Curtis RunnelsJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.2 (2014), 211-230
Humans evolved in Africa and colonized Eurasia in successive adaptive radiations, establishing themselves in Europe ca. one million years ago. It is assumed that these dispersals were by land through southwest Asia, or secondarily across the Strait of Gibraltar, because early hominins lacked the cognitive faculties and technical skills needed to cross the open Mediterranean.
Nena GalanidouJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.2 (2014), 260-267
The prehistory of Greece begins in the Middle Pleistocene, with compelling Lower Palaeolithic (LP) evidence coming from its north. HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS lived around the Petralona Cave in Macedonia, a significant Acheulean presence is known at Rodafnidia on Lesvos, and a very few Large Cutting Tools originate from Kokkinopilos in Epirus and Palaiokastro in west Macedonia.
Sturt W. Manning, Georgia-Marina Andreou, Kevin D. Fisher, Peregrine Gerard-Little, Catherine Kearns, Jeffrey F. Leon, David A. Sewell & Thomas M. UrbanJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.1 (2014), 3-32
The transformations entangled in becoming an urban society are increasingly attracting attention in archaeology, including in the Mediterranean. The place-making entailed in the development of urban settlement represents a fundamental change for a society; it creates over time a new urban mentalité and habitus, such that the urban fabric and place become an active part of social life, and its reproduction.
Laura B. MazowJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.1 (2014), 33-50
Reconstructions of ancient wool-processing techniques have generally been based on the assumption that lanolin was a by-product of the woolen textile industry. However, both ancient and modern sources point to significant procedural differences between the extraction and recovery of lanolin and the preparation of wool for spinning and weaving.
Louise SteelJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 26.1 (2013), 27-50
The Vounous Bowl occupies a privileged position in discussions of prehistoric representations on Cyprus. It has most commonly been viewed as a sacred scene, or a religious ceremony conducted within a rural sanctuary, and several commentators have emphasized the funerary connotations of the scene, perhaps depicting idealized funerary ritual or an ancestor cult.
Michael GivenJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 26.1 (2013), 3-26
Over the last three decades, Mediterranean survey projects have established a broadly agreed methodology, a wide awareness of the invaluable contribution made by intensive survey, and a wealth of data from across the region. Where they have made less progress is in the interpretation of artefact density figures and other findings to go beyond the dots on the map and gain insights into past human lives, the complexity of past landscapes, and the relationship between people and the environment.
Britt M. StarkovichJournal of Archaeological Science 52 (December 2014), 39-55
This paper evaluates a long sequence of zooarchaeological remains from Klissoura Cave 1 (southern Greece) within the paradigm of evolutionary ecology. The prey choice, central place foraging, and patch choice models are applied to the dataset in order to understand subsistence shifts related to local resource depression and changes in the intensity of site use from the Middle Paleolithic through Mesolithic.
Thomas P. LeppardJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.2 (2014), 231-254
It has been suggested that the islands of the Mediterranean were first settled during the Pleistocene. Attention has in particular been paid to recent claims that the occupation of Crete by hominins dates to the Middle Pleistocene.
Nellie Phoca-Cosmetatou & Ryan J. RabettJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.2 (2014), 255-259
We are extremely pleased that the topic of hominin island occupation has attracted particular attention in this issue of JMA in the two fascinating and contrasting papers by Runnels and Leppard. These two papers set out to address similar questions, namely: ‘was there an early Palaeolithic human presence on the Mediterranean islands?’ and ‘why has it been so elusive?’
Cyprian BroodbankJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.2 (2014), 267-272
The debate over the extent and significance of Palaeolithic maritime activity in the Mediterranean stands in danger of unhelpful polarisation and dumbing down of its crucial subtleties, a process by which we would all turn out to be the long-term losers.
Curtis RunnelsJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.2 (2014), 272-274
In the spirit of open discussion advocated by Broodbank, I welcome Leppard’s stimulating contribution, as well as the thoughtful comments of the discussants. It is evident that where my work is concerned some of my colleagues have difficulty accepting parts of the evidence, or find some hypotheses too far reaching.
Thomas P. LeppardJournal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27.2 (2014), 275-278
I am writing this response while sitting in Guam, the largest island in Micronesia. Bathed in sunlight for half the year, drenched by rain the other, surrounded by shallow, productive seas, and tropically verdant, Guam should, accordingly, have been an ideal environment for hominins during Quaternary interstadials.
Louise A. Hitchcock, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Elisabetta Boaretto & Aren M. MaeirNear Eastern Archaeology 78.1 (March 2015), 12-25
The identification of feasting events in the archaeological record has relied upon a fairly consistent repertoire of features that relate to four crucial elements identified by Hayden (2001) based on the ethnographic literature on feasts: (a) it is a communal event; (b) it is time- and place-specific and occurs in celebration of a distinctive occasion;
Aren M. Maeir, Brent Davis, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Yotam Asscher & Louise A. HitchcockWorld Archaeology 2015, 1-25
In 2013, an ivory bowl was discovered in a chalky matrix in the Early Iron Age (Philistine) levels in Area A at Tell es-Safi/Gath. Conservation revealed it to be a shallow vessel with a single lug handle, decorated in the interior and on the base with an incised twelve-petal lotus-rosette surrounded by five concentric circles.
Στα πρώτα δύο κεφάλαια της Ιστορίας της Νήσου Λευκάδος (τ. Α', Αθήνα, Εταιρεία Λευκαδικών Μελετών, 1980) παρακολουθήσαμε σύντομα τη γεωλογική ιστορία της Λευκάδος και μιλήσαμε και για τα εργαλειακά κατάλοιπα του μεσολιθικού ανθρώπου στο νησί γύρω στα 40.000 χρόνια πριν από την εποχή μας. Κατά την περίοδο αυτή -τέλος της Πλειστοκαίνου, αρχές της Ολοκαίνου (Βούρμιος περίοδος) έως γύρω στα 10.000 χρόνια πίσω-
