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Copyright of Praehistorische Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The change in the dress of Aegean figures in the Egyptian 18th dynasty Theban tombs from breechcloth to a kilt has long been a topic of discussion for both Aegeanists and Egyptologists. In this paper we build on the work of Paul Rehak (1996; 1998), who convincingly showed that the change in dress could not be interpreted as evidence for a change of ethnicity. We examine the use of the breechcloth and kilt in the Bronze Age Aegean and argue that the affinity of the Aegean elite of Knossos for wearing kilts in processions can be dated to LM II. This date corresponds to the change from breechcloth to kilt in the tomb of Menkheperreseneb, which has a terminus post quem in the 33rd regnal year of Thutmose III. Furthermore, we argue that this change in the depiction of Aegean figures corresponds to the first attestation of the toponym Keftiu in relation to the figures, and that this could reflect a shift in power on Crete and the dominance of the palace of Knossos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present data from the two organized LM III cemeteries near Rethymnon, Maroulas and Armenoi, in order to explore and understand the mortuary practices that took place there. The data comes mainly from the cemetery of Maroulas and to a lesser extent from that of Armenoi near Rethymnon.1 The examination of two burial assemblages is not limited to descriptions of data, but also addresses the functional role of the objects, which can lead to more interpretive approaches, based on a theoretical framework. Looking at the evidence of the two cemeteries, one can deduce that there was a specific burial programme, in which there was an accepted way of treating the dead. Whether the picture portrayed by the burial practices corresponds to social reality, and to what extent it reflects social structures that really existed, is very difficult to verify. There is no doubt, however, that the dynamic course of the relationship of each society with its past creates multiple channels of expression, which, depending on the cultural environment can be represented in complex or simple ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Radovi Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zaru is the property of Zavod za Povijesne Znanosti HAZU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents evidence for feasting in the late Iron Age I Philistine culture from a circumscribed locale in Area A at the site of Tell es-Safi/Gath. The remains are characterized by architectural features, installations and rubbish dumps containing a rich array of animal bones, symbolic objects, and a series of unique installations all dating to the tenth and eleventh centuries B.C.E. These activities are informed by parallels from Mycenaean Late Bronze Age feasting events, though at Tell es-Safi/Gath they may have served a different purpose, specifically, the maintenance and promotion of Philistine cultural identity through the adoption of behaviors and symbols from the Aegean past by portions of the Philistine population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how to make the most out of the rather imprecise chronological knowledge that we often have about the past. We focus here on the relative dating of artefacts during archaeological fieldwork, with particular emphasis on new ways to express and analyse chronological uncertainty. A probabilistic method for assigning artefacts to particular chronological periods is advocated and implemented for a large pottery data set from an intensive survey of the Greek island of Antikythera. We also highlight several statistical methods for exploring how uncertainty is shared amongst different periods in this data set and how these observed associations can prompt more sensitive interpretations of landscape-scale patterns. The concluding discussion re-emphasizes why these issues are relevant to wider methodological debates in archaeological field practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several conference papers on Greek archaeology are presented. One of the conference papers examines the Neo architecture and archaeological finds from the Halai acropolis. Meanwhile, another paper on the excavation of two areas in Northeast and Northwest of islets in Mitrou reports the presence of 2 EHIIB occupational levels with substantial walls. Another paper explores the architectural aspect of the Church of Ag, Exarchos.

The article examines the collaborations between the pensionnaires of the Villa Medici in Rome and the members of the French School of Athens, shedding light on the complex relationships between architecture, art, and archeology. The second half of the 19th century was a period during which the exchanges and collaborations between archaeologists, artists, and architects acquired a reinvented role and a dominant place. Within such a context, Athens was the place par excellence, where the encounter between these three disciplines took place. The main objective of the article is to render explicit how the revelations of archeology, actively disseminated by the members of the French School of Athens—the "Athéniens"—had an important impact on the approach of certain pensionnaires of the Villa Medici in Rome. Particular emphasis is placed on certain pensionnaires, who decided to devote their envois to ancient monuments of Greece. In parallel, the article intends to shed light on the methods that helped the pensionnaires-architects of the Villa Medici in Rome appropriate archaeological discoveries concerning Greek antiquities. The article takes, as a starting point, the following hypothesis: to better understand the figure of the architect-archaeologist, of whom Jacques Ignace Hittorff is an emblematic example, it is pivotal to bear in mind that before the second half of the 19th century neither the figure of Hellenic archeology nor the figure of the architect had yet acquired their autonomy. Taking into account that Johann Joachim Winckelmann, in the middle of the 18th century, forged an ideal Greek model, which was criticized during the second half of the 19th century, the article also sheds light on the fact that the revelations of archaeologists have called into question the Winckelmannian image of Greece. Another aspect that is explored in the article is Jacques Ignace Hittorff's studies concerning the polychromy of ancient Greek monuments, paying special attention to his Restitution du temple d'Empédocle à Sélinonte ou l'Architecture polychrome chez les Grecs. The article also explores how the shifts of the status of philhellenism are related to the mutations of the meaning of travel to Greece. In parallel, it investigates the impact of Greek independence on the ideals of beauty and nature in arts, as well as how Greek independence is related to the intensification of the interest in the excavations of Greek antiquities. [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]

Abstract: This paper deals with the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the area surrounding the remnant arch of the ancient bridge of Klidhi, Thessaloniki Plain, Greece. 19th century travellers and 20th century historians discussed the age of the monument and concluded that it was built during Late Roman Times (3rd Cent. AD) and supported a branch of the Via Egnatia road. However, few studies have considered the environmental context of the construction of the bridge, and until now, only two hypotheses have been presented: The bridge was built on or over a junction of the Aliakmon and Loudias Rivers, or on a coastal barrier. Within the framework of a geoarchaeological project developed in April 2008, five boreholes were drilled and the sediment cores analysed for microfauna and sedimentology. Seven 14C AMS dates provided a chronostratigraphic sequence and helped to define the geomorphological evolution of the area. Spatial interpretation of the results was possible using a Landsat TM image (False Colour Composite – FCC). Our data indicate the gradual transition of the site from a marine to a terrestrial environment during Ancient Times. Lagoonal conditions dominated during the construction of the bridge and the presence of a palaeochannel of the Aliakmon River was later revealed (transition from Byzantine and Ottoman periods), overlying sediments of a coastal barrier. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As part of a wider study of the archaeological evidence for slavery in the ancient world, this paper deals with the typology, mechanism, chronology, and distribution of iron age and Roman slave-shackles. These are subdivided into neck-shackles, manacles (for hands), and fetters (for feet). The distribution of iron age examples defines a trading pattern between the Celtic and Roman worlds. The preponderance of Roman types a) on the limes and b) in Gaul and Britain suggests the role of the military in slave-taking on the one hand, and the use of slaves in agriculture on the other. Separate sections deal briefly with the Pompeian material, the physiological evidence for shackles (including Greece), and animal hobbles of iron age and recent date. A catalogue of the material is appended. [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]

One of the best known places on Earth where volcanology meets archaeology and history is the volcanic island of Santorini (Thíra), Greece. It is famous for the cataclysmic Late Bronze Age (Minoan) Plinian eruption which destroyed the Minoan culture that flourished on the island. Hosting a central, flooded caldera bay and, within that, the active islands of Palaea and Nea Kameni, Santorini volcano has been the focus of international research efforts for over one and a half centuries. In this paper, we summarize recent findings and related ideas about the Minoan physiography of the island, also known as Strongyli, from a volcanological, geomorphological and archaeological point of view. As proposed as early as the 1980s, a central caldera bay existed prior to the Late Bronze Age. Probably characterised by a smaller size and located in the northern part of the present-day caldera, this earlier caldera bay was formed during the previous Plinian eruption – called Cape Riva eruption – c. 22,000 years ago. Within the caldera bay, a central island, Pre-Kameni, existed, named after the present-day Kameni Islands. High-precision radioisotopic dating revealed that Pre-Kameni started to grow c. 20,000 years ago. Whereas volcanologists have accepted and refined the caldera concept, archaeologists have generally favoured the theory of an exploded central cone instead of a pre-existing central caldera. However, analysis of the Flotilla Fresco, one of the wall paintings found in the Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri, reveals the interior of a Late Bronze Age caldera that may be interpreted as a realistic landscape. Approximately 3600 years ago, the island of Strongyli was destroyed during the explosive VEI = 7 Minoan eruption. Pre-Kameni was lost by this eruption, but its scattered fragments, together with other parts of Strongyli, can be recovered as lithic clasts from the Minoan tuffs. On the basis of photo-statistics and granulometry of the lithic clasts contained in the Minoan tuffs, complemented by volumetric assessment of the erupted tephra and digital elevation model (DEM) analysis of alternative models for the pre-eruptive topography, the volume of Pre-Kameni can be constrained between 1.6 and 3.0 km3, whereas the volume of the destroyed portion of the ring island of Strongyli between 9.1 and 17.1 km3. Of these, the larger values are considered more realistic, and imply that most of the destroyed part of Strongyli was incorporated as lithic components in the Minoan tuffs, whereas up to 3 km3 of Strongyli might have been downfaulted and sunken during caldera formation and is not accounted for in the lithics. • The topography of Late Bronze Age (Minoan) Santorini has been assessed quantitatively. • DEM reconstruction considers the lithic content and volume of the Minoan tuffs. • Our reconstruction is in agreement with a small caldera prior to the Minoan eruption. • The Flotilla Fresco is suggested to depict a landscape with this pre-existing caldera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines an important wall painting fragment purportedly found in the megaron of the Late Bronze Age palace at Mycenae in 1893. Originally published in Russian in 1897, the fragment depicts a right-facing mid-size male figure with stylistic affinities to processional figures subsequently excavated on Crete and the Greek mainland. Despite its apparent iconographic and historical significance, the painting has received limited attention in Aegean literature. Below, the thrilling yet murky history of the fragment's discovery is assembled from public and private testimonies by the eminent individuals involved. Possible reconstructions of the fragment are presented, and its iconography is explored in light of current chronologies and known comparanda. It is argued that, while many details of the fragment's biography remain ambiguous, the potential value of the find as a rare representation of a processing man in a mainland palatial context is substantial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on various discoveries in the research into Minoan extra-urban sanctuaries in Greece in 2014-2015 that focused on three regions such as Vrysinas, Kophinas and Juktas.

The article focues developments on archeology in Greece in 2014-2015 which featured different exhibitions and festivals that highlight various discoveries and collections in the field.

A conference paper about the results of the chemical analysis on the bronze sword of Naue II that concludes that the sword is an Italian import is presented. It discusses the attributes of the place where the sword was found particularly the chemical composition of a part at the Temple of Apollo. It also examines the observation done by the first excavator of the place and the related discovery.

The article discusses the archaeological finds in the Greek Mainland during the prehistoric period. The themes in the research include an integrated interdisciplinary applications of archaeological science, movement of people sea and land the human exchanges done through such movements and the settlement history and organization of space within settlements. It cites the site of Ag. Konstantinos, Methana as typical of the history of Mycenaean shrines.

A fresh examination of six inscribed fragments (Agora XIX L6 a-f ) previously attributed to the first of a series of stelai recording civic leases of sacred land in late-4th-century Athens reveals that they belong to four separate stelai, only one of which can be dated to 343/2 b.c. The publication of the leases was linked to a reorganization of sacred finances that included the amalgamation of the treasuries of Athena and the Other Gods, ca. 346/5. The new reconstruction challenges previous estimates of the extent of Athenian sacred property and the assumption that subsequent lists (Agora XIX L9-12, L14) were produced only at 10-year intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]