Recently Published Open Access Books and Articles at Archaeopress

Recently Published Open Access Books and Articles at Archaeopress

NEW: From the Fjords to the Nile: Essays in honour of Richard Holton Pierce on his 80th birthday edited by Pål Steiner, Alexandros Tsakos and Eivind Heldaas Seland. iv+118 pages; illustrated throughout in black & white with 7 colour plates. 395 2018. Available both in print and Open Access.Printed ISBN 9781784917760. £24.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784917777.  

From the Fjords to the Nile brings together essays by students and colleagues of Richard Holton Pierce (b. 1935), presented on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It covers topics on the ancient world and the Near East. Pierce is Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Bergen. Starting out as an expert in Egyptian languages, and of law in Greco-Roman Egypt, his professional interest has spanned from ancient Nubia and Coptic Egypt, to digital humanities and game theory. His contributions as scholar, teacher, supervisor and informal advisor to Norwegian studies in Egyptology, classics, archaeology, history, religion, and linguistics through more than five decades can hardly be overstated.

About the Editors:
Pål Steiner has an MA in Egyptian archaeology from K.U. Leuven and an MA in religious studies from the University of Bergen, where he has been teaching Ancient Near Eastern religions. He has published a collection of Egyptian myths in Norwegian. He is now an academic librarian at the University of Bergen, while finishing his PhD on Egyptian funerary rituals.

Alexandros Tsakos studied history and archaeology at the University of Ioannina, Greece. His Master thesis was written on ancient polytheisms and submitted to the Université Libre, Belgium. He defended his PhD thesis at Humboldt University, Berlin on the topic ‘The Greek Manuscripts on Parchment Discovered at Site SR022.A in the Fourth Cataract Region, North Sudan’. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bergen with the project ‘Religious Literacy in Christian Nubia’. He is a founding member of the Union for Nubian Studies and member of the editorial board of Dotawo. A Journal of Nubian Studies.

Eivind Heldaas Seland is associate professor of ancient history and pre-modern global history at the University of Bergen. His research focuses on the relationship between ideology, trade, and political power in the Near East and Indian Ocean in the pre- Islamic period. He is the author of Ships of the Desert, Ships of the Sea: Palmyra in the world trade of the first three centuries CE (Harrassowitz 2016) and co-editor of Sinews of Empire: Networks in the Roman Near East and beyond (Oxbow 2017).

NEW: Egyptian Predynastic Anthropomorphic ObjectsA study of their function and significance in Predynastic burial customs by Ryna Ordynat. iv+120 pages; 101 illustrations presented in colour and black & white (12 colour plates). 45 2018.Available both in print and Open Access. Printed ISBN 9781784917784. £30.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784917791.  

Anthropomorphic objects from the Egyptian Predynastic have been a topic of frequent study and debate, from the time they were first excavated until today. These objects, including human figurines, hippopotamus tusks, tag amulets and combs carved with the human image, continue to fascinate and perplex scholars today. Objects such as these form part of the extensive and distinctive iconographic imagery of Predynastic Egypt, and are often interpreted solely in the context of their symbolic or iconographic significance.

The aim of this study is to examine these anthropomorphic objects in terms of their original context in order to determine what role they played in Predynastic burials – a useful method, as most of these objects are found in graves. A database comprising all provenanced anthropomorphic Predynastic objects and their placement in the grave, in addition to the details of each grave, has been composed in order to conduct a detailed analysis. The analysis is geared to answer the question of whether it is possible to determine the function of these objects from the available data, and if so, what the results could tell us about burial practices and rituals in Predynastic Egypt.

It became clear from the results that the context, especially the specific placement of the object in the grave, can reflect significantly the meaning and function of anthropomorphic objects. The placement and function seems to have depended on the type of object: for instance, figurines had different placements and meanings to tusks and tags. Ultimately, it appears that anthropomorphic objects, especially figurines, were personal items with which the deceased were identified and buried by their relations and friends. They may have served as magical or protective items, or as representations of ancestors or the deceased individuals themselves. This conclusion is significant, as it confirms the previous assumptions about the functions of anthropomorphic objects in Predynastic graves through a thorough analysis of available data, making a contribution to our understanding of Predynastic burial rituals.

NEW: Shipwrecks and Provenance: in-situ timber sampling protocols with a focus on wrecks of the Iberian shipbuilding tradition by Sara A. Rich, Nigel Nayling, Garry Momber and Ana Crespo Solana. vi+66 pages; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white (21 colour plates). 42 2017. Available both in print and Open Access. Printed ISBN 9781784917173. £20.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784917180.  

Two of the questions most frequently asked by archaeologists of sites and the objects that populate them are ‘How old are you?’ and ‘Where are you from?’ These questions can often be answered through archaeometric dating and provenance analyses. As both archaeological sites and objects, shipwrecks pose a special problem in archaeometric dating and provenance because when they sailed, they often accumulated new construction material as timbers were repaired and replaced. Additionally, during periods of globalization, such as the so-called Age of Discovery, the provenance of construction materials may not reflect where the ship was built due to long-distance timber trade networks and the global nature of these ships’ sailing routes. Accepting these special challenges, nautical archaeologists must piece together the nuanced relationship between the ship, its timbers, and the shipwreck, and to do so, wood samples must be removed from the assemblage. Besides the provenance of the vessel’s wooden components, selective removal and analysis of timber samples can also provide researchers with unique insights relating to environmental history. For this period, wood samples could help produce information on the emergent global economy; networks of timber trade; forestry and carpentry practices; climate patterns and anomalies; forest reconstruction; repairs made to ships and when, why, and where those occurred; and much more.

This book is a set of protocols to establish the need for wood samples from shipwrecks and to guide archaeologists in the removal of samples for a suite of archaeometric techniques currently available to provenance the timbers used to construct wooden ships and boats. While these protocols will prove helpful to archaeologists working on shipwreck assemblages from any time period and in any place, this book uses Iberian ships of the 16th to 18th centuries as its case studies because their global mobility poses additional challenges to the problem at hand. At the same time, their prolificacy and ubiquity make the wreckage of these ships a uniquely global phenomenon.

Making Traditional Pottery Sustainable Today: Three Case Studies in Akita Prefecture, Japan Taken from Innovative Approaches and Explorations in Ceramic Studies edited by Sandra L. López Varela. Pages 129-143.

By Cara L. Reedy and Chandra L. Reedy

Handmade ceramics are an important cultural heritage of Japan, yet by the late 19th century traditional workshops were disappearing in favor of factory mass production. Many studies focus on national and international programs that support traditional potters. We investigate preservation efforts originating with craft practitioners themselves. Three case studies in Akita Prefecture represent three different approaches. Naraoka kiln was established in 1863 and has operated continuously. At Waheegama kiln, operations established in 1770 ended by 1900. In 1975, a descendant of an original potter began to rediscover traditional practices. For both kilns we examine raw materials, fabrication, firing, products, and marketing strategies, highlighting what remains original and what was changed so that the kilns could continue to thrive. The third site is a small shop (Kurashi no Utsuwa Mike) in a residential area selling affordable pottery. They sell some products from Akita kilns and many from kilns in other prefectures where they have family ties and can obtain objects inexpensively. The owner produces some pottery himself, and holds workshops in the store for local residents. These three sites demonstrate connections to past materials and processes that transform pottery into meaningful objects for both makers and users of pottery in Akita today.

Notes on the Representation of the Face of Cyrus the Great Taken from Bridging Times and Spaces: Papers in Ancient Near Eastern, Mediterranean and Armenian Studies edited by Pavel S. Avetisyan and Yervand H. Grekyan. Pages 339-347.

By David Stronach

Abstract: Exactly how Cyrus the Great (559-530 BC) would have wished to represent his face in any formal context towards the end of his nearly thirty-year reign still remains a not fully resolved issue. Since Darius I (522-486 BC), the near successor of Cyrus, is known to have represented himself with a long beard, and since Darius also went to some lengths to try to portray his succession to the Persian throne as a more or less seamless process, there would seem to be a distinct possibility that Darius’ Assyrian-related, full length beard was actually inspired by a similar form of beard that had previously been introduced by Cyrus. On the other hand, Cyrus appears to have had a particular interest, especially near the time of his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, in presenting himself as the king of the storied highland Iranian city of Anshan in order to stress -- in terms that would have been readily familiar to a Mesopotamian audience – his ‘right to rule’ over the time-honored cities of Mesopotamia. In this context, Cyrus may well have insisted on adhering to a short ‘Anshanite beard’ (presumably not unlike the short royal beard that had long been favored by the neighboring kings of Elam) – and it could have been left to his eventual successor, Darius I, to introduce the elegant, long-bearded ‘Achaemenid royal visage’ that then prevailed down to the last days of Achaemenid Persian rule in 330 BC.

Keywords: Cyrus, Pasargadae, Babylon, Assurbanipal, Darius, Bisitun.

The Chocolate Flint Mines in the Udorka Valley (Częstochowa Upland) – a Preliminary Report on the Field and Lidar SurveysTaken from Between History and Archaeology: Papers in honour of Jacek Lechedited by Dagmara H. Werra and Marzena Woźny. Pages 89-102.

By Magdalena Sudoł-Procyk, Janusz Budziszewski, Maciej T. Krajcarz, Michał Jakubczak and Michał Szubski

Abstract: An important role in the extraction and utilisation of siliceous rocks was played by the Udorka Valley region, situated in the south-eastern part of the Ryczów Upland. In this region, numerous outcropsof various siliceous rocks are located including outcrops of chocolate flint, and many sites with artefacts from chocolate flint dated from the Middle Palaeolithic. In Udorka Valley, in the area of chocolate flint outcrop, a number of small depressions in the ground with unfinished flint artefacts were encountered and which have been tentatively considered to be remnants of the activities of prehistoric miners. The area under scrutiny was investigated using airborne laser scanning methods (LiDAR, ALS). This paper presents the preliminary results.

Keywords: lithic raw material, silicite, chocolate flint, Stone Age mining, LiDAR survey, Poland

The Cucuteni – Trypillia ‘Big Other’ – Reflections on the Making of Millennial Cultural Traditions Taken from Between History and Archaeology: Papers in honour of Jacek Lechedited by Dagmara H. Werra and Marzena Woźny. Pages 267-277.

By John Chapman and Bisserka Gaydarska

Abstract: The second methodological revolution for Trypillia mega-sites is leading to an interpretative shift from the study of entire mega-sites to the study of their constituent Neighbourhoods and Quarters. We are now in the process of developing the theoretical implications of this shift, which should lead to a parallel change in social interpretations from the classification of the political structure of an entire mega-site to a more nuanced study of the nested levels of the settlement – person, household, neighbourhood and entire settlement. We begin this theoretical work in this chapter which we take pleasure in dedicating to John’s friend Jacek Lech. It focuses on a neglected, but key, aspect of the research agenda: the Cucuteni–Trypillia ‘Big Other’.

Keywords: Cucuteni, Trypillia, ‘Big Other’, houses, figurines, pottery


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The monumental fountain in the Athenian Agora: reconstruction and interpretation Taken from Great Waterworks in Roman Greece edited by Georgia A. Aristodemou and Theodosios P. Tassios. Pages 218-234.

By Shawna Leigh

In the last ten years the architecture of and various issues regarding the monumental fountain in the Athenian agora, a building not preserved above foundation level, leaving all possible reconstructions largely hypothetical, have undergone renewed scrutiny. Brenda Longfellow has briefly reviewed its evidence in her book on Roman monumental fountains and suggests that, like the more recent reconstruction of the Olympia nymphaeum, the Agora fountain had two stories, based on the thickness of its back wall. Additionally, Julian Richard has considered the monument in terms of siting and meaning in his monograph on Roman monumental fountains in the eastern empire. These studies leave questions regarding the monument that require a fresh look at the building. In this article I will reconsider the evidence and possibilities for the architecture and decorative program of the Athenian fountain, and the degree to which its reconstruction based on the Olympia structure is likely. Additionally, I will postulate the possible water technology utilized in the structure, a topic largely ignored in previous studies. I will also discuss the meanings behind the siting of the ‘nymphaeum’, its imperial connections, and how the monument and its supply aqueduct visually changed the southeastern Agora space and the important ceremonial approach to the Acropolis, the Panathenaic Way. This focused restudy will allow the building to be better understood within its context in Imperial Greece as well as within Hadrian’s program of Athenian euergetism.

Keywords: Fountain, Athens, Agora, Hadrian, Antonine.

Huosiland: A Small Country in Carolingian Europe by Carl I. Hammer. viii+250 pages; black & white throughout. 44 2018.Available both in print and Open Access. Printed ISBN 9781784917593. £30.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784917609.  

Discussed here is the landscape of western Bavaria in the early-medieval period, between about 750 and 850. The title of the study derives from several indications that a noble genealogia, the Huosi, were particularly influential there during the period. Huosiland may be the best documented European landscape of this time. This is due to the extraordinary cartulary or register of deeds prepared for the diocese of Freising by the monk, Cozroh, in the second quarter of the ninth century. The first part of the study (Contexts) describes Cozroh’s codex and Huosiland and then analyzes the main political, ecclesiastical, social and economic structures and features there, based upon the available historical and archaeological evidence. The second part (Connections) explores a selection of particular issues raised by specific documents or related groups of documents from Huosiland. The third part provides all of the voluminous and highly-informative documentary evidence for Huosiland, both from Cozroh’s codex and other sources, complete in full English translation. As a result, the reader is able to construct his or her own Contexts and Connections. A full annotated Bibliography of the relevant secondary literature is included as is a complete Gazetteer of the translated documents. The publication will provide a valuable resource both for advanced teaching and for scholarly research.

About the Author
Carl Hammer graduated from Amherst College (B.A.) and the University of Toronto (Ph.D.). He has also studied and conducted research at the universities of Munich, Chicago and Oxford. After a brief teaching career, he spent the balance of his professional life in international business with Westinghouse Corporation and the former Rail Systems Division of Daimler Benz. He is now retired. He has published four other scholarly monographs on early-medieval Bavaria, two of them with Archaeopress, and numerous articles in North American and European academic journals. He and his wife live in Pittsburgh but spend several months each year in Easthampton, MA, where he has acquired a new research interest in the Puritans of the Connecticut Valley and colonial western Massachusetts. 

The Classification of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Copper and Bronze Axe-heads from Southern Britain by Stuart Needham. 74 pages; illustrated throughout in black & white with 3 plates in colour. 43 2017. Available both in print and Open Access. Printed ISBN 9781784917401. £22.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784917418.  

This work presents a comprehensive classification of the morphology of early metal age axe-heads, chisels and stakes from southern Britain. It is illustrated by a type series of 120 representative examples.

Despite their relative simplicity, flat and early flanged axes from Britain and Ireland show considerable diversity in form. The main variation lies in outline shapes and the classification scheme arrived at therefore depends on careful evaluation of condition, followed by rigorous analysis of shape using metrical ratios. This ensures objectivity in both the formulation of the scheme and future object attributions, for which guidelines are given. Comparative material in northern Britain and Ireland is systematically referred to and a few crucial Continental parallels noted. Hoards and other associated finds, essential in underpinning the chronology, are cited throughout.

The style sequence outlined spans nine centuries of evolution, a regional trajectory which was nevertheless inextricably tied to axe developments in northern Britain, Ireland and, to a lesser extent, the near Continent. While technological advance is apparent at the broad scale, this was not the sole driver of the style changes taking place.

The study will be indispensable for those researching early metalwork, those concerned with European Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age cultures and those interested in patterns of style-cum-technological development.

About the Author
Stuart Needham specialised in metalwork in his early career and has since diversified to cover many aspects of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age of north-west Europe, involving themes such as deposition practices, metal circulation systems, periodisation, life- and refuse-cycles of material culture, exchange systems, maritime interactions and alluvial archaeology. Further publications have emanated from excavations at Runnymede Bridge and Ringlemere. A curator at the British Museum for thirty years before becoming an independent researcher, he co-founded the Bronze Age Forum in 1999 and delivered the Rhind lectures for the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 2011. He is currently Research Director of the People of the Heath project investigating Early Bronze Age barrows in the Rother Valley of East Hampshire and West Sussex. 

Archaeological Heritage Policies and Management Structures Proceedings of the XVII UISPP World Congress (1–7 September 2014, Burgos, Spain) Volume 15 / Sessions A15a, A15b, A15c edited by Erika M. Robrahn-González, Friedrich Lüth, Abdoulaye Cámara, Pascal Depaepe, Asya Engovatova, Ranjana Ray and Vidula Jayswal. vi+130 pages; illustrated throughout in black & white. 382 2017.Available both in print and Open Access. Printed ISBN 9781784917388. £28.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784917395.  

This volume presents proceedings from sessions A15a, A15b, A15c of the XVII UISPP World Congress (1–7 September 2014, Burgos, Spain). The sessions covered are: ‘Archaeological Heritage Policies and Management Strategies’, where international management models focused on legislation, public policies, management systems, and institutional contexts for research were presented; ‘Management and use of science data from preventive archaeology: quality control’, where reflections on the range of quality control in projects of applied science, including environmental topics and social standards were developed; ‘Cultural resources, management, public policy, people’s awareness and sustainable development’, which focused on local traditional crafts, many of which exist continuously from prehistory to the present day. Collectively this volume presents perspectives of archaeological heritage management in various countries and continents. It is hoped, through this, to contribute to the exchange of experiences, the sharing of solutions, and the broadening of Archaeology’s role in the sustainable development of people.

Ceramic manufacturing techniques and cultural traditions in Nubia from the 8th to the 3rd millennium BC Examples from Sai Islandby Giulia D’Ercole. xviii+186 pages; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white (33 colour plates). 41 2017 Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 96.Available both in print and Open Access. Printed ISBN 9781784916718. £30.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 9781784916725.  

In Sudan the first ceramic containers appeared at the beginning of the 9th millennium BC, with the earliest dates c. 8700 BC from Sorourab 2, in Central Sudan, and c. 8600 BC from the district of Amara West, in Northern Sudan.

This book presents a comprehensive critical analysis of diverse ceramic assemblages from Sai Island, in the Middle Nile Valley of Northern Sudan, on the border between ancient Upper and Lower Nubia. The assemblages included in this study cover about five millennia, spanning the period c. 8000 to c. 2500 BC. They go from the initial appearance of ceramic technology within hunting-fishing-gathering communities living in permanent or semi-permanent settlements (locally named ‘Khartoum Variant’ or ‘Mesolithic’ horizon: c. 7600–4800 BC), through the ceramic productions of the first ‘Neolithic’ pastoral societies (Abkan horizon: c. 5550−3700 BC), to those of the Pre-Kerma Nubian culture (c. 3600−2500 BC).

A thorough stylistic macroscopic observation of the finds is integrated with a solid technological approach by means of archaeometric petrographic (OM), mineralogical (XRPD) and chemical (XRF) analyses. Data are discussed and compared across a broad geographical area, including Lower and Upper Nubia, Central Sudan and the Egyptian Western Desert. They provide an original synthesis and interpretation of the ceramic traditions in Nubia and Sudan and propose a critical review of the debate on the invention of pottery and the functional and cultural reasons for the emergence of the ceramic technology.

This book is also available to purchase in paperback, priced £30.00. 

Journal of Hellenistic Pottery and Material Culture Volume 2 2017edited by Dr Patricia Kögler, Dr Renate Rosenthal-Heginbottom and Prof. Dr Wolf Rudolph (Heads of Editorial Board). xii+220 pages; illustrated throughout in colour and black & white. 2 2017. Available both in print and Open Access.Printed ISBN 2399-1844-2-2017. £30.00 (No VAT). Institutional Price £50.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 2399-1852-2-2017.  

Table of Contents

Articles:
• Nadia Aleotti, Rhodian Amphoras from Butrint (Albania): Dating, Contexts and Trade
• Donald T. Ariel, Imported Hellenistic Stamped Amphora Handles and Fragments from the North Sinai Survey
• Ofra Guri-Rimon, Stone Ossuaries in the Hecht Museum Collection and the Issue of Ossuaries Use for Burial
• Gabriel Mazor & Walid Atrash, Nysa-Scythopolis: The Hellenistic Polis
• Hélène Machline & Yuval Gadot, Wading Through Jerusalem’s Garbage: Chronology, Function, and Formation Process of the Pottery Assemblages of the City’s Early Roman Landfill
• Kyriakos Savvopoulos, Two Hadra Hydriae in the Colection of the Patriarchal Sacristy in Alexandria
• Wolf Rudolph & Michalis Fotiadis, Neapolis Scythica – Simferopol – Test Excavations 1993

Archaeological News and Projects:
• »Dig for a Day« with the Archaeological Seminars Institute

Reviews:
• John Lund, A Study of the Circulation of Ceramics in Cyprus from the 3rd Century BC to the 3rd Century AD (by Brandon R. Olson)
• Gloria London, Ancient Cookware from the Levant. An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective (by John Tidmarsh)
• Michela Spataro & Alexandra Villing (eds.), Ceramics, Cuisine and Culture: The Archaeology and Sience of Kitchen Pottery in the Ancient Mediterranean World (by Renate Rosenthal-Heginbottom)
• James C. R. Gill, Dakhleh Oasis and the Western Desert of Egypt under the Ptolemies (by Andrea M. Berlin)
• Anna Gamberini, Ceramiche fini ellenistiche da Phoinike. Forme, produzioni, commerce (by Carlo De Mitri)
• Maja Mise, Gnathia and Related Hellenistic Ware on the East Adriatic Coast (by Patricia Kögler)
• Jens-Arne Dickmann & Alexander Heinemann (eds.), Vom Trinken und Bechern. Das antike Gelage im Umbruch (by Stella Drougou)

Who Owns the Past?Archaeological Heritage between Idealism and Destruction edited by Maja Gori (editor-in-chief). 123 pages; full colour throughout. 2 2017. ISBN 9781784917630. 

Who owns the past? Archaeological heritage between destruction and idealization. The second issue of Ex Novo hosts papers exploring the various ways in which the past is remembered, recovered, created and used. In particular, contributions discuss the role of archaeology in present-day conflict areas and its function as peacekeeping tool or as trigger point for military action.

Print edition available soon.

The Impact of the Fall of Communism on European Heritage Proceedings of the 20th EAA Meeting held in Istanbul 10–14 September 2014 edited by M. Gori and V. Higgins. 132 pages; illustrated throughout in black & white (print edition); full colour throughout (PDF edition). 1 2016. Available both in print and Open Access. Printed ISBN 9788890318948. £44.00 (No VAT). Epublication ISBN 2531-8810-1-2016.  

EX NOVO: Journal of Archaeology: Volume 1, 2016

The first issue is concerned with quite a challenging topic, that is “The Impact of the Fall of Communism on European Heritage”: it results from a regular session held at the 2014 Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Istanbul. The proceedings are edited by Valerie Higgins (the American University of Rome) and Maja Gori. 

Portable Altars Taken from Bulletin of the Ancient Near East, Vol 1 No 2 edited by Laura Battini. Page 293.

By Laura Battini

In a recent book on ancient rituals (Abusch and Schwemer 2016), some passages concern ‘portable altars’...