Search results for ""Archaeopress""

Caroline Louise Ransom Williams (1872-1952) is remembered as the first American university-trained female Egyptologist, but she is not widely-known in the history of science. Her mentor was James Henry Breasted, well-known as the first American Egyptologist and founder of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. As long as they worked together and as much as they depended on each other professionally, Ransom Williams is little more than a footnote in the published history of archaeology. She was a successful scholar, instructor, author, and museum curator. She also had personal struggles with her mother and her husband that affected the choices she could make about her career. This book presents the correspondence between Ransom Williams and Breasted because the letters are crucial in piecing together and allowing an in-depth analysis of her life and career. The written conversation, comprised of 240 letters between the two, shows that Ransom Williams had a full life and productive career as the first American female Egyptologist. Through these letters, we see part of a life that is unique while at the same time analogous to other professional women in the period. This edition is the first book-length discussion of Ransom Williams’ life and career.

Read more less

From the Fjords to the Nile brings together essays by students and colleagues of Richard Holton Pierce (b. 1935), presented on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It covers topics on the ancient world and the Near East. Pierce is Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Bergen. Starting out as an expert in Egyptian languages, and of law in Greco-Roman Egypt, his professional interest has spanned from ancient Nubia and Coptic Egypt, to digital humanities and game theory. His contributions as scholar, teacher, supervisor and informal advisor to Norwegian studies in Egyptology, classics, archaeology, history, religion, and linguistics through more than five decades can hardly be overstated.

Read more less

Creativity is embedded in human history. Indeed, it is impossible to understand material change and the development of the new without invoking creativity. The location, exploration and analysis of creativity should therefore be of particular concern to archaeologists. This volume engages with this challenge by focusing on the outcomes of creativity – material culture – and an exploration of creative practice. The European Bronze Age provides a useful focus for discussions of the outcomes of creativity because in this period we see the development of new and pre-existing materials that we take for granted today, in particular textiles and bronze. We also see new ways of working with existing materials, such as clay, to create novel forms. In both new and existing materials it is frequently possible to see the growth of technical skill, to produce complex forms and elaborate decorated surfaces. The papers in this volume view Bronze Age objects through the lens of creativity in order to offer fresh insights into the interaction between people and the world, as well as the individual and cultural processes that lie behind creative expression. Many have their origin in the international conference Creativity: An Exploration Through the Bronze Age and Contemporary Responses to the Bronze Age held at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge in 2103 as part of the HERA-funded project Creativity and Craft Production in Middle and Late Bronze Age Europe. Contributions span the early to late Bronze Age, deal with a range of materials including textiles, metal, and ceramics, and reflect on data from across the continent including Iberia, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe. This breadth illustrates the wideranging importance and applicability of creativity as an heuristic concept. The volume further develops a range of theoretical and methodological directions, opening up new avenues for the study of creativity in the past.

Read more less

Who owns the past? Archaeological heritage between destruction and idealization. This volume, part of the wider Ex Novo series, hosts papers exploring the various ways in which the past is remembered, recovered, created and used. In particular, contributions discuss the role of archaeology in present-day conflict areas and its function as peacekeeping tool or as trigger point for military action.

Read more less

The Cumans, a people that inhabited the steppe zone in the medieval period and actively shaped the fate of the region from the Black Sea to the Carpathian Basin, have been primarily known to history as nomadic, mounted warriors. Some of them arrived in the Hungarian Kingdom in the midthirteenth century as a group of refugees fleeing the invading Mongol army and asked for asylum. In the course of three centuries they settled down in the kingdom, converted to Christianity, and were integrated into medieval Hungarian society. This study collects all available information, historical, ethnographic and archaeological alike, on the animal husbandry aspect of the complex development of the Cuman population in medieval Hungary. Although this medieval minority has been in the focus of scholarly interest in the past decades, no attempt has been made so far to study their herds using interdisciplinary methods. The research of faunal assemblages through archaeozoological methods has the potential to reveal direct, and by other means, unavailable information on animal keeping practices, although this source of evidence often escapes scholarly attention in Central and Eastern Europe. This book combines a primary scientific dataset with historical information and interprets them within the framework of settlement history in order to investigate the manifold integration process of a medieval community.

Read more less

Latrinae: Roman Toilets in the Northwestern Provinces of the Roman Empire' presents examples of Roman toilets from a wide area in northwestern Europe comprising Austria, Belgium, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. Seven papers consider ‘typically Roman’ stone channel toilets, while five papers discuss the actually much more common wooden toilets of the cesspit type. Some studies concentrate on a single installation, others present a number of installations in their architectural surroundings. In addition, Roman chamber pots, which could be used either solo or in a toilet chair, are presented in two papers. A further paper on stercus, usually connected to latrine duty in the Roman army, questions this interpretation and offers a different meaning of the word. This book is the first collection on Roman toilets of the northwestern provinces, and gives a good overview of the possibilities for human waste removal in Roman times. The volume provides a fascinating introduction to this under-researched group of Roman installations.

Read more less

Bodies of Maize, Eaters of Grain provides a comparative study of the earliest urban civilisations of the Maya lowlands and the Greek mainland. It builds upon earlier comparative studies by Gordon Childe, Robert Adams and Bruce Trigger, extending their work into new directions. Specifically, the focus lies on the art styles of the Late Preclassic lowland Maya and Mycenaean Greece. The approach used here seeks to combine more traditional iconographic approaches with more recent models on metaphor and the social agency of things. Comparing Maya and Mycenaean art styles through the three aspects of metaphor, semiotics and praxis, their differences and similarities are made clear. The book shows art to have played a more active role in the development of the earliest urban civilisations, rather than passively reflecting economic and political trends. In that way, the social role of art provides a key to understanding the relations between the different factors in the development of the two societies, as they played out at different temporal and geographical scales. To understand this, the notion of distinct Maya and Mycenaean ‘material worlds’, involving both materials and ideas, is proposed, with consequences for models about the earliest urban civilisations in general.

Read more less

This short introduction aims to provide archaeologists of all backgrounds with a grounding in the principles, materials, and methods of geology. Sections include coverage of main rock-forming minerals and classes of rocks. Geological maps and structures are introduced, and the elements of geological stratigraphy and dating are explained and related to archaeological experience. Fluvial and coastal environments are important archaeological landscapes and their formation processes, sediments and topography are outlined. Stone for building, implement-making, tool-making, and making mortar are all discussed, followed by an introduction to clays and ceramics. A final chapter introduces metallurgical landscapes: metalliferous ores, mining and smelting, and metal-making industries. Each chapter ends with a short reading list, and many have selected case-histories in illustration of the points made. Included is a glossary of technical terms.

Read more less

Normally dealt with in a rather limited way, through the examination of a particular activity or geographical zone, the artisans of ancient North Africa are here, for the first time, the subject of an entire book. Focusing on urban production in Algeria during Antiquity, this critical study brings together new documentation drawn up on the basis of field data and the consultation of archives from a long history of survey in Algeria and France. This synthesis reviews the archaeological sites with workshops by defining their activities, at the same time as analyzing how they operated and looking at them typologically. Based on a comparison with documented workshops in the Western Roman world, the study of the techniques highlights the very strong similarities between the Roman regions but also the specific local variations of the methods used in Africa at this time. Maghreb ethnography shows the permanence of certain practices over time while attempting to reconstruct the "chaîne opératoire". Although it is still difficult to obtain an overall picture both from a spatial and a chronological point of view of the artisanal topography, the data reveals the existence of varied artisanal and commercial activities in urban areas throughout Antiquity. French description: Abordé généralement de façon ponctuelle à travers une activité particulière ou une zone géographique donnée, l’artisanat en Afrique du nord antique fait ici pour la première fois l’objet d’un ouvrage. Centrée sur la production urbaine en Algérie durant l’Antiquité, cette étude critique rassemble une nouvelle documentation élaborée à partir des données de terrain et de la consultation des archives à partir d’un long travail d’enquête en Algérie et en France. La synthèse fait le point sur les sites archéologiques présentant des ateliers en définissant leur activité tout en analysant leur fonctionnement et leur typologie. En s’appuyant sur une comparaison avec les découvertes d’ateliers dans le monde romain occidental, l’étude des techniques met en évidence les similitudes très fortes entre les régions romaines mais aussi les spécificités locales des méthodes employées en Afrique durant cette période. L’ethnographie maghrébine montre quant à elle la permanence de certaines pratiques à travers le temps tout en complétant l’essai de restitution de la « chaîne opératoire ». S’il est encore difficile d’avoir une vision d’ensemble tant d’un point de vue spatial que chronologique de la topographie artisanale, les données recensées révèlent l’existence d’activités artisanales et commerciales variées incluses dans l’ensemble du domaine urbain tout au long de l’Antiquité.

Read more less

This volume has two main objectives: establishing a chronology of the Middle Balsas and detailing the region’s pottery production methods. The author posits that pottery intended for different functions was often deliberately made and/or decorated in ways that were chosen to make the vessels more appropriate for their intended functions. More specifically, this study determines whether any of the pottery production patterns identified in the region are linked to specific constraints imposed by the materials during the process of pottery manufacture. For example, it examines whether variables such as vessel shape and wall thickness correlate with the clay types and processing techniques determined during thin section analysis of the ancient sherds. Additionally, certain production behaviours are identified that are characteristic of the entire region and that can be used as markers of local tradition.

Read more less

Celebrating the theme ‘Shared heritage’, IKUWA6 (the 6th International Congress for Underwater Archaeology), was the first such major conference to be held in the Asia-Pacific region, and the first IKUWA meeting hosted outside Europe since the organisation’s inception in Germany in the 1990s. A primary objective of holding IKUWA6 in Australia was to give greater voice to practitioners and emerging researchers across the Asia and Pacific regions who are often not well represented in northern hemisphere scientific gatherings of this scale; and, to focus on the areas of overlap in our mutual heritage, techniques and technology. Drawing together peer-reviewed presentations by delegates from across the world who converged in Fremantle in 2016 to participate, this volume covers a stimulating diversity of themes and niche topics of value to maritime archaeology practitioners, researchers, students, historians and museum professionals across the world.

Read more less

The Phaistos Disc is one of the most studied documents of Minoan civilization, enticing scholars and simple enthusiasts with the mysterious aura that envelops it and with its singularity among Minoan scriptures. It has entered the collective imagination, both at academic and popular levels. Archaeologists digging at Phaistos are often asked ‘Where was the Disc found?’ Representations of the Disc can be found abundantly in popular culture, from appearances in Mickey Mouse comics to props amidst the curios on the tables of television magicians. It is this very overexposure that risks undermining the understanding of an object that is, first and foremost, an archaeological artefact found in a chronological and cultural context. Much has been said and much has been written about the Disc. Collet brings a new approach. It is not a deciphering but an interpretation, a depiction of the Minoan Weltanschauung through the symbols on the Disc and their connections with reality. This begins with the spiral-shaped construction of the inscription and its possible temporal allusions, and moves on to a structuralist view of use of the signs, in which the repetitions take on almost ritual significance. Hence it is a pictorial interpretation rather than syllabic, whereby the pictograph is not intended as a rigid reproduction of logical discourse, but rather a path.

Read more less

Physical Barriers, Cultural Connections: A Reconsideration of the Metal Flow at the Beginning of the Metal Age in the Alps considers the early copper and copper-alloy metallurgy of the entire Circum- Alpine region. It introduces a new approach to the interpretation of chemical composition data sets, which has been applied to a comprehensive regional database for the first time. An extensive use of GIS has been applied to investigate the role of topography in the distribution of metal and to undertake spatial and geostastical analysis that may highlight patterns of distribution of some specific key compositional element. The Circum-Alpine Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age show some distinctively different patterns of metal use, which can be interpreted through changes in mining and social choices. But there are also some signs of continuity, in particular those which respect the use of major landscape features such as watersheds and river systems. Interestingly, the Alpine range does not act as a north-south barrier, as major differences in composition tend to appear on an east-west axis. Conversely, the river system seems to have a key role in the movement of metal. Geostastical analyses demonstrate the presence of a remelting process, applicable also in the case of ingots; evidence that opens new and interesting questions about the role of ingots and hoards in the distribution of metal at the beginning of the Metal Age. New tools and new analysis may also be useful to identify zones where there was a primary metal production and zones where metal was mostly received and heavily manipulated.

Read more less

In this monograph the authors present the finds of four Mycenaean chamber tombs, from the rescue excavation of Ephor Mastrokostas at Aigion in 1967. Unfortunately, no diary or any other information, regarding the architecture or the burial customs, was found. However, it is highly possible that they were similar to eleven tombs which were systematically excavated by Papadopoulos in 1970. In contrast with them, the four tombs produced a much greater number of finds, indicating richer burials. Furthermore, some of these finds are unique (e.g. “thronos”-straight-sided alabastron with unusual paneled decoration), rare (e.g. askoi) and exceptional (e.g. cylindrical stirrup jars) in the Achaean Mycenaean ceramic repertory, while the total absence of terracotta figurines as well as the rarity of small objects is surprising. Taken together the excavated tombs make a total of 15, but the actual number may be greater. It is noteworthy that the material is stylistically different and generally earlier from that of western Achaea. The supplementary information, provided by this publication, strengthens the evidence that this important Achaean cemetery was used for a long time (LHII-IIIC) and that the inhabitants had connections with the Argolid as well as with other areas to the east, especially with the Dodecanese.

Read more less

The XXI International Congress of Roman Frontier studies was hosted by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums in Newcastle upon Tyne (Great Britain) in 2009, 60 years after the first Limeskongress organised in that city by Eric Birley in 1949. Sixty years on, delegates could reflect on how the Congress has grown and changed over six decades and could be heartened at the presence of so many young scholars and a variety of topics and avenues of research into the army and frontiers of the Roman empire that would not have been considered in 1949. Papers are organised into the same thematic sessions as in the actual conference: Women and Families in the Roman Army; Roman Roads; The Roman Frontier in Wales; The Eastern and North African Frontiers; Smaller Structures: towers and fortlets; Recognising Differences in Lifestyles through Material Culture; Barbaricum; Britain; Roman Frontiers in a Globalised World; Civil Settlements; Death and Commemoration; Danubian and Balkan Provinces; Camps; Logistics and Supply; The Germanies and Augustan and Tiberian Germany; Spain; Frontier Fleets. This wide-ranging collection of papers enriches the study of Roman frontiers in all their aspects.

Read more less

Open area excavation on 14.45ha of land at Cambridge Road, Bedford was carried out in 2004-5 in advance of development. A background scatter of Early Neolithic flint, including a Langdale stone axe, may be related to the nearby presence of the Cardington causewayed enclosure. Two Early Bronze Age ring ditches sat on a low lying gravel ridge between the River Great Ouse and the Elstow Brook. A causewayed ring ditch, 30m in diameter, had a broad entrance to the southwest, where a shallow length of ditch either silted or had been filled in. Adjacent to the shallow ditch was a pit containing three crouched burials, probably in an oak-lined chamber, radiocarbon dated to the early Middle Bronze Age. A nearby small round barrow enclosed a deep central grave containing the crouched burial of a woman, probably within an oak-lined chamber. An L-shaped ditch to the east, radiocarbon dated to the Middle to Late Bronze transition, may have been the final feature of the monument group. It parallels the addition of L-shaped ditches/pit alignments at other contemporary ring ditch monuments. Shallow linear ditches formed a land boundary extending north and south from the Bronze Age ring ditch, and other contemporary ditches were remnants of a rectilinear field system, contemporary with a scatter of irregular pits and a waterhole. This phase came to an end at the Late Bronze Age/ Early Iron Age transition, when a large assemblage of decorated pottery was dumped in the final fills of the waterhole. By the Middle Iron Age there was a new linear boundary, comprising three near parallel ditches, aligned north-south; a rectangular enclosure and a complex of intercut pits. The pottery assemblage was sparse, but the upper fills of both the deepest linear boundary ditch and the pit complex contained some Roman pottery. To the south-east an extensive Romano-British ladder settlement is dated to the 1st to 4th centuries AD. Only the northern fringe lay within the excavated area, comprising successive boundary ditches, along with pits, a stone-lined well, an inhumation burial and animal burials. In the early Anglo-Saxon period (5th-6th centuries AD), there was a loose cluster of three sunken featured buildings with another to the south. In the middle Saxon period (8th-9th centuries AD) a small rectangular mausoleum contained a single inhumation burial, with a second inhumation to the immediate west. Subsequent land use comprised truncated furrows of the medieval ridge and furrow field cultivation and post-medieval quarry pits.

Read more less

The Beau Street Hoard is one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries ever to be made in Bath: the Roman town of Aquae Sulis. The discovery captured the public imagination and it became the focus for a major scientific investigation and a significant learning and public engagement programme. Carefully excavated by professional archaeologists the hoard was recovered intact and removed to the British Museum for more detailed examination and study. It was found to have been deposited in a cist in at least eight bags. Micro-investigation of the hoard in a conservation laboratory and further scientific analysis revealed more fascinating details and information reported on here. The Beau Street, Bath Hoard provides a thorough and complete publication and analysis of the hoard, which is one of the largest yet found in a Roman town in Britain. The high quality of the recovery and investigation process means that it makes a significant contribution to both archaeological and numismatic studies.

Read more less

This monograph is a comparative study of the Saline area and of the Aeolian Islands dioceses’ settlement in Late Antiquity and in the Early Middle ages. Both regions overlook the Straits of Messina, between Calabria and Sicily. The Saline area is located in Southern Tyrrhenian Calabria, and in the Middle Ages it is mentioned as an “Eparchy”, a Byzantine administrative division. The Aeolian archipelago is in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the North-Eastern coast of Sicily. It includes seven islands, the biggest of which is Lipari. The aim of the book is to reconstruct the settlement layout of these areas in an historical period that has been studied relatively little in Southern Italy. The settlement reconstruction was carried out by examining topographical features, patterns and dynamics, material culture, degree of continuity and discontinuity – especially compared to the Roman habitat – as well as agricultural and manufacturing systems and the road network.

Read more less

This book presents a little-known and ingenious artefact of the Roman world: a small puzzle padlock whose font plate bears a face or ‘mask’ of ‘Celtic’ style. The padlocks were designed to secure small bags or pouches and their distribution extended across Europe with the majority found in the Danubian region and in the vicinity of Aquileia. The authors examine the cultural context, the origins and uses of the padlocks, and provide detailed solutions to the puzzle mechanisms. The publication provides a fully-illustrated catalog of the known 156 examples, categorises their types according to construction and style, and explores the technicalities of the subject by the process of constructing replica mask puzzle padlocks.

Read more less

In 2008 intensive archaeological surveys began at Caution Bay, located 20km to the northwest of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. This was followed by the excavation of 122 stratified sites in 2009-2010, and detailed analysis of the well preserved and abundant faunal, ceramic and lithic finds has continued ever since. The Caution Bay Archaeology Project is providing new and exciting contributions to western Pacific prehistory. It has radically expanded the known geographic distribution of the Lapita Cultural Complex to include, for the first time, the southern coast of Papua New Guinea; it has established the relationship of Lapita to later cultural expressions in this area; it has pinpointed the time of arrival of domesticated animals along the southern coast of Papua New Guinea and, by inference, on the larger island of New Guinea; it has provided new insights into the impact of resident populations on local terrestrial and marine environments over a 5000 year time period; and perhaps of greatest significance, it has provided a unique opportunity to document, using multiple strands of archaeological evidence, interactions between resident and colonizing populations at a time of cultural transformation c. 2900 years ago. The first volume of the Caution Bay monographs is designed to introduce the goals of the Caution Bay project, the nature and scope of the investigations and the cultural and natural setting of the study area. To this end a series of chapters are included on the ethnographic and linguistic setting, the present and past natural environment, archaeological surveys of the study area and investigative and analytical methods. These background chapters will be repeatedly referred to in all the other monographs, as foundational reference materials for the broader study.

Read more less

The Roman fort at Bearsden and its annexe, together with areas beyond its defences, were extensively excavated from 1973 to 1982. The report on these excavations was published in 2016. This ‘popular’ account of the discoveries looks at the material recovered from the site in a different way, examining the process of archaeological excavation, the life of the soldiers at the fort based on the results of the excavation as well as material from elsewhere in the Roman Empire, the presentation and interpretation of the bath-house and latrine, and a discussion of possible future work arising out of the excavation. The excavation report was well illustrated with reconstruction drawings and the process of creating these is also discussed.

Read more less

The Roman road system was the main service infrastructure for administrative management, economic operation and defense of the empire. Along with roads, a key element of this infrastructure were the resting places more or less directly linked with vehiculatio / cursus publicus, or with a system run or controlled by the state to ensure essential services (safe stop, supplies, maintenance of horses and other animals) to those traveling on behalf of the public administration. New archaeological research and new studies on a rich and diverse body of extra-archaeological sources have recently reported the attention of the international scientific community on the subject of parking places, within the more general theme of the smaller settlements in the Roman world and their evolution in late antiquity and early medieval times. This volume brings together contributions from scholars from three different generations, starting from different sources and methodological approaches, converging towards the construction of an area of common reflection on a theme still relatively underdeveloped. The goal is to lay the foundation for a deepening of the interdisciplinary debate and to develop new research projects.

Read more less

This is the first book ever devoted to the chambered tombs of the Isle of Man and, though there are no more than nine surviving monuments, they are of considerable interest and importance because of the central location of the island in the north Irish Sea where cultural influences and traditions of tomb building are mixed – and no doubt populations too. These monuments, still impressive reminders of the past in our contemporary landscape, belong to the early 4th millennium BC when farming, one of the most significant movers of change in society, first came to the Isle of Man. These vast stone chambers speak of the power of ancestors, the continuity of family groups and the importance of the land and territory which sustained them. Work on this book was begun in the 1960s by Audrey Henshall, the foremost authority on these monuments in Britain. It has been edited and brought up to date for publication by Frances Lynch and Peter Davey and contains a comprehensive study of previous work on the tombs, new plans and commentary on each site, and also a review of the associated finds from excavation. Appendices provide the final reports on previously unpublished excavations at King Orry’s Grave and Ballaharra.

Read more less

Ancient aqueducts have long commanded the attention of archaeologists, both for their intrinsic, monumental importance and for their significance as infrastructures closely related to the concept of civilisation. An aqueduct, in fact, is an artefact that has a great potential for providing information concerning at least two major aspects of ancient society: those relating to structural, technical, and engineering matters, and those relating to building and construction technology. These topics have enjoyed considerable attention in past studies, and in recent years they have also been integrated with a multi-disciplinary and contextual approach. They have further increased the potential of the analysis of ancient hydraulic systems, turning them into historical subjects capable of expanding our knowledge of the urban and social transformation of ancient cities and their territories. The current study of the early Byzantine aqueduct of Gortyn (Crete) follows this tradition, but starts from a viewpoint related not so much to the aqueduct itself, as to a series of questions about the city: what was the appearance of Gortyn in the early Byzantine era? How did the inhabitants live? Where did they live and what did they do for living? The aqueduct was born with the Roman city and accompanied it for its entire lifetime, constituting the backbone around which the various forms of urban settlement were redrawn at each major historical stage. Its vital link with everyday life makes the aqueduct a key witness for the study of the transformations of the city over the long term.

Read more less

The Old Kingdom of Egypt (Dynasties 4–6, c. 2600–2180 BC) is famous as a period of the builders of the largest Egyptian pyramids. It is generally accepted that the evidence on the use of copper alloy tools from this era is meagre. Martin Odler gathers the textual, iconographic and palaeographic evidence and examines Old Kingdom artefacts in order to revise this view on the use of copper alloy tools and model tools. Furthermore, he provides updated definitions of tool classes and tool kits, together with the context of their use. Besides rare specimens of full-size tools, the largest corpora of the material have been preserved in the form of model tools in the burial equipment of the Old Kingdom elite and were most probably symbols of their power to commission and fund craftwork. Moreover, the size and elaboration of the model tools were probably connected to the social status of the buried persons. The long-standing division in the Egyptological literature between full-size tools and model tools is questioned. The ancient sources also enable to show that the preservation of material culture from the Old Kingdom was largely dependent on a conscious selection made within the past culture, with completely different settlement and funerary contexts and a conspicuous absence of weapons. The volume is completed by co-authored case studies on archaeometallurgy of selected Old Kingdom artefacts in the collection of the Egyptian Museum of Leipzig University, on morphometry of Old Kingdom adze blades and on the finds of stone and ceramic vessels associated with the findings of so-called Old Kingdom model tools.

Read more less

Archaeological artifacts such as stone tools, ceramics, coins, metal implements, and ornaments like beads, are generally used to evaluate and understand the history of humans. These artifacts are especially important for the study of periods that lack concrete literary evidence. Intangible aspects such as spiritual beliefs and ceremonies, as well as tangible but perishable objects, are lost in the passage of time but artifacts are more likely to survive the vicissitudes of time. Pollen analysis, plant ecology and not least prehistoric archaeology have contributed to the recognition of the transitional zone between uncontaminated nature and what eventually became known as a cultural landscape. Cultural landscapes are looked upon not only as products of human intervention, but also and in particular as the result of human desire to leave an imprint of control and power, often associated with territoriality and religious or political ambitions. Megalithic burials, which are found in vast numbers in southern and central India, are a well-known global phenomenon and their builders have left behind a landscape altered by their funereal remains. This study aims at using and understanding man-land relationships in order to better comprehend the megalithic burials of Tamil Nadu. Funereal remains are one of the most important lingering means of understanding society, customs and religion of pre and proto historic periods. Many questions remain unanswered for the Iron Age of south India, and the megalithic burials are an important piece of this puzzle. This site specific study helps us better understand some aspects such as spatial distribution, chronology and post depositional changes of the burials at Siruthavoor.

Read more less

This book presents the first large-scale comparative study of Iron Age coin mould. The subject of Iron Age minting techniques is an important one that reveals a great deal about Iron Age political organisation and economy but which, until now, has remained largely unreported. In addition to examining in detail approximately 20% of all the coin mould ever found, the book also addresses the lack of an agreed reporting protocol, the main and considerable obstacle to progress in this field. In addition to the detailed interpretation of all mould studied the volume also serves as a field guide to best practice in dealing with new material and finds.

Read more less

The archaeological excavations along the route of packages 3 and 4 of the Batinah Expressway, Sultanate of Oman, conducted during the spring and summer of 2014, recorded over 60 archaeological sites over the 200km stretch of roadway cutting through the Batinah plain, north-west of Muscat. The majority of these sites were prehistoric tombs of varying ages. These excavations have allowed a re-thinking of the dating of some of these tombs, looking particularly at the structural styles of the tombs as well as their location in the landscape. It has also demonstrated techniques of rapid yet reliable excavation and recording techniques adapted from UK commercial archaeology for the Omani conditions. The report builds on the work of academic studies and adds a large dataset to the archaeology of the Batinah, Oman and the wider region. It is hoped that this will allow a wider scale reconsideration of the burial styles of the prehistoric Gulf.

Read more less

The present volume gathers the communications of the three sessions organized under the auspices of the Commission ‘History of Archaeology’ at the XVII UISPP World Congress Burgos 2014. The first part deals precisely with ‘International relations in the history of archaeology’. The eleven contributions tackle a particularly productive topic in the field today. In actual fact, this seminal research field currently echoes in a way the strong trend of scholarship about the influence of nationalism on the discipline, which since the end of the 1980s, has greatly contributed to the takeoff and overall recognition of the history of archaeology. The second part, entitled ‘The Revolution of the Sixties in prehistory and protohistory’, is the outcome of a partnership with the Commission ‘Archaeological Methods and Theory’. The seven contributions strive to document and analyse a recent past, which is still often burdened with the weight of teleological and presentist appraisals. The inclusion in this volume of this session significantly dedicated to the genealogy of schools of thought and to the study of complex methodological and technical issues illustrates the editors’ commitment to tackling historical issues as well, which are closely linked to current theoretical debates within archaeology. Such is also the aim of the third part, which addresses ‘Lobbying for Archaeology’. As shown by the five contributions of this session, archaeology has not only been instrumentalised by political powers and ideological interests. It has also found fruitful alliances with economic agents or bodies, where mutual advantages were gained on practical, technical bases. This volume suggests a reflexive, critical approach to these various forms of lobbying should ensure a useful awareness regarding the structural problems archaeology faces today, regarding its funding methods.

Read more less

Archaeological excavations at the Eleuthernian burial ground of Orthi Petra continue to yield significant elements of the archaeo-anthropological record, the subject matter of continuous interdisciplinary research, outreach, national and international acclaim. Among a plethora of features discovered, unearthing components of a unique nexus to the Geometric-Archaic Periods, was an unspoiled time capsule in astonishing contextual preservation, a hand carved tomb with a drómos into the softer bedrock material of Orthi Petra. Designated in short as contextual association A1K1, the tomb as a funerary activity area yielded a remarkable collection of jar burials in complex internal tomb stratification, containing cremated human bones accompanied by a most noteworthy assembly of burial artifacts of exquisite wealth, along a multitude of traces of “fossilized” behavior left resolutely behind by the ancients in their transactions on the paths of their perceived realities and obligations of life norms, but also of the arcane matters of afterlife. Such evidentiary data of funerary behavior in conjunction with the rest of the archaeo-anthropological record afford the opportunity to document where possible and deduce where pertinent aspects of the transitional period, overlapping the end of life’s journey and the unfolding of death in light of a number of the principles, the values, and the modes that guided the lives of the ancients as mortuary habits may have the transcending power to be revealing of certain codes of ante mortem conduct, of main beliefs, of ideologies and viewpoints, characteristic of their ideational world and hence of their attitudes toward, and expectations of, post mortem life. Such understandings, based on critical and deductive thinking combined with the data offered through the scope of anthropological archaeology and forensics by the decoding of traces permanently recorded on bone and dental surfaces, construct a persuasive dialectic, regarding important facets of the human condition in Eleutherna from Geometric through Archaic times.

Read more less

The Watery Scroll rulers selected the ancient Maya site of Tamarindito as their capital. First settled around 300 BC, the site served as their seat from the fifth through the eighth century AD. After the collapse, people continued to live at Tamarindito for several generations. Archaeological investigations provide a comprehensive perspective on social dynamics and change in an ancient Maya capital.

Read more less

The Roman legionary base at Novae in Lower Moesia is one of the most important sites in the Lower Danubian provinces. Towards late Antiquity, the military camp was transformed into a civil town with Episcopal residence and survived until the beginning of the 7th century. The Polish-Bulgarian excavations carried out for more than 55 years revealed remains dated from the mid-1st up to the early Byzantine periods and more than 300 inscriptions on stone. The rural hinterland of Novae is exceptional and fascinating for the historian and archaeologist, not only due to the importance of the site itself, but also due to its location. The legionary camp at Novae was located halfway between the outlets of two rivers – the Osăm and Jantra, flowing nearly parallel to each other. This part of the Danubian Plain was inhabited by Geto-Thracians and tribes influenced by the Celts. The special position of the lands between the Osăm and Jantra rivers is well-expressed by a series of boundary stones set up in AD 136 by Emperor Hadrian, who divided the tribal territories of Moesos and Thraces. This special geopolitical situation must have caused considerable difficulties in administering the area by the Romans. At present this poses a challenge for scholars, who search for answers to various questions concerning the universal solutions applied in borderlands in the past.

Read more less

The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the only international academic forum that meets annually for the presentation of research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula. It focuses on the fields of archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, and numismatics from the earliest times to the present day. A wide range of original and stimulating papers presented at the Seminar is published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies and reflects the dynamism and scope of the interdisciplinary event. The Proceedings present the cutting edge of new research on Arabia and include reports of new discoveries in the Peninsula. They are published each spring in time for the subsequent Seminar, which is held in July. The main foci of the Seminar in 2015, in descending order of the number of papers presented in each session were North Arabia, South Arabia and Aksum, Archaeological Survey and Field Methods, Bronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Arabia, Islamic Archaeology, and Neolithic Archaeology. In addition, there were sessions on Recent Cultural History in Arabia, and Heritage Management in Arabia, as well as a special session on the Nabataean world titled ‘Beyond the “rose-red” city: the hinterland of Petra and Nabatean rural sites’, which featured a total of six papers. This volume also includes notes in memoriam on Professor Andrzej Zaborski (1942–2014), Professor Ordinarius at the Jagellonian University of Cracow, who specialized in Afro-Asiatic linguistics, Semitic and Cushitic in particular.

Read more less

Megalithic monuments from Neolithic Europe have long been considered as rough copies of the monumental architectures built by the first civilizations of the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. When radiocarbon dating jeopardized this diffusionist pattern, though, specialists could not but wonder why and how these Neolithic societies, usually considered as small ‘village communities’, had erected such monuments. In order to answer these questions and seek explanations in the social, political or religious contexts of recent or present megalith-building societies, the ethnological frame of references has been referred to on a regular basis. This volume comprises the papers presented by prehistorians and ethnologists at the two multi-disciplinary round tables held in Strasburg in May 2014 and May 2015. Their purpose was, with the help of both case studies and more synthetic works, to discuss how the patterns drawn from the observation of ‘living’ megalithic societies have been used to try and shed light on the functioning of European Neolithic societies, the epistemological problems raised by this transposition and the relevance of ethnology-based archeological explanations. The book is composed of three sections: the first one deals with some methodological reflections, the second and third ones with the ‘living’ or recent megalithisms of respectively the Indonesian Archipelago and Ethiopia.

Read more less

Papers from the First Iberoamerican Conference on Spatial Archaeology held in 2013 at the University of Cantabria, Spain. The subjects include theoretical contexts of spatial archaeology, relationship between archaeological and ethnographical research, micro-site studies and the interpretation of the environment from archaeo-historical contextualization.

Read more less

The overall purpose of this book is to provide a foundation for Samoan students to become the custodians of the historical narrative based on Archaeological research. Issues that are explored are; Do ancient remains matter in contemporary Samoa? What is the chronological status, and spatial relationship of archaeological monuments found in Samoa? Is the settlement pattern stable over the past 3000 years that Samoa has been populated and/or does central places emerge trough time? Previous efforts from the outside during the 1960 -70 of introducing Archaeology to Samoa that used archaeological methods, historical linguistics and ethno-history to interpret the Samoan past are assessed in regard to the development in Samoa but also in a wider West-Polynesian context. The book also contains data and discussions on our three-year program for archaeology at the large and important Pulemelei mound in Savai’i during 2002-2004, some of which has not been published before. Results and further implications of these investigations that were followed up by an eight-year program where the author introduced courses in Archaeology at The National University of Samoa are also presented and discussed. These efforts served as a foundation to create a Bachelors program for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management. Results from our archaeological field schools, collaborations with the Museum of Samoa and interview projects on Cultural Heritage Management, education and legislation are also discussed here. They provide a foundation to understand the role of and the Historical Cultural Heritage in the past and present Samoa and how to move on to manage and protect this heritage in the future.

Read more less

This is the first memoir by an internationally known archaeological scientist, and one who has been particularly research active for over fifty years in the broad field of bioarchaeology. Written with humour and a critical concern to understand the nature of his life and that of our species. It provides a very readable and original account of a life embracing field and laboratory work from Orkney to Egypt and Mongolia to Peru. The diverse research extends from human fossils, to cemetery studies and bog bodies, to dogs, hair chemistry, bone pathology, soils and vitrification. He has similarly been concerned about the nature of culture, the impact of stress on individuals, and theoretical issues in archaeological science. He argues that we are advanced primates, and can’t be divorced from a scientific and ethological perspective. Indeed, he sees culture as derived from a complex interwoven range of thought, from the usefully adaptive to the highly maladaptive creative thinking which can grade into destructive social pathology. Our limited ability to perceive accurately has resulted in the creation of a plethora of dubious beliefs, from religions to political elitism and fanaticism. Placed in the world of today, with the perspective of our long past, the author feels that it is difficult not to feel coldly sober and doubtful about the future of our species. But we are not extinct yet! Beginning life as a traumatised baby and school failure, Don retired as emeritus professor of archaeological science in the University of York.

Read more less

Egyptians went to great lengths to protect their dead from the omnipresent threat of robbery by incorporating specially developed architectural features in their tombs. However, the architecture of tomb security has rarely been studied as a subject in its own right and is usually treated as a secondary topic in publications of a scholarly nature, which tend to regard its role as incidental to the design of the tomb rather than perhaps being the driving force behind it. This issue had been raised in the early Twentieth Century by Reisner (1908: 11), who suggested that the rapid evolution of Egyptian tomb substructures was as a result of the desire for tomb security and more ostentatious tombs, rather than a development spurred by religious or funerary practices. Taking this premise much further, this book presents an in-depth analysis of the architecture of tomb security in Egypt from the Predynastic Period (c. 5000–4000 BC) until the early Fourth Dynasty (c. 2500 BC) by extrapolating data on the security features of published tombs from the whole of Egypt and gathering it together for the first time in one accessible database. Using the information assembled it adds new information to the current body of knowledge concerning the architecture of tomb security and explains many of the underlying reasons behind their adoption. By thematically analysing these features in order to draw conclusions it also demonstrates that many aspects of the architecture of the Egyptian tomb over this period, in both royal and private contexts–whilst subject to changing tastes, needs and ideologies–had indeed originated as the result of the need to protect the tomb or improve its security.

Read more less

Although most of the animal remains recorded throughout the archaeological excavations consist usually of large assemblages of discarded and fragmented bones, it is possible to yield articulated animal skeletons in some cases. Most of them have been usually picked up from sacred and/or funerary contexts, but not all of them might fit necessarily in ritual and symbolic interpretations, and not all of the structured deposit of animal remains may be explained due to anthropic factors. In addition, zooarchaeology has traditionally focused on animal domestication, husbandry and economy, and species identification above all, shutting out further discussion about these type of findings. Moreover, the limited condition of the data is also another issue to bear in mind. Thus, the aim of this study has been to draw up a literature review of the structured deposits of animal remains during the third and second millennia BC in the Ancient Near East for its subsequent classification and detailed interpretation. In this survey it has been attested that not only most of the articulated animal remains have been found in ritual and/or funerary contexts but also that all species recorded- but some exceptions-are domestic. Hence there is a broad religious attitude towards the main domesticated animals of human economy in the Ancient Near East, based on the closeness of these animals to the human sphere. Therefore, it seems that domesticated animals were powerful constituents in the cultural landscape of these regions, never simply resources.

Read more less

This work presents an anthropological study of crania and mandibles from the osteological collection from Chinchero (Peru), currently housed at the American Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of the Complutense University of Madrid. From 1968 to 1971, a team of archaeologists of the Spanish Scientific Mission in Hispanic America excavated the site of Chinchero, a small village located in the Andean high plateau near Cusco. As the result of this mission, remains from 8 single burials and two ossuaries dated to pre-colonial times were exhumed and brought to Spain. The excavated area included an ancient palace and several administrative and religious structures built by Tupac Yupanqui, who ruled the Inca Empire between 1471 and 1493. The surroundings of the catholic church, erected over one of these buildings, were excavated as well.

Read more less

In this book Anne Teather develops a new approach to understanding the Neolithic flint mines of southern Britain. These mines include some of the earliest - and also some of the largest - monumental constructions that transformed the landscape of Britain during the period of social change that accompanied the transition from foraging to farming 6000 years ago. Yet the sophisticated architecture of these mines and the unique deposits that they contained have received relatively little attention from archaeologists. This book draws together the results of an extensive analysis of archival records and material to illustrate how these mines and the activities that took place in them can be seen as integral to Neolithic life. Previous studies of the flint mines have focused on the functional demands of flint extraction and the ways in which the raw flint material was distributed and processed into tools such as axes. Yet there is compelling evidence that the voids – shafts and galleries created through the process of flint extraction – were not merely the abandoned features of flint exploitation but instead should be seen as dynamic and monumental architectural spaces where creative and meaningful social actions took place. This interpretation is evidenced through the recognition of repeated motifs of chalk art inscribed on the walls of the mines and in the deliberate placement and deposition of artefacts. These artefacts include both naturalistic and abstract forms made of chalk, items that have not previously been recognised as a cohesive class of material. The book draws together for the first time a comprehensive typology, chronology and classification system for prehistoric chalk artefacts. The concept of artefact is broadened to include natural materials whose selection and placement in specific archaeological contexts is pivotal in understanding depositional complexity and the symbolic meaning conveyed by elements of the natural world.

Read more less

This study focuses on ceramic finds from the excavations (1996-2006) of the Episcopal Group of Sidi Jdidi, the ancient city of Aradi, in the hinterland of Hammamet in Tunisia, directed by Dr Aïcha Ben Abed-Ben Khader and Prof. Michel Fixot. The aim of these excavations was to understand the processes of the (evolution and) insertion of Christian monuments into the pre-existent town and the distribution of the liturgical and economic functions within various buildings of this ecclesiastic centre. The ceramological study contributed to attaining this aim by suggesting dates for each phase of the construction, occupation and abandonment of the Episcopal group, as well as evidence for the function of each space. Furthermore, this study has documented the (strong) rural and regional characteristics of the ceramic assemblages: these are very different from those of the large-scale excavations at Carthage and indicate a pattern of self-sufficient consumption supplied by purely intra-regional trade. The author is a Research Fellow of The National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, Japan), and Research Associate of the Centre Camille Jullian (Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, MCC, CCJ, F-13000, Aix-en-Provence, France).

Read more less

The VIII Workshop ArcheoFOSS, Free, Libre and Open Source Software e Open Format for archeological research, was held in Catania, at The Department of Mathematics and Informatics of Catania University, on June 18-19, 2013. The workshop was attended by about 60 Italian scientists and specialists of open source technology for cultural heritage and archaeology. During the workshop, several original contributions were presented in well attended talks, followed by lively Q&A and open discussion among the attenders. The Workshop sessions were organized around general themes: Usage and application of Geographical Information Systems; 3D modeling; Data Management. The papers related to oral contribution have been expanded, revised, peer reviewed and collected here according to the same themes. The contributed talks have been also complemented by 3D modeling and digital visual effects tutorials. A lively barcamp covering the main issues related with the main topics of the conference concluded the meeting. It is hoped that the present collection of papers will provide readers and experts useful ideas and research perspectives beyond the people attending the workshop.

Read more less

This volume is the second of two reports on archaeological excavations undertaken ahead of the eastern expansion of Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) which lies in the northern watershed region of Northamptonshire at its border with Warwickshire. The excavations, covering 178 hectares, recorded one of the most extensive Iron Age farming settlements yet discovered in the British Isles. It comprised at least five individual sites of house clusters and enclosures, spread around the rim of a shallow valley overlooking around 100 hectares of open pasture. At its peak between 400 BC and 100 BC the settlement would have contained up to 100 circular buildings. Volume 2 describes the excavations of four of these individual sites, undertaken at various times by MOLA Northampton (then Northamptonshire Archaeology) at The Lodge and Long Dole, by Foundations Archaeology at Crick Hotel, and by Cotswold Archaeology at Nortoft Lane, Kilsby. The project was managed by RPS. The site reports are followed by a wide-ranging discussion, putting the discoveries here and at Covert Farm, Crick (Volume 1) into the context of Iron Age settlement patterns and dynamics in the East Midland region.

Read more less

This monograph examines one specific hoard horizon, which is connected to the Mongol invasion of Hungary (1241-42). With this catastrophic event, the historical context is both well-known and much discussed by contemporaries and modern scholars. This opportunity to examine material connected to a sole event, but across a broad spectrum of geographical space and social class, is unique for hoard horizons in Hungary, and, for that matter, in Europe. Though this study focuses on hoards connected to the Mongol invasion, it is also relevant beyond this specific context. The work addresses issues concerning hoard finds and material culture, and examines how finds are related when found in different contexts (a hoard, grave, or settlement feature), thus the questions raised and conclusions reached are important for other medieval hoard finds. By comparing hoards related to a single historical event to a contemporaneous site – containing a village, a church, and a cemetery – assessments can be made regarding how hoards reflect social issues such as stratification, wealth, status, and fashion.

Read more less

The remarkable preservation of the Early Bronze Age village of Afragola on the Campania Plain of Southern Italy is unmatched in Europe. The site was buried under nearly a meter of volcanic ash deposited by the Avellino eruption of Vesuvius ca. 3945+10 cal. BP. The site boasts a large number of well-preserved structures, built features and organic materials and thus provides a laboratory-type setting in which to investigate variability in artifact distribution and activity areas across a single village. This research utilizes micromorphological analysis of thin sections of undisturbed sediment collected at the site to understand how people used living spaces, organized daily activities and, when possible, to connect village life to broad issues related to the emergence of social complexity on the Campanian Plain. In particular, micromorphology is used to identify the type and range of human activities, the function of features and buildings, and the intensity of site occupation. The micromorphological analysis at Afragola provides a unique example of a briefly occupied agricultural village with what appears to be minimally stratified social organization during the Early Bronze Age of southern Italy.

Read more less

This is the first dedicated and comprehensive study of glass beads from Early Medieval Ireland, presenting the first national classification, typology, dating, symbology and social performance of glass beads. Glass beads are one of the most visually stunning archaeological objects and they remain as popular a part of body ornament today as in the past. This continuing fascination is explained somewhat by the versatility of glass which can be rendered opaque or transparent and produced in a variety of colours. Glass has an almost mesmerising effect in its ability to reflect light, presenting not just a surface but also dimensional depths of shade and light. In this respect the crafting of glass beads as representations of the human eye may go some way towards explaining their enduring and universal popularity. Glass beads however are much more than this and their enduring appeal is also a reflection of their aesthetic and symbolic qualities. This book explores not only the importance of beads as a tool of archaeological research but also the relevance of beads in the social arena and their significance as markers of cultural and religious identity and symbols of status and age both in Ireland and further afield.

Read more less

This monograph is devoted to small forms of engraving on stone. It summarizes the archaeological material obtained during the course of excavations at the Rauchuvagytgyn I site (dated to 2500 years ago) in northern Chukotka. The book analyzes the content and semantics of the pictorial resources, and ethnic identification is made. The interpretive part of the study raises issues of an ideological character and brings one closer to the inaccessible realm of ideas and concepts of the ancients. This well-illustrated book is directed primarily toward archaeologists, ethnographers, historians, and fine art experts but will also be of interest to a broad range of readers.

Read more less