Bücher der Reihe British Archaeological Reports International Series

The studies in this book investigate various elements relating to the Roman rural economy and its development, as well as changes in its structure arising from the establishment of Roman rule in the territory of modern Serbia. Of particular importance is the complexity of economic relations, as well as agriculture as a fundamental economic activity (along with mining) in the territory of the Balkan region, developed after the arrival of the Roman legions, and the creation of new forms of organisation, in which the indigenous population were gradually included.

Il II millennio a.C. in Mesopotamia è caratterizzato da un incremento delle raffigurazioni astrali, le quali assumono un ruolo importante come rappresentazione non antropomorfa di divinità e specchio di osservazioni del cielo. Il presente volume presenta un'analisi dei simboli con valore astrale nella glittica mitannica, cassita e medio-assira. Partendo da un'analisi degli elementi simbolici presenti su un corpus di 1090 sigilli e impronte di sigillo, sono stati individuati e singolarmente analizzati, contestualmente alla loro posizione nella scena, i simboli con valore astrale. Inoltre, lo studio delle relazioni fra i simboli - astrali e non astrali - ha permesso l'identificazione di alcune associazioni ricorrenti. La loro comparazione con fonti testuali (es. omina e compendi astronomici) e con la ricostruzione del cielo mesopotamico del Bronzo Tardo, ha permesso la comprensione della percezione mitannica, cassita e medio-assira della volta celeste e del suo legame con il sentire religioso e la pratica divinatoria.In Mesopotamia of the 2nd millennium BC, astral representations spread throughout art, assuming an important role as the symbolic representation of deities and the mirror of real celestial observations. The present book focuses on astral symbols as they are represented on Mitannian, Cassite and Middle Assyrian seals and seal impressions. Starting from an analysis of the symbols on a corpus of 1090 seals and seal impressions, those with astral significance have been identified and individually analyzed, as has their position in the scene. Furthermore, a study of the relationship between the symbols - both astral and non-astral - allows for the identification of some recurring patterns. The comparison of the representations with textual sources (e.g. astral omina and astronomical compendia) and the reconstruction of the Mesopotamian sky in the Late Bronze Age Period yields an understanding of the Mitannian, Cassite and Middle Assyrian perception of the heavens and of its link with religious behaviour and divination.

The prehistoric communities in Iberia have never been investigated before using a cutting-edge and multidisciplinary approach. In this research, the latest techniques are applied in order to allow a reconstruction of prehistoric social structure and social organization. Specifically, this investigation uses bioarchaeological methods, such as osteological, paleopathological and biochemical approaches (stable isotopes), in combination with funerary context to reconstruct the mortality, morbidity, dietary and mobility patterns of two human skeletal populations from the Copper Age (c. 3300-2100 cal BC). The main objective was to test whether social differences were already present during the 3rd millennium BC in southern Iberia. For this purpose, two main Copper Age sites, Valencina de la Concepción (Seville) and La Pijotilla (Badajoz), were analysed and then compared to many other contemporary sites from the same geographical location. In sum, the results of this research demonstrate the complexity of the funerary patterns in the Iberian Copper Age, providing evidence for social inequality and differentiation.

Esta publicación incluye todos los datos recientes recuperados en "El castro" (Pendia) durante las campañas arqueológicas desarrolladas entre 2003 y 2013. Por esta razón, el libro reúne un amplio abanico de temas que incluyen:- El estudio de las arquitecturas perecederas.- Otros estudios acerca de las arquitecturas del castro: por ejemplo la defensiva o la del recinto norte.- El desarrollo urbano del poblado, entre la Edad del Hierro y la época romana.- Las actividades textiles en Pendia. En este capítulo los estudios de género y la arqueología de las households tienen un papel crucial. El estudio está basado en el análisis espacial de las pesas de telar recuperadas en las excavaciones.- Por último es la primera revisión de la información arqueológica proporcionada por el Dr. Antonio García y Bellido sobre el sitio tras la excavación de 1941.This book includes all the recent data recovered from the hillfort of Pendia during the archaeological campaigns undertaken between 2003 and 2013. The publication thus gathers together a huge range of material, including:- Iron Age perishable architecture: a complete overview of all the finds from the hillfort.- Other studies about the architecture of the hillfort, such as the defensive walls and the entrance to the northern enclosure.- A survey of the urban development of the hillfort, from the Iron Age to Roman times.- Textile activities in Pendia's hillfort, with a focus on gender studies and household archaeology. This study is based on a spatial analysis of the loom weights that were found in the hillfort.- The first revision of the archaeological information on this site provided by Dr Antonio García y Bellido in 1941.

This is the sixth volume in a series of publications dealing with the excavations by Groningen University in 1991-2004 on the Timpone della Motta, Francavilla Marittima, Calabria (Italy), under the direction of the author. It is preceded by four BAR volumes on the Oenotrian production of Matt-painted pottery and one on spindle whorls. The locally produced material, together with impasto pottery, loom weights, cooking stove fragments, etc. was associated with an indigenous, Oenotrian apsidal building dating from the 8th century BC. Judging from the presence of an altar and a huge ash layer - alongside the many bone fragments of adult and sub-adult domestic animals, as well as those of foetal and neonatal specimens - this was not only the residence of female spinners and weavers, but also fulfilled a sacred function. The present volume largely consists of a catalogue of loom weights of various types, among them nicely decorated ones, and a description of their find circumstances. The book also contains a description of the loom weights and spindle whorls and their provenances from the excavations of Zancani Montuoro/Stoop 1963-'69 and a chapter on the extraordinary solar iconography of the large 8th-c. BC loom weights from Francavilla Marittima.

This book, based on the author's doctoral thesis, focuses on the funerary customs and the society of the Langobards in the last phase of the migration period. Several theories about identity and ethnicity in the Middle Ages, developed in the field of history, have been used to interpret the archaeological records; from this perspective the funerary evidence holds a privileged position, because necropolises provide the richest and the best preserved evidence for the greater part of the age of migrations. Analysis of the grave goods of 16 necropolises of Austria and Hungary that display the material culture of the Langobard people has yielded interesting results relating to the funerary culture and the society that created these arrangements of grave goods. This analysis has permitted the identification of various data that grant an understanding of the construction and the development of the cultural and social identity of the Langobards during the last phase of their migration.Questo libro, basato sulla tesi dottorale dell'autrice, si focalizza sulle tradizioni funerarie e sulla società longobarda nell'ultima fase della migrazione. Le numerose teorie riguardanti identità ed etnogenesi, nate e sviluppatesi in ambito storico, hanno trovato impiego in campo archeologico: è in quest'ottica che la documentazione funeraria ha un carattere privilegiato, perché l'evidenza delle necropoli è la più ricca e la meglio conservata per buona parte dell'età delle migrazioni. L'analisi dei contesti funerari di 16 necropoli austriache ed ungheresi di cultura Longobarda ha fornito interessanti risultati riguardo la cultura e la società che ha composto quei corredi. L'approccio impiegato ha permesso di individuare numerosi elementi, dai quali sembra possibile trarre alcune valutazioni delle caratteristiche sociali, cultuali e culturali dei Longobardi in Pannonia, permettendo in questo modo di definire alcune caratteristiche della loro etnogenesi.

By means of a paleoethnological, archaeological and autonomous historical analysis, based on regional records, this book presents a specific explanatory model of the origin and development of the city and the state in the Proto-history of the Northern Plateau of South-West Celtiberia, using as a case study the city of Termes, whose territory occupied a large part of this region in Celtiberic and Roman times, and analysing the subsequent integration process of this community as a civil territorial unit within the Roman Empire. Firstly, the pre-urban site is analysed; this is followed by an attempt to reconstruct the structural characteristics and evolution of the proto-urban and urban organisation of the site, up to the 2nd century AD. The text includes an analysis of the site's successive models of socio-political organisation, their patterns of continuity and disintegration, the interconnection between these, and the parameters defining this dynamic and changing urban structure.Se realiza un análisis paleoetnológico, arqueológico e histórico autónomo, fundamentado en el registro local para elaborar un modelo explicativo concreto sobre el origen y desarrollo de la ciudad y el Estado en la Protohistoria en la Meseta Norte desde el caso de la ciudad de Termes, y analizar el posterior proceso de integración de esta comunidad como unidad territorial y cívica dentro de una superestructura del Imperio Romano. Se analizan primero las premisas preurbanas, para a continuación tratar de reconstruir las características estructurales y evolución de la organización protourbana y urbana, hasta el s. II d.C. Abordamos el análisis de los sucesivos modelos de organización sociopolítica, sus pautas de continuidad y ruptura, la interconexión entre éstas, y los parámetros de definición de esa estructura urbana dinámica y cambiante.

The present study evolved out of an attempt to explore the mechanisms involved in the transformation of a social practice and its spatial context from one cultural, technological and architectural system to another in a given geographical area in classical antiquity. The practice chosen was that of the bath, the two main and overlapping cultural traditions were the Greek and the Roman and the two technological traditions are termed in the present study 'before' and 'after' the hypocaust. The geographical area covered in the study is that of modern Greece with a more detailed analysis of the Peloponnese. Chapter 1 presents the description and classification of the different bathing traditions which appeared in the Greek territory before the 6th century BC, when the first relevant evidence becomes present in the archaeological record. The evolution of bath architecture in Italy, the main characteristics of the Roman bathing tradition, the spatial configuration of the bath in the Roman culture and finally the different kinds of typological classifications used by scholars are described in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 the two basic bathing traditions which appear in Greece in classical antiquity are analyzed following the classification scheme which was described in the introductory chapter. The final chapter looks at the key issues of the Hellenization of the Roman bathing tradition, the Romanization of the bathing traditions of the Greek world and the long term evolution of the bath in antiquity are readdressed in the light of the present research.

This research studies the historical process known as Romanisation. It aims to contribute information about changes that took place in the management and exploitation of animals in the communities established in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula asa consequence of Roman advances. Analyses of changes in animal husbandry strategies practised in the Iberian Peninsula have been rather neglected and this book fills this information gap by offering a view of this historical process through archaeozoological studies. The analysis of animal husbandry is essential to reach deeper into topics such as the models and systems of territorial and habitat exploitation, providing new evidence and allowing a new, more complete and accurate view of the implantation,evolution and transformation of Roman power.

This book undertakes to answer questions relating to the creation of deity assimilation statues for young boys, a common mode of commemoration for the Romans. In addition, it demonstrates that many statues traditionally understood to represent youthful divinities actually possess portraits, even and especially if the faces appear joyful. It also proposes that these deity assimilation statues were commissioned primarily as posthumous commemorations. As such, the sculptural examples should be recognized as belonging to and constituting an important class of funerary sculpture; a class which has been, to this point, overlooked. It is also suggested that despite the fact that they were posthumous commemorations, deity assimilation statues of young boys were not necessarily placed in a sepulchral context, rather, it is maintained that images of children assimilated to divinities primarily served a sentimental purpose, and that, in that capacity, they may have been intended for and regularly kept in a domestic context, close to the surviving family.

This English version of the author's PhD dissertation, revised and updated in the light of the latest research and interpretation, aims to reconstruct the settlement pattern of the area of Aksum between the early 1st millennium BCE and the late 1st millennium CE. It describes the field strategies employed during surveys conducted at Aksum in 2005 and 2006 and the procedures that were adopted for the interpretation and chronological classification of the surface archaeological records. It also provides an updated assessment of the archaeological area of Aksum, including an overview of the taphonomic processes affecting the preservation of archaeological sites, and presents the results of the statistical and spatial analysis undertaken for the reconstruction of the ancient settlement pattern and for the investigation of the ancient dynamics of human-environmental interactions in the area.

Large-scale networks of interaction and exchange have existed on the East African Swahili coast for at least the past two millennia, linking coastal populations with South Asia, the Middle East and the African Interior. The connections coastal inhabitants nurtured along those networks were crucial to the development of Swahili urban society in the early second millennium CE. The archaeological project detailed in this book explores the functioning of Swahili networks by examining their influence in the region around the town of Mikindani in southern Tanzania through a thorough programme of survey and excavations. The Mikindani project is the first of its kind in Tanzania south of Kilwa, and provides an opportunity to investigate Swahili life away from major centres in more modest towns and villages. In so doing, it reveals historical trajectories for coastal communities that rely more heavily on interior than Indian Ocean connections, emphasizing coastal variability, identifying additional paths to socioeconomic success and recognizing that elements thought 'characteristic' of Swahili culture - including participation in trade - were part of social and economic strategies that were adopted, or not, to suit regional circumstances.

This book analyses archaeological finds retrieved from the Akko marina and its surroundings. Analysis of structures and installations casts light on the harbour's building and destruction cycles; for example, a 15th century wooden mole has been discovered, indicating previously unknown activity in that period. Hellenistic to late Ottoman period ceramics reveal the city's international connections and commerce. Glass artifacts and raw glass finds shed light on the famous local glass industry. Shipwrecks, anchors, rigging devices and cargoes starting from the Late Bronze Age tell us about shipbuilding and commercial ties. A unique 13th century hoard of gold florins reveals the last days of Crusader Akko as described in historical documents. Fishing gear indicates fishing activity and weapons and ammunitions provide a glimpse of the conflicts and battles in Akko and its role in local and world history. Numismatic, epigraphic, cartographic and photographic evidence of activity from the Hellenistic period onward depicts the harbour and associated facilities, including ancient and modern lighthouses, breakwaters, and other structures.Written by Ehud Galili with contributions by Gerald Finkielsztejn, Zaraza Friedman, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Yaacov Kahanov, Robert Kool, Baruch Rosen, Jacob Sharvit, Na'ama Silberstein, Dov Zviely and a foreword by David Jacoby.

Microlith production is a distinctive and significant stone tool technology. However, inter-regional comparative analyses of microlithic industries are rare, and tend to homogenise these industries by focussing analytical attention on retouched tool typologies alone. This volume provides the first demonstration and exploration of variability in two of the earliest microlithic industries in the world: the Howiesons Poort of southern Africa and the Late Palaeolithic of South Asia. Statistical analyses of the results of detailed attribute analyses reveal previously undocumented variability within and between sites, and over time, demonstrating that microlith production is not a homogenous technology. The results also provide evidence of the independent innovation of microlithic technology in the different regions. The implications of this variability for the long-standing debates concerning modern human behaviour and dispersals are explored. It is this behavioural and technological variability that is key to understanding our species.

In this study the author approaches the realm of 'private religion' in Egypt some 3,300 years ago. The two broad research questions that frame this study are: What was the structure of the private religious landscape at Amarna (Central Egypt, on the Nile), and what were the ideas that shaped this landscape? The starting point is a corpus of objects and structures from settlement remains at one site, Amarna, the location of Egypt's capital for a brief period (c.350 - 330 BCE) towards the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty. At the height of its occupation, Amarna was the administrative, political and religious centre of Egypt. (Estimates of the city 's population at this time range between 20,000 and 50,000 people.) This publication is divided into three parts.Part I places the study in context. The history of the Amarna period, the layout of the site and its excavation history are summarized. Part 2 explores the issue of how to define private religion and identify its material remnants: the inventory of the material evidence - objects, architectural emplacements and buildings. It is hoped that the dissemination of this material will assist others researching similar topics, making available unpublished evidence from most of the main phases of excavation at the site. Part 3 explores the design, manufacture and acquisition of the material components of religion, and considers the forms of the conduct in which they were used. Also examined are the transcendental forces involved: the royal family and Aten, and 'traditional ' deities and spirits, including private ancestors. Part 3 also considers the shape of the religious cityscape, and the questions of who was participating in religion, and what was done with the material when it was no longer in use. The study concludes with a discussion of the motivating factors that underlay religious conduct, and which open a small window onto the ideas that shaped the religious landscape more broadly.

This study takes an anthropological approach to define the term 'selpulture de catastrophe', contrasting features of mass burials due to plague, genocide and battlefield casualties. French text.

This work details current research and the knowledge of the Early Medieval town in Italy. The chronological and geographical limits of this analysis (the regions of Central and Northern Italy between Late Antiquity, c. 4th-5th century, and the end of the Early Middle Ages, c. 10th-11th century) have been selected on the basis of the changes and the solutions that emerged for political, economic, and social aspects, as a consequence of a succession of events that occurred earlier and in a more conclusive way in such contexts, trying then to point out eventual developments until the phases that precede the time of the city-states.

The Chalcolithic Period of the Levant constitutes an important and complex phase in the evolution of prehistoric societies. Certain 'prehistoric' traditions such as the production and use of lithic tools, continued as new technical advancements were developed in stone tool production and, metallurgy. For this author, Byblos (40 km north of Beirut on the Lebanese coast) was an obvious choice for revisiting the Levantine Chalcolithic. Besides being the largest and most thoroughly excavated site (almost 70 % of the site has been excavated), the settlement features a variety of architecture comprising dwellings, houses, silos and paved roads, and an exceptionally rich and varied corpus of burials and grave artefacts (2097 tombs in total including 2059 jar burials with 3652 objects). Despite the remarkable quality of the eneolithic material, the necropolis remains relatively unknown. Statistical, qualitative, and spatial analyses of the data are modest, making past interpretations and syntheses either too general or too incomplete to be of any value to the archaeological community. To undertake an exhaustive study of the fourth millennium layers of Byblos, it was vital to examine the archives from the original excavations, including all the unpublished data. In this way, the mass of information from the past was critically re-evaluated when necessary. At the same time, the different terminologies were also standardised. This re-evaluation allowed for the confirmation or reconsideration of past hypotheses, andwhen appropriate, the creation of new ones. The main sections of this study include: Research methodology; Site sectorization and organization; Funerary practices; Grave finds and analyses; Socio-economic organization and development.

This study examines the transformation that took place in the central Negev (Israel) during the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods by addressing questions such as: What do existing historical records and past archaeological research tell us about the transformation that took place in the Negev and in neighbouring regions during this period? What can the material finds from recent excavations in the area, for the purposes of this study at Mampsis, Oboda, and Mezad 'En Hazeva, provide to supplement that information? What factors contributed to the greatest population increase and permanent settlement activity to have ever taken place in such an inhospitable desert environment as occurred in the Byzantine period between the fourth and the seventh century CE? In the first chapter the geographical setting, including the geology, climate, hydrology and vegetation are discussed. In the second chapter a summary of archaeological research of the region under discussion, including surveys and excavations, is presented. In chapters three through six the historical background in the early centuries of the first millennium CE is presented together with historical and archaeological evidence pertaining to the region. In the second part of this work, the material finds from sealed deposits found in recent excavations from Mampsis, Oboda and Mezad 'En Hazeva are presented and discussed in their archaeological and historical contexts. Attention is directed to the ceramic evidence and the implications that this evidence holds with regard to demographic and economic developments in the region in the period under discussion.

Proceedings of the 2nd REEA Conference Ritual Americas: Configurations and Recombining of the Ritual Devices and Behaviors in the New World, in Historical and Contemporary Societies Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) April 2-5, 2008.

This book looks at the transformations that intentional heat treatment causes in silica rocks when used as lithic raw material. Heat treatment, known from the Middle Stone Age on, is an important step in the evolution of techniques, and the way humans perceived the materials available to them. The study shows an experimental approach, not only to understanding what happens, but also to understanding the range of temperatures and heating speeds at which these transformations take place. The results yield quantitative data that help with the recognition of techniques and procedures that silica rocks, such as flint and other cherts, were subjected to in heat-treated processes.

Because of their significance in everyday life in ancient Egypt, this works provides a specific lexicography of terms with textual and bibliographical references to cattle, sheep and goats. In ancient Egypt there were many words to indicate cattle, sheep and goats, and the same term can often represent different meanings. These variations depend on the genre and the dating of the texts and where the term appears. To classify and analyse the different writings and the etymology of the words for these domesticated animals, the author of this research examines Egyptian documents from the Old Kingdom to the Greek-Roman Period and then considers the specific and derived meanings. The work concludes with a general synthesis of current studies on cattle, sheep and goats.

Papers given at a session of the annual conference of the Theoretical Archaeology Group held at the University of Birmingham on 20 December 1998.

Proceedings of the Second International Meeting of Anthracology, Paris, September 2000

Early and Middle Palaeolithic studies have recently been greatly improved by the application of modern technological methods. These studies are very much based upon lithic production systems, basically the methods by which ancient peoples made their stone tools, and their relative aspects in terms of culture, environment and economic values. Up until recently many previous studies have been concerned with different flaking methods, and how they have varied. This BAR is about one of these methods known as the 'discoid flaking method' and follows on from previous studies. There are fifteen papers in this study, nine of which are in French. These articles discuss the discoid assemblages of Europe and its environs, either to outline the main features of discoid lithic tools, or to illustrate the layout of a particular archaeological context, or in order to show the varying levels of technology used by the Palaeolithic peoples who made these tools. The discoid method is not very well known, and is also often unclear in many areas for which it is present. The editor starts by defining exactly what this flaking procedure is, and relates it to previous examples, expecting new information gained from a more scientific approach. The majority of the contributions to this study are focused on newly acquired results either from recent excavations, or from the re-examination of older sites, and how these results relate to the definition of variability of the discoid flaking method. The number of reports in French indicate how France is the central area of study for discoid lithic technology, as well as being the main area of lithic research in general.

This volume presents a selection from a large private collection of engraved gems, finger rings and cylinder seals. It was created from 1921 through the 1960s from various sources, and includes many examples from old collections that had come on to the market, notably the Evans, Southesk, and (for later gems) Poniatowski, as well as many purchased from dealers and in auctions. They are now in the possession of the collector's son, who encouraged this publication. Boardman had already published a selection, mainly of the Greek and Etruscan gems from the collection, in Intaglios and Rings (London, Thames and Hudson, 1975), and these stones have since been purchased by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu (except for nos. 9, 17, 86, 149, 154, 205-208). The present selection also includes some early gems, omitted from the earlier publication for various reasons, but it is mainly devoted to the Hellenistic and Roman, as well as to a choice of the many Sasanian stones, cylinder seals, other eastern, and Neo-classical. The selection has been determined by the apparent interest of each piece for either its style or its subject, but also represents a fairly typical range of gem engraving through the Greek and Roman worlds, and outside it - including Etruscan, Greco-Persian, Syrian, Persian, Phoenician, Sasanian and the early production of cylinders in the near east. This is the type of material that was available for collectors in the first half of the last century. The catalogue takes the form of a descriptive handlist rather than a catalogue raisonné, with select comparanda, and with more attention paid to the puzzling or important pieces. Of these there are several of the highest quality, and several of exceptional archaeological or iconographic interest. The prime motive has been to make much of the collection known to scholars who might wish to take study of individual pieces further. To this end the publication of mainly unprovenanced engraved gems is of no less importance than that of unprovenanced decorated vases. This volume inaugurates the new series Studies in Gems and Jewellery.

This new series is in the same format as Studies in the History of Collections and Studies in Classical Archaeology. It is intended for studies in gems and jewellery from ancient to neo-classical, both monographs and the publication of contents of collections, and is inspired by the Beazley Archive's rich resources of gem impressions and casts, gathered first by Sir John Beazley himself. This second volume, Classical Phoenician Scarabs A catalogue and study, is the result of some years of collecting records of the green jasper scarabs of the Mediterranean world in the course of research on other glyptic, Greek and Persian. The principal aim is to present the material in catalogue form, arranged by subject, and accompanied by selective illustration. (The first volume (2003), Classical and Eastern Intaglios, Rings and Cameos, by C. Wagner and J. Boardman, publishes a selection of gems from a private collection formed between 1921 and about 1970. They range from 3rd-millennium BC cylinder seals of Mesopotamia, to Neo-classical engravings of the 19th century AD, and include prime specimens also of Greek, Etruscan, Roman and Sasanian glyptic.

The papyri presented in this volume (the second volume in the Lahun series: cf. BAR 1083: 'Letters') range across all categories between letters and accountancy documents (to form the final BAR volume, forthcoming) and five broad groupings have been adopted for this work - 'Religious, Literary, Legal, Mathematical, and Medical'. As in the 'Letters' volume, the printed pages present updated transcriptions with transliterations for all but the smallest fragments. The entire collection is presented in digitized photographic form in the accompanying CD.