XRF analysis of glass beads from the Mycenaean palace of Nestor at Pylos,Peloponnesus, Greece: new insight into the LBA glass trade

In recent years there has been a growing interest in Mycenaean glass among archaeologists and scientists. Scholars have traditionally thought that all Mycenaean glass was imported either in finished form or as ingots and simply shaped or worked at the Mycenaean sites. Chemical studies of other Mycenaean glass (50 and 43) support the hypothesis that glass was imported into Mycenaean Greece, but there is also indication for glass production in mainland Greece at the palace of Thebes (Nikita and Henderson, 2006). There is no evidence for glass making or working at the Palace of Pylos, yet there is an abundance of glass beads there. The aim of this paper is to identify the technology and source for the glass of these beads and thus to ascertain how Pylos was connected to the broader Mycenaean and Mediterranean economies. The composition of the glasses was determined by means of portable XRF analysis and compared to that of other Late Bronze Age glasses from Egypt, Mesopotamia and mainland Greece. Four blue beads coloured with cobalt and one blue bead coloured with copper have Ti and Zr compositions consistent with an Egyptian origin of manufacture while five other beads show Ti and Zr concentrations consistent with a Mesopotamian origin (Shortland et al., 2007). Based on the dearth of Egyptian and Mesopotamian imports in Pylos, the presented data support the hypothesis that Pylos was receiving via internal Greek trade routes foreign-produced glass, which may have been worked abroad or in Greece.     

Playful spaces? a social geography of children's play in Livingston,Scotland

It is often assumed that ‘play’ is an unproblematic category of children's activity, but consideration should be given to whether it is really an adult construction full of questionable assumptions about enjoyable activities free of stress for the children concerned. This paper offers some empirical materials to begin such a deconstruction of ‘play’ through an inquiry into the social geography of children's play in a Scottish new town. By retrieving what children think about their own play, what it entails and the spaces, places, social encounters and social variations central to it, it is possible to sketch out a social geography of children's play that, if not entirely unexpected, does suggest the ‘nature’ of play to be less certain than might commonly be supposed.     

Preliminary Report on the Excavation of the 17th-Century Anglo-Dutch East-Indiaman Avondster in Bay of Galle, Sri Lanka

The Avondster was a 17th century British ship captured by the Dutch and used by the United Dutch East India Company (VOC) trading with Asia until it was wrecked in Galle Harbour, Sri Lanka in 1659. The shipwreck was found in 1997 to be in very good condition but under threat from development in the harbour. From 2001–2004 an archaeological project was implemented by the Dutch/Sri Lankan Mutual Heritage Centre. The aims were to record and recover important cultural material as well as to build up the capacity of a Sri Lankan Maritime Archaeology Unit for implementing future work.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Book reviews

P.G. Edwards, Prime Ministers and Diplomats: The Making of Australian Foreign Policy 1901–1949, Oxford University Press in association with The Australian Institute of International Affairs, Melbourne, 1983, pp. vii + 230. $24.99.

Ghanshyam Pardesi (ed.), Contemporary Peace Research. Harvester Press, Brighton, 1983, pp. xi + 374, £30.00

Cosmas Desmond, Persecution East and West. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1983, pp. 172. $5.95.

B.G. Ramcharan (ed.), International Law and Fact‐Finding in the Field of Human Rights. Martinus Nijhoff. The Hague, 1982, pp. x + 260. $US48.00.

M. Akehurst, A Modern Introduction to International Law. Fourth edn. George Allen & Unwin, London, 1982, pp. 304. $49.50 (cloth) $17.95 (paper).

T. Nardin, Law, Morality, and the Relations of States. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1983, pp. xii + 350. $45.00 (cloth) $19.00 (paper).

Allan McKnight and Keith Suter, The Forgotten Treaties. Law Council of Australia, Melbourne, 1983, pp. xi + 136. $5.95.

D.E. Rosenthal and W.M. Knighton, National Laws and International Commerce. Chatlam House Papers 17. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and Royal Institute of Internationa! Affairs, 1982, pp. xi + 96. $9.95.

R. Kay (ed.), The Surrender and Occupation of Japan (Documents on New Zealand External Relations, Vol II), Department of Internal Affairs, Historical Publications Branch, Wellington, 1982, pp. 1782. $75.

Mike Muller, The Health of Nations: A North‐South Investigation. Faber and Faber, London, 1982, pp.255. $10.95.

Phiphat Tangsubkul, ASEAN and the Law of the Sea. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1982, pp. xv + 148. $S24.00.

D.P. O'Connell (edited by I.A. Shearer), The International Law of the Sea, Vol. I. Oxford University Press, New York, 1982, pp. xxxiii + 634. $100.00.

R.A. Herr, R. Hall, and B.W. Davis (eds.), Issues in Australia's Marine and Antarctic Policies. Public Policy Monograph, Department of Political Science, University of Tasmania, 1982, pp. xii + 201. $7.95.

Jürgen Tampke. The People's Republics of Eastern Europe. Croom Helm, London and Canberra, 1983, pp. 178. $27.50.

Alexandre Bennigsen and Marie Broxup, The Islamic Threat to the Soviet State. Croom Helm, London and Canberra, 1983, pp. vii + 170. $22.50.

Aryeh Y. Yodfat, The Soviet Union and the Arabian Peninsula. Soviet Policy Towards the Persian Gulf and Arabia. Croom Helm, London and Canberra, 1983, pp. xiii + 191. $23.50.

Saburo Okita. Japan's Challenging Years: Reflections on my Lifetime. Australia‐Japan Research Centre. Australian National University, Canberra, 1983,pp.xii,+ 147.$p10.00(Australia) $12.00 (overseas).

Martin Stuart‐Fox (ed.), Contemporary Laos. University of Queensland Press. St. Lucia. 1982. pp. xxii + 345. $19.95.

Jim Dunn, Timor: A People Betrayed, Jacaranda Press, Milton, 1983, pp. xiii + 402. $15.95.

J. Southwood and P. Flanagan, Indonesia: Law, Propaganda and Terror, Zed Press, London, pp. 272. £12.95 (cloth) £5.95 (paper).

Stephen Feuchtwang and Athar Hussain (eds.), The Chinese Economic Reforms. Croom Helm, London, 1983, pp. 373. £15.95.

Yearbook of International Organisations 1983–84, 20th Edition, Volume 1 K.G. Saur, Munich, for the Union of International Associations, Brussels, 1983, pp. 910. DM 428.