Marbles,granites and basalt used in the cruciform basilica of Abila (Decapolis,Jordan): archaeometric characterization and provenance

The provenance of granite, basalt, and marble used in building the cruciform basilica of Abila of the Decapolis, northwestern Jordan, is investigated using chemical and petrographic techniques. The basilica is dated to the late fifth or early sixth century AD. The stones were characterized using macroscopic traits in combination with optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and stable oxygen and carbon isotope spectrometry. These data were compared to the published databases for marbles, granites, and basalts used in antiquity. The comparison showed that the basalts are most probably local. The islands of Marmara (Proconessos-1), Turkey, are the primary source of the white marbles, while Paros island (Paros-2), Greece, is a minor source. The source of the green Cipollino marbles is Styra in the island of Euboea (Greece). The pink and gray granites are likely microasiatic from the Çigri and Kozak Dâgs, respectively, northwest Turkey.     

Lega democratica and the making of Italy’s center-left

This article analyzes the history of the Lega democratica, a group of Catholic intellectuals active between 1975 and 1987, and its impact on Catholic debates in Italy’s Second Republic. Despite its small membership, the group’s heritage influenced Italy’s post-1994 center-left and shaped its leadership. Such relevance is explained by describing the Lega democratica’s legacy on four issues. First, on Catholic pluralism: the group was central to a decade-long failed attempt to reconcile different souls of the Italian Catholic laity, which anticipated the end of the Christian Democratic party. Second, after Aldo Moro’s murder the Lega democratica theorized the impossibility of a ‘historic compromise’ between Communists and Christian Democrats: such a development framed their post-1994 attitude. Third, the group’s history reveals a growing generational split on how to achieve political reform (mediation vs. rupture). Finally, the emerging idea of a ‘primacy of civil society’ in the political sphere partly defined the Ulivo coalition’s ideology.     

Middle Stone Age Bifacial Technology and Pressure Flaking at the MIS 3 Site of Toumboura III,Eastern Senegal

African Archaeological Review - Over the past decade, the increasing wealth of new archaeological data on the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in Senegal and Mali has broadened our understanding of...     

Large carnivore attacks on hominins during the Pleistocene: a forensic approach with a Neanderthal example

Interaction between hominins and carnivores has been common and constant through human evolution and generated mutual pressures similar to those present in worldwide modern human-carnivore conflicts. This current interaction is sometimes violent and can be reflected in permanent skeletal pathologies and other bone modifications. In the present paper, we carry out a survey of 124 forensic cases of dangerous human-carnivore encounters. The objective is to infer direct hominin-carnivore confrontation during the Pleistocene, which is important to understand behavioral changes during human evolution. In addition, the case of Neanderthals is analyzed in order to find evidence of past attacks using forensic observations. The results obtained pose that Neanderthals could potentially have been involved in dangerous encounters during the Pleistocene, validating our methodology to approach past attacks from a forensic perspective.     

Archaeometric analysis of the ‘greco scritto’ marble slabs from the Edificio dei Triclinii at Murecine (Pompeii,Italy)

This paper presents the results of the archaeometric analysis of the greco scritto marble slabs from the Edificio dei Triclinii, an inn or statio negotiatorum discovered at Murecine in Pompeii’s suburbs in 1999–2000. A total of 14 samples were collected and subjected to standard X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy (OM) on thin sections and stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA) to assess the stone’s identity and provenance. The results of this study substantiate the hypothesis (already put forward and based on a macroscopic identification by Perna and Scognamiglio) that the stone originates from the Hasançavuşlar quarries near Ephesus in Asia Minor, and represent the first step towards a systematic contextual and geochemical study of Ephesian greco scritto in Roman contexts and its respective contribution to the Roman stone trade.