HELLENISTIC ARCHITECTURE IN JAFFA: THE 2009 EXCAVATIONS OF THE JAFFA CULTURAL HERITAGE PROJECT IN THE VISITOR'S CENTRE

Abstract

In 2009 the Jaffa Cultural Heritage Project undertook a pilot-project excavation within the soon-to-be-renovated visitor's centre in Qedumim Square. These excavations were intended to clarify stratigraphic questions within area C of Jacob Kaplan's excavations (1961, 1965) and to lay the groundwork for future excavations by the project which was founded in 2007 as a partnership between UCLA and the Israel Antiquities Authority. Along with achieving these goals, the excavations exposed one of the best preserved examples of Hellenistic architecture in the southern Levant and confirmed the employment of a Hippodamian-style town plan from as early as the late Persian period.     

An Aegean Fire-Stand from Tel Nagila

Abstract

In this short paper we present a detailed study of a unique ceramic vessel fragment that was found in the excavations at Tel Nagila. The interpretation of this fragment as an Aegean fire-stand has implications for our understanding of the origin and development of Philistine material culture in Iron Age Philistia.     

Russia and Norway: Research Collaboration and Comparison of Asymmetrical Relations

Archaeological excavations in 1954, 1958, and 1962 directed by Dr. C.L. Vebaek of The Danish National Museum at the Norse site 0 17a in the modern Greenlandic town of Narssaq revealed a farmstead apparently occupied from the 11th century into the later phases of the Eastern Settlement. The excavations recovered a quantifiable amount of animal bone from well‐defined strata within and immediately around the main structure. These collections were analysed in 1976–77 by the authors and show both continuity and some important changes in subsistence patterns between occupational strata.     

A child's burial in unconsecrated ground in early modern Dorchester,Dorset

Abstract

Re-examination of a child burial found during excavations in advance of the construction of new offices for Dorset County Council in the north-west quarter of Dorchester in 1937 indicates that it is of early modern, rather than of Roman date, as originally believed at the time of excavation. A possible context is explored for the burial of a child in unconsecrated ground in the 17th century.     

The “Tiger,” An Early Dutch 17th Century Ship,And An Abortive Salvage Attempt

Abstract

Hopes were raised during the foundation excavations of the World Trade Center complex in downtown Manhattan (New York) that the major part of the burned 17th century Dutch ship, “Tiger,” would be recovered. These hopes were pinned on the fact that the forward part of the ship's remains had been accidentally exhumed in the adjacent subway cut in 1916. No remains were found, and we are left with the question of what became of her hulk.     

Physical evidence revealed during the cleaning and the excavations of the outer wall of the land walls of Constantinople at the Porta ROmanus

Abstract

During the clearance, excavations and conservation of the Land walls of Constantinople in 1992–93 at the Porta Romanus (Topkapi) some original details of the Theodosian construction techniques and the subsequent repairs were found. It was seen that the structural system of the outer wall which supports the parapet walk and the battlement had been altered during the Late Byzantine era. It was also affirmed that the inner and the outer terrace had been used as a burial ground and ceramic pipes for the water supply system of the moat and stone culverts for the disposal of the ground water of the inner terrace were found.     

THE BEAD MAKER’S MIDDEN: EVIDENCE OF LATE PREHISTORIC SHELL BEAD PRODUCTION ON OSSABAW ISLAND,GEORGIA

Abstract

In 2005, archaeological excavations were undertaken in a single shell midden at a late prehistoric Irene phase (circa A.D. 1380) site on Ossabaw Island, Georgia. The excavations were designed specifically to collect information on the fabrication of shell beads and other shell ornaments. A considerable amount of stone was recovered, almost all of which is petrified wood used specifically in the production of “microdrills” for perforating shell beads. Also recovered were large quantities of fragmented knobbed whelk (Busycon carica), the principal raw material used for shell beads, as well as examples of shell beads in all stages of manufacture. The excavations of this midden, designated the Bead Maker’s Midden, produced abundant information bearing on shellworking technology, including the full range of tools and raw materials used and the sequences involved in the production of shell beads. Replication experiments were conducted to validate the archaeological findings. The collected data provide direct evidence of the process of shell bead production during the Late Mississippi period.     

Peterborough Abbey and the Peterborough Psalter in Brussels

Abstract

New investigations at Wenlock Priory serve to allow a reinterpretation of the earlier excavations of Cranage (1901) and of Jackson and Fletcher (1962–3). A number of walls exposed in earlier excavations, and thought to be Saxon, seem to have comprised part of a Roman complex, whose abandonment is represented by a layer of collapsed plaster in the latest work.

The abandoned Roman buildings were re-occupied in the seventh century when a double monastery was founded here. The topography of the site, the location of the two churches and the extent of the monastic precinct are examined.

The plan of the Romanesque church, published by Jackson and Fletcher, and by them dated to before the Conquest, is revised and sculptural evidence, radiocarbon determinations from burials and documentary sources are used to suggest rather that Roger de Montgomery was the builder after the Conquest.     

Excavations at Rio Claro,Northeast Honduras: Preliminary Report

Abstract

During the summer of 1975, preliminary survey, mapping, and excavations were conducted at the H-CN-12:Rio Claro site, a sizeable Pre-Hispanic village settlement in the Department of ColónNE Honduras, Central America. Artifactual remains and chronometric determinations indicate that the settlement was inhabited during the Cocal Period (ca. 1000-1530 A.C.). This report describes the location and layout of H-CN-12:Rio Claro, principal excavations, the first regional radiocarbon dates for the Cocal Period, and some of the artifacts and significant findings of the second season of fieldwork in this little-studied region of the Americas. The possibility is raised that the site is the ethnohistorical chiefdom center Papayeca.     

Notes and News

Abstract

In 1925 a key piece of evidence, a fragment of Sheshonq I's victory stela, was discovered at Megiddo during the preparations for the excavations of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Unfortunately it was found on the surface, on one of the spoil heaps of the previous German excavations. The Chicago team tentatively assigned the fragment to the lowest level reached in the area, initially called Stratum IV, but said little more about it. In recent years, fresh information concerning both the location and the circumstances of the discovery has been published, which, in the author's view, makes it possible to locate the context in which the stela fragment was found, both horizontally and vertically. It is now clear that the lowest level reached in the area was Stratum V, and the author suggests below that the fragment was reused in Stratum VA, the stela having originally been set up in Stratum V B, dated to the 9th century BC by the current excavators.     

In Situ Preservation of Ancient Floor Mosaics in Turkey

Abstract

As stated in the Burra Charter (1979) ‘A building or work should remain in its historical location. The moving of all or part of a building or work is unacceptable unless it is the sole means of ensuring its survival’. This statement has been neglected many times during rescue excavations in Turkey (e.g. Zeugma), whereas the destruction of ancient floor mosaics caused by lifting, especially when carried out by incompetent or inexperienced personnel at systematic archaeological excavations, has steered the authorities desire to preserve them in situ. However, due to the lack of conservation professionals and insufficient resources for conservation, it becomes a difficult issue to provide an effective preservation scheme for archaeological excavations. This paper aims to discuss this important issue in terms of the national legislation, preventative and interventive conservation approaches at various sites, exhibition and maintenance of mosaics, as well as the training of conservation technicians in Turkey.     

Flotation versus dry sieving archaeobotanical remains: A case history from the Middle Horizon southern coast of Peru

Abstract

During excavations at the site of Casa Vieja located in the Peruvian coastal desert, archaeological plant remains were systematically collected to assess whether it is more productive and informative to sieve sandy sediments in dry environments or to process such samples by water flotation, a persistent methodological concern. At Casa Vieja, dual subsamples were collected and analyzed using both of these procedures. For dry, sandy sediment conditions, each processing strategy was found to yield a different view of the botanical remains. Dry sieving recovers more of the larger plant specimens whereas water flotation yields more of the smaller-sized material. These results should be incorporated into archaeological research designs in the future, especially for desert environments.     

Building Non-Commercial Soil-Separation Equipment

Abstract

Because of the scarcity of printed information on building equipment for archaeological excavations, this paper provides instructions and plans to build the basic equipment required, using standard-size and readily available lumber and hardware.     

Notes and News

Abstract

Most parts of Israel were excavated intensively, and most of the country was also covered by surveys. Our knowledge of settlement patterns and distribution during the various periods is very comprehensive — probably more so than in any other region in the world. Using data from the numerous excavations and from the detailed surveys, many studies have made use of various and sundry methods, in order to learn about the settlements and the population of the country, about changes in settlement patterns and distribution, and about periods of crises, decline, or growth.

Past studies, however, have ignored an entire array of findings that could have improved, refined, and even changed the familiar picture of the settlement history of ancient Israel. Thousands of salvage excavations ('rescue digs') were carried out over the years, and especially in the last decade, but these have not been dealt with systematically. These excavations provide comprehensive and reliable information, which is likely to change the picture of the history of settlement in some periods. While a comprehensive project of collecting and analysing the published data on these excavations is now in progress, the present article aims at drawing attention to this neglected source of information. We will demonstrate the advantages of this analysis as compared to other sources of information, and will show how this information, when combined with other sources of information, is changing our understanding of the settlement history of certain periods, including the transition from the Iron Age I–II and the formation of the Israelite monarchy, the nature of the Neo-Babylonian period, and the outcomes of the Jewish revolts against the Romans. The paper ends with a discussion of the advantages and limitations of the various sources of information, i.e., planned excavations, surveys, and salvage excavations.     

The dyer and the cook: finds from 8 Pilestræde,Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

Excavation by the Museum of Copenhagen in Pilestræde, Copenhagen, in 2004 revealed a 17th-century dyer's workshop, in which the first example of a dyeing vat known from excavations in Denmark was examined. Evidence is presented to show that this would have been used in dyeing indigo. A well-preserved latrine dating from the beginning of the 18th century was also found. Multidisciplinary study showed that both the vat and the latrine contained well-preserved remains of plant foodstuffs that were exotic for their time. The finds are exceptional, not only because post-medieval archaeology is a new discipline in Denmark, but because opportunities for excavation rarely arise in the city.     

Dendrochronology on material from medieval Oslo

The dendrochronological material from Oslo discussed here was collected through archaeological excavations in the period 1970–6 on the sites ‘Mindets tomt’ (Lidén 1977) and ‘S?ndre felt’ (Schia 1987).     

An alternative approach to hab 1,2‐2,20

Abstract

In the first part the ideological nature of the OT historical narrative is stressed, which means that it is hardly usable as a historical source alone. Therefore, in the second part three demands are formulated should we decide to use an OT text in a historical analysis: 1) the event we want to investigate has to be mentioned in the OT, 2) must correlate with material from archaeological excavations, and 3) must be mentioned in at least one external written source. The final part is devoted to an overview over the Scandinavian excavations at Tel Fukhar, Jordan.     

Constructing community at civic-ceremonial centers: pottery-making practices at Crystal River and Roberts Island

ABSTRACT

Crystal River (8CI1) and Roberts Island (8CI36, 8CI40, 8CI41) are neighboring mound complexes on Florida’s west-central Gulf Coast, with mainly sequential occupations during the Middle and Late Woodland periods, respectively. Previous work at Crystal River produced assemblages marked by a diversity of pastes and surface treatments, suggestive of distinct communities of practice. However, these excavations were unsystematic and poorly controlled, thus confounding understanding of temporal and spatial variation in practice. Recent excavations in domestic areas, combined with the analysis of older collections from mounds, support a finer-grained understanding of variation in ceramic production. Our analysis suggests that communities of practice persisted through time, although there is variation that corresponds well with changes in settlement.     

Faunal Remains from Karataş-Semayük In Southwest Anatolia: An Interim Report

Abstract

Karata?-Semayük is a Bronze Age site near Elmali-Antalya in southwestern Anatolia in the region of ancient Lycia. The chief period of occupation was in Early Bronze II. The Bryn Mawr College excavations there began in 1963 and are directed by Machteld J. Mellink.