down into thematic chapters, the book explores the bed’s form and structure, context, iconography, wood, paint, physical history, provenance – including its curious reproduction by George Shaw in Victorian England – and relationship with known surviving Tudor furniture, as well as Georgian and Victorian Gothic Revival beds. Although thought to be a 19th-century fake, this book presents historical, archival and scientific evidence to show, beyond doubt, the bed’s late medieval age.Whilst grounded upon research presented at a 2019 conference funded by the Institute of Conservation and held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the book incorporates additional historical and scientific discoveries made since the conference. Written by a range of scientists, historians and specialist researchers, this volume is a multi-disciplinary work of immeasurable value to readers from numerous disciplines.Table of ContentsContributors Acknowledgements Foreword by Elizabeth Norton 1. Introduction Peter N. Lindfield 2. Discovery and Conservation Ian Coulson 3. Historical Context, Commissioning, and Provenance Peter N. Lindfield and Ian Coulson 4. Iconography and Design: Meaning, Complexity, and Context Peter N. Lindfield 5. Gothic Beds, the Antiques Trade, and Reproduction Peter N. Lindfield 6. Paint Analysis Helen Hughes 7. Dendrochronological Analysis Andy Moir 8. DNA Analysis Hilke Schroeder and Lasse Schindler 9. Afterword Appendices Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume builds upon the model of the first Stone Axe Studies volume published in 1979. It explores how scholars from various parts of the world currently approach these distinctive items. Some papers are united by specific material, such as those working on Jadeite axe blades in western and Central Europe. For others, the link is analytical (e.g., the development of new geochemical techniques), contextual (e.g., work on techniques of hafting or on patterns of deposition) or conceptual (e.g., the uses made of ethno-historic and related models). Taken together, they document the state of the art in stone axe research in Britain and abroad, at the same time providing a much needed basis for comparative study and for debate regarding analytical and interpretative issues.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The experienced axe. Chronology, condition and context of TRB-axes in western Norway (Knut Andreas Bergsvik and Einar Østmo) 2. The Nøstvet Axe (Håkon Glørstad) 3. The evolution of Neolithic and Chalcolithic woodworking tools and the intensification of human production: axes, adzes and chisels from the Southern Levant (Ran Barkai) 4. Eclogite or jadeitite: The two colours involved in the transfer of alpine axeheads in western Europe (Pierre Pétrequin, Alison Sheridan, Serge Cassen, Michel Errera, Estelle Gauthier, Lutz Klassen, Nicolas le Maux, Yvan Pailler, Anne-marie Pétrequin and Michel Rossy) 5. Power tools: Symbolic considerations of stone axe production and exchange in 19th century south-eastern Australia (Adam Brumm) 6. Social and economic organisation of stone axe production and distribution in the western Mediterranean (Roberto Risch) 7. The felsite quarries of North Roe, Shetland – An overview (Torben Ballin) 8. Misty mountain hop: Prehistoric stone working in south-west Wales (Timothy Darvill) 9. Production and diffusion of axes in the Seine valley (François Giligny, Françoise Bostyn, Jérémie Couderc, Harold Lethrosne, Nicolas Le Maux, Adrienne Lo Carmine and Cécile Riquier) 10. A time and place for the Belmont Hoard (Vin Davis and Mark Edmonds) 11. The prehistoric axe factory at Sanganakallu-Kupgal (Bellary District), southern India (Roberto Risch, Nicole Boivin, Michael Petraglia, David Gómez-Gras, Ravi Korisettar and Dorian Fuller) 12. The ritual use of axes (Lars Larsson) 13. Primary and secondary raw material preferences in the production of Neolithic polished stone tools in northwest Turkey (Onur Özbek) 14. Stone-working traditions in the prehistoric Aegean: The production and consumption of edge tools at Late Neolithic Makriyalos (Christina Tsoraki) 15. The Mynydd Rhiw quarry site: Recent work and its implications (Steve Burrow) 16. Graig Lwyd (Group VII) assemblages from Parc Bryn Cegin, Llandygai, Gwynedd, Wales – analysis and interpretation (John Llewellyn Williams, Jane Kenney and Mark Edmonds) 17. Neolithic polished stone axes and hafting systems: Technical use and social function at the Neolithic lakeside settlements of Chalain and Clairvaux (Yolaine Maigrot) 18. A potential axe factory near Hyssington, Powys: Survey and excavation 2007–08 (Nigel Jones and Steve Burrow) 19. Does size matter? Stone axes from Orkney: their style and deposition (Ann Clarke) 20. Neolithic ground axe-heads and monuments in Wessex (David Field) 21. The twentieth-century polished stone axeheads of New Guinea: why study them? (Pierre Pétrequin and Anne-Marie Pétrequin ) 22. Neolithic near-identical twins: The ambivalent relationship between ‘factory’ rock and polished stone implements (Stephen Briggs) 23. Flint axes, ground stone axes and “battle axes” of the Copper Age in the Eastern Balkans (Romania, Bulgaria) (Florian Klimscha) 24. Stone axes in the Bohemian Eneolithic: Changing forms, context and social significance (Jan Turek) 25. Changing contexts, changing meanings: Flint axes in Middle and Late Neolithic communities in the northern Netherlands (Karsten Wentink, Annelou van Gijn and David Fontijn) 26. Old friends, new friends, a long-lost friend and false friends: Tales from Projet JADE (Alison Sheridan, Yvan Pailler, Pierre Pétrequin and Michel Errera) 27. The Irish Stone Axe Project: Reviewing progress, future prospects (Gabriel Cooney, Stephen Mandal and Emmett O’Keeffe)

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is about two islands off the coast of Continental Europe, the seas that surrounded them, and the ways in which they were used over a period of three thousand years. Instead of the usual emphasis on finds in the intertidal zone, it focuses on parts of Britain and Ireland where traces of the prehistoric shoreline survive above sea level. It explores a series of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age sites which were investigated in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and have been largely forgotten. These places were very different from the Iron Age ports and harbours studied in recent years. How can we identify these special sites, and what are the best ways of interpreting them?The book considers the evidence for travel by sea between the settlement of the earliest farmers and the long distance movement of metalwork. It emphasises the distinctive archaeology of a series of coastal locations. Little of the information is familiar and some of the most useful evidence was recorded many years ago. It is supplemented by new studies of these places and the artefacts found there, as well as reconstructions of the prehistoric coastline. The book emphasises the important role of 'enclosed estuaries', which were both sheltered harbours and special places where artefacts were introduced by sea. Other items were made there and exchanged with local communities. It considers the role played by these places in the wider pattern of settlement and their relationship to major monuments. The book describes how the character of coastal sites changed in parallel with developments in maritime technology and trade.The main emphasis is on Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages uses of the seashore, but the archaeology of the Middle and Later Bronze Age provides a source of comparison.Trade ReviewThis thought-provoking book reimagines how we approach maritime archaeology - demonstrating that it is not solely for the adventurous diver, but can, and should, be practised from the comfort of dry land. * Current Archaeology *[A] thought-provoking book … full of interesting interpretations and worthwhile reflections that are of value to anyone considering the archaeology of our coastal zones. * Archaeology Ireland *Table of ContentsPrelims Part One The Sea, the Sea Chapter One Fluid Dynamics: a brief introduction Chapter Two Seas without ships Part Two Landing Places Chapter Three The riddle of the sands Chapter Four Comparisons and complications Part Three Ocean Terminals Chapter Five Long distance Chapter Six Coastal archaeology in perspective – a brief conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisTell Ahmar – also known as Masuwari, Til Barsib and Kar-Shalmaneser in the first millennium BCE – was first inhabited in the sixth millennium during the Ubaid period, and progressively developed to become a regional centre, and in the eighth and seventh centuries, a provincial capital of the Assyrian empire. Remains from the third millennium (a temple and a funerary complex), the second millennium (an administrative complex and well-preserved houses) and the first millennium (an Assyrian palace and elite residences) are particularly impressive.The book offers an archaeological and historical synthesis of the results obtained by the excavations of François Thureau-Dangin (1929–1931) and by the more recent excavations of the universities of Melbourne (1988–1999) and Liège (2000–2010). It presents a comprehensive and diachronic view of the evolution of the site, which, by its position on the Euphrates at an important crossroads of ancient communication routes, was at the heart of a game of cultural and political interference between Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean world and Asia Minor.Table of ContentsForeword Acknowledgements Abbreviations Prologue: The site and its exploration Part One: Tell Ahmar from its origins to the end of the second millennium: East meets west on the Euphrates 1. Tell Ahmar and the origins of urban life 2. Tell Ahmar in the second millennium Part Two: Tell Ahmar between Luwians, Aramaeans and Assyrians: Birth of a regional capital 3. Tell Ahmar/Masuwari/Til Barsib and the Aramaean tribe of Adini (c. 1200–856) 4. From Til Barsib to Kar-Shalmaneser – The beginnings of Assyrian domination (c. 856–750) Part Three: Tell Ahmar in the Assyrian empire: birth of an imperial koine 5. Ashur imposes its mark – The palace and the high dignitaries 6. Urbanism and residential buildings 7. Images in everyday life 8. People and crafts Epilogue: The end of Tell Ahmar Fieldwork at Tell Ahmar — Selected bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis richly illustrated book presents the first comprehensive study of the making and marketing of pottery in medieval Ireland. Focusing on a well-preserved 14th-century pottery production centre which was excavated in 2006 at Highhays, outside the walls of the renowned Anglo-Norman town of Kilkenny in south-east Ireland, the authors describe its kiln, workshops and working areas, as well as its ‘Highhays Ware’ products: jugs, jars, cooking-pots, money-boxes and ridge tiles.Foremost amongst the outputs from the kiln site were high-quality, wheel-thrown, green-glazed jugs that were closely modelled on French Saintonge and Bristol Redcliffe archetypes and the volume describes the distinctive processes, kiln-firing technology and raw materials that were employed to produce these, and the other wares, represented on the site. The book also presents the results of an innovative plasma spectrometry and petrological analysis of Highhays Ware, which facilitated identification of the source for the raw potting clays areas – located at a considerable distance from Highhays in north county Kilkenny – used in its production, in addition to allowing for a study of the uncharacteristically broad distribution of the ware throughout the south-east of Ireland. The authors also place the production of pottery at Highhays in its broader context by presenting an overall review of the archaeological and historical evidence for pottery making and consumption in medieval Ireland, as well as by exploring the cultural background and social status of potters in the Anglo-Norman colony. Supporting the analysis and interpretation of the Highhays site and its assemblage are specialist and scientific contributions on the pottery, tiles, ceramic production material, metal finds, coins and archaeobotanical and animal bone remains from the site, archaeomagnetic and radiocarbon dating and plasma spectrometry and petrological analysis.Trade ReviewThis book is well illustrated throughout and provides an informative overview of Medieval Kilkenny * Ulster Archaeological Society *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of figures List of tables Authors and contributors Note on conventions Archaeological excavation archive Abbreviations Preface Foreword Summary 1. Introduction, by Emma Devine and Cóilín Ó Drisceoil 2. The pottery production centre excavations (Area 1, Period 1), by Emma Devine, Cóilín Ó Drisceoil and Niamh Curtin 3. Bake-yard excavations (Area 2, Period 1), abandonment and subsequent land-use (Areas 1 and 2, Periods 2 and 3), by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil 4. The products of the Highhays pottery, by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil, Clare McCutcheon and Joanna Wren 5. Highhays Ware, a provenance and distribution study, by Niamh Curtin, Cóilín Ó Drisceoil, Michael J. Hughes and Richard Unitt 6. Non-ceramic finds, by Órla Scully, Cóilín Ó Drisceoil, Joe Norton, Jimmy Lenehan and Paul Rondelez 7. Archaeobotanical and charcoal analysis, by Mary Dillon and Ingelise Stuijts 8. Highhays and the archaeology of medieval pottery production and town suburbs in Ireland, by Cóilín Ó Drisceoil Bibliography Appendix 1: Archaeomagnetic dating of the pottery kiln at Highhays, Kilkenny, by Vassil Karloukovski and Mark W. Hounslow Appendix 2: Radiocarbon dates Appendix 3: Post-medieval pottery, by Clare McCutcheon Appendix 4: Post-medieval clay building material, by Joanna Wren Appendix 5: Animal bone, by Karin Ilseth Appendix 6: Disarticulated human remains, by Karin Ilseth

Read more less