Justinian's Novella 11: memory and political propaganda in the build up to the Gothic War

This paper will examine memories of a fourth‐ to fifth‐century western Balkan past in Justinian's Novella 11. Announcing the appointment of a new northern Illyrian archbishop at the city of Justiniana Prima, this decree refers nostalgically to an earlier period of late antiquity, prior to the invasions of Attila, when Sirmium, rather than Justiniana Prima, had been the administrative and ecclesiastical capital of Illyricum. Published in April 535, on the eve of the Gothic War, it thus suggested that Gothic‐held Sirmium belonged to the eastern Roman state. In this way it contradicted rival political propaganda emanating from the Gothic kingdom of Italy, according to which it was the rightful Roman heir to the western Balkans.     

Western Mediterranean sand deposits as a raw material for Roman glass production

During the Late Roman and Byzantine period, natron glass was made from its raw materials in a limited number of primary production centres in Egypt and Syro-Palestine. For the earlier Hellenistic and Roman period, no primary furnaces have been found and the location of primary production during this era remains unclear. Ancient authors such as Strabo and Pliny the Elder suggest that glassmaking sands were found near the River Belus (Israel), in Egypt, near the mouth of the Volturno River (Italy) and also in Spain and France. However, primary production in the western part of the Mediterranean is not supported by any direct archaeological evidence and possible sand raw materials from these regions have never been evaluated for their suitability to produce glass.     

Stable isotopic evidence for diet in a Roman and Late Roman population from Leptiminus,Tunisia

This study investigates the diet of the Roman and Late Roman population of Leptiminus on the Mediterranean coast of Tunisia. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bone collagen and carbonate samples obtained from individuals buried in four cemeteries at Leptiminus was conducted in order to reconstruct the diet of the population, investigate the relative importance of marine vs. terrestrial resources, explore sex-, age-, and status-based variations in diet, examine temporal changes in the types of foods consumed, and compare the diet at Leptiminus with that of other Roman populations. The results of this study indicate that the residents of Leptiminus consumed a diet that was heavily reliant on terrestrial plant resources with the addition of a significant amount of marine resources. There were no significant sex differences in isotope values. In contrast, distinct dietary differences were seen between the adults and children. Nitrogen isotope values suggest that weaning began before the age of two and was completed by about 3 years of age, a finding consistent with previous isotopic studies of Roman samples. A temporal shift in diet is suggested by the nitrogen isotope values measured in samples from the most recent cemetery. A comparison of the data from Leptiminus with that derived from other Roman sites indicates that regional variability in diet existed within the Empire.     

ROMAN COINS FROM MERV, TURKMENISTAN

Excavation and surface survey at the site of ancient Merv, Turkmenistan has led to the recovery of a large number of coins, including a small number of Late Roman and Byzantine pieces. These coins are listed, and placed in the wider context of Roman coin finds far beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire. The implications for east-west relations at this period are discussed.     

罗马共和国后期行省治理的弊端与规范

行省治理是罗马共和国后期政治生活的一个重要内容,直接关乎共和政治的运作与国家的命运。然而,在行省治理过程中,作为实际治理者的罗马官员滥用权力,通过多种途径大肆搜刮钱财,成为行省治理中的首要弊病。为遏制这种弊病,规范行省治理,罗马当局围绕着官员搜刮钱财现象,不断加强法律建设,呈现出立法条款细致化、诉讼程序固定化以及惩处严厉化的倾向。但是,行省治理制度中总督权力缺乏制衡,荣誉任职的传统观念以及税收体系的混乱等因素为罗马官员滥用权力、非法敛财提供了条件,而相关法律实践过程面临着距离、语言、时间与经济成本等实际障碍,且法庭充斥着腐败与偏见,导致治理局面未因法律建设的加强而得以有效改善。行省治理的失当从行省与共和国政治两个层面加速了共和政治的失序,推动了内战的爆发,进而加速了罗马共和国的衰亡。     

The development of animal husbandry from the Late Iron Age to the end of the Roman period: a case study from South-East Britain

In this paper zooarchaeological evidence from Iron Age and Roman sites in South-East Britain is presented and the results are applied to the continuing debate over culture contact and change following the Roman invasion. Evidence from Heybridge in Essex indicates that there were two stages of livestock development. These may reflect the import of new breeding stock into Britain. Differences between the rate of livestock development at this rural site and the nearby urban centre of Colchester indicate differing mechanisms of animal supply between the two sites. The appearance of very large cattle in Late Roman contexts at Boreham in Essex suggests that improvement of animals continued throughout the Roman occupation and was not merely an initial response to new economic and administrative demands. The biometrical evidence from these three sites is compared with evidence from elsewhere in Europe and the development of livestock during the Roman Period is shown to be complex and varied. The impetus and ideology behind the changes in animal husbandry following the Roman invasion in Britain are explored.     

SONGS OF A WAYFARING LAD

Summary. Trade languages are an indispensable mechanism of communication and acculturation in direct and long term trade relationships. In such cases, the aim of this paper is to suggest that Lusitanian, the old Indoeuropean language spoken in West Iberia, arrived in this way from the Atlantic region in the Late Bronze Age, together with technical improvements and a new ideology that deeply influenced the local population, which preserved these cultural features unchanged until the Roman conquest.     

Original Documents

The end of Roman London has too often been discussed using models that are poorly rooted in empirical evidence. This paper utilizes data from archives and commercial contractors to plot the distribution of activity in London at the end of the fourth century. This challenges the notion that much of the Late Roman city was deserted. However, a brief consideration of Early AngloSaxon London and Southwark demonstrates that by the late fifth century the City and Southwark were abandoned.     

Cosmopolitan Catterick? Isotopic evidence for population mobility on Rome’s Northern frontier

In order to investigate how the population diversity at major Romano-British urban centres compared to small towns and military outposts, we conducted multi-isotope (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium) analyses of bones (42 individuals) and teeth (26 individuals) of human skeletons from Cataractonium/Roman Catterick in North Yorkshire (U.K.). The results suggest a markedly less diverse population at Catterick than at the larger towns. Significant differences are observed between burials from the town and fort area and the suburb of Bainesse to the south, and it is suggested that these reflect a shift to more localised recruitment for the Roman army in the Late Roman period. Isotope data for the ‘Bainesse Eunuch’, an unusual 4th century burial that has been interpreted as the remains of a ‘transvestite’ priest of Cybele, are not ultimately conclusive but consistent with origins in Southern Britain or areas with a similar climate abroad.     

Regional Survey and the Boom-and-bust Countryside: Re-reading the Archaeological Evidence for Episodic Abandonment in the Late Roman Corinthia

This paper reexamines the archaeological evidence for three episodes of rural abandonment and resettlement in the countrysides of Late Roman Greece (200–700 CE): an abandoned Late Hellenistic-Early Roman countryside (second century BCE to third century CE), a decline in the third to early fourth centuries CE, and the Dark Age beginning in the seventh century CE. The first and third episodes of abandonment, especially, have sharply defined Late Antiquity (250–700 CE) as a healthy period of new rural settlement and economic resurgence, and the entire pattern has been described in the terms of “boom-and-bust” demographic and economic cycles. Closer readings of the archaeological data can contribute to more sensitive pictures of continuity and change in settlement and connectivity in the late antique Corinthian countryside and other regions in Greece.     

A Note on the Role of Dogs in Anglo‐Saxon Society: Evidence from East Anglia

This paper examines the roles that dogs played in Anglo‐Saxon (420–1066 CE) society in East Anglia, drawing on data from the Late Roman site of Icklingham and the Anglo‐Saxon sites of West Stow, Brandon and Ipswich in Suffolk, England. The archaeological context of these dog finds is described, along with zooarchaeological data on dog sizes, ages at death and paleopathology. The data indicate that Early and Middle Anglo‐Saxon dogs are less varied than Late Roman dogs. Ageing and paleopathological data indicate that the West Stow dogs, in particular, had hard lives. Early and Middle Saxon dogs from East Anglia were relatively large, with an estimated withers height of about 60 cm. They may have served as guard dogs and herding dogs. The West Stow dogs may also have been involved in hunting and fighting. Late Saxon dogs from Ipswich reveal an increasing morphological diversity, suggesting that they played multiple roles in Late Anglo‐Saxon urban sites. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two Ancient Wooden Anchors from Ein Gedi, on the Dead Sea, Israel

Two ancient wooden anchors with ropes, dating to different periods, were found on the western shore of the Dead Sea. The one-armed anchor was dated by 14C to the Late Iron Age—Persian Period, and the second anchor to the Roman Period. The saline water of the Dead Sea preserved the wood and ropes, but corroded almost all the metal parts. A thin black crust of lead and a green crust of copper are the only remains of the collar of the Roman anchor. The finds were made from local tree species and were probably made locally: the one-armed anchor from Acacia, the Roman one from Christ-thorn, and both ropes of date-palm.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Stable Isotope Analysis Reveals Variations in Human Diet at the Poundbury Camp Cemetery Site

Stable isotope analysis was undertaken on 48 individuals from Iron Age, Roman and Post-Roman periods of the Poundbury Camp Cemetery, Dorchester, England. Variations in diet, reflected by the stable isotope values, were observed between individuals from the different time periods. Differences in diet within the Late Roman period were particularly interesting, as we found that the isotope values could be related to burial type. We also found evidence of possible immigrants at Poundbury; individuals that may have come to the site from a warmer climate.     

彼得·布朗对基督教化问题的新认识

基督教在晚期罗马帝国的兴起,自爱德华·吉本《罗马帝国衰亡史》问世以来就一直是学术界关注的焦点。20世纪70年代,爱尔兰裔美国史家彼得·布朗系统地提出解释罗马帝国和古典文明命运的"晚期古代"理论。在晚期古代视角下,布朗通过文本证据与考古证据相结合,并借助后现代的"解释学的怀疑",以及"表象"理论,解构关于基督教化的传统叙事,并提出关于基督教化问题的新观点。他认为,基督教化是缓慢的不彻底的进程;是关于宇宙的集体表象的改变;具有多样性的特征。布朗的基督教化理论,更关注从多神教到基督教一神教转变过程的复杂性,注重两者的相互影响和作用,在对过程的把握中探讨文化的冲突与融合,历史的连续与断裂。     

Camels in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire

This paper describes the camel bones discovered in two Late Roman contexts from Arlon (Belgium). The morphological and metrical analyses identify the animal as a dromedary.     

On the Additions to the Collection of National Antiquities in the British Museum

The evidence for prehistoric occupation in the area of the modern City of London is re-assessed. Two myths surrounding the city's prehistory are examined: a literary myth of a glorious Trojan past and a modern archaeological myth of the absence of prehistory. Having drawn a ‘traditional’ distribution map of prehistoric artefacts, the authors attempted to improve its reliability by quantifying the impact of Roman groundworks on the surviving prehistoric deposits. Topographic models of the area in prehistory and in the Roman period were drawn, and the methodology of the interpolation is discussed. The relative value of in situ, residual and stray finds are considered in the light of this new information. While there is good evidence for Late Bronze Age occupation in the City, the evidence for Neolithic activity is considered to be heavily skewed by Roman activity. The data are used to suggest areas of the City where there is particularly good potential for the survival of prehistoric deposits. The City provides a case study for analysing prehistoric material in a ‘difficult’, deeply stratified, urban context more associated with Roman and medieval archaeology.     

Cereal grinding technology in ancient Mesopotamia: evidence from dental microwear

Dental microwear features in a sample of 10 human teeth from Tell Ashara and Tell Masaikh, two archaeological sites in the Middle Euphrates valley, Syria, were compared for possible evidence of a shift in grinding technology in Mesopotamia—parallel to the well-documented introduction of large rotary querns and watermills in the Graeco-Roman world. Two chronological subsets (Bronze Age, n = 4 and Late Roman/Islamic period, n = 6) differred substantially and features related to a more abrasive diet (broad lines, pits and punctures visible on SE micrographs) were significantly less frequent in the later subsample which may indicate that the shift in cereal grinding technology occured in Mesopotamia before the Late Roman period.     

As the Worm Turns: An Enigmatic Calcified Object as Pseudopathology

A putative calcified soft tissue or parasite recovered in the pelvis of an adult male Late Roman burial from Aqaba, Jordan, is a fossil marine invertebrate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preliminary Analysis of the Hull of the Roman Ship from Grado, Gorizia, Italy

The hull of the Roman wreck at Grado has been partially preserved under the cargo of amphoras. The right side presents a rare evidence of a section of the waterway. The ship has been assembled by mortise-and-tenon technique following a shell-first conception. All the frames, except one, are of pine while planking is either of pine and elm. Some strakes, of larix , are a repair made by patch-tenons; a wale shows an other kind of repair. Various signs left by the shipwright are on the hull. In the stern area, a box of wooden elements had to protect a 'hydraulic system'.
© 2006 The Authors