PROVENANCING AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF ROMAN MILLSTONES FROM SARDINIA (ITALY)

Summary. Sardinia was an important Roman settlement and trade centre between 238 BC–500 AD and is an ideal site for study of Roman trade. Study of Roman millstones in Sardinia shows that the commonest type is the Pompeian (hour-glass) mill (forty-eight stones studied), with smaller numbers of cylindrical hand querns (sixteen stones studied). Most of these millstones are composed of igneous rocks which include grey vesicular lavas of basic/intermediate composition and a distinctive reddish rhyolitic ignimbrite. There is historical and archaeological evidence for millstone manufacture at six localities in Sardinia. Visual and petrographic study and X-ray fluorescence analysis for major and trace elements of seventeen millstone samples, and fifty rock samples from potential source areas have been used to provenance the igneous rock millstones. The grey vesicular lava millstones have varied sources within the Tertiary-Recent volcanic rocks of Sardinia, while the millstones composed of rhyolitic ignimbrite are from a single source of Tertiary ignimbrite at Mulargia (central west Sardinia). A single hand mill from the north of Sardinia was imported probably from Agde in southern France, and is the only sample composed of non-local rock. Mulargia millstones were widely traded within the western Mediterranean and show a rapid decrease in frequency of occurrence with increasing distance from the source. Sardinia was therefore an important centre of Roman millstone production and a source of millstone trade during the period of Roman settlement.     

PRODUCTION,EXCHANGE, AND SOCIO-POLITICAL COMPLEXITY ON BRONZE AGE CYPRUS1

Summary. During the centuries 1700–1400 BC, the archaeological record of the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus shows a number of significant innovations: urban centres with public and ceremonial architecture, differential burial practices, writing, an intensification of metallurgical production and export, extensive trade relations with the surrounding cultures of the eastern Mediterranean, fortifications, ‘mass’burials, and increased finds of weaponry. Documentary evidence from Egypt, the Levant, and the Aegean sheds further light on these developments. These changes represent the transformation of an isolated, village-based culture into an international, urban-oriented, complex society. One of the key questions to consider is why these developments in Cyprus lagged so far (400-1200 years) behind those of the island's neighbours: Egypt, Crete, Syria-Palestine, and Anatolia. Using concepts from development economics and political anthropology, and models developed by archaeologists working on similar problems elsewhere, this study attempts to explain the process of change and innovation apparent in the Cypriot archaeological record of 1700–1400 BC.     

EARLY BRONZE AGE METAL TRADE IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN. NEW COMPOSITIONAL AND LEAD ISOTOPE EVIDENCE FROM CYPRUS

Summary.   This paper presents the results of chemical and lead isotope analyses of 17 Early and Middle Bronze Age artefacts from Cyprus. These suggest that a number of objects are of non-Cypriot copper and lead to the identification of several as imports, a new explanation for some artefact types as ingots and a discussion of the nature of deposits at the key Cypriot site of Vasilia. This in turn allows a reconsideration of the role of Cyprus in an Aegean/eastern Mediterranean metals trade in the early years of the second half of the third millennium BC and of the development of metalworking on the island.     

PROVENANCE DETERMINATION OF MYCENAEAN IIIC VESSELS FROM THE 1934–1939 EXCAVATIONS AT TARSUS‐GÖZLÜKULE BY NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has been carried out in order to determine the provenance of a selected set of 30 sherds of Mycenaean style excavated at Tarsus‐Gözlükule. The provenance could be established or made feasible in 80% of the samples. The results confirm the current status of research, namely that in the LH IIIC phase trade patterns changed and Mycenaean wares, which used to be exported to the Near East, were now produced locally. At Tarsus, the LH IIIC imports came from Cyprus and the eastern Aegean.     

Archaeometric Clearinghouse XX

Abstract

This article is a review of three recent monographs concerned with the later Middle Cypriote and Late Cypriote periods on Cyprus (ca. 1700–1200 B.C.). Each study focuses narrowly on archaeological, philological, or historical problems associated specifically with Cyprus or more generally with interrelations among Aegean, Cypriote, and eastern Mediterranean cultures. Oblivious to common interests, the authors reflect their own particularistic concerns: philology, toponymy, stone anchors. The three publications reviewed serve both as a framework and as a vehicle for presentation of a balanced discussion of archaeological, historical, and theoretical problems associated with Middle/Late Bronze Age Cyprus and its role in eastern Mediterranean maritime trade. In conclusion, and as an alternative, a concise synthesis of cultural and socio-historical patterns on Cyprus ca. 1700–1200 B.C. is presented.

The three volumes under review are: L. Hellbing, Alasia Problems. StudMedArch 57 (P. Åström's Förlag: Göteborg 1979); D. E. McCaslin, Stone Anchors in Antiquity: Coastal Settlements and Maritime Trade Routes in the Eastern Mediterranean. StudMedArch 61 (P. Åström's Förlag: Göteborg 1980); J. Strange, Caphtor/Keftiu, A New Investigation. Acta Theologica Danica 14 (E. J. Brill: Leiden 1980).     

Sourcing Volcanic Millstones from Greco-Roman Sites in Albania

Abstract

Provenience studies provide insights concerning trade in various goods, such as millstones. This is the first attempt to source millstones from Albania. Thirty-one vesicular volcanic millstones, predominately from the Greek and Roman periods, were obtained from two sites, 21 from Apollonia and ten from Butrint. The purpose of this study was to determine the provenience of these millstones using textural, mineralogical, and chemical data. The compositions of the samples were compared to those of vesicular volcanic sources in the central and eastern Mediterranean. Eight viable sources were initially identified based on major element chemistry; these were ultimately reduced to three based on trace element provenience studies. All of the Apollonia and five of the Butrint millstones have chemical signatures similar to those of Sicilian sources (the Iblean Fields and Mt. Etna). The remaining five Butrint millstones are chemically similar to stones from quarries other on the Cycladic island of Melos other than Rema (another Melian quarry), suggesting that Melian sources were exploited earlier than previously thought. The results of this preliminary study indicate there was no preference for a given source region at a particular time in the past. They also provide a baseline for future provenience studies of millstone trade patterns in Albania.     

Rethinking Middle Bronze Age Communities on Cyprus: “Egalitarian” and Isolated or Complex and Interconnected?

Current views of Cyprus during the Middle Bronze Age (or Middle Cypriot period) depict an island largely isolated from the wider eastern Mediterranean world and comprised largely if not exclusively of “egalitarian,” agropastoral communities. In this respect, its economy stands at odds with those of polities in other, nearby regions such as the Levant, or Crete in the Aegean. The publication of new excavations and new readings of legacy data necessitate modification of earlier views about Cyprus’s political economy during the Middle Bronze Age, prompting this review. We discuss at some length the island’s settlement and mortuary records, materials related to internal production, external exchange and connectivities, and the earliest of the much discussed but still enigmatic fortifications. We suggest that Middle Bronze Age communities are likely to have been significantly more complex, mobile, and interconnected than once envisaged and that the changes that mark the closing years of this period and the transition to the internationalism of Late Bronze Age Cyprus represent the culmination of an evolving series of internal developments and external interactions.

     

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE FALL OF KNOSSOS IN 1375 B.C.

Summary. During the first quarter of the fourteenth century B.C., a series of violent destructions seems to have occurred in the Aegean, affecting sites including Knossos, Khania, Mycenae, Pylos, Sparta, Nichoria, Thebes, Athens, Ayia Irini, Phylakopi, and a number of sites in Cyprus and Anatolia. This followed a period in which certain artifacts and burial practices were relatively uniform throughout these sites, and in which Knossos appears to have held a position of particular prominence.
It was during the period of these destructions that the Mainland Greeks began their most notable era of contact with the Eastern Aegean, possibly prompted by a desire to secure access to commodities such as copper from the Eastern Mediterranean. Competition to control such trade may have contributed to warfare between Mycenaean centres, which resulted in destruction at several locations, including Knossos.     

MILLSTONE PROVENANCING USED IN TRACING THE ROUTE OF A FOURTH-CENTURY BC GREEK MERCHANT SHIP

A Greek merchant ship carrying a cargo of millstones, amphorae and bronze vessels was wrecked at Sec, off Mallorca, Spain. in about 375-350 BC. Geochemical provenancing of the millstones helps in reconstructing the route of the ship and complements evidence from the amphorae. Thirty-eight lava hopper-rubber millstones and one Pompeian-style rotary mill from the ship were sampled for provenancing. The hopper-rubbers are mainly of basalt from the island of Pantelleria off North Africa in the Sicilian channel, one is from Nisyros off the Anatolian coast, and the Pompeian mill is of ignimbrite from Mulargia in Sardinia. The hopper-rubbers are the most westerly examples known in the Mediterranean. and the Nisyros mill represents the first proven instance of millstone transport between the east and the west Mediterranean. The occurrence of the Pompeian mill in a fourth-ceniury BC context is evidence of the use of this type a century earlier than previously thought. The Nisyros mill was probably taken on board at the start of the ship's voyage in the eastern Mediterranean, the Pantellerian mills may have been collected partly as ballast at Pantelleria, and the Mulargia mill was probably picked up at Carthage.     

Remarks on an Enamelled Tablet,Preserved in the Museum at Mans,and Supposed to Represent the Effigy of Geoffrey Plantagenet

Abstract

One of the most intriguing problems in the study of Gothic architecture in the Latin East concerns the network of interrelationships between the major architectural centres in the eastern Mediterranean, especially the Crusader states of the Levant, the kingdom of Cyprus and Hospitaller Rhodes. Although scholars have been aware of the artistic links between these areas for decades, the Cyprus-Rhodes connection remains to this day largely unexplored, despite the obvious interest it presents for the development of ecclesiastical architecture in the region. This article examines the architecture of the Carmelite church in Famagusta and its formal affinities with Rhodes cathedral, in order to identify the conditions and modes of transmission of architectural designs from Cyprus to Rhodes in the second quarter of the 14th century. It will also attempt to demonstrate that the same basic design had been employed for two buildings of radically different status and function, in a reflection of the circumstances, financial or ideological, surrounding their creation.     

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.     

CYPRIOT BLACK-ON-RED WARE: TOWARDS A CHARACTERIZATION

Chemical analysis of Early Iron Age sherds from Cyprus and the Levant using atomic absorption spectrometry shows that Black-on-Red ware was manufactured only in Cyprus. Two types of fabric are isolated, calcareous and non-calcareous, and their technological significance discussed. The presence of trade links between the Cypriot sites of Kition and Amathus and sites in the Levant is suggested.     

Saul’s Journey to Zuph

Abstract

In this study I have discussed two distinct, though intimately connected, topics. To begin with, the status and role of the major polity in the MB II southern Levant was scrutinized. It is apparent that one must deal with this site on a completely different scale from other contemporary southern Levantine sites. As suggested, in fact it should be placed within the context of the Syro-Mesopotamian cultural sphere. As such, its dominant role in the political and economic framework of the Southern Levant is seen, and the far-reaching effect that it had on inter- and intra-regional trade is evidenced.

With this as a background, an analysis of the trade patterns of the MB II southern Levant reveals intricate patterns that fit in nicely with the suggested reconstructions of the political and social structure of this period. When these suggested patterns are implemented on a local, regional scale (in regard to the Central Jordan Valley), as sort of a case study of the larger picture, the entire picture fits together nicely. Evidence for international trade is seen predominantly at a limited number of large central sites (e.g. Hazor, Kabri). These centres seem to incline towards different international cultural connections. Within the southern Levant itself, the picture is different. Evidence for intense contacts between the different regions is apparent. Likewise, within the regions themselves (exemplified in this case by the Central Jordan valley) an extensive and intensive web of trade contacts is evidenced. These trade patterns appear to mirror the underlying political and social structures, that of the MB II Canaanite culture.     

Southern Iberia and the Mediterranean Trade-routes

The early Iron Age sites of southern Iberia (8th century to c. 600 BC) have produced large numbers of imports from the eastern Mediterranean, while only a very small number of southern Iberian objects found their way to other parts of the Mediterranean. Despite their scarcity these items can provide valuable information about the shift of trade routes in the Mediterranean at around 600 BC.     

THE FERTILE DESERT: AGRICULTURE AND COPPER INDUSTRY IN EARLY ISLAMIC ARAVA (ARABAH)

Abstract

The Arava is an arid region in the Southern Levant. Archaeological excavations and surveys in the area revealed dense settlement and sophisticated technologies from the eighth to ninth centuries—qanat water technology and copper production. Differences between the data of the middle and southern Arava suggest two separated economic systems. While the Southern Arava seems to be primarily an industrial area of copper that delivered the raw material to Ayla, the middle Arava was mainly agricultural and may be connected to trade routes. Studying the farming conditions of this arid area points to date palms as the main crop of the agricultural settlement. However, it is not yet clear where the Arava's produce was exported.     

INCENSE, CAMELS AND COLLARED RIM JARS: DESERT TRADE ROUTES AND MARITIME OUTLETS IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM

Summary. The camel-borne incense trade, from Arabia to the Levant, was an important element in the economy of the eastern Mediterranean region in the first millennium BC. This paper suggests that its origins can be traced back to the Late Bronze Age, and that the junction of overland and maritime routes explains the wealth of coastal sites such as Tel Nami, Israel. The occurrence there of Collared Rim Jars in contexts dating to the thirteenth century BC suggests that the form began as a transport container, capable of being carried on board ship or on land by camels.     

Cities of the Sea: Maritime Trade and the Origin of Philistine Settlement in the Early Iron Age Southern Levant

The question of the origins of the Philistines, who settled in the southern Levant in the early Iron Age (12th century BC) has long been the subject of debate. Traditionally, they have been understood to lie with the 'Sea Peoples,' raiders who were thought to have wreaked havoc in the eastern Mediterranean at this time. A new conceptualization of the 'Sea Peoples,' phenomenon as the emergence of decentralized maritime trade leads to new questions regarding the settlements associated with it, namely those along the southern Levantine coastal plain and especially those considered 'Philistine.' It is the aim of this paper to reinterpret these sites in terms of their functional role within this decentralized network and it is suggested that they were established and maintained specifically for that purpose. Finally, the development of this network of interconnections is related to the parallel emergence of the Phoenicians and the Israelites in the eleventh and tenth centuries.     

The “land of conjecture:” New late prehistoric discoveries at Maitland’s Mesa and Wisad Pools,Jordan

Abstract

Major cultural transformations took place in the southern Levant during the late prehistoric periods (ca. late 7th–4th millennia b.c.). Agropastoralists expanded into areas previously only sparsely occupied and secondary animal products played an increasingly important economic role. In the arable parts of the southern Levant, the olive in particular became increasingly significant and may have played a part in expanded exchange contacts in the region. Technological expertise developed in craft production, and the volume and diversity of status goods increased, particularly in funerary contexts. Mortuary and other ritual practices became increasingly pronounced. General study syntheses, however, rarely include more than a cursory mention of the more arid regions of the southern Levant (i.e., Negev, eastern and southern Jordan, and Syria). Recent investigations indicate that intensive exploitation of the regions may date to these late prehistoric periods, yet this evidence has been difficult to attribute to specific chronological period or cultural affiliations. The Eastern Badia Archaeological Project investigates two regions for a potential florescence of building and occupation during the late prehistoric periods in the eastern desert of Jordan.     

Mediterranean trade of the most widespread Roman volcanic millstones from Italy and petrochemical markers of their raw materials

The petrochemical study of millstones can contribute to improve the archaeological research into reconstruction of ancient communication routes and trade networks. Volcanic rocks are geographically restricted and rather rare in the Mediterranean regions, and during the Roman period Italian volcanoes were important sources of raw materials for millstones, so the task of determining their geological origin is relatively straightforward. The Italian vesicular volcanics most frequently employed for this purpose were: trachytes from Euganean Hills (Veneto), leucite-bearing lavas from the Vulsini Volcanic District (Latium), basic-intermediate leucite-bearing lavas from Somma-Vesuvius (Campania), silica undersaturated lavas from Monte Vulture Volcano (Basilicata), a rhyolitic ignimbrite from Sardinia and basic products from Mount Etna and the island of Pantelleria (Sicily). This paper contains a general outline of the trade network for each volcanic typology used for millstones during the Roman period – updated with data concerning the leucite-bearing lavic items discovered in the archaeological sites of the ancient Cuicul (now Djemila, Algeria) – together with a summary of their petrographic and geochemical features.     

THE FIRST ARCHAEOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF ROMAN MILLSTONES FOUND IN THE AQUILEIA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (UDINE,ITALY)*

An archaeometric study of all the Roman millstones preserved today in the National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia, the ancient capital of the X Regio Augustea –‘Venetia et Histria’ located on the Friuli plain (northeastern Italy), has been recently envisaged to define their geological–geographical provenance. We present here the results of the first step of the research, which is aimed at characterizing all of the definitely allochthonous lithologies. In order to carry out petrography on thin‐section and geochemical analyses, 10 small samples were picked out directly from Pompeian‐style millstones (catilli and/or metae) and rotary querns. Five different lithologies originating in various Italian regions were recognized: eight samples consist of pale‐ and dark‐grey lavas from the Venetian Volcanic Province, Vulsini Volcanic District (Latium), Etna Volcano and Pantelleria island (Sicily), whereas two samples were shown to be made of green garnet‐bearing schists (pietra ollare) from the Western Italian Alps. The presence of Alpine pietra ollare in northeastern Italy, used to produce pots and food containers, was established for numerous classical findings at Roman and Middle Age sites, but the analysed items represent the first evidence for the utilization of this kind of stone to produce mills during the Roman epoch.