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Aegeus Society For Aegean Prehistory

ARTICLES | 2009

Revisioni festie II (Phaistian revisions II)

F. Carino & V. La Rosa Creta Antica 10/I (2009): 147-300.

This article continues the programme of revision of the stratigraphies, chronologies and functions of the Protopalatial spaces and buildings uncovered by Levi at Phaistos, and focus­es on the so-called Bastione Ovest. This is a building located on the N-W border of the west court, which represented the ceremonial area par-excellence in MM IB-MM II. Re-examina­tion of the excavation notebooks and of the materials associated with the various architectural structures of which it is comprised has allowed us to detect two major phases of use charac­terised by a distinct plan and internal articulation, both within MM II.

Lictoria parva. Una grande impresa archeologica e una piccola fondazione italiana a Creta (Lictoria Parva. A great archaeological work and a small Italian foundation in Crete)

L. Pernier Creta Antica 10/I (2009): 49-56.

The original of this type-script, which was probably not written for publication, was sent to Count Fr. Pellati, General Director of Antiquities and Arts at the Ministry of National Education at the end of 1935. The first part is a simple geographic and histori­cal presentation, which uses strong but also clearly didactic tones and adjectives, so as to rouse the interest of the recipient, and enlarge the merits of the actors. The various steps and practical difficulties of the exploration are remembered with extreme reality, with great pleasure and also some ‘literary’ aspirations. It is in any case a precious direct testi­mony for those difficult environmental conditions. The central issue is the logistical his­tory of the Cretan Mission, from 1899 to the construction of the house at Phaistos in 1931.

Colour in Minoan faience

M.S. Tite, Y. Maniatis, D. Kavoussanaki, M. Panagiotaki, A.J. Shortland & S.F. Kirk Journal of Archaeological Science 36.2 (February 2009): 370-378.

The microstructures and chemical compositions of some 15 faience objects from Crete spanning the period from Middle Minoan IIIA through to Late Minoan IA are determined using analytical scanning electron microscopy. The Minoan faience is compared with replicate faience beads produced in the laboratory using various combinations of manganese, copper and iron as colorants. The alkali contents of the replicate beads are varied so that the colorants are present both as ions in a glass phase and as particulate oxides.

Contrôle économique et administration à l’époque des palais mycéniens (fin du IIe millénaire av. J.-C.)

Françoise Rougemont Athens

Contrôle économique et administration à l’époque des palais mycéniens (fin du IIe millénaire av. J.-C.) This book examines the economic control and the administration in Greece at the time of the Mycenaean palaces (texts dating to between ca. 1450 and 1200 BC). It relies primarily on the inscribed tablets discovered in the palaces and proposes a synthesis of the main aspects of the subject: the scribes (responsible for the book-keeping) and the organisation of the archives, the administrative geography, the taxation system, the administration of personnel, the control of land, the relationship between palatial administration and sanctuaries, the degree of palatial involvement in trade, as well as the use of palace functionaries or local dignitaries in procedures of economic control.

New light on old pumice: The origins of Mediterranean volcanic material from ancient Egypt

Johannes H. Sterba, Karen Polinger Foster, Georg Steinhauser & Max Bichler Journal of Archaeological Science 36.8 (August 2009): 1738-1744.

This paper presents and discusses the Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) results newly obtained from pumice pieces found decades ago at the Egyptian sites of Maiyana, Sedment, Kahun, and Amarna – now in the collections of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London – which could be successfully related to several volcanic eruptions in the Mediterranean. The work contributes to the constant accumulation of knowledge concerning the first appearance of pumice from the so-called Minoan eruption of the Santorini volcano.

Approaching Levantine shores. Aspects of Cretan contacts with Western Asia during the MM-LM I periods

Annette Højen Sørensen Proceedings of the Danish Institute at Athens VI (2009): 9-55.

This article presents an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the foreign relations of Crete towards the Levant and beyond, from their first en­counter to the end of the New Palace Period, with the main focus on the MM-LM I periods. The ar­chaeological material indicates contacts during the EM II and from the MM I period onwards, whilst the textual evidence strongly indicates direct royal connections perhaps from the Old Palace Period or early New Palace Period, and furthermore offers a mythological remembrance of these contacts dur­ing the Late Bronze Age.

The Ayia Triadha cave, Southern Euboea: Finds and implications of the earliest human habitation in the area (a preliminary report)

F. Mavridis & Ž. Tankosić The Mediterranean Archaeology & Archaeometry (MAA) 9:2 (2009): 47-59.

The Ayia Triadha cave excavation project aims to explore early maritime connections in the Aegean during the Late Neolithic I and II and the Early Bronze Age. The cave lies in a strategic position close to the crossroads that connect insular regions and the mainland. We also aim to explore the manifestations of the so-called Saliagos culture of the Cyclades and the Aegean. This culture is connected to the White-on-Dark pottery horizon (late sixth to early fifth millennium B.C.) found in the cave.

La città ellenica sovrapposta al palazzo minoico di Festo in Creta (con Appendici nn. 1-3) (The Greek town superimposed on the Minoan palace of Phaistos in Crete)

L. Pernier Creta Antica 10/I (2009): 37-47.

This typed-script is the transcription of a lecture given by Pernier at Berlin, in April 1929, on the occasion of the jubilee of the DAI. The lecture was published the following year, in German, in a periodical of limited distribution, which is therefore difficult to find. It is undoubtedly a popularising work, which contains a series of otherwise unpublished informa­tion about the most recent phases of the Phaistian settlement. Attention is focused on the cis­terns and water catchment system in general, with the clear intention of proposing a sort of continuum between the palatial and Hellenistic periods.

Per Luigi Pernier (con Appendice dal primo taccuino cretese) (For Luigi Pernier)

V. La Rosa Creta Antica 10/I (2009): 19-35.

This paper re-examines the opinions so far expressed about the person and work of L. Pernier, excavator and editor of the ruins of the palace at Phaistos. His positivistic formation as a field archaeologist is emphasized, together with his objectivity and with the deci­sions made about the restoration of the ruins of the palace, which were opposite to the line followed by Evans at Knossos.

Il disco di Festòs: un centenario autentico! (The Phaistos disc: an authentic centenary!)

V. La Rosa Creta Antica 10/I (2009): 13-17.

This paper originates in the recent resumption of the debate about the presumed fal­sity of the Phaistos disk, and aims at demonstrating that it is indeed authentic. The claims about the particular ‘psychological’ relationship between Pernier and Halbherr are demonstrated to be lacking in foundations, and decisive proof for the authenticity of the discovery is looked for in Pernier’s excavation daybooks. The time and circumstance of the discovery, the character of the persons involved and the preliminary remarks written by Pernier allow any hypothesis about the falsity of the disk to be categorically refuted.

20 χρόνια. Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Μακεδονία και στη Θράκη. Επετειακός τόμος (20 years. The Archaeological Work at Macedonia and Thrace. Anniversary volume)

Edited by Polyxeni Adam-Veleni & Katerina Tzanavari Thessaloniki

20 χρόνια. Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Μακεδονία και στη Θράκη. Επετειακός τόμος (20 years. The Archaeological Work at Macedonia and Thrace. Anniversary volume) The volume publishes the Proceedings from the 20th anniversary Conference of the Archaeological Work at Macedonia and Thrace. Most of the articles are written in Greek and are followed by an extensive English summary. A large number of them refer to the prehistoric period and publish new evidence on Macedonia and Thrace.

Η ανασκαφή του Νεολιθικού οικισμού Κάντου-Κουφόβουνου στην Κύπρο. Μέρος Α’: Στρωματογραφία και αρχιτεκτονική (2 τόμοι) (The Excavation of the Neolithic settlement Kantou-Koufovounou on Cyprus. Part I: Stratigraphy and Architecture – 2 vols)

Eleni Mantzourani Nicosia

Η ανασκαφή του Νεολιθικού οικισμού Κάντου-Κουφόβουνου στην Κύπρο. Μέρος Α’: Στρωματογραφία και αρχιτεκτονική (2 τόμοι) (The Excavation of the Neolithic settlement Kantou-Koufovounou on Cyprus. Part I: Stratigraphy and Architecture – 2 vols) Η ανασκαφή στη θέση Καντού-Κουφόβουνος αποτελεί την πρώτη ανασκαφή του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών στην Κύπρο. Έλαβε χώρα υπό την αιγίδα του Πανεπιστημίου και υπό τη διεύθυνση της συγγραφέως αυτού του τόμου. Οι ανασκαφικές εργασίες στη θέση άρχισαν το καλοκαίρι του 1992 και ολοκληρώθηκαν το καλοκαίρι του 1999. Κατά τις περιόδους του καλοκαιριού του 1996, του χειμώνα του 1998 και των καλοκαιριού των ετών 2000 και 2001 η επιστημονική ομάδα ασχολήθηκε κυρίως με την καταγραφή και μελέτη του υλικού, ενώ παράλληλα διενεργήθηκαν εργασίες συντήρησης των αρχαιολογικών καταλοίπων.

Η αρχαιοβοτανική έρευνα της διατροφής στην προϊστορική Ελλάδα (An Archaeobotanical investigation of Prehistoric Diet in Greece)

Soultana-Maria Valamoti Thessaloniki

Η αρχαιοβοτανική έρευνα της διατροφής στην προϊστορική Ελλάδα (An Archaeobotanical investigation of Prehistoric Diet in Greece) Το βιβλίο αυτό επιχειρεί να ανοίξει ένα παράθυρο στην καθημερινή ζωή των προϊστορικών κατοίκων της Ελλάδας, μέσα από το οποίο θα ρίξουμε τη ματιά μας στην «κουζίνα» τους και πιο ειδικά στα φυτικά συστατικά της. Τα δεδομένα στα οποία βασίζεται, καθώς και αρκετές από τις ιδέες που αναπτύσσονται, έχουν ήδη ανακοινωθεί στην επιστημονική κοινότητα μέσα από επιμέρους εργασίες, δημοσιευμένες μέσα στην τελευταία εικοσαετία. Εδώ επιχειρείται η παρουσίασή τους συνολικά για τις προϊστορικές θέσεις της Ελλάδας.

LH III C Chronology and Synchronisms III. LH III C Late and the Τransition to the Early Iron Age. Proceedings of the international Workshop held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences at Vienna, February 23rd and 24th, 2007

Edited by Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy & Anna Elisabeth Bächle Wien

LH III C Chronology and Synchronisms III. LH III C Late and the Τransition to the Early Iron Age. Proceedings of the international Workshop held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences at Vienna, February 23rd and 24th, 2007 The Vienna workshops on LH III C Chronology and Synchronisms serve the purpose of developing a generally applicable chronological framework of the LH III C period and to contribute to a better understanding of the history of this important phase of the early history of Greece. The third workshop was dedicated to the last phases of the Mycenaean civilisation and the transition to the Protogeometric period.