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PORPHYRA
PORPHYRA
The Materiality of Purple Dye Production and Use in Cyprus and the Aegean from Prehistory to the Late Roman Period
The Materiality of Purple Dye Production and Use in Cyprus and the Aegean from Prehistory to the Late Roman Period
Edited by D. Mylona, T.M. Brogan, M. Eaby and M. Iacovou
Study of the ancient purple dye industry provides a dynamic field for new research. Developments in maritime archaeology and the increasing application of specialised field methodologies and laboratory techniques have resulted in a wealth of new data and fresh approaches to older material. The entire process of purple dye production, distribution and use can be traced archaeologically. Crushed and whole purple shells, purple pigment adhered to pottery sherds or individual lumps of it and the fragile remains of purple-dyed fabrics are common finds in excavations on the coasts surrounding the Mediterranean; these finds raise considerable challenges regarding their interpretation and their attribution to specific stages of the process. This volume contributes to this discourse by focusing on the materiality of purple dye production in the regions of Cyprus and the Aegean Sea. Specific case studies ranging from the Bronze Age to the Roman period, combined with a few thematic chapters, underline the importance of high-quality excavation procedures and analysis of finds, the need for collaboration of field excavators and specialists and the paramount importance of contextual analysis. The chapters in this volume showcase, quite effectively, the existence of comprehensive archaeological evidence for an articulate, multi-scalar and culturally embedded marine industry centred on purple dye. They also offer methodological suggestions and interpretation guidelines that could be helpful to excavators who uncover purple dye-related finds.
ScapeCon 2022
ScapeCon 2022
Towards an Archaeology of Fragmentation in the Aegean Bronze Age
Towards an Archaeology of Fragmentation in the Aegean Bronze Age
Edited by Thérèse Claeys, Louis Dautais, Roxane Dubois, Killian Regnier, Evgenia Tsafou, Daniele Vendramin & Diana Wolf
ScapeCon is an international conference series aimed specifi cally at early career scholars, including MA and PhD students. It is organised since 2018 by and for junior researchers with the aim of providing a platform for them as they take their initial steps into the academic realm, and of facilitating the exploration and dissemination of their research on the Aegean Bronze Age within an encouraging and supportive atmosphere.
The present volume brings together 15 papers presented at the occasion of the 5th edition of the ScapeCon conference held at UCLouvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, 24-27 November 2022) from among the 31 presentations, posters, and keynote lectures delivered on the theme of fragmentation in the Aegean Bronze Age. Both aspects of material and immaterial fragmentation are discussed within three main themes focused on (1) people, (2) material culture, and (3) archaeological data and through interdisciplinary approaches. Consequently, this volume encompasses studies of diverse archaeological data, such as bones, vases and sherds, seals, jewellery, and architecture but also digital data. In terms of methodological approaches, it focuses on artistic, textual, cross-disciplinary, iconographic, statistical, computational, experimental, theoretical, and lab analytical approaches. The papers cover a wide geographical scope of the Mediterranean, from Crete to Attica, the Peloponnese, Macedonia, Cyprus, and even Egypt.
Protopalatial Pottery
Protopalatial Pottery
Relative Chronology and Regional Differences in Middle Bronze Age Crete
Relative Chronology and Regional Differences in Middle Bronze Age Crete
Edited by Ilaria Caloi, Georgios Doudalis
This volume publishes the proceedings of an international workshop held at Pacheia Ammos hosted by the Institute of Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) Study Center in East Crete in celebration of its first 25 years of operation. It presents the Protopalatial ceramic material from various sites of Minoan Crete to understand similarities and differences in the island's production, distribution, and pottery consumption. The numerous papers in the volume deal with excavated sites of North-Central, Eastern and Southern Crete, and in some cases, they present the ceramic deposits from sites in these areas for the first time. The main goal of most papers is to contextualise well-stratified assemblages through the analysis of their ceramic typology, decorative variations, and technological aspects to understand the different phases of occupation in the Protopalatial period. The two-day workshop showed that the ceramic material from different sites, according to the nature of the assemblages, can be attributed to single phases or to transitional phases (MM IB-MM IIA, MM IIA-MM IIB) of the Protopalatial period, thus revealing that synchronisms between various sites of the island can be challenging. On the assumption that chronological distinctions were possible by comparing already published data, most authors tried to analyse the connections between different areas to understand intra- and inter-regional processes. Connections between nearby or distant sites reveal similar or variable production and consumption patterns dictated by geographic, cultural, and political parameters. From a ceramic perspective, a regional approach is still a valid tool, but it works only in areas where the ceramic traditions are well investigated and defi ned. Despite the challenges presented in discovering synchronisms (and asynchronisms) for the Protopalatial contexts of the entire island, this volume will be a reference for new studies of Protopalatial ceramics on Crete.
Chronos
Chronos
Stratigraphic Analysis, Pottery Seriation and Radiocarbon Dating in Mediterranean Chronology
Stratigraphic Analysis, Pottery Seriation and Radiocarbon Dating in Mediterranean Chronology
Edited by Jan Driessen, Tiziano Fantuzzi
The absolute chronology of Neopalatial Crete and the early Late Bronze Age Aegan, and in particular, of the Late Minoan IA Theran Eruption on Santorini, thie so-called Minoan Eruption. Lire la suite
The absolute chronology of Neopalatial Crete and the early Late Bronze Age Aegean – and, in particular, of the Late Minoan IA Theran Eruption on Santorini, the so-called Minoan Eruption – is a pivotal point for the study of the entire eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age, while at the same time providing one of the most interesting (and intricate) case-studies for combined archaeological and high-precision radiocarbon dating.
Since the 1970s, the traditional, archaeology-based chronology has been questioned following the analysis of radiocarbon measurements from Thera and elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, while the recent publication of the new annual-resolution section of the calibration curve IntCal20 for the 1700-1500 BCE period has shown that remaining uncertainties aff ect the arguments for both the archaeo-historically-based 'Low' chronology – with the eruption event in the last decades of the 16th century BCE, and the radiocarbon-based ‘High’ chronology, which sets the eruption in the later part of the 17th century BCE. Focussing on new insights and methods (especially Correspondence Analysis) to achieve a better resolution for the absolute date, this volume originates in an international workshop with the same title organised at Louvain-la-Neuve in
December 2022, in which the different approaches were discussed, confronted and explored. The workshop forms part of the ARC 20/25-106 TALOS program: The Santorini Eruption: Comparative anthropological and volcanological research of an archaeological case study.
Megistos Kouros
Megistos Kouros
Studies in honour of Hugh Sackett
Studies in honour of Hugh Sackett
Edited by Jan Driessen, Carl Knappett
This volume represents a tribute by friends, family and colleagues to Hugh Sackett, a British archaeologist who led important excavations at Knossos, Palaikastro and Lefkandi in Greece. Organised in two parts, Reminiscences and Archaeological Contributions, the texts speak both to Hugh's dual life as archaeologist and teacher, and his important contributions to Aegean and Greek prehistory. These varied papers, many richly illustrated, refl ect on his impact in the fi eld or discuss specifi c details of the sites he worked on. Other texts treat more general aspects of Greek prehistory. Many of the contributions discuss the site of Palaikastro where Hugh worked fi rst in the early 1960s and then again from 1983 onwards.
Communication Uneven
Communication Uneven
Acceptance of and Resistance to Foreign Influences in the Connected Ancient Mediterranean
Acceptance of and Resistance to Foreign Influences in the Connected Ancient Mediterranean
Edited by Jan Driessen, Alessandro Vanzetti
The aim of this volume is to measure acceptance of, and resistance to, outside influences within Mediterranean coastal settlements and their immediate hinterlands, with a particular focus on the processes not reflecting simple commercial routes, but taking place at an intercultural level, in situations of developed connectedness.
This volume has its origin in a similarly entitled session organised at the 24th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Barcelona in 2018. The specific aim of both the session and this volume was to measure acceptance of, and resistance to, outside influences within Mediterranean coastal settlements and their immediate hinterlands, with an open time range, but with a particular focus on the processes not reflecting simple commercial routes, but taking place at an intercultural level, in situations of developed connectedness. Following a general discussion of the theoretical and long-lasting facets of the discussion on communication, and of some of the reasons for its unevenness, the contributions in the volume give a wide and stimulating view of the ongoing debate about Mediterranean interaction and communication. The papers' timespan is large: from the Late Neolithic of Crete, in the 5th - 4th millennium BCE, to the Macedonian conquest of Thrace, in the 4th century BCE. Most contributions, however, focus on the Middle to Late Bronze Ages, as this is a phase of particularly intense communication, which matches the interests and connections of the editors. The geographic frame extends from the Central Mediterranean to Thrace, Cyprus and the Levant, with an important focus on Crete and Mycenaean Greece. Other papers, more than specific areas, instead discuss the figures of some of the actors of the intra-Mediterranean interregional communication, and the nuances of their roles: warriors and merchants.
OIKOS
OIKOS
Archaeological approaches to House Societies in the Bronze Age Aegean
Archaeological approaches to House Societies in the Bronze Age Aegean
Edited by Maria Relaki, Jan Driessen
This collection of papers explores whether the Lévi-Straussian notion of the House is a valid concept in aiding the comprehension of the social structure of Bronze Age Aegean societies. The main question that is addressed is whether there was a specific social institution or definable group that, through its materialisation, differentiated itself from other social units, such as nuclear families. While little agreement was reached, the volume succeeds in stressing the advances made in the study of social structure of the Aegean on the basis of material remains. Moreover, the discussions presented demonstrate that the House as an analytical unit allows a better understanding of what on Crete has usually been called 'the elite' – an anonymous group of people with shared values and practices. It is the contention of the editors that such an interpretation of the basal social structure may help understand the unique emergence, development and character of Minoan society, as well as its distinctive material culture.
Current Approaches and New Perspectives in Aegean Iconography
Current Approaches and New Perspectives in Aegean Iconography
Edited by Fritz Blakolmer
The aim of this volume is to present an overview of current trends and individual methodological attempts towards arriving at an adequate understanding of Minoan, Cycladic, and Mycenaean iconography.
Ashlar
Ashlar
Exploring the Materiality of Cut-Stone Masonry in the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age
Exploring the Materiality of Cut-Stone Masonry in the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age
Edited by Maud Devolder, Igor Kreimerman
This volume focusses on ashlar masonry, probably the most elaborate construction technique of the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age, from a cross-regional perspective. The building practices and the uses of cutstone components and masonries in Egypt, Syria, the Aegean, Anatolia, Cyprus and the Levant in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC are examined through a series of case studies and topical essays. The topics addressed include the terminology of ashlar building components and the typologies of its masonries, technical studies on the procurement, dressing, tool kits and construction techniques pertaining to cut stone, investigations into the place of ashlar in inter-regional exchanges and craft dissemination, the extent and signifi cance of the use of cut stone within the communities and regions, and the visual eff ects, social meanings, and symbolic and ideological values of ashlar.
Technology in Crisis
Technology in Crisis
Technological changes in ceramic production during periods of trouble
Technological changes in ceramic production during periods of trouble
Edited by Ilaria Caloi, Charlotte Langohr
This workshop questioned the reliability of pottery as crisis indicator within the archaeological data set. More particularly, following the perspective of archaeological and anthropological research that assesses pottery technology as a social product, there is an interest in addressing the social and cultural aspects of technological change...
An Archaeology of Forced Migration
An Archaeology of Forced Migration
Crisis-induced mobility and the Collapse of the 13th c. BCE Eastern Mediterranean
Crisis-induced mobility and the Collapse of the 13th c. BCE Eastern Mediterranean
Edited by Jan Driessen
This collection of papers explores whether a meaningful distinction can be made in the archaeological record between migrations in general and conflict-induced migration in particular and whether the concept of conflict-induced migration is at all relevant to understand the major societal collapse of Bronze Age societies in the Eastern Mediterranean in the late 13th c. BCE. Helped by modern perspectives on actual and recent cases of conflict-induced migration and by textual evidence on ancient events, the different areas of the Mediterranean affected by the Late Bronze Age events are explored.
Gathered in Death
Gathered in Death
Archaeological and Ethnological Perspectives on Collective Burial and Social Organisation
Archaeological and Ethnological Perspectives on Collective Burial and Social Organisation
Aurore Schmitt, Sylviane Déderix, Isabelle Crevecoeur
This volume addresses the topic of collective burial practices, focusing on two main questions: "Who are the deceased buried together in collective tombs?" and “Why are these deceased buried collectively?” Archaeologists, ethnologists and ethnoarchaeologists examin case studies from antiquity to nowadays.
This volume comprises the proceedings of an international workshop that took place at the UCLouvain in Belgium on the 8th and 9th of December 2016. This workshop addressed the topic of collective burial practices, focusing on two main questions: "Who are the deceased buried together in collective tombs?" and “Why are these deceased buried collectively?” Archaeologists, ethnologists and ethnoarchaeologists were thus invited to discuss the identity of the deceased deposited in collective burial places, as well as the ideological and social motivations for gathering the dead in the same tomb over several generations. The chapters in the volume examine case studies ranging from contemporary Madagascar and Austronesia to the Prehistoric Mediterranean and Dynastic Europe. They also reinitiate discussions regarding the potential of archaeological and anthropobiological datasets to approach social organization among past populations.
How Long is a Century?
How Long is a Century?
Late Minoan IIIB Pottery Relative Chronology and Regional Differences
Late Minoan IIIB Pottery Relative Chronology and Regional Differences
Edited by Charlotte Langohr
Covering approximately the century between 1300 and 1200 BC, the Late Minoan IIIB phase remains a blurred episode of Minoan civilisation. Archaeological data present a contradictory picture: on the one hand, they suggest a time of prosperity, with favourable conditions of subsistence and growth; on the other hand, there are signs of trouble illustrated by a series of abandonments of century-old occupied settlements. Did these processes take place simultaneously, in succession or were they punctual? Can we make sense of the various Late Minoan IIIB developments from a chronological perspective? How can a region-by-region analysis inform us about the various island communities and their histories during the 13th century BC? The international workshop which the present volume reflects took place at the UCLouvain in Belgium on the 24th and 25th of October 2013. It specifically addressed these questions and focused on the gradual transformation of Cretan society throughout the 13th century BC by concentrating on a single aspect of its material culture: the pottery.
It was our intention to bring together a number of ceramic experts in charge of the study of Late Minoan IIIB pottery deposits in a selection of Cretan sites. We wanted them to discuss, confront and contextualise their respective assemblages. The gathering was successful in many ways and not in the least because not only we managed to progress on a variety of thorny issues but it was also a real treat to assist in the thrilling exchanges between the inspiring personalities who compose the 'family' of Minoan (and Mycenaean) pottery specialists
Crisis to Collapse
Crisis to Collapse
The Archaeology of Social Breakdown
The Archaeology of Social Breakdown
Edited by Tim Cunnignham, Jan Driessen
This discusses and critically analyses the variety of signatures and archaeological correlates of crisis conditions that led to social breakdown. As such it makes massive strides forward to a better theoretical understanding of crisis-induced collapse.
This volume comprises the proceedings of a workshop with the same title which took place in October 2015. It was organised within the frame of the ARC13/18-049 (concerted research action) 'A World in Crisis?'. It has both a large chronological scope – from the Late Palaeolithic to the 12th c. AD – and wide geographical coverage, with case studies from the Maya, Southern US, Aegean, Sri Lanka, Indus, Gaul, Southern Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, North-western Europe, Alaska and Mesopotamia. It discusses and critically analyses the variety of signatures and archaeological correlates of crisis conditions that led to social breakdown. As such it makes massive strides forward to a better theoretical understanding of crisis-induced collapse.
RA-PI-NE-U
RA-PI-NE-U
Studies on the Mycenaean World offered to Robert Laffineur for his 70th Birthday
Studies on the Mycenaean World offered to Robert Laffineur for his 70th Birthday
Edited by Jan Driessen
This volume, in honour of one of the Odysseuses in Aegean archaeology, Professor Robert Laffineur, comprises a combination of papers presented during a seminar series on recent developments in Mycenaean archaeology at the Université de Louvain during the academic year 2015-2016. These were organised within the frame of the ARC13/18-049 (concerted research action) 'A World in Crisis?' To these are added a series of papers by friends of Robert Laffineur who were keen to off er a contribution to honour him foremost as a friend and scholar in his own right but also as editor of a respected international series founded by him – Aegaeum – and as the driving force and inspiration behind the biannual Aegean meetings that have travelled the world. Several papers within touch scientific domains close to Robert’s heart while others present new excavations or new interpretations of known data.
THRAVSMA
THRAVSMA
Contextualising the Intentional Destruction of Objects in the Bronze Age Aegean and Cyprus
Contextualising the Intentional Destruction of Objects in the Bronze Age Aegean and Cyprus
Edited by Kate Harrell, Jan Driessen
Minoan Archaeology
Minoan Archaeology
Perspectives for the 21st Century
Perspectives for the 21st Century
Edited by Sarah Cappel, Ute Günkel-Maschek, Diamantis Panagiotopoulos
Cretan Cities: Formation and Transformation
Cretan Cities: Formation and Transformation
Edited by Florence Gaignerot-Driessen, Jan Driessen
This volume brings together a series of papers reflecting a number of lectures given at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) in 2010-2012 in the frame of a seminar entitled La naissance des cités crétoises. Eight Cretan sites (Axos, Phaistos, Prinias, Karphi, Dreros, Azoria, Praisos, and Itanos), recently excavated or re-excavated, are considered in their regional and historical context in order to explore the origin and early development of the Greek city-state on the island.
Minoan Realities
Minoan Realities
Approaches to Images, Architecture, and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age
Approaches to Images, Architecture, and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age
Diamantis Panagiotopoulos, Ute Günkel-Maschek
What is the social role of images and architecture in a pre-modern society? How were they used to create adequate environments for specific profane and ritual activities? In which ways did they interact with each other? These and other crucial issues on the social significance of imagery and built structures in Neopalatial Crete were the subject of a workshop which took place on November 16th, 2009 at the University of Heidelberg.
The papers presented in the workshop are collected in the present volume. They provide different approaches to this complex topic and are aimed at a better understanding of the formation, role, and perception of images and architecture in a very dynamic social landscape. The Cretan Neopalatial period saw a rapid increase in the number of palaces and 'villas', characterized by elaborate designs and idiosyncratic architectural patterns which were themselves in turn generated by a pressing desire for a distinctive social and performative environment. At the same time, a new form of imagery made its appearance in a broad spectrum of objects and spaces which were 'decorated' with meaningful motifs chosen from a restricted and repetitive pictorial repertoire. This standardized repertoire indicates the confi guration of a coherent pictorial program which was implemented in several social situations. The present volume is intended not only for specialists in Minoan culture but also for readers who are interested in the social dimension of images and architectural remains and especially in issues relating to their materiality, use and perception.
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