Johan David Akerblad (1763-1819) contributed to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs and Demotic and is known as a predecessor of Jean-Francois Champollion. This intellectual biography offers a new and less heroic interpretation of the first reading of the Egyptian scripts. Akerblad, an exceptional linguist, was a diplomat and orientalist who spent several decades living in the Ottoman Empire, France and Italy. Of humble birth, he was a supporter of the French Revolution - something that stymied his career. His life cannot be understood in a purely Swedish national framework, and this study firmly situates him as an international scholar. The book discusses European expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean during the tumultuous decades around the year 1800, and traces Akerblad's momentous life in relation to the debates on 'orientalism,' the tradition of classical studies and the history of science.

This book concerns the ancient rock-cut monuments carved throughout the Near East, paying particular attention to the fate of these monuments in the centuries after their initial production. As parts of the landscapes in which they were carved, they acquired new meanings in the cultural memory of the people living around them. The volume joins numerous recent studies on the reception of historical texts and artefacts, exploring the peculiar affordances of these long-lasting and often salient monuments. The volume gathers articles by archeologists, art historians, and philologists, covering the entire Near East, from Iran to Lebanon and from Turkey to Egypt. It also analyzes long-lasting textual traditions that aim to explain the origins and meaning of rock-cut monuments and other related carvings.

They are essential to every major archaeological excavation but rarely acknowledged by the visiting researchers once the artifacts have been shipped. As part of the innovative, multivocal output from the famous Turkish Neolithic site of Catalhoeyuk, we hear from one of the site guards, Sadrettin Dural, who tells the story of the excavation from the point of view of the "Other." He offers tales of the strange habits of archaeologists, describes the local in-fighting that scholars never see, and explains how scientists can be protected from the Yatirs, spirits of the dead who guard the mound. Ian Hodder, director of the Catalhoeyuk project, provides explanatory notes for the reader and an interview with the author, exploring indigenous interpretations of ancient sites and the archaeologists who excavate them. For the archaeologist, this offers a revolutionary new viewpoint on their work. For the cultural anthropologist, Dural's role as site guard is only a small part of his life as a Turkish villager. The author recounts the daily lived experience of one man in a contemporary Turkish village, including changing economic strategies for supporting his family, brushes with the law, trips to the beach and the city, and Turkish phone sex.

Located in the Mewar region of Rajasthan, India, Gilund is the largest known site of the Ahar-Banas Cultural Complex, a large agropastoral group that was contemporaneous with and flanked by the Indus Civilization. Occupied during the Chalcolithic and Early Historic periods, the ancient site of Gilund holds significant clues to understanding third millennium B.C.E cultural interactions in South Asia and beyond. Excavations at Gilund provides a full analysis of the artifacts recovered during the five-year excavation project conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and Deccan College. The excavators investigated the regional development of early farming villages, their shifting subsistence practices, their economy and trade with other cultures, and the traces of Gilund's transition from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age. Their findings shed light on the extent and nature of early trade networks, the rise of early complex societies, and the symbolic and ideological beliefs of this region. This volume synthesizes new discoveries with previous findings and considers Gilund in a broader regional and global context, making it the most comprehensive presentation of archaeological data for this region to date. Contributors: Marta Ameri, Shweta Sinha Deshpande, Debasri Dasgupta Ghosh, Lorena Giorgio, Praveena Gullapalli, Julie Hanlon, Peter Johansen, Matthew Landt, Gregory L. Possehl, Teresa P. Raczek, Vasant Shinde. University Museum Monograph, 138

In this book, Richard Bussmann presents a fresh overview of ancient Egyptian society and culture in the age of the pyramids. He addresses key themes in the comparative research of early complex societies, including urbanism, funerary culture, temple ritual, kingship, and the state, and explores how ideas and practices were exchanged between ruling elites and local communities in provincial Egypt. Unlike other studies of ancient Egypt, this book adopts an anthropological approach that places people at the centre of the analysis. Bussmann covers a range of important themes in cross-cultural debates, such as materiality, gender, non-elite culture, and the body. He also offers new perspectives on social diversity and cultural cohesion, based on recent discoveries. His study vividly illustrates how our understanding of ancient Egyptian society benefits from the application of theoretical concepts in archaeology and anthropology to the interpretation of the evidence.

"Axe Age" is dedicated to the Acheulian, a unique cultural phenomenon with the longest duration and the widest distribution in the history of humanity. The Acheulian lasted over 1 million years and is well known over three continents (Africa, Europe and Asia). This stone tool tradition is characterized by its hallmark bifacial tools, which include handaxes and cleavers. Though this prehistoric culture has been investigated extensively for over a century, countless questions have remained unanswered. Many of them are addressed in this volume. The volume, of interest to both scholars and students, presents original contributions that expand the scope of our understanding of this intriguing cultural entity. The contributions cover a vast geographic terrain and a large array of issues expressing hominin cognitive abilities and behavioral modes, such as landscape exploitation, production of bifacial tools and their classification, regional diversity, transmission of knowledge, transportation and discard patterns. Of the many authors, some are eminent scholars of worldwide reputation in Acheulian research, while others are young scholars reporting on their original research data. All of them contribute to gaining an improved understanding of the Acheulians and their culture.

As the most important ancient cultural relics in prehistory, rock art have become a direct basis for the reproduction of human history and ideological process. Since the late 1970s, Yinshan rock art have been found in large quantities. In this study, 2842 Yinshan rock art are collected, sorted and classified systematically. The distribution characteristics of rock art in each area and the distribution and change rules of main rock art types are summarized. This book also places Yinshan rock art into the overall framework of Chinese rock art for analysis in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the overall characteristics and status of Yinshan rock art, and showcases researches on the chronology are.

The Association's 2004 conference focused mainly on the architecture and archaeology of the medieval diocese of Llandaff, comprising much of the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Contributors consider Roman and early medieval south-east Wales, including surviving Christian monuments and the early history of Cardiff. There is a detailed analysis of the c. 1200 wall-paintings at the priory church of Ewenny, where ambitious decorative work replaced a hitherto unknown Romanesque scheme. The early Gothic architecture of Llandaff Cathedral is shown to be related to some of the great contemporary ecclesiastical works in England and elsewhere, such as Glastonbury Abbey, and the unusual form of the cloister arcade at Tintern Abbey is analysed. Other papers cover the late Gothic architecture in south Wales, two 14th-century tomb monuments at Abergavenny, and a study of the magnificent carpentry of a number of late medieval rood-screens that survive in parish churches. The volume concludes with an account of the evidence for post-medieval work in churches in the diocese.

Newfoundland lies at the intersection of arctic and more temperate regions and, commensurate with this geography, populations of two Amerindian and two Paleoeskimocultural traditions occupied Port au Choix, in northern Newfoundland, Canada, for centuries and millennia. Over the past two decades The Port au Choix Archaeology Project has sought a comparative understanding of how these different cultures, each with their particular origin and historical trajectory, adapted to the changing physical and social environments, impacted their physical surroundings, and created cultural landscapes. This volume brings together the research of Renouf, her colleagues and her students who together employ multiple perspectives and methods to provide a detailed reconstruction and understanding of the long-term history of Port au Choix. Although geographically focussed on a northern coastal area, this volume has wider implications for understanding archaeological landscapes, human-environment interactions and hunter-gatherer societies. "

This comprehensive and absorbing book traces the cultural history of Southeast Asia from prehistoric (especially Neolithic, Bronze-Iron age) times through to the major Hindu and Buddhist civilizations, to around AD 1300. Southeast Asia has recently attracted archaeological attention as the locus for the first recorded sea crossings; as the region of origin for the Austronesian population dispersal across the Pacific from Neolithic times; as an arena for the development of archaeologically-rich Neolithic, and metal using communities, especially in Thailand and Vietnam, and as the backdrop for several unique and strikingly monumental Indic civilizations, such as the Khmer civilization centred around Angkor. Southeast Asia is invaluable to anyone interested in the full history of the region.

A completely new account of the archaeological and historical evidence relating to Delphi - one of the most important places in the ancient world. Each of the three sites at Delphi - the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Sanctuary of Athena and the Gymnasium - are described in detail, along with its architectural development and the Museum, where the works of art on display can be directly related to the place in which they were found. A separate chapter discusses the Pythian festival, the oracular procedure and an interpretation of the Delphic rituals, to explain the arcane phenomena of the oracle and the enduring influence that the sanctuary had throughout ancient Greek history. Written in an accessible style, the book incorporates the results of the latest research into the sanctuary of Delphi and uses photographs to demonstrate the conservation works carried out in recent years.

The fifth and fourth millennia BCE saw major cultural changes in the southern Levant and Northeast Africa: the spread of agriculture; developments in animal husbandry; increased contact between cultures; and the use of alloy bronze. 'Metal, Nomads and Culture Contact' integrates archaeological data from across the Chalcolithic period to contextualise these changes. The book examines the introduction of metal to the southern Levant, Egypt and Lower Nubia and the role of pastoral nomadism in cultural interaction and exchange. 'Metal, Nomads and Culture Contact' will be valuable to scholars of archaeology and anthropology.

Between 2007 and 2014, a Greek-American team investigated an impressive array of Early Roman to Early Byzantine buildings and burials on the Koutsongila Ridge at Kenchreai, the eastern port of ancient Corinth. This volume presents the project's final results, revealing abundant evidence not only for the history of activity in a transitional urban/suburban landscape, but also for the society, economy, and religion of local residents. Important structural and mortuary discoveries abound, including a district of lavish houses with exquisite mosaic pavement and an Early Christian Octagon. The large artefactual assemblage encompasses a variety of objects from pottery and lamps to glass, coins, and jewellery. Bones and teeth from over 200 individuals illustrate differences in health over time, while thousands of bones and shells from a variety of animals attest to diet and subsistence. This study paints a picture of a Corinthian community, small but prosperous and well connected, actively participating in an urban elite culture expressed through decorative art and monumental architecture.

The Ptolemaic period in Egypt (332-30 BC) is one of the most well-documented periods of the Hellenistic age: in addition to the papyrological record there are more than 600 surviving Greek and Greek/Egyptian bilingual and trilingual inscriptions, ranging from massive public monuments, such as the Rosetta Stone, to small private dedications, funerary plaques, and metrical epigrams for the deceased. This volume offers a series of detailed studies of the historical and cultural contexts of these important inscriptions and is intended to complement the multi-volume Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions edition, in which the Greek and Egyptian texts will be presented together for the first time. The subjects discussed in the twelve chapters range widely across a variety of sub-disciplines, from advances in new technologies of image-capture, the juxtaposition of Greek and Egyptian elements in the layout and iconography of the monuments, and the palaeography of the Greek texts, to the history of the acquisition and study of the great bilingual decrees voted by the priests of the indigenous Egyptian cults, the introduction of Greek civic administration and communal associations in the cities and villages, and the role of the military in monumental commemoration. Particular attention is given to the role of indigenous and Greek religious institutions in Alexandria and the towns and villages of the Nile Delta and Valley, in which commemorative dedications to divinities of temples and statues by the monarchs and by private individuals are numerous and prominent. In a period shaped by the interplay between Egyptian and Greek culture, the existence of public and private inscribed monuments was a vital element of dynastic control. The unique insights offered by this thorough examination of the epigraphical landscape of Ptolemaic Egypt are invaluable to understanding the ways in which the Greek immigrant rulers and population established and reinforced their social and cultural dominance of an indigenous population which had its own long-established and traditional written and iconographic mode of public and private communication.

The Etruscans are one of history's great mysteries -- a sophisticated society that flourished at the heart of the Classical world and then vanished, leaving relatively few archaeological remains and few records of their culture. The Etruscans were adept at magic, and Etruscan books of spells were common among the Romans but they have not survived. While greatly influenced by the Greeks, the Etruscans retained elements of an ancient non-Western culture, and these archaic traits contributed greatly to the civilization once thought of as purely Roman (gladiators, for example, and many kinds of divination). Leland retrieves elements of Etruscan culture from the living popular traditions of remote areas of the Italian countryside where belief in "the old religion" survives to an astonishing degree. Recorded when many of these secret beliefs and practices were fading away, this remarkable volume deals with ancient gods, spirits, witches, incantations, prophecy, medicine, spells, and amulets, giving full descriptions, illustrations, and instructions for practice.

This unique text discusses the mathematical principles behind Megalithic stone circles, and how these were used for observing lunar cycles in prehistoric times. The author, A. Thom, shows that stone circles were precisely planned and laid out in accordance with certain geometric figures in the classic Pythagorean tradition. Containing some mathematical and astronomical details, along with notes on site survey and location, this book is ideal for amateur enthusiasts and academicians of archaeology, astronomy, and mathematics.

This volume presents the data, analyses, and interpretation of a wide range of osteological and burial data. The Petexbatun bioarchaeology subproject included complete assessment of burial practice and osteology. The chapters on this research explore population variability in time and space, paleopathology, and trauma from skeletal remains throughout the various sites and the inter-site areas of the Petexbatun, as well as from Seibal and Altar de Sacrificios. Yet Wright's innovative study goes on to apply the most recent physical and chemical techniques, particularly isotopic analysis, to assess diet and health in the populations of the Pasion region. Variability between sites, across levels of status, and over time are assessed and conservatively interpreted in the light of contemporary issues and problems of physical, chemical, and statistical methodology. Finally, the Petexbatun and Pasion region results are compared in order to reassess past and current studies and interpretation of skeletal remains in other regions of the ancient Maya lowlands. In the final chapters of this work, Wright's cutting-edge osteological analyses are used to critique current alternative interpretations of Late Classic to Postclassic culture history and alternative hypotheses on the role of changes in climate, ecology, diet, nutrition, invasion, and other factors in the end of Classic Maya civilization and the transition to the Postclassic period.
This volume also provides an independent assessment of the results of other Petexbatun region subprojects and a comparative evaluation of recent studies by other projects of Late and Terminal Classic culture change. For bioarchaeologists, this work sets a newstandard in breadth and depth of osteological study. For Pre-Columbian scholars in general, it provides new insights into the environmental and biological issues involved in the debate on the end of the Classic period of Maya civilization.
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Using archaeology and social anthropology, and more than 100 original line drawings and photographs, An Archaeology of Images takes a fresh look at how ancient images of both people and animals were used in the Iron Age and Roman societies of Europe, 600 BC to AD 400 and investigates the various meanings with which images may have been imbued. The book challenges the usual interpretation of statues, reliefs and figurines as passive things to be looked at or worshipped, and reveals them instead as active artefacts designed to be used, handled and broken. It is made clear that the placing of images in temples or graves may not have been the only episode in their biographies, and a single image may have gone through several existences before its working life was over. Miranda Aldhouse Green examines a wide range of other issues, from gender and identity to foreignness, enmity and captivity, as well as the significance of the materials used to make the images. The result is a comprehensive survey of the multifarious functions and experiences of images in the communities that produced and consumed them. Challenging many previously held assumptions about the meaning and significance of Celtic and Roman art, An Archaeology of Images will be controversial yet essential reading for anyone interested in this area.

How did human thought evolve into the highly complex process it is today? In the field of evolutionary cognitive archaeology, cognitive science and archaeology intersect to provide a more complete and grounded picture of the mind. With the combination of cognitive theories and archaeological evidence, this burgeoning field is only beginning to tap into the potential for a better understanding of the development of specific cognitive abilities. Cognitive Models in Palaeolithic Archaeology explores hominin cognitive development by applying formal cognitive models to analyze prehistoric remains from the entire range of the Palaeolithic, from the earliest stone tools 3.3 million years ago to artistic developments that emerged 50,000 years ago. Several different cognitive models are presented, including expert cognition, information processing, material engagement theory, embodied/extended cognition, neuroaesthetics, visual resonance theory, theory of mind, and neuronal recycling. By examining archaeological remains, and thereby past activities and behavior, through the grounded lenses of these models, a mosaic pattern of human cognitive evolution emerges. This volume, authored by many leading authorities in the field of cognitive archaeology, will attract scholars and students of cognitive evolution and paleoanthropology, who will find a new understanding of hominin cognitive evolution and substantive conclusions about our hominin evolution as opportunities for further research.

The Roman sanctuary at Bath has long been used in scholarship as an example par excellence of religious and artistic syncretisms in Roman Britain. With its monumental temple, baths, and hot springs, its status as one of the most significant Roman sites in the province is unquestioned. But our academic narratives about Roman Bath are also rooted in the narratives of our more recent past. This book begins by exploring how Georgian and Victorian antiquaries developed our modern story of a healing sanctuary at Roman Bath. It shows that a curative function for the sanctuary is in fact unsupported by the archaeological evidence. It then retells the story of Roman Bath by focusing on three interlinked aspects: the entanglement of the sanctuary with Roman imperialism, the role of the hot springs in the lives of worshipers, and Bath's place within the wider world of the western Roman Empire.

Decades after Michael Ventris deciphered Linear B and showed that its language was Greek, nearly one-sixth of its syllabic signs' sound-values are still unknown. This book offers a new approach to establishing these undeciphered signs' possible values. Analysis of Linear B's structure and usage not only establishes these signs' most likely sound-values - providing the best possible basis for future decipherments - but also sheds light on the writing system as a whole. The undeciphered signs are also used to explore the evidence provided by palaeography for the chronology of the Linear B documents and the activities of the Mycenaean scribes. The conclusions presented in this book therefore deepen our understanding not only of the undeciphered signs but also of the Linear B writing system as a whole, the texts it was used to write, and the insight these documents bring us into the world of the Mycenaean palaces. A colour version of figures 5.1-5.4 of chapter 5 can be found under the 'Resources' tab.

Antioch in Syria critically reassesses this ancient city from its Seleucid foundation into Late Antiquity. Although Antioch's prominence is famous, Kristina M. Neumann newly exposes the gradations of imperial power and local agency mediated within its walls through a comprehensive study of the coins minted there and excavated throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. Patterns revealed through digital mapping and Exploratory Data Analysis serve as a significant index of spatial politics and the policies of the different authorities making use of the city. Evaluating the coins against other historical material reveals that Antioch's status was not fixed, nor the people passive pawns for external powers. Instead, as imperial governments capitalised upon Antioch's location and amenities, the citizens developed in their own distinct identities and agency. Antioch of the Antiochians must therefore be elevated from traditional narratives and static characterisations, being studied and celebrated for the dynamic polis it was.

Twentieth century commentaries on Herodotus' passages on Nubia, the historical kingdom of Kush and the Aithiopia of the Greek tradition, rely mostly on an outdated and biased interpretation of the textual and archaeological evidence. Disputing both the Nubia image of twentieth century Egyptology and the Herodotus interpretation of traditional Quellenkritik, the author traces back the Aithiopian information that was available to Herodotus to a discourse on Kushite kingship created under the Nubian pharaohs of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty and preserved in the Ptah sanctuary at Memphis. Insufficient for a self-contained Aithiopian logos, the information acquired by Herodotus complements and supports accounts of the land, origins, customs and history of other peoples and bears a relation to the intention of the actual narrative contexts into which the author of The Histories inserted it.

The Hellenistic city of New Halos, situated on the coastal route between North and Central Greece, existed for only a short period (ca 302-265 BC) before being destroyed by an earthquake and finally abandoned. The city's original ninety-thousand inhabitants lived in modest houses in the lower town, six of which have been excavated. This book presents the plans of these six houses, detailing the arrangement of living quarters, storage rooms and courtyards, as well as analyzing numerous artifacts, most of which were found in-situ.
This volume contributes greatly to our knowledge of cities in Hellenistic Greece. The house plans and artifacts from the excavations (including agricultural equipment, animal remains, storage jars, kitchen ware, figurines, jewellery and coins) give a unique view of housing around 265 BC.