Search results for ""Archaeopress""

In many European areas, the Neolithic period corresponds to the development of architectural monumentality which left important marks in the landscape, as well as the land clearing and the cultivation by the first agro-pastoral societies. This volume presents proceedings from the session ‘Monumentality and territory: relationship between enclosures and necropolis in the European Neolithic’, part of the XVII World UISPP Congress, held in Burgos (Spain), the 4th September 2014. The session considered the various manifestations of the relationship between Neolithic enclosures and tombs in different contexts of Europe, notably through spatial analysis; the concept of landscape appropriation, combining domestic, symbolic, economic or natural spaces; and the patterns of territorial organization, in which enclosures and tombs have a fundamental role in some Neolithic contexts.

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The hypocephalus is an element of Late Period and Ptolemaic funerary equipment – an amuletic disc placed under the head of mummies. Its shape emulates the sun’s disc, and its form is planar, although it occasionally has a concave shape (in such cases, it protects the head as a funerary cap). The earliest known example can be dated to the 4th century BC and the latest to the 2nd/1st century BC. The Hypocephalus: an Ancient Egyptian Funerary Amulet analyses both the written records and iconography of these objects. So far, 158 examples are known; several, unfortunately, from old descriptions only. The relatively low number shows that the object was not a widespread item of funerary equipment. Only priest and priestly families used them, those of Amon in Thebes, of Min in Akhmim, and the ones of Ptah in Memphis. Among the examples, no two are identical. In some details, every piece is an individualized creation. Ancient Egyptian theologians certainly interpreted hypocephali as the iris of the wedjat-eye, amidst which travels the sun-god in his hidden, mysterious and tremendous form(s). The hypocephalus can be considered as the sun-disk itself. It radiates light and energy towards the head of the deceased, who again becomes a living being, feeling him/herself as ‘one with the Earth’ through this energy. The texts and the iconography derive principally from the supplementary chapters of the Book of the Dead. Some discs directly cite the text of spell 162 which furnishes the mythological background of the invention of the disc by the Great Cow, who protected her son Re by creating the disc at his death.

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Toniná was a Mayan city, located between two cultural areas near the Chiapas Highlands. It has been widely proposed that the Maya collapse implied the disappearance and depopulation of many cities; this research addresses the survival of Toniná towards the threshold of the Postclassic. For this purpose, 15,956 human bones found in Structure 15 of the fifth platform in the Acropolis of Toniná were analysed. The analysis of anthropological osteology allowed us to know the biological profile and to document the cultural taphonomy, through which the practice of human sacrifice and the posthumous treatment of the victims was evidenced. The application of stable isotope and strontium analyses also allowed us to determine the dietary profile of those sacrificed, their geographical origin and mobility throughout their lives. A change in ritual practices in the Mayan area was glimpsed, as ideological influences were found, possibly from the Gulf Coast in the cult of other deities, as in the case of Xipe Totéc; the Gulf Coast had great influence in the Mayan area since ancient times and this has been confirmed at this site through ceramics.

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Greek sanctuaries are among the best known archaeological sites in ancient Greece. However, after over 150 years of excavations and research we know surprisingly little about some of their aspects, such as the rituals enacted in the sanctuary, the nature of original local deities and how aspects of their character were assimilated into those of the Olympians, why sanctuaries were established in certain places, and how to determine who the sanctuary was established for when no epigraphical material is present. Artemis and Her Cult provides a first attempt to bring together archaeological and literary sources from two main Artemis sanctuaries, hoping to contribute to a clearer picture of her cult. An account of Artemis’ different characters describes her as a mother of gods, a goddess of wilderness, animals and hunt; a goddess of birth, infants and children (and young animals); as well as a goddess of youth and marriage and rites of passage. These descriptions are followed by an up-to-date account of the archaeological record of the sanctuaries of Artemis Orthia at Sparta and Artemis Ephesia at Ephesus. For the comparison the site of Athena Alea at Tegea is examined. The three accounts offer a full study of the architectural development and the range of artefacts made of different materials. The varied character is Artemis are further analysed by looking at the archaeology relating to the cult and the rites of passage taking place at the sites. The rites of passage are reconstructed by using the literary accounts.

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This year, 2017, marks 70 years since the discovery of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls at Khirbet Qumran by the Dead Sea in 1947. The Dead Sea Scrolls are one of the most well-known archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. This book addresses the proto-history and the roots of the Qumran community and of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the light of contemporary scholarship in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria, as the centre for Hellenistic Jews and the location of the Library of Alexandria, forms a key to understanding the theme of the book. The relationship of this context to the thoughts of the Essenes, the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, the Jewish Therapeutae of Egypt living in the neighbourhood of Alexandria and the Pythagoreans are especially studied in this work. Historical sources (both Jewish and Classical authors) and archaeological evidence are taken into account in the wider Graeco-Roman context. The connection between the Jewish Therapeutae in the Lake Mareotis region and the Palestinian Essenes is explained by the ‘Jewish Pythagoras’ based on the idea that the movements share the same philosophical tradition based on Judaism and Pythagoreanism. The prototypes of the Dead Sea Scrolls are explained in their Egyptian context, in association with the Library of Alexandria, the Egyptian temple manuals, and the formation of libraries in the Hellenistic period including that of Qumran.

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Unlike the Sahara or Southern Africa, the rock art of Central Africa is still largely unknown today. Despite being reported as early as the 16th century by Diego del Santissimo Sacramento, the rock art of the Kongo Central, an area encompassing parts of modern day Angola, Cabinda, the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon, has never been widely researched and its age remains uncertain. Populated by the Ndibu, one of the Kongo subgroups, the Lovo massif is in the north of the ancient kingdom of Kongo. Even though this kingdom has, since 1500 AD, been one of the best documented in Africa, from historical sources as well as ethnographic and anthropological sources for the more recent periods, it remains largely unrecognized archaeologically. With 102 sites inventoried (including 16 ornate caves), it contains the largest concentration of rock art sites in the region, representing more than 5000 rock art images. Crossing ethnological, historical, archaeological and mythological points of view, this book illustrates that rock art played an important part in Kongo culture. Like historical sources or oral traditions, it can provide historians with important documentation and contribute significantly to the reconstruction of Africa's past. French description: A la difference des arts rupestres du Sahara ou d'Afrique australe, ceux d'Afrique centrale restent encore aujourd'hui largement meconnus. Bien que signale des le XVIe par Diego del Santissimo Sacramento, l'art rupestre du Kongo Central n'a jamais fait l'objet d'une recherche de grande ampleur et son age reste toujours incertain. Peuple par les Ndibu, un des sous-groupes kongo, le massif de Lovo se trouve dans le nord de l'ancien royaume de Kongo. Meme si ce royaume est, a partir de 1500, l'un des mieux documentes de toute l'Afrique tant par les sources historiques que par les sources ethnographiques et anthropologiques pour les periodes plus recentes, il reste largement meconnu sur le plan archeologique. Avec 102 sites inventories (dont 16 grottes ornees), il contient la plus importante concentration de sites rupestres de toute la region, ce qui represente plus de 5000 images rupestres. En croisant les points de vue ethnologique, historique, archeologique et mythologique, j'ai pu montrer que l'art rupestre a bel et bien une part importante dans la culture kongo. Au meme titre que les sources historiques ou les traditions orales, il peut apporter aux historiens une documentation de premier plan et contribuer a reconstruire le passe de l'Afrique.

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