Historical legacies and political agency: hate speech in contemporary Cyprus

The article analyses expressions of hate speech/behaviour between the two main Cypriot communities – Greek and Turkish. Research and discussion on hate speech is theoretically and empirically informed by the notions of nationalism and otherism which have moulded hate speech perceptions in Cyprus. The major finding is that hate speech between Greek and Turkish Cypriots although subsiding in recent years can be easily triggered by political and social actors by references to history and/or isolated violent incidents. Hate speech is rooted in historical legacies, conservative and nationalistic world‐views, takes several forms and permeates Cypriot society, although most times is not explicitly expressed and does not take a violent turn.     

Simple Seismic Assessment of Traditional Unreinforced Masonry Buildings

A framework for quick seismic assessment and retrofit of traditional unreinforced masonry (URM) structures is presented. The proposed methods build on simple principles of structural dynamics and are used as an alternative to detailed time-history analysis, in recognition of the prevailing need for simple and practical methods, compatible with the low-budget and the limited level of knowledge regarding materials, internal force paths, connectivity and condition of older URM structures. An objective is to identify areas in the building that are particularly susceptible to damage and for guiding the types of the required global interventions to improve seismic response. Demand and supply are expressed in terms of relative drift ratios that quantify the intensity of out-of-plane differential translation and in-plane shear distortion of masonry walls. A characteristic traditional building type of timber-laced masonry is used as a model structure for illustration of concepts. The morphology and geometry of the building correspond to a statistical sample of the actual traditional unreinforced masonry buildings (TURM) found in historical centers of many towns in the greater region of Northern Greece. The methodology is particularly useful for setting retrofit priorities and management of the collective seismic risk of historical entities.     

Identifying the geochemical taphonomy of the osteological material from Katsambas rockshelter

We report analytical work undertaken in order to identify the geochemical taphonomy of the osteological collection (human and animal bones) recovered from a 1950s excavation at Katsambas, a small cavity in the marly limestone on the west bank of Kairatos River, Crete. The site had funerary use and yielded material of Neolithic and Minoan age with poor stratigraphical association. Disintegration of provenance labels from bags has introduced further uncertainty about the contexts of recovery. Samples of human and animal bones that macroscopically appear to belong to three taphonomic categories were studied by means of FT-IR spectroscopy, TEM microscopy and REE analysis to explore the taphonomical processes the bones have undergone. Although not novel in palaeontological research the use of REE opens a new path to investigating poorly provenanced osteological collections from old excavations. Such geochemical work offers a proxy to their relative dating through the evaluation of the time span bones have remained in the sediments and their respective taphonomic histories.     

Reassessment and new data on the diachronic relationship of Thassos Island with its indigenous metal resources: a review

The extraction of mineral ores and its associated metal production has been a persistent element of the economy on Thassos Island since prehistoric times. As early as the Upper Palaeolithic, around 20,000 years ago, ochre had been mined and used for painting, while early silver extraction is attested during the Final Neolithic (early fourth millennium BC). Copper production and alloying becomes an important activity in the coastal settlements of the island during the third and second millennia. The inception of iron metallurgy has been seen in association with copper smelting as confirmed by analyses on slag found in Early Iron Age upland cemeteries. With the arrival of the Greek colonists around 650 BC, intensification in silver and gold extraction became paramount for further economic expansion. This deep history in the use of Thassian metals is being reviewed based on archaeological findings and archaeometallurgical research of the last three decades, while new analytical data on Early Bronze Age copper smelting at Aghios Antonios are being presented.     

Use of space in a Neolithic village in Greece (Makri): phytolith analysis and comparison of phytolith assemblages from an ethnographic setting in the same area

Phytolith analyses were conducted in a Pottery Neolithic village (Makri) of Northern Greece in order to reconstruct aspects of past human activities as a function of both space and time. The analyses of phytolith assemblages were based on a reference collection of modern plant phytoliths (Tsartsidou et al., 2007), as well as an ethnographic study in an agropastoral community (Sarakini) in the same area that showed that many phytolith assemblages are characteristic of the activities carried out in different locations within and around the village (Tsartsidou et al., 2008). The same approach was used for studying the phytolith assemblages in the Neolithic village of Makri, namely measuring phytolith concentrations, diversities of phytolith assemblages relative to control samples collected from samples outside the village and detailed analysis of various phytolith morphotypes. At Makri samples from floors and various constructions (i.e. pit, platforms) were analysed, as well as sediments from an open area inside the village. The results show that Neolithic Makri was a society with a mixed agricultural and pastoral economy. Wheat and barley were cultivated for food and fodder and free-range animals were raised in a village inhabited year round. Indoor areas were not clearly differentiated from outdoor areas inside the village. The phytolith assemblages in only one series of floors produced at a specific location over an extended period of time reflected the use of that space for cereal storage or food processing. The phytolith assemblages from all the other floors examined did not reflect the local activities, but rather the constructional materials used for producing the floors.     

New Titanium Connectors for the Columns Capitals of the Classical Temple of Apollo Epikourios

The columns of monumental buildings in ancient Greece were provided with a pair of timber “empolia” (plugs) and a “pole” (pin), at interfaces between stone members (drums, capital). In order to reinstate this connection system, in columns capitals that were repaired, during the ongoing restoration of the classical temple of Apollo Epikourios (Greece), new poles and empolia made of titanium were installed. The titanium elements were designed to have similar shape and shear strength to the estimated respective characteristics of the ancient poles and empolia. Moreover, their effect on the seismic behaviour of the temple columns was numerically investigated. The investigation showed that, within the range of strong earthquakes which are anticipated in the area of the monument, the installation of a single pole at the interface between the capital and the uppermost drum leads to limited reduction of the expected maximum and residual deformations of the column, without altering significantly the main characteristics of its rocking response. Furthermore, poles located at every column interface ensures significant limitation of the column residual deformations. Prior to implementation of the titanium poles and empolia, the main aspects of their design were verified through specially designed experiments.     

Archaeomagnetic versus luminescence methods: the case of an Early Byzantine ceramic workshop in Thessaloniki,Greece

In this contribution, we present a combined archaeomagnetic and luminescence study of archaeologically dated structures. The investigated area is a ceramic workshop comprising several Early Byzantine kilns. Based on (a) the archaeological–anthropogenic stratigraphy of the site, (b) the structural characteristics of the kilns and (c) the few ceramic findings revealed within their context, the operation of this brick and tile factory is approximately dated between the middle of the fifth century until the first decades of the sixth century AD. Three of the well-preserved workshop kilns have been studied archaeomagnetically. The full vector of the geomagnetic field, accompanied by rock magnetic analyses of the studied material, has been defined. The archaeomagnetic study revealed similar directions among the three kilns indicating and confirming their contemporary use. Additionally, several luminescence measurements were obtained on material from the same kilns. The dating of the site was performed with both methods. The archaeomagnetic dating is convergent with the archaeological estimation only when its upper limit is considered. Concerning the luminescence dating, the calculated ages (corrected for anomalous fading and for the ⁴⁰K content) with their standard deviations are convergent with the archaeological estimations for the first kiln, while for the other two, the results seem to be incompatible. The possible factors that provoked this divergence are thoroughly discussed.