Böcker i British Archaeological Reports International Series-serien

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.

This conference in honour of Randi Haaland was held in Bergen in September 2001. Although the title of the conference was ambitious, the aim was to highlight current research problems in fields where Randi Halaand has been particularly active. The current volume contains the proceedings of the conference, thus fulfilling its aims. The largest session was reserved for "Approaches in African Archaeology" since Africa is the continent where the majority of Randi Halaand's work has been conducted.

The 14 papers in this volume are taken from a conference held in Edinburgh in 2004. When the organisers called for papers for a conference on Games and Festivals they had no idea the response would be so varied-ranging from Minoan bull leaping to Samoan kilikiti-or that the papers would turn out to be so thematically interrelated. The response has shown that it is not so much the mechanics of the games or the actions carried out at ancient festivals that fascinate modern scholars as their social and political significance and the way the theme could be manipulated by writers and artists. Games and festivals were at the heart of Classical societies, playing a much more important role than in modern western societies (even taking football into account). Festivals structured the year and were inextricably bound up with the structures of society. Games and festivals are also closely linked, as most competitive games took place at a festival, or at least in a religious context, even, it seems, cock fighting and dicing, and many festivals contained elements of competition. Competitiveness pervades Greek and Roman life-and this is reflected in literature and art. In this, an Olympic year, a new selection of papers on Classical games and festivals is especially welcome.

Why another book on violence in prehistory? Do we have enough evidence to draw meaningful conclusions on the importance and meaning of violent interactions among sedentary and semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers of Europe? What methodological and theoretical questions do we hope to answer with this volume? Many questions on the evidence and meaning of confirmed violent interactions remain unresolved even as more and more books appear on the topic. This volume was prompted by the editor's research in the Iron Gates Gorge and the 8 papers presented here reflect a similar puzzlement felt by each of the participants while examining the evidence of trauma and possible or probable interpersonal violence. As a framework for this volume, Mesolithic societies are defined as sedentary or semi-sedentary prehistoric hunter-gatherers with no temporal or geographical limitations usually associated with this term, allowing for comparisons between temporally and geographically remote regional groups. While the number of societies presented could have been much larger, the 8 articles in this volume present a number of different approaches, focuses and expertise. What seems to unite them is the call for minute examination of osteological evidence and broad understanding of contextual data.

This is a study of the Christianisation of the built environment: the physical manifestation of the transition from paganism to Christianity in the Greek East. The core of the work comprises an archaeological exploration of temple conversion in terms of structural mechanics, logistics, chronology and socio-political implications. The author provides a re-assessment of the fate of the temples - their deconsecration, destruction, preservation, abandonment and re-utilisation - by supplementing and questioning the historical record through reference to the wealth of available archaeological evidence. Detailed chapters on the mechanics and chronology of particular forms of conversion scenario illustrate the emergence of an architectural vocabulary of temple conversion from the middle of the 5th century. In order to assess the impact of change on a local level, these primary issues are addressed through the archaeology of provincial Cilicia. Archaeological, historical and epigraphical evidence from over 250 structures in which the influence of a pre-existing temple has been detected, have been incorporated into a highly detailed database, providing a platform for information management and the analysis of trends in the fate of the temples. By looking beyond the subjective narratives of the primary historical sources, this study demonstrates that the archaeological evidence can provide us with a deeper understanding of the complexity and variability of temple conversion as it occurred in individual urban contexts. This has enabled the formulation of a more coherent picture of its significance and situation in the cultural and physical transformation of the late antique city.

Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 63This study determines the possible connections between the various ceramic traditions of Senegal and Gambia, with special references to identities and histories of the current populations. A meticulous analysis of the current contexts of manufacture permits a fresh look at the evolution of ceramic traditions and builds an interpretative model of technical variations applicable to former populations.

This book investigates the lives of servile dependants, and their role in the large households of the elite Romans. In parallel to the public and political lives of the aristocracy under constant public gaze, there had been other lives led that were totally different but closely connected to them as if the other side of the coin - the usually unseen world of servile dependants. An uneasy proximity created by the cohabitation of the two opposite status groups (aristocratic masters and slaves) brought conflicts and contradiction. In attempting a new inquiry into such historically anonymous individuals and their res publica, the domus, this present work confines itself to analysis of a particular group of inscriptions from Rome (1st/2nd centuries AD), commonly referred to as the columbaria inscriptions. The 'columbarium', a dovecote-like burial structure, was designed to accommodate a number of epitaphs and urns of ashes and became particularly popular during the Julio-Claudian period. Such a communal burial structure appears to have been shared by people with a common background, in many cases the slaves and freedmen staff of a noble family. In other words, the set of epitaphs from a given columbarium is arguably representative of the familia urbana of a certain noble family. Once the group of individuals is thus given an identity, it opens the way to systematic examination of their lives and status from multiple angles. These inscriptions, relatively unexplored until recent decades, offer researchers unique insights into otherwise anonymous people.

This book examins native Matt-Painted pottery from Iron Age and Classical Southern Italy within the context of native social change and of the relationship between the Greeks and the natives. This is the first attempt to move away from a purely typological approach to Matt-Painted pottery and to study it within its social context, casting light upon ceramic innovation and wider social development.

The book describes a series of experiments carried out in order to replicate the working environment of a Roman blacksmith, by using tools and equipment as close to originals as possible. The results provide a database that will enable archaeologists to compare evidence found in archaeological records with the experiment results.

Mesopotamian houses excavated at Ur and Nippur represent a unique archaeological context for the analysis of the interaction of verbal and nonverbal sign systems in that archaeologists can combine archival evidence of the III-II millennium BC with well-preserved house layouts. This work provides a general framework for the interpretation of other sites where textual evidence is absent or not in context. Although the aims of the book are multiple, the main objective is theoretical: The author goes beyond the interpretation of Mesopotamian domestic sociology and offers a semiotic theory of verbal and nonverbal meanings, useful for archaeology in general.

This book examines the transformations occurring in the cities of Latin North Africa in the Roman Empire in the course of the late third, fourth and early fifth centuries AD. These developments have been assessed through a series of case studies of North African cities using archaeological, epigraphical and literary, source material. The study examines the continued vitality of municipal life in Africa by examining the evidence for the maintenance and construction of judicial, religious, defensive and entertainment structures in the late Roman period. The book also tackles the nature of the Christianisation of the North African cities within the wider urban context. It considers the appropriation of elements of the classical urban heritage for Christian use and the construction of new Christian buildings. It reassesses the nature of the Donatist and Catholic Churches, examines their differing ideologies and indicates how these could impact upon the built environment. The study also considers the effect of the changes in the urban area on the population and movement within the city as well as demonstrating the distinctive nature of late Roman North African urbanism and its setting within an Empire-wide context. The book concludes that North African city-life was generally flourishing in this period but that a set of processes were producing a new, African cityscape.

This study deals with the form and development of a single type of architectural ornament, ubiquitous from the late eleventh to the early thirteenth centuries in northwestern Europe. Chevron ornament, or three-dimensional zigzag, has been described as the single most characteristic moulding, or indeed feature of any kind in Norman architecture in England. It is the most enduring of the decorative motifs that formed part of the so-called style géométrique, current in those areas in the earlier part of the twelfth century, and is found most typically decorating arches, string courses and columns in a wide variety of structures, from castles, to cathedrals to parish churches to the extent that for a period during the twelfth century its absence is more notable than its presence. Among the major preoccupations of scholarship in medieval art and architecture are the issues of authorship and chronology. Given the potential for a type of ornament such as chevron to reveal etymological characteristics it is surprising that studies of the apparent formal grammars of Romanesque ornament have not been more commonplace. It is with these issues in mind then that the current study sets out to explore the degree to which an architectural motif like chevron can be 'read' in a meaningful way.

This study focuses on the distribution of early Dong Son bronze drums, from their centres of production in north Vietnam throughout Mainland and Island Southeast Asia, as evidence of cultural contact and cross-regional exchange along river and maritime routes from the late Metal Age to the proto-historic period. This is the period just prior to, and overlapping with, the first Chinese and Indian influences in the wider region. The exchange of bronze drums established alliances between early centres favouring the trade of other goods. Such early centres allow us to identify early cultural spheres which set the stage for the process of state formation in the historic period. Adopting a synoptic view over the entire distribution across present national boundaries, the author analyses the implications of what types of drums are found where. As a working tool towards this goal, she identifies specific regional clusters. Each cluster of drums highlights and clarifies specific questions regarding chronology, routes of transmission, the geographical extent of trade networks, and new local bronze casting traditions arising from the influence of the imported bronze drums.

This study surveys the evidence for beekeeping in the Prehistoric Aegean, from references in later literature to archaeological remains of beekeeping paraphanalia, symbolic depictions in jewelry and on seals, and the evidence of folklore and mythology.

This book includes papers stemming from a session at the EAA conference held in Zadar in September 2007.

Edited by Lucy Blue, John Cooper, Ross Thomas and Julian Whitewright.This book includes papers from the conference Connected Hinterlands (Proceedings of Red Sea Project IV) held at the University of Southampton in September 2008.

A detailed study of north Umbrian pre-Roman inscriptions in the Valle di Ospitale, which lies in the Appennino Modenese region of Italy's northern Apennines.Con DVD contenente 1230 files fotografici, di cui 322 da foto di Mauro Colella, 42 da fotodi Giancarlo Sani, 4 da foto di Gabriele Bonino.

Contributions by Roberto Bixio, Andrea De Pascale, Nak¿¿ Karamäaral¿, Alessandro Maifredi and Mauro Traverso.The 'Ancient Ahlat City Excavation' in Ahlat, a province of Bitlis, located at the North West of Lake Van, is the largest excavation site of Turkey, spread on an area of 50 km2 and it is one of the most important city excavations in the country.

Over the past decade there has been substantial progress in understanding Maya hieroglyphic writing. This development led to the reconstruction of Classic Maya (AD 300-900) political history. Epigraphers suggested a major influence of Teotihuacan during the Early Classic Period (AD 300-600), and some even argued for a direct Teotihuacan conquest of the Maya lowlands. The Late Classic Period (AD 600-900) was interpreted as a constant hegemonic struggle between Tikal and Calakmul, which in different ways influenced Classic Maya political relations. These reconstructions of political history were directly tied to the interpretations of political organisation, ranging from peer polity interaction models to more bureaucratic polities. In this work the author examines and analyses inscriptions from the Western Maya Region, which are especially rich in information concerning interaction of polities and interpolity organisation. The author reconstructs the historical development of the region, examining the influence of Teotihuacan and that of the hegemonic states Tikal and Calakmul.

This book includes papers presented at a conference at Aix-en-Provence, 23-24 April 2010.

Based on the author's thesis, this study analyses a series of lithic assemblages from the region of Chaseen in eastern Languedoc. Vanessa Lea sets out the background context and methodology of her research before looking in detail at assemblages from eight sites.

The contributors to this volume seek to understand migrations and invasion on their own terms, the strengths and weaknesses of migration and invasion models as explanatory models of cultural change. Papers are written by David Anthony, John Chapman, Sally Crawford, Helena Hamerow, James Milroy and Lesley Milroy.