Search results for ""archaeopress""

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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Two of the questions most frequently asked by archaeologists of sites and the objects that populate them are ‘How old are you?’ and ‘Where are you from?’ These questions can often be answered through archaeometric dating and provenance analyses. As both archaeological sites and objects, shipwrecks pose a special problem in archaeometric dating and provenance because when they sailed, they often accumulated new construction material as timbers were repaired and replaced. Additionally, during periods of globalization, such as the so-called Age of Discovery, the provenance of construction materials may not reflect where the ship was built due to long-distance timber trade networks and the global nature of these ships’ sailing routes. Accepting these special challenges, nautical archaeologists must piece together the nuanced relationship between the ship, its timbers, and the shipwreck, and to do so, wood samples must be removed from the assemblage. Besides the provenance of the vessel’s wooden components, selective removal and analysis of timber samples can also provide researchers with unique insights relating to environmental history. For this period, wood samples could help produce information on the emergent global economy; networks of timber trade; forestry and carpentry practices; climate patterns and anomalies; forest reconstruction; repairs made to ships and when, why, and where those occurred; and much more. This book is a set of protocols to establish the need for wood samples from shipwrecks and to guide archaeologists in the removal of samples for a suite of archaeometric techniques currently available to provenance the timbers used to construct wooden ships and boats. While these protocols will prove helpful to archaeologists working on shipwreck assemblages from any time period and in any place, this book uses Iberian ships of the 16th to 18th centuries as its case studies because their global mobility poses additional challenges to the problem at hand. At the same time, their prolificacy and ubiquity make the wreckage of these ships a uniquely global phenomenon.

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Glassware and Glassworking in Thessaloniki: 1st Century BC – 6th Century AD is a detailed examination of the production of glass and glass vessels in the eastern Mediterranean from the Hellenistic Age to the Early Christian period, analysing production techniques and decoration. The volume establishes the socio-economic framework of glassmaking and glassmakers’ social status in the Roman world generally and in Thessaloniki specifically, while identifying probable local products. Presented are all the excavation glass finds from Thessaloniki and its environs found between 1912 and 2002. A typological classification was created for almost 800 objects – which encompass the overwhelming majority of common excavation finds in the Balkans – as well as for the decorative themes that appear on the more valuable pieces. Comparative material from the entire Mediterranean was studied, verified in its entirety through primary publications. A summary of the excavation history of these vessels’ find-spots is provided, with details for each excavation, in many cases unpublished and identified through research in the archives of the relevant museums and Ephorates of Antiquities. The uses of glass vessels are presented, and there is discussion and interpretation of the reasons that permitted, or imposed, the choice of glass for their production. The finds are statistically analysed, and a chronological overview examining them century by century on the basis of use and place of production is given. Finally, there is an effort to interpret the data from the study in historical terms, and to incorporate the results into the political-economic evolution of the region’s political history. Relatively unfamiliar glassmaking terms are explained in a glossary of glassworking technology and typology terms. The material is fully documented in drawings and photographs, and every object in the catalogue is illustrated. A detailed index of the 602 geographical terms in the work, many unknown, concludes the book.

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This is a history of archaeological endeavour in Norfolk set within a national context. It covers the writer's early experiences as a volunteer, the rise of field archaeology as a profession and efforts to conserve the archaeological heritage against the tide of destruction prevalent in the countryside up to the 1980s when there was not even a right of access to record sites before they were lost. Now developers often have to pay for an excavation before they can obtain planning consent. The book features progress with archaeology conservation as well as the growth of rescue archaeology as a profession both in towns and in the countryside. Many of the most important discoveries made by aerial photography, rescue excavations and metal detecting from the 1970s onwards are illustrated. The last section covers the recent growth of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust as an owner of some of the most iconic rural sites in Norfolk. The book concludes with a discussion of some issues facing British field archaeology today.

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Shifting Sand is the journal of Julian Berry, then a 17-year-old archaeologist, written on-site during excavations in Deir Alla, Jordan, in 1964. The dig was organized by the University of Leiden and led by Dr Henk Franken who was looking to find a material context for Old Testament narratives, and to build a stratigraphic chronology to mark the transition from the Bronze through to the early Iron Ages based mainly around pottery finds. When the author was working on the site, three clay tablets were discovered from the late Bronze Age with early Canaanite inscriptions, that when translated in 1989 showed that Deir Alla was the Biblical Pethor, and that it had been attacked by Israelites from Pithom in Egypt. Later a wall inscription was found in Aramaic dating to 880-770BCE referencing the prophet Balaam. Berry was as much interested by what was going on above ground as below, and kept a detailed journal of the daily lives of the archaeologists and life in the camp. The dig also had many fascinating and famous archaeologists visiting, including Father Roland de Vaux, and Diana Kirkbride. During breaks from the dig Berry went on a number of journeys in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria and he describes their cities, but also the very tranquil agricultural countryside that he found at that time. He discovered adventure when a drunk taxi driver tried to murder him as he resisted his advances; later he was caught up in a revolt against Hafez al-Assad in Homs, father of Bashir, and was asked by a taxi driver if he had come to Damascus to see the public hanging. Above all this book should be read as fascinating insight into the lives of archaeologists over 50 years ago, and the very close links between the European team, the Arab workmen, and the daily life in a simple mud-brick village.

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James Douglas (1753-1819) was a polymath, well ahead of his time in both the fields of archaeology and earth-sciences. His examinations of fossils from the London Clay and other geological formations caused him to conclude that the Earth was much older than the 4004 BC allotted to it by his contemporaries. He had come to this conclusion by 1785 and published these findings in that year, long before other researchers in the same field. His Nenia Britannica, published in 1793, reveals a remarkably accurate grasp of the dating of Anglo- Saxon burials; further illuminated by the contents of his common-place book for 1814-16, discovered by the author in a second-hand bookshop. This common-place book, correspondence with his contemporaries and other sources resulted in the present publication recounting his archaeological and other activities in Sussex during the first two decades of the 19th century.

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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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The Egyptian Museum of Florence, in collaboration with the University of Florence, hosted the Eleventh International Congress of Egyptologists which took place from 23rd to 30th August 2015, under the patronage of the IAE – International Association of Egyptologists. This volume publishes 136 papers and posters presented during the Congress. Topics discussed here range from archaeology, religion, philology, mummy investigations and archaeometry to history, offering an up-to-date account of research in these fields.

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The indigenous persistence, texture, articulation, shape and functionality of the urban definition of the municipia in central Apulia demonstrate the nature of the complex history and settlement of this area in the long period between the age of Romanization and the third century AD. The comprehensive collection and examination of the material evidence make it possible to reconstruct – for the first time, in an organic manner and in a global framework – the profile of the urban space of ‘Poediculorum oppida’. This has been carried out according to a dynamic perspective that reveals signs of restructuring and approval, of novelty and vibrancy, of strength and interaction, to make possible the reconsideration of that stubborn idea, prevalent until recently, of an ineluctable ‘crisis’, and to draw a picture of urban geography calibrated according to an intense and morphogenetic tension in terms of the assimilation of Roman culture and adaptation to local conditions. Italian description: Persistenza indigena, consistenza, articolazione, forma e funzionalità urbanistiche dei municipia della Puglia centrale consentono di leggere la complessa vicenda storica e insediativa di questo comparto nel lungo periodo esteso fra l’età della romanizzazione e il III sec. d.C. La raccolta e disamina complessive del patrimonio documentario permettono così di ricostruire – per la prima volta, in maniera organica e in un disegno globale – il profilo dello spazio urbano dei ‘Poediculorum oppida’ secondo una prospettiva dinamica che lascia cogliere segni di ristrutturazione e di omologazione, di novità e di vivacità, di rottura e di interazione, per provare a riconsiderare quell’idea pervicace di ineluttabile ‘crisi’ tradita fino a tempi recenti e a tracciare un quadro poleografico calibrato su una intensa e morfogenetica tensione fra metabolismo e simbiosi.

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Etruscan architecture underwent various changes between the later Iron Age and the Archaic period (c. 800-500 BC), as seen in the evidence from several sites. These changes affected the design and style of domestic architecture as well as the use of raw materials and construction techniques. However, based on a supposed linear progression from inferior to superior building materials, explanations and interpretations often portray an architectural transition in Etruria from ‘prehistoric’ to ‘historic’ building types. This perspective has encouraged a rather deterministic, overly simplified and inequitable view of the causes of change in which the replacement of traditional materials with new ones is thought to have been the main factor. This book aims to reconsider the nature of architectural changes in this period by focussing on the building materials and techniques used in the construction of domestic structures. Through a process of identification and interpretation using comparative analysis and an approach based on the chaîne opératoire perspective, changes in building materials and techniques are examined, with special reference to four key sites: San Giovenale, Acquarossa, Poggio Civitate (Murlo) and Lago dell’Accesa. It is argued that changes occurred in neither a synchronous nor a linear way, but separately and at irregular intervals. In this monograph, they are interpreted as resulting mainly from multigenerational habitual changes, reflecting the relationship between human behaviour and the built and natural environments, rather than choices between old and new materials. Moreover, despite some innovations, certain traditional building techniques and their associated materials continued into the Archaic period, indicating that Etruscan domestic architecture did not undergo a complete transformation, as sometimes asserted or implied in other works. This study of building techniques and materials, while not rejecting the widely held view of a significant Etruscan architectural transition, argues for a more nuanced reading of the evidence and greater recognition of the nature of behavioural change during the period in question.

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This book examines Roman funerary material from three Roman cities of the south-western regions of the Roman province of Pannonia (modern-day north-western Croatia): Andautonia (Ščitarjevo near Zagreb), Siscia (Sisak), and Aquae Balissae (Daruvar). The material chosen reflects the potential of Roman funerary monuments and gravestones for gaining an insight into the historical, social and psychological aspects of Roman provincial society. It enables a perception of the gradual development of the Romano-Pannonian milieu from the 1st to the 4th centuries in its various social aspects: civilian, military, and religious. Within this frame, the focus is on the interaction between the individual and the community as reflected in monologues or even dialogues between the deceased and the living, conveyed through epitaphs and depictions. The deceased more often than not strove to represent themselves on their monuments in a ‘wished-for’ rather than a realistic manner. All of the examples illustrated here reflect in one way or another the Roman obsession with the eternal preservation of the deceased’s memory. This volume is one of the ‘deliverables’ (dissemination of the results prevalently among the non-professional readers) of the project entitled: Roman funerary monuments of south-western Pannonia in their material, social, and religious context (IP-2014-09-4632), headed by B. Migotti. Its publication was partly supported by the Croatian Science Foundation.

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We are very lucky to have small, contemporary records of history scattered throughout our soil in the form of lead seals. With a couple of notable exceptions, they have largely been ignored by archaeologists and historians, but the recent explosion in the numbers found and recorded has helped to bring their importance and potential to the attention of those interested in our heritage. This book is intended to be a repository of the salient information currently available on the identification of cloth seals, and a source of new material that extends our understanding of these important indicators of post medieval and early modern industry and trade. It is, primarily, a guide to help with the identification of cloth seals, both those found within and those originating from the United Kingdom. Most of the extra examples, referenced beneath the images, can be quickly located and viewed through access to the internet.

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This volumes examines Roman pottery and production centers in the bay of Gaditana, modern-day Cádiz. The innovative aspects of this research are several but we will limit them to three: the typological classification from a closer perspective to the mentality of the old potter; the concept of ‘social measure’, which connects the dimensions of the containers with the type of consumer and social group; and, the ethnoarchaeological aspects applied to the construction of a furnace, which have enabled to better specify various aspects relating to the manufacture of common Roman ceramics. From a methodological point of view, it is proposed a debate about the concept of ‘common pottery’, which is defined as ceramics intended for a common and multipurpose use, more practical than aesthetic. Likewise, it is exposed the great problem of the typologies, seeking not only a logical classification into types and variants, but also a reference to the artisan work. The theme of the ancient name of Roman ceramic forms is faced in order to call by the old names to the Roman pottery forms found today. The concept of ‘social measure’, unprecedented in this type of analysis, pretends to reach a social accepted measure, obtained with a statistical study. This measure is that one around which the values are concentrated.

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The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the principal international academic forum for research on the Arabian Peninsula. First convened in 1968, it is the only annual academic event for the study of the Arabian Peninsula that brings together researchers from all over the world to present and discuss current fieldwork and the latest research. The Seminar covers an extensive range of diverse subjects that include anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more besides, 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). The Seminar meets for three days each year, with an ever-increasing number of participants coming from around the globe to attend. In 2016 the fiftieth meeting took place, in which sixty papers and posters were presented in London at the British Museum, where this prestigious event has been hosted since 2002. The Seminar also regularly hosts a special session focusing on a specific aspect of the Humanities on the Arabian Peninsula, enabling a range of experts to present their research to a wider audience. In 2016 this special session was entitled ‘Textiles and Personal Adornment in the Arabian Peninsula’, which provided a fascinating overview of research on dress, textiles, and adornment in the Middle East.

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The Black Sea in the Light of New Archaeological Data and Theoretical Approaches contains 19 papers on the archaeology and ancient history of the Black Sea region, covering a vast period of time, from the Early Iron Age until the Late Roman – Early Byzantine Periods. The majority of papers present archaeological material that has come to light during the last few years, in excavations that have been taking place in several parts of Pontus. Additionally, there are papers that present theoretical approaches to historical issues concerning the Black Sea, its local peoples, cultural aspects or specific sites, while at the end there is as well as a section on the connections between the Black Sea and northern Greece. Thus, the reader of this volume will have the opportunity to be informed about new archaeological results from excavators of some very important Black Sea sites, focus on specific categories of excavation finds or constructions, but also encounter new theories and ideas about social aspects of life in the Black Sea in ancient times. All these indicate once again the impressive acceleration of the archaeological and historical research that is being conducted in the last few decades in the Black Sea littoral, which continues to attract the unfailing interest of scholars from around the world.

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This volume explores the relevance of time travel as a characteristic contemporary way to approach the past. If reality is defined as the sum of human experiences and social practices, all reality is partly virtual, and all experienced and practiced time travel is real. In that sense, time travel experiences are not necessarily purely imaginary. Time travel experiences and associated social practices have become ubiquitous and popular, increasingly replacing more knowledge-orientated and critical approaches to the past. The papers in this book explore various types and methods of time travel and seek to prove that time travel is a legitimate and timely object of study and critique because it represents a particularly significant way to bring the past back to life in the present.

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The 18th annual meeting of the Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology (SOMA) was held in Wrocław-Poland, 24th to 26th April 2014. Since prehistoric times the Mediterranean has acted as a stage for intense interactions between groups inhabiting regions that are now studied mainly within various sub-fields of ancient studies. In recent years, however, the development of research techniques and analytical models of archaeological evidence have identified similar historical paths that are similar, if not, in some cases, common to these disparate areas of the ancient world from West (Iberian peninsula) to East (Anatolia and Levant), from North (Europe, Black Sea Coast) to South (Maghreb and Egypt). The 18th SOMA provided a forum for presentations related to the above-mentioned topics, as well as general themes such as the role of the sea, trade, colonization, even piracy, using archaeological data collected within contexts associated with the Mediterranean Basin and the area referred to as the Ancient Near East, ranging chronologically from the Prehistoric to Medieval periods. This current volume contains 22 papers selected from the 90 presented.

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Archaeology with Art is the result of a 2013 Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) conference session that aimed to merge the perspectives of artists and archaeologists on making art. It explores the relationship between archaeology and art practice, the interactions between materials and practitioners, and the processes that result in the objects and images we call ‘art’. The book offers new approaches to the study of creative practices in archaeology, ranging from experimental investigations to philosophical explorations and contains a diverse set of papers that use insights from contemporary art practice to examine the making of past artworks.

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The Socotra archipelago lies approximately 135 nautical miles (Nm) northeast of Cape Guardafui, Somalia and 205Nm south of Rās Fartaq, Yemen. The archipelago is made up of four main islands, Socotra, cAbd al-Kūri, Samḥa and Darsa, of which Socotra is the largest and most densely populated. The population of Socotra is divided between the interior pastoralists and the coastal fishermen and traders. While scholarly studies concerning the interior population abound, the fishermen of Socotra have received comparatively less attention and little about them or their traditions is known. This research seeks to address this balance by analysing the Socotri maritime traditions and addressing the question as to how social, environmental and technological influences have shaped the maritime traditions of the fishermen of Socotra. The primary data forming the basis of this book is author’s ethnographic fieldwork carried out on the islands of Socotra and Samḥa between 2009 and 2010. This data is incorporated within a transdisciplinary framework that looks at some of the essential factors of historical, archaeological and environmental evidence to gain a holistic insight into the spatial and temporal factors affecting the maritime traditions of the fishermen.

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This meticulous investigation, based around a famous rock image, the ‘White Lady’, makes it possible to take stock of the mythical presuppositions that infuse a great deal of scientific research, especially in the case of rock art studies. It also highlights the existence of some surprising bridges between scholarly works and literary or artistic productions (novels, films, comic strips, adventure tales). The examination of the abbé Breuil’s archives and correspondence shows that the primary motivation of the work he carried out in southern Africa like that of his pupil Henri Lhote in the Tassili was the search for ancient, vanished ‘white’ colonies which were established, in prehistory, in the heart of the dark continent. Both Breuil and Lhote found paintings on African rocks that, in their view, depicted ‘white women’ who were immediately interpreted as goddesses or queens of the ancient kingdoms of which they believed they had found the vestiges. In doing this, they were reviving and nourishing two myths at the same time: that of a Saharan Atlantis for Henri Lhote and, for the abbé, that of the identification of the great ruins of Zimbabwe with the mythical city of Ophir from which, according to the Bible, King Solomon derived his fabulous wealth. With hindsight we can now see very clearly that their theories were merely a clumsy reflection of the ideas of their time, particularly in the colonial context of the Sahara and in the apartheid of South Africa. Without their knowledge, these two scholars’ scientific production was used to justify the white presence in Africa, and it was widely manipulated to that end. And yet recent studies have demonstrated that the ‘White Lady’ who so fascinated the abbé Breuil was in reality neither white nor even a woman. One question remains: if such an interpenetration of science and myth in the service of politics was possible in the mid-20th century, could it happen today?

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This volume comprises thirteen reports detailing fieldwork undertaken by a research project which sought to assess the archaeological evidence of the period of conflict that took place in mid-twelfth-century England popularly known as ‘the Anarchy’. The reign of King Stephen (ad 1135– 54) was characterised by a protracted struggle for power between forces loyal to the crown and those who supported the Angevin claim of his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda. Alongside a succession of bitter rebellions the war also saw large-scale Scottish invasions into, and occupation of, large parts of northern England as well as border warfare on the marches between England and Wales and a struggle for control of Normandy. While the period is infamous for the proliferation of conflict, castle-building and siege warfare, and for a breakdown of royal government, its characterisation as ‘the Anarchy’ is now challenged by historians, however. As previous understanding of this tumultuous period had rested almost entirely upon interpretation of written sources, Anarchy? War and Status in Twelfth-Century Landscapes of Conflict was a programme of research which systematically studied the archaeology of mid-twelfth century England for the first time. A major component of the project was the targeted archaeological investigation of selected case study locations across England. Geophysical and topographic surveys were supplemented with archival, documentary and cartographic analyses in order to reveal the character and chronological development of a sample of potential Anarchy-period sites and landscapes. The current volume represents the product of these endeavours, presenting self-contained reports of the sites where these investigations took place, arranged alphabetically.

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The Cheshire hillforts are some of the most conspicuous features of the prehistoric landscape in Cheshire, located on the distinctive Cheshire Sandstone Ridge. They have been subject to years of archaeological research and investigation, however this has delivered only a limited understanding of their chronology, function, occupation history, economy and status. These hillforts are major elements of the prehistory of the region, but the lack of information about them is a major gap in our understanding. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Habitats and Hillforts Landscape Partnership Project focused on six of the hillforts and their surrounding habitats and landscapes. The aim of the project was not only to develop archaeological understanding, but also to raise awareness of these special assets in the landscape and the management issues they face. The Habitats and Hillforts Project was a collaborative partnership, led by Cheshire West and Chester Council, with Historic England, the National Trust, the Woodland Trust and the Forestry Commission, as well as private landowners. These landowners and land managers came together to share approaches to managing heritage assets on the Sandstone Ridge. The project core team was assisted by university specialists and archaeological contractors in surveying, excavating and researching the hillforts. A range of techniques including archival research, geophysical survey, earthwork survey, lidar, fieldwalking, excavation and palaeoenvironmental analysis, was employed to develop our understanding of these significant sites. A large and dedicated group of volunteers and students joined in this work, which encouraged more people to enjoy these assets and take an active role in their management. The Habitats and Hillforts Project has shed new light on the Cheshire Hillforts. Their chronology can now be seen to have developed from middle/late Bronze Age origins, much earlier than traditionally accepted. The possible development of distinct architectural styles in their construction can be suggested and an enhanced understanding of their surrounding landscape has been achieved. This volume details the results of the four year project, and sets out how these contribute to a deeper understanding of the ordering of the landscape in western Cheshire during the later prehistoric period and beyond. It should form a vital resource for informing future research priorities regarding the late Bronze Age and Iron Age of both Cheshire and the wider North West region.

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At the end of the 6th dynasty the 500 year old established order of the Old Kingdom fell apart, which, according to the interpretation given to various contemporary literary sources, started a period of social unrest and economic decline. The magnitude of the economic investment bestowed by the members of the higher social strata on the monuments that would be the abode for their after-life leads to the hypothesis that an economic decline could also manifest itself in the dimensions of the various architectonic elements of these monuments. The dimensions of the tombs have been chosen as the subject of this study. The preliminary part of the study is performed on the tombs in the necropolis of Giza. The results of the study are compared with the same measurements in the necropoleis of Saqqara and Abusir. The conclusion is that the economic decline started already at the early dynastic period and not as a result of the caving in of the Old Kingdom. An interesting ‘side-effect’ of the study is that the dimensions of the tombs can serve as a method to check a dating that has been proposed based on other aspect of the tomb.

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Among the numerous deities in the ancient Egyptian mythology, whose nature and function are still vague and obscure, are mś.w Bdšt – ‘Children of Weakness’. These beings are twice mentioned in the Book of the Dead chapter 17. The text fragments contain two local versions of the myth with mś.w Bdšt – Hermopolitan (Urk. V: Abs. 1), and Heliopolitan (Urk. V: Abs. 22). Since the last text describes the combat between Re and the ‘Children of Weakness’, the same is likely to be reflected on the vignette, which depicts the battle of Re against mś.w Bdšt, metaphorically shown in the form of a serpent. This book is a comprehensive study of the ‘Children of Weakness’ myth and the scene depicting the cat, cutting off the head of the serpent under the branches of the išd-tree found on the number of Book of the Dead chapter 17 vignettes.

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Since absolute dating of rock art is limited, relative chronologies remain useful in contextualising interpretations of ancient images. This book advocates the archival capacity of rock art and uses archival perspectives to analyse the chronology of paintings in order to formulate a framework for their historicised interpretations. The Western Cape painting sequence is customarily accepted to include the hunter-gatherer phase from c. 10,000 BP, pastoralism from c. 2,000 BP and finally the historical-cum-colonial period several centuries ago. Painting traditions with distinct depiction manners and content are conventionally linked to these broad periods. This study evaluates this schema in order to refine the diverse hunter-gatherer, herder and colonial era painting contexts and histories. Using superimpositions as one analytical tool, the notion of datum aided the referencing and correlation of layered imagery into a relative sequence. Although broad differences separate painting traditions, and these variations are generally indistinguishable within a single tradition, it is clear that the long-spanning hunter-gatherer segment of painting in this region reflects a hitherto unrecognised sub-tradition. Some painted themes such as elephants, fat-tailed sheep, handprints and possibly finger dots occur within various levels of the sequence, which this study views as shared graphic fragments occurring between and across traditions and sub-traditions. Through the archival concept of respect des fonds such observable complexities were clarified as coherent graphic narratives that run through the entire chronological sequence of the Western Cape rock paintings. Probing archaeological, ethnographic and historical sources revealed that while these themes remained fundamentally consistent throughout the stratigraphic sequence as preferred subject matter, their meanings might have transformed subliminally from earlier to later periods, possibly reflecting layered shifts in the socio-economic, cultural and political circumstances of the region. Fundamentally, the framework of image histories shown by the choice and sustenance of specific themes is understood to mean that their significance and specific graphic contexts throughout the chronological sequence are pivoted and mirrored through the long established hunter-gatherer rock paintings which predate periods of contact with other cultures. The resulting sequence and interpretation of these painted themes is a descriptive and organisational template reflecting the original organic character in the creation of the paintings and ordered cultural continuities in the use of animal/human symbolism. This book’s agenda in part involves reviewing the Western Cape’s changing social and historical landscape to show variation in painting over time and to project possible interpretative transformations. Painting sequences and cultural (dis)continuities are thus intricately entwined and can be disentangled through a recursive analytical relationship between archaeology, ethnography and history. This amalgamated analytical approach produces historicised narratives and contextual meanings for the rock paintings.

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In 2011, cavers exploring a little-known cave on Moneen Mountain in County Clare in the west of Ireland discovered part of a human skull, pottery and an antler implement. An archaeological excavation followed, leading to the discovery of large quantities of Bronze Age pottery, butchered animal bones and oyster shells. The material suggests that Moneen Cave was visited intermittently as a sacred place in the Bronze Age landscape. People climbed the mountain, squeezed through the small opening in the cave roof, dropped down into the chamber, and left offerings on a large boulder that dominates the internal space. The excavation also resulted in the recovery of the skeletal remains of an adolescent boy who appears to have died in the cave in the 16th or 17th century. Scientific analyses revealed he had endured periods of malnutrition and ill health, providing insight into the hardships faced by many children in post-medieval Ireland.

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The excavation of the Leckie Iron Age broch in Stirlingshire, Scotland, took place during the 1970’s after the author had been asked to organise the work by a local archaeological society. At that stage the author did not consider – despite its location – that the site might vividly reflect the expansion of the Roman Empire into southern Scotland in the late first century AD. For various reasons the final report was not written until about thirty years after the fieldwork finished and by then the quality and significance of the Roman finds was much better understood, thanks to the analysis of them by experts. Many of them seemed like gifts to the broch chief, despite the clear evidence of the violent destruction of the broch at a later date. The Roman author Tacitus gave a detailed account of Governor Agricola’s campaigns in southern Scotland and pointed out that he sometimes tried to make friends with local chiefs before invading their territories, to avoid un-necessary casualties. This also applied to the first Roman naval excursion up the west coast and explains the evidence from Dun Ardtreck, Skye, excavated in the 1960’s. This site was also destroyed later and this could reflect the later hostile voyage of the navy after the battle of Mons Graupius which occurred after a few years of campaigning. Thus Rome’s accounts can allow one to understand the history of some native sites much more vividly.

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This book brings together the main discussions that took place at an international conference on the iconology of war in the ancient Near East, a subject never addressed at an international meeting before. The articles span the 3rd to the 1st millennium, with a special stress on the Neo-Assyrian period. They try to respond to many questions about representations of war: what is ‘warrior’ iconography and on what basis it can be defined? Did the war scenes follow a specific directory whereby they adopted the most varied forms? Can we determine the most usual conditions for the creation of pictures of wartime (such as periods of great change)? Were the war scenes referring to specific historical events or were they generic representations? What can a society accept from the representations of war? What did war images silence and why? What is a ‘just’ punishment for enemies and thus the ‘just’ representation of it? Who has control of the representation and therefore also the memory of war? Who is the real subject of war representations? What emerges from all the articles published here is the relevance of textual data in any analysis of iconological material. And this is not only true for iconology, but for all the archaeological material discovered at historical sites.

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Potamikon attempts to solve a question that has perplexed scholars for hundreds of years: Who exactly is the man-faced bull featured so often on Greek coinage? It approaches this question by examining the origin of the iconography and traces its development throughout various Mediterranean cultures, finally arriving in Archaic and Classical Greece in the first millennium BC. Within the context of Greek coinage, the authors review all the past arguments for the identity of the man-faced bull before incorporating the two leading theories (Local River Gods vs. Acheloios) into a new theory of local embodiments of Acheloios, thereby preserving the sanctity of the local rivers while recognizing Acheloios as the original god of all water. The second part of the book exhibits many of these ‘Sinews of Acheloios’ as they appear throughout the Greek world on bronze coinage, in each case paying careful attention to the reasons a specific group adopted the iconography and shedding further light on the mythos of Acheloios.

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The Ouse valley, East Sussex, is a key communication route from the Channel coast, via the Downs (and the historic county town of Lewes), to the wide expanse of the Weald. It traverses and encompasses landscapes and archaeological sites of both regional and national importance – all connected by the river Ouse and its valley. This is the first review of the archaeology of this important landscape – from Palaeolithic to medieval times by contributors all routed in the archaeology of Sussex. Binding together the archaeology is a review of the geoarchaeology and palaeo-environment following which the chapters document the collective archaeology and potential from the Palaeolithic of Boxgrove vs Piltdown, via Mesolithic archaeology from the textbook excavations of Grahame Clark to recent 21st century investigations. Monuments of causewayed enclosures, long barrows and round barrows represent some of the Neolithic and Bronze Age evidence with some extraordinary finds recorded in the Bronze Age. From hillforts and villas, to medieval rural and urban excavation; the Ouse valley represents a microcosm of the wider region, the contributions collectively reveal the importance and significance of this valley to the development of landscape history and society of a quintessential English county. The narrative concludes with the first detailed research agenda for the Ouse valley.

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The qṣar corresponds to a type of human settlement widely distributed in the Sahara desert, including many examples located today in southern Morocco, southern Algeria, southern Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania and Mali. This architectural model is characterised by its use over a wide-ranging time span – probably since the early first millennium BC according to ancient structures recorded by the archaeologist Mattingly in the Libyan Fazzān. This volume, through the systematic analysis and comparison of some qṣūr of southeastern Algeria (Rīġ, Mzāb, Miya and al-Manī‘a), reveals common architectural features that can be used to identify a common type of qṣar in this region. The analysis of the construction material shows the primary use of limestone with a local mortar (timchent) and date palm trunks (phoenix dactylifera) for the structural elements (ceilings, doors, arcs, domes). Adobe bricks (ṭūb) are used in the housing and the defence systems punctuated by towers and pierced doors. Despite a discontinuity within the historical narrative, the establishment of populations in this area of the Sahara appears to be much earlier than the medieval period and the qṣar is certainly not a creation ex nihilo of the modern era. Because of their numerous modifications and extensions over several centuries, the qṣūr problematise the dating of such settlements. However, the comparison of its main components encourages the development of a typology to identify some common characteristics that would help position the qṣar among the urban planning of the dār al-islām.

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These proceedings include eight presentations. Two of them focus on the role played by the river axes and the geography of river basins as factors of circulation and settlement of Palaeolithic hunter gatherers on the European scale (Francois Djindjian) and in the surroundings of the Jura Mountains (Gérald Bereiziat and Harald Floss). José Javier Piña Abellán describes how the central valley of the River Jabalón (Ciudad Real, Spain) was peopled in the course of the second millennium B.C., and how the inhabitants still maintain a close link to the hydrography. Frederic Cruz and Christophe Petit provide new insights into the organization of the princely residences’ territories of the late Hallstatt era in the North-Western region of the Alps, taking into account their relationship to the environment, and especially the distance from the valleys. Ana Lucia Herberts documents how river crossings and related drainage structures played a crucial role in setting cattle trails in Brazil to drive the cattle from their pasture lands to the major market places in remote cities. A 3-D modelling using LiDAR altimetry has been used by Sabine Schellberg, Benoît Sittler, and Werner Konold to reconstruct water meadows that were used in historical times in the upper Rhine Valley. In their paper, Sandrine Robert and Hélène Noizet develop, as an example illustrating resilience, how an ancient meander of the River Seine, which was filled in Antiquity, still dictates the layout of the network of the streets of Paris. Lastly, Martin Orgaz and Norma Ratto addressed the social construction of landscapes by relating Inca sites to the Tinogasta region (Catamarca, Argentina) rivers whose visual features (the colour red) may be regarded as a factor that governed the selection of sites.

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This volume presents the proceedings of the session ‘Intellectual and Spiritual Expression of Non-literate Peoples’ part of the XVII World UISPP Congress, held in Burgos (Spain), the 4th September 2014. The session brought together experts from various disciplines to share experience and scientific approaches for a better understanding of human creativity and behaviour in prehistory.

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This book collects the contributions to the symposium "The current state of evolutionary archeology in Argentina" that was held in Buenos Aires, for celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species". The meeting was sponsored by the IMHICIHU-CONICET (Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas). Contents: PREFACE (Hernan J. Muscio and Marcelo Cardillo); INTRODUCTION (Hernan J. Muscio and Marcelo Cardillo); CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS: IS IT CONCEPTUALLY COHERENT TO APPLY NATURAL SELECTION TO CULTURAL EVOLUTION? (Santiago Ginnobili); THEORY OF CLASSIFICATION AND TAXONOMICAL SCHOOLS: A SYNTHESIS FOR ARCHAEOLOGY (Daniel Garcia Rivero); ENVIRONMENT, SPACE, HISTORY, AND TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION. THE CASE OF THE PATAGONIAN COAST (Marcelo Cardillo); ON THE PROBLEM OF IDENTIFYING HOMOLOGIES IN LITHIC ARTIFACTS (Gustavo Barrientos); LOCAL EXTINTION, POPULATION DYNAMICS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL PATTERNS OF CULTURAL EVOLUTION: A CASE STUDY IN THE NORTH PUNA OF ARGENTINA (Hernan Muscio); HUMAN HOLOCENE COLONIZATION, DIET BREADTH AND NICHE CONSTRUCTION IN SIERRAS OF CORDOBA [ARGENTINA] (Diego Rivero and Matias Medina); THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LEGACY: EVOLUTION, BIOGEOGRAPHY AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES (Juan Bautista Belardi, Ramiro Barberena, Rafael Goni and Anahi Re)

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Papers from the 17th Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology, SOMA 2013 held in Moscow, 25-27 April 2013. Contents: A project proposal for the construction of underwater archaeological nature routes into the Protected Marine Area of Santa Maria di Castellabate (Salvatore Agizza); A Recently Discovered Thirteenth Century Church at Myra (T. Engin Akyurek); Archaeological Findings of Thracian / Phrygian Tribes' Crossing of Bosporus (ITA) Istanbul Prehistoric Research Project (Haldun Aydingun); Routes And Harbour Archaeology: An Attempt to Identify Some Ancient Toponyms on the Eastern Adriatic Coast (Mattia Vitelli Casella); The Bath Buildings throughout the Cilician shoreline. The cases of Akkale (Tirtar) and Mylai (Manastir) and the problems of their preservation and fruition. Can the archaeological relevance help in preserving the ancient remains? (Emanuele Casagrande Cicci); Byzantine Small Finds From 'Church B' at Andriake (Myra / Antalya): First Results on the Ceramics (Ozgu Comezoglu); Management of Cultural Heritage in the Coastal Zone 'An investigation on the conservation of wooden house in Istanbul through the eyes of the population' (Pierre Emanuel Decombe); XII Scripta And Two Excavated Game Boards From Kibyra (Unal Demirer); Dionysus and Ariadne in Antiocheia and Zeugma Mosaics: a Contrastive Evaluation (Sehnaz Erarslan); Studying aspects of Pre-Roman History, Religion, Political Organization andTrading Contacts of some Ionian Colonies of 'Thracia Pontica': the case of Dionysopolis & Odessos (Maria Girtzi); 'The Time-traveler meets Emperor Justinian in Byzantine Era': an innovative museological project (Maria Girtzi and Athanasia Bountidou); Hun Originated/Influenced Objects Found In China: Ordos Bronze (Feyza Gorez); Attic Imports to the Black Sea area: the Construction of the Reference Framework (Filippo Giudice with the contribution of Elvia & Giada Giudice, Paolo Madella, Francesco Muscolino, Giuseppe Sanfilippo Chiarello, Rossano Scicolone and Sebastiano Luca Tata); Stoa Philosophy and Its Development Stages in Ancient Era (Ilker Isik); 18th and 19th Century Wall Paintings Featuring Views of Istanbul (Bilge Karaoz); Stazione Neapolis: A journey into the history of Naples from the Neolithic to the Modern Age (Alessandro Luciano); Fish sauces trade and consumption in the ager Mutinensis (Manuela Mongardi); Reconstruction of the Settlement Layout at Salat Tepe: An Interpretation of the Archaeological Evidence (A. Tuba Okse and Ahmet Gormus); Denizli - The Ilbadi Cemetery Namazgah (Kadir Pektas); The Role of the Corinthian Relief Ware in Sardinia as a Socio-Economic and Cultural Indicator of a 'Commissioned' Trade (Paola Puppo and Fabio Mosca); Underwater Archaeological Project at the Ancient City of Akra (Eastern Crimea) 2011-2012 188 (Sergey Solovyev and Viktor Vakhoneev); Management of Underwater Archaeological Heritage: An Environmental Approach to the Protection and Preservation of the Harbour Complex of Aegina (Ioannis Triantafillidis and Vassilis Tselentis); The Byzantine Castle in Akbas on Thracian Chersonessos (Ayse C. Turker); Agoras, Theaters, Baths and Gymnasia: A Case Study on the Urban Redevelopment Choices of Carian Benefactors in the Roman Age (Guray Unver); A Byzantine Monastery South-East of Jerusalem (Yehiel Zelinger); Local and Imported Art in the Byzantine Monastery Newly Discovered Near Jerusalem, Israel (Lihi Habas)

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This research explores the development of the Maya writing system in Middle–Late Formative and Early Classic period (700 BC–AD 450) Mesoamerica. It seeks to correlate script development with interregional interaction and diachronic changes in material culture, and proposes a new methodological template for examining script development via material remains. In doing so, it contributes to anthropological debate regarding the role and effects of interregional interaction in processes of development and change of material and symbolic culture. This investigation posits that Maya writing developed in late Middle Formative through Early Classic period Mesoamerica as a correlate of interregional sociopolitical and economic interaction. Scholars working in many areas of the world have long claimed that interaction is central to cultural innovation, especially in relation to the development of writing. If the emergence of the Mayan script is a correlate of systemic interaction, then its developmental process should be traceable archaeologically through artifactual evidence. This hypothesis is tested by exploring archaeological indicators of interaction against a backdrop of previously-documented transformations in the emerging Mayan script. The methodological model proposed here builds on current models of the development of Mesoamerican writing systems and models of interregional interaction and cultural development to associate archaeological remains with the development of the Mayan script.

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The appearance and revival of handmade grog-tempered ware producing pottery industries during the late 3rd and 4th centuries using technology more appropriate to the Late Iron Age in the south and south-east of Britain is something of an enigma. This revival in the popularity of such primitive pottery took place on the Isle of Wight and in the Hampshire Basin, East Sussex and Kent at a time when the production of Romanised wheel-turned grey and fine colour-coated wares was still on a large scale in the south of Britain and elsewhere in the British provinces. This publication is the result of 25 years research into these grog-tempered wares: it presents corpora of forms associated with the various industries and discusses the distributions of their products at different periods. It also discusses the possible reasons for the revival of such wares, increasing popularity during the 4th century and disappearance during the 5th century AD.

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Professor Rodrigo de Balbín has played a major role in advancing our knowledge of Palaeolithic art, and the occasion of his retirement provides an excellent opportunity to assess the value of prehistoric art studies as a factor in the study of the culture of those human groups which produced this imagery. The diverse papers in this volume, published in Professor de Balbín’s honour, cover a wide variety of the decorated caves which traditionally defined Palaeolithic art, as well as the open-air art of the period, a subject in which he has done pioneering work at Siega Verde and elsewhere. The result is a new and more realistic assessment of the social and symbolic framework of human groups from 40,000 BP onwards.

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In the 1960s a great new barrier dam was built across the Peneios Valley in Elis in the N.W. Peloponnese to create an artificial lake for irrigation purposes. In 1967 the Greek Archaeological Service organised a preliminary survey of the areas to be affected and also asked all the Foreign Archaeological Schools to assist and allocated specific sections to each. The British School at Athens sent a small team in late 1967 to survey part of the south-west fringes of the area to be flooded; this team identified many sites and opened test-trenches at six of them. In 1969 further work was undertaken in that area for the British School: a small team from Birmingham University and from Bangor undertook excavations at two of the identified sites, ‘Kostoureika’ and ‘Keramidia’. This account describes the results in detail. ‘Kostoureika’, identified as a likely Hellenistic ‘villa’ proved structurally disappointing (the 1967 test-trench had located the only surviving wall), but revealed a deposit of Early Helladic pottery, which supplements very usefully evidence for early occupation in the north-west Peloponnese. ‘Keramidia’ proved to be a site occupied, at least at times, from the Hellenistic to the late Roman imperial period.

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Colour defines our material world, operates as a communication tool and creates meaning. But despite the wealth of colour present in British Iron Age archaeology, interpretative studies have concentrated mostly on the shape of material objects and their decoration, with at best fleeting references to colour. This book revisits well known and well documented sites or artefacts and explores their colours and colour connotations – whether hue or luminosity, whether natural or man-made, whether innate or deliberately applied - by looking at various contexts such as processes, landscape, iconography, body decoration or the colour connotations of death. The importance of changes in colour caused by passing of time, processing, handling or exposure, as well as the deliberate concealment or defacing of colour is looked at . Finally and most importantly, using methodologies ranging from examination of written sources, comparisons from the fields of anthropology and ethnology to experimental archaeology the author attempts to shed light on the symbolic meaning behind such colours or colour contexts and contribute to our understanding of Iron Age cosmologies.

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The honorand of this volume, Matti Egon, has been a great benefactor to museums, schools, universities and hospitals in the UK and also in Greece: all areas that her background and life’s interests have made dear to her. One of these is the Greek Archaeological Committee UK, that she helped found in 1992: an organization dedicated to informing academe and the public in Britain of archaeological work carried out in Greece, and of enabling the ‘brightest minds’ of Greece and Cyprus to pursue post-graduate research at British institutions, to the mutual enrichment of both. Some fifty-five graduates have so benefited. This volume offers essays by a good half of those so assisted: roughly split between the sexes, they range between post-graduates still completing their studies in the UK, up to those with doctorates, almost half the group, now successfully in employment at Universities and similar Institutions in the UK, Greece, Cyprus and the USA, with rather fewer working in Museums, within the Greek Ephorates and even at a Foreign School in Athens. The hugely varied topics they offer cover the entire range of prehistory and history down to the modern day on Greek and Cypriot soil. Neolithic animal butchery rubs shoulders with regional assessments of the end of the Mycenaean era, investigations into Hellenistic sculptors and lamps, life in Byzantine monasteries and the politics behind modern exhibitions; the Phoenicians and even an Islamic general make cameo appearances. This startling range of subjects accurately reflects the depth of scholarship Matti Egon has nurtured into being; the affection and gratitude expressed by the graduates equally mirrors the deep appreciation they acknowledge for the opportunities so given.

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Literary sources suggest that Mt. Carmel was a sacred site for the pagans, for the veneration and worship of Ba’al, as practiced there since the 9th century BCE through the erection of altars and temples/shrines in his honour. According to Iamblichus, the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, on his way to Egypt, visited the mountain in the second half of the 6th century BCE and sought solitude in a temple, or perhaps in a temenos. In the days of the Achaemenid king of Persia Darius I (521-486 BCE), the mountain seems to have been sacred to Zeus. Artistic and epigraphic evidence suggest that Elijah’s Cave, on the western slope of Mt. Carmel, had been used as a pagan cultic place, possibly a shrine, devoted to Ba’al Carmel (identified with Zeus/Jupiter) as well as to Pan and Eros as secondary deities. The visual representation of the cult statue (idol) of Ba’al Carmel, a libation vessel (kylix?) and the presumed figure of the priest or, alternatively, the altar within the aedicula, strengthen the assumption that the Cave was used in the Roman period, and perhaps even earlier. In addition, one of the Greek inscriptions, dated to the Roman period, indicates the sacred nature of the Cave and the prohibition of its profanation. When Elijah’s Cave ceased to be used for pagan worship it continued to be regarded as a holy site and was dedicated to Prophet Elijah, presumably in the Early Byzantine period. Following the tradition linking Elijah (so-called el-Khader) with Mt. Carmel, it became sacred to the Prophet and was used by supplicants (Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze) to Elijah for aid, healing and salvation, a tradition that still persists to this day. There are no literary or historical sources which are recording the existence of Elijah’s Cave on Mt. Carmel prior to the 12th century. The earliest written testimony is that of the laconic description of the Russian Abbot Daniel, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1106-1107, followed by Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the Land of Israel in 1165. Any earlier written material must have been lost over time, since it is unlikely that the Cave and its surroundings were entirely ignored before the 12th century.

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Gnathia ware is a painted Hellenistic type of ware with yellow, red and white decorations on the black surface of the vessels. Due to a decoration technique simpler than that on the previous Red-figure vases, Gnathia ware became the most widespread type of Hellenistic ware, and also the first type of south Italian ware that was exported in large quantities outside of the main area of production. Gnathia ware takes its name from ancient Gnathia, today Egnazia (a town on the Adriatic coast between Bari and Brindisi) in south-east Italy, where it was first discovered in 1845. The aims of this study are fourfold: to present Gnathia ware on the East Adriatic coast, to define local Issaean Gnathia production from manufacturing to distribution (including the typology of shapes and decorations), to identify other pottery workshops along the East Adriatic coast and, finally to understand the trade and contacts in the Adriatic during the Hellensitic period. Although the aims of the study may seem ambitious, once all of the material was gathered into a single study, it provided sufficient information to set the objective. It is noteworthy that the study presents the current state of research, so additional work needs to be done. However, work on the default task and the information obtained by the analysis of Gnathia and related ware facilitated greater insight into the history of the Adriatic area in the Hellenistic period. Further, the provenance of the material allowed for the reconstruction of contacts in the Adriatic and neighbouring regions. The questions of contacts and trade may seem peripheral to the main objective of the study, i.e., Gnathia and related ware, but they are vital to an understanding of the historical context of this area. So an additional aim of the study is to open up the East Adriatic region to scholars who are studying the history and economy of the Mediterranean basin in the Hellenistic period.

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New geoinformatic technologies have recently had a transformative effect on landscape archaeology, particularly by facilitating the high resolution acquisition and analysis of data over large areas. These techniques have fundamentally changed the nature and scope of questions that can be addressed regarding the archaeological record. Despite this stimulating potential, many practising archaeologists were not trained in these methods and so are not fully aware of their capabilities or the most appropriate ways to apply them. This volume collates state of the art research in the fields of geophysics, geochemistry, aerial imaging, dating, digital archaeology, GIS and marine archaeology to present a comprehensive overview of the specialised techniques which can contribute to landscape scale archaeological investigations. It is hoped that it will serve as a “best practice” guide for their use and encourage their widespread adoption by the archaeological community.

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The Seminar for Arabian Studies is the only international academic forum which 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 are published in the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies and reflect the dynamism and scope of the interdisciplinary event. The main foci of the Seminar in 2014, in chronological order were the Palaeolithic and Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, Early Historical and Classical periods, Heritage Management, Islamic Archaeology and History. In addition there were sessions on Ethnography, on Language, and with a session dedicated to the Archaeology and History of ancient Yemen. In addition, on the evening of Saturday, 26 July 2014, Professor Lloyd Weeks, Head of the School of Humanities, the University of University of New England, New South Wales, Australia, a long supporter of the Seminar and Foundation, presented the MBI Lecture entitled ‘The Quest for the Copper of Magan: how early metallurgy shaped Arabia and set the horizons of the Bronze Age world’ and as always provided an informative, interesting and lucid lecture. This volume also includes notes in memoriam on Nigel Groom (1924–2014), ‘Arabist, historian, spy-catcher, and writer on perfume’; and on Professor Tony Wilkinson (1948–2014), Professor of Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh (2005–2006) and Professor of Archaeology at Durham University (2006–2014) who specialised in landscape archaeology.

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In this book Philip Bes summarises the results of his PhD thesis (Catholic University of Leuven) on the analysis of production trends and complex, quantified distribution patterns of the principal traded sigillatas and slipped table wares in the Roman East, from the early Empire to Late Antiquity (e.g. Italian Sigillata, Eastern Sigillata A, B and C, Çandarli ware, Phocean Red Slip Ware/LRC, Cypriot Red Slip Ware/LRD and African Red Slip Wares). He draws on his own work in Sagalassos and Boeotia, as well as an exhaustive review of archaeological publications of ceramic data. The analysis compares major regional blocks, documenting coastal as well as inland sites, and offers an interpretation of these complex data in terms of the economy and possible distribution mechanisms.

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This book is based on several years of author’s fieldwork in the valleys of the Black Mountains in South East Wales. Hodges had personal knowledge of the area having worked there in his professional capacity as a drystone waller. The aim of the fieldwork was to locate all the sites of derelict stone buildings within the designated upland study area of approximately 140 square kilometres. Initial research indicated that the area had not been previously surveyed to any great extent and the presence of derelict stone buildings that existed in the valleys was not a characteristic of the surrounding lower terrain. Using a combination of documentary evidence and fieldwork, a total of 549 potential sites were identified comprising houses, barns, other ancillary buildings and sheepfolds; 499 separate structures were located on the ground. Following a specially devised protocol at each site, information regarding masonry, modes of construction and extant features was recorded in both tabular and photographic forms.

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Although world-renowned, Pompeii, the first Roman site to be excavated and one of the most visited and best-studied archaeological sites in the world, still has unanswered questions to yield, especially in terms of its long-term development from pre-Roman times. The extensive excavations (1995–2006) by the Anglo-American Project in Pompeii (AAPP) has provided a rare insight into chronological change within the city of Pompeii. This research was significant as an insula block within the city of Pompeii had never previously been excavated in its entirety. The analysis of all the recovered seeds, fruits and cereal remains has provided a unique research opportunity to undertake a diachronic study of urban Roman plant food consumption and discards. Over the past two centuries of excavations at Pompeii only a handful of published works dealing with botanical evidence have been published. The results from this study demonstrate a standard Mediterranean archaeobotanical assemblage recovered from Insula VI.1 which included wheat, barley, legumes, olives, grapes and figs. A wider diversity of fruits, pulses, and additional cereals, especially broomcorn millet were also found. These results support the established view that Pompeii was a fully urbanised city in the 1st century B.C.

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