Technological features of Apulian red figured pottery

Apulian red figured pottery samples, dating back to the 5th and 4th centuries BC, from the archaeological site of Monte Sannace (Gioia del Colle, Bari, Italy) have been characterized from the physical–chemical, mineralogical and morphological points of view. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and atomic spectroscopy investigations have been carried out on the ceramic body, red decorated area and black gloss of the fragments, with the aim of outlining the technological features and of defining the nature of coatings and decorations. All 5th century fragments show the same features: fine texture of the ceramic body, red figures saved from the ceramic paste and black gloss painted directly on the ceramic body. The statistical treatment of compositional data of ceramic bodies excludes the local production of these objects. As regards the 4th century fragments, some show similar features to the 5th century ones; however others are characterized by the coarse texture of their ceramic body and an intermediate red layer of finer clay between the black gloss and the ceramic body. The analytical results make it possible to distinguish two different production technologies of red figured Apulian vases in Monte Sannace during the 4th century BC. Certain vases were produced using the “classic” Attic technology and others with a different technique, not previously known, which involved the application of a red engobe layer on the clay paste, before the black gloss painting.     

ON THE DATING OF THE TYRRHENIAN GROUP1

Iconographic and epigraphic evidence suggest that the Attic black-figure vases of the Tyrrhenian Group should be dated to the period c.560–530 BC rather than to the second quarter of the sixth century BC. Imagery on some vases, particularly those of the later painters, points to a lowering of the date for the end of the group to c. 530 BC. Epigraphic evidence, particularly the absence of crossed theta , closed heta and qoppa from almost all of the vases of the earlier painters allows the start of the group to be lowered to c. 560, closer to Exekias than to Kleitias.     

Comedy in Paestan vase painting

Summary.   The 'phlyax' vases of magna graecia are now known to represent actors and staging of Middle Comedy. More than half of the comic vases dating from the third quarter of the fourth century BC were painted in Paestum by Asteas and his circle, who were influenced by the Sicilian Painter of Louvre K 240. This paper asks whether these painters worked from direct observation of the theatre; and if so, whether the vases are evidence for details of performance methods in Paestum or in Sicily, and at what period. The stage and skene , masks, costumes and comic acting style are considered, together with the link between Asteas and the Painter of Louvre K 240 and the significance of the disagreement of their evidence with that of the Manfria Group of Sicilian painters.     

Sôtélès l'Athénien

A second Greek-inscribed sherd mentioning Soteles the Athenian was discovered in stratified context during the excavations at Failaka (ancient Ikaros), Kuwait. It gives a short list of three Greek personal names, Soteles, Dionysios and Agatharchos. It also provides a secure date for the activity of this Seleucid officer in the first half of the third century BC. The other sherd pertaining to Soteles is re-examined. Both were parts of inscribed vases offered to the deities of the temples inside and outside the fortress, during the process of settlement of the first Greek garrison.     

A CORINTHIAN RED-FIGURED CALYX-KRATER AND THE DOMBRENA PAINTER

Summary. An important red-figured calyx-krater, today in Boston, is examined in order to show that on grounds of fabric, style and iconography it was potted and painted not in Athens but in Corinth during the first quarter of the 4th century. Other vases in Athens, Corinth and Perachora are attributed to the same hand. Evidence in the Beazley Archive shows that Beazley was aware of some of these vases and had named the artist the Dombrena Painter.     

NEW EVIDENCE FOR THE NATURE OF THE ATTIC BLACK GLOSS

New evidence is reported here using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and laser reflectance for the nature of the black glossy decoration layer present on the Attic black or red figure vases of the sixth to fourth century BC. The black layer, of total thickness about 20 μm, consists mainly of poly crystalline magnetite (Fe₃O₄) particles of dimensions from 0.2 μm down to extremely fine sizes embodied in an amorphous vitreous matrix. On the outer surface of the black paint we discovered for the first time a thin clear glassy film of approximate thickness 0.1 μm which is rich in Al and Fe and poor in Si. This film must be responsible for the characteristic sheen of the surface. This is verified with the reflection of laser light mostly in specular direction, a unique property compared with black paints of other areas and other periods.     

EARLY GREEK VASES IN CYPRUS: EUBOEAN AND ATTIC

Summary. The aim of the present project is to put to the test by using chemical analysis the origin of early Greek vases imported to Cyprus. In the present case samples were taken from vases found in the cemetery at Amathus published by Prof. J. N. Coldstream. The scientific results coincide with his attributions and confirm the suggestion that there was a revival of communication between the Aegean and Cyprus from the end of the tenth century, and that Euboean vases were the earliest imports to have reached the island and outnumbered other imports.     

Non-ferrous metallurgy from the Phoenician site of La Fonteta (Alicante, Spain): a study of provenance

The lead isotope composition of 22 samples from the excavation of the Phoenician site of La Fonteta (Guardamar del Segura, Alicante, Spain) has been analysed in a preliminary study of their provenance. These materials span chronologically from the first half of the 8th century BC to the middle of the 6th century BC.The samples have been selected to include materials used in lead and silver production, as well as in copper-based metallurgy. Therefore, lead droplets, galena nodules and fragments of litharge have been analysed, together with a fragment of a copper ingot, an object, a melting waste composed of a Cu–Pb alloy, and two fragments of a material that we have provisionally labelled ‘Pb–Cu cupellation debris’.All these materials have been initially analysed by X-Ray Fluorescence-Spectrometry to identify their bulk compositions. Some of them have been also analysed by SEM–EDX and ICP–OES. Subsequently, lead isotope analyses (LIA) have been performed using Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS). The new LIA data obtained has been compared with published lead isotope data from the Mediterranean area. The identification of different groups suggests a significant complexity of the internal and external trade routes during the Orientalising period. For this reason, the provenance study of these materials is especially important in shedding light on the commercial dynamics that the Phoenicians established with native people to control the raw materials and to commercialise finished products.     

DID THE GREEKS GO TO COLCHIS FOR METALS?

A too simple understanding of the process of Greek colonisation, especially the reasons for it, sometimes leads modern scholars to unrealistic conclusions. This paper examines the view commonly found in the literature that the main reason for the arrival of the lonians in Colchis in the middle of the 6th century BC was the area's richness in metals. Archaeological material discussed here shows that Eastern Pontus was far from being so well endowed, and that the local tribes were less advanced in metallurgy than is often believed. The Scythian 'incursion'into Colchis at the end of the 7th century BC both introduced Colchians to iron metallurgy and gave rise to a lacuna in the material culture of the area. New tribes in the Eastern Black Sea in the middle of the 6th century BC revived the iron industry, but it never again reached the scale of production achieved in the 7th century BC. The involvement of the Greeks in iron metallurgy is a matter of which, so far, we know nothing. Nevertheless, the Greeks, trying to adapt their art to the tastes of the local rulers, established in Colchis in the 5th century BC schools of gold- and silver-smiths, as well as the production of metal seals and engraved gems.     

The Abandonment of the ZH-Mozartstrasse Early Bronze Age Lake-settlement. GIS Computer Simulation of the Lake-level Fluctuation Hypothesis

Although 'lake-dwellings' existed from the middle of the fifth millennium to the eighth century BC, the entire phenomenon was not a continuous one. There are several periods when the lake shores were abandoned and subsequently reoccupied. The pattern of occupation depends on cultural as well as environmental factors, amongst them the topography and the climate.
Unlike the southern part of the Alps, which seems to have had a more regular occupational pattern throughout the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, the northern Alpine region shows a marked discontinuity along most of the lake shores. Two relevant breaks in lake-shore occupation are known within the northern Alpine region Bronze Age. The first occurred between the 24th and the 20th centuries BC, and the second from the 15th to the middle of the 12th century BC.
The Early Bronze Age site of ZH-Mozartstrasse, situated on the western extreme of Lake Zurich (Switzerland), was abandoned immediately before the beginning of the second major occupational gap in 1503 BC. Two other Early Bronze Age sites namely Bodman-Schachen 1 on Lake Constance, and Arbon-Bleiche 2 on the Swiss part (the southern shore) of the same lake, follow a similar chronology in occupation; and they were both abandoned in the last decade of the 16th century BC.
A possible cause of abandonment is discussed in this paper using an environmental approach related to an abrupt change of climatic conditions which resulted in an increase of the lake levels which forced those prehistoric populations to leave the proximity of the lake shores. Following the implications of pollen and sedimental analyses, the transformation of the Bronze Age landscape caused by the lake water invasion will be simulated with the help of CAD and GIS computer programs.     

Pre-Roman glass from Mozia (Sicily-Italy): the first archaeometrical data

This study present the results of an archaeometrical investigation performed on a series of opaque pre-Roman glass (vessels and ornaments) dated from the 6th to 4th century BC coming from Sicily. Sixteen core formed vessels, twelve beads, three pendants and one spindle-whorl recovered in the Phoenician-Punic sites of Mozia and Birgi were analysed thought a micro destructive approach. The complete chemical analyses and X-Ray diffraction analyses were performed on small fragments of glass. The aims of this work are: 1) to obtain a chemical characterization of these samples in order to understand the raw materials employed for their production; 2) to obtain information regarding the opacifying phases dispersed in the glass; 3) to make a comparison with the results recently obtained on coeval and similar finds recovered in other cultural context, in particular in Northern Italian Etruscan contexts in order to understand whether they could belong to the same Greek-Eastern production.     

中国的早期铜器与青铜器的起源

中国公元前16世纪以前的早期铜器已在50多个地点发现500多件,主要分布在四个地区,其年代最早为公元前4500年。早期铜器的发展,经历了公元前4500～前2500年尝试冶炼各种原始铜合金的发生期,公元前2500～前2000年以红铜为主的发展期和公元前2000～前1600年以青铜为主的成熟期。中国古代青铜器分别起源于西北地区和中原地区,青铜时代开始于公元前2000年前后。     

Evidence for Indo-Roman Trade from Bet Dwarka Waters, West Coast of India

India had a very active maritime trade contact with the Roman world between the 4th century BC and the 4th century AD. In this context recent finds of stone anchors, potsherds, lead anchors and a lead ingot from 5 to 8 m water-depth near Bet Dwarka jetty is significant. The sherds include amphoras, jars, bowls and lids. Archaeological finds along the Indian coast and comparison between amphoras from Bet Dwarka and the Mediterranean suggest that the artefacts from Bet Dwarka may be datable to between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. The numbers of stone anchors suggests that this was an ancient anchorage.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Archaeomagnetic data from three Punic sites in Tunisia

Archaeomagnetic analyses on bricks and slag fragments from kilns have been undertaken. Four new archaeomagnetic directions and two new archaeomagnetic intensities have been reported for three Punic sites in Tunisia. The SCHA.DIF.3K archaeomagnetic model gives the most consistent age estimates, in agreement with the archaeological ages for three of the four analyzed kilns. The archaeomagnetic models appeared to be surprisingly proficient both using archaeodirections and intensities for El Maklouba. The existence of kilns from different chronological archaeological phases (4th–3th century BC and 2nd–3rd century AD) has been confirmed for this site. The archaeological hypothesis that associates the kiln in El Gaala with the neighboring Punic necropolis is compatible with the archaeomagnetic data obtained from the kiln, though a modern use or remagnetisation of the kiln cannot be excluded.     

Lighting practices in early Greece (from the end of the Mycenaean world to the 7th century BC

Reconsideration of the materials of lighting from a number of Early Greek sites leads to a review of the long-standing scholarly argument about an abrupt break in the use of typologically distinctive lamps in the period between the 11th and early 7th centuries BC. According to this, there is a marked absence of easily identifiable lamp-types, after the elaborate stone and clay Minoan and Mycenean series. Drawing on a combined approach to both its literary and archaeological aspects, I shall attempt to re-assess the truth of this 'traditionally' negative argument. In particular, certain pottery series, such as bowls, kothons and similar categories of plain pots with wide geographical distribution and popularity from the Mycenaean to Historical times (mainly until the 3rd century BC) will be reviewed and suggested as possible sources of light. In addition, I shall suggest — with the aid of a simple experiment — other simple ways of lighting a lamp by means directly available from nature.     

Rowing Ancient Warships: Evidence from a Newly-Published Ship-Model

A clay model of the 6th or 5th century BC may be evidence for the nature of ancient Mediterranean warships in general.
© 2007 The Author     

THE 'ROMANISATION'of TURDETANIA

Summary: Turdetania was one of the Iron Age cultural blocks which emerged after the disintegration of Tartessos in the later 6th century BC. It corresponded largely to the lower Guadalquívir valley of southern Spain. From the early 2nd century BC it formed the heart of the Roman province of Hispania Ulterior and, from the later 1st century BC, Hispania Baetica. This paper sets out to examine the Romanisation of the region from an indigenous perspective rather than a Romano-centric viewpoint. Until the mid-first century BC Roman impact was negligble and merely served to reinforce the Turdetanian prestige goods economy. Subsequently, however, the foundation of coloniae and a consequent increase in commercial activity were catalysts for rapid change. A new hierarchy of dominant and dependent centres arise and, by the early 1st century AD, the agricultural wealth of the region was being more directly exploited for Rome's benefit. This relatively 'delayed'Romanisation is interpreted as native resistance to cultural change.     

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.     

Scythian Burial Mound of the 4th Century Bc at Kremenevka,Northeastern Azov Region

The article describes and analyses a burial complex dated to the 4th century BC and located near the village of Kremenevka (Donetsk Province, Ukraine) in the northeastern Azov region. Types of amphoras are identified and the burial complex is more accurately dated to the third quarter of the 4th century BC. A funeral rite unique to the steppes of the Northern Pontic region is reconstructed and described on the basis of stratigraphic data.