New Middle Palaeolithic sites from the Mani Peninsula,Southern Greece

We here report the first results from a systematic research project in Mani (Southern Greece), which includes survey and test excavations. Forty-six caves, rockshelters and open-air sites in lowland settings were surveyed. Geomorphological data were collected in order to assess how geological processes affect the preservation of sites and bias site distribution patterns. Artifacts manufactured from non-local rock indicate potential raw material transfers and suggest links among the different regions of Mani, related to mobility patterns. Our research in the Mani has nearly doubled the number of known Middle Palaeolithic sites from the region and confirmed that the peninsula has the strongest ‘Neanderthal signal’ identified to date in Greece. Almost all sites are located at coastal areas. Despite the influence of Pleistocene landscape dynamics, this distribution emerges as a persistent pattern, perhaps indicating a preference for coastal locations. The Neanderthal occupation of Mani can illuminate important aspects of Middle Palaeolithic adaptation in one of the southernmost coastal regions of Europe.     

The geoarchaeology of Mycenaean chamber tombs

This study presents a revised methodology for the excavation and analysis of the stratigraphy in Mycenaean chamber tombs and other multi-use burials. For our excavation of chamber tombs at Ayia Sotira and Barnavos, Nemea, we followed a geoarchaeological approach to provide details about the process of backfilling and re-opening of the tombs and to identify the location, number, and slope of these re-openings.     

Where are the roofs? A geo-ethnoarchaeological study of mud brick structures and their collapse processes,focusing on the identification of roofs

Unlike floors that have been given a lot of attention in archaeological research, the study of roofs is long neglected. Here, we present a study of modern abandoned and burnt mud brick structures, conducted in southern Israel and northern Greece. Using macroscopic observations and interviews together with micromorphology, mineralogical, phytolith, and phosphate analyses, we show that roofs should be sought in close proximity to floors. We show that roofs practically seal activity remains on floors; thus, the importance of identifying roofs in the archaeological record lies mainly with the ability to estimate the integrity of floors and floor assemblages. While human behavior and maintenance practices are major factors in the deposition of primary activity remains on floors, the timing of roof collapse determines how well activity remains will be preserved. In addition, we show that the roof plays a major role in the degradation process of mud structures as wall degradation is enhanced after the collapse of the roof resulting in accumulation of mud brick degradation material on top of the collapsed roof. As most roofs in antiquity seem to have been composed of degradable vegetal materials, we found that not only they leave little evidence for their presence, but they also mix with vegetal activity remains. We therefore use the accumulation of mud brick debris as an indicator for the location of degraded roofs. Using microstratigraphy for the identification of both floors and roofs is significant in order to locate activity remains in the archaeological sedimentary sequence and to evaluate their state of preservation.     

Response to Nowell and Horstwood (2009)

Here we respond to the comment by Nowell and Horstwood (2009) written in response to our 2008 paper where we presented the first results of the application of laser ablation strontium isotope analysis to a fossil hominin. Although we are pleased that the paper has attracted so much interest, including from researchers outside the field such as Nowell and Horstwood, we completely disagree with the two main arguments of their comment. Namely, we reject the notion that they can recalibrate our data using different methods and (non matrix-matched) standards determined in a different laboratory, and that is simply irresponsible to advocate the further development of this method for rare and important hominin samples through drilling rather than the almost non-destructive method of laser ablation that we presented in our paper.     

The ancient Greek names “Magnesia” and “Magnetes” and their origin from the magnetite occurrences at the Mavrovouni mountain of Thessaly,central Greece. A mineralogical–geochemical approach

Pliny the Elder (first century A.D.) mentioned that the Thessalian magnetite from Magnesia in ancient Greece was second in quality after the Ethiopic. This magnetite should be related with the origin of the Homeric Magnetes of the eighth century B.C. who lived around Ossa mountain in central Greece. A new euhedral magnetite occurrence derived from the Kampitsios area at the north-western slopes of Mavrovouni mountain in “Amyrikon Pedion”, probably shows that this region should have been connected with the origin of the Homeric Magnetes. The magnetites under study are found as porphyroblasts in the talc schists. They are almost pure with rare inclusions, mainly ilmenite, rutile, pseudorutile and a PbO phase. The alteration of magnetite to hematite is restricted only along the fissures and cracks as well as along the rims, forming very thin films of a few micrometres in thickness. Microprobe analyses showed that the magnetites are almost pure and they contain only traces of Cr₂O₃ (1.01–3.41%). The high-quality magnetites of Kampitsios could be probably related with those mentioned by Pliny, and they should be related with the origin of the Homeric Magnetes of the eighth century B.C. who lived around Ossa mountain in Thessaly.     

FTIR imaging and HPLC reveal ancient painting and dyeing techniques of molluskan purple

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and imaging coupled to optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to diode-array detection are used to investigate two samples removed from a painted decoration of a burial kline and a textile fragment, both found in Koru tumulus (fifth century BCE) in Daskyleion. Tyrian purple and kaolinite were identified in both samples, thus suggesting that the aluminosilicate compound had an important role in the applied painting and dyeing processes. The textile fragment is composed of undyed cotton and silk yarns dyed with the molluskan dye. The relative compositions of the molluskan materials used in the two archaeological objects are similar and comparable with the corresponding composition measured for a purple sample originated from Murex trunculus mollusks according to the HPLC results. This result is supported by principal component analysis (PCA) which, furthermore, takes into account the relative compositions of the extracts of the three Mediterranean mollusks, published in previous reports.     

SO Debate Genre,structure and poetics in the Byzantine vernacular romances of love

This debate focuses on a group of anonymous Byzantine romances written in fifteen-syllable verse and in the vernacular idiom sometime between the thirteenth and the fifteenth centuries. The point of departure is a report written by Panagiotis Agapitos of the University of Cyprus. After a critical look at earlier research on this neglected genre, he presents the principal texts and other related textual material. The three main sections of the report are devoted to genre, structure and poetics, while the conclusion summarizes the report's main propositions.We have asked a number of international experts in the field to comment on these propositions, and Professor Agapitos to reply to their comments. A common bibliographical list concludes the debate. Further comments from other scholars are invited.     

Late Neolithic household activities in marginal areas: the micromorphological evidence from the Kouveleiki caves,Peloponnese, Greece

The micromorphological study of the Neolithic archaeological sequence of the Kouveleiki Caves A and B and the reassessment of the archaeological record under the new data revealed that the site constituted a small-scale self-contained mixed farming household in an upland area of Greece. The study of the microstructure and the microstratigraphy of the sediment revealed that the front chamber of Cave A is dominated by dry, almost totally burnt coprolites resulting from stabling, most likely of sheep and/or goats. There are also indications of frequent trampling and disturbance of the stabling deposits by human activities. Hence, Cave A was used as a small seasonal pen and, probably, as a place for rudimentary activities. The dark back chamber of Cave A was the main habitation area, where plastered floors were constructed by a mixture of burnt dung (derived from the seasonal pen) and red clay (to be found in the plain in front of the cave). The nearby Kouveleiki Cave B was probably used as a complementary activity area.