Bücher der Reihe British Archaeological Reports International Series

A Comparison of Skeletal Samples of the 5th-8th Centuries A.D. from Britain and Southwestern Germany.

This study investigates the archaeomalacological assemblages from three Bronze Age sites in the Aegean: Troia, Yenibademli and Ulucak.

A collection of papers presented at the seminar series held at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in November 2008. The papers mainly deal with the theme of agrarian field systems in Medieval Spain. Although there is a notable tradition in the study of medieval agrarian field systems throughout Europe, this subject has received little attention amongst historians and archaeologists working within Spanish contexts. The name given to the seminar series derives from the translation of the title from Jean Guilaine's 1991 book, Pour une archéologie agraire. À la croissée des sciences de l'homme et de la nature. Like Guilaine had done nearly two decades earlier, the contributors too wanted to stress the importance of agrarian landscapes, plants and cultivation systems, within what is generally known as rural settlement. The main objective of the work is to bring together in a single book diverse methodologies and research experiences as well as to assess and contrast the quality of the results obtained. Above all, the book looks to establish research strategies which may constitute a guide for those who have an interest in contributing to historiographic debates. Such debates may be centered around the formation of village networks between the 5th - 10th centuries, the processes of 'incastellamento' and the consolidation of the feudal settlement system, the organization of peasant settlement in al-Andalus and finally the impact of Christian conquests and colonization on al-Andalus from the 12th century onwards. We believe that one of the keys to fully understanding these issues lies with a better understanding of agrarian spaces, the fields themselves, and so we have initiated our own project with this very subject.

In this work the author analyses how the nature and characteristics of urbanism in Byzantium changed between the sixth and the eighth century AD. By use of a multifunctional approach the work offers a methodological path to assess the future contributions of urban Byzantine archaeology and to interpret other possible models of Byzantine urbanism. Focusing on Athens, Gortyn, Ephesos and Amastris, the author gives a detailed analysis of each urban centre in its own regional context (Anatolia, and finally, Italy, and Syria-Palestine), allowing him to draw a regionally nuanced model of Byzantine urbanism that unifies the regional models set out in each case study and helps explain the specific outcomes of Byzantine urbanism from late Antiquity to the early middle ages, taking into consideration the dialectic between coastal and mainland sites and the peculiarities of each geographical area.

The main aim of this book is to provide a synthesis of all published research on sites of the Urnfield culture (c. 1300 BC - 750 BC) in continental Croatia. Using the basic division into settlements, cemeteries and hoards, the author concentrates on the analysis of the material culture following a typological-comparative method, while in the analysis of the finds from hoards a statistical method was used in order to show frequencies and distribution of certain types of items. Although the available data is scarce and includes a small number of sites that have not been excavated sufficiently, the study tries to obtain as complete a picture on the lifestyle of the people of the Urnfield culture in Croatia as possible. The work also looks for an insight into the economic activities that were occurring in the settlements. In the chapter on settlement finds there is a concentrated on the analysis of material culture and residential structures found in the settlements at Mackovac-Cricnjevi (early Urnfield culture) and Kalnik-Igris¿e I and II (early and late Urnfield culture). Chapters on metal production and the appearance of hoards are linked to the chapter on settlements, as the assumption is that the production of these items took place within the Urnfield culture settlements. The wide variety of types and forms of bronze items found in hoards of the Urnfield culture in Croatia is indicative of local production of these items, as well as of a link of this region with other areas in Pannonia and the Carpathian Basin, as well as with the whole Middle Danube circle of the Urnfield culture. Thus, a comparison with sites and finds from Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia was necessary.

The first part of the book analyses the most recent studies on Romanisation. It focuses on the settlement systems and on the definition that can be given to different built-up areas. Comparing various modern research fields, including settlement geography and specific studies in antiquity such as historical, epigraphic and archaeological sources, this research aims to elaborate a valid model for the Roman Period that could be used, more specifically, in the Salento area. Three different settlement categories have been identified and divided at an internal level into different typologies of built-up areas. At an interpretative level, it has been demonstrated that such settlements could be related to ancient terminology. This research enables a diachronic reading of the settlement system. In addition, it offers an interpretation of the typologies of the different built-up areas in the Salento during the different phases in which the Roman age has been divided. In Appendix can be found the census of all sites of Roman Age in the Salento between the end of the 3rd century B.C. and the 6th century AD. This census has led to the realization of a catalogue of over 300 records of settlements.

Epigraphers of the Mayan hieroglyphic writing system have demonstrated that a single verb root lies behind a substantial array of royal rituals. At the same time, astronomically oriented studies have found the same root associated with the events of celestial bodies. Perhaps the best known of the latter is the operative verb within the Dresden Codex Venus Pages. This book tackles ostensibly minor incongruities within current interpretations of the Venus Pages to reveal a trajectory that resolves the difference between astronomical and epigraphic treatments of the verb in question. In an attempt to ameliorate these inconsistencies, textual data external to the Dresden Codex, both temporally and geographically, are brought into consideration. The external data reveals an unexpected linguistic and thematic continuity, which further challenges current calendric interpretations of the Venus Pages. Rectifying the calendric inconsistency requires a substantial reinterpretation of the procedure for utilizing the Preface to the Venus Table; in so doing, a new solution to the long enigmatic interval of 9,100 days is proposed. This last move introduces a reconsideration of the Venus Table in its entirety, with a focus on k'al, the operative verb throughout the table, such that we gain access to a perspective of ritual time and space that appears to have been held throughout Mesoamerica. This essay appeals to calendrics, iconography, hieroglyphs, and architecture to suggest that k'al referred to a ritual 'enclosing'or 'loop-tracing' in space and time.

Estudio paleoambiental en el valle del Madriu-Perafita-Claror (Andorra)Combined palaeoenvironmental and archaeological studies of European high mountains are still rare. This integrated research aims to understand the long-term landscape shaping of the Madriu-Perafita-Claror valley (Andorra, Eastern Pyrenees), included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. A palaeoenvironmental study combining pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, and macrocharcoal was carried out in natural basins and results were integrated with archaeological on-site data. Distinct phases of local landscape variability are detected and related to the spatial organization of land-uses from the Neolithic to the Modern Era. This study underlines the role of social, economic and cultural parameters in the landscape shaping of European highlands since the Prehistory.

Reconstitution et analyse d'une source perdue fondamentale sur la civilisation Azte¿que, d'apre¿s l'Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espan¿a de D. Durän (1581) et la Cro¿nica Mexicana de F.A. Tezozomoc (ca. 1598)Written and illustrated in Nahuatl, the Crónica X is one of our major sources on Aztec history, from the mythical origins to the Spanish Conquest. However, it only reaches us through derived documents, including especially two adaptations in Spanish of the last quarter of the XVIth century, completed respectively by a Dominican friar of Spanish origin, Diego Durán, and by one of the grandsons of Motecuhzoma II, the native historian Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc. This present volume is a modern reconstruction of this important historical source.

Proceedings of the 6th International Boeotian ConferenceUpdated papers from a 1989 conference; 25 contributors covering periods from prehistory to modern eras.

Grave goods show that women were identified as weavers in the early Anglo-Saxon period, rather than specifically spinners, as occurs later. A key piece of weaving equipment found in migration era burials is the iron beater, shaped during this period like a sword. Spear shaped beaters appear later in the seventh century.

Paris Monographs in American Archaeology 22A study of sexuality in Aztec myth and culture.

Monographs of the Sydney University Teleilat Ghassul Project 2This work addresses a number of issues emerging from evidence from Teleilat Ghassul in the south Jordan Valley, incorporating unpublished material from Professor J.B. Hennessy's excavations in 1967, 1975-1977, and new material from Bourke's 1994- present campaigns at the site. These include: A report of the excavated material and architecture from Area E, the 'Sanctuary' precinct; Justification for the 'cultic' attribution of the precinct, and some proposals about the nature of the cult activities and their purpose; The evidence for emerging internal competitive diversity in cult and religious activities at the site, its cause and consequences; Observations on the spatial and temporal place of Teleilat Ghassul, and specifically the Sanctuary, in the broader Chalcolithic and pre-state spectrum; The extent to which cult expression reflects a social response to managing crisis, rather than success; The extent to which the evidence supports conventional paradigms about increasing social, economic and technological complexity in pre-state societies, and the value added by the Ghassul evidence to our understanding of Chalcolithic culture and social systems; Analysis of the extent to which the Sanctuary and the broader site can inform the extension of archaeological analysis, to identify the conscious behaviour and evidence of individuals manipulating social and economic circumstances to alter the power relationships in a community; and the degree to which we can extend recent conceptual frameworks in articulating an 'Archaeology of Politics' from pre-literate evidence in cult contexts. Part I presents a full report on the architecture, ceramics and small finds from Area E. The stratigraphy, architecture and phasing of the Sanctuary precinct, including the Sanctuary Courtyard, and the adjacent Industrial Area, reports previously unpublished detail of the excavated remains. This is followed by the ceramics from the Sanctuary precinct, with reference to the Pontifical Biblical Institute material where appropriate and with a broad indication of parallels in the region. The distribution of ceramic forms and wares is presented as the basis of evidence for the unique and specialised nature of the Sanctuary. Objects from the Sanctuary precinct are also presented in a comparable descriptive and statistical format to the ceramics. The architecture of other Chalcolithic sites, cultic and domestic, is discussed in Part II with the aim of drawing conclusions about the function of the Sanctuary, and its relationship with identified comparators at En Gedi and Gilat. Possible links with Mesopotamian, southern Anatolian, Syrian, Egyptian and desert sites are also explored. Part III takes a deliberate context-based approach to cult analysis, drawing together the objects from the Sanctuary Courtyard, Sanctuary Temenos, Industrial Area and Painters Workshop to demonstrate the significance of the components of each assemblage and their relationship to the cult activities. Part III also examines the Ghassul Area E Sanctuary against existing and respected models of cultic criteria and recommends additional criteria to be added to this model. A catalogue of objects from the Sanctuary precinct is presented in the Appendix to emphasise the significance of each assemblage and promote the benefits of context-based publication of objects. Part III draws together current debates and evidence on chronology, environment and economy in the Chalcolithic with specific reference to Ghassul and the Sanctuary, and presents some conclusions about the evidence for risk and crisis, which may have generated the social and political responses by groups and individuals inherent in the Sanctuary evidence. Conclusions in Part IV respond to the aims set out above.

Proceedings of the XV UISPP World Congress (Lisbon 4-9 September 2006) / Actes du XV Congrès Mondial (Lisbonne 4-9 Septembre 2006) Vol. 9 Session C53This book includes papers from the 'A New Dawn for the Dark Age? Shifting Paradigms in Mediterranean Iron Age Chronology' session (C53) held at the XV UISPP World Congress, September 2006.

The Caspian Steppes have been attracting attention in the focus of many scholars for more than a hundred years, because the steppes that lie between the Lower Volga and the Lower Don regions, and border with the North Caucasus is an area where many cultural traditions formed and developed. Multiethnic and multicultural groups are behind such traditions. The objective of this book is to systematize the dating of Caspian Steppes' sites to different cultures, based on new archaeological sources that have appeared recently as a result of new excavations. The detailed analysis of key features of the burial rite and general categories of the material culture, i.e. grave offerings, provides a possibility to present in Chapter 1 characteristics of archaeological cultures and cultural groups of the Caspian Steppes in the Eneolithic-Middle Bronze Age. Application of the complex method of establishing culture sequence in Chapter 2 is aimed at revealing changes of cultural traditions in the region and establishing their absolute chronology. The database obtained gives grounds to evaluate the ethno-cultural historical process in the region under discussion through models of the economic cycle and production developed by ancient population is presented in Chapter 3. Amongst others, this book is based on the Bronze Age collections from the Eurasian Steppe and the Caucasus of the Archaeology Department of the State Historical Museum in Moscow, and data obtained from the excavation of the Steppe Archaeological Expedition of the State Historical Museum.

This study examines the spatial organization and long-term development of two ancient Maya centres - Lagartera and Margarita - located in south-central Quintana Roo, Mexico, that were occupied from the Middle Preclassic (ca. 500 B.C.) to the Terminal Classic (ca. A.D. 1000). Archaeological research at these two sites was designed to investigate the socio-political factors responsible for their different layouts. Spatial data, obtained through survey and mapping, and chronological data, obtained through excavations, were used to identify patterns in the built environments and to reconstruct the history of occupation of each site. By comparing the layout, composition, temporal development, and regional context of Lagartera and Margarita, this study highlights various dimensions of variability among ancient Maya centres and discusses the sources of this variability.

In this study the author tests three main hypotheses that focus on the institutionalization of vertical social differences, the different strategies that might have led to the institutionalization of vertical social differences, and changes in gender relations during the transition from the Late Copper Age to the Early Bronze Age in South Moravia (Czech Republic). In the nine chapters, the first outlines the main topics of interest and the central hypotheses, outlining the general research scope and methodology. Chapter 2 presents the main conceptual and theoretical framework, describing various aspects of social differences, their change over time, and the theoretical basis for the exploration of social differences in the mortuary archaeological record.Chapter 3 provides an introduction to the geomorphology of South Moravia and an overview of the archaeological cultures in the region, giving special attention to the Late Copper Age and the Early Bronze Age. Chapter 4 builds upon the previous two chapters and presents the three main hypotheses of this study. A series of expectations for each research hypothesis is presented along with the archaeological correlates - thus providing the necessary link between theory and characteristics that can be traced in the archaeological record. In Chapter 5 the author describes the methods used to test the research hypotheses. The first section describes the procedures for data collection. The second section discusses the methods for the analysis of intra-cemetery mortuary variability including its spatial aspects and mortuary variability between the sites and time periods. Chapter 6 discusses the archaeological sites concerned, paying special attention to four main cemeteries that are analyzed in detail. Chapters 7 and 8 present the results and discussion of the analyses. Chapter 9 concludes the main findings of the study, presenting the model of changes that occurred during the transition from the Late Copper Age to the Early Bronze Age and place the results into archaeology's wider anthropological context.

Archaeolingua: Central European Series 5The author's main aim in this study is to look at how and within what framework the elements of costume from Ottoman period burials in Hungary have been treated by previous research, and to suggest some new directions of interpretation. The information on the ethnic and geographical origins of the population interred in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century cemeteries in Hungary, as provided by historical sources, has determined the questions formulated within previous archaeological scholarship: the analysis of burial customs and finds, mostly remains of clothing, has focused on an ethnic interpretation. This study has two main aims. First, to look for factors other than ethnicity which could contribute to the formation of clothing and of the way it appears in the archaeological record, taking a closer look at the archaeological and various aspects of the social and cultural context of certain objects. Second, to see how historical archaeology can modify our understanding of clothing in the past: the way it was treated by contemporary peoples, and the social and cultural structures that produced it.

Paris Monographs in American Archaeology 23A study of the Mayan site of Joyanca (north-west Guatemala).

This study investigates the relationship between the thermal performance of building assemblages (classes of buildings) and the social life of human communities using a multi-scalar Neo-Darwinian approach to study the evolution of the built environment. The work investigates levels of thermal operational adjustability associated with building assemblages and long-term social viability, given that social and contextual change is inevitable in the long-term.

Proceedings of an International Conference held in Trondheim, Norway, 10th-12th October 2008, arranged by the Institute of Archaeology and Religious Studies, and the SAK department of the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)A volume dedicated to the achievements of Norwegian archaeologist Gutorm Gjessing (1906-1979).

Archaeological Studies on Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Europe (400-1000 A.D.) (SERIES ASLAEME), Monographs IIIThe series Archaeological Studies on Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Europe (A.D. 400-1000) (ASLAEME Series) covers the chronological and spatial span from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages, themes that have seen an extraordinary flourishing of publications and research over the last 25 years in western Europe, and more generally in the whole geographic area once ruled by the Roman Empire until its dissolution during the 5th century A.D. One of the priorities of ASLAEME is to contribute to the knowledge of this period from an archaeological perspective by means of the publication of an homogeneous series as far as time and space are concerned, but with a multidisciplinary approach and, above all, open to an honest and constructive debate that will prove scientifically enriching. To accomplish this, the series will feature the work of young researchers who will have the possibility to subject the results of their studies to an international scientific audience. The ASLAEME series is divided into three sub-series publication of monographs on both final and in-progress preliminary reports of particular sites, as well as catalogues resulting from exhibitions and re-evaluations of material pertaining to the chronological framework of the ASLAEME series. The third volume in this series is the monograph by of Eusebio Dohijo on Late Antiquity in the High Valley of the Duero River in Portugal.

Mosaic surfaces (floor and/or wall) comprise one of the most accomplished art forms to develop in the Mediterranean region in antiquity. Each country surrounding the Mediterranean Basin added to the development of the techniques and repertoire, reflecting cultural development and diffusion. This work focuses on all aspects of ship iconography as represented on known mosaics from major and minor sites. Contents: Introduction; Mosaic Production and its Application to Ship Depictions; 'Catalogue of Ships' (including mosaics from Berenike (Egypt), Lod (Israel), Antioch (Turkey), Kelenderis/Aydincik (Turkey), Kenchreai (Greece), The Palestrina Nile Mosaic (Italy), Ostia/Piazzale Delle Corporazioni (Italy), Piazza Armerina (Sicily); Ship Archaeology; Ship Interpretation in Mosaics; Conclusions; Glossary.

This book offers an overview of the whole period from the first evidence of the Roman rediscovery of figured vases until the end of the 20th century. It looks at how figured vases were received in each successive period and how this determined the way they were studied. First, the Roman urge to collect vases purely as both decorative curiosities found locally and as trophies form Corinth. Then after many centuries of silence, the mediaeval discovery of vases in Tuscany and particularly around Arezzo and the belief that these vases must be supernatural because the painting on them was beyond the skills of contemporary artists. This was followed by the later use of vases as complements to the display of sculpture and to their being regarded as of secondary importance. By the 18th century, vase-painting was being studied for its iconography and as comparative material with ancient texts. Finally the search for the origin of the vases themselves became the great debate, and these supposed origins were also used for political ends. In the 19th century, classification took over as the main type of scholarship. In the 20th century, images of life depicted in vase-paintings are used as a vehicle through which the ancient world is understood. The focus of this work is the history of scholarship. It looks at the aspects of study that each subsequent century thought important, the varied forms scholarly debate took, and the responses which ordered the direction of research. The history of collections is also of importance to this study as the contents of collections can reveal how certain types of figured vases were favoured over others and were disseminated to a wider audience, thereby gaining more prominence and being more closely studied. Vases could not be studied at leisure until they were placed in a safe, permanent environment, so collections were the basis of vase study and subsequent publications. Finally, the author looks at how ancient vases were (and to a certain extent still are) regarded compared with the more revered subjects of ancient literature and classical sculpture.

South American Archaeology Series No 11This research explores the characteristics of stone tool production in the heart of the Andean state of Tiwanaku, comparing tool production on urban and rural settlements and at elite and non-elite sites. Models of the Tiwanaku state are tested, and comparisons with the contemporaneous Wari state are explored. No evidence of craft specialization was recovered from urban or rural sites. The author demonstrates that there was an overall continuity in lithic production from the Formative (1500 B.C. - 400 A.D.) to Middle Horizon (400-1100 A.D.), but significant changes occured after 600 A.D., as exotic raw materials began to be exploited. The state controlled the procurement and distribution of obsidian and black basalt, giving preference to urban dwellers, following the experiences of earlier altiplano polities (the Pukara, Chiripa and Wankarani). At the same time, local groups procured smaller quantities of exotics from other (non-state controlled) sources. Projectile points were locally manufactured and were used in inter-group conflicts.

This publication offers new perspectives on the Phoenician presence in the Iberian Peninsula. It is proposed that Tartesos needs to be understood in a wider geographical way, rather than being studied according to a traditional historic-cultural approach. The authors reflect on a number of topics: the diversity of origins and identities of the "Phoenician" communities, the homogeneity and heterogeneity factors among them, their specific evolution in the colonial and post-colonial landscapes, the making of new political and ethnic identities, the ways in which the Greeks and Roman perceived and recorded them, the criteria for the identification of "indigenous" and "colonial" in the archaeological record, and the role of religion among the Phoenicians in terms of unity and diversity. All of these subjects are approached from a wide and multidisciplinary perspective.

15 papers which present practical case studies in experimental archaeology, as well as more theoretical work.

This volume presents a series of experimental investigations designed to explore the identification and characterisation of ancient arable farming through a feature-based morphology approach, and to assess previous work regarding the ability of soil micromorphological approaches to identify ancient tilled soils on the basis of profile and horizon characteristics. Studying ancient arable land use through soil micromorphology involves identifying remnant indicators of the processes and activities involved in cultivation in thin section. Regarding ancient tillage, there are two major types of indicators which should be examined micromorphologically: profile or horizon characteristics associated with the impact of cultivation on the soil, and the characteristics of macroscopic tillage features themselves. Much primary research has focused on the former, although the latter may prove to be both the least ambiguous, and of the most use in relating microscopic indicators to macroscopic archaeological features. This volume discusses experimental study of both of these aspects, in comparison to archaeological remains, and presents a feature morphology-based approach to the study of ancient arable land use.

Contributions on the current state of archaeological research in the Croatian part of the Roman province of Pannonia.

The present study analyses different faunal samples dated to the Middle Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age from both Latium and Abruzzi (central Italy). It includes a multitude of unpublished material from different sites such as the excavations on the Capitol in the garden of Palazzo Caffarelli in Rome. These sites are particularly interesting for they testify the presence of a long-term settlement along the southern slope of the Capitoline hill as of, at least, the end of the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Other unpublished samples included are those of the Middle Bronze Age settlement of Castiglione that was partially destroyed at the beginning of the Iron Age by the homonymous necropolis, as well as those from Final Bronze Age settlement of Monte Sant'Elia. It, moreover, includes unpublished samples from the Final Bronze Age settlement of Sorgenti della Nova (and in particular from area Ve); from the Final Bronze Age settlement of Ficana (near the highest and most central part of the aggere that delimits the western slope of the plateau); from the Iron Age structure of Fidene; from recent excavations conducted in Rome in the Domus and Velia. The samples from these sites have been compared to those found in different sites in Abruzzi and in particular in the Middle Bronze Age settlement of Cerchio-La Ripa, in the recent excavations of the Final Bronze Age/Initial Iron Age settlement of Madonna degli Angeli and of the Early Iron Age settlements of Punta d'Erce and Tortoreto. This project, that compares archaeozoological data available in literature and the data obtained through direct analysis of sites in the central area of Italy, also seeks to highlight the network of commercial exchanges that characterizes the area of northern Latium, inland Abruzzi and southern Latium and that is made traceable by the circulation of metallic artefacts.