S.W. Manning & B. KromerArchaeometry 53.2 (April 2011): 413–439.
The East Mediterranean Radiocarbon (Inter-)Comparison Project (EMRCP) has measured time series of radiocarbon ages for known age samples of German oak (GeO) and for samples from the near-absolutely placed Gordion juniper dendrochronology from central Anatolia. In this paper, we review the data for the calendar years from 1730 to 1480 bc, relevant in particular to controversy and debate concerning the absolute date of the Minoan eruption of the Santorini (Thera) volcano.
M. Georgakopoulou, Y. Bassiakos & O. PhilaniotouArchaeometry 53.1 (February 2011): 123-145.
Kephala and Phournoi, on the island of Seriphos, add to a growing number of EBA metal production sites identified in the south-central Aegean. Analytical examination of samples from the two sites addressed the technological parameters of the copper smelting process, indicating the use of mixed oxidic and sulphidic copper–iron ores to produce unalloyed copper with minute copper sulphide inclusions.
V. Renson, J. Coenaerts, K. Nys, N. Mattielli, F. Vanhaecke, N. Fagel & P. ClaeysArchaeometry 53.1 (February 2011): 37-57.
Lead isotopic compositions were measured for 65 sherds from five pottery wares (Plain White, Coarse, Canaanite, White Slip and Base-ring) excavated from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke (Cyprus). The elemental composition and isotopic signature of the sherds were compared with those of 65 clay samples collected in south-east Cyprus, mainly in the surroundings (<20 km) of Hala Sultan Tekke.
E. Henton, W. Meier-Augenstein & H.F. KempArchaeometry 52.3 (June 2010): 429–449.
This paper presents a pilot study designed to test the use of oxygen isotopes for investigating aspects of early herding practices in the Neolithic of western Asia, using the site of Çatalhöyük in central Anatolia as a case study. Time-sequenced δ18O values in dental enamel of archaeological sheep are assessed for post-depositional diagenetic effects and compared with seasonal δ18O meteoric water values in the region today. The evidence is used to indicate the environmental conditions in which individual sheep spent their first year, enabling management of breeding and birthing seasons, and movement to seasonal pastures, to be investigated.
C. Marangou & B. SternArchaeometry 51.3 (June 2009): 397-412.
Five fragments of Late Neolithic clay zoomorphic vessels from northern Greece have been analysed for organic residues by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. The results showed that the containers had been used in connection with a number of substances, in particular lower terpenoids, an oil or fat, possibly fossil fuel and in one case possibly beeswax
The Arthur Evans archive in the Department of Antiquities of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford contains 11 volumes of newspaper and journal cuttings which cover the years from roughly 1900 to 1930. Many of them refer to Evans’ work at Knossos or to other aspects of the Minoan civilization. It seems probable that Evans himself amassed most of these cuttings, which number well over a thousand, and kept them in a largely unsystematised state. Despite the number and range of these cuttings, they cannot be regarded as comprehensive.
The topic of the relations between the Maltese Archipelago and the Aegean in the Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age has been neglected due to the scant evidence available. Recent research on unpublished pottery coming from several Middle and Late Bronze Age Maltese sites, held at the National Museum of Archaeology of Valletta, offered new data for the interpretation of a Mediterranean connection that linked Malta and Crete in the Early Iron Age. In this paper three classes of objects, extraneous to the local tradition and probably of Cretan derivation, coming from the excavations of the Borg in-Nadur temple and from the Borg in-Nadur culture layers of the Bahrija village, are discussed.
Nicola Cucuzza & Nils HellnerrCreta Antica 10/II (2009): 501-518.
A survey of the area around the Stoà dell’Agorà at Agia Triada has identified an H-shaped Propylon. Built in LM III A against the northern wail of the Bastione, the structure was located at the entrance of the large Piazzale dell’Agorà. The Propylon has no good comparison in Minoan architecture; instead it has many similarities with the propylaia known in the Mycenaean palatial sites of Mainland Greece. The presence of a propylon (the only one known up to now in Crete) confirms the importance of Agia Triada in LM IIIA-B. Moreover, it enlarges our knowledge of the LM IIIA-B architecture and its relationship with the contemporary architecture of Mainland Greece.
The textual/archaeological based absolute chronology for the end of the Second Intermediate Period, and the first part of the Egyptian XVIII Dynasty, has been much refined in several studies over the last two decades, and offers a good chronological datum-line which reflects significantly on the absolute chronology of LM I-II Crete, through both direct and indirect archaeological arguments.
This article deals with the LM I lithic pessoì from the old excavations at Agia Triada, which are characterised by the presence of signs incised on one face, and publishes two new examples retrieved from this site during the new excavations. The incised signs, which are always different from one other, are discussed, as well as the material and its provenance (Spartan or Cretan).
This paper focuses on a MM III A ceramic fragment (F 7586) found in the southern sector of the Chalara quarter (located on the eastern slopes of the Phaistos palace hill). The vessel, of which only two joining sherds from a medium-large closed shape survive, comes from a rich homogenous fill created in an operation to fill MM III structures and construct a LM I house on top of them.
The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to define a new ceramic sequence for Protopalatial Phaistos, in particular for the first phases of the Protopalatial period, i.e. MM IB-MM IIA. Second, to produce a study of the Barbotine Ware attested in these deposits, which will add new data on the evolution of this class of pottery, and in turn, may be useful in dating examples found elsewhere.
Recent studies on Prepalatial ceramics, which have used integrated analytical approaches, have demonstrated that Prepalatial pottery exhibits many of the technical features used to indicate specialisation of production, and hints at large movements of products between different regions of the island.
The specific outlook and reach of administration in Prepalatial Crete is the topic of heated debate. The materials most frequently implicated in this debate are clay sealings, usually taken as a clear demonstration of administrative concerns. However, although early sealings might have been used for this purpose, this view tends to be influenced by our knowledge of sealing practices from later, palatial contexts.
Marie-Claude Boileau & James WhitleyAnnual of the British School at Athens 105 (2010): 225-268.
This paper presents the results of a large-scale petrological study of Early Iron Age (twelfth-seventh centuries BC) coarse wares from north-central Crete. 210 samples were taken for analysis from six locations at Knossos, representing distinct funerary, domestic, and ritual contexts.
