The Archaeological Heritage of the Jerusalem Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion

Abstract

Ever since the purchase of land in 1848 for the establishment of the Jerusalem Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion, the south-western brow of the hill has attracted the attention of scholars. Initiated by the discovery of a series of rock-hewn steps in a scarp that was traced for over 200 metres and thought to be the line of Jerusalem's ancient fortifications, archaeological investigation within the confines of the cemetery continued for some 150 years. In this paper, the results of a century and a half of excavations are summarized and synthesized, providing important evidence regarding the development and chronology of Jerusalem's fortifications from the Iron Age to the Ayyubid Period. Also, the idea of an Essene Quarter on Mount Zion during the Second Temple Period, based on the discovery of a gate believed to be Josephus' 'Gate of the Essenes', is re-examined in light of the rest of the archaeological evidence from the cemetery.     

On Some Remains of the Work of William of Wykham,at Windsor Castle

Scholarly opinion on the character and timing of the end of Roman Britain remains deeply divided. The evidence presented by those favouring a ‘long chronology’ is seriously flawed. ‘Continuity’ or ‘survival’ of Roman Britain is claimed because early medieval activity is attested on some former Roman sites and some early medieval artefacts are of Roman type. But Roman Britain was part of a ‘world system’ with a distinctive and rich archaeological assemblage, and once terms are properly defined and material analysed quantitatively, the argument for fifth-century continuity collapses. The archaeological evidence shows that after a long process of decline beginning in the third century, Roman Britain had ended by c. A.D. 400.     

Forum Ware

THREE BURGAGE PLOTS within a deserted area of the medieval new town of Newport were excavated. Buildings were established on the burgage plots following the town's foundation in the late 12th century, but these were short-lived and the plots were soon given over to agriculture. Evidence for buildings was slight. It is argued that the excavated dwellings were earth-built and thatched and possibly conformed to a standard plan. Boundaries between individual burgage plots and between blocks of plots were investigated, thus examining the means by which the town was laid out.     

Rejoinder to Stearns

Ortiz, Sutti, ed. Economic Anthropology: Topics and Theories. Monographs in Economic Anthropology, No. 1. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America (Society for Economic Anthropology), 1983. xvi + 429 pp. including bibliographies at the end of each chapter, notes on contributors, author and subject indices. $16.75 paper.