Search results for ""archaeopress""

(Not) All Roads Lead to Rome is the result of the highly engaging debate within the “Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Ancient History”, a yearly congress of young graduates and researchers held in April 2022 in the University of Barcelona. In this volume, the issue of mobility in Antiquity in its broadest sense is approached from a multidisciplinary perspective. One of the main objectives is, also, to give promising young scholars (postgraduates and PHD students) the opportunity to publish their early research on mobility and build a cohesive but thematically broad work. Although mobility is always present in studies of exchange and cultural diffusion, in this case it becomes the main subject of this collective research effort. We aim to encourage academic discussion around mobility as a key feature of societies, inherent to their functioning and where cultural, social and economic processes meet. The Mediterranean, and the Roman Empire by extension, is a dynamic area, and thus, it allows us to study mobility from many perspectives. In this volume, the movement of ideas, be they ideological or religious, is explored as it relates to underlying social and economic patterns. Likewise, the physical mobility of people across empires or within settlements is treated as a consequence of and a way to ease social relations. Social mobility too is discussed in the broader framework of socioeconomic dynamics, with case studies ranging from Egypt to Rome. Finally, the movement of goods (trade) is also part of this volume, as it was essential at bolstering interconnectivity in the Mediterranean. In that regard, archaeology holds the largest potential to provide new data regarding mobility of products, and thus long-distance contact and exchange.

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Between Roman Culture and Local Tradition presents a detailed analysis of the Roman provincial coinage of Bithynia and Pontus during the reign of Trajan (98-117), when 14 cities struck coins. The book characterises individual mints, the rhythm of monetary production, iconography and legends, and considers the attribution and dating of individual issues. Context is provided by studies on other categories of artefacts discovered in the local area, including epigraphic and material ones, such as fine art, sculptures and architectural remains. The extent of circulation is also analysed, as well as the coinage of the border centres of neighbouring provinces such as Thrace, Asia and Galatia-Cappadocia. Reference is made to historical sources, principally the correspondence of Pliny the Younger with the emperor, which can help to show the realities of life for the inhabitants of individual centres, including ongoing construction projects or local problems. Overall the book aims to reconstruct the coinage policy of individual cities and culture and religion in various centres during this period, as well as contacts and relationships among the local communities. In turn, the studies of individual cities allow for the creation of a general picture of coinage in the province.

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The idea that morris dancing captures the essence of ancient Englishness, inherently carefree and merry, has been present for over 400 years. The Ancient English Morris Dance traces the history of those attitudes, from the dance's introduction to England in the fifteenth century, through the contention of the Reformation and Civil War, during which morris dancing and maypoles became potent symbols of the older ways of living. Thereafter it developed and diversified, neglected and disdained, until antiquaries began to take an interest in its history, leading to its re-invention as emblematic of Victorian concepts of Merrie England in the nineteenth century. The quest for authentic understanding of what that meant led to its revival at the beginning of the twentieth century, but that was predicated on the perception of it as part of England's declining rural past, to the neglect of the one area (the industrial north-west) where it continued to flourish. The revival led in turn to its further evolution into the multitude of forms and styles in which it may be encountered today.

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Representations and inscriptions on tomb and temple walls and individual stelae have provided considerable knowledge of ancient Egyptian daily life, religious custom and military achievements. However, as visual or eulogistic textual evidence they are unable to provide the insight into the people themselves, their personalities and the events and issues they were concerned with, insight which can be found in personal correspondence. Daily Life in Ancient Egyptian Personal Correspondence addresses a selection of letters from the Old Kingdom up to and including the Twenty-first Dynasty. Under the topic headings of problems and issues, daily life, religious matters, military and police matters, it will show the insight they provide regarding aspects of belief, relationships, custom and behaviour, evidencing the distinctiveness of the data such personal correspondence can provide as a primary source of daily life in ancient Egypt – the extra dimension.

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Anthropomorphism could be described as a production of analogies generated by human cognition. As a result, anthropomorphism is a universal cultural trait present in all cultures at all times, and one of the cognitive fundamentals of humankind: that of projecting a human corporal image over the surrounding world. It is present in the imaginary, mythologies, religions, and material culture of all ages, being an important subject of archaeology.This book approaches anthropomorphism from the moment of anthropogenesis, tracing its presence in nature and material culture in prehistory and Antiquity.The cover image serves as a metaphor, joining together two perceptions of anthropomorphism: a rational one, that of the female columns at the Erechtheion temple in Athens; and a case of pareidolia, namely a figure with outstretched arms on a rock pillar at the Externsteine rocks in Germany.

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This open-access academic venture has established itself as a distinctive venue fostering new research and public understanding regarding the complex global story of walls, barriers and frontier zones from prehistoric and ancient societies to the medieval and modern world. In doing so, the Offa’s Dyke Journal does not only present reliable peer-reviewed academic research in an accessible venue, it also critiques and combats both misinformation and disinformation shared about this aspect of the human past in popular culture and political discourse in today’s world. Promoting an informed and nuanced conversation about their stories and legacies and the positive dimensions of linear monuments is thus a key aspiration of the Offa’s Dyke Journal as both an academic and open-access resource. In doing so, we can learn about the human past, recognise how these material traces inform contemporary identities and society, and both recognise their legacies as well as celebrate their redundancies.

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Current archaeological practices are now fully immersed in the computing and digital era. This process, common to all sciences, is leading to an important methodological renewal of the discipline, materialising in the emergence of new lines of research with a promising future, and computational methods are playing a key role in this panorama. Remote sensing studies, the use of drones, LiDAR data, virtual reconstructions or modern statistical simulation techniques are, amongst others, research fields that require the use of computing science. Arqueología computacional del territorio aims to describe some of the current analytical approaches to model past cultural landscapes, their evolution, and their relationship with the human societies that inhabited them. To this end, the use of Geographic Information Systems and spatial statistics is proposed, using territorial and landscape archaeology as a theoretical framework. The research that follows is articulated around the use of open-source software and, specifically, R Statistics, a programming language that is gradually becoming one of the most important tools in archaeological research. Its use allows for transparent, accessible, and reproducible research while promoting interdisciplinarity and a real democratization of scientific knowledge.

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How did the Maltese and Gozitans fare under Roman occupation? How were they treated by their new masters? And what did they do to appease them? What changes did the new political situation bring about in their lives? How did they respond and / or adapt? Was their religious identity in any way affected? How did they manoeuvre their loyalties to their own benefits? And how did they manage their own domestic affairs within the new political set-up? Though based essentially on epigraphical evidence, this study seeks to address the above and other questions through an exercise in which epigraphy and the archaeological record supplement each other. The results shed new light on the governing bodies of the Maltese islands in Roman times and the models they followed, those who administered them, the latter’s role and status, and also their relationship with and their significance for the rest of the population.

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Life along Communication Routes from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages is the result of the conference Roads and Rivers 2 held at the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb in 2020, enriched with additional invited contributions. The volume presents the latest research on Roman roads, not just in terms of their basic infrastructure but also exploring various aspects of life that were connected with it, from the Imperial period to that of decline, acculturation and integration of new identities, within the three Roman provinces of Pannonia, Moesia and Dalmatia. Within this area, various studies of new finds, alongside new observations and ideas are presented. They add to our knowledge not just of the Roman roads themselves but also about roadside stations and other facilities in various landscape contexts (such as Mediterranean and continental areas). The contributions also investigate the distribution of goods and ideas from the Roman period to the Middle Ages, and deal with different aspects of life as it developed and was transformed along Roman roads.

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The Significance of Doorway Positions in English Medieval Parochial Churches and Chapels analyses the positions of external church doorways in England to investigate the significance that positioning had for the function and design of these buildings. Until the eleventh century, churches tended to have a single external western nave doorway. This design changed in the next two centuries. New churches tended to have north and south, laterally opposing, nave doorways. From the thirteenth century to the end of the Middle Ages, new churches continued the two-doorway trend but typically added western towers and doorways as well. The book also examines chapels, which differed from churches as they had a different function and status. Non-parochial chapels usually had a single southern doorway whilst parochial chapels often had two opposing nave doorways. This book proposes that liturgical reasons lay behind the changes both at the turn of the eleventh century and again in the later thirteenth. Gender and clerical segregation are considered in relation to the provision of a second nave doorway in churches and parochial chapels. It is also shown that the widespread idea of the ‘Devil’s Door’ was only developed in the nineteenth century though it had roots in late medieval liturgy. The author concludes that there is a link between the design and function of parochial churches and chapels with the number and attributes of their doorways.

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Thrace through the Ages draws attention to the importance of pottery evidence in evaluating archaeological material from Thrace. The volume considers the informative value of pottery in tracing cultural and political phases, by providing us with important data about production centres, commercial relations, daily life, religious rituals and burial customs. The first chapter examines ceramic research in Thrace from past to present. The second chapter is devoted to the interpretation of the data presented by ceramics regarding interregional commercial relations and cultural interaction. In the third chapter, ceramics are evaluated from the perspective of cult rituals. The fourth chapter includes the excavation and survey ceramics. The fifth chapter is classified according to the ceramic ware. In the last two chapters of the volume, various data presented by ceramics were evaluated by considering their qualitative and quantitative characteristics.

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Arqueología de las sociedades locales en la Alta Edad Media: San Julián de Aistra y las residencias de las élites rurales presents the main results obtained in the archaeological project of San Julián de Aistra (Zalduondo-Araia, Álava) carried out between 2006 and 2020 by University College London and the University of the Basque Country. The remains of a hermitage dedicated to Santa Julián and Santa Basilisa, built in the 10th century and renovated in the Romanesque period and in the 18th century, are preserved in the deserted village of Aistra, which is documented since the 11th century. Excavation has shown that the site was occupied in prehistoric, Roman and medieval times. While prehistoric and Roman materials have been recovered in secondary contexts, four medieval phases of a domestic, productive, and funerary nature have been defined. One of the most important results of the project has been the discovery of residential spaces of elites who exercised territorial dominion throughout the Early Middle Ages. In the 14th century, the place was depopulated and, since then, the Aistra area has been managed and disputed by the nearby villages of Zalduondo and Araia, which created a community aimed at jointly managing the resources and spaces of Aistra. This community, active between the 14th and 20th centuries, broke up from the 19th century onwards, when individual management of resources became accentuated, and the commons were divided up. This collective volume brings together a large number of specialized studies and provides an interpretation of the site of Aistra in terms of socio-political practices that define the main characteristics of early medieval local societies in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

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The third Europa Postmediaevalis conference, entitled Connections and Networking, took place in Coimbra, Portugal, in the spring of 2022. The result is this book, containing 26 contributions from a total of ten European countries divided into five thematic sections, all of which focus on post-medieval pottery. Pottery is examined from the perspectives of local, regional and long-distance trade. The contributions demonstrate the importance of the theme of connections and networking and provide an opportunity to compare concrete find situations across Europe – in both coastal as well as landlocked states – and their local development in the light of new impulses from outside. Papers gathered in a single anthology thus facilitate a dialogue between diverse European regions.

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This volume presents papers from the Fourth Australasian Egyptology Conference held at Monash University, Melbourne 16–18 September 2016. Both the conference and the papers in this volume are dedicated to Gillian E. Bowen who retired from Monash that year, and a brief tribute to her is presented at the opening of the volume. The contributions include several on Egypt’s Western Desert where Monash has been engaged in fieldwork for many years in the the Dakhleh Oasis. Relating to the Roman-period village of Kellis, Bassett discusses economic policy in the settlement of the region and Rindi the elaborately decorated funerary cartonnage from one of its cemeteries. Long explores ceramic traditions of the Third Intermediate Period in Dakhleh while Warfe discusses aspects of the proscription of Seth, who was venerated at the ancient capital of Dakhleh, based on data from Luxor Temple in the valley. Livingstone presents textiles of the late Roman Period from Christian burials and Kucera examines a Roman military campaign in the northern Western Desert. The other papers reflect the wide range of research being undertaken by other Australasian scholars. These range from studies of early ceramics from Hamamieh by Pilgrim and the breakage of Predynastic figurines by Ordynat, to a study of a Fifth-century icon of the Virgin Mary by Marsh-Letts. From periods in between come studies of women in the family of high officials at Beni Hassan and in religious practices of the New Kingdom by Paull and Lisle respectively; aspects of the iconography of the Book of the Dead and a new representation of a sailing vessel by Volk and Stephens; the interface between text and visual image by Thorpe and finally mummification practices of children by Davey.

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The Sasanian empire was one of the great powers of Late Antiquity, and for four centuries ruled the vast region stretching from Syria and the Caucasus to Central Asia. Classical, Armenian, Jewish and Arab written sources throw light on its history, and studies of its rock reliefs, stuccoes, silver, silks, coins and glyptic have created a picture of a rich courtly culture with a strong Iranian character. However, the everyday material culture is much less understood, as is the economy which sustained and supported the Sasanian empire and underpinned its consistent military superiority over its western rivals. This collection of essays looks at these aspects and offers an approach based almost entirely on archaeological and scientific research, much presented here for the first time. This book is divided into three parts which in turn examine evidence for Sasanian sites, settlements and landscapes, their complex agricultural resources, and their crafts and industries. Each section is preceded by an essay setting out the wider research questions and current state of knowledge. The book begins and ends with a general introduction and conclusion setting out why this new approach is necessary, and how it helps change our perceptions of the complexity and power of the Sasanian empire.

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Par sa position géographique, l’Algérie se présente comme un territoire largement ouvert sur la Méditerranée occidentale. Pourtant ses liens avec les régions voisines ne sont encore que peu étudiés. Jusqu’à présent les travaux qui se sont intéressés à ces rapports se sont concentrés sur une période chronologique, une thématique particulière ou une zone géographique limitée. Ce livre est issu d’un colloque organisé en 2017 a pour objectifs de contribuer à renouveler l’analyse des relations entre cette partie du Maghreb et le sud-est de la péninsule Ibérique et de leurs dynamiques dans une optique pluridisciplinaire et diachronique, de la période préromaine au Moyen ge. À partir des données archéologiques, épigraphiques et textuelles, le but est de participer à l’identification de ces contacts. Rédigés par des chercheurs des deux rives, les chapitres réunis dans ce livre s’articulent autour de trois thématiques : la mobilité des hommes, les échanges économiques et les transferts culturels et de savoir-faire.

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War and its legacy are traumatic to individuals, communities, and landscapes. The impacts last long beyond the events themselves and shape lives and generations. Archaeology has a part to play in the recording of, and recovery from, such trauma. The Falklands War Mapping Project delivers the first intensive archaeological survey of the battlefields of the Falklands War. The project is pioneering in its inclusion of military veterans as part of the core team and unique in being the first to take veterans back to the battlefields on which they fought. Forty years after the events of 1982, the project provides a detailed assessment of the character, location, and condition of structural features and artefacts. The project also develops understandings of the role played by conflict heritage – and of landscapes, finds, and past events – in the recall of personal and collective memories. This sumptuously illustrated book brings together the perspectives of team members, institutional partners and others. It showcases the varied and important contributions archaeology can make beyond understandings of distant events linked to therapeutic progress, coming to terms with traumatic experiences, living with the past in the present, and forging new memories, relations, and futures.

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The effects of tectonic processes on archaeological sites are evidenced by earthquake damage, volcanic eruptions, and tsunami destruction. However, these processes affect a far broader sphere of landform structures, environment, and even climate that envelops an archaeological site and triggers human behavioural activities. Tectonic processes derive directly or indirectly from Plate Tectonics and associated magmatic activity of the Earth’s mantle. This volume thus provides a primer on crucial subduction- and suprasubduction-zone processes due to Plate Tectonics, where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are generated. After a general survey of how tectonic effects are dealt with in geoarchaeology, Part I details how these processes are applied to understand the Japanese landmass’s development, from continental accretion to volcanic archipelago, as a world-standard example. A full glossary of geological terms is included for easy reference. This is followed by detailed examinations of Japan’s tectonic archaeologies in Part II: TephroArchaeology, Earthquake Archaeology, and Tsunami Archaeology. Part III summarizes and critiques the authors’ own geoarchaeological fieldwork in Japan which was underwritten by a clear exposition of its geological and geomorphological background. Looking holistically at a locale and its development through geological time is fruitful in understanding the lay of the land, its resources, and its hazards that affect human occupation potential.

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From Hydrology to Hydroarchaeology in the Ancient Mediterranean: An interdisciplinary approach is devoted to the study of water management in ancient cities. It compares the approaches and methods adopted by researchers from different disciplinary sectors to identify the water conditions of past societies and to highlight the measures they have taken to adapt to their water resources. Deriving from an interdisciplinary meeting held in Aix-en-Provence (Mediterranean House of Human Sciences) in 2019, it brings together seven articles that present the innovative results of collaborations between archaeologists and environmental scientists, geologists, geomorphologists, and climatologists in particular. After an introduction that situates the discussions conducted in Aix-en-Provence within the framework of the Watertraces project, funded by the A*Midex foundation (Aix-Marseille University), most of the articles focus on the Sicilian situation. An initial synthesis covers all aspects of the question, followed by four case studies ranging from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD. Case studies on Agrigento, Termini Imerese/Thermai Himerenses, Alesa/Halaesa, Solunte and Tyndaris are presented. The focus then moves to southern Italy (the Terme di Baia), and to Aegean Greece (the sanctuary at Delphi).

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Landscape Archaeology in the Near East: Approaches, Methods and Case Studies contains original research presented at the third international symposium of SNELA – the Society for Near Eastern Landscape Archaeology. SNELA was established in 2016 with the first symposium (held in Jerusalem) with the express aim of providing a meeting ground for all landscape archaeologists working on the Near East, especially local researchers. The theme of the third meeting was ‘Archaeology and Anthropology of Resource Use in the Near East’. The papers are wide ranging, from the Palaeolithic to the classical Near East, with some focusing on settlement and movement for trade, but with the overarching threads of conservation of important archaeological landscapes and developing technology for the study of landscapes. The society is quite young and still finding its voice; this volume is a snapshot of a developing field.

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Through the voices of over 20 Hadrian's Wall enthusiasts – chosen amongst prominent frontier scholars and archaeologists, re-enactors, curators, walkers and site managers – this volume celebrates the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian’s visit to Britain and the building of the Wall. Together, the authors explore issues such as the impact of environmental changes on archaeology and the innovative technologies used in monitoring and managing the Wall and its collections. The book highlights not only the ways in which Hadrian’s Wall can be protected for future generations, but also the ways in which it affects the identities of those who work and travel along it. Rather than a retrospective of work undertaken so far, or an attempt to impose theoretical frameworks onto a living landscape, it offers a realistic discussion of current issues and solutions in the exploration, management and protection of Hadrian’s Wall, from the point of view of those living, visiting, researching and working along it.

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At the beginning of the 20th century, changes in taste and expectations of the public led private museums in Europe and North America to embark on large-scale acquisition of archaeological objects from the Mediterranean and the Near East. John Marshall (1862-1928) was an antiquities expert hired by the Metropolitan Museum of New York as purchasing agent in Europe on behalf of its Department of Classical Art in between 1906 and 1928. His mission was to secure for the Metropolitan a comprehensive collection of antiquities of high aesthetic standards and historical significance. During his agency, John Marshall was an attentive observer of the antiquities trade. Photographs and annotations on more than a thousand ancient objects circulating on the art market at that time have survived in his personal archive, later bequeathed to the British School at Rome and the Ashmolean Library at Oxford. This unpublished and very valuable resource shines light on the secretive world of art dealing and provides information on the history of many masterpieces of ancient and post-ancient art now in the largest museums of Europe and North America. Using information gathered by John Marshall, this book delineates how the trade of art and archaeological objects has impacted the perception of the Classical past in the modern Western world.

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Light of Devotion: Oil Lamps of Kerala, an in-depth study of the medieval oil lamps of Kerala and beyond, contributes a new chapter to the history of Indian art. These art objects are primary sources for a broader discussion of the ritual use of Hindu oil lamps, their related and unique cultural history, their motifs, style and subject matter. From an understudied region, they include miniature masterpieces in bronze of figural and mythic representations. Many of the pieces presented are previously unpublished. Hindu traditions and the underlying philosophy of these votive offerings to temple deities represented by the flaming oil lamps will interest those who study history of religions, art history and South Asian studies. The author has included oil lamps found not only in Kerala but also examples discovered in an international array of museums and collections. These lamps and their inscriptions offer a key to unlock the problem of the dating of Keralan bronze sculpture.

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Acropolis 625: The Endoios Athena is an interdisciplinary in-depth study of an important Archaic statue of Athena, carved in c. 525 BC. The author’s detailed examination reveals that, unlike earlier seated statues, it is an active figure. For this reason the right stool seat was pieced on by the sculptor himself. The author deduces that the goddess was a fully armed image of Athena Polias as defender of the city-state. Having escaped destruction during the Persian Invasion of c. 480-79 BC, the statue sustained severe damage in Late Antiquity, most likely during the Herulian Invasion of c. AD 267. Afterwards it was built into a memorial wall on the north slope of the Acropolis, right side up and facing forward. This wall was placed directly below that portion of the north citadel wall containing part of the entablature of the Late Archaic temple of Athena Polias destroyed by the Persians. The Endoios Athena was seen by Pausanias in c. AD 150-55, and he mentions it directly prior to the Erechtheion. Pausanias’s route on the top of the Acropolis citadel and the various suggestions for the location of the Erechtheion are examined in detail. The author opts for the traditional interpretation that the Erechtheion was located in the Karyatid Temple and offers an educated guess as to where Pausanias saw the Endoios Athena.

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K'awiil: El dios maya del rayo, la abundancia y los gobernantes analiza a una de las deidades más importantes del panteón maya, lo que nos permite aproximarnos al pensamiento religioso de este pueblo, ya que es a través de los mitos, los rituales y otras actividades religiosas y culturales en las cuales participa una deidad, que podemos intentar comprender como concebían su universo. El dios K’awiil fue una de las principales deidades a las que adoraban los antiguos mayas. Siendo la representación antropomorfa del hacha del Dios de la lluvia, Chaahk, encarnaba los poderes del rayo, tales como su capacidad para aportar riqueza, principalmente alimenticia y su poder de transformación, el cual le permitía realizar la invocación de los seres que habitan los dominios de lo sagrado. Estos poderes resultaron ser especialmente atractivos para los gobernantes mayas, pues representaban su propia capacidad para alimentar a su pueblo, tanto física como espiritualmente. Estas características le permitieron convertirse en el símbolo del poder de estos señores, materializado bajo la forma de un cetro con su imagen, el cual utilizaban principalmente durante las ceremonias de su entronización. La presencia continuada de K’awiil desde el Clásico temprano hasta el Posclásico, así como la distribución espacial de sus representaciones, le hace una de las deidades más estables y globales de la religión maya, llegando su influencia a ser palpable aún en las tradiciones religiosas de los pueblos mayas de la actualidad, bajo su forma del señor del rayo y como parte del ámbito de acción de las deidades del sustento.

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Shaping Regionality in Socio-Economic Systems: Late Hellenistic-Late Roman Ceramic Production, Circulation, and Consumption in Boeotia, Central Greece (c. 150 BC-AD 700) sheds some necessary light on local economies from the (late) Hellenistic to the Late Roman period. The concepts of regions and regionality are employed to explore the complexity of ancient economies and (ceramic) variability and change in Boeotia (Central Greece), largely on the basis of the survey data generated by the Boeotia Project for Thespiae, Askra, Hyettos, Tanagra and their surroundings. The analysis illustrates the existence of a range of (micro-)regions within Boeotia that are characterised by patterns and differences in ceramic production, variable intensities of interaction in larger networks, and consumer preferences and/or variability in aspects of consumption. By putting this patterning in a broader context, this study shows that spatio-temporal differences in the production and circulation of pottery (as well as differences in something which might be called the ‘performance’ of ancient economies) are shaped by geographical factors, by the ways in which communities and interaction were organised institutionally, by aspects of agency and by the unfolding of history. Although we can observe these three main factors that contributed to the shaping of regional differences, such processes were contextually-embedded and took root on a very local scale through various forms of agency and consumption practices. The book shows that we can gain a better understanding of the ways in which regions emerged, were articulated, and maintained, and how regions and local economies functioned from within through the detailed study of ceramics and other relevant data on Boeotia and the wider ancient world.

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The Life and Works of Robert Wood (1717-1771) commemorates the Irish classicist and traveller on the 250th anniversary of his death and provides the general reader with a study that can be regarded as a source book for the fascinating life and career of a much-neglected figure in the realm of Irish eighteenth-century travels and antiquarianism. The book starts by setting the context of eighteenth-century travels to the east and then examines the primary sources emanating from Wood’s own eastern voyages, as well as the relevant literary sources available to him before, during, and after his travels. It then provides an extensive and much-needed biographical account of Robert Wood, with particular reference to his Irish and English patrons, before examining the main results of the second tour (1750-1751), namely his three pioneering books: Ruins of Palmyra (1753), Ruins of Balbec (1757), and The Original Genius of Homer (1775). It ends by considering the enormous legacy of Robert Wood, in terms of the popularity of his books; the variety and quality of portraits commissioned by his friends and associates; his contribution to the study of classical literature; his influence on architectural drawing in late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe; and the cultural significance of his work on building design. The text also reflects on the somewhat questionable nature of his works, in terms of the fact that his second voyage of the east, and the entire production of the first two books, were financed by his friend Dawkins, whose wealth derived from a slave plantation in Jamaica.

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The frontiers of the Roman empire together form the largest monument of one of the world’s greatest states. They stretch for some 7,500km through 20 countries which encircle the Mediterranean Sea. The remains of these frontiers have been studied by visitors and later by archaeologists for several centuries. Many of the inscriptions and sculpture, weapons, pottery and artefacts created and used by the soldiers and civilians who lived on the frontier can be seen in museums. Equally evocative of the lost might of Rome are the physical remains of the frontiers themselves. The aim of this series of books is not only to inform the interested visitor about the history of the frontiers but to act as a guidebook as well. Slovakia was situated at the edge of the classical world but still was a close neighbour of the Roman Empire. The Roman influence left distinct traces not only at the territories along the frontier but also in its broader fore field.

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In the United Kingdom and Europe generally, the study of prehistoric monuments has long been the domain of archaeologists who excavate, measure, date and record them. From the 1960s onwards, archaeoastronomers provided an alternative picture based on their belief that the builders understood celestial movements and consequently enshrined astronomical alignments into their monuments. This picture was highly contested by most archaeologists and the two fields, archaeology and archaeoastronomy, have gone their separate ways. One of the scholars who broke this stalemate was Lionel Sims who, as an anthropologist, had a wealth of ethnographic material to draw from, allowing him to envision archaeoastronomy from a multidisciplinary perspective by combining a number of methodologies and approaches to examine how archaeoastronomy could deal with cultural complexity. Lionel Sims has produced an influential body of work which has challenged existing narratives about British prehistoric monuments and, equally importantly, provided innovative ways to approach and think about skyscapes. His work is not without controversy, but his unique take and thought-provoking conclusions have had an impact on the thinking of numerous students and collaborators. This festschrift gathers contributions from many of his colleagues who wish to honour and pay their respects to him. Following an introduction that discusses the legacy of his work, the volume delves deeper into three areas: Anthropology and Human Origins, Prehistory and Megalithic Monuments, and Theory. Its thirteen chapters contextualise Lionel’s work and expand it in new and exciting directions for skyscape archaeology.

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Picturing Royal Charisma assesses how Middle Eastern leaders manipulated visuals to advance their rule from around 4500 BC to the 19th century AD. In nine fascinating narratives, it showcases the dynamics of long-lasting Middle Eastern traditions, dealing with the visualization of those who stood at the head of the social order. The contributions discuss: Mesopotamian kings who cast themselves as divine representatives in art; the relationships between the ‘king of men’ and ‘king of beasts’ – the lion; Akhenaten’s visual conception of a divine king without hybrid attributes; the royal image as guiding movements of visitors in the palace of Nimrud; continuities in the functions and representation of Neo-Assyrian eunuchs that survived in the Achaemenid, Sasanian, Byzantine and Islamic courts; the triumphal arch of the emperor Titus and its reflections in Christian Constantinople; patterns of authority and royal legitimacy in 3rd century AD Palmyra and Rome; the use of the Biblical past in the construction of kingship in 12th century Crusader Jerusalem; and the use of ‘the power of images’ by Islamic rulers, adopting visuals of thrones and throne-rooms despite Islamic opposition to the figurative portrayal of kings.

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Le gemme romane e post-antiche del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Cagliari presenta un catalogo di circa 200 gemme incise d’età romana e post-antica attualmente o un tempo conservate nel Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Cagliari (Sardegna, Italia). Grazie alla ricerca d’archivio e bibliografica, per numerosi reperti, è stato possibile determinare le circostanze di acquisizione e la collezione storico-antiquaria di appartenenza (Spano, Timon e Gouin), avvenuta attraverso le donazioni o l’acquisto da parte del Museo tra la seconda metà del XIX secolo e l’inizio del secolo successivo, definendo le tappe storiche della formazione della raccolta museale. L’indagine svolta su tale collezione è scaturita dalla volontà di conoscere e definire l’entità della collezione glittica più cospicua della Sardegna, in grado di offrire uno spaccato socio-culturale, religioso e politico degli abitanti della Sardinia romana.

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The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia is a landmark study in the origins of metallurgy. The project aimed to trace the invention and innovation of metallurgy in the Balkans. It combined targeted excavations and surveys with extensive scientific analyses at two Neolithic-Chalcolithic copper production and consumption sites, Belovode and Pločnik, in Serbia. At Belovode, the project revealed chronologically and contextually secure evidence for copper smelting in the 49th century BC. This confirms the earlier interpretation of c. 7000-year-old metallurgy at the site, making it the earliest record of fully developed metallurgical activity in the world. However, far from being a rare and elite practice, metallurgy at both Belovode and Pločnik is demonstrated to have been a common and communal craft activity. This monograph reviews the pre-existing scholarship on early metallurgy in the Balkans. It subsequently presents detailed results from the excavations, surveys and scientific analyses conducted at Belovode and Pločnik. These are followed by new and up-to-date regional syntheses by leading specialists on the Neolithic-Chalcolithic material culture, technologies, settlement and subsistence practices in the Central Balkans. Finally, the monograph places the project results in the context of major debates surrounding early metallurgy in Eurasia before proposing a new agenda for global early metallurgy studies.

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Paisajes, espacios y materialidades: arqueología rural altomedieval en la península ibérica reúne una selección de los trabajos presentados tras la primera edición del EMCAM - Early Medieval Countryside Archaeological Meetings (Castelo de Vide, mayo 2019), organizado por el Instituto de Estudios Medievales (IEM – NOVA FCSH) y la Cámara Municipal de Castelo de Vide (Portugal). Las últimas décadas de trabajo de campo e investigación arqueológicas han demostrado la relevancia de los paisajes rurales para el análisis de los procesos de cambio tras la desarticulación de la estructura imperial romana. En este volumen, se reúnen las contribuciones de investigadores clave en la arqueología campesina altomedieval, especialmente en los territorios del cuadrante noroccidental de la Península, ofreciendo una imagen multiescalar de las principales líneas de investigación en curso. Los diferentes capítulos recogen reflexiones teóricas, enfoques metodológicos, estudios de colecciones cerámicas y aproximaciones a la bioantropología, antracología y carpología de diferentes yacimientos, ofreciendo contextos inéditos, revisiones críticas y síntesis regionales. Avanzar en la reconstrucción de los procesos históricos de las comunidades campesinas altomedievales requiere, simultáneamente, generar conocimiento detallado sobre yacimientos y territorios concretos y promover espacios de debate y reflexión que permitan dar continuidad a esas lecturas. Este libro tiene como objetivo hacer precisamente eso.

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Discurso, espacio y poder en las religiones antiguas aims to reflect on how the wielders of power, be they religious, social or political, shape the discourses that justify their power within the framework of a society or a specific group, and how space participates in these discourses. Intellectuals, aristocrats, holy men or even the dead all needed to shape a discourse that would allow them to justify their hierarchies, whether they were internal or common to all of society, to reach a social consensus and to sustain them over time. The forms in which power used religion to express itself were quite diverse, such as ritual violence, martyrdom, sacrifice, or even divine trickery. Sometimes certain spaces became places whose political and religious control brought about conflicts, whose resolution was found through the legitimisation generated by the complex theological discourse, which reinforced the extraordinary qualities of the gods to reaffirm their authority, or through the cohesive value of the rites. This volume analyses these questions through fourteen works by sixteen researchers from different institutions. It includes studies carried out with materials from a wide range of sources: epigraphy, the archaeological record, and literary sources.

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This volume publishes accounts of archaeological exploration carried out during the last 30 years or so in the Sudanese Eastern Desert. It is divided into two related parts. The first and foremost covers results from the work of the Centro Ricerche sul Deserto Orientale (CeRDO), which is based at Varese in northern Italy. Between 1989 and 2006, CeRDO, directed by the brothers Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni, ran a pioneering programme of expeditions, which traversed the so-called ‘Korosko Road’ (the main desert route connecting Egypt and Sudan) and followed multiple other tracks throughout the Eastern Desert. They encountered in the process a rich archaeological landscape, hundreds of previously undocumented sites, many frequented over millennia, prominent among them gold-production areas and their associated settlements. The CeRDO record, the photographic database, the material retrieved, to which several of the papers published here are devoted, are now all the more valuable, in that many of these sites have since been badly disturbed and some entirely destroyed by recent goldmining activities. The second part, introduced by a concise account of the historical usage of the Korosko Road, reports in full on a single, short season of documentation, organized in 2013 under the auspices, and with the support, of the Sudan Archaeological Research Society. Its main aim was detailed recording of a group of pharaonic rock-inscriptions discovered by CeRDO expeditions, most located along the Korosko Road and almost all related to the colonial gold-working industry. The project included also a degree of investigation and mapping of the wider context, as well as the recording and study of associated archaeological material, in particular of ceramic remains. The results complement and usefully extend in part those of CeRDO.

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A charming compendium of Latin words and English derivatives, encompassing over 365 words required for Latin GCSE, one for each day of the year. Each Latin entry is accompanied by key notes on grammar, translations and some playful and memorable derivatives. A concise introduction and a glossary of Latin in common usage combine to make this a vade-mecum (essential companion) for all learners of Latin as well as cruciverbalists. The text is imaginatively punctuated by 20 full-colour illustrations by Amanda Short.

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A Vanishing Landscape: Archaeological Investigations at Blakeney Eye, Norfolk documents the results of several archaeological investigations undertaken on Blakeney Eye on behalf of the Environment Agency after the decision was taken for a managed retreat of the area. The Eye is a part of the north Norfolk coastline that has been under constant pressure of erosion for centuries. Excavation revealed evidence for multi-period occupation, with abandonments driven by the ever-changing climate. Neolithic features and artefacts were the earliest remains present. Fragmentary remains of an enclosed 13-14th century farmstead were identified, mainly preserved beneath the two-celled flint building of 16th-17th century date (the scheduled monument known locally as Blakeney Chapel). Archaeological evidence for the function of this building is discussed in conjunction with the documentary sources. The archaeological remains throw light on the trading links between the medieval and post-medieval port of Cley and the Continent, as well as the storms and tidal influxes of the past that resulted in repeated abandonments of the area. This volume includes contributions by Kathryn Blythe, Michael Clark, Jacqueline Churchill, Jane Cowgill, John Giorgi, Alison Locker, Adrian Marsden, Graham Morgan, Quita Mould, Andrew Peachey, Sara Percival, James Rackham, Ian Rowlandson, Zoe Tomlinson, Alan Vince†, Hugh Willmott, Jane Young.

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Bioarchaeology and Dietary Reconstruction across Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages in Tuscany, Central Italy presents the results of the first multidisciplinary bioarchaeological analysis to reconstruct living conditions in Tuscany between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. This was done through the examination of stress markers, including adult stature, periosteal reaction, cranial porosities, and linear enamel hypoplasia, and through palaeodietary reconstruction in order to explore the effects of socio-cultural and environmental factors in a diachronic perspective. The shift from Classical to Medieval times has long left its mark on the European historical consciousness. Nevertheless, the impact of this transition on living conditions and dietary practices remains a subject of debate, with a prevailing perception of these ‘Dark Ages’ as an impoverished phase following the collapse of the Roman agrarian villa system, particularly in the Mediterranean area. This volume analyses bioarchaeological data from three sites in Tuscany, in the former core of the western Roman Empire and potentially most vulnerable to the major socio-political constraints of the first millennium AD, to provide a corrective view, which begins to show how communities perceived and reacted to changes during the passage to post-Classical times.

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