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Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Central China was the scene of important cultural developments which impacted on agricultural practices and local vegetation. Using phytolith data from archaeological sites in Henan, this study investigates changing crop choices, from broomcorn millet to foxtail millet to rice. Crop processing stages were interpreted by examination of differing proportions of phytoliths from crop husks, weed husks and crop and weed leaves to illustrate cultivation systems, harvesting and processing methods. The results suggest more successful agricultural practices and possible changes in social organisation in the Late Neolithic. Phytolith data was also used to understand impacts of these changes on local vegetation.

The central focus of this research (covering the period from the middle of the Second Century BC to the middle or late Second Century AD) concerns the form and function of suburban villas and their meaning within Roman society. The research reveals that these buildings served a unique role within the community, portraying an appearance of leisure and culture to the wider community and yet maintaining an intimate connection with the city centre. For the purpose of this study the region of central Italy has been chosen, concentrating on two regions; the political capital at Rome and the vicinity around the Bay of Naples (the centres of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae). These sites have been selected because of the wealth of archaeological and literary evidence centred upon this region. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, which covered a wide area, including Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae, has provided a unique location for analysing the architecture, decoration and lifestyles of Roman residences. This region was of great social importance to the political leaders of Rome, allowing an in-depth understanding of the domestic residences of many of the highest political leaders during the period. The literary evidence shows that the regions around Rome and the Bay of Naples had many villas owned by leading Roman citizens, and by examining these structures it is possible to gain a greater understanding of their lifestyles and the social climate within the upper strata of the community.

Preface by Dieter Quast. Appendices by Birgit Arrhenius, Paola Comba and Marco Aimone.The Desana Treasure has been well known since its discovery, or rather, since it was purchased on the antiques market in 1938 by the 'Museo Civico di Arte Antica' in Turin. The composition of the Desana treasure shows that is was 'collected' over centuries. A ring with gemstone and a chain from the 2/3rd century are the oldest elements and objects from early 6th century the most recent. The latter give the date for the burial. Though, most objects are from the late 5th / early 6th century AD, that is from the reign of Theoderich the Great. The composition of the Desana treasure is interesting from another point of view as well. There are male and female dress adornments and silverware in the form of spoons. This new analysis of the Desana treasure allows a fresh view on this complex and offers insights into society in Ostrogothic Italy, especially into the relationship between old Latin landowners and Ostrogothic nobility. The detailed description and photographs of the 51 objects give valuable information regarding the goldsmith's art, which is extremely important because of the lack in Italy of burials of the same value belonging to that period. So, this description is crucial for future research about goldsmith's workshops in the late antique Mediterranean.

This book is the second volume of the report on excavations at the Aztec-period sites of Cuexcomate and Capilco, carried out in 1986. This book is the first complete report of the entire range of artefacts excavated from Aztec domestic contexts. It is a descriptive report that focuses on the artefacts in addition to reporting the system of analysis and the artefact sampling program. Ceramics are described in two chapters, with tables on quantities of various types and attributes. One surprising result is the wide range of special ceramic forms present in domestic middens, including musical instruments, other ritual objects, and production-related objects. Chipped stone artifacts are covered; although several thousand pieces of obsidian were recovered, very few were manufactured at these sites. Ground-stone artifacts, metal objects and, finally, flora and fauna are also presented here.

The experimental study of refitting individual bones by osteoscopic approach includes 20 bilaterally symmetrical pairs and 14 contiguous articulations. More than 800 tests, each one based upon 70 bones, were done. The occurrence of three hierarchies was established: the first implies the type of refitting (bilaterally symmetrical bones are much better recognised than contiguity articulations); the second demonstrates that the performance of recognising refitted bones depends on the type of bones involved; the last relates to the degree of osteological knowledge. These results will provide a strategy to follow during future digging excavations when referencing topographic data. The accuracy of studies applied to metrical, morphometrical and chromatic approaches is also evaluated. The implications brought by refitting single bones in the counting of individuals buried are analysed: new formulae are proposed that allow us to estimate errors in the refitting of individual bones.

A Conference of young researchers working in the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Central Asia, University of Torino, October 2011Edited by Giorgio Affanni, Cristina Baccarin, Laura Cordera, Angelo Di Michele and Katia GavagninBroadening Horizons is an international congress dedicated to postgraduate students and early-stage researchers working with disciplines in the area of Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean studies. With Broadening Horizons 4 the thematic areas were broadened, opening the congress up to the Central Asia studies. The conference was hosted at Università degli Studi di Torino, from the 25th to the 28th of October 2011. Broadening Horizons 4 was a huge success. A total of seventy-four participants from fifteen countries attended the congress, making it the most successful edition. This volume includes most of papers presented at the congress and the key lecture by St John Simpson. The volume has been arranged according to the sessions: settlement patterns and exchange networks; socio-economic reconstruction of ancient societies based on archaeological, historical or environmental records; application of new technologies in archaeological research; impact of human dynamics on landscape evolution; exploitation of the natural environment and sustenance strategies; and posters. Anyone with an interest in the Ancient Near East, Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia studies will find much to enjoy and appreciate in this volume.

with English summary

This is the first monograph to focus on the study of Early Neolithic groups along the Tagus river basin, in Central Spain. The author presents the first archaeological results on the Neolithic communities in the province of Cáceres, Central Spain, establishing a theoretical and methodological framework to analyse the archaeological record. A large part of the work gathers together previous archaeological research on the area and presents new data obtained from a review of museum collections, surveys, and the excavation of the site of Los Barruecos, the main archaeological reference for the Early Neolithic in the region. Other chapters cover the Early Neolithic material culture, the archaeobotanical data and an analysis of faunal remains, among other data.

Written by Aidan O'Sullivan, Finbar McCormick, Thomas R. Kerr, Lorcan Harney and Jonathan KinsellaThis monograph concentrates on early Irish medieval dwellings and settlements, AD 400-1100, and is directly based on a report compiled and written in the main over the course of 2009 and 2010, largely based on evidence available up to that time. Drawing on both published and unpublished material, it sets out an interpretive, analytical text and a gazetteer of some 241 key early medieval settlements revealed through archaeological excavations. The report also focuses on such themes as houses and buildings, the organisation of settlement enclosures, agricultural activity and crafts and industry; it arguably represents the first compilation, analysis and discussion of early medieval settlement archaeology in Ireland.

Tell el-Mazar (central east Jordan valley, c. 3km north of Tell Deir Alla and 5.5km south of Tell es-Sa'idiyeh) forms part of a complex of sites in the East Jordan Valley that were all occupied in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages: the regional density of nearby occupation testifies to the importance of the locality. It was not only economically important because of its climate, but it was also a crossroads, connecting north and south, as well as east and west. Towards the end of the Late Bronze Age an Egyptian trade route ran from Beth Shean towards the Amman Plain, crossing the river first by Pella, and later by Tell es-Sa'idiyeh. This route must have passed Tell Mazar, which was inhabited during the late Bronze Age, as shown by the large number of Late Bronze Age sherds that were found by successive surveys. This volume contains the final publication of the four seasons of excavations on the main mound and the sanctuary on mound 'A'.

Edited by Sandra L. Olsen, Susan Grant, Alice M. Choyke, and László Bartosiewicz.This volume constitutes the proceedings of the Horses and Humans Symposium, held in 2000 at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pennsylvania. The four-day symposium brought together academics from Europe, Asia and America from the disciplines of archaeology, art history, history, paleontology, biology, veterinary medicine, animal husbandry and other fields.

This book presents aspects of research on the archaeological investigations at the multi-period site of Priniatikos Pyrgos and surrounding area. Incorporating the Vrokastro Survey Project, the Istron Geoarchaeological Project, the Priniatikos Pyrgos Excavation Project and other researches, this volume presents interdisciplinary case-studies that deal with domestic, technological and mortuary practices at the site and how these relate to settlement and resource exploitation in the surrounding landscape. This is set within its environmental context at the local and regional levels, assessing both long term processes and shorter term events. The visual representation of materials and settlement complexity are approached using a combination of established and novel digital methods.

This book is a study about funerary practices of prehistoric communities in Jarama's region (Central Iberia) during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Its aim is to define the different ways of burial and detect its changes and variations in order to identify and explain possible social and ideological transformations. This study shows that relevant socioeconomic transformations happened in the Late Prehistory of Central Iberia and these changes are detected as well as far as ritual ideology is concerned. As a matter of fact, the change in items and type of offerings in the grave goods is very significant between the Copper and Bronze Ages, showing transformations as well in the ideological conception of burials and the afterlife.

Edited by Gocha R. Tsetskhladze with the assistance of Ergün Lafl¿, James Hargrave and William Anderson.The papers in this volume vary in their coverage, from the archaeological to the linguistic, from numismatics to pottery (and peoples), jewellery to rock-cut tombs, inscriptions to basilicas, and from the myth of the Argonauts to the Tabula Peutingeriana.

This book presents the research results carried on the metallic artifacts from the British HMS Swift, lost off Puerto Deseado (Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina) in 1770. The shipwreck - located 47° 45' 12'' South, 65° 54' 57'' West - was found by local divers and has been the subject of archaeological study since 1997.

The domestication of South American camelids (llamas and alpacas) transformed the use of the Andean landscape. In the central altiplano of Bolivia, during the Formative Period (1500 BC - AD 500) a cultural complex known as Wankarani developed. This book discusses the development of early camelid pastoralism by testing a set of hypotheses related to Wankarani economic organization. In contrast with previous ideas that suggested the emergence of sedentary agricultural villages in this region, settlement patterns, site layouts and faunal remains analyses support the interpretation that the development and persistence of mobile pastoralist communities occurred in the Bolivian central altiplano.

Based on analyses of stratigraphy and finds, this book reconstructs the history of Iuvavum, the Roman town of Salzburg (Austria). Founded as the first municipium in the northern part of the province of Noricum, this town was crossed by an important west-eastern traffic route, as well as a correspondingly important transalpine road, and thus developed into a vibrant nexus of traffic and trade. Covering some 90 acres, the centre assumed the role of 'capital' of northwestern Noricum.

The author has undertaken a technological and typological analysis of lithic assemblages from southern Oman dating between 10,000 to 7,000 years before present (BP). These assemblages are characterized by the production of blades (leptoliths) using varied core reduction modalities exemplified throughout the book. These blade technologies are accompanied by formal tools such as tanged projectiles, burins, endscrapers and pseude-backed knifes. The chronological and techno-typological characterization of these blade assemblages warrants its individual status as a lithic industry of the Late Palaeolithic in its own right. The name 'Khashabian' is given by the author to this industry, which has little resemblance to those found outside of Arabia, enforcing the local origin of the Early Holocene Populations of the South Arabian Highlands.

Open-air rock-art forms one of the most widely distributed categories of prehistoric culture with examples recognized across the Old and New Worlds. It is also one of the most threatened features of human heritage and is susceptible to accelerated decay as a result of natural processes. Considering the specific case of the Côa Valley rock-art complex in Portugal, but also analysing case studies originating from other countries (Norway, Brazil, Southern USA and South Korea), this richly illustrated book addresses open-air rock-art natural degradation causes, suitable methods to assess current condition and the creation of urgency scales for conservation interventions.

Sudan Archaeological Research SocietyPublication Number 21This volume (Volume 1) is the last to be printed in a series describing in detail the results of the so-called West Bank Survey, an archaeological survey in the northernmost part of Sudanese Nubia, undertaken on the West Bank between the villages of Faras in the north and Gemai in the south during the period 1960-64. This project was carried out in anticipation of the flooding of the Aswan High Dam. The whole series has been divided into three volumes, no. 2 including sites from the Meroitic and Ballana periods (BAR S1335: Adams 2004), no. 3 including sites of the Christian age (BAR S1421: Adams 2005), while the present volume, no. 1, consists of detailed descriptions of sites and finds of the Early Nubian, Middle Nubian and Pharaonic New Kingdom periods.

In the late 4th century AD, the site of Kourion, Cyprus was destroyed by an earthquake that struck with little or no warning, trapping victims and objects where they lay. Although much of the site was reoccupied and rebuilt, some areas were not, thus providing a unique example of a moment truly "frozen" in time. This work presents the results of a comprehensive study of the architecture, stratigraphy, and material culture assemblage recovered from the "Earthquake House," a multi-roomed domestic structure destroyed during this seismic event. The architectural analysis revealed a number of modifications to the structure that increased its overall size and subdivided its internal spaces, although their timing and reasons remain unknown at present. Study of the artifact assemblage provided significant insights into the processes surrounding the use, re-use, and discard of artifacts. This analysis identified numerous behaviors including consumable and non-consumable storage, storage of material for reuse and/or recycling, food preparation, and waste disposal, including a partial reconstruction of the domestic "waste stream." This study produced a more nuanced model for understanding the distribution of artifacts in ancient domestic contexts and demonstrates that even in cases of near instantaneous destruction without significant disturbance, a wide variety of variables must be considered when examining the artifacts of domestic assemblages.

Since it was established as a formal discipline, use-wear analysis has become routine practice in archaeological research, under the general heading of 'Traceology', 'Wear Trace Analysis', 'Functional Analysis', etc. Until recently, most of the scientific meetings relating to these themes have taken place in Europe or in North America. This volume, however, represents work from South America, covering a selection of papers from the first session organized within the scope of Commission 33 of the UISPP 'Functional Studies of Prehistoric artifacts and their Socio-economic inferences on past societies', realized in Brazil during the XVI World Congress of the UISPP (Florianópolis, 4-10 September 2011). During the session, researchers sought to explore and discuss particular approaches to use-wear analysis and its application to different raw materials. The papers also cover the current state of the discipline, the delineation of basic directions of investigation, new technologies and their correct application, modelling technological processes, and paleo-economic reconstructions. As a corollary, the work also explores the differences between European and recently developed Latin American lines of research.

This book contains papers from the Proceedings of the International Congress on the Evolution and Palaeoepidemiology of the Infectious Diseases 3 (ICEPID) conference which took place at the University of Bradford on the 26th-31st July 1999 (under the Presidency of Professor Yves Coppens.

Edited by Akira Ono, Michael D. Glascock, Yaroslav V. Kuzmin and Yoshimitsu Suda.This volume is a collection of papers related to different aspects of obsidian studies (mainly geology, geochemistry, and archaeology) in Northeast Asia. Special focus is on methodological aspects of acquisition and comparison of geochemical data for obsidian sources generated by different analytical methods (NAA, XRF, ICP-MS, and EPMA) and laboratories, conducted in this region for the first time.

Studies in the Archaeology and History of Baluchistan. Volume IIThe first section of the present volume is a report of the Italian involvement in Southern Makrn and Kharn, its aims and objects, modus operandi. It is essentially restricted to the Islamic era and represents a discourse preliminary to the second section. The methodological approach of combining historical sources (written and manuscript, Persian and Arabic) with archaeological evidence and geo-morphological study has allowed for a re-reading of the traditional literature and the role played by Makrn and, in particular, the Kj-u-Makrn region during the 10th-13th Centuries AD. Many questions put by this mystifying region still stand only partly answered, if not completely un-answered. After three seasons of archaeological field-work and research - complemented with accurate geo-morphological surveys and studying - we are still confronted with an elusive region and some crucial queries. 'Part Two' of this study is the follow up of the archaeological and geo-morphological research-work: a historical study, which focuses on the 10th-13th Centuries AD.

Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey Monograph 1Fishing forms an important activity in many societies throughout the world today and played a significant role in the life and subsistence of many prehistoric societies. Past archaeological research on fishing has often tended to concentrate on particular sites or chronological periods. This study aims to adopt an inter-disciplinary approach to model regional interactions between coastal communities and their environment. The geographical framework for this study is the Arabian Gulf/Gulf of Oman, with aparticular focus on the southern Gulf region and present day coastline of the United Arab Emirates. The environmental and archaeological background to the region is considered first and modern fisheries data, as well as ethnographic data relating to traditional fisheries is presented. An evaluation is carried out of all the archaeological evidence for the adoption of particular fisheries technology. The principal data forming the basis for this study are 23 archaeological fish bone assemblages from sites located throughout the Arabian Gulf/Gulf of Oman. The chronological focus is from the 5th millennium BC to the Late Islamic period. In order to comprehend the regional variation in fisheries, sites were selected on the basis that they represented a variety of site types in different environments scattered throughout the region. This research provides for the first time a detailed insight into the status of past fisheries resources in the region as well as an insight into the fishing strategies utilised by the early coastal inhabitants of the Gulf during the course of the past 7000 years. The work's special focus is on the use of biometrical techniques to enable size reconstruction of economically important fish groups. The overall aim of this research (the first in a planned series of Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey Monographs) is to consider the interactions between the goals of the coastal societies, their fishing strategies and environment; the work overall goes some way towards addressingsome of the key questions of relevance to the archaeology of south-east Arabia.

A study of vessels in prehistory, both sea and river, and in all materials, from around the world.

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 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.

Proceedings of a colloquium held at Potenza, Acerenza and Matera, Italy (May 2005)This book includes papers from a colloquium held at Potenza, Acerenza and Matera, Italy (May 2005), entitled The Late Roman Army in the Near East from Diocletian to the Arab Conquest.Edited by Ariel S. Lewin and Pietrina Pellegrini with the aid of Zbigniew T. Fiema and Sylvain Janniard