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Aegeus Society For Aegean Prehistory

ARTICLES | 2010

Archaeobotanical inference of Bronze Age land use and land cover in the eastern Mediterranean

JoAnna Klinge & Patricia Fall Journal of Archaeological Science 37.10 (October 2010): 2622-2629.

Charcoal and charred seeds at five Bronze Age archaeological sites discern ancient land use in the eastern Mediterranean. Seed frequencies of orchard crops, annual cereals and pulses, and wild or weedy plants are used to characterize plant utilization at different archaeological sites on the island of Cyprus, in the Rift Valley of Jordan, and in the Jabbul Plain and along the upper Euphrates River valley in Syria.

Lead pigments and related tools at Akrotiri, Thera, Greece. Provenance and application techniques

S. Sotiropoulou, V. Perdikatsis, Ch. Apostolaki, A.G. Karydas, A. Devetzi & K. Birtacha Journal of Archaeological Science 37.8 (August 2010): 1830-1840.

This paper refers to an investigation of finds that are associated with the raw materials and tools for the preparation or use of lead pigments at Akrotiri on Thera, Greece, during the Early, Middle and Late Cycladic Bronze Age (c. 3000–1600 BC). For the detection and the preliminary characterisation of remains of pigments that were found on stone tools, the in situ application of X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy proved to be invaluable.

Tell formation processes as indicated from geoarchaeological and geochemical investigations at Xeropolis, Euboea, Greece

Donald A. Davidson, Clare A. Wilson, Irene S. Lemos & S.P. Theocharopoulos Journal of Archaeological Science 37.7 (July 2010): 1564-1571.

Xeropolis is a tell site on the island of Euboea, Greece just to the east of the village of Lefkandi, and was occupied from the Early Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. Excavations in recent years have provided an opportunity to investigate site formation processes using geoarchaeological and geochemical techniques.

Arsenic accumulation on the bones in the Early Bronze Age İkiztepe population, Turkey

Kameray Özdemir, Yılmaz Selim Erdal & Şahinde Demirci Journal of Archaeological Science 37.5 (May 2010): 1033-1041.

In this study, arsenic, copper and lead content of a group of human and animal bones recovered from the Early Bronze Age İkiztepe site have been analyzed using ICP-MS method. Average arsenic value of 90 femur bones of a human was found to be 15.0 ± 5.79 ppm which was varied among age and sex groups, and among species. Origin of arsenic accumulation in bones was diagenetic because overall the groups were highly variable.

Strofilas (Andros Island, Greece): New evidence for the Cycladic Final Neolithic period through novel dating methods using luminescence and obsidian hydration

Ioannis Liritzis Journal of Archaeological Science 37.6 (June 2010): 1367-1377.

The recently excavated coastal prehistoric settlement of Strofilas on Andros Island (Cyclades, Greece) in the Aegean sheds new light on the transitional phase from the Final Neolithic to Early Cycladic period regarding masonry, fortification, and richly engraved rock art. The fortification possesses early evidence of preserved defensive architecture, as evidenced from the plethora of scattered finds from within and around the settlement. Important features are carvings on rock walls which mainly depict ships, animals, and fish.

Keeping an eye on your pots: the provenance of Neolithic ceramics from the Cave of the Cyclops, Youra, Greece

Patrick Quinn, Peter Day, Vassilis Kilikoglou, Edward Faber, Stella Katsarou-Tzeveleki & Adamantios Sampson Journal of Archaeological Science 37.5 (May 2010): 1042-1052.

Combined petrographic and chemical analysis of MN and LN ceramics from the Cave of the Cyclops on the island of Youra, Greece, has revealed a compositionally diverse assemblage with a range of different local and off-island sources. Ceramics deposited in Neolithic times on this barren, rocky outpost of the Sporades chain may have originated from a surprising number of possible origins, including from the Plain of Thessaly, Euboea and the volcanic northeast Aegean islands.

Palaeogeographical reconstructions of Lake Maliq (Korça Basin, Albania) between 14,000 BP and 2000 BP

Eric Fouache, Stéphane Desruelles, Michel Magny, Amandine Bordon, Cécile Oberweiler, Céline Coussot, Gilles Touchais, Petrika Lera, Anne-Marie Lézine, Lionel Fadin & Rébecca Roger Journal of Archaeological Science 37.3 (March 2010): 525-535.

Since the early 1990s, excavations of a protohistoric lakeside settlement in the Korça basin carried out by a French–Albanian archaeological team have induced geomorphological and palynological studies about the sedimentary records of Lake Maliq. These studies allow us to distinguish a series of centennial-scale high and low lake level events between 4200 and 4000 cal BP (2899–2637 BC/2843–2416 BC) and 2600 cal BP (822–671 BC), probably due to large-scale climate changes (in the Mediterranean basin). In addition, the sediment sequence also gives evidence of a millennial-scale trend of lake level rise. It appears to be an interplay between lake level rises and falls against tectonic subsidence of the basin allowing accommodation space for sediment deposition.

How reliable are our published archaeometric analyses? Effects of analytical techniques through time on the elemental analysis of obsidians

R.G.V. Hancock & Tristan Carter Journal of Archaeological Science 37.2 (February 2010): 243-250.

To assess the analytical accuracies and precisions of archaeometric elemental analyses by different techniques, a relatively homogeneous material such as obsidian must be studied. An assessment of published elemental concentration data from two Anatolian obsidian sources shows that while in most cases analytical accuracy is as high as is commonly expected, in some cases it is not.

Minoan Genius on a LH III Pictorial Sherd from Phylakopi, Melos? Some Remarks on Religious and Ceremonial Scenes on Mycenaean Pictorial Pottery

Mario Benzi Pasiphae. Rivista di filologia e antichità egee 3 (2009) [2010]: 9-26.

The fragment discussed in this article was found in the earliest excavations at the Cycladic site of Phylakopi and is now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens (NM 11418). It was given only a summary description by Edgar in his discussion of the pottery from the site and was later discussed by Sakellarakis in his survey of the Mycenaean Pictorial Pottery in the National Museum, but until now it has attracted little or no attention by scholars. Sakellarakis assigns the fragment to a large deep bowl krater of FS 282.

Variations in the 13C/12C ratios of modern wheat grain, and implications for interpreting data from Bronze Age Assiros Toumba, Greece

Tim H.E. Heaton, Glynis Jones, Paul Halstead & Taxiarchis Tsipropoulos Journal of Archaeological Science 36.10 (October 2009): 2224-2233.

Variations in the 13C/12C ratios of wheat grain at different spatial and temporal scales are examined by analysis of modern samples, including harvests of einkorn and durum wheat from Greece, and serve as a guide to interpreting data for Bronze Age grains from Assiros Toumba.

‘We don’t talk about Çatalhöyük, we live it’: sustainable archaeological practice through community-based participatory research

Sonya Atalay World Archaeology 42.3 (2010): 418-429.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a methodology for engaging descendent and local communities as partners in archaeological research. This article, based on a five-year comparative research project that examines CBPR’s application to archaeology, demonstrates a collaborative model that involves reciprocity, is action based and aims to build community capacity while engaging communities in the process of archaeological research and heritage management.

The Minoan lion: Presence and absence on Bronze Age Crete

Andrew Shapland World Archaeology 42.2 (2010): 273-289.

Animal depictions are frequently treated by archaeologists either as direct reflections of human-animal relations or as symbolic of social realities. This paper offers a different way of conceptualizing animal depictions, as objects which mediate between society and human relationships with non-human animals.

Political geography and palatial Crete

Andrew Bevan Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 23.1 (2010): 27-54.

The political geography of Crete during the period of the Bronze Age palaces has been a subject of widespread debate, not only with respect to the timing of the island’s move towards greater social and political complexity, but also with regard to the nature of the political institutions and territorial configurations that underpinned palace-centred society, as well as their longer-term stability over the course of the second millennium BC.

Location and perspective in the Theran Flotilla Fresco

Thomas F. Strasser Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 23.1 (2010): 3-26.

The Flotilla Fresco from Akrotiri on Thera depicts 14 sea craft, with seven large ships seemingly en route between two landmasses. There are, however, strong arguments against the idea of a long-distance voyage, and instead this study supports the concept of a nautical ceremony.

Mycenaean Dimini in context: Investigating regional variability and socioeconomic complexities in Late Bronze Age Greece

Panagiota A. Pantou American Journal of Archaeology 114.3 (July 2010): 381-401.

Recent excavations at the Mycenaean town of Dimini in the Bay of Volos in Thessaly have led to the interpretation of this site by its excavator as the regional “palatial” administrative center. This article discusses the available archaeological evidence from all three known Mycenaean settlements in the Bay of Volos (Dimini, Kastro and Pefkakia) and considers aspects of settlement pattern, architecture, artifact distribution, burial practices, and craft specialization in those settlements.