Archaeological wells in southern France: Late Neolithic to Roman plant remains from Mas de Vignoles IX (Gard) and their implications for the study of settlement,economy and environment

Abstract

A study of plant remains from seven archaeological wells at Mas de Vignoles IX, near Nîmes, southern France, was used to shed light on a current gap in the archaeological record caused by erosion and modern agriculture. The analysis also explored the reliability of these sources for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoeconomical information. Significant results on the spatial organization of human habitation, economic activities, and on the environment and its exploitation were obtained for the Middle Neolithic to Roman periods. Furthermore, the Neolithic wells also provided the first early finds of fig seeds in France. The abundance of weed and ruderal plants up to the Iron Age is consistent with data from other studies and their dramatic decrease during the Roman period may have resulted from radical changes in land management. The study marks the first time, in southern France, that a group of wells from a single site have provided a complete record throughout the later prehistoric and Roman periods.     

Roman and Byzantine Settlements in the Region of West Irbid

Abstract

It was always clear that for practical reasons any new region-based study of the Roman and Byzantine periods in north-western Jordan would have to rely on existing evidence from archaeological surveys and excavations. The concentration of previous archaeological survey work in parts of the region of West Irbid in Jordan, and especially the surveys made by N. Glueck in the 1940s and S. Mittmann in the 1960s, made this area especially attractive for archaeologists. In this paper, the aim was to analyze the results of the West Irbid survey, particularly of the Roman and Byzantine periods, made during September 2005. The information gathered was of great help, enabling the classifi cation of sites into groups according to the nature of occupation, and analyzing the discovered architectural remains to provide a broader context for interpretation of the nature of Roman and Byzantine settlements in the surveyed region.     

Protecting a ‘Homeric landscape’: The making of the Butrint National Park,Albania

Abstract

This paper will present research on the vulnerability mapping of coastal archaeological sites currently being undertaken in Northern Ireland. The ultimate aim of this research is improve current predictions of where archaeological sites and landscapes will be at risk in the future from coastal erosion. The initial stage of this approach uses a suite of oblique aerial photographs to construct a baseline of eroding locations and coastal geomorphology. The erosion baseline can then be integrated with existing historic environment records to obtain a coarse first-pass archaeological vulnerability assessment. Subsequent stages can then use this assessment to prioritize future mitigation such as field surveys or monitoring exercises, or conduct further refinements of vulnerability classifications by incorporating information on site type and positioning on a local scale.     

Comparison of Original and Modern Mortars at the Herculaneum Archaeological Site

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to evaluate mineralogical, elemental, and thermal differences among original Roman joint mortars and those used in twentieth-century restoration campaigns taken from different areas at the Herculaneum archaeological site. The purpose is to improve the compatibility of restoration mortars. Roman and modern mortars were studied with petrography, thermal analysis and x-ray fluorescence investigations. The results indicate significant differences between the Roman and modern mortars which could facilitate the degradation process. Roman mortars, in particular, were composed of a coarser aggregate which was present in a lower ratio with binder in comparison with modern mortars.     

THE COMPLEMENTARY USE OF NEUTRONS AND X‐RAYS FOR THE NON‐DESTRUCTIVE INVESTIGATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBJECTS FROM SWISS COLLECTIONS*

This paper shows the possibilities offered by the combined use of non‐destructive neutron and X‐ray beams in archaeological research on metallic finds. The following five artefacts from Swiss excavations were submitted to investigation, each with dedicated aims: a Roman sword, a Roman dagger, an Iron Age bucket, Iron Age spearheads and a Roman finger ring. The images obtained with both methods—neutrons and X‐rays—are discussed in length in this paper. The investigations took place at the Paul Scherrer Institute and the archaeologists who studied the objects come from the Universities of Lausanne and Zurich.     

Archaeology and roman society: Integrating textual and archaeological data

Although the collection of new data and the development of an enduring interest in theoretical concerns characterize much current work in Roman archaeology, the field continues to experience, tension between traditional classical archaeological approaches and practices borrowed from other branches of archaeology. This tension is most clearly visible with the integration of textual and archaeological data. How the dynamic between these provenances plays out in Roman archaeology can be seen in theoretical and methodological applications, the use of field survey, and the adoption of an Annaliste perspective by some Roman archaeologists. Text and archaeology are crucial contributors to the the study of early Rome and its origins, investigations in the capital for all periods, the study of Pompeii, and attempts to illuminate the chief characteristics of the Roman economy. Many advances in Roman archaeology have occurred largely as a result of a conscious attempt on the part of Roman archaeologists to properly contextualize textual data in light of the archaeological data, thereby providing a better balance between the two sets of information and liberating archeeology from being the “handmaid of history.”     

UBI SUNT MACELLA? THE CONTRIBUTION OF NON‐INVASIVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY TO THE IDENTIFICATION AND STUDY OF ROMAN FOOD MARKETS

While the remains of the well‐preserved and excavated towns of Pompeii, Ostia and Herculaneum provide us with a fascinating impression of their once bustling economic life, the study of urban economic space requires a more extensive geographical and methodological framework. This paper investigates whether the systematic use of non‐invasive techniques at other, often neglected, urban sites can deliver a meaningful contribution to the study of Roman urbanism, especially by revealing previously unknown foci of commercial activity in the Roman city. To illustrate the effectiveness of certain non‐destructive strategies, including geophysical prospection and aerial survey, we focus on a specific type of market building that was quite common in the Roman world, the macellum. The case studies presented here demonstrate how non‐invasive archaeological investigation, often in combination with other topographic operations, can facilitate the identification of macella and enhance studies of economic architecture and space in Roman towns in Italy and the provinces.     

Greek nationalism,architectural narratives,and a gymnasium that wasn’t

Abstract

This paper seeks to further the discussion that positions archaeological interpretation as a practice entangled between professional ethics and political circumstances. Perhaps the most obvious route for the mobilisation of extant architecture is to recruit it into nationalist discourses. An example of this is the case of the Roman Bath-Gymnasium Complex at Salamis (Cyprus), which can be used to illustrate how nationalism can call forth convenient narratives about material culture. Excavations (1952–1974) revealed the remains of a massive structure, and Vassos Karageorghis, the principal excavator, identified it as a ‘Gymnasium’. This paper demonstrates that Karageorghis’ hitherto well-accepted interpretation remains largely conjectural due to the absence of hard archaeological evidence. By examining the architectural characteristics of the remains and analysing the published excavation data, the paper explains how the present structure belongs to a bath-gymnasium complex, erected during the Roman period, and is an amalgamation of Roman and Greek culture. The paper revolves around the argument that the Romans’ role in negotiating the socio-cultural differences, which ultimately enriched the existing structures, has been systematically downplayed in the architectural narratives for the sake of presenting a homogeneous ethnic-cultural continuity from the Homeric Greek world down to the contemporary Cypriote Greek society.     

THE PORT OF THOLOS IN EASTERN CRETE AND THE ROLE OF A ROMAN HORREUM ALONG THE EGYPTIAN 'CORN ROUTE'

Summary. Roman provincial warehouses and rural horrea in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean remain largely undocumented and their functions are poorly understood. A recent intensive archaeological survey at the bay of Tholos in the Kavousi area of northeastern Crete has investigated one such horreum and has explored the regional archaeological context of the building and its hinterland. The present study discusses the architectural form and archaeological context of this warehouse and assesses its function within the broader political and economic sphere of eastern Mediterranean trade routes in the second century A.D. Patterns of coastal urbanization, settlement development, and land use in eastern Crete in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, are examined as background for discussion of Roman rule, and as factors that are crucial in understanding the economics of settlement and the role of Cretan cities and the port of Tholos in the first and second centuries A.D.     

Geoarchaeological insights from a Roman age incineration feature (ustrinum) at Enconsta de Sant'Ana (Lisbon,Portugal)

Ustrina are incineration funerary structures that are relatively common in Roman age cemeteries. Salvage excavations at Encosta de Sant'Ana (Lisbon, Portugal) in 2002 brought to light a part of the necropolis of the Roman town of Olisipo, including some ustrina. One of them, designated Burial 1 during fieldwork, is analyzed here from a geoarchaeological viewpoint to understand the formation processes of such an archaeological feature, namely its construction technique, use and function. The study of site context and subsurface pedofeatures, and the application of archaeological soil micromorphology, revealed that the ustrinum was constructed digging a hollow in bedrock and building a mud-brick ridge around it, with raw material taken from the local bedrock. The structure was used at various times and remodelled at least once, and its base was not always thoroughly cleaned – according to the custom called “pars pro toto” by Roman authors – and probably left open when not in use.     

Chronological Reconstruction of Natfieh Tombs,Northern Jordan

Abstract

This research radiocarbon dates human teeth and bones sampled from seven tombs from the archaeological site of Natfieh, Northern Jordan. The small number of artifact fragments uncovered, looting and disruption of the tombs in antiquity and/or recent times, and the continuity between the Greek and Roman burial traditions and similarity in tomb architecture impede determining accurate dates and chronology of the tombs. This research aims to ascertain the archaeological dates and the chronological sequence of the tombs and the artifacts uncovered. Results show that the probable earliest use of these tombs was between 90 BC and AD 20, and their probable latest use was from AD 126–236. Most probably, at Natfieh new tombs spread northward and carving the tombs started in the lower rock layers and later in the upper layers.     

The Rolt Memorial Lecture, 1983 Our Debt to Roman Engineering: The Water Supply of Lincoln to the Present Day

Abstract

Lincoln was one of the four colonia of Roman Britain and therefore intended to serve as an example of cultured urban life to the surrounding region. A good water supply was essential in Roman towns but Lincoln, stand above the 200ft contour, could not receive a normal gravity fed system. This paper examines the archaeological evidence for the water supply to Roman Lincoln and looks at how the problem was solved in later generations. Dr Lewis argues that a comparison of the solutions to engineering problems of even the distant past and the present is an important aspect of industrial archaeology.     

Magnetic imaging and electrical resistivity tomography studies in a Roman military installation found in Satala archaeological site,northeastern Anatolia,Turkey

Satala is one of the last great military centers in the Roman East available for archaeological and historical investigations. This archaeological site is situated on the crossing of two singularly important routes in North-East Asia Minor. Only little archaeological fieldwork in and around Satala has so far been carried out, thus delimiting our knowledge of the site and its role within the Roman military structure of the East. In order to provide further data on the site, we carried out geophysical surveys including the application of magnetic and electrical resistivity techniques in an area north of the Sadak village. The geophysical surveys within this area (supposedly part of the Roman military camp) proceeded in two stages. The first stage saw magnetic gradiometer imaging studies being carried out on 2.1 ha, measured by a Geoscan FM-36 fluxgate gradiometer by using 0.5 × 1 m grid intervals. For the second stage a different geophysical technique was used—resistivity tomography. Resistivity data were collected using a number of combined 2D resistivity pseudosections in the eastern part of the area which contained very regular magnetic anomalies. The 3D data were obtained by the combination of all survey lines collected from 2D data sets, and thereafter the arranged data were processed by using the 3D robust inversion modified from the smoothness-constrained algorithm. Electrical resistivity tomography investigations revealed that the buried archaeological structures might be located near the surface, except for some structures found in the middle of the studied area. The archaeological structures were furthermore determined by realistic model sections and volumetric representations. Magnetic imaging and electrical resistivity tomography surveys show that the combined usage of these techniques advances the understanding of archaeological structures beneath the surface.     

The re-identification of great bustard (Otis tarda) from Fishbourne Roman Palace,Chichester, West Sussex,as common crane (Grus grus)

Abstract

This paper details the results of recent reanalysis of the animal remains from the 1960s excavations at Fishbourne Roman Palace, West Sussex. It argues that specimens originally identified as belonging to the great bustard are, in fact, misidentified remains of common crane. This discovery has important connotations. First, these findings need to be reported so that the avian archaeological record can be updated to avoid future syntheses of Romano-British faunal remains incorrectly including great bustard. Secondly, interpretations of the zooarchaeological remains at Fishbourne Palace will alter, due to the differing ecological histories of bustards and cranes.     

Community Participation and the Enhancement of the Roman Thermae of St Thomas,Mesolongi

Abstract

This paper examines the process of enhancing an archaeological site and rendering it accessible to the wider public within a very tight time schedule, and will contemplate the role of the local community in this process. Focusing on the case study of the Roman Thermae of St Thomas (Agios Thomas) near Mesolongi, Western Greece, the various challenges and problems encountered during the excavation, partial restoration, and enhancement of the site (funded by the INTERREG II cross-border program of the 2nd Community Support Framework) will be addressed. Issues of community participation will be highlighted through the crucial involvement of the local people in the project and with a reflective outlook on the way heritage management is operating in Greece.     

Resources for Teachers from the Educational Department of Fine Arts of Seville for Archaeological Sites

Abstract

The province of Seville, situated in the south-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, contains a large number of archaeological sites. Some of them are of great significance: for example, the ancient Roman cities of Itálica and Munigua, the megaliths in Valencina de la Concepción, or the Roman necropolis in Carmona. These four mentioned above receive a considerable number of educational visits by students between the ages of twelve and sixteen, and a number of educational projects have been carried out there. This article outlines the types of resource material provided at these four sites.     

Preserving Archaeological Remains In Situ: Three Case Studies in Trentino,Italy

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the restoration and conservation work which has been carried out in three archaeological areas in the Autonomous Province of Trento. The areas, which have been opened to the public for more than ten years, are the open-air archaeological site of Monte S. Martino, Roman Tridentum (an underground site under the historical city centre of Trento), and Fiavé (a pile dwelling site in a peat bog). These areas present very different environmental characteristics and have therefore required different interventions according to their speci?c situation.

In order to reduce maintenance and extraordinary costs, appropriate conservation of the archaeological remains is required. This consists of methodologies of conservation according to the characteristics of the environment; continuous monitoring systems and indirect preventive intervention; and annual maintenance planning.     

The pectoral fin spines of European catfish Siluris glanis; cultural artifacts or food remains?

The urban archaeological site of Nicopolis ad Istrum in north central Bulgaria, which has multiple periods of use and abandonment, has produced a large and varied ichthyofauna. A number of bones of the European catfish Siluris glanis have been identified and have been interpreted as both food remains and bone artifacts. It was found that a percentage bias in the distribution of S. glanis bones from the Roman period of occupation called for further analysis. The investigation attempts to identify the reason or reasons for the apparent overrepresentation of the pectoral fin spines of this species. Taphonomic factors are considered along with butchery and an actualistic study of butchery on modern S. glanis material. Studies from north Africa are used to illustrate the possible function of the spines. The conclusions drawn are that a high proportion of the pectoral fin spines were brought into the site, possibly as personal artifacts. Their use is open to debate; no clear functional use can be determined from the archaeological material, although it cannot be ruled out that they were used for medicinal purposes or as charms.