Search results for ""archaeopress""

Continuing the Archaeopress series of pocket-sized Dictionaries of Archaeological Terms, here is a dictionary of useful terms compiled to assist in the reading of archaeological books and publications, and in the writing of papers and articles, in both English and Greek. It covers Aegean prehistory through to Hellenistic and Roman times.

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This volume, originally published by Cambridge University Press and now reprinted by Archaeopress, is an essential research tool for scholars studying the Jewish Aramaic translations of the Bible. It provides a description for every Targum manuscript in the Cambridge Genizah Collections, 1600 fragments in all, from every targumic genre and type, ranging in date from the earliest known manuscripts of the Palestinian Targum to late Yemenite versions of Onqelos, including a great many previously unidentified manuscripts. The late Michael Klein, who died in 2000, was the leading authority on the targumic manuscripts in the Genizah. Reviews of the first edition:‘[a] magnificent volume, absolutely indispensable for all who are interested in targumic literature’ (F. García Martínez, Journal for the Study of Judaism 24 (1993)) Originally published by C.U.P.

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Much has been written about the history of Northern Ireland, but less well-known is its wealth of prehistoric sites, from which most of our knowledge of the early inhabitants of this country has been obtained. Until recently, the greatest sources for this information were prehistoric burial sites, which have been visible in our landscape for thousands of years and have attracted the attention of inquisitive people throughout this time, often removing items, or adding others and in doing so, making it difficult for later generations to sift through the evidence. Fortunately, sketches, notes and artefacts have been gathered by Ordnance Survey surveyors, antiquarians and archaeological and historical societies and these continue to be interrogated by modern archaeologists in their search for understanding. A further problem has been the dependence on information about prehistoric societies from their burial sites. Very few sites where these people lived and worked were visible above ground and as a consequence, little was known about them. However, during the last few decades, large-scale infrastructure projects and associated archaeological investigation has revealed a wealth of information. Much of the detail has still to be published and made available for research, but has already enriched understanding of our prehistoric past. This monograph brings together information on all the currently known sites in Northern Ireland that are in some way associated with prehistoric life. It has been compiled from a number of sources and includes many that have only recently been discovered. A total of 1580 monuments are recorded in the inventory, ranging from burnt mounds to hillforts. In addition to providing an inventory of all known sites, along with a selection of photographs and plans, the work also includes an introduction to the prehistory of Northern Ireland, an explanation of terms and a full bibliography. It should be considered alongside an earlier work by the same authors on prehistoric burial sites in Northern Ireland (The Prehistoric Burial Sites of Northern Ireland, Archaeopress Archaeology 2014). The aim is to provide a foundation for more specific research projects, based on a standardised format for this largely untapped resource and stimulate a renewed interest in the prehistory of Northern Ireland. Hopefully, this can then be considered along with our knowledge of the historical period to provide a more complete overview of the story of human activity in what is now Northern Ireland.

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This study (the second volume in the Archaeopress series devoted to the publication of ceramics in the Roman Mediterranean and outlying territories from the late Republic to late Antiquity) addresses the level of interregional trade of ceramic building material (CBM), traditionally seen as a high bulk low value commodity, within the ancient Mediterranean between the third century BC and the seventh century AD. It examines the impact of different modes of production, distribution and consumption of CBM and how archaeological assemblages differ from what is predicted by current models of the ancient economy. It also explores how CBM can be used to investigate cultural identity and urban form. CBM has great potential in investigating these topics. It survives in large quantities in the archaeological record; it is transported as a commodity in its own right, not as a container for other products like amphorae. The amount of CBM used in a building can be estimated, and this can be extrapolated to urban centres to model consumption in ways that are not possible for other goods. This allows the potential derivation of economic information to a higher level of precision than is the case for other materials. The material used in this study derives from stratified assemblages from two major ports of the ancient Mediterranean: Carthage and Beirut. CBM as a material is comparable to pottery, only it does not exhibit the same range of forms. This leaves fabric as a major means of analysing CBM samples. For this reason a programme of petrological thin sectioning has been carried out on these assemblages. These data have been combined with the taphonomic and dating evidence from the excavations. The results showed that the levels of imports of CBM into these two cities were much higher than would normally be expected from the orthodox model of the consumer city. They also suggest that CBM can be used as a tool to investigate cultural identity.

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The Prehistoric Artefacts of Northern Ireland is the last in a trilogy of monographs, designed to provide a baseline survey of the prehistoric sites of Northern Ireland. The first monograph investigated prehistoric burial sites (Archaeopress 2014) and the second explored the sites of prehistoric life (Archaeopress 2018). Following the same format as its predecessors, this monograph considers the prehistoric artefacts that have been found in Northern Ireland. It begins with an overview of the current political landscape of Ireland, as the creation of two states in 1921 and the establishment of administrative systems unique to each jurisdiction have had profound consequences for Irish archaeology. It continues by providing background information on the history of prehistoric archaeology, an explanation of the classifications and methodology employed and a detailed inventory of sites in Northern Ireland where prehistoric artefacts have been found. Also included is a discussion about these artefacts in a wider context, illustrated with tables and distribution maps, a glossary, tables of radiocarbon dates and an extensive bibliography. The aim once again is to not only provide a basis for further research, but also to stimulate local interest in the prehistory of Northern Ireland and encourage others from further afield to appreciate the quality and diversity of its prehistoric landscape.

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The Seminar for Arabian Studies has come a long way since 1968 when it was first convened, yet it remains the principal international academic forum for research on the Arabian Peninsula. This is clearly reflected in the ever-increasing number of researchers from all over the world who come each year to the three-day Seminar to present and discuss their latest research and fieldwork. The Seminar has covered, and continues to cover, an extensive range of diverse subjects that include anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more, from the earliest times to the present day or, in the fields of political and social history, to around the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922/1923). Papers presented at the Seminar have all been subjected to an intensive review process before they are accepted for publication in the Proceedings. The rigorous nature of the reviews undertaken by a range of specialists ensures that the highest academic standards are maintained. A supplementary volume, ‘Languages, scripts and their uses in ancient North Arabia’ edited by M.C.A. Macdonald (ISBN 9781784918996, Archaeopress, 2018), is also available containing the proceedings from the special session held during the seminar on 5 August 2017.

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"ROMAN AND LATE ANTIQUE MEDITERRANEAN POTTERY". In November 2008, an ICREA/ESF Exploratory Workshop on the subject of late Roman fine wares was held in Barcelona, the main aim being the clarification of problems regarding the typology and chronology of the three principal table wares found in Mediterranean contexts (African Red Slip Ware, Late Roman C and Late Roman D). The discussion highlighted the need to undertake a similar approach for other ceramic classes across the Mediterranean provinces. In addition, it was perceived that ceramic studies are often dispersed and in such a variety of publications that it is difficult to follow progress in this vast field. Therefore, a series devoted to Roman and late Antique pottery in the Mediterranean was proposed to serve as a reference point for all potential authors devoted to pottery studies on a pan-Mediterranean basis. The creation of such a series would not only serve as a means of publishing the results of the ICREA/ESF workshop but also as a network for publication of in-depth monographs devoted to archaeological ceramics of the Mediterranean in the Roman and late Antique periods. With this first volume on ceramic assemblages and the dating of late Roman fine wares, Archaeopress launch this new series devoted to the publication of ceramics in the Roman Mediterranean and outlying territories from the late Republic to late Antiquity.

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Discussions and scientific exchange are crucial for the advancement of a young discipline such as the study of Roman pottery in the Near East. Therefore, in addition to large conferences such as the ‘Late Roman Coarse Ware Conference’ (LRCW) where the Near East plays only a marginal role, an international workshop with 20 participants dedicated solely to the study of Roman common ware pottery in the Near East was held in Berlin on 18th and 19th February 2010. The goal of this workshop was to provide researchers actively engaged in the study of Roman common wares the possibility to meet and discuss the current state of research as well as questions and problems they are facing with their material. Some of the participants were able to bring pottery samples, which provided the possibility to compare and discuss the identification and denomination of specific fabrics on a regional and supra-regional scale. This volume presents 17 papers from this stimulating event. The Archaeopress series, Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean Pottery (RLAMP) is devoted to research of the Roman and late Antique pottery in the Mediterranean. It is designed to serve as a reference point for all potential authors devoted to pottery studies on a pan-Mediterranean basis. The series seeks to gather innovative individual or collective research on the many dimensions of pottery studies ranging from pure typological and chronological essays, to diachronic approaches to particular classes, the complete publication of ceramic deposits, pottery deposit sequences, archaeometry of ancient ceramics, methodological proposals, studies of the economy based on pottery evidence or, among others, ethnoarchaeological ceramic research that may help to understand the production, distribution and consumption of pottery in the Mediterranean basin.

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This open-access and peer-reviewed academic publication stems from the activities of the Offa’s Dyke Collaboratory, a research network founded in April 2017 to foster and support new research on the monuments and landscapes of the Anglo-Welsh borderlands and comparative studies of borderlands and frontiers from prehistory to the present. The proceedings of a series of academic and public-facing events have informed the character and direction of the Journal. Moreover, its establishment coincides with the Cadw/Historic England/Offa’s Dyke Association funded Offa’s Dyke Conservation Management Plan as well as other new community and research projects on linear earthworks. Published in print by Archaeopress in association with JAS Arqueología, and supported by the University of Chester and the Offa’s Dyke Association, the journal aims to provide a resource for scholars, students and the wider public regarding the archaeology, heritage and history of the Welsh Marches and its linear monuments. It also delivers a much-needed venue for interdisciplinary studies from other times and places.

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Ventotene is a small island located in the Tyrrhenian sea, known in Antiquity as Pandateria. The site hosts the ruins of a large Roman villa for otium dated to the Augustan age where, during the first century AD, many women related to imperial families were exiled and enclosed. Notable figures exiled to Ventotene include Agrippina the Elder, Julia Livilla and Claudia Octavia, amongst others. This volume is an introduction to the roman antiquities of the island and is the first of a series of thematic monographs dedicated to the island. The first part of the book offers a brief overview of the geology of the island and reviews the studies and archaeological excavations carried out in Ventotene since the 18th century. The central part of the monograph is dedicated to the reconstruction of the historical events that have affected the island and to the development of the archaeological topography of the Roman age. The final chapter examines the numerous underwater archaeological discoveries made in the waters surrounding the island. | Ventotene è una piccola isola del medio Tirreno conosciuta nell’antichità con il nome di Pandateria. In questo luogo si conservano gli imponenti resti di una villa romana di età augustea destinata all’otium. Nel corso del I sec. d.C. l’isola funse da luogo di prigionia per una serie di donne legate alla famiglia imperiale che vi furono mandate in esilio. La prima di esse fu, nel 2 a.C., Giulia: era stata accusata di impudicizia sulla base della ‘Lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis’ e rimase nell’isola con sua madre Scribonia, che la seguì volontariamente, fino al 3 d.C. Nel 29 d.C. la relagatio ad insulam toccò ad Agrippina Maggiore esiliata su ordine di Tiberio: la figlia di Giulia e di Vipsanio Agrippa morì a Ventotene nel 33 d.C. e le sue spoglie furono recuperate e riportate in pompa magna a Roma da Caligola nel 37 d.C. Dal 39 al 41 d.C. l’imperatore Caligola confinò a Pandateria sua sorella Iulia Livilla. Nel 62 d.C. Nerone mandò in esilio a Ventotene Ottavia, sua prima moglie, che vi morì solo pochi giorni dopo. L’ultima esiliata fu, nel 95 d.C., Flavia Domitilla, nipote di Domiziano, accusata di giudaismo. Questo volume costituisce un’introduzione alle antichità romane di Ventotene ed è il primo di una serie contributi monografici dedicati da Archaeopress Publishing al patrimonio archeologico isolano. Nella prima parte del libro si offre una breve panoramica sulla geologia e sulla storia degli studi e degli scavi che hanno interessato Ventotene sin dal XVIII secolo. La parte centrale della monografia è dedicata alla ricostruzione dei tempi e dei modi che hanno caratterizzato lo sviluppo insediamentale dell’isola e si fornisce un esauriente quadro della topografia di età imperiale. Il capitolo finale prende in esame le numerose testimonianze archeologiche recuperate nelle acque che circondano Ventotene.

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The present volume reunites most of the papers that were presented at the second meeting of the Homines, Funera, Astra Symposium on Funerary Anthropology that took place at ‘1 Decembrie 1918’ University, Alba Iulia, between 23rd and 26th September 2012. The theme of the volume is Life beyond Death in Ancient Times. The intention was to create a forum for discussing Prehistoric, Roman and Migration Period burial practices from Central and South-Eastern Europe, focusing on elements that might suggest belief in afterlife. The interdisciplinary character of the volume is provided by the varied approaches to the archaeology by the contributors, resulting in exploring the subject from multiple perspectives: archaeological, anthropological, geological, architectural, landscape, and epigraphic. Seven studies are dedicated to prehistoric burial practices, discussing discoveries dating from the Palaeolithic (one study), Neolithic and Copper Age (four studies), and Bronze Age (one study). A study focusing on methodology proposes a non-invasive method of analysis for burial mounds, with examples from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Two studies focusing on the Roman Period and another on the Migration Period complete our vision of funerary archaeology for this part of Europe. The editor’s wish to express their joy that the editorial project, which started with the publication of the first HFA volume (R. Kogălniceanu, R.-G. Curcă, M. Gligor and S. Stratton (eds.), Homines, Funera, Astra. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Funerary Anthropology, 5-8 June 2011, ‘1 Decembrie 1918’ University, Alba Iulia, Romania. Oxford, Archaeopress, BAR International Series 2410), is followed by the present book. The basis for the series dedicated to burial archaeology with the intention to be a useful, modern, interdisciplinary instrument, is thus laid.

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Binsey is a village to the west of Oxford, on the south bank of the main channel of the River Thames, opposite Port Meadow, which has been an open space belonging to the burgesses of Oxford since late Saxon times. Although now within the ring-road, the village is essentially rural and unspoilt. The hub of Binsey is a row of cottages and the Perch Inn on one side of the village green. At one time when the river was wider there was a ferry here taking travelers across to Oxford. The church, its present building no earlier than the 12th century though on an older site, lies a third of a mile distant. Its association with Oxford’s patron saint St Frideswide alone makes this an evocative place for anyone with an interest in the origins of this great University city. Its holy well, dedicated to St Margaret like the church itself, was a place of resort for those with eye problems or desirous of a child: Katharine of Aragon’s lack of success in conceiving a male heir after resort to the well in a sense precipitated the English Reformation! Later associations, which include Charles Dodgson and Alice Liddell as well as Gerard Manley Hopkins and C. S. Lewis, render Binsey a place for the literary as well as the religious pilgrim. This book is a collection of essays on aspects of Binsey and its environs. It is not a guidebook so much as an evocation of the place, dwelling on specific aspects from the busy river to the tranquil and silent churchyard; from the poplars, great-grandparents of the present trees along the river and Hopkins’ great poem on them, to the personalities who served the village community; from the Binsey of St Frideswide’s time to the community of the present day.

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The Archaeology of Anglo-Jewry in England and Wales 1656–c.1880 is a comprehensive study of the urban topography of Anglo-Jewry in the period before the mass immigration of 1881. The book brings together the evidence for the physical presence of at least 80% of the Jewish community. London and thirty-five provincial cities and towns are discussed. The year 1656 marks the date of re-admission to the country by Cromwell. His purpose was to re-establish London as a major trading centre and the Jews were a key to this. The book traces the development of the community from a handful of families in 1656 to c.60,000 persons in 1880, mostly living in London. The immigrants who came to England and Wales in the early 18th century were in the main fleeing from poverty and persecution in Eastern Europe, and hoping to find a better life. The book discusses the evidence for the demographic shift out of the slum areas in the major cities, such as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, to the suburbs and the decline of the early port communities from 1815.

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This volume presents the results of a multidisciplinary archaeological and archaeometric study of the wine amphorae produced in Hispania Citerior (Tarraconensis, in Augustus’ reorganisation) between the first century BC and the first century AD. Wine production expanded in this area at the beginning of the first century BC, as new Roman towns were founded and new farms or villae gradually emerged in rural areas. However, it was during Augustus’ reign that wine production and trade reached their peak. The study aims to shed new light on the composition of the wine amphorae produced in this area as well as on the technological processes involved in their manufacture along within the period considered. For that, the study includes the characterisation of several amphora types produced in various ceramic workshops located along the Catalan coast which initiated pottery activity at different times. All the available archaeological information for each case study is reviewed, considering data referring to the production centres and also to the geology and the environment in which the pottery workshops were located. Spanish text with English summary.

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These two barrows in the parish of Tixall, north of Stafford, were excavated by the Stoke‐on‐Trent Museum Archaeological Society between the years 1986 and 1994. They are approximately one kilometre apart with King’s Low still extant but Queen’s Low badly damaged by ploughing. The results are important because little excavation of round barrows has been carried out in this area of North Staffordshire and these add considerably to the local corpus of knowledge concerning Early Bronze Age burial practices and various categories of material culture including Collared Urns and a single faience bead at each site.

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Since the discovery of Britain’s first Ice Age cave art in 2003, the site of Creswell Crags has gained international recognition as one of Britain’s leading Ice Age sites. For the first time the history of the site is brought together in one accessible volume. Documenting the early fieldwork at the site it uncovers antiquarian discoveries such as the famous horse engraving, excavations in the 1920s that saw our understanding of our early ancestors take shape, discusses the demise of the Neanderthals and the emergence of Modern Man, and looks at how Creswell Crags grew as a heritage attraction of potential World Heritage Status. In Beyond the Ice, Matthew Beresford examines how our ancestors lived, how they hunted, examines the tools and weapons they made and, most importantly, what they left behind. The book also challenges the term ‘Creswellian’, an isolated British culture that occupied the fringe lands of western Europe, and instead offers hard evidence for viewing Creswell Crags and its inhabitants as being part of a vast Ice Age world. Finally, it looks at what happened right at the end of the last Ice Age and examines what the changes in climate and landscape meant to our early ancestors. Beyond the Ice will appeal as much to the general reader as it will to the student or scholar, as it raises fundamental questions and offers up interpretations that apply to us all.

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This volume presents a range of petrographic case studies as applied to archaeological problems, primarily in the field of pottery analysis, i.e. ceramic petrography. Petrographic analysis involves using polarising optical microscopy to examine microstructures and the compositions of rock and mineral inclusions in thin section, and has become a widely used technique within archaeological science. The results of these analyses are commonly embedded in regionally specific reports and research papers. In this volume, however, the analytical method takes centre stage and the common theme is its application in different archaeological contexts.

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“Then we went to the other bath. Here I found I was being again taken to the men’s place, so I said, ‘I’m not going in here’. But a great outcry was raised and loud exclamations of invitation and constant assurances that there was nobody naked, so when T said fiercely, ‘Come in and don’t make a fuss. They all wish it’, I entered a large hall with the raised divans peopled by gentry in cloaks and turbans of towels. There was fortunately no one in the hot bath as it deserved a careful examination. The wide platform round the tanks was inlaid with beautiful marbles and there were recesses with pumps, etc., also inlaid…” (Bursa, February 1888)On August 2nd 1877, the English explorer and archaeologist James Theodore Bent married an extraordinary Irishwoman, Mabel Virginia Anna Hall-Dare, the second of the four daughters born to Mr Robert Westley Hall-Dare of Co. Wexford and Essex. Mabel was 31, Theodore 25, and within a few months they had embarked on their pattern of annual travels that continued until his early death in 1897. Their trips began fairly close to home, visiting northern Italy, but by 1883 they were in the Eastern Mediterranean (in modern Greece and Turkey), searching out the antiquities, landscapes and lifestyles of a region that was to captivate them for the next fifteen years. Their researches led to a number of highly regarded monographs, papers and articles (such as Theodore’s 'The Cyclades, or Life Among the Insular Greeks', 1885, and the many publications of their various discoveries in locations such as ‘Rugged Cilicia’, the island of Thassos, and elsewhere) that were to place the couple securely amongst the foremost British travellers of the latter half of the 19th century.The publication, therefore, of Mabel Bent’s personal notebooks from the archive of the Joint Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies, London, represents the discovery of a lost and notable milestone for scholars and travel enthusiasts of all kinds. This series of volumes begins with Mabel’s account of the couple’s adventures around the Aegean and beyond, extracted from her fifteen-year sequence of notebooks and presented chronologically. Specifically, we follow Mabel and Theodore to the Greek mainland and the islands known now as the Cyclades and the Dodecanese, as well as the northern Aegean islands; their journeys along the Turkish littoral lead them from bustling Istanbul to provincial Mersin in the far south-west. Contents include: Chapter 1) 1883-1884: The Cyclades – Mabel’s own accounts of the couple’s two tours of the Cyclades. Theodore relied on these Chronicles for the writing up of his classic travelogue ‘The Cyclades; or Life Among the Insular Greeks’ of 1885; Chapter 2) 1885: The Dodecanese – including Rhodes, Tilos and Karpathos; Chapter 3) 1886: The Eastern Aegean – including Samos, Patmos, Kalymnos and Astypalea; Chapter 4) 1887: The Northern Aegean – including Meteora, Thessaloniki, Thassos and Samothraki; Chapter 5) 1888: The Turkish Coast – from Istanbul to Kastellorizo; Chapter 6) 1890: ‘Rough Cilicia’ – extensive explorations around south-west Turkey.

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Enigmatic, esoteric and fascinating, the rock-art of the British Isles has for a long time been a well-kept secret. However, over the last few decades hundreds of new rock art panels have been discovered and several regional surveys have been carried out. This volume brings together a carefully selected collection of papers that cover British prehistoric rock-art from over 10,000 years ago.

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The inextricability of the connection between the Roman limes and the lands it ran through is easily observed and there is even a regularity to be noted: some modern borders actually follow the line of the ancient defenses. At the same time there are significant differences between particular sections of the limes, resulting primarily from the topography, climate and changing strategic importance. The Bulgarian section of the limes is a perfect illustration. For a considerable distance it follows the Danube, which is at the same time the border between Bulgaria and Romania. The landform the location of major settlements at convenient river crossings, natural barriers separating the region from tribal territories and the relatively hospitable region of the Balkans all contributed to making the region north of the Haemus mons suitable for Roman urban and rural settlement, agriculture and overland commerce. The Danube was always of foremost importance. A majo

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Apotropaia and Phylakteria: Confronting Evil in Ancient Greece is the outcome of the conference held in Athens in June 2021 and hosted by the Swedish Institute at Athens.The belief in the existence of evil forces was part of ancient everyday life and a phenomenon deeply embedded in popular thought of the Greek world. Fear of such malevolent powers generated the need for protection and we find clear traces of these concerns in both textual and archaeological sources. From the beginnings of literature, there is mention of ghosts and other daemonic beings that needed appeasement, and of ways of repulsing evil, such as the use of baskania and antibaskania (apotropaia). Repeatedly, we meet rituals of an apotropaic or prophylactic character conducted as part of everyday and family life, as for example on the occasion of a birth, marriage or death in the oikos (the cleansing of the house and household, libations and sacrifices in honour of oikos ancestors), and o

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This book outlines the results of the 2018 archaeological survey at Tawi Said, located on the edge of the Sharqiyah desert in the Sultanate of Oman. The surveyed area of 150 x 125 m yielded close to 8,600 artifacts, with pottery sherds comprising the majority of the finds. Additional discoveries include shells, lithic tools, copper production waste, jewellery and fragments of soft-stone vessels. Of particular interest are two stamp seals, one of which bears a resemblance to the seals of Dilmun style. Two significant phases are attested by the finds from Tawi Said: the Wadi Suq period (2000-1600 BCE) and the Late Islamic period (1650-1970 CE). Together with other discoveries, the Dilmun-inspired stamp seal illustrates the interconnectedness of Tawi Said in interregional exchange during the Wadi Suq period. The connectivity of the Late Islamic period is similarly evidenced by imported pottery, glass bangles and other artefacts. The absence of architectural remains suggests that Tawi S

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What would it have been like to walk down the streets of Viking Age Dublin a thousand years ago? What would you have seen, heard and smelled? How would this urban settlement have been different from an early medieval rural dwelling of this time a rath, a crannog or dún situated in the countryside? Such questions not only potentially interrogate the reality of people's lives in the past, but also open up topics such as diet, health and disease in urban and rural settings, the alteration and management of past environments and emergence of new forms of urban and rural communities in Europe.Dirt, Dwellings and Culture explores the living conditions and environments as experienced by early medieval people in Ireland, touching upon a wide range of environmental, architectural, artefactual and historical datasets from significant archaeological excavations of settlement sites across Ireland and Northern Europe. At its heart it focuses on a new and significant b

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Providing a dedicated venue for new research on the early medieval frontiers and borderlands of the island of Britain, the Offa’s Dyke Journal (ODJ) is also the first and only open-access peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the investigation of frontiers and borderlands in deep-time perspective. The journal’s remit spans detailed and original explorations into landscapes, earthworks, monuments and material culture. Exploring specific themes and issues in the archaeology, history and heritage of frontiers and borderlands in comparative and global perspective, ODJ is edited and produced under the auspices of the interdisciplinary research network, the Offa’s Dyke Collaboratory, and funded by the University of Chester and the Offa’s Dyke Association. The contents of this special issue comprise the proceedings of a conference held over Zoom on the weekend of 11–12 July 2020.

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The Route of the Franks presents a scientific study of the journey that Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury undertook at the end of the first millennium from the British Isles to Rome, focussing on the segment included in the territory of modern France. It not only reconstructs the route that Sigeric followed here but also takes an archaeological snapshot of the urban and architectural developments in the centres crossed by this route at the twilight of the first millennium AD. Sigeric’s journey, undertaken for reasons connected to his office, is framed within the historical context of the contemporary Anglo-Saxon world. The special relationship connecting Rome and Canterbury during the Early Middle Ages is also analysed and an archaeological overview of the archbishop’s town is attempted. Sigeric’s experience is framed in the historical context of medieval journeys from England to Rome and the Holy Land. Building upon the literature, culture and narratives of travel, the modalities and practicalities of this type of movement in the Middle Ages are reconstructed, reviewing the many other possible routes across France and the reasons which determined Sigeric’s choice. This brings the author to a new conceptualisation of travel in the past and to study how it affected the identity of the traveller, how individuals and groups interacted in the peculiar framework of displacement, introducing sociological and anthropological perspectives. By applying theoretical frameworks developed in the fields of geography, social sciences, anthropology, environmental behavioural studies, phenomenology, spatial analysis, ICTs and cognitive studies, the book reveals how movement affects the perception of landscapes and how mobility patterns socio-cultural phenomena.

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Archaeological investigation ahead of residential development was undertaken on land adjacent to Upthorpe Road, Stanton between November 2013 and March 2014 by MOLA. The scope of these works was set out in a brief prepared by Suffolk County Council (Tipper 2011) and a WSI (NA 2011) and was undertaken in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (DCLG 2012, now MHCLG 2019). Prior evaluation of the development area had uncovered evidence for a Bronze Age ditch and a small number of undated burials (Brown and Yates 2011). Subsequent excavation revealed a significant archaeological site far in excess of what was expected. Over the course of the five-month long excavation, the remains of a prehistoric round barrow and a cemetery containing the remains of 67 inhumations with associated grave goods were carefully investigated. Subsequent post-excavation analysis has sought to place the discovery in its regional context and to expand what we know about the prehistoric remains for the area as well as the early origins of Stanton. This book documents the discovery of the site and the results of the detailed analysis of the archaeological features, skeletal assemblage and other artefacts. Includes contributions by Sander Aerts, Lyn Blackmore, Paul Blinkhorn, Esther Cameron, Andy Chapman, Steve Critchley, Val Fryer, Sue Harrington, Tora Hylton, Samantha Leggett, Estelle Praet, Adam Reid, Ina Vanden Berghe, and Yvonne Wolframm-Murray. Illustrations by Olly Dindol, Joanne Clawley and Izabela Jurkiewicz.

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The two volumes bring together the contributions of the members of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP), to a project launched in 2017, with the support of the International Academic Union (UAI), under the title Human societies facing climate change in prehistory and protohistory: from the origins of Humanity to the beginning of historical times. The first volume concerns prehistory from the earliest humans to the end of the Pleistocene, twelve thousand years ago. For three million years human societies have experienced a great alternation of glacial and interglacial periods. Which climates have been most favorable to human settlement? Which the least favorable? And did they involve the abandonment of territories, the collapse of societies and extinction of some human populations? When and in what climates did human groups colonize each of the continents of the planet? Is a period of climatic improvement with a hot and humid climate more or less favorable to the development of human societies than a period of climate depreciation? Is climate change a factor of change for human societies, forcing them to adapt and find sustainable solutions?

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Ash-sharq is a journal devoted to short articles on the archaeology, history and society of the Ancient Near East.

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Diversity in Archaeology is the result of the fourth Cambridge Annual Student Archaeology Conference (CASA 4), held virtually from January 14–17, 2021. CASA developed out of the Annual Student Archaeology Conference, first held in 2013, which was formed by students at Cambridge, Oxford, Durham and York. In 2017, Cambridge became the home of the conference and the name was changed accordingly. The conference was developed to give students (from undergraduate to PhD candidates) in archaeology and related fields the chance to present their research to a broad audience. The theme for the 2020/2021 conference was Diversity in Archaeology which opened our conference to multiple interpretations, varied presentations and sundry perspectives from different regions of the world. This volume consists of 30 papers which were presented in 7 different sessions. The papers present a great variety in both geography and chronology and explore a wide range of topics such women’s voices in archaeological discourse; researching race and ethnicity across time; use of diversified science methods in Archaeology; critical ethnographic studies; diversity in the Archaeology of Death, heritage studies, archaeology of ‘scapes’ and more.

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The Past as Digital Playground: Archaeology, Virtual Reality, and Video Games collects the contributions to a two-day conference which illustrate a digital project developed at the Archaeological and Technological Park of Poggibonsi (Siena, Tuscany), where Virtual Reality and an educational video game are being used to enhance the archaeological content deriving from the excavation of the medieval site. In recent decades, digital technologies have pervaded every aspect of the production of archaeological knowledge, from data collection to analysis and interpretation, to interaction with the public. The increasing convenience of 3D and interactive technologies has led to a proliferation of digital tools (VR, AR, mobile applications) used to communicate the past in a more engaging way, offering the public an experience that takes place largely outside of the traditional channels. Alongside the experience at Poggibonsi, the book also gathers important contributions originating from other Italian and international case studies in the fields of digital technologies applied to archaeological heritage.

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The Maritime Economy of Ancient Cyprus in Terms of the New Institutional Economics deals with the maritime economy of ancient Cyprus from 1450 BC to 295 BC, and comprises three parts which correspond to three distinct economic cycles: first economic cycle during the age of internationalism 1450–1200 BC second economic cycle during political volatility, economic growth and transformation 1200–525 BC third economic cycle in the Persian Empire until annexation into the Ptolemaic kingdom. The principles of New Institutional Economics are used to trace the island’s institutions and their continuity and to reconstruct its maritime history. A unique feature is that for the first time a traditional descriptive and cultural approach is complemented by systematic and mathematical analysis and marketing documentation which results in meaningful examination of economic performance. This new approach highlights and explains the maritime economic activity of Ancient Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean in general. It brings together, for the first time, three distinct disciplines, that is History, Archaeology and Economic theory, in order to create a balanced explanation and reconstruction of the maritime economy of ancient Cyprus and of the challenges which confronted the ancient seafarers and traders of the Eastern Mediterranean. The approach and methodology is influenced by the author’s engineering, business background and training.

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The Iberian Peninsula in the Iron Age through Pottery Studies showcases the potential of interdisciplinary studies of pottery from the Iberian Peninsula to a wide scientific readership. The book consists of seven papers read at the international conference, Interdisciplinary research on pottery from the Iberian Peninsula, held in Poznań in June 2019. The chapters deal with various aspects of Iron Age pottery including technology, decoration, chemical and mineralogical properties, commerce and social use through archaeological science and the presentation of ongoing fieldwork. The principal methods employed are contextual archaeology, typology, SEM, XRF, petrography.

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The Making of a Roman Imperial Estate presents excavations and analysis of material remains at Vagnari, in southeast Italy, which have facilitated a detailed and precise phasing of a rural settlement, both in the late Republican period in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, when it was established on land leased from the Roman state after Rome’s conquest of the region, and when it became the hub (vicus) of a vast agricultural estate owned by the emperor himself in the early 1st century AD. This research addresses a range of crucial questions concerning the nature of activity at the estate and the changes in population in this transitional period. It also maps the development of the vicus in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, shaping our understanding of the diversity and the mechanics of the imperial economy and the role of the vicus and its inhabitants in generating revenues for the emperor. By contextualising the estate in its landscape and exploring its economic and social impact on Apulia and beyond, archaeological research gives us extremely valuable insight into the making of a Roman imperial estate.

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The twentieth annual meeting of the Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology (SOMA) was held in Saint-Petersburg, Russia on 12-14 May 2016. As in the past, the symposium provided an important opportunity for scholars and researchers to come together and discuss their works in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. The main theme of the 2016 meeting is the archaeology of the Northern Black Sea. The Northern Black sea region is an area rich in archaeological sites, on the one hand, and subject to active industrial development, a rapidly growing population and the development of port and recreational facilities on the other, with an attendant growth of pollution and waste. Therefore, in addition to traditional issues related to archaeological finds in various parts of the Mediterranean, the papers focus on new ideas for the conservation and management of sites of historical and cultural heritage.

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Funerary and related cups of the British Bronze Age presents the first national corpus and study of these often highly decorated items. Cups are the least studied of all Bronze Age funerary ceramics and their interpretations are still based on antiquarian speculation. They are clearly ‘Urnes of no small Variety’ and previous attempts at classification have largely failed due to this variation. Their potential uses, technologies and associations are examined and many myths, such as their association with children and their role in accompanying other ceramics such as Collared Urns and Food Vessels are examined and questioned. Cups appear to have been grave goods in their own right and the term ‘accessory vessel’ is rejected. The book contains a fully referenced and illustrated national corpus that will form the basis for future studies.

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Tra Esino e San Vicino offre una lettura completamente nuova dell'architettura religiosa che, a cavallo tra il romanico e il gotico, si afferma al centro delle Marche, in un'area denominata Valle di S. Clemente. Qui, a partire dall'XI secolo, si assiste ad una straordinaria fioritura di insediamenti costituiti da abbazie, eremi, pievi, di cui spesso si conservano le strutture più antiche, la maggior parte ancora leggibili nella loro stratigrafia. Attraverso un'analisi dettagliata delle strutture murarie, condotta secondo i più moderni criteri metodologici dell'archeologia dell'architettura, e una rilettura critica delle fonti scritte, è stato possibile ricostruire le diverse fasi edilizie che hanno segnato la storia delle chiese esaminate, attestante le trasformazioni subite nel tempo a causa delle mutate esigenze liturgiche e dei frequenti eventi distruttivi. Sono così riemerse le articolate configurazioni architettonico-liturgiche di alcuni tra i più importanti edifici religiosi dell'Italia centrale, a cominciare dalla cripta di S. Salvatore di Valdicastro, prima tomba di S. Romualdo, di cui è stato possibile recuperare il "funzionamento" liturgico, fino ad alcune strutture complesse ed estremamente rare - ma non inedite nel panorama architettonico marchigiano - di cui la documentazione scritta non porta traccia, come i matronei di S. Elena all'Esino o i balconi interni di S. Urbano e S. Elena all'Esino. Inoltre, la rielaborazione della documentazione raccolta esaminando le strutture sopraelevate ha permesso di produrre una classificazione delle tecniche murarie e delle tipologie di aperture, organizzate nei relativi atlanti. In questo modo è stato possibile mappare il percorso di alcune maestranze edili, e più in generale è stato possibile determinarne i caratteri specifici e stabilirne la circolazione, che ha fatto emergere il ruolo determinante di alcuni 'magistri' e delle relative officine nell'elaborazione del paesaggio architettonico di questo territorio.

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The Birth and Development of the Idealized Concept of Arcadia in the Ancient World for the first time brings together all the available evidence for this topic, from the Homeric period to the early Roman Empire, in one place. The evidence is both literary and visual and is considered in a chronological sequence. Thus the reader can follow the blossoming of the Arcadian dream through eight centuries. The ideological, political and philosophical background that forms the basis of this phenomenon is also outlined, and the contributions of poets, historians, philosophers, antiquarians, architects, sculptors and painters are duly considered. The book brings to light a treasure-trove of evidence, both well-known and obscure or fragmentary, filling a significant gap in the scholarly bibliography.

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South by Southeast: The History and Archaeology of Southeast Crete from Myrtos to Kato Zakros publishes the proceedings of the conference of the same name held in Pacheia Ammos (Crete) in July 2017. Its aim is to investigate the settlement patterns, maritime connectivity, and material culture of the southeast of Crete in a diachronic fashion, in an attempt to define it as a region and trace its history. The title South by Southeast, an ironic take on Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, North by Northwest, encapsulates the uncertainty of what exactly the Southeast means and our need to clarify its geographical limits and cultural span. The papers presented focus primarily on the archaeology of the sites along the coastal strip spanning between the Myrtos Valley and Kato Zakros, an area that has time and again produced evidence of interconnection. Indeed one of the most important aspects surfacing from the volume is the evidence for the diachronic existence of the Southeast as a distinct cultural entity. The elements that tied the sites together shifted at times, forcing us to evaluate the concept of region as a flexible one that reflects different ways of defining a community.

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In France, the post-World War II period corresponds to a second golden age of prehistory and protohistory, thanks to the development of the CNRS and the creation of the first university chairs. Historiographie de préhistoriens et de protohistoriens français du XX° siècle presents the biographies of a wide selection of French archaeologists whose scientific work has particularly marked this period.

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‘Moving on from Ebla, I crossed the Euphrates’ collects six articles by leading international scholars on the culture of the Assyrian world as a homage to Paolo Matthiae on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Paolo Matthiae is known internationally for the discovery of the site of ancient Ebla in Syria, but he also wrote groundbreaking books and scientific contributions about the Assyrians, predominantly from an art historical perspective. The articles deal with different aspects of this culture, with innovative and sometimes unexpected points of view, including the reception of some elements of the Assyrian culture in the contemporary world.

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ArcheoFOSS XIV 2020: Open software, hardware, processes, data and formats in archaeological research collects the proceedings of the fourteenth ArcheoFOSS international conference, held online due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The book gathers seventeen papers on three principal topics, the main sessions of the conference: use and application of free/libre and open-source (FLOS) tools in archaeology; creation, use and promotion of open data and open formats in archaeology; and development and customization of FLOS software and hardware solutions for cultural heritage. Forty-one scholars of very diverse age, academic affiliation and geographic location, but all actively involved in the promotion of FLOS culture, open data and open science in digital archaeology and humanities, contribute. The volume is completed by a critical analysis of the contribution of these important annual meetings to the scientific and cultural activity of the ArcheoFOSS community. The opportunity offered by the pandemic-related difficulties to widen the geographical scope of the conference has been further boosted by the decision to adopt the English language for most of the papers, with the hope that this will extend the work of the ArcheoFOSS community far beyond the Italian national borders.

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Questo volume è dedicato agli Atti del Convegno Paesaggi urbani e rurali in trasformazione organizzato dalla Scuola di Dottorato delle Università di Pisa, Firenze e Siena per discutere le trasformazioni del paesaggio in una prospettiva diacronica. Il volume affronta il tema del paesaggio come entità complessa e dinamica caratterizzata da una molteplicità di fenomeni in continua trasformazione prodotti dall'interazione e dal reciproco condizionamento di fattori naturali e antropici. Adottando questa prospettiva, il paesaggio viene studiato attraverso l'analisi e l'interpolazione di molteplici fonti. Uso delle risorse, produzione, distribuzione e popolazione, vengono letti in una prospettiva ampia per contestualizzare la presenza umana nel tempo e nello spazio. Diversi casi di studio, quindi, consentono di affrontare il tema da diversi punti di vista - urbano, commerciale, produttivo, culturale - per valorizzare le caratteristiche peculiari dell'ambiente per come è stato vissuto e percepito.

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Numerous metallic artefacts, which anciently were deposited in a hoard, came to light per chance on the campus of the Sultan Qaboos University in Al Khawd, Sultanate of Oman. Mostly fashioned from copper, these arrowheads, axes/adzes, bangles, daggers, knives, socketed lance/ spearheads, metal vessels, razors, rings, swords, and tweezers compare well with numerous documented artefact classes from south-eastern Arabia assigned to the Early Iron Age (1200–300 BCE). Discussion of the international trade between ancient Makan, Dilmun, and Mesopotamia during the 3rd millennium BCE dominates the archaeological literature about Arabia archaeology. The Al Khawd hoard and its contemporaries lend weight to the suggestion that 1st millennium BCE Qadē (the name of south-eastern Arabia at that time) was even more important than Bronze Age Makan in terms of the copper trade volume. A reassessment shows the Early Iron Age by no means to be a dark age, but rather an innovative, successful adaptive period characterised by evident population growth.

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A Prosopographic Study of the New Kingdom Tomb Owners of Dra Abu el-Naga contains the dating, kinship data and titles for each tomb owner of a total of 54 tombs located in the southern area and the beginning of the northern one of the Theban cemetery of Dra Abu el-Naga during the New Kingdom. For each tomb owner information related to chronology, ancestors, siblings, wives, children, relatives, and career-titles, has been compiled, and kinship diagrams have been created where possible. In order to obtain these data, all the published and unpublished material related to the tombs’ owners in museums and archives all over the world has been consulted. The book will prove of great assistance as a handbook or catalogue for scholars and students intending to conduct research on New Kingdom Dra Abu el-Naga or the surroundings areas of the Theban necropolis as a base for the study of prosopography and kinship relationships. A short introduction to the study explains the utility of the data and the methodology used to gather the information.

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Outside the north gate of Venta Belgarum, Roman Winchester, a great cemetary stretched for 500 yards along the road to Cirencester. Excavations at Lankhills from 1967 to 1972 uncovered 451 graves, many elaborately furnished, at the northern limits of this cemetery, and dating from the fourth century A.D. This book, the second in a two-part study of Venta Belgarum, which forms the third volume of Winchester Studies, describes the excavations of these burials and analyses in detail both the graves and their contents. There are detailed studies and important re-assessments of many categories of object, but it is the information about late Roman burial, religion, and society which is of special interest.

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The Archaeology of ‘Underdog Sites’ in the Douro Valley brings together the best presentations from the eighth and ninth meetings of Archaeology of the Douro Valley, held in Ávila and Astorga (Spain), respectively in 2018 and 2019. However, instead of a simple collection of articles, the aim of this publication is to show the importance of projects that have been left in the background despite obtaining interesting archaeological data about the occupation of this valley and its evolution. Moreover, we must take into account that many of these projects support new activity in a rural territory that is increasingly neglected politically and economically. Hence the use of the term ‘underdog’, defined as a person or group of people with less power or money than the rest of society. Overall, the volume provides a general and interdisciplinary view of the different types of occupation in the territory of the Douro Valley. The chapters are divided into four sections, three of them chronological: Prehistory and Protohistory; Antiquity and Late Antiquity; and the medieval and modern ages. The last section is thematic and includes diachronic studies, museology, and the archaeology of mining. Therefore, the present volume is a medium to showcase the latest research carried out in this important territory and to contribute to knowledge of its history, updating the archaeological state of the art in the valley and presenting results that may be used in the most diverse types of comparative studies.

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