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The degree of preservation and the extractability of organic molecules in both archaeological and paleontological skeletal material has been the objective of many studies during the last decades and have shown extremely promising and interesting results (Schweitzer et al., 1997, 2007; Poulakakis et al., 2002; Schmidt-Schultz & Schultz, 2004; Dotsika et al., 2011). Studies on such molecules via various protocols of extraction as well as isotopic and spectroscopic analyses (Stathopoulou et al., 2008; Dotsika et al., 2011; Kontopoulos et al., 2019) have led to important information concerning evolutionary, environmental and diagenetic issues. Collagen is one of the most abundant proteins in skeletal material and its preservation in fossil material may indicate the preservation of other extremely important biomolecules such as DNA (Turner-Walker et al., 2008). This paper aims to present results concerning the evaluation of organic preservation as well as the extraction and quantification of collagen in samples from the Quaternary locations of Tilos and Dispilio (Greece) and Aghia Napa (Cyprus). Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR and NIR) was applied to all samples, prior to extraction in means of collagen prescreening and following extraction (where successful), to study the exact composition of the extracts and examine the correlation between collagen preservation and the samples' diagenetic profile (Stathopoulou et al., 2008; Kuczumow et al., 2010; Cleland et al., 2015; Stathopoulou et al., 2019). The extraction of collagen was attempted via modifications of the Longin (1971) method and specifically those of Maspero et al. (2011), Semal and Orban (1995) and Ambrose (1990). According to our results, only the Ambrose method led to successful collagen extraction and specifically only in the Dispilio samples. The collagen yield values for this material varied significantly (0,3–6,1% w/w) and seemed to strongly correlate to the different contexts found within the archaeological site. The IR analysis of the extracted Dispilio collagen indicated the presence of impurities such as carbonates and subsequently raised questions relating to the efficacy of the extraction method. Issues concerning geochemical and diagenetic parameters within the strata of the waterlogged site of Dispilio that could be connected to the different collagen yield as well as the methodological problems that emerged during the attempted extraction in all samples are discussed as well as the applicability of these methods on samples with reduced organic content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study exploring the potential of magnetic-susceptibility and phosphate soil analyses to locate and characterize buried Neolithic settlements in Thessaly, Greece. Using the preliminary results of large-area magnetometer surveys, soil samples were collected at three well-known sites along exploratory lines and augers targeting the locations of possible features of interest, including habitational structures and enclosures. The results demonstrated the capability of these analyses to detect the sites, outline hotspots and better interpret the features identified in the magnetometer results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

D. J. Ian Begg, Lost Worlds of Ancient and Modern Greece: Gilbert Bagnani: The Adventures of a Young Italo-Canadian Archaeologist in Greece, 1921-1924. Archaeologist Ian Begg, the author of I Lost Worlds i , not only struck gold when he came across Bagnani's personal papers but was able to mine the rich raw material in this archive and turn it into a fascinating history book. Lost Worlds of Ancient and Modern Greece: Gilbert Bagnani: The Adventures of a Young Italo-Canadian Archaeologist in Greece, 1921-1924 by D. J. Ian Begg (review). [Extracted from the article]

This paper responds to a resurgence of interest in constructing long-term time proxies of human activity, especially but not limited to models of population change over the Pleistocene and/or Holocene. While very much agreeing with the need for this increased attention, we emphasize three important issues that can all be thought of as modifiable reporting unit problems: the impact of (i) archaeological periodization, (ii) uneven event durations and (iii) geographical nucleation-dispersal phenomena. Drawing inspiration from real-world examples from prehistoric Britain, Greece and Japan, we explore their consequences and possible mitigation via a reproducible set of tactical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book is a collection of papers presented at the 19th International Congress of Classical Archaeology as parts of two panel sessions of debate and discussion on the subject. This is a gap this publication aims to cover, by providing a platform for the presentation of the work of various scholars and by concentrating on the financial function of coasts. Archaeology and Economy in the Ancient World: Economy and the Maritime Cultural Landscape of Greece: Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Classical Archaeology Cologne/Bonn, 22-26 May 2018, Panel 5.3, edited by Michael J. Curtis, Heidelberg, Germany, Propylaeum/Heidelberg University Library, 2022, 64 pp., 9 illustrations (some colour), Open Access: https://www.propylaeum.de, €19.90 (sbk), ISBN 978-3969290620. [Extracted from the article]

Although the ultimate aim of the dominant heritage discourse and practice is to preserve culture in a way that contributes to peace and human prosperity, its paradoxical outcome has been to erase the variety of ways that people can relate to the past and to normalize ethnic and religious conflicts as well as globally deepening inequalities of class, race and gender. In this context, searching for civilization in the past has become an increasingly irrational activity, specifically in geopolitically important zones such as the Middle East and Turkey, where millions of immigrants, along with numerous minorities and economically impoverished populations, are currently denied access to the living standards of modern civilization. This paper aims to highlight these paradoxes inherent in the dominant heritage discourse and practice through the example of a recent heritage awareness-raising and capacity-building project, Safeguarding Archaeological Assets of Turkey (SARAT). Furthermore, based on two ethnographic case studies of treasure hunting from Turkey and Greece, it is also argued that the past is embodied in our questions of who we are and in our difficulties of belonging in today's social landscape. Heritage, therefore, will continue to be in conflict and danger, unless people come to understand that they relate to the past in a variety of ways as regards the very core of the thick history of world politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens, the Byzantine and Christian Museum, the Benaki Museum of Greek Culture and the Museum of Cycladic Art are among the finest museums in Greece. Their permanent collections include splendid, important works of art and rare everyday objects that, arranged chronologically, represent the evolution of life and history in the Greek peninsula from prehistory to the 20th century. While these museums display artefacts from different eras and communities, they fail to shed light on gender issues and to tell inclusive stories. Even though many of the objects within their permanent collections belonged to women, were made by or for women, and depict women, very little is said of their lives and social roles within their respective societies. This paper examines how and whether the four aforementioned museums tell stories of women by examining different elements within their exhibitions (objects, thematic sections, texts, images, etc.), then suggesting new, feminist perspectives and approaches for considering them. By drawing attention to history's overlooked women and celebrating their lives, we suggest how treasuries of Greek civilisation might also become sites of social inclusion, diversity, and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a comparative study of land use and demographic development in northern and southern Greece from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period. Results from summed probability densities (SPD) of archaeological radiocarbon dates and settlement numbers derived from archaeological site surveys are combined with results from cluster-based analysis of published pollen core assemblages to offer an integrated view of human pressure on the Greek landscape through time. We demonstrate that SPDs offer a useful approach to outline differences between regions and a useful complement to archaeological site surveys, evaluated here especially for the onset of the Neolithic and for the Final Neolithic (FN)/Early Bronze Age (EBA) transition. Pollen analysis highlight differences in vegetation between the two sub-regions, but also several parallel changes. The comparison of land cover dynamics between two sub-regions of Greece further demonstrates the significance of the bioclimatic conditions of core locations and that apparent oppositions between regions may in fact be two sides of the same coin in terms of socio-ecological trajectories. We also assess the balance between anthropogenic and climate-related impacts on vegetation and suggest that climatic variability was as an important factor for vegetation regrowth. Finally, our evidence suggests that the impact of humans on land cover is amplified from the Late Bronze Age (LBA) onwards as more extensive herding and agricultural practices are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulses have constituted an important food source for prehistoric communities in the Old World, yet little is known as regards their processing for consumption through the archaeobotanical record. This paper provides an overview of archaeobotanical evidence for the use of pulses in prehistoric Greece based on two case studies from the north, and explores (a) their preparation for consumption, in particular their detoxification and (b) the consumption of pulses as a component of ordinary daily meals in prehistoric times, as well as those for special occasions, within a context of feasting and ritual. The paper examines charred remains of Vicia ervilia (bitter vetch) and Lathyrus sativus (grass pea) from early Bronze Age Agios Athanasios and late Neolithic Kremasti Koiladas, respectively, as the former provides a basis for a pilot exploration of pulse detoxification and the latter, due to its origin, offers a rare opportunity to discuss the context of consumption. In the pilot exploration of pulse seed preparation for consumption, the inner cotyledon morphology of modern V. ervilia seeds which were experimentally processed with water and pounding was examined macroscopically and through SEM micrographs. Preliminary observations suggest that intentional splitting of pulse seeds as part of processing for consumption as food may be recognisable in the archaeobotanical record. Processing with water may also be detected. The particular context of the Kremasti finds suggests that pulses, in this particular case L. sativus, may have constituted special foods for particular occasions, loaded with symbolic meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first part of this paper provides a concise overview of the ethnographies of 'looting', demonstrating the importance of this kind of archaeological ethnography in understanding the phenomenon; the paper also emphasizes the need to encompass reflexivity in terms of the impact and the sociopolitical dimensions of professional archaeology upon public perceptions and treatments of the material past. Such a reflexive archaeological ethnography of 'looting' is instrumental for two reasons: it allows for the recognition of the power imbalances in the production of the past; and, most importantly, it gives voice to unofficial, indigenous meanings of and engagements with material remains. In the second part of the paper, the author explores how her ethnography of 'looting' conducted in Kozani, Greece opened the way for reflecting on her relationship with the people she interacted with. In particular, she discusses her personal experience in wrestling with ethical dilemmas that emerged from the dual official role that she came to carry: that of the archaeologist and the ethnographer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This response to a set of wide-ranging papers on the dimensions of reciprocity in Bronze Age Greece introduces three areas for further research, in order to expand the framework in terms of gender, space, and time. These include greater emphasis on the role of women and gender relations in the circulation of labor, land, goods, and prestige; the question of reciprocal relations beyond the Aegean; and, last but not least, the afterlife of prehistoric relationships of reciprocity in ritual practices and elite display in Iron Age Greece. Alternate methodologies are required for these investigations, particularly in archaeological science for exploring diet, health, and foodways that indicate access to resources, in the analysis of non-Aegean documents relevant to Late Bronze Age Greece, and in the juxtaposition of Homeric views of reciprocity with those identified in Bronze Age Greece. As in the evolving development of theories of reciprocity and gift exchange over a century, the ethnographic and ethnohistoric record, largely outside Greece, informs Aegean research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ivory figürine, the subject of this paper, was found in Pisidian Antiokheia during the excavations in 2010 at the structure known as the North Church. The ivory woman figürine is naked and standing with a breastfeeding baby at her left arm; her right arm is at her breast level and holding a pomegranate or a poppy in her hand. Although bearing Classical Period style, the figürine was mede in the Early Chiristian Period. The recurring portroyals of ladies holding or breastfeeding babies since Neolithic Period were mointoined by converting them into Mary and Jesus, bearing Chiristianity in mind. The work created in the from of the Goddess Aphrodite or Astarte was probably made in North Syrian ivory workshops, wheras a smilar model mode from bone was probably created in a local workshop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of mathematical models in archaeology and history. Variants of a particular model - an entropy-maximizing spatial interaction model which also functions as a location model - are presented through two case studies. The first is an example from Archaeology which throws light on settlement sizes in the 9th and 8th century BC Greece; the second is from History and explores the evolution of the United States' urban system from 1790-1870 with particular reference to the impact of railways. The approach is essentially interdisciplinary and uses concepts from Geography, Economics, Physics and Ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: While geomorphological processes are considered key factors in the distribution of archaeological surface finds, few studies have attempted to quantify the relationship between artefact dispersal and erosional/depositional patterns. This paper compares Unit Stream Power Erosion Deposition model (USPED) and Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and integrates the results in the archaeological finds’ density map of Zakynthos Archaeological Project. The study area (Palaiokastro), with artefacts dated from middle Paleolithic to medieval times, includes a steep terrain with a surrounding plain area, where the downslope erosion has considerably modified the distribution of archaeological remains. Through this study, it is possible to identify relationships between high artefact densities and stable/non-eroded surfaces, and on the other hand, low densities and eroded surfaces. However, the results indicate a degree of spatial variability, which modifies the predicted relationship. The consideration of the effects of these temporal and spatial patterns is crucial for developing effective sampling methods and accurately interpreting the archaeological record. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The provenance question of the marbles used for making the sarcophagi of local production of Thessaloniki in the Roman period had been posed by archaeologists in the past. The hypothesis was that the material came mainly from the quarries of Thassos Island. This paper presents the scientific analysis of 23 characteristic samples from selected sarcophagi at the Museum of Thessaloniki, using three different techniques: electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, stable isotope analysis and maximum grain size measurements, plus in-situ examination. New combinations of parameters were used in order to resolve fully the provenance of all samples. The results showed that the vast majority of the objects were indeed made in Thassian marble but from three different quarries, namely Vathy/Saliara (dolomitic marble), Aliki (calcitic marble) and Acropolis/Phanari (calcitic marble). The calcitic marbles from Aliki and to a lesser degree from Acropolis/Phanari are met in all the basic types of sarcophagi (framed type, plain type, garland sarcophagi). The use of the better quality and snow-white dolomitic marble from Vathy/Saliara quarries is relatively restricted and is often found in works that are above the average regarding the quality of their workmanship. In addition, two sarcophagi were made in Pentlelic marble and one in Proconnesian. The scientific analysis results provide a good confirmation of the archaeological estimates and, furthermore, the conclusions constitute henceforth a secure basis for the study of the entire sculptured works of Thessaloniki. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel methodology for the classification of ancient Greek inscriptions according to the writer who carved them. Inscription writer identification is crucial for dating the written content, which in turn is of fundamental importance in the sciences of history and archaeology. To achieve this, we first compute an ideal or "platonic" prototype for the letters of each inscription separately. Next, statistical criteria are introduced to reject the hypothesis that two inscriptions are carved by the same writer. In this way, we can determine the number of distinct writers who carved a given ensemble of inscriptions. Next, maximum likelihood considerations are employed to attribute all inscriptions in the collection to the respective writers. The method has been applied to 24 Ancient Athenian inscriptions and attributed these inscriptions to six different identified hands in full accordance with expert epigraphists' opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contact between Egypt and the Aegean during the Late Bronze Age, especially the relationship between Minoan Crete and New Kingdom Egypt, has been the subject of much study. The relationship between the Greek (Mycenaean) mainland and Egypt is generally regarded as a more elusive topic, and most scholars seem to consider interaction between the two a matter of irregular exchange via middlemen (e.g., on Cyprus, in the Levant), rather than direct contact. This paper seeks to stimulate new thinking on this subject by positing the possibility that exchange between the two was more than a haphazard phenomenon, arguing that it was, instead, a highly organized system that involved the active engagement of the ruling elite at Mycenae as well as the pharaonic court. Using both archaeological and paleobotanical data and focusing my examination on the import into Egypt of Mycenean pottery, particularly stirrup jars, which are known generally as containers for olive oil, I demonstrate that olives and/or olive oil were a crucial part of this Late Bronze Age interstate connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between the egalitarian ideology of the Greek polis and the development of the complex, self-contained courtyard house. The polis was a 'corporate' state in which power was shared among a body of nominally equal citizens, rather than being centralized in the hands of an individual or small group. Elevating the citizen male to the status of head of an independent household, free from outside interference or ties of patronage, was one of the ways in which this equality was fostered; the enclosed form of the courtyard house advertised its owner's autonomy and adherence to shared moral codes, and thus his eligibility for access to power. The preference for new housing to be arranged in regular grid-plans also suggests a desire to avoid kin-based patterns of residence, replacing them with a new kind of solidarity based on membership of the citizen group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is the presentation of the MM IIA ceramic phase of Protopalatial Phaistos. Since 1994, V. La Rosa and F. Carinci have been directing a new programme of excavations and revision of 1950-1966 Levi's work at Phaistos, with support from the Italian Archaeological School in Athens. Within this project, my work has focused on the re-study of Levi's excavations of the quarter West to the West Court (Piazzale I) of the Phaistos Palace (rooms C, CI, CIII, ICα and ICβ). The analytical study of contextual data and MM IB-MM II ceramics retrieved from this quarter has been the starting point for attempting a new definition of the MM IIA ceramic phase at Phaistos. In fact, this work has allowed me to identify some levels (the uppermost fill levels) containing pottery easily comparable with that retrieved from MM IIA levels at Knossos. Phaistian MM IIA is characterized by the widespread use of the potter's wheel for small vases, as at Kommos, Knossos and Archanes, and by the appearance of new variants of previous forms and of new wares. The definition of the ceramic phase of MM IIA at Phaistos is remarkable because it also means that all the Phaistian deposits which were previously dated to a transitional phase between the MM IB and MM II phases, can now be re-dated to MM IIA. The uppermost fill levels from the rooms of the quarter West to the West Court, the floor-deposit of room 13 at Haghia Photeini, as well as the deposits found beneath the slab floor of rooms CVI and CVII on the southern slopes of the Acropofi Mediana, are MM IIA ceramic deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

That the ‘natural’ world was imbued with symbolic and religious meaning in Minoan Crete has been suggested since the early days of Minoan archaeology. Notwithstanding, it often remains unclear how certain constituents of the physical environment acquired specific meanings, and what such meanings imply for the actual dynamics of human-environment relations. This paper considers the relationship between (what is today construed as) religion and human engagement with the environment in Minoan Crete. An ‘ecological’ perspective is adopted which assumes that both organisms and inanimate objects are a result of and subject to continuous development, and their identity is defined by the network of relationships they are endowed with. The idea is put forward that the relationship between people and certain landscape elements were of a social kind, based on mutuality and intimacy, and that some activities conventionally identified as religious or ritual are better understood in terms of practical engagement with the physical environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we report the results of a study utilizing wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis and petrographic analysis of Mycenaean pottery from 11 sites in Thessaly. The primary purpose of this analysis is to answer a number of questions concerning the production and distribution of pottery there during the Late Bronze Age, including the relative quantity of local ceramic production, the number of workshops producing Mycenaean pottery and patterns of ceramic distribution. We identify and characterize four compositional groups, discuss evidence of imported pottery, suggest several probable and possible workshop locations, discuss patterns of distribution and offer some tentative conclusions concerning economic processes at the periphery of the Mycenaean world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. The ‘phlyax’ vases of magna graecia are now known to represent actors and staging of Middle Comedy. More than half of the comic vases dating from the third quarter of the fourth century BC were painted in Paestum by Asteas and his circle, who were influenced by the Sicilian Painter of Louvre K 240. This paper asks whether these painters worked from direct observation of the theatre; and if so, whether the vases are evidence for details of performance methods in Paestum or in Sicily, and at what period. The stage and skene, masks, costumes and comic acting style are considered, together with the link between Asteas and the Painter of Louvre K 240 and the significance of the disagreement of their evidence with that of the Manfria Group of Sicilian painters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses a series of experimentally generated cereal fragments with the aim to develop criteria for interpreting archaeological remains of ground cereals. Modern grain of einkorn and barley was subjected to processing by means of grinding, boiling and malting and then charred under controlled laboratory conditions. Neolithic replica grinding stones, cooking pots and hearths were used for the production of modern reference material, informed by ethnographic observations. In this way a range of different types of cereal fragments were generated. Our results are based on observations on the fracture surfaces of these cereals, using stereomicroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Diagnostic features for specific grain treatments have been identified that facilitate the interpretation of ancient foods using cereal fragments. Bulging of the fracture surface is the main criterion for the identification of fragments generated prior to charring as the result of ancient grinding. Parboiling of grain in a liquid towards the production of bulgur (boiled in water) or trachanas (boiled or soaked in milk/sour-milk etc) can be identified archaeologically and in certain cases, ground barley may be distinguished from ground malt. Charring ground grain during cooking in liquid or preparing wort for brewing is also potentially identifiable in archaeological material. Archaeological finds of ground wheat from Mesimeriani Toumba in northern Greece dated to the end of the 3rd millennium B.C. are interpreted as boiled grain, dried and ground, corresponding to some form of bulgur or trachanas. Our results contribute new information towards the identification of past culinary practices such as grinding, boiling and brewing with cereals. • A methodological tool for unlocking past ground cereal food preparations. • A key for the interpretation of charred archaeological cereal fragments. • Not all ancient cereal fragments are bulgur: cautionary notes on interpreting ancient cereal fragments. • Bulgur or trachanas , a Bronze Age 'fast food' stored in a burnt house at Mesimeriani, northern Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The mystery cult of the Great Gods of Samothrace offers productive material for theory building with respect to the archaeology of secrecy in ritual contexts. The social practice of secrecy builds political power and relies on communicative strategies that simultaneously conceal and reveal, employing culturally specific codes involving abstraction, ambiguity, metaphor, and allusion. Samothrace increased its secrecy as it grew in prestige: archaeological materialization of this secrecy includes euphemistic inscriptions and magnetized iron rings used as tokens of initiation. The rings use myth, philosophy, and ritual practice to communicate the initiate's status while emphasizing the rites' resistance to disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]