Neutron activation analysis of fine grey pottery from Conimbriga,Santa Olaia and Tavarede,Portugal

The concentrations of two major elements and thirteen trace elements in 73 selected sherds of fine grey ware from the Iron Age and Roman period, excavated at Conimbriga, Santa Olaia and Tavarede, Portugal, were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. These concentrations were used to calculate distance matrices which were then subjected to cluster analysis employing SAHN and k-means methods, as well as to principal components analysis, to group the sherds according to the overall similarity of their compositional characteristics. The results showed that equivalent groupings appeared regardless of the taxonomic method used. Two major clusters were recognized corresponding to two different sites, namely Conimbriga and Santa Olaia, suggesting that the ceramics from these sites were made locally. No significant differences in compositional patterns were observed between iron age and roman sherds from Conimbriga.     

Buried assumptions: Some problems in the interpretation of the “Younger Fill” raised by recent data from Greece

A distinctive “Younger Fill” has been identified in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions. The dominant explanation for it is that of climatic change, first advanced by Vita-Finzi in 1960. Recent work on Greece by Bintliff appears to support the hypothesis. However, there are weaknesses. The present paper isolates the assumptions upon which the climatic hypothesis rests, particularly the notion of synchroneity and the apparent need for a universal mechanism. It sets out the grounds for scepticism, which include the ambiguity of the data, and attempts to evaluate the recent evidence from Greece. The paper then proceeds to argue that an anthropogenic origin cannot be ruled out and that it merits serious consideration. Criteria are suggested which the reinstated explanation would need to meet.     

Reviews

Babi and Baha'i Religions: From Messianic Shi'ism to a World Religion, by Peter Smith, Cambridge University Press, London, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney 1987, pp.xiv, 243.

Panj Vaqf‐namah, by Mahmud Afshar Yazdi, (Five Endowment Deeds), Tehran Foundation for Mahmud Afshar Yazdi's Endowments, 1363/1984. Iraj Afshar and Karim Isfahaniyan, eds., Namvarah‐yi Doktor Mahmūd Afshar Yazdi (Mahmud Afshar Yazdi's Festschrift), 4 vols., Tehran: Foundation for Mahmud Afshar Yazdi's Endowments, 1364/1985–1367/1988.

Bulles et Sceaux sassanides de diverses collections, by Philippe Gignoux and Rika Gysclen, Paris: Sludia Iranica, Cahier 4, Association Pour l'avancemeni des études iraniennes, 1987, 306 pp, 23 plates.

Iran and Iraq at War , by Shahram Chubin and Charles Tripp, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1988.

The Tragedy of Sohrab and Rostam, from the Persian National Epic, the Shahnameh of Abol‐Qascm Ferdowsi, translated by Jerome W. Clinton, Seattle: The University of Washington Press, 1988, xxv + 190 pages, $25.00 cloth $12.50 paper.

Persian Carpets , by Michael Craig Hillmann, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984, 98 pp. index to p. 112.

Resurrection and Renewal: The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 1844–1850, Abbas Amanat, Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 1989, pp. xv.+ 461, no price indicated.

Iran min al‐Dakhil, (Iran From Within), by Fahmi Huwaydi, Cairo: Markaz al‐Ahram li al‐tarjuma wa al‐nashr, 1987, 405 pp.

Woven From the Soul, Spun from the Heart: Textile Arts of Safavid and Qajar Iran, 16lh‐19lh Centuries , edited by Carol Bier, Washington, DC: The Textile Museum, 1987.

Summon Up Remembrance, by Marzich Gail, Oxford: George Ronald Books, 1987, 295 pp., appendix, bibliography, $14.95.

Iran and The United States, A Cold War Case Study, by Richard W. Cottam, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988. $12.95 pb.