Books published by Sidestone Press

Many new results on Middle and Late Bronze Age Laconia are presented in this volume, stemming from recent excavations by the Greek Archaeological Service as well as ongoing excavations, surveys and material studies by foreign schools and individual scholars. Among discussed settlements are the sites of Pellana, Palaiopyrgi, Geraki, Pavlopetri and Vrysika and also the island Kythera. The newly discovered palatial site at Ayios Vasileios is also elaborately discussed in various papers, including discussions of its North Cemetery, early Mycenaean pottery deposits, the West Stoa, and an outline of the habitation history and size of Ayios Vasileios compared to other palatial settlements.More than 25 years have passed since the publication of a paper by Oliver Dickinson in which he wrote about central Late Helladic Laconia that he had an impression of "competing and unstable principalities in the early period and perhaps centrifugal tendencies". In this volume we explore to what extent this impression is still justified. Especially considering the recent discovery of a palatial site at Ayios Vasileios. Indeed, this volume shows that in the past decades much has happened in Laconia with respect to what we know about the Bronze Age. We are therefore extra pleased that Oliver Dickinson has agreed to write an Afterword to this volume.Written by academics and those working in the fields of Bronze Age Greece, Laconia, ceramic analyses, architecture, survey, and photogrammetry this volume will be invaluable to students and practitioners with similar interests.

This book offers the first overview of the Later Stone Age of North-western Libya through the detailed analysis of lithic production, use and discard.

Broomcorn/common/proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) is a cereal crop that originated in East Asia and was transferred westward to Europe, where it was introduced in the mid-2nd millennium BCE, at the height of the Bronze Age. Archaeobotanists from the Collaborative Research Centre 1266, supported by many colleagues, conducted a large-scale programme of radiocarbon dating of millet grains from prehistoric Europe. They discovered that the spread of this crop on the continent happened quickly, extending far and wide.What do we know about the (pre)history of this crop in Europe? The workshop organised by the CRC 1266 at Kiel University in 2019 encouraged the discussion on the circumstances and consequences of early broomcorn millet cultivation in Europe. This book brings together many of the workshop papers and reflects the diverse topics and research areas covered. The contributions inform us on the range of cultivated and collected plants from the time before and after the start of millet cultivation in Europe; present the cultural setting in which millet arrived; discuss possible reasons driving the acceptance of this innovation; and reconstruct possible uses of millet and the methods of its cultivation, processing and storage. Not just the plant economy, but also the animal economy is represented, since millet was and is grown for both humans and animals. Techniques used to trace millet archaeologically are continually being developed or improved, and this book describes the application of a few of them.This broad-based compilation of papers adds another layer to the dynamic picture of the Bronze Age and the interconnected continent. It also illustrates the complexity of the research on the diffusion of agricultural innovations.

In 2015 at Dalfsen (the Netherlands) archaeologists made an amazing discovery. They found a burial ground dating from the TRB-period (3000-2750 BC) comprising 141 burial pits. The TRB is dated in the last phase of the Middle Neolithic period and is well known for its megalithic monuments which are widespread through large parts of northern Europe.Until recently few non-megalithic burial grounds were known and the find of the Dalfsen burials created new opportunities to study the mortuary ritual in more detail. It sheds light on the social organisation of local TRB communities in this part of the world. The results not only provide evidence for the existence of large multi-person burial mounds during the TRB-period, but also provide intriguing evidence of continuity from this period to the period of the Corded Ware culture ¿ a transition now often interpreted in terms of migration.This volume is a full catalogue of the site. It contains a detailed description of the graves and finds. A volume containing the interpretation of the burial ground is available separately.ContentsThis volume contains the catalogue of the site. It contains a detailed description of the graves and finds, with over 250 colour images.A volume containing the interpretation of the burial ground is available separately.

Cet ouvrage est la traduction d¿Archaeology and Celtic Myth, livre paru à Dublin en 2014. La littérature médiévale irlandaise constitue de loin le plus vaste corpus de textes rédigés en langue vernaculaire dont dispose l¿Europe occidentale. Bien que composée entre le VIIe et le XIIe siècle de notre ère, cette littérature véhicule des éléments provenant de la mythologie celtique préchrétienne. Elle permet ainsi d¿entrevoir certaines traditions et croyances fort anciennes qui avaient cours dans l¿Europe préhistorique.Les références mythologiques présentes dans ces textes, juxtaposées aux traces matérielles subsistant dans divers sites archéologiques majeurs, tels que Navan (comté d¿Armagh), Tara (comté de Meath) et Newgrange dans la vallée de la Boyne, met en lumière certains thèmes et figures privilégiés. Parmi les plus significatifs sont le caractère sacré de la royauté, la notion de la souveraineté octroyée par une déesse, la thématique de la cosmologie solaire, et des tentatives pour rendre compte d¿un Autre Monde.L¿importance de ces concepts est soulignée par leur survie textuelle. Leur analyse offre la possibilité d¿approcher de plus près l¿organisation et la pensée d¿un monde prélittéraire. On peut considérer, par exemple, que l¿institution de la royauté sacrée devrait être prise en compte dans tout débat sur la nature des différentes structures socio-politiques de l¿Europe d¿alors, tandis que symbolisme solaire, rituels équins, rites de boisson, et divers autres indices nous révèlent la préoccupation de nos ancêtres concernant l¿Autre Monde, avec leur désir de comprendre la mort et de concevoir une vie au-delà.

In 2015 at Dalfsen (the Netherlands) archaeologists made an amazing discovery. They found a burial ground dating from the TRB-period (3000-2750 BC) comprising 141 burial pits. The TRB is dated in the last phase of the Middle Neolithic period and is well known for its megalithic monuments which are widespread through large parts of northern Europe.Until recently few non-megalithic burial grounds were known and the find of the Dalfsen burials created new opportunities to study the mortuary ritual in more detail. It sheds light on the social organisation of local TRB communities in this part of the world. The results not only provide evidence for the existence of large multi-person burial mounds during the TRB-period, but also provide intriguing evidence of continuity from this period to the period of the Corded Ware culture ¿ a transition now often interpreted in terms of migration.This volume is the first scientific publication dealing with this unique site. It contains a detailed description and interpretation of the site. A catalogue in which all graves and finds are described in detail, is available separately.Contents1 IntroductionH.M. van der Velde, N. Bouma and D.C.M. Raemaekers2 The TRB West Group in the Netherlands and the archaeology of non-megalithic burialsH.M. van der Velde and D.C.M. Raemaekers3 Dalfsen: Excavating a burial ground from the TRB periodN. Bouma and H.M. van der Velde4 PotteryA.L. Brindley5 Geochemical analyses of the ceramicsK. Struckmeyer and B. Van Os6 Flint, stone and amberJ. Beuker, J. Lanting and H.M. van der Velde7 The Palaeoecological evidenceH. Bos, M. Dijkshoorn, C. Moolhuizen and T. Oudemans8 The Dalfsen burial ground as a means of reconstructing TRB local social organisationD.C.M. Raemaekers and H.M. van der Velde9 The cultural biography of the burial ground: The long-term history of the siteH.M. van der VeldeLiteratureA catalogue in which all graves and finds are described in detail, is available separately.

This book contributes to the ongoing shift in perspective in the study of human-animal relations with its growing recognition of their central role in the shaping of prehistoric societies.

For the first time seasonality is placed at the centre of the study of rural settlement. Using a Europe-wide approach, it provides a primer of examples, of techniques and of ideas for the identification and understanding of seasonal settlement. As such, it marks an important new step in the interpretation of the use of the countryside by historic communities linked to the annual passage of the year. The particular studies are introduced by an opening essay which draws wider conclusions about the study of seasonal settlement, followed by 31 papers by authors from all parts of Europe and beyond.By its very nature ephemeral, seasonal settlement in the medieval and early modern periods is less well researched than permanent settlement. It is often presumed that seasonal settlement is the result of transhumance, but it was only one facet of seasonal settlement. It was also necessitated by other forms of economic activity, such as fishing, charcoal-burning, or iron-smelting, including settlements of pastoralists such as nomads, drovers, herders as well as labourers¿ huts within the farming context. The season a settlement was occupied varied from one activity to another and from one place to another ¿ summer is good for grazing in many mountainous areas, but winter proved best for some industrial processes. While upland and mountainous settlements built of stone are easily recognised, those that use wood and more perishable materials are less obvious. Despite this, the settlements of nomadic pastoralists in both tundra and desert or of fishermen in the Baltic region are nonetheless identifiable. Yet for all that definitive recognition of seasonal settlement is rarely possible on archaeological grounds alone. Although material remains can be of particular importance, generally it is the combination of documentary information, ethnography, geographical context and palaeo-environmental data that provide frameworks for interpreting seasonal settlements.

If you want to understand ancient Egypt, the Nile Delta is of key importance. Excavations and surveys in the Delta keep unearthing new information about how the ancient Egyptians lived, how they envisaged the afterlife and how they interacted with other cultures. The study of finds from the Delta gives us a glimpse into the beliefs and everyday life of the ancient Egyptians.From 1979 to 2014 Willem van Haarlem worked on several archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, focusing on the excavations at Tell Ibrahim Awad in the eastern Delta from 1991 onward. At the same time he was curator of Egyptian Antiquities at the Allard Pierson, the heritage collections of the University of Amsterdam. On the occasion of his retirement a number of archaeologists, Egyptologists and museum curators have written a series of short studies in his honour, varying from current excavation results from Delta sites to new or renewed research into museum objects from this region. This book offers a rich palette of subjects to scholars interested in Delta archaeology and above all provides hitherto unpublished materials from excavations and museum depots that will inspire the next generation of Nile Delta scholars.ContentsPreface and acknowledgementsWim Hupperetz and Ben van den BerckenBibliography Willem M. van HaarlemTabula gratulatoriaWillem van Haarlem, an appreciationManfred BietakTell el-Iswid. A predynastic settlement in the eastern DeltaBéatrix Midant-Reynes and Nathalie Buchez¿A curious feature was the presence of several ivory or bone rods.¿ Ancient Mikado or something very different?Vincent BoeleAn unusual ripple-flaked knife from Cemetery U at Abydos/Umm el-QaabThomas HikadeForgotten Excavations, part¿IV. The first excavation season at Kufur Nigm/Ezbet el-Tell (1961)Aiman Ashmawy AliButo: towards a further investigation of the Old Kingdom?Clara Jeuthe and Rita HartmannFour notes on Tia and IurudefJacobus van DijkWorked mollusc remains from Qantir/PiramesseChiori KitagawaAn (un-)usual cooking pot from Qantir/PiramesseHenning FranzmeierDiversity in the Delta. Egyptian portraits of Persians in the Allard Pierson collectionGeralda Jurriaans-Helle and Laurien de GelderOnce again about the term nwGalina A. BelovaA glass ba bird in the Allard PiersonRené van BeekNeilos and EutheniaRobert Lunsingh ScheurleerA Ptolemaic king as Egyptian pharaohBranko F. van Oppen de RuiterRe-excavating Gheytäs Roman-period cemetery. Some preliminary results on the recontextualisation of excavated artefactsBen van den Bercken

A study into the social meaning of norm and variation in housebuilding, general and special deposition practices on (Roman) Iron Age settlement sites of the northern Netherlands.

The Netherlands are internationally renowned for the archaeology of its wetland environments. The reclamation of the Flevoland Polders in the early half of the 20th century not only exposed hundreds of shipwrecks, but also remnants of prehistoric landscapes and traces of human occupation dating to Mesolithic and Neolithic times. Ultimately, this led to the ¿discovery¿ of the Swifterbant Culture in the 1960s-1970s, and which was initially seen as a Dutch equivalent of the Ertebølle Culture.Archaeological investigations conducted by the University of Groningen, and later also the University of Amsterdam, delivered important new data on the nature of the Swifterbant Culture. It became key in the discussion about the adoption of crop cultivation and animal husbandry by hunter-gatherers living in wetland environments. Also, the Swifterbant Culture became central in the debate on the meaning of archaeologically defined ¿cultures¿, questioning relationships between social interaction and material culture. With the increase of urbanisation and infrastructural works, alongside changes in the Dutch Monuments Act, dozens of small and large-scale development-led investigations got initiated at the turn of the century.One project involved the construction of the Hanzelijn railway, crossing one of the polders from West to East. Archaeologists became aware that much of what was known ¿ and unknown ¿ about the prehistoric past of the Flevoland Polders, was not easily accessible. It was therefore decided to bring together, as much as possible, all the information from the many scattered sources, and make it accessible to professionals, both inside and outside the Netherlands. The result is this book, which presents an overview of the most important sites and data, and what these learn us about the nature of the archaeological record, landscape change, prehistoric subsistence, ritual behaviour, as well as socio-cultural developments during the Mesolithic and Neolithic.Previously considered an impossibility, ¿fossilised¿ fields, discovered at Swifterbant, demonstrate crop cultivation in wetland environments in an early stage of the Neolithic. In fact, the prehistory of the Flevoland Polders is tightly connected to the dynamic nature of the extended wetlands that characterised the landscape since the end of the last glacial. Although often regarded as the ¿margin¿ of cultural dynamics in the past, we can now see that the Flevoland Polders were right in the centre of fundamental long-term changes in human existence in NW Europe.ContentsChapter 1 Introduction of the Hanzelijn Archaeological Project (K. E. Waugh (¿), W. Hessing and J. Flamman)Chapter 2 The cradle of the Swifterbant culture: 50 years of archaeological investigations in the province of Flevoland (D.C.M Raemaekers and J.H.M. Peeters)Chapter 3 Hidden landscapes: mapping and evaluating deeply buried remains of human activity (J.H.M. Peeters and B.I. Smit)Chapter 4 Exploiting a changing landscape: subsistence, habitation and skills (J.H.M. Peeters, T. ten Anscher, L.I. Kooistra, L. Kubiak-Martens and J. Zeiler)Chapter 5 People, ritual and meaning (D.C.M Raemaekers)Chapter 6 From land to water: geomorphological, hydrological and ecological developments in Flevoland from the Late Glacial to the end of the Subboreal (L.I. Kooistra and J.H.M. Peeters )Chapter 7 Transformations in a forager and farmer landscape: a cultural biography of prehistoric Flevoland (J.H.M. Peeters, L.I. Kooistra and D.C.M. Raemaekers)Site Atlas: Windows of observation: the quality, nature and context of excavated sites in Flevoland (T.Hamburg and B.I. Smit)Bibliography

Unravelling the logic behind the puzzling practice of selective metalwork deposition in the European Bronze Age.

This book explores the interaction between animals, plants, and humans in ancient Egypt. It draws together different aspects of the bioarchaeology of Egypt: flora, fauna, and human remains. These come from sites throughout the country from Alexandria to Aswan, as well as material from museum basements.The material presented here includes the results of new and previously unpublished excavations in the Delta and Thebes, in-depth studies of different species of animal mummies, an analysis of animal cults, tentative identifications of wild dogs in Egyptian art, a variety of diseases from which the ancient Egyptians suffered, studies on human remains using traditional as well as state-of-the-art technologies, and the different foods that formed the diet of the ancient Egyptians.The studies blend traditional methodologies, often deployed in novel ways, such as examining the pelage of lions, as well as new 3D technologies used in the analyses of bioarchaeological material. The results of these studies deepen our knowledge of ancient Egypt, its inhabitants, and their interaction with their environment.The present volume is the proceedings of the Conference on the Bioarchaeology of Ancient Egypt and the Second International Symposium on Animals in Ancient Egypt (Cairo, 2019).

Explore the complex and creative interplay between video games and humanity's past.