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The article is devoted to the problem of attributing monuments of medieval nomads from the Ukrainian steppe in the period of X-XIV centuries on the example of three burials from the Novosilsky Kurgan group located in the North-Western Black Sea coast. The attribution of such burials is problematic for the archaeology of Ukraine. The number of modern studies on this topic is rather small, which is determined by the somewhat biased attitude of scientists towards the monuments of medieval nomads of the 10th-14th centuries as those left by a certain homogeneous community, as evidenced by the still used term „late nomads”. However, such a strong generalization does not reflect reality. During the Middle Ages, the steppe of Ukraine was replaced one after another by waves of multi-ethnic nomads who migrated here from Central Asia. The ethnic diversity of the Pechenegs, Torks, Cumans, and the Central Asian peoples who came with the Mongols, but also their similarities, including the significant similarity of funeral rites, made it difficult to attribute and identify features for certain ethnocultural groups and chronological periods. The purpose of this paper is to trace possible solutions to this problem. Modern technologies can also help with this – namely, 3-D modelling of artefacts from burials, which allows us to learn the detailed parameters of each object and visualize it in high resolution. For this work, three 3-D models were created – one object from each burial site, which will be characterized in the paper. The models also perform an important task of preserving cultural heritage, because unfortunately, since 2014, because of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, nomadic monuments from the medieval steppe of Ukraine have been destroyed.

This paper results from the application of a systematic program on the excavations in the site of Água Limpa, Monte Alto, State of São Paulo, a project called “Turvo”. The site of Água Limpa is wide open, with one stratigraphic level - the litho-ceramic, dated by TL in 1524 B.P. It has been excavated by the method of “Wide Surfaces”. Field work showed dark spots, remains of burnt material (coal), one area where primary burials were found out of urns, secondary burials and evidences of fauna. This paper aims to report the structures of combustion and food remains in the site of Água Limpa and relate this presence with the documentations of fauna. Based on this correlation we intend to infer the type of populations which inhabited the place and their pattern of subsistence. The analysis of the food remains associated with the vestiges of fauna showed that the local population had a pattern of living related to horticulture, manufacturing of ceramic, collecting of fruit and small animals, hunting and fishing; the last one less frequently. Results also indicated the presence of a large amount of bones, teeth and both dermic and shell fragments in this site. This population used in their daily life vertebrates (Pisces, Reptillia, Mammalia) and invertebrates (Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Crustacea), not only as food items, but also as ornaments and tools. Many of these fragments present traces indicating the manufacture of artifacts, besides the wear marks. These data elucidate the alimentary habits of the local ceramic-horticulturalist population.

(The ancient tradition concerning Pythagoras of Samos’ role as the founder of physiognomy): This paper collects and analyzes ancient sources that refer to Pythagoras of Samos as the founder of physiognomy. Interest in physiognomy, which deals with the relationship between the body and the spirit, has become more popular over the last few years; however, many aspects of research into the topic are still obscure and worthy of further study. Physiognomy was assumed by ancient authors to be the method by which candidates were selected to enter the Pythagorean community, used by the Greek philosopher and his followers. Information about Pythagoras, who – by simply looking at somebody – could recognize their character appears, in the works of Aulus Gellius, Hippolytus, Porphyry, Iamblichos, Proclos and Olympiodorus. Apart from discussing testimonia about Pythagoras and his physiognomic examinations, the text explores the role of physiognomy during the selection process for the Pythagorean community in order to provide a better understanding of elite traditions within society. The paper also supplies further insight with regards to the methodology behind physiognomical surveys, which were popular during antiquity.

Archaeological excavations in the Levant have provided a significant number of marble finds dated to the early Byzantine period (4th – mid-7th century CE). Information on these objects is, however, scattered over numerous publications, hindering synthetic studies of marble imports that reached this part of the Mediterranean world. A way to address this problem was to create a database facilitating access to the dataset of marble finds from the southern Levant. This paper presents the Marmora Bizantina database, describes its content and interface, and discusses the geographic and chronological scope of the dataset. Some uses of the database are discussed, remarking on the limitations that need to be taken into account. The paper also provides information on the analytical tools available on the database website.

The paper presents four fragmentary anthropomorphic vessels discovered ca. 60 years ago on the territory of Botoșani County, at Cervicești – La Morișcă (Mihai Eminescu commune) and Drăgușeni – Ostrov (Drăgușeni commune), left unpublished in the collections of the Botoșani County Museum. Starting from the presentation of these artefacts and integrating similar discoveries from the Gumelnița, Stoicani‑Aldeni and Cucuteni cultural areas, the work analyses the metamorphoses of a particular type of anthropomorphic vessel in the area of the Cucuteni civilization. More precisely, the paper follows typologically the transformation of the base of the vessels from the anthropomorphic silhouette naturalistically figured, with the anatomical profile correctly rendered, with the soles and feet clearly indicated, to the intermediate rhomboidal sole and then to the ovoid or circular base. Confirming the hypothesis of Gumelnița influences penetrating the Cucuteni environment, the analysis of the new materials and the typological connections illustrate and highlight the role of a transmission vector and intermediary between the North and the South that the Stoicani‑Aldeni cultural environment played for contemporary or immediately subsequent Eneolithic communities during the second half of the 5th millennium BC

This paper has been composed as the second in a series on the archaeological research undertaken in 2008 and 2018– 2020 at the large (Reformed) church of Aiud Fortress. The first study of the series has consisted of a brief presentation of the main data collected inside the monument. This second study presents even more briefly the main data collected outside the monument, as they appeared in more convoluted and fragmentary contexts. These excavations have established the main stratigraphic sequence of this area of Aiud Fortress as consisting of Roman age habitation in mortarless structures, followed by a hiatus, then by an early‑second‑millennium settlement, with at least two phases, which similarly made use only of mortarless structures. Despite its long existence, and even though sources infer the existence of local priests in the 13th century, there is no solid ground to contest, based on archaeological data, the traditional ascription of the small church (erected 1333– 1334, demolished and rebuilt 1865– 1866) as the beginning of religious masonry building at Aiud – and likely of the present‑day religious site. Nevertheless, the development of the large church of the fortress remains uncertain. Research conducted inside the current building has revealed that it was preceded by a smaller, yet still Gothic, church. Research conducted outside the building helped establish that the eastern part of the church was build first, in several phases, and only afterward was the body of the church also expanded. However, the western parts of the current structure show obvious signs of rebuilding, and dismantled structures indicate that the tower was not initially part of the extended planimetry. Due to the partial nature of the investigation, archaeology cannot yet establish the succession of the construction phases involved, or what they exactly involved, nor can it help in solving the questions raised by the varied modifications noticeable in the aboveground structure. While most late‑ and post‑medieval results presented below relate to the large church, they also include data about the small one, about a series of built structures identified in the area between the two churches and west of the large one, and about the overall development of the site, severely marked by arson and destruction in the early 18th century. The graveyard and materials are only mentioned, and not discussed, as they’ll be the subject of following papers

Radiocarbon dating by AMS accelerated ion mass spectrometry method, used from 2012 at IFIN-HH-Măgurele, offered recently the scientific frame for an interdisciplinary approach, from archaeologic and archaeometric perspectives, applied to wood samples. The first AMS results, issued in 2021 on six samples from Măguricea Branului archaeological site, have suggested a chronology around the 13th century AD, the differences being explained on terms detailed in this paper. The latter four samples, collected in the next archaeological campaign, gave very different dates. The difficulties experienced with these four samples driven us to develop new lab treatment, aiming carbonization of wood. Even so, the samples from 2022 could not be dated in a helpful manner, with parameters as terminus post quem, time-width, apparent ages. The paper could be of interest to archaeologists taking wood samples for AMS dating.

Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom bread moulds belong to the type of vessels on which potmarks appear the most often, which is a phenomenon recorded during works conducted at different sites. Excavations carried out at the Tell el-Murra between 2011 and 2019 produced a significant number of vessels of this type with various marks. This paper is devoted to the 118 pre-firing marks from Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom bread moulds from the settlement layers at the Tell el-Murra. The paper comparatively analyses marks from two subsequent chronological periods, with the aim to test the validity of theories regarding their function and meaning, based on examples from Tell el-Murra. The study concludes that the high frequency of potmarks on bread forms was not accidental, but related to certain economic processes and changes, as also indicated in this paper.

This paper takes as its starting point the story of a spirit with no anus whose inability to fart leads to his death and transformation into clay. In particular, it examines the relationship between pottery trumpets associated with this spirit (played in exchange ceremonies) and bark Jurupary trumpets and suggests that the two instruments stand in a relationship of “flesh” and “bone”. Uncovering this parallelism provides an opportunity to revisit noise, putrefaction, and beer in Northwest Amazonian mortuary rituals, where other types of pottery trumpets are used in conjunction with Jurupary trumpets. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the relevance of these mythical and ritual materials to Amazonian archaeology and the interpretation of anthropomorphic burial urns.

The unbreakable bond between language and scientific thought has incarnated into a special way of using general language, which we call language for specific purposes. It is thanks to this language that articulation of observations, conceptual and semantic constitution of scientific fields and exchange of new knowledge are possible. Language for specific purposes is not a new system of signs, rather it uses all the linguistic resources contained within general language, from which it is inseparable. Its peculiarity lies in the frequency and the specific ways of using lexicon and morphosyntactic structures, especially the ones which help it approach the ideal of precision and brevity of expression. In the first part of the paper, in addition to the detailed definition of the concept of language for specific purposes, we analyze which language is necessary for scientific purposes, whether or not scientists understand one another and if there are any universal characteristics of language for specific purposes. The second part of the paper is devoted to a smaller study with the goal of questioning some general traits of the language of archeology, performed on a group of abstracts originally written in the Serbian language.

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This scientific research work deals with the economic situation in Pančevo from 1944 to 1990. The time margins of the research were set in order to attempt to periodize the economic development (therefore the ups and downs) of the city. Although the term economy is very complex and extensive, in this paper it was used as a collective term for a handful of connected phenomena, from which industry, economy and inflation are singled out. Therefore, this research should be the most authentic representation of the economic conditions of the city of Pančevo, through which we follow its development over the decades. The goal of the research is to understand what the economic situation was like in the aforementioned period, as well as to find out how the inhabitants of Pančevo actually lived, in this city whose past was marked by heavy industry. The paper highlights one of the key problems that were current in the city during the research period. Since there are no existing works on this topic in the Pančevo area during the observed period, and considering the topic’s scope, the research process had to be comprehensive. Professional literature together with historical material forms the most important part of the research, which is rounded off with field work using electronic content and collecting oral sources from a certain number of citizens of Pančevo. Of course, all the collected data was carried out through a critical apparatus. The city’s public finances, which include taxes, income, expenses, etc are outside of the scope of this paper.

Burials in lead coffins have been sporadically recorded in Viminacium (Moesia Superior). They originate from four necropolises that can be roughly classified into the period from the 2nd to the 4th century. This paper presents twelve lead coffins from recent excavations. They were found directly in a pit without construction, or in a construction of bricks. Lead coffins were often ornamented with different linear-geometric motifs, or figural depiction in one rare instance. A workshop can be expected to have existed in Viminacium for the production of lead objects for various purposes such as coffins and many other finds that have been found in large numbers. In some of the coffins, items have been preserved. These include jewellery made of gold, ceramic vessels, glass bottles, bone finds, etc. In nine of them, the skeletal remains of the deceased were completely or at least partially preserved. Included in the paper is an anthropological analysis of the skeletal remains of those deceased. Based on the anthropological analysis, it can be seen that the deceased were mostly children (six cases), while in three cases they were adults.

The paper presents an extraordinary new find from the site of Velika Humska Čuka near Niš, in south-eastern Serbia. During the 2022 excavation campaign, a set of bronze jewellery was discovered, comprised of a pin, a band, ten saltaleoni, and ten circular pendants. Of particular importance are the finds of circular pendants, which are known throughout the Bronze Age in the territory of Europe. Such pendants are traditionally connected with Central Europe and the Hügelgräber culture, therefore representing an uncommon find for the Central Balkans. The paper provides a stylistic and typological analysis of jewellery, complemented with physical and chemical analyses, and further discusses the scope and effects of interactions between Central Europe and Central Balkans during the Bronze Age.

The paper summarises current knowledge of burial customs in Syro-Palestine in the early Byzantine period (4th–7th centuries CE). It identifies elements that constituted the continuation of burial practices from the Roman period (1st–3rd centuries CE) as well as new customs. It includes the location of burial grounds, forms of graves, the variety of grave goods and body positioning. Quantitative research has demonstrated a gradual departure from chamber tombs and sarcophagi in the early Byzantine period. Burials in monasteries and, to a lesser extent, churches were a completely new trend that appeared during this period, related to the spread of Christianity. The paper also proposes a more widespread use of radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis. The results of such studies would deepen knowledge of burial customs in Syro-Palestine in the final phases of antiquity.

Priests and their functions in Ptolemaic Egypt in light of the archive of the temple in Soknopaiou Nesos): Little is known about priests and how temples functioned in Ptolemaic Egypt. This paper provides an insight into the organisation and hierarchy of temples under the Ptolemies. The main aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the titles and functions of temple personnel by analysing documents from the archive of the temple of Soknopaios and Isis Nepherses in the village of Soknopaiou Nesos (Dimeh).

This paper identifies an early sixteenth-century Renaissance marble pedestal that was in a Maltese private collection which has since been donated to the church it was originally commissioned for. The pedestal portrays three scenes in relief relating to the iconography of St Mary Magdalene. Executed in Carrara marble, it is here being associated with a full-length Carrara marble sculpture portraying St Mary Magdalene in the Franciscan Minor’s church of Santa Maria di Gesù in Rabat, Malta. The sculpture has been linked with the oeuvre of followers of the Sicilian school of the Palermitan sculptor Antonello Gagini who was active in Messina for a decade between 1497 and 1507, but it has recently been identified as a work by the Carrarese sculptor who was active in Messina, Giovan Battista Mazzolo. This paper therefore discusses the sculpture and pedestal together as a whole work of art as well as the attribution to Mazzolo.

Since the first discoveries of Palaeolithic art in France in the late 19th century, surveying cave walls has remained the archaeological key element of the scientific process. From direct copy on tracing paper to photography and computer graphics, the methods and techniques of the archaeologists have always been related to the technological advances of their times. For the last 15 years or so, 3D has been applied to research projects in prehistoric archaeology and the study of decorated caves. From data acquisition to data processing and management, the field adapts, borrows and assimilates 3D digital ecosystems according to various research problems. What place does the archaeological survey have in it? What input in terms of understanding volumes and surface features can it provide? And what kind of knowledge modelling can 3D tools applied to the Human Sciences create? This is what this paper aims to address.

This paper presents a brief overview of fishing in Galicia during Antiquity on the basis of fishing equipment—in particular hooks and weights—recovered from several sites of indigenous origin (castros or hill forts) and newly-established Roman settlements around the basin of the Miño river. Although the topic has often passed unnoticed by archaeological research and suffers from a distinct lack of literature to guide future efforts, the more or less recent publication of papers dealing with this topic in depth has facilitated the study of the Galician record, which is supported by literary and iconographic sources as well as ethnographic documents. The latter have proved relevant in this context, as the world of fishing tends to hold on to traditions. The author sets out to establish a correlation between the remains of fishing implements found and the possible fishing gear they would have been attached to. RESUMEN: Se presenta una síntesis del estado de la cuestión pesquera en Galicia durante la Antigüedad a partir de las evidencias de equipamiento pesquero, esencialmente anzuelos y lastres, registradas en diversos yacimientos de raíz indígena (castros) y de asentamientos romanos ex novo emplazados en la cuenca del río Miño. Pese a la falta generalizada de atención por parte de la investigación arqueológica, ausente de directrices de proyección global, la publicación más o menos reciente de ciertos trabajos que abordan en profundidad esta cuestión facilita el estudio del registro gallego, sustentado por las fuentes literarias, iconográficas y por la documentación etnográfica, la cual revela aquí su relevancia, dado el carácter marcadamente conservador del mundo de la pesca. Se propone un ensayo de correlación entre los restos de instrumental pesquero exhumado y los posibles aparejos y artes de pesca a los que irían adheridos.

This paper analyses and edits two anonymous Latin letters that help to assess the political climate in the aftermath of the Great Schism: a Devil’s letter addressed to Clement VII and a literary polished invective against Urban VI. After a brief investigation of the events that led to the outbreak of the schism, the paper compares the two letters in light of the contemporary political framework, in order to demonstrate why they qualify as propagandistic documents that present each of the two popes as a threat for Christendom and to evaluate how they exploited their literary distinctiveness to increase the strength of their political accusations. In doing so the aim is to assess the outbreak of the Schism from a viewpoint based on some distinctive strategies of political communication employed after the double election.

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the geopolitical status of the Upper Tigris area in antiquity, with a special focus on the period between ca. 401 BCE and the 6th century CE. Despite the popular impression that this area had a distinctly Armenian character, a closer look at its history shows that it was rather a territory with many local geopolitical entities that many neighboring countries periodically fought to possess. This area was strategically significant as a transit region located on the crossroads of important long-distance communication lines. Likewise, its natural resources were undoubtedly crucial to the neighboring countries. Indeed, powerful neighbors around the Upper Tigris area, including Armenia, the Iranian kingdoms of the Parthians and Sasanians, and Rome, sought to control this area, which was often located on the fringes of their states and as such was inevitably doomed to be contested by these empires onmany occasions. This situation can be acutely seen in the conflict between Rome and the Iranian kingdoms of the Parthians and Sasanians, when northern Mesopotamia became a real battleground between the competing empires. In particular, the paper will sketch the development of the geopolitical status of several small geopolitical entities in this region—Sophene, Osrhoene, Gordyene, and Adiabene.

This paper focused on the first imperial Mausoleum of the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam, Emperor Gia Long (reigned 1802-20), which is one of the components of the World Heritage property [Complex of Hué Monuments]. The paper discussed the relationship between the Gia Long Mausoleum (after this GLM) and its territory from the aspects of "Shan-Shui design", "water management system suitable to tropical monsoon climate" and "symbiosis with local com- munities". This study also revealed that the current protected area is only a tiny part of the area that Gia Long planned by deciphering an old drawing which expresses the ideal worldview of Gia Long and an old map which shows the forbidden area in that era. These research findings contribute to expanding and deepening the OUV of GLM, which was not fully taken into account when the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993 and provide a basis for establishing the appropriate protected area of GLM.

The Roman Aqaba Project seeks to reconstruct diachronically the economic history of the ancient port of Aila on the Red Sea (now modern Aqaba in southern Jordan). Excavations of Aila between 1994 and 2003 yielded an enormous quantity of stratified ceramic evidence. This paper focuses on coarse ware cooking vessels recovered from Aila dating to the 1st to early 5th centuries. Although the potters of Aila were influenced by the ceramic traditions of the Nabataean capital at Petra, they also developed an independent ceramic tradition. Further, the Roman annexation of Nabataea in 106 CE, including Aila, seems to have had little impact on the local ceramic industry, which continued with little change until the mid-3rd century, which seems to mark an important transition characterized by the disappearance of many long established types and the appearance of new types, including cooking vessels. Although most of these were produced locally, a significant minority was imported to Aila, mostly from the Petra region about 100 km away. This paper presents a typology of these cooking vessels and offers some explanation for the differing quantities of various types of imported cooking vessels over these centuries, with implications for the regional economy in this period.

An unusual iconographic motif—a fringed piece of linen—depicted in the Chapel of Hatshepsut, part of the queen’s temple at Deir el-Bahari, is examined in this paper as an illustration of the interest, well attested in Hatshepsut’s reign, in past artistic models/sources. The Chapel of Hatshepsut was intended for the mortuary cult of the female pharaoh, while the motif under discussion appears to have been inspired by decoration earlier by 500 years, found inside a burial chamber cut into the rock cliff of North Asasif, which is a natural continuation of the Deir el-Bahari amphitheater. The tomb (TT 311) belonged to Khety, a courtier of the Eleventh Dynasty pharaoh Mentuhotep II Nebhepetra. Assuming the validity of this iconographic link, the question arises concerning the accessibility of decorated burial chambers from the Eleventh-Dynasty in this area and their possible role as “pattern books” in the design of the early Eighteenth Dynasty private and royal mortuary monuments. In addition, the paper addresses the issue of the Chapel of Hatshepsut serving as a monumental “pattern book” for the Late Period Theban tombs.

The early Upper Palaeolithic marks the introduction at a continental scale of a fully-fledged laminar industry, and it is associated with the presence of Homo sapiens in the Near East and in Europe. For this period there are three commonly recognised early Upper Palaeolithic technocomplexes : the Early Aurignacian and the Protoaurignacian, in Europe, and the Early Ahmarian, in the Levant. They have been used to illustrate different dispersal routes and behavioural adaptations to climate change, different regional settings or to infer different land-use and mobility strategies. Still, there is no consensus on the criteria for assigning one lithic assemblage to a particular early Upper Palaeolithic technocomplex. The early Upper Palaeolithic assemblages from Banat are among those showing ambiguous results when observed through the current taxonomical lens. This paper evaluates the taxonomical stances comparing technological raw data from extensively published early Upper Palaeolithic sites in Europe and the Levant. The comparison of assemblages attributed to different technocomplexes reveals a much more homogenous picture than expected. Various behaviours that are ascribed to a particular technocomplex are widespread in others too, but they are overlooked because of unclear and non-standardised terminology. The present paper shows that trying to fit the archaeological record in abstract, short definitions leads to misunderstandings, with clear implications on the further conclusions made on human past behaviours. It further advocates for creating new shared criteria for analysing lithic assemblages and thus overcoming the taxonomical impasse

El análisis arqueométrico de un hacha de color verde recuperada en los años 20 del pasado siglo en el entorno de Monte Aberto-Elviña (A Coruña), que probablemente habría formado parte del ajuar de uno de los tres túmulos que componían la necrópolis homónima, ha permitido determinar que se trata de un hacha tipo Durrington “goutte d’eau”, fabricada en jadeíta de origen alpino proveniente posiblemente de las formaciones existentes en San Front (Cuneo, Piamonte). Esta circunstancia la convierte –tras el hacha de Vilapedre (Lugo)– en la segunda pieza de procedencia alpina documentada en territorio gallego. En este artículo se intenta determinar el origen arqueológico del hacha de Monte Aberto-Elviña con la mayor exactitud posible, al tiempo que se ofrecen los resultados del análisis arqueométrico y se reflexiona sobre el cómo y el cuándo esta pieza habría llegado al Noroeste Ibérico. ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the results of the archaeometric analysis of a green stone axe recovered in the 1920s around Monte Aberto-Elviña, on the outskirts of the city of A Coruña (Galicia, northwestern Spain). The review of the work carried out by a Galician archaeologist –Luis Monteagudo– in the 30s and 40s of the last century has allowed us to establish, with a high degree of certainty, that the axe analyzed in this paper was part of the grave goods from one of the three burial mounds comprising the necropolis of Monte Aberto-Elviña, which was destroyed at some point in the second half of the twentieth century. The analysis of this artefact through X-Ray Diffraction and SEM-EDX and its subsequent comparison with geological samples from several points of the Alps has allowed us to determine that the Monte Aberto-Elviña is –in fact– a Durrington “goutte d’eau” type axe made of Alpine jadeite, showing a compositional similarity with the geological samples coming from San Front (Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy). In addition to trying to determine –as accurately as possible– the archaeological and geological origin of the Monte Aberto-Elviña axe, this article reflects on its possible way to the Iberian Peninsula (proposing a route through the Bay of Biscay, without ruling out the arrival along the Mediterranean coast, perhaps through the Catalan territory, which may have acted as a redistribution center of Alpine pieces for the rest of the Peninsula). Finally, comparing the chronology of the Durrington “goutte d’eau” axes in other European regions and the chronological dates available for the Galician burial mounds, we suggest an arrival of this artefact in the Iberian northwest sometime in the second half of the 5th millennium BC or, more likely, in the early 4th millennium BC.

The finds from the ancient city of Gerasa brought in 1930’two inscriptions dated to the second half of the 1st century CE which mention the deity called Pakeidas. The aim of this paper is to discuss Pakeidas and his relation to another god labelled Theos Arabikos worshipped in the same city. The authors make a broad Semitic overview on the etymology of the name Pakeidas looking at the West and East (Akkadian) Semitic evidence. The authors discuss the possible location of the temple dedicated to this god beneath the Cathedral. They also reexamine in the light of epigraphic sources in comparison to the Aramaic material from the Near East the function of archibomistai, cultic agents who served to this local god. FINANCING This paper is an outcome of a cooperation between the authors during a 10-month WiRe fellowship, Women in Research at the University of Münster, between October 2020 and July 2021. The improvements for this research are funded by National Science Centre (Poland) UMO-2021/42/A/HS3/00421 “Epigraphic culture in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East in antiquity: status, display, democracy, identity.” For the purpose of Open Access, the author has applied a CC-BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission.

En este trabajo presentamos los materiales recuperados en la excavación del abrigo de la Font d’Horta (Vilafranca, Castelló). Las características de estos materiales, entre las que destacan las armaduras geométricas (entre ellas un segmento de doble bisel) y la datación obtenida sobre hueso, nos remiten a los momentos de transición entre las últimas poblaciones cazadoras y recolectoras y la llegada de las primeras comunidades neolíticas. La valoración de los datos en el contexto de la zona del Maestrat/Maestrazgo y sus vínculos con el litoral mediterráneo y el valle del Ebro nos permiten discutir su posible vinculación con unas u otras poblaciones, concluyendo que nos encontramos ante una ocupación de las últimas poblaciones mesolíticas de este territorio. ABSTRACT: In this paper we present the materials recovered in the excavation of the Font d’Horta rockshelter (Vilafranca, Castelló). This is a small shelter, about 3 meters long by 2 meters deep, in which an interesting ensemble of materials has been recovered that allow us to discuss the presence of either the last hunter-gatherer populations or the first farmer-herder populations. Among the recovered materials, the geometric projectiles stands out (including a double bevel segment, which is the center of the cultural and chronological debate in this paper) and the absence of pottery must be highlighted. Furthermore, few fauna remains and 3 personal ornaments on marine gastropods have been recovered. To confirm its ascription, we have obtained a bone dating with a result of 7570-7441 cal BP (5621-5492 cal BC). This dating, far from confirming its ascription, shows us that we are front a transitional context between the last Mesolithic and the arrival of the first Neolithic populations in this area. The assessment of the data in the context of the Maestrat / Maestrazgo area and its links with the Mediterranean coast and the Ebro valley allow us to discuss its possible connection with one of these populations. The analysis of the archaeological context show us the existence of several Mesolithic sites with dates close to that obtained in the Font d’Horta and the possibility that we are in a territory with an effective neolithization a bit later than the date obtained. These data, together with the lack of pottery in this site, allow us to conclude that we are facing an occupation of the last Mesolithic populations of this territory.

Even though ovens are the most prominent feature in the Vinča culture houses, they have often been neglected in the archaeological publications. Usually, only the information about their location or number of floors is provided, but more detailed descriptions are missing. This is also influenced by their poor preservation in the archaeological record, as parts of their upper structure are often missing. But, although fully preserved ovens represent quite a rarity, contexts surrounding them are usually filled with different categories of artefacts and architectural features. These complex contexts that include ovens, offer plethora of information about different socio-economic phenomena in the Late Neolithic of the Central Balkans. Therefore, ovens should be perceived as more than just fire installations for food processing and house heating, as they can offer insight into household organization and symbolic aspects of the Neolithic life. Additionally, ovens located in the outdoor spaces can provide information about settlement organization and social dynamics on a larger scale. In this paper, different contexts around ovens are presented and interpreted – from functional, economic, social, and symbolic perspective.

The present paper deals with a whole series of ceramics from a private collection belonging first to Vasile Cosma and then sold in 1976 and in 2009 to the National Museum of History and Archaeology of Bucharest (MNIR). These objects, essentially amphora, come from late sixties-early seventies underwater discoveries, in the Mangalia harbor, 2 May village and Constanța harbor areas.

In this brief paper 34 earrings are presented, all of which are curated in the Archaeological Museum of İznik in south-western Marmara region of Turkey. They are significant, as very few items of jewellery from Bithynia have been published.

This paper examines some political-institutional, cultural, and religious dynamics in the border areas of Roman Tripolitania. The site of Ghirza, in particular, offers insights into the forms and content of intercultural exchange between the native groups and the Romano-Byzantines. The settlement was also crucial for the territorial political control of the Roman administration in those marginal areas. Some of the reliefs on the local mausolea show ceremonial scenes concerning the investiture of certain chiefs. Scholars have suggested that the depiction may refer to a Roman magistrate, such as praefectus or princeps gentis. This paper aims to better define the powers related to the tribal chief of Ghirza. It also attempts to distinguish the earliest legal-institutional basis on which this office may have been rooted. The Roman government in the borderlands acted as a guarantee of political legitimacy in the management of the confederations of tribes that gravitated on the Roman limes. In this sense, this research is supposed to identify the residual “fossils” of the Etruscan-Italic magistracies which in frontier contexts were much more suitable than the Roman magistracies for indirect political management.

This paper makes the case for developing ongoing research on Roman Cyprus’s metal profile by integrating object-centred approaches. It does so by focusing on the British Museum’s Cypriot collection as it contains a significant number of metal artefacts. The paper opens with a brief overview of key ancient evidence and the impact of recent, multidisciplinary approaches before introducing the collection and the data assembled for this case study. Assessment of this body of evidence highlights the benefits of undertaking systematic study of metalware related to Cyprus. A museological approach that focuses on the materiality of objects will also demonstrate how lines of enquiry can be developed to enhance current investigations of mining, metallurgy, and metal consumption across the island as well as shed further light on the role and cultural value of metals. This has huge implications for the study of Roman Cyprus and the wider Roman Mediterranean.

Perceptions of the various cultural landscapes of tropical Africa continue to be overdetermined by western philosophies. This is, of course, a legacy of colonialism and the neo-colonial global politics that dictate types of knowledge, and direct flows of knowledge. Knowledges of the communities of former colonised countries are seen as ancillary at best, and at worst, irrational. However, such ‘indigenous knowledge’ systems contain information that could transform how we think about cultural landscapes, cultural heritage, and the conception of 'intangible heritage’. In many non-western societies, the landscape shapes culture; rather than human culture shaping the landscape – which is the notion which continues to inform heritage. Such a human-centric experience of landscape and heritage displaces the ability to experience the sensorial landscape. This paper outlines how landscapes are perceived in tropical Africa, with an example from Zimbabwe, and how this perception can be used to enrich mainstream archaeology, anthropology, and cultural heritage studies. Landscapes have a memory of their own, which plays a part in creating the ‘ruins’ we research or visit. Such landscape memory determines the preservation of heritage as well as human memory. The paper thus advocates for the inclusion of ‘indigenous knowledge’ systems in the widening of the theoretical base of archaeology, anthropology, and heritage studies.

This paper intents, considering the informations about corporal paint between pré-colonial Guarani and the diversity of geometric designs applyed in theirs vessel pottery, to demonstrate the interpretative potencial of the graphic signs present in the archaeological pottery material. In the ethnographic analogy and in the mythical universe, try to look for the symbolical contents expressed through the painted design pattern in pottery vessel.

Charcoal analysis is the taxonomic and quantitative study of charcoal remains found in soils or archaeological deposits, based on plant anatomy. This discipline may provide both ethnoarchaeological and palaeoecological evidences. In this paper we present its methods and possible applications, as well as a few examples. We suggest that important results may be expected from charcoal analysis applied to brazilian archaeology.

En este trabajo se estudia y analiza un conjunto lítico y un canto compresor-percutor localizado en el embalse de Urrúnaga (Álava). El compresor, un canto calizo, presenta, en una de sus caras, el gabado de una línea cérvico-dorsal. El canto fue recuperado en superficie junto con un nutrido número de artefactos líticos tallados sobre sílex cuyo estudio tecno-tipológico, también presentado en este trabajo, lo encuadra, mayoritariamente, en momentos finales del Paleolítico superior. ABSTRACT: In this paper we study and analyse the lithic assemblage and a stone hammer located in the Urrúnaga reservoir (Álava). The hammerstone, a limestone pebble, features an engraving of a cervico-dorsal line on one of its faces. The stone was recovered in a surface scatter along with a large number of lithic artifacts made of flint, its technotypological study places it, alongside graphic comparisons with other decorated supports, in the late Upper Paleolithic period.

This paper presents the wall paintings decorating a number of Hellenistic and Roman tombs, of various architectural types, in Paphos and the region. The paper gathers together for the first time all the known published and unpublished painted tombs of the city, which are studied on the basis of observations made on the actual decoration preserved either in situ or in the laboratory of the Paphos District Museum, and with the use of all pertinent publications. A catalogue of these tombs has been created and this is accompanied by a map with the geographic location of each example. The various themes represented on wall paintings have been divided into groups and are discussed accordingly, while the manufacturing technology of a sample of the wall paintings is examined using both non-contact and analytical tools.

The paper discusses the possible meeting areas between oriental studies, archaeology, and cognitive linguistics. The point of departure is study of Chris Gosden (2008) in which he shows a possible cooperation between archaeology and neuroscience when the interactions among brain-body-world are taken into account. On the example of a sword from the Iron Age, he shows the mutual influences of the brain-body-culture complex on the one hand, and the materials used in craft. I will follow his line of reasoning and show the use of the concept of gold processing in thinking about cognition as it is attested in the early Indian texts. The example analyzed in the paper is a description of a Buddhist meditation attested in the Pāli Canon (c. 4th-1st centuries BCE). With the use of cognitive linguistics models of mental processes, I will show how the triangle brain-bodyworld can be enlarged with two more elements, namely, the mind and signs.

This paper announces the launch of a research project of high scientific impact in the main field of humanities, which aims to shed new light on the process of Roman municipalization in an extended part of North Africa through the study of a rich dossier of historical sources thanks to the cooperation of scholars of different backgrounds.

La arquitectura vernácula vasca ofrece una amplia variedad de tipologías y variantes regionales. Ejemplo prominente de ello son las casas de seroras, construidas durante la Edad Moderna en las inmediaciones de iglesias y ermitas para albergar a las mujeres encargadas de mantener la iglesia y asistir en el culto. En este artículo se aborda el desarrollo geográfico y cronológico de este fenómeno mediante la combinación de fuentes documentales y orales, microtoponimia y el análisis de las arquitecturas conservadas. Se analizan, en especial, dos conjuntos tipológicos. El primero incluye varios edificios de la costa vasca oriental, formando casas aisladas de pequeñas dimensiones con muros laterales en piedra y estructura en entramado de madera. El segundo incluye varios casos del valle del Baztan, con volúmenes elevados, adosados a su correspondiente templo, con un espacio porticado bajo ellos. Ambos grupos forman conjuntos tipológicos bien definidos estrechamente ligados a su función original; pero, al mismo tiempo, pueden relacionarse con las tendencias vigentes en la arquitectura vernácula de sus respectivas regiones. ABSTRACT: Basque vernacular architecture is characterised by a wide variety of typologies and regional variants. Early Modern serora houses, built close to the parish churches as the habitation of the women charged with keeping the church and assisting the offices, are prominent examples of this. By combining documentary and oral sources, micro-toponymy, and the analysis of preserved architectural structures, this paper explores the geographic and chronological development of serora houses, focusing on two specific typological ensembles. The first group includes four examples from the eastern Basque coast, consisting of small buildings with stone side walls and timber-framed structures. The second group includes four examples from the Baztan valley, consisting of raised architectural volumes attached to the corresponding churches, with a porticoed space beneath them. Both groups form distinctive typological ensembles related to their original function, but can equally be related to more general trends in the vernacular architecture of each region.

The present paper deals with the dedications made by the soldiers from Germania Inferior to Celtic deities. The most frequently worshipped deities by soldiers of all ranks are Hercules Magusanus and Rhenus. Differences in the preference of Celtic to Germanic or Mediterranean divine names cannot be postulated. Since most of the inscriptions can be dated to the end of the 2nd or the 1st half of the 3rd century CE, it is not possible to speak of a Celtic worship of gods of any kind.

Each unit of the Roman army constituted a major logistic operation that cannot be reduced to the fighting men who formed their core and purpose. While camp followers are depicted in literary sources especially as an hindrance to war operations, inscriptions provide a different picture of the world that gravitated around the military forts and fortresses. In the military settlements that guarded the limes, the presence of paramilitary and non-military personnel did not represent a burden, but an important part of the military economy, which in some cases even led to the emergence of a new business class. In this paper, we provide an anthology of verse inscriptions dedicated by, or to, camp followers, with a view to showcase how their everyday interactions with the army were conceptualised and verbalised, ultimately contributing to a richer picture of the limes social ecosystem.

This article aims to explore the uses of material culture and their relevance to identity formation. The premise is applied specifically to the moving auxilia, in order to observe the effects of movement and transfers on the selection and consumption of material culture within the military environment. It is common knowledge that pottery supply and use within the Roman military were to an extent governed by specific state-controlled supply routes and contracts, meaning that the same pottery styles could have been observed at different forts from different regions. Nonetheless, the cultural side of demand should not be overlooked as it may have tailored supply differently to various regions depending on the preferences in the area. Similarly, auxiliary units transferred from home may have preserved some of their familiar pottery styles and reproduce them upon arrival to the new territory. This article will explore the ways pottery was employed at locations associated with Batavian auxilia in order to capture their image construction between home and abroad. Once removed from their core territory and placed in a new environment with new norms in terms of material culture and even dressing and addressing one another, how did their consumption adapt to the area and to which extent did it keep a unique character? The main case-study explored in this paper is Războieni in order to assess the pottery consumption patterns of Batavian auxilia abroad in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

In his paper the author deals with a funerary verse epitaph from Scarbantia (Sopron) published by him earlier (TRHR 38). Based on his new restoration, the gravestone (stela) was erected to a veteran by his wife who served earlier as fleet soldier. He was most probably called Britto. Several vulgar Latin phenomena can be observed in the inscription that was erected in the second half of the third century or at the very beginning of fourth c. The type of the metrical formula resiste viator et lege can be found in several Pannonian verse inscriptions. Based on the pieces of information given in the problematical parts of lines 2 and 3 that concern the wife, at least one line is missing at the beginning of the text and she erected the grave monument and the funerary epitaph to herself as well.

This paper presents graffiti discovered on a few plates discovered in a barrack from the fort of ala I Batavorum milliaria in Dacia. Typical for the Batavian troops, the onomastics is Latin and Greek. The instrumenta prove that the soldiers scribbled their names on every-day use vessels and offer us a glimpse of the very men that lived there together.

This paper focuses on the military personnel epigraphically attested at Callatis and Odessus up to the 3rd century AD. Considering the status of the two cities as civitates peregrinae, the presence of soldiers is exceptional, and mostly temporary, consequently, it is interesting to see what are the epigraphic traces that soldiers leave here, and in what context.

Palermo during late antiquity and the early Byzantine period is largely unknown. Many reasons contribute to this gap. What remains yet to be uncovered is continuity of life that has not seen any systematic investigation, hampered also by a critical delay in the publishing of previous excavations. Despite these issues, our knowledge of the town in the above period has improved slightly in recent years thanks to chance discoveries. Among them, the excavations conducted inside the former Montevergini monastery where archaeologists have found a complex sequence of archaeological levels from the 3rd century B.C. to the present day. This paper will focus on a single layer that has yielded a rich pottery assemblage comprising late African imports and other presumed locally manufactured objects. These findings enhance our knowledge of the local economy and daily life in one of the major port cities of western Sicily.