Osteological evidence for the draught exploitation of cattle: first applications of a new methodology

Although the aetiology of bone pathologies in cattle is poorly documented, various deformations in the skeleton have been attributed to draught exploitation in the archaeozoological literature. This paper summarizes the results of an osteological study that was undertaken on the feet of modern draught oxen. This led to the definition of a series of draught‐related anomalies. In an attempt to describe the pathologies in a more consistent and quantitative way, a scoring scale for each individual bone pathology was established. The developed method is applied to cattle remains from four Roman and one late medieval site. The distribution of the observed pathological indices (PIs) on the first phalanges is interpreted in terms of the age structure of the cattle populations, and the possible modes of cattle exploitation and meat consumption in various settlement types. Copyright © 2000 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     

Common ware production at Thamusida: dating and characterisation of Roman and Islamic pottery

Twenty-one samples of likely Roman, likely Islamic and unknown common ware from the archaeological site of Thamusida (Rabat, Morocco) were analysed in order to anchor selected types of pottery to a limited time span and, possibly, to a production area and technology. Analytical techniques were thermoluminescence, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence. The results arising from this research are definitely useful for the study of the site of Thamusida as well as for all researchers involved in archaeological and archaeometrical research in Morocco. Chronologies proposed on a typological base have been denied twice: a likely Islamic cup dates back to the second century a.d.; vice versa, a stewpot, framed into the Roman period, resulted to be an eighth century a.d. production. Moreover, the identification of an eighteenth century ceramic production is of outstanding importance, as it characterises a completely unknown production. Regarding the production area, four samples of both Roman and Islamic periods have been recognised as local productions of Thamusida.     

Chemical tracers of Lusitanian amphorae kilns from the Tagus estuary (Portugal)

In this paper, the characterization of Roman amphorae from the Porto dos Cacos (PC) and Quinta do Rouxinol (QR) workshops, in the Tagus estuary, dating to a period between the 1st and 5th century AD was carried out on the basis of instrumental neutron activation analysis data on 260 amphorae fragments, together with mineralogical compositional studies obtained by X-ray diffraction.     

Roman Navigation in Venice Lagoon: the Results of Underwater Research

Venice lagoon formed part of a network of inland waterways used for navigation in the northern Adriatic, an almost continuous system of lakes, river‐mouths and canals, at least partly pre‐Roman in origin. The fossae which cross the present lagoon are the continuation of a complex system of natural watercourses and artificial canals between Ravenna and Aquileia. Two Roman buildings discovered on the present San Felice canal could be interpreted as providing navigational assistance at points linking the sea and inland routes. © 2009 The Authors     

The ethno‐religious ambitions of the Roman Catholic Church and the ascendancy of communism in post‐war Poland (1945–50)

ABSTRACT. This paper differentiates between centrifugal and centripetal aspects of ethno‐nationalism to help account for the ascendancy of communism in the immediate aftermath of World War II in Poland. It argues that the directing of social antipathy to defined out‐groups allowed the Polish Workers' Party (PPR) to manage social anger and that the Roman Catholic Church's ethno‐religious agenda was aligned with the PPR's ethno‐nationalist policy. Furthermore, it is contended that the Church's toleration of hostile actions directed at minority communities supported the PPR's management of social anger. The paper concludes that the Church, despite its manifest intentions and contrary to contemporary perceptions, played a role in the PPR's achievement of hegemony.     

罗马帝国的地方政府——以不列颠为例

本文通过分析罗马政府在不列颠的运作以揭示元首制时期罗马行省体系的运作机制。对总督及代理官任命之考察表明,罗马官员具有非职业性,他们生活在相对固定的晋升体系中,一生需要出任诸多不同职位,并没有为出任某个职位接受专门训练,所以无法发展出专业行政知识。此外,元首制时期官僚机构尚未增生,行省中罗马官员的数量屈指可数。这些都为地方自治开辟了空间。在某些罗马势力不易渗透的地方,地方自治政府在征服初期以藩属国的形式出现。随着时机成熟,藩属国作为一种权宜之计逐渐被具有高度自治权的城市所代替。城市里的地方官员在刑事案件之审理和直接税之征收方面发挥了重要作用。尽可能把行政负担转嫁到地方政府身上是罗马帝国正常运转的奥秘所在。     

Made in the Nene Valley? Identifying the origins of mortaria using ICP analysis

The Nene Valley, in eastern central England, was a major pottery production centre in the Roman period. Many kiln sites have been identified in the Lower Nene Valley region and, although comparatively less is known about production in the Upper Nene Valley, substantial amounts of mortaria and other coarse wares have been recovered during excavations at Roman sites in the area, and much of it is thought to be locally made. However mortaria made in the Upper and Lower Nene Valley can be difficult to tell apart, and many also have similar forms and fabrics to mortaria produced in Mancetter–Hartshill, Warwickshire. Therefore ICP analysis was used in an attempt to identify the products of different regions.     

Recovery of DNA from archaeological insect remains: first results,problems and potential

We report the recovery of short fragments of PCR amplifiable ancient DNA from exoskeletal fragments of the grain weevil Sitophilus granarius (L.) extracted from Roman and medieval deposits in Northern England. If DNA preservation in archaeological insect remains is widespread then many applications in the spheres of evolutionary studies and archaeology can be conceived, some of which are outlined.     

Oxygen and strontium isotope evidence for mobility in Roman Winchester

Artefacts and burial rites in the late Roman cemetery at Lankhills School, Winchester, southern England, were used by Clarke (1979) to distinguish between local Romano-British individuals and migrants thought to be from the Danube region, a suggestion tested through isotope analysis by Evans et al. (2006a,b). This paper reports strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotope data for tooth enamel sampled from a further 40 individuals from more recent excavations on the same site. Results suggest that up to a quarter of the sampled Lankhills individuals were incomers, with several individuals possibly originating from the Hungarian Basin and the Southern Mediterranean. However, there was no clear link between isotopic signature and archaeological origin attribution, suggesting that in many cases burial practice was dictated by factors other than ‘ethnicity’, such as kinship, marriage or cultural and political preferences.