Copper and Trade in the South-Eastern Mediterranean


Book Description

This book is the result of a large-scale research undertaking Trade Routes of the Near East," examining Egyptian-Levantine interaction in the 4th Millennium BC. Chapters explore many issues related to copper and trade in the long period covering the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages, but also Roman period, with a special extension to present metallurgical practices in the African interior. A wide range of data discussed here was collected from across the eastern Mediterranean region including Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus and Greece.




Human Mobility and Technological Transfer in the Prehistoric Mediterranean


Book Description

The diverse forms of regional connectivity in the ancient world have recently become an important focus for those interested in the deep history of globalisation. This volume represents a significant contribution to this new trend as it engages thematically with a wide range of connectivities in the later prehistory of the Mediterranean, from the later Neolithic of northern Greece to the Levantine Iron Age, and with diverse forms of materiality, from pottery and metal to stone and glass. With theoretical overviews from leading thinkers in prehistoric mobilities, and commentaries from top specialists in neighbouring domains, the volume integrates detailed case studies within a comparative framework. The result is a thorough treatment of many of the key issues of regional interaction and technological diversity facing archaeologists working across diverse places and periods. As this book presents key case studies for human and technological mobility across the eastern Mediterranean in later prehistory, it will be of interest primarily to Mediterranean archaeologists, though also to historians and anthropologists.




Nomads of the Mediterranean: Trade and Contact in the Bronze and Iron Ages


Book Description

Three millennia of cross-Mediterranean bonds are revealed by 18 expert summaries in this book, shedding light on environmental factors; the formation of harbors; gateways; commodities; cultural impact; and the way to interpret the agents such as Canaanites, "Sea Peoples," Phoenicians and pirates.




Mochlos IVA


Book Description

This excavation of a Late Bronze Age town on the island of Mochlos in northeastern Crete includes the House of the Metal Merchant (with two large bronze hoards) and 13 other structures. Each building is described with its stratigraphy, architecture, small finds, ecofactual materials, function, and room use. This is a two volume set. Volume 1 contains the text and Volume 2 contains the Concordance, Tables, Figures, and Plates.




‘Isaac went out to the field’: Studies in Archaeology and Ancient Cultures in Honor of Isaac Gilead


Book Description

‘Isaac went out to the field (Genesis 24:63)’ presents 28 articles honouring Professor Isaac Gilead on his 71st birthday. Papers on prehistoric and proto-historic archaeology reflect the focus of the honoree’s teaching and research, while other subjects including Biblical and Near Eastern studies explore Gilead’s other areas of interest.




Invisible Connections: An Archaeometallurgical Analysis of the Bronze Age Metalwork from the Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig


Book Description

The Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig has the largest university collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts in Germany. This volume presents an analysis of 86 of these artefacts using a range of archaeometallurgical methods in order to provide a diachronic sample of Bronze Age Egyptian copper alloy metalwork from Dynasty 1 to Dynasty 19.




Crossroads / Carrefour Sahel


Book Description

This volume contains the proceedings of the international conference “Cultural developments and technological innovations in first millennium BC/AD West Africa” held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in March 2008, with participants from eleven countries and three continents. The rationale behind the meeting was the conviction that the first millennium before and after the beginning of the Common Era, like no other period before, encompasses the origins of developments that are directly related to the modern world – particularly in Africa. Current archaeological research in West Africa has been providing an increasing amount of relevant evidence on this period, including a series of significant developments that had critical impacts on human ways of life in subsequent times. The papers of the present volume deal with different aspects of these developments and contribute towards the understanding of the unique cultural diversity of this part of the African continent.




Central Places and Un-Central Landscapes


Book Description

This volume examines the applicability of central place theory in contemporary archaeological practice and thought in light of ongoing developments in landscape archaeology, by bringing together ‘central places’ and ‘un-central landscapes’ and by grasping diachronically the complex relation between town and country, as shaped by political economies and the availability of natural resources. Moving away from model-bounded approaches, central place theory is used more flexibly to include all the places that may have functioned as loci of economic or ideological centrality (even in a local context) in the past. Fourteen chapters examine centrality and un-central landscapes from Prehistory to the late Middle Ages in different geographical contexts, from Cyprus and the Levant, through Greece and the Balkans to Italy, France, and Germany.




Digging Up Jericho


Book Description

21 papers present a holistic perspective on the research and public value of the site of Jericho – an iconic site with a long and impressive history stretching from the Epipalaeolithic to the present day. Covering all aspects of archaeological work from past to present and beyond, they re-evaluate and assess the legacy of this important site.




The Metallurgy of Roman Silver Coinage


Book Description

The fineness of Roman imperial and provincial coinage has been regarded as an indicator of the broader fiscal health of the Roman Empire, with the apparent gradual decline of the silver content being treated as evidence for worsening deficits and the contraction of the supply of natural resources from which the coins were made. This book explores the composition of Roman silver coinage of the first century AD, re-examining traditional interpretations in the light of an entirely new programme of analyses of the coins, which illustrates the inadequacy of many earlier analytical projects. It provides new evidence for the supply of materials and refining and minting technology. It can even pinpoint likely episodes of recycling old coins and, when combined with the study of hoards, hints at possible strategies of stockpiling of metal. The creation of reserves bears directly on the question of the adequacy of revenues and fiscal health.