Books published by BAR Publishing

In the last century, researchers have uncovered approximately 50 Roman forts via excavations in Raetia. The rapid technological advancement of the last two decades allowed to use a variety of non-destructive methods, which enabled the discovery of more than 30 forts and Roman military installations, previously unknown. Furthermore, these new methods allowed observation of the mostly unknown inner layout of previously known forts, which led to many cases of chronologies being drastically redefined, as these had previously been dependent on find typologies. New inscriptions displaying the names of units have also been found, which enriches our knowledge on provincial military history. H. -J. Kellner's 1971 system for the dislocation of auxiliary troops in Raetia is still used by those who publish Roman military diplomas; an overall re-examination and reestablishment is yet to be done. This book aims to: collect, organize and examine different sources of Roman military history in Raetia; establish the dislocation system of the army during the Principate; and provide an up-to-date synthesis of the social, economic and religious aspects of the army in provincial life.

The University College London Lahun (Middle Kingdom) papyri constitute one of the most remarkable harvests of papyri of any age. This volume communicates the content of the surviving letters and letter fragments from the Petrie excavations at Lahun in an accessible and affordable format. The letters and fragments are from original letters: model letters, letter copies, and reports are reserved for future publications. The volume is intended not only for Egyptological researchers, but also for learners in higher and further education. This mass of writing calls for a more nuanced appreciation of the roles of writing and reading, and the social reach of the written culture across the different classes, ages, genders inhabiting this architecture and landscape. (The reader will find three means of access to the original content: Printed pages with transcriptions, transliterations, and translations; A printed index; The entire collection of papyri available to download on-line.)

This research investigates the development of early medieval identities in the South West, through continuity and change in the insular material culture, the settlements, and ultimately in social identity. These cycles of change, brought about by influences within and outside the region, are evidenced through regional (macro-scale) and micro-regional (site-specific) assessments of the evidence. An overriding sense of long-term continuity is perceived in the ability of these insular identities to retain former traditions and develop their material culture, despite the apparent political domination by far-reaching social groups in the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods. These traditions consist of all social practices and portable material culture, including the ceramics which make up a large proportion of these finds, and where an examination of developments in form and fabric have created a chronological framework that is more sympathetic to the archaeology of the region than the accepted broad periods of Early, Middle and Late Saxon, and which perhaps reflects a more accurate picture of social changes through time. The retention of prehistoric and Late Roman practices, in particular the former, is seen throughout all aspects of the archaeological evidence and is examined here through the themes of settlement hierarchies, exchange mechanisms and identity, and their spatial differentiation, with geographical determinism a deciding factor in the form and nature of communities. The project explores the development of Late Roman societies in an assessment of the impact of geographical determinism on identity, and the potential development of Atlantic and maritime identities within society as a whole.

This study considers a time span of two and a half thousand years from 4500cal BC, which constitute the Manx Neolithic. The work focuses in particular on the pottery, which is analyzed and characterized in detail, and the sites from which it is derived. All finds are fully illustrated.

Society for Arabian Studies Monographs No. 9In the centuries around the turn of our era, long distance trade based on the monsoon winds connected all coasts of the western Indian Ocean. Ships from India, Arabia, Egypt, East Africa and Mesopotamia conveyed luxuries such as silk, spices and slaves, but also subsistence goods including grain and inexpensive textiles between coasts separated by thousands of kilometres of water. In the same period the first complex societies emerged in parts of Africa and Southern India. In other regions existing states reorganised or were replaced or marginalised by new polities. This study aims at exploring the significance of maritime commerce to societies on the Indian Ocean rim, by examining how rulers adjusted their policy in order to control and profit from trade. The point of departure is the anonymous Greek first century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. This is a guide to navigation and trade on the Indian Ocean, covering the coasts of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, East Africa and India. The unknown author, who to a large extent relied on personal experience, included not only sailing directions, but also a wealth of information on local products, markets and political conditions. Chapter 1 introduces the subject and the setting. Chapter 2 discusses how to measure the impact of trade on complex societies. Chapter 3 deals with the content and reliability of the Periplus. Other chapters survey the situation along the coasts of Arabia, Africa and western / southern India in detail, and argue that rulers and states utilised a range of policies in order to profit from the monsoon trade.

This monograph takes a new look at various aspects of stone artefact analysis that reveal important and exciting new information about the past, and in particular Australian perspectives on lithics. The ten papers making up this volume tackle a number of issues that have long been at the heart of archaeology's problematic relationship with stone artefacts, including our understanding of the dynamic nature of past stoneworking practices, the utility of traditional classificatory schemes, and ways to unlock the vast amount of information about the strategic role of lithic technology that resides in stone artefact assemblages. The dominant theme of this monograph is the pursuit of new ways of characterising the effects of manufacturing and susbsistence behaviour on stone artefact assemblages.

CHOMBEC Working Papers No. 1The Sounds of Stonehenge originated as a workshop of the Centre for the History of Music in Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth (CHOMBEC), held at the Victoria Rooms, University of Bristol, UK in November 2008. The 8 papers contain material pertaining to acoustic physics, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, cognitive psychology, English literature, film studies, history, history of art, media and popular studies, musicology, sociology, and creative composition.

Exekias inscribes his signature on several of his vases, and so he is one of the relatively few archaic painters whose real name is known to us. He is arguably one of the most accomplished and innovative of all black-figure vase-painters working in Athens in the sixth century BC, and also one of the most intriguing. Although his corpus of extant works is rather small, his impact on his contemporaries and immediate successors can be judged to have been disproportionately large. His painting style is not idiosyncratic, and so may be described as distinguished rather than distinctive; it is nevertheless readily identifiable as much for its technical quality as for the creative conceptualization of the scenes. His range of subjects, the exquisite precision of his execution, and above all his technical and conceptual innovation are the hallmarks of his personal style, and there is scarcely a book on Greek vase-painting that does not use one of his vases to illustrate the peak of achievement in the black-figure technique, yet there is a dearth of monograph studies of his work. This extensive work pays homage to this great artist, including the construction of a persuasive chronology of Exekias' extant paintings through a comprehensive process of comparative analysis.

Since the double axe is such an important and symbolically charged object, emblematic for Minoan Crete, it has been discussed from different perspectives. Some scholars have created typologies; others have discussed shape and function without a typology. Shape and function also include the discussion of which double axes are tools and which are "sacred" or votive gifts. The aim of this research is to study the double axe as a tool and find out what it was used for in practice. The question of who used the double axe and for what purpose during the Bronze Age in Crete has not been answered satisfactorily; this is due to the fact that no one has as of yet studied the use-wear of the double axes. Overall this study is an attempt to show that the double axe is and was an extremely practical and effective tool without having to attribute it to a profane or a religious context.

Roman Africa. Until recently, scholars have tended to study architecture and decoration of Roman houses as separate, visual forms of classical art to be analysed in terms of description, classification, and typological survey. This new work follows recent scholarship, in contrast, by examining domestic buildings as a source of information about certain aspects of Roman social realities. Specifically, the author looks at questions such as: How can the function of a room be identified? Can architectural details and floor mosaics tell us something about the activities carried out in domestic spaces? How did they influence the viewer in his thoughts, feelings, and actions? What can type, shape, and design of the floor mosaic say? Is it possible to detect a thematic organisation for the decoration of the whole house? What can we say about the patrons who were paying for the decoration of their houses, about their status, class-aspirations, and achievements? Can spatial organization and decoration detect pattern of social interactions taking place within the house? The final objective of the study is to attempt an understanding of the wealthy class of Romano-African society, its concerns, intentions, and desires. Architecture and mosaic, if analysed as complementary parts of a whole, can offer a wide range of detail on the identity of the inhabitants and society. Form, decoration, and use of domestic space are influenced not only by environmental and economic conditions, but also by the patterns of social interactions taking place within the house.

A unique study of infancy and infant death that is wide-ranging and diverse in its approach. Eleanor Scott looks at theoretical issues, gender, women's power, childbirth, burial practices, infanticide and much more besides.

To determine the role that foreign immigrants held in Egyptian society, the author looks in this study at what it meant to be Egyptian and how foreign immigrants differed. Her analysis covers a discussion on ethnicity, nationalism and citizenship, particularly in relation to Asiatics, Syrians, Libyans, Nubians, Minoans, and Indians. Selected catalogues of finds and other material illustrate to these 7 groups of 'foreigners'.

This research focuses on prehistoric metallurgy and the key role it played for the human communities of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula (the present-day area of the Autonomous Region of Catalonia and the Principality of Andorra). The study covers the period from the first use of gold and copper during the Late Neolithic to the structured production of the Bronze Age. The role played by metallurgy in each prehistoric community and its relationship with the other elements involved in social life is explained. Questions such as the origin of this technology, its social value in relation to the other productions or the importance traditionally given to it in the development and consolidation of social asymmetries are dealt with in depth in the context of each archaeological group.

Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 83This study for the first time provides an in-depth examination of the Butana Group ceramics that in turn represent a large sedentary development existing in the far reaches of the eastern Sahel during the 4th millennium BC. These particular ceramics are compared with known Nilotic Neolithic and post-Neolithic ceramic groups in northeast Africa, including the Egyptian Neolithic and Predynastic, the Nubian A-Group, the Abkan Group, the Khartoum Neolithic and Late Neolithic of the Central Nile Valley. In the end, the Butana Group ceramics represent yet another significant cultural development in northeast Africa very different from other cultures situated along the Nile Valley.

This book is hoped to be only the beginning of explorations of the ancient Egyptian notion of upholding Order (Ma'at) through violence. Because of the scope of the topic, this study is limited to the most extreme measure of violence perpetrated in the service of Order: sanctioned killing. This study explores texts that affirm the proper occasions for such killings, and the religious framework behind these actions.

This book is an investigation of the towns of Palestine under Muslim rule from AD 600 to AD 1600. The primary form of evidence is archaeological reports though historical sources are also used. Three questions are addressed: 1) Did the towns of Palestine decline under Muslim rule? 2) Did the towns become Islamic? 3) Does archaeology provide useful answers? To answer these questions the archaeology of twenty-six towns is investigated. The towns selected are in regional groups (the Negev, Eastern Galilee and the Mediterranean coast) to illustrate different aspects of urban development from the Muslim conquest to the first century of Ottoman rule. The study also includes a detailed investigation of Ramla which was founded by the Umayyads within the first century of Muslim rule.

This study takes a fesh look at Livy's accounts of battles, asking how useful they are as depictions of the reality of republican warfare.

The present Anglican parish church of St. Mary the Virgin in the south Berkshire village of Stratfield Mortimer was built between September 1866 and July 1869 to replace a smaller, medieval building on the same site. Sponsored and paid for by Richard Benyon II of Englefield House, it was designed by Richard Armstrong Snr of London, and built by William Rhind, a young Scot, acting as Clerk of Works with the resources of the Englefield Estate at his disposal. A series of 150 detailed weekly returns by Rhind to Benyon shows that more than 340 named bricklayers, stonewallers, labourers, stonemasons and carpenters were employed at one time or another at St. Mary's. For much of the three-year period of building 40-45 men, lads and boys were present at the site. Their trades, daily rates and weekly wages are known in detail, together with the general progress of construction. It is apparent from Census Returns that the great majority of these workers were on the tramp, either living in benders or in some cases lodging in the village. They substantially increased the male working population of the village, and had a significant economic and social impact. The direct cost of St Mary's was almost £10,000, but the true cost was substantially more, as Rhind did not pay for aggregate, bricks, scaffolding, cartage and such machinery as a steam traction-engine. As the receipted bills accompanying Rhind's returns demonstrate, the Great Western Railway Company, with a station and goodsyard at Mortimer, was crucial to the construction of St. Mary's. The church was built at the height of the Victorian church-building boom during a period of confidence and prosperity for many. In general design, it was modelled on the previous medieval building, but otherwise largely complied with ecclesiological taste. The sturdy tower, with an almost fortified look, combines with the spire make the church a conspicuous landmark, which Pevsner was happy to call 'stately'. The present author has contributed two other works for BAR: BAR 432 2007: Late Churches and Chapels in Berkshire and BAR 371 2004: Carrstone in Norfolk Buildings.

The cult of Cybele and Attis is a spiritual phenomenon of wide chronological and geographical range. There is abundant documentation of its existence, but even more numerous are the works of scholars engaged in the interpretation of the cult and the divine figures around it. It is a field of interest for linguists, classicists, archaeologists, historians and art historians, ethnologists, and even psychoanalysts. To try to display all the aspects of the cult, its rituality and manifestation in iconography and epigraphy is a hard assignment: countless studies have been made trying to portray the character and evolution of the cult of the Phrygian Great Goddess, the timeless Mother of Gods, and her lover Attis. The work presented here is another interpretative drop in a vast cultural legacy that these deities have left behind, focusing on one particular corner of the Roman Empire.

The general research question followed during the course of this study can be summarized as: Does the Neolithic in Arabia originate in the Levant? To approach this question, several facets of this topic have been investigated. The first aspect considered is the most fundamental one with respect to the general research question: What is the archaeological material evidence for the Neolithic dispersal over Arabia, and where did it originate? If one accepts the Levantine origin for the Arabian Neolithic, the next question which has to be answered is: How did it happen? Here, two opposing, general, explanatory concepts are provided in the archaeological, social and geographic sciences. The third focus of this study investigates the Neolithic dispersal over Arabia as a spatial process: What are the most advantageous routes the Levantine Neolithic herders could have taken during the dispersal? The structure of this book follows the research agenda as outlined: Chapter 1 describes the history of research in Arabia. Chapter 2 discusses the conceptual model which was developed to consider the Neolithic dispersal from the Levant as a spatial process. Chapter 3 provides details about the dispersal simulations performed with respect to the environmental situation on the Arabian Peninsula. Chapter 4 traces the dispersal routes suggested by the simulations by archaeological evidence. The concluding chapter 5 summarizes and compares the separate results of the study.

Since its establishment in 1985 the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies has regularly hosted international, interdisciplinary conferences, especially an annual Easter Conference. The 2006 MANCASS Easter conference titled 'Royal Authority: Kingship and Power in Anglo-Saxon England' focused on historical contributions analysing sources of knowledge about royal power; and others which pinpointed loss of power or insecure pretensions to the crown. There were also offerings which teased material relevant to the conference theme out of artefactual and literary sources.With contributions by Charles Insley, Nicholas J Higham, Nicholas Brooks, Ian Howard, Gareth Williams, Mark Atherton, Christopher Grocock and Marilina Cesario.

A study of medieval ceramics (8th to 14th centuries AD) from 15 sites in the Tuscany region, central Italy. Analyses includes production, distribution and consumption.

Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Significance of Portages, 29th Sept-2nd Oct 2004, in Lyngdal, Vest-Agder, Norway, arranged by the County Municipality of Vest-Agder, KristiansandConveying craft and their cargoes between navigable waterways (Portages) represents a hitherto neglected feature of past transport geography. The idea of arranging an international conference on this subject first appeared during the mid-90s, when it seemed that it would be a good idea to create - and maybe also develop - a preliminary network, bringing together a number of people who shared a common field of research. This conference was eventually planned for September/October 2004 and in this volume the original English papers, and some translated from the Nordic session, have been brought together. Their subjects range geographically from Greenland to Russia, chronologically from the Mesolithic to Late Medieval, and (to a certain extent) modern times. The environments ranged from coastal to inland inter-river sites, and the topics from linguistic and etymological interests to myth making, ritual, and the experimental handling of boats at portages. A goal of the conference was to create an international network, and the embryo of such a network has been included in the proceedings. Another ambition, to include good bibliographies on the subject and its wide-ranging ramifications, has also been achieved.

The Ka.Y.A. project began in Ahlat (East Turkey) in 2007, by Centro Studi Sotterranei / Centre for Underground Studies of Genoa (Italy), in the main project 'Eski Ahlat ¿ehri Kazisi' (The Ahlat ancient city excavation) directed from 2005 to 2010 by Dr. Prof. Nak¿¿ Karamäaral¿ (Gazi University, Ankara). The Ka.Y.A. project aims to identify and study the rock-cut sites around Ahlat, as completion of major archaeological excavations in the ancient city located on the northern shores of Lake Van. The Ahlat region is a huge area, at an altitude between 1,700 and 2,500 m, and wedged between massive volcanic systems. During four years of research (2007-2010) the archaeo-speleologist team documented 395 rock-cut sites and underground structures most of which date back to medieval and post-medieval times, relating to different cultures and religions: Armenian, Seljuk, Ilkhanid, Kara Koyunlu, Ak Koyunlu and Ottoman. The results of the first survey campaign were completed in 2007 and published as BAR S2293 (2011),the second campaign 2008 is available as BAR S2560 (2013). These volumes are now supplemented by the new discoveries uncovered during the third season in 2009, with the hope to publish as soon as possible the results of the last mission completed in 2010.

This book focuses on archaeological sites and artifacts related to the Formative societies known as Qaluyu and Pukara (1400 BC-350 AD). These societies developed in the northern basin of Titicaca, in the Department of Puno, Peru. Focussing on the site of Chaupisawakasi, Chapter 1 describes the natural environment of the northern Titicaca Basin, and in particular the valley of Quilcamayo-Tintiri, a tributary of Azángaro River. Chapter 2 assesses the authors' work in regard to previous research in the region with a focus on the survey results from 2007 and 2008. Chapter 3 provides detailed descriptions of archaeological excavations carried out in 2010 at the site of Chaupisawakasi. Chapter 4 describes the analysis performed on materials from the excavations at the site of Chaupisawakasi. Specific data analyzed include pottery, lithic, botanical and zoological. Finally, Chapter 5 presents the authors' interpretations of Chaupisawakasi. They explain the history of the site and its passage from a communitarian society in Qaluyu to a different society that was imposed by the Pukara state, using comparative data from sites from the same period in the Quilcamayo-Tintiri valley and other areas of the northern Titicaca Basin. Finally, this volume offers some suggestions for future research in the Quilcamayo-Tintiri valley in particular in the northern basin of Titicaca in general.

The Neolithic and Copper age monuments in Europe, consisting of stone temples and circles, standing stones, henge monuments, long barrows, megalithic graves, buildings and pyramids, are the most impressive remains of past societies and present striking features of the prehistoric landscape. This volume is concerned with these monuments and offers a broad and up-to-date discussion on their emergence and function, their situation in the landscapes and the reconstruction of the prehistoric societies in diverse archaeological contexts and regions in Europe and in one area of the Near East. It brings together new data and methodological approaches, as well as current discussions and interpretations.

One Sunday evening in the summer of 2008, while prospecting on commercial land in the vicinity of the village of Warmington, situated on the summit of Edge Hill (south Warwickshire, England), a metal-detectorist saw a small silver disk on the surface. This was followed by the registration of a further two coins by his equipment, then others as he began a methodical survey of the area. After he had alerted the local Warmington Heritage Group to his discovery, the decision was taken to locate and mark the nucleus of the soundings being made and to leave further work to the following day. This revealed a spread of coins, at times up to fifty metres away from the original finds, but it was not till Tuesday that the nucleus itself was excavated, revealing a pot full of unstratified coins. Following cleaning, photographing, and initial identification, the hoard was deposited in the Warwickshire Museum pending arrangement of the necessary inquest in accordance with the Treasure Act. During this period additional coins came to light, bringing the total to 1146 specimens. Chronologically the hoard covers the period from 194/190 BC to AD 64, and from analogies elsewhere clearly represents a cross-section of material in circulation at the time of deposition in view of the fact that, with the exception of some issues at times of military stress, denarii had largely remained stable in terms of both fineness and weight from their inception to the reform instituted by Nero. This volume presents a detailed and essential catalogue of this splendid hoard.

The book looks at the worship of the goddess Nemesis within the context of the Roman ludi and offers the first entire collection and analysis of all known archaeological finds and findings that connect the cult of Nemesis with Roman amphitheatres. Several central aspects of the ancient games are thus emphasized: The political and religious dimension of the events as well as the significance and localization of its most representative goddess Nemesis. The goddess can be attributed to a figurative meaning for the demonstration and restoration of the Roman claim for justice - presented in the amphitheatre, where the most complete cross-section of Roman society came together.

The study explores patterns of interconnections between the coastal zone of the Corinthian Gulf and its surrounding hinterlands, between c. 600 and 300 B.C. Archaeological remains point to a substantial expansion in site numbers during this period, and the growth of identifiable central place sites in connection with coast-hinterland routes. Movements through these routes are further traced through both the material record and written sources. Coastal areas acted as important gateways for exchange systems linked to diverse hinterland environments and economies, and interaction patterns emphasise the importance of microregional connectivity in regards to economic and political dynamics.