Books published by BAR Publishing

This book includes papers from the session entitled 'Megalithic Quarrying' presented at the XV UISPP World Congress (Lisbon, 4-9 September 2006).

Authors: Roberto Bixio, Vittoria Caloi, Vittorio Castellani and Mauro Traverso.The 2004 Ani (the ancient Armenian capital on the eastern border of modern Turkey) expedition was devoted to the inspection of the underground structures. The monumental town was built around the 10th century on a platform defined by deep canyons which cut the volcanic rocks of the plateau. The artificial cavities are located all along the walls of the canyons, often in two or more layers. The structures were first investigated in 1915, beginning a process of identifying, exploring and classified more than 800 cave forms. The 2004 mission checked the status of the dwellings with respect to the investigation of 90 years before, to undertake a detailed exploration of some selected dwellings chosen as term of comparison, and to investigate with special carethose underground structures which were inside or close to the city walls, in order to establish the relations between the town and the underground sites. The first chapter of the report gives a short account of the objectives of the 2004 mission, together with an overview of the relevant literature and of the history of the town. Chapter 2 deals with the settlements outside the town (the rural settlements). The underground sites inside the town walls are discussed in Chapter 3. The nature of the underground sites is discussed in Chapter 4.

A study of early Georgian smelting sites. The features described here are remarkably consistent in their layout and the results of the present publication indicate a large, well developed industry. Further survey work should give us a better idea of just how large this prehistoric iron industry was, but it is already clear from the results reported in this book that the furnaces varied in size, with some being very large.

The idea of this volume came out of two research gatherings that focused on land allotment and field systems. The first was a day seminar on Ancient Fields, held at the National Monuments Record centre at Swindon, England, in June 2002. The second was the session on Land Allotment at the 24th annual conference of the Theoretical Archaeology Group, held at Manchester University in December 2002.

This investigation consists of updates to the chronology of Achaemenid Persia (539 BCE-304 BCE). The state of Achaemenid chronology was the subject of a series of studies published by this writer about ten to fifteen years ago. Newly emerged evidence has necessitated the present updates. Errata in those earlier studies are listed in an appendix. The focus of the present investigation is on what is new. A comprehensive statement on Achaemenid chronology that progresses from first principles and combines all that is new with all that is old remains desirable. Few historical events are as transforming in the history of nations as the death of one ruler and the accession of the next. Accordingly, the chronology of regnal transitions deserves special attention in the study of ancient chronology. This study provides updates for the chronology of nine regnal transitions in the Achaemenid empire: Xerxes I to Artaxerxes I (465); Artaxerxes I to Darius II (424-23); Darius II to Artaxerxes II (405/4); Artaxerxes IIto Artaxerxes III (359/58); Artaxerxes III to Arses (338); Arses to Darius III (336/35); Darius III to Alexander III (331); Alexander III to Philip Arridaios (323); and Arridaios to Alexander IV (317). A comprehensive tabulation of the regnal years of the final years of the empire (340-304) is presented at the end.

A collection of essays dedicated to the memory of Eleni Hatzivassiliou (1977-2007). The range of subjects reflects her broad circle of friends. Many are her contemporaries, but many are very senior scholars; ages range from 25 to 80. It is truly remarkable that someone who had not yet reached her thirtieth birthday could have come to know so many scholars and win their admiration and affection.

The purpose of this volume is to reveal as much information as possible on the nature of dance in Old Kingdom Egypt. This is achieved through the thorough examination of the primary evidence pertaining to dance in the old Kingdom, which comes to us in the form of pictures, letters, captions and titles. Scenes of dance abound in tomb decoration, in particular, but can also be found in solar temples attended by the living. Indeed, when a clear definition of what constituted dance in Ancient Egypt is reached, the number of pictorial examples relating to dance became so vast that it necessitated restricting this study to material from the old Kingdom. While the study of pictures of dance reveals much about the history and development of art, much regarding the nature of dance can also be perceived. It is reasonable to assume that much of the information recorded regarding dance; the poses, costumes, props and gender of dancers as depicted in scenes of dance, should reflect the nature of dance as it was performed at the time and even the region in which it was recorded. Therefore, the developments traced in the course of this study relate to the art history record of dance as much as to dance itself.

Interest in studying historical environments expanded quite rapidly parallel to a passion for romantic landscapes in the 19th century and the knowledge of natural resources among the ecologists of the 20th century. From the point of view of geomorphology, this interest has generated a wealth of research on coevolution between relief and human population. Later, with the study of recent sediment deposits in the Mediterranean Basin, the concept of parallel development between the spread of the Oikumene anderosive phenomena has emerged. Since then, numerous and sometimes contradictory studies have highlighted the diversity of the Holocene sedimentation and morphogenic response to human settlement and population growth according to the geographical variety. With the present work, the author contributes to this line of research by studying a semi-arid Mediterranean environment, the island of Cyprus. The work focuses on the Gialias River watershed which extends from the piedmont of the Troodos range to the Eastern Messaoria plains. The goal is to reconstruct the history of the Holocene morphogenesis in connection with the forms and structures of fluvial landscapes. This work is inscribed in a both geomorpholigical and geoarchaeological perspective and adds to recent advances on the evolution of sub-arid and semi-arid environments in the oriental part of the Mediterranean Basin.

With a definite economic focus, this work utilises a broad spectrum of information, including structural, artefactual, environmental, technological and documentary to examine the economy of early medieval Ireland and the domestic life of the non-elite population.

This regional study looks at the topography and epigraphy of Megaris, the territory between Attica, Corinth and Boetia, focusing on the Post-Classical periods. Philip Smith examines in turn, the archaeological, literary and epigraphic evidence for the region, compiling a useful catalogue of sites on the Megarid, with numerous maps and plans.

This book presents eleven papers from a session held at the EAA conference in Cork, Ireland, in 2005.

This study uses faunal remains, specifically the frequency of pig bones, to act as a barometer of social complexity. It finds that variations in the frequency of pigs from site to site cannot be explained by environmental factors, as is thus indicative of economic differences.

This book presents the proceedings of Red Sea Project III held in the British Museum, London, in October 2006.

Nine papers from a session held at the EAA conference in Cork, Ireland, in 2005.

An investigation of the relations between heterogeneity in the material world and variations in human behaviour, particularly landscape settlement and stone tool fabrication, in the European Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. A theoretical approach termed ecological geography is developed.

with English summary and abstract.

Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 67This book is a presentation of North Cameroon, and, as required, the neighbouring regions' prehistory, back to the most remote Palaeolithic times. It focuses on a region and mainly on the most recent period, from which grew the cultures of its ethnographic present: that is to say the Postneolithic, often termed Iron Age civilizations of sub-Saharan Africa, dating to the two last millennia. This work attempts to serve simultaneously as a useful introduction to the archaeology of the region, and as a general interpretation of those later prehistoric times that constitute the background of its historic and present settlements. In doing so it relies upon the data related to this region gathered by a wide range of disciplines over the past three to five decades.

The Bolivian high plateau, situated between the two Andean cordilleras, at an altitude of c. 3800-4000 metres above sea level. The Tiwanaku State (Tiwanaku IV and V, c. AD 500- 1150) - the heartland of which was situated in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin - was one of the most important pre-Inca civilisations of the South Central Andes. Since the late 1950s - and especially since the mid- 1980s - understanding of the Tiwanaku culture has increased rapidly. However, no systematic study of Tiwanaku burial practices - combining older and newer archaeological data with information from historical and ethnographic sources - has been available. This study fills this gap and furthers advances the general understanding of the Tiwanaku culture.

Historical records mention that over 200 potters were active in Southern Québec between 1655 and 1920. These locally-made productions are now found on every archaeological excavation undertaken in Southern Quebec, but their contribution to the understanding of the archaeological sites are limited because these locally-made ceramics are rarely identified. This study presents compositional analysis as a solution to the problem of identification and provenance of local wares. Through the analysis of major, minor, and trace elements (using ICP-AES and ICP-MS) of about 300 ceramics uncovered on 16 production sites, the author was able to distinguish and characterize the different productions, as well as relate them to the Southern Québec geological environments (and reduce the risks of confusion with exogenous productions).

A valuable new contribution to the regional archaeology of La Payunia (Argentina), tackling issues of broader interest such as the elusive relationships between foragers and agriculturalists. The work contains new and interesting material which is presented with updated methodologies and conceptualisations.

The bronze lamps in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, consisting of a variety of material from the Ottoman Empire - Palestine, Syria, the Lebanon and Macedonia - were acquired through confiscation, purchase or in a few cases from excavations (Cos, Lindos, Sidon, Tel-Taannek and Thrace). The collection illustrates the range of bronze lamp production in the Eastern Mediterranean from the Archaic to the Late Roman world. The collection is particularly rich in lamps from the Early Christian period and also includes polycandela for glass lamps. Although provenance is often lacking, the Istanbul lamps nevertheless offer a useful and interesting body of material for the student of lighting technology in the ancient world. Until the 1960s, from almost every corner of Turkey all kinds and types of object were being brought to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. However, with the new regulations in force, the objects are now being collected in local museums and not much is received by the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. The present catalogue lists metal lamps, lampstands, polycandela, lanterns, suspension chains, and lamplids which have entered the museum's collection up to the end of 1998. Only a few examples of the collection are published.

This book is written for professional archaeologists, students of South American archaeology, heritage managers, museum staff, and the general public. The book intends to provide sufficient breadth and detail that it stands as a scholarly work, while presenting data in a manner which allows for a wide use of the materials. Thus the book summarizes well-known sites and those less known but important to understanding the regional prehistory. The primary objective of this book is to craft an overview and synthesis of the archaeology of Guyana and in so doing document the diversity of human adaptations over several thousands of years. The ten chapters include an historical overview of the history of archaeological research in Guyana during the late 19th and late 20th centuries; an overview of the geological history, climate and geography; the general chronological context of Guyana prehistory; the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene paleo-environmental context; the evidence for Paleo-Indian occupations; the prehistory of Northwestern Guyana with specific reference to the Archaic shellfisher and later Horticultural patterns of the littoral; the archaeology of the Abary and Hertenrits Phases of Northeastern Guyana; an overview of the Taruma Phase of Southeastern Guyana; the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Horticultural occupations of the Rupununi savannahs; a summary and synthesis of the Iwokrama rainforest in central Guyana; and a review of major developments in Guyana archaeology and future research needs.

Paris Monographs in American Archaeology 16This book includes 19 papers relating to current research undertaken by the University of Paris from the High Plains of Mexico to Patagonia.

Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 62This work offers a comprehensive historical framework of north-western Benin, West Africa, based on intensive survey work and controlled stratigraphic excavations. The study is divided into two parts. Part one is devoted to the environmental setting, the aims and the excavation and survey methodology, including some theoretical discussions. The second part provides a sequence in chronological order of sites and associated finds discovered in north-western Benin.

III Coloquio Internacional de Arqueología en Gijón, Gijón, 28, 29 y 30 septiembre 200220 papers from the Symposium: The Atlantic Arc in the Roman Age: Cultural Unity and Diversity, held in Gijón in September 2002.

Acts of the XIVth UISPP Congress, University of Liège, Belgium, 2-8 September 200112 papers and posters from Section 14 of the Acts of the XIVth UISPP Congress, University of Liège, Belgium, 2-8 September 2001 (Archaeology and History of the Middle Ages).

This work describes the organization of an agricultural homestead and its equipment and function and the ensuing research contributes towards an understanding of aspects of the social and economical status of peasants during the High and Late Middle Ages. Looking at homesteads, courtyards and villages, the author mainly focuses on the period between the 13th - 15th centuries in the region of the present-day Czech Republic, as well as in other parts of Central Europe, extending the current knowledge base,with the intention of bringing more information on the development of the inner structure of the mediaeval village.Written by Rostislav Nekuda and translated by Radek Kobzik and David Kone¿ný

15 papers on research (1970-2001) into Roman Dalamtia in honour of J. J. Wilkes.

The research presented in this study focuses upon a 2,000 sq km area in the Körös River Valley, in northern Békés County, eastern Hungary. Within this region, the author analyzes two separate lines of evidence that relate to the changing patterns of social interaction and integration during the Late Neolithic and Early Copper Age periods. Chapter 1 details the scope of the project Chapter 2 develops the theoretical framework. Chapter Three discusses the methodological correlates of this theoretical framework, and addresses the archaeological problem of inferring dynamic social systems from static material remains. The middle range theory and bridging arguments are presented and the problems of measuring social interaction and integration in prehistoric contexts are discussed. Chapter Four presents the archaeological background necessary for understanding the radical social changes that occurred on the Great Hungarian Plain, ca. 4,500 BC. Chapter Five presents the specific research design. Chapter Six provides an overview of the study area and presents the sites and assemblage included in the subsequent analyses. Chapter Seven details the analysis of integration throughout the study area, based upon the spatial data and Chapter Eight lays out the analyses of Early Copper Age interaction, based upon the stylistic data from the Early Copper Age ceramic assemblages. Chapter Nine integrates the analyses presented in Chapters Seven and Eight into a coherent model and attempts to place the study area into the wider temporal and geographic context of the Great Hungarian Plain, and into the wider context of anthropological archaeology.

This work analyses two spatially referenced radiocarbon databases for the spread of Europe's first farmers and for the spread of the first sheep in southern Africa respectively. The methods for visualising large-scale diffusion processes are compared using the European database; these include chronology maps, isochron maps, and a new simulation using the probability distribution of calibrated dates. The patterns in the radiocarbon data are then quantified by using linear regression of both calibrated anduncalibrated dates to calculate rates of spread and possible departure points for the European data at two scales of analysis, continent-wide and by demic and cultural region. The new analytical technique, using the whole of a date's calibrated range, is then applied to the database for the spread of the first sheep in present day South Africa. Two competing hypotheses for the route of the spread, a western coastal route from present day Namibia southwards, and an interior route are tested by analysing the spatial and temporal patterns in the radiocarbon data.