Spatial variation and patterning in the distribution of artefacts are topics of fundamental significance in Balkan archaeology. For decades, archaeologists have classified spatial clusters of artefacts into discrete "cultures", which have been conventionally treated as bound entities and equated with past social or ethnic groups. This timely volume fulfils the need for an up-to-date and theoretically informed dialogue on group identity in Balkan prehistory. Thirteen case studies covering the beginning of the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age and written by archaeologists conducting fieldwork in the region, as well as by ethnologists with a research focus on material culture and identity, provide a robust foundation for exploring these issues. Bringing together the latest research, with a particular intentional focus on the central and western Balkans, this collection offers original perspectives on Balkan prehistory with relevance to the neighbouring regions of Eastern and Central Europe, the Mediterranean and Anatolia. Balkan Dialogues challenges long-established interpretations in the field and provides a new, contextualised reading of the archaeological record of this region.

Empires of Antiquities is a history of the rediscovery of civilizations of the ancient Near East in the imperial order that evolved between the outbreak of the First World War and the 1950s. It explores the ways in which Near Eastern antiquity was redefined and experienced, becoming the subject of new regulation, new modes of knowledge, and international and local politics. A series of globally publicized spectacular archaeological discoveries in Iraq, Egypt, and Palestine, which the book follows, made antiquity visible, palpable and accessible as never before. The new uses of antiquity and its relations to modernity were inseparable from the emergence of the post-war world order, imperial collaboration and collisions, and national aspirations. Empires of Antiquities uniquely combines a history of the internationalization of a new "regime of archaeology" under the oversight of the League of Nations and its web of institutions, a history of British passions for Near Eastern antiquity, on-the-ground colonial mechanisms and nationalist claims on the past. It points to the centrality of the mandate system, particularly mandates classified A, in Mesopotamia/Iraq, Palestine and Transjordan, formerly governed by the Ottoman Empire, and of Egypt, in a new culture of antiquity. Drawing on an unusually wide range of archives in several countries, as well as on visual and material evidence, the book weaves together imperial, international, and local histories of institutions, people, ideas and objects and offers an entirely new interpretation of the history of archaeological discovery and its connections to empires and modernity.

Indexed in Clarivate Analytics Book Citation Index (Web of Science Core Collection)

This volume compares two of the most famous cases of civilizational collapse, that of the Roman Empire and the Classic Maya world. First examining the concept of collapse, and how it has been utilized in the historical, archaeological and anthropological study of past complex societies, Storey and Storey draw on extensive archaeological evidence to consider the ultimate failure of the institutions, infrastructure and material culture of both of these complex cultures. Detailing the relevant economic, political, social and environmental factors behind these notable falls, Rome and the Classic Maya contends that a phenomenon of "slow collapse" has repeatedly occurred in the course of human history: complex civilizations are shown to eventually come to an end and give way to new cultures. Through their analysis of these two ancient case studies, the authors also present intriguing parallels to the modern world and offer potential lessons for the future.

Ancient Complex Societies examines the archaeological evidence for the rise and functioning of politically and socially "complex" cultures in antiquity. Particular focus is given to civilizations exhibiting positions of leadership, social and administrative hierarchies, emerging and already developed complex religious systems, and economic differentiation. Case studies are drawn from around the globe, including Asia, the Mediterranean region, and the American continents. Using case studies from Africa, Polynesia, and North America, discussion is dedicated to identifying what "complex" means and when it should be applied to ancient systems. Each chapter attempts to not only explore the sociopolitical and economic elements of ancient civilizations, but to also present an overview of what life was like for the later population within each system, sometimes drilling down to individual people living their daily lives. Throughout the chapters, the authors address problems with the idea of complexity, the incomparability of cultures, and the inconsistency of archaeological and historical evidence in reconstructing ancient cultures.

The last of the Ptolemaic monarchs who ruled Egypt for 300 years, Cleopatra is the most famous of the Ptolemaic queens. But what of her predecessors? The Last Queens of Egypt examines the roles played by the Ptolemaic royal women and explores their part in religion, politics and court intrigue. Explaining their propensity for incest, murder and power, Sally Ann Ashton shows the extent of the power they enjoyed, the price they paid, and how they shaped Cleopatra's reign.

Since the spectacular discovery of Nineveh 150 years ago, countless excavators have been searching for the lost civilizations of the ancient Near East. We now know the names of thousands of gods and goddesses, the words of hymns and litanies, the daily procedures of the Babylonian cult, as well as a growing number of mythological tales. A substantial number of the texts discussed in this volume originate from the archives of such ancient cities as Ninevah, Ur, Babylon and Hattusa. Through a collection of accessible entries, which provide sufficient detail and cross-referencing to be beneficial to the specialist reader, Gwendolyn Leick has produced a guide to the complex and little-known world of ancient mythology.

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Furniture, armour, jewellery, musical instruments, bronze, silver, and gold vases, and other priceless offerings all accumulated in the Parthenon and Erechtheion on the Athenian Acropolis during the classical period. Annual inventories of these precious objects were inscribed by the Athenians on marble tablets from 434 to 300 BC. The two hundred fragments of these stelai which have survived are the only evidence for these cult objects, gifts to Athena, and treasures of the city, since the items themselves have long since vanished - either stolen, melted down, or disintegrated. This volume presents the evidence for these ancient treasures for the first time, and provides data with important implications for the history of Athens and Greek religion. Chapters include a history of the treasures on the Acropolis, catalogues of each object kept in the Opisthodomus, Proneos, Parthenon, Hekatompedos Neos, and Erechtheion, and an analysis of the individual worshippers and allied-city states who gave gifts and offerings to their goddess, Athena. The most significant and startling conclusion from the author's findings is that the gifts were used again and again, and that the temples operated as repositories from which the treasures might be deposited, withdrawn, or even borrowed.

In this book, readers are shown how dogs fit into ancient Greek society with material from the last 90 years of excavations at the Athenian Agora by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Topics range from how ancient Greeks hunted with dogs and what they considered a proper dog's name to the excavation of tender burials in the Agora and the sacrifice of dogs to the gods of the underworld. Mythological dogs like the three-headed Kerberos appear, as do the pawprints that very real dogs left behind more than a thousand years ago. Dozens of illustrations of pottery, sculpture, and excavated remains enliven the text. Anyone curious about dogs in antiquity and how they relate to dogs in the present day will be sure to find interesting material in this portable, affordable text.

This unique collection applies globalization concepts to the discipline of archaeology, using a wide range of global case studies from a group of international specialists. The volume spans from as early as 10,000 cal. BP to the modern era, analysing the relationship between material culture, complex connectivities between communities and groups, and cultural change. Each contributor considers globalization ideas explicitly to explore the socio-cultural connectivities of the past. In considering social practices shared between different historic groups, and also the expression of their respective identities, the papers in this volume illustrate the potential of globalization thinking to bridge the local and global in material culture analysis. The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and Globalization is the first such volume to take a world archaeology approach, on a multi-period basis, in order to bring together the scope of evidence for the significance of material culture in the processes of globalization. This work thus also provides a means to understand how material culture can be used to assess the impact of global engagement in our contemporary world. As such, it will appeal to archaeologists and historians as well as social science researchers interested in the origins of globalization.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203082486

"Mining in a Medieval Landscape" explores the history and archaeology of the late medieval royal silver mines at Bere Ferrers in Devon's Tamar Valley and examines their significance for mining history as a whole. Comparing their impact on the landscape with that of less intensive, traditional mining industries, this authoritative volume analyzes maps and documents together in light of recent archaeological field surveys, allowing the mining landscape to be reconstructed in remarkable detail.

Medieval Archaeology has developed as a distinctive academic domain in the last fifty years or so. It is now taught widely at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and learned societies for Medieval Archaeology flourish across Europe. The subject is more interdisciplinary than most types of archaeology, engaging critically with fields such as History and Art History to provide fresh and independent insights to the medieval world. It draws on sources of evidence that are unique to Medieval Archaeology, such as extant medieval churches. Medieval Archaeology is literally history 'from below'; it offers unique access to people and practices that were never documented by medieval elites. (Medieval Archaeology also has relevance beyond academia. Indeed, much of the commercial archaeology that now takes place in Europe seeks to record and conserve medieval towns in advance of new developments.) Focusing on the archaeology of medieval Europe (c. 1000-1550AD), this new four-volume collection from Routledge enables researchers and advanced students to make better sense of a vast-and rapidly growing-corpus of scholarship. The gathered materials have been carefully selected to highlight the key issues and debates in the development and contemporary practice of Medieval Archaeology, and each volume includes a comprehensive introduction newly written by the editor. Medieval Archaeology is an essential work of reference. It is destined to be valued by specialists-as well as those working in allied areas such as Medieval Studies, History, and Art History-as a vital one-stop research tool.

This second edition of Alison E. Cooley's accessible introduction to Pompeii takes into account the major new theories and discoveries that have emerged since the first edition was published 20 years ago. Italy's third most popular tourist destination, Pompeii attracts millions of visitors each year, and images of the town are familiar all around the world. However, even today our picture of the site is being impacted by new archaeological discoveries. This book focuses particularly on the date of the eruption, the natural environment of Pompeii, the recovery of skeletal remains and plaster casts, and Pompeii in the popular imagination. In addition, three new chapters look at the popularization of Pompeii, archaeological reconstruction of the Roman town, and how we know what we know about the people who lived there. The technological advances of the 20th and 21st centuries have transformed our understanding of the urban environment of Pompeii, raising new questions even as they dig ever deeper into the surviving material evidence. This volume offers a succinct and insightful exploration of the impact of these scientific and archaeological innovations, as well as that of contemporary politics, upon interpretations of Pompeii over the last 250 years, including the ways in which advances in volcanology have transformed our picture of its last moments.

First published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The museums of the world are full of statues and other artefacts of the Greeks and the Romans. All are given a date. But how are these dates arrived at. What is the evidence? This study provides the student with an introduction and explanation of the ways scholars date the archaeological remains of classical antiquity. Specific examples from architecture, sculpture, and painting are presented, and the differnt methods of dating them are explained. These are supplemented with many original photographs and drawings. Old, and not so old problems in chronology are thus investigated and new theories reviewed from a fresh perspective.

Vernacular Architecture in the Pre-Columbian Americas reveals the dynamism of the ancient past, where social relations and long-term history were created posthole by posthole, brick by brick. This collection shifts attention away from the elite and monumental architectural traditions of the region to instead investigate the creativity, subtlety and variability of common architecture and the people who built and dwelled in them. At the heart of this study of vernacular architecture is an emphasis on ordinary people and their built environments, and how these everyday spaces were pivotal in the making and meaning of social and cultural dynamics. Providing a deeper and more nuanced temporal perspective of common buildings in the Americas, the editors have deftly framed a study that highlights sociocultural diversity while at the same time facilitating broader comparative conversations around the theme of vernacular architecture. With diverse case studies covering a broad range of periods and regions, Vernacular Architecture in the Pre-Columbian Americas is an important addition to the growing body of scholarship on the indigenous architecture of the Americas and is a key contribution to our archaeological understandings of past built environments.

Exploring the medieval heritage of Aberdeenshire and Moray, the essays in this volume contain insights and recent work presented at the British Archaeological Association Conference of 2014, based at Aberdeen University. The opening, historical chapters establish the political, economic and administrative context of the region, looking at both the secular and religious worlds and include an examination of Elgin Cathedral and the bishops' palaces. The discoveries at the excavations of the kirk of St Nicholas, which have revealed the early origins of religious life in Aberdeen city, are summarized and subsequent papers consider the role of patronage. Patronage is explored in terms of architecture, the dramas of the Reformation and its aftermath highlighted through essentially humble parish churches, assailed by turbulent events and personalities. The collegiate church at Cullen, particularly its tomb sculpture, provides an unusually detailed view of the spiritual and dynastic needs of its patrons. The decoration of spectacular ceilings, both carved and painted, at St Machar's Cathedral, Provost Skene's House and Crathes Castle, are surveyed through the eyes of their patrons and the viewers below. Saints and religious devotion feature in the last four chapters, focusing on the carved wooden panels from Fetteresso, which display both piety and a rare glimpse of Scottish medieval carnal humour, the illuminated manuscripts from Arbuthnott, the Aberdeen Breviary and Historia Gentis Scotorum. The medieval artistic culture of north-east Scotland is both battered by time and relatively little known. With discerning interpretation, this volume shows that much high-quality material still survives, while the lavish illustrations restore some glamour to this lost medieval world.

In 1909 the Scottish archaeologist Duncan Mackenzie, Sir Arthur Evans's right-hand man on the excavations of the legendary 'Palace of Minos' at Knossos since 1900, was appointed 'Explorer' of the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF). From the spring of 1910 until December 1912 he was engaged in archaeological fieldwork in Palestine, especially directing excavation campaigns at Ain Shems (biblical Beth Shemesh) - an important site in the Shephelah of Judah at the crossroads of Canaanite, Philistine, and Israelite cultures. Mackenzie published the results of his work in various issues of the Palestine Exploration Quarterly and Palestine Exploration Fund Annual. Because of a financial dispute with the PEF, however, he never submitted a detailed publication of his very last campaign at Beth Shemesh, conducted in November-December 1912. In 1992 Nicoletta Momigliano rediscovered Mackenzie's lost manuscript on his latest discoveries at Beth Shemesh, which one of his nephews had kept for nearly 80 years at his old family home in the Scottish Highlands, in the small village of Muir of Ord. At about the same time, Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman initiated new excavations at Beth Shemesh which considerably changed previous interpretations of the site. This volume presents Mackenzie's detailed discussion of his last excavations at Beth Shemesh in the light of these more recent discoveries. Although written over a century ago, Mackenzie's manuscript deserves to be better known today; it not only provides significant new information on this important site but also constitutes an intriguing historical document, shedding light on the history of field archaeology and of biblical archaeology. Moreover, Mackenzie's pioneering approach to archaeological fieldwork and the significance of his finds can often be better appreciated today, from the perspective of more recent developments and discoveries.

In Rosalie David's hands, the Egyptian builders of the pyramids are revealed as simple people, leading ordinary lives while they are engaged on building the great tomb for a Pharoah. This is an engrossing detective story, bringing to the general reader a fascinating picture of a special community that lived in Egypt and built one of the pyramids, some four thousand years ago.

In this new edition, Paul Cartledge and Antony Spawforth have taken account of recent finds and scholarship to revise and update their authoritative overview of later Spartan history, and of the social, political, economic and cultural changes in the Spartan community. This original and compelling account is especially significant in challenging the conventional misperception of Spartan 'decline' after the loss of her status as a great power on the battlefield in 371 BC. The book's focus on a frequently overlooked period makes it important not only for those interested specifically in Sparta, but also for all those concerned with Hellenistic Greece, and with the life of Greece and other Greek-speaking provinces under non-Roman rule.

The idea of the Seven Wonders of the World is well-known, but how many of us could name all seven of them? And do they even exist? The authors seek to set the record straight with a portrayal of each wonder in the context in which it was built. The facts and background are brought together to establish the archaeology and location of each wonder. Materials from ancient sources and the results of modern excavations suggest why particular places and objects have been taken as the touchstone of human achievement.

Before the Spanish Conquest and well into the eighteenth century, Mesoamerican peoples believed that time and space were contained in earthly and heavenly receptacles that were visualized metaphorically. This circumscribed space contained the abodes of the dead. There, deities and ancestral spirits could be revived and the living could communicate with them. In Social Memory in Ancient and Colonial Mesoamerica, Amos Megged uncovers the missing links in Mesoamerican peoples quest for their collective past. Analyzing ancient repositories of knowledge, as well as social and religious practices, he uncovers the unique procedures and formulas by which social memory was communicated and how it operated in Mesoamerica prior to the Spanish conquest. He also explores how cherished and revived practices evolved, how they were adapted to changing circumstances, and how they helped various ethnic groups cope with the tribulations of colonization and Christianization. Megged s volume also suggests how social and cultural historians, ethnohistorians, and anthropologists can rethink indigenous representations of the past while taking into account the deep transformations in Mexican society during the colonial era."

First published in 1988. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.