Bücher der Reihe British Archaeological Reports International Series

This study, written from the perspective of an engineer, applies functional analysis to the designs and material remains of Roman vertical wheeled water mills to guage their efficiency. It also aims to use these techniques to chart the evolution of Roman water mills.

This volume offers a broad and up-to-date discussion of the Spondylus "phenomenon" in prehistory, in diverse archaeological contexts from Europe and two areas of the New World. It brings together new archaeological data, methodological advances, and current interpretations for the study of this important material. Further understanding comes from consideration of other shell technologies, ancient and traditional. The core of the book consists of papers that were first presented in a special session on "Spondylus in European Prehistory: New Data and Approaches - A Session on the Archaeology of Shell Technologies", organized by the editors for the 13th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Zadar, Croatia, 18-23 September 2007.

Halfway along the mountainous route between the Ierapetra isthmus and Siteia, on the northern limits of the western mountain range of the Siteia province (eastern Crete), is the small village of Tourloti. Approximately 2.5 kilometres north of the village, on the hillside that drops down to the beach at Mochlos, on the site of Plakalona, is a LMIII chamber tomb cemetery. Richard B. Seager was the first to identify and excavate the site in 1900. He collected the LMIII stirrup-jar now in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1906, Stefanos Xanthoudidis reported that 'Mycenaean' copper alloy weapons and tools had been found at Metochia, Tourloti. The first brief archaeological report for investigations in the area was published in 1938 by Manolis Mavroreidis of Siteia, temporary curator of antiquities and schoolteacher, who excavated a rich grave at Plakalona, unpublished to this day. In 1959, Nikolaos Platon identified a further group of rock-hewn chamber tombs, which he never excavated, despite his original intentions. The chance discovery of seven vases from one or more tombs at the end of the 1950s or the beginning of the 1960s once again disturbed the peaceful cemetery. The vases were presented to the Archaeological Service of Siteia, as wellas a LMIIIC tub larnax from the same cemetery. In June 1984, after the Town of Tourloti notified the Archaeological Service of antiquities found during construction work and a (looted) chamber tomb was explored at Plakalona, as well as a second, richly appointed chamber tomb. A third looted LMIII chamber tomb was identified in 1990 and recently (2006) another wealthy chamber tomb. This work presents the finds of the chamber tombs excavated and the vases handed over previously. The latter group includes Octopus Close Style stirrup-jar presented in the volume's second chapter together with a discussion of its attribution to a particular workshop and a distinct vase painter conventionally dubbed the 'Xanthoudidis Master'. In the absence of petrographic or other analysis, the hypothesis on the vase's provenance is based on morphological and stylistic criteria and on the fabric's macroscopic examination. A study of the human bones from the Papadakis excavation by Dr P.J. P. McGeorge completes this volume.

Registro arqueológico e interpretación cultural (Cantabria, España)

The authors endeavoured to interpret the evolution and development of thought about the Palaeolithic of Iberian Peninsula. A line of argument and a broad, generalized chronology are given. For each period examined a brief review of socio-political context is given, and the specialist literature is analyzed. The discussion shows how archaeologists generated knowledge, how they selected from it and how they transmitted it.

Before its inundation in 1965, the island of Meinarti was situated at the foot of the Second Nile Cataract, 10km south of the town of Wadi Halfa. It was the last place that could be reached, at all times of the year, by large watercraft travelling upriver, a circumstance clearly important in shaping the history of the settlement. The total excavation work covered 18 occupation levels, varying in date from the 2nd or 3rd centuries to the 17th century AD. This volume processes in detail the Late Meroitic and Ballaña phases (c. 200-660 AD), and is the first in five volume series.

This volumes applies the theory and methods developed in the study of mortuary remains by Americanist archaeologists to the earliest farming societies of continental Europe-those of modern-day mainland Greece. Historically, such research has predominantly focused on seeking out the social dimensions of life that influenced mortuary behaviour. The author explores the origins of social ranking during the Neolithic and goes on to consider how death is wrapped up in so much more than the social standing of the deceased, and seeing how archaeologists may be able to detect the many dimensions of life influencing the disposal of the dead.

Antítesis de la tesis actual

Study of the pottery found at Metaponto during the 1974 - 1995 excavations. With contributions from Silvia Bruni and Vittoria Guglielmi. In Italian.

Ancient seafaring and especially our fascination with the trireme have fuelled many vooks and debates, many of which are revisited and critiqued here.

This study focuses on the evolution of dry-stone techniques applied to the construction of enclosures in Corsica and Tuscany. Starting from the 5th millennium, the presence of enclosures has been observed in the Western Mediterranean basin. Used to enclose an area with various functions between the Middle Neolithic and the Iron Age, the enclosure can be a ditch, a bank or a dry-stone wall, as in Corsica. With the aim of applying the methodology of study of the Corsican enclosures to those of Tuscany, thegeographical framework of this study was extended to include all Tuscany.

This study addresses the issue of recent hunter-gatherer subsistence and adoption of herding through excavation and analysis of archaeological material from Shulumai Rockshelter, inhabited until 50 years ago by Mukogodo hunter-gatherers of Laikipia District in north-central Kenya. New information on hunter-gatherer subsistence and the relations of Mukogodo hunter-gatherers to food producers helps current efforts in documenting processes involved in adoption of food production by hunter-gatherers in secondary settings. Thus this book makes both methodological and theoretical contributions to African archaeology regarding the interpretation of late Holocene archaeological sites associated with late hunter-gatherer and early producing economies in East Africa.

How important is the study of the domestic architecture of a society in order to reveal the everyday life of its inhabitants? How significant is the space within which people live and interact in order to understand the structure and function of a family? How much does the space influence the relationships developed among the people living under the same roof? Is there a characteristic house plan to cover the everyday basic needs of an ancient Egyptian? These are amongst the questions addressed in this study. In the area of Egyptology, early studies concerning settlement archaeology were focused on town planning, architectural design, or literary sources. There have even been studies that completely denied the existence of cities in ancient Egypt. It is only during the last decades that the anthropological approach has been added to Egyptology to define social relationships. The aspects of urbanisation and domestic architecture have seemed to be recognised by Egyptologists as issues that are both of major importance and worthy of enquiry for archaeological investigation. However, there has been no recent complete comparative study giving a room-to-room analysis of the domestic architecture. Moreover, most of the studies consider houses as ground plans, trying to identify the origins of architectural characteristics, or the social differentiation between the inhabitants of the different house types. In this study, the author looks at the function and use of a domestic unit and the everyday life of its occupants.

Il volume analizza l'origine, l'evoluzione e la fine dei castelli medievali nell'area dei Monti Lucretili, distretto territoriale collocato a Nord-Est di Roma, ponendosi al centro del dibattito sul fenomeno dell'incastellamento in Italia. I villaggi fortificati, ubicati ad alta quota e fondati a partire dal X-XI secolo nel Lazio, hanno fortemente modificato il paesaggio rurale intorno a Roma durante il medioevo. Questa ricerca tratta nel dettaglio tutti i castelli abbandonati dell'area campione, illustrando per ciascuno elementi strutturali, ipotesi ricostruttive e cronologie attraverso l'utilizzo di comprovati metodi. L'obiettivo scientifico dello studio è capire quali dinamiche insediative hanno originato la nascita e lo sviluppo del fenomeno dei castelli nei Monti Lucretili: come la popolazione delle campagne si sia adattata al nuovo sistema insediativo modificando le proprie abitudini e le cause che hanno determinato poi, negli ultimi secoli del medioevo, l'abbandono selettivo della maggior parte dei siti incastellati, segnando così la fine dell'incastellamento come modello di popolamento nel contesto rurale. This research focuses on the development of medieval castles in the area of the Monti Lucretili, a sub-region located to the North-East of Rome. The volume includes chapter abstracts in English.

Nell'inverno del 2012, nel corso delle consuete attività di controllo archeologico, emergevano presso Calenzano (Firenze) le prime tracce di quella che si rivelerà essere una complessa struttura di età romana, oggetto di un'intensa campagna di indagine. Attraverso la ricostruzione del tracciato della via Cassia tra Firenze e Pistoia e della via publica transappenninica verso Bologna che vi confluiva proprio nel territorio di Calenzano, e tramite l'analisi delle diverse fasi di vita della struttura indagata e dei suoi reperti, prende corpo l'ipotesi di riconoscere in questa un luogo di sosta con una precisa identità storica, identificandola con la stazione ad Solaria che ricorre nelle fonti itinerarie a partire dalla Tabula Peutingeriana. Il volume presenta i risultati di questo scavo, diretto sul campo dall'autrice, inserendoli in una riconsiderazione del tema della riconoscibilità dei luoghi di sosta sul terreno, argomento sul quale la comunità scientifica internazionale ha di recente puntato l'attenzione.This study identifies the road station ad Solaria, which recurs in several ancient sources, starting with the Tabula Peutingeriana. It interprets the data coming from this site, which was an emergency excavation managed by the author, allowing a reconsideration of several aspects of the archaeological recognizability of Roman road stations. The volume also includes extended chapter abstracts in English.

En France, les périodes moderne et contemporaine sont en marge des problématiques bioarchéologiques et les référentiels ostéologiques restent peu nombreux. Dans la région PACA, les fouilles récentes de deux vastes ensembles funéraires à La Ciotat (1581-1831) et à Marseille (1784-1905), offrent l'opportunité d'analyser l'état sanitaire de la population provençale à une époque charnière, au seuil des sociétés industrialisées actuelles. Par une approche comparative et paléoépidémiologique portée sur un large corpus, cette étude cherche à renseigner les effets des mutations socio-économiques sur l'état sanitaire, entre la fin du XVIe et le début du XXe siècle. L'examen des pathologies dentaires, des marqueurs de stress et maladies métaboliques insistent sur la continuité de ses caractéristiques biologiques entre Ancien Régime et révolution industrielle. Les différences perçues sont bien plus subtiles que présupposées et certainement liées aux changements alimentaires qui accompagnent la révolution industrielle et un environnement sanitaire et infectieux délétère, imputable à la croissance démographique et l'urbanisation galopante du XIXe siècle.This study explores the post-medieval health status of French populations. By analysing the dental pathologies, stress markers and metabolic diseases, the author challenges previous notions of changes in health during the Industrial Revolution.

The objective of this work is the study of prehistoric agriculture during the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in a small region of Andalucía. Ethnographic models to archaeobotanical samples were applied. This was possible because small pockets of land where glume-wheat cultivation continues to date can be studied. Therefore a detailed analysis of glume-wheat husbandry and processing sequences was carried out. The result is an extension of the range of current ethnographic models used in archaeobotany for interpreting remains of crops and their weeds in terms of ancient husbandry practices.

This volume is a highly original compilation of 12 papers that seeks to relate archaeology to the outside world, in an inclusive, rather than exclusive sense. It asks certain questions, for instance: how is archaeology perceived outside of itself as a discipline? How does archaeology mould daily life, for others and ourselves? But perhaps what finally emerges from this collection of papers is the way they address the imagination, especially the poetic imagination. The contributions include part of a new work by major poet, Jon Stallworthy, who explains the background to the poem Skyhorse; Christine Finn writes of Jacquetta Hawkes and her life outside archaeology; Sarah Shaw explores time travel in two stories of reanimation by Mary Shelley.

A detailed study of contexts and ceramic finds from mediaeval Seville, including a catalogue of over 250 entries of ceramic finds.

St Vincent's (Lesser Antilles, Caribbean) archaeological record is rich in images depicted by a variety of fired clay artefacts. Prominent among them are small modelled and incised zoomorphic heads known as "adornos" that decorated the rims, handles and exteriors of pottery vessels made by the first agriculturalists on the island (the Saladoid culture from the Venezuela area by 250 BC). This work sets out to contribute a systematic study of both a formal and descriptive classification, as well as an iconographic analysis of the basic images represented.

This book includes papers from a congress that took place at the University of Leuven from the 19th to 21st September, 2005.

This study seeks insights into the peoples and traditions of the Tanzanian coast, East Africa, during the 6th to 15th century through the application of archaeological survey and excavation techniques in the vicinity of the two important trading centres of Kaole and Kilwa. It adopts a maritime cultural landscape perspective, an approach that has seen very limited previous application to the East African coast, despite the central role played by the sea in the development of its port settlements and exploitation of its resources. Six themes are covered, namely the identification of coastal settlement sites and establishment of their chronology; recognition of principal phases in settlement development; exploitation of maritime resources and economy; identification of settlement location in relationship to the physical environment of the coast; establishment of the hierarchical nature of coastal settlement; and recognition of the principal harbour and port types.

This volume represents a report of excavation conducted at the site of Canteen Koppie, Barkly West, Northern Cape, South Africa. It is a straight site report describing how the work was conducted and an analysis of the lithic assemblages recovered. This report describes the lithic assemblages associated with the sedimentological column for the Canteen Koppie site. The assemblages represent the first controlled excavations in this world famous locality.

Arqueología del Medio Asón (Cantabria, España)

This volume focuses on bronze and other metal finds from several ancient sites of Asia Minor and other regions in the Mediterranean. The chapters include analysis of pre-Greek, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine bronzes from Anatolia, as well as studies of bronzes from Georgia, Greece, Iran, Italy, Serbia, and Slovenia. Key sites are covered, such as Allianoi, Arycanda and Olba, Roman and Early Byzantine cities in the western and southern part of Turkey. The volume also contains a common bibliography for researchers interested in Asia Minor and neighbouring regions. Readers will discover numerous unpublished materials as well as new insights into the bronze archaeology of Anatolia and more broadly across the rest of the ancient eastern Mediterranean.

This monograph uses an archaeological approach to decipher folk classification of animals in ancient societies. Ningning Dong collates faunal data from three late Neolithic and early Bronze Age sites in central China and integrates multiple lines of evidence. The analyses demonstrate a folk taxonomy remarkably different from the Linnaean system. The results show that age might have served as a critical categorical filter, particularly in ritual contexts, and that the wild/domesticated dichotomy was established no earlier than the Shang dynasty. This perceptual distinction is unlikely to have been synchronised with the initial occurrence of domestication in the early Neolithic. Animal categories constituted a vital part of a broader classificatory scheme that concerned the organisation of the cosmos as a whole. This book enriches our understanding of animal categories in ancient China and further discusses the tension between etics and emics, language and action, domestic and wild.

While the idea of a catastrophic drought ending the Old Kingdom has been shown to be too simple an explanation, current research suggests that some climatic change was occurring at this time. Increasing aridity, developing since the third Dynasty, was punctuated with times of unseasonal rain, and both these events would have had some impact upon the environmental circumstances present in the river. This book presents ecological analyses of the riverine habitat as it may have developed in times of excess nutrient load within the river and explores possible environmental consequences. By tracing changes in the tomb decoration repertoire, the author also explores a potential cultural response to the climatic shifts occurring at that time.

Cultural Astronomy is the endeavour to understand the role of the sky in past and present societies, and how these societies incorporated the sky into their culture. This broad ranging discipline is closely related to archaeology when investigating material remains of the past. Cultural Astronomy also explores the role of the heavens from the perspectives of the anthropological sciences. In recent decades the discipline has been concerned with methodological and theoretical issues. This volume offers chapters based on presentations at the 27th SEAC meeting held in Bern (2019). These chapters provide a vivid image of front-line research in diverse areas, from Roman light and shadow effects to highlight power, to Maya city organization, Etruscan temple orientation or the ontology of the sky.

Il volume è uno studio della storia e archeologia mineraria delle Alpi Apuane meridionali (Toscana) dalla preistoria all'epoca moderna. La ricerca è iniziata negli anni '70 quando l'autore ha avuto occasione di esplorare di persona molte delle miniere di questo territorio, oggi chiuse ed in rovina, incontrando i direttori e le ultime maestranze di quelle ancora attive. La raccolta delle loro testimonianze e delle informazioni relative alle miniere ha permesso che questo patrimonio intangibile non andasse perduto. La minuziosa ricostruzione storica è stata possibile grazie alla ricerca archivistica dei decenni successivi, che, combinata con i risultati delle intense attività archeologiche condotte in quegli anni dal Prof. Bruno Antonucci e dal Gruppo Speleologico ed Archeologico Versiliese (GSAV), ha contribuito a delineare il panorama dell'attività estrattiva sul territorio apuano meridionale fin dall'antichità, evidenziando come le risorse minerarie abbiano da sempre avuto un ruolo centrale nello sviluppo culturale della regione. This volume is a study of the history and archaeology of mines and mining in Northern Tuscany (Alpi Apuane) from prehistory to modern times. The result is a full panorama of the mining activity in the southern Apuan Alps since antiquity, documenting how the mineral resources have always played a central role in the cultural development of the region.