One of the most significant developments in archaeology in recent years is the emergence of its environmental branch: the study of humans interactions with their natural surroundings over long periods and of organic remains instead of the artifacts and household items generally associated with sites. With the current attention paid to human responsibility for environmental change, this innovative field is recognized by scientists, conservation and heritage managers and policymakers worldwide. In this context comes Environmental Archaeology by Elizabeth Reitz and Myra Shackley, updating the seminal 1981 text Environmental Archaeology by Myra Shackley. Rigorously detailed yet concise and accessible, this volume surveys the complex and technical field of environmental archaeology for researchers interested in the causes, consequences and potential future impact of environmental change and archaeology. Its coverage acknowledges the multiple disciplines involved in the field, expanding the possibilities for using environmental data from archaeological sites in enriching related disciplines and improving communication among them. Introductory chapters explain the processes involved in the formation of sites, introduce research designs and field methods and walk the reader through biological classifications before focusing on the various levels of biotic and abiotic materials found at sites, including: Sediments and soils. Viruses, bacteria, archaea, protists and fungi. Bryophytes and vascular plants. Wood, charcoal, stems, leaves and roots. Spores, pollen and other microbotanical remains. Arthropods, molluscs, echinoderms and vertebrates.Stable isotopes, elements and biomolecules. The updated Environmental Archaeology is a major addition to the resource library of archaeologists, environmentalists, historians, researchers, policymakers anyone involved in studying, managing or preserving historical sites. The updated Environmental Archaeology is a major addition to the resource library of archaeologists, environmentalists, historians, researchers, policymakers anyone involved in studying, managing, or preserving historical sites.

The famous Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, ancient Praeneste in central Italy, dating to c. 100 B.C., is one of the earliest large mosaics which have been preserved from the classical world. It presents a unique, comprehensive picture of Egypt and Nubia. The interpretation of the mosaic is disputed, suggestions ranging from an exotic decoration to a topographical picture or a religious allegory.
The present study demonstrates that the mosaic depicts rituals connected with Isis and Osiris and the yearly Nile flood. The presence of these Egyptian religious scenes at Praeneste can be explained by the assimilation of isis and Fortuna, the tutelary goddess of Praeneste, and by the interpretation of the mosaic as a symbol of divine providence.

The excavation of Gobekli Tepe has revealed the hitherto unknown religion of the Neolithic Revolution." This book offers an archaeological starter basis for interpreting that ancient religion. Other fresh perspectives affect our understanding of civilization, human sacrifice, cannibalism, warfare, and imperialism. Fresh contextual perspectives are presented on ancient Egypt and Greece, on Abraham, the Scapegoat question, as well as on the teaching strategies of Confucius in China-all these are remotely linked to Gobekli Tepe. The author is a former student of Mircea Eliade (University of Chicago) and the family resemblance in his orientation shows. His earlier innovations in the History of Religions field include: (1) a historical interpretation of Navajo hunter mythology; (2) recording the nine-night Navajo Coyoteway Ceremonial in 1974, which had been declared extinct in 1910; (3) identification of the Serpent as primary deity of ancient Middle American Civilization, thereby rejecting the primacy of the Jaguar totem; (4) identifying Neo-Platonism as a bridge leading from ancient Egyptian theology at Heliopolis to orthodox Christian theology.

As the foundations of the modern world were being laid at the beginning of the 19th century, Annapolis, Maryland, identified itself as the Ancient City. This unusual appellation has served Annapolis into the present as a city that has consistently defined and redefined for itself what being ancient means. The process of historical recognition and preservation that has played out in Annapolis provides valuable insights into the way modern Americans in general have come to know and use the past.

Though often conceived to be in opposition, modernity and tradition can be paired as cultural strategies that allow the modern world to be articulated with the tradition it hoped to replace. The multiple histories and historic landscapes derived from archaeological investigations in Annapolis are presented to show that the physical world below the surface of the city has been defined by constructions of modernity in tandem with the survival of certain traditions.

Revisiting al-Andalus brings together a range of recent scholarship on the material culture of Islamic Iberia, highlighting especially the new directions that have developed in the Anglo-American branch of this field since the 1992 catalogue of the influential exhibition, Al-Andalus: the Art of Islamic Spain. Together with examples of recent Spanish scholarship on medieval architecture and urbanism, the volume's contributors (historians of art and architecture, archaeologists, and architects) explore topics such as the relationship between Andalusi literature and art; architecture, urbanism, and court culture; domestic architecture; archaeology as a tool for analyzing economic and architectural history; cultural transfer between the Iberian Peninsula and the New World; 19th-century "rediscovery" of al-Andalus; and modern architectural and historiographical attempts to construct an Andalusi cultural identity. Contributors include: Antonio Almagro, Glaire D. Anderson, Rebecca Bridgman, Maria Judith Feliciano, Kathryn Ferry, Pedro Jimenez, Julio Navarro, Camila Mileto, Antonio Orihuela, Jennifer Roberson, Cynthia Robinson, Mariam Rosser-Owen, Antonio Vallejo Triano, and Fernando Vegas.

Thisvolume is the fifthi n the Advances in Archaeological and Museum Science series by the Society for Archaeological Sciences (SAS). The purpose of this series is top rovide summaries of advances in various topics in archaeometry, archaeological science, environmental archaeology, preservation technology, and museumconservation. The SAS exists to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between archaeologistsand colleaguesi n the natural sciences. SAS members are drawn from manydisciplinary fields. However, theya ll share a common belief that natural science techniques andmethods constitutea n essential component of archaeological field and laboratory studies. xi Preface The study of human diet brings togetherr esearchers from diverse back grounds, ranging from modern human nutrition and biochemistry to the geo chemistry of fossilized bones and teeth. Human paleodiet research, as studied through the chemical composition of bones and teeth, has been advanced sig nificantlyi n the last 25 years, since the publication ofearly work on trace ele ments (Brown 1973) ando n stable carbon isotopes (Vogel andv and er Merwe 1977, vand er Merwe and Vogel 1978). An important forum forsuch p rogress has been the series of Advanced Se minars on Pa leodiet, held every threey ears since 1986. The contributions in this volume a rose from the Fourth Advanced Seminar on Paleodiet, which washeld in Banff, Alb erta in September of 1994. The Advanced Seminars bring togethera small international group of researchers interested in improving and expanding techniques fors tudying past diet through bone chemistry.

Archaeological sites often seem to be idyllic, even romantic, places where scientists recover and analyze fascinating data that can inform us of past times and the past lives of our recent historical and ancient prehistoric human forebears. Too often, however, unrecognized dangers lie within: bacterial and viral infections hidden in the soil, concealed in the animals that roam through our sites, or even lying in wait in organic remains we excavate; toxic substances produced by the historical technologies we study and that continue to poison the sites where people once worked; the bodies of people who died of historical scourges that once afflicted humanity and whose excavated mortal remains may still harbor the pathogens that killed them, dormant and lying in wait for an unsuspecting and largely no-longer immune modern population. It's enough to make an archaeologist swear off fieldwork

The truth is, however, that archaeologists need to be alerted to the dangers present in fieldwork and advised of the reasonable precautions that should be taken to insure the safest possible working environment. "Dangerous Places" brings together an enormous body of information regarding the threats that archaeologists face every day, and the best ways of behaving proactively to avoid or mitigate these threats.

This volume is the first text to focus specifically on the archaeology of domestic architecture. Covering major theoretical and methodological developments over recent decades in areas like social institutions, settlement types, gender, status, and power, this book addresses the developing understanding of where and how people in the past created and used domestic space. It will be a useful synthesis for scholars and an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in archaeology and architecture. The book-covers the relationship of architectural decisions of ancient peoples with our understanding of social and cultural institutions;-includes cases from every continent and all time periods-- from the Paleolithic of Europe to present-day African villages;-is ideal for the growing number of courses on household archaeology, social archaeology, and historical and vernacular architecture.

This volume presents a selection of the best papers presented at the forty-first annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. The theme for the conference was "Across Space and Time", and the papers explore a multitude of topics related to that concept, including databases, the semantic Web, geographical information systems, data collection and management, and more.

Why did the ancient artists create paintings and engravings? What did the images mean? This careful study of rock art motifs in the Trans-Pecos area of Texas and a small area in South Africa demonstrates that there are archaeological and anthropological ways of accessing the past in order to investigate and explain the significance of rock art motifs. Using two disparate regions shows the possibility of comparative rock art studies and highlights the importance of regional studies and regional variations. This is an ideal resource for students and researchers.

In line with the resurgence of interest in the history of archaeology manifested over the past decade, this volume aims to highlight state of the art research across several topics and areas, and to stimulate new approaches and studies in the field. With their shared historiographical commitment, the authors, both leading scholars and emerging researchers, draw from a wide range of case studies to address some of the main themes such as sources and methods; questions of archaeological practices and the practical aspects of knowledge production; visualizing archaeology and the multiple roles of iconography and imagery; and questions of identity at local, national, and international levels.

The Roman province of Noricum occupied most of Austria as well as parts of Italy, Germany and the Balkans. Noricum, first published in 1974, presents a comprehensive history of Noricum, from 400 BC to the end of Roman rule in AD 600. Professor Alfoeldy's account is predicated on the methodical interpretation of literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources, and emphasises the problems of demography and socio-economic history. The chapters are arranged chronologically, ensuring a sense of the continuity of historical events and illuminating the history and archaeology of Noricum both before it came into contact with the Romans as well as under Roman rule. Noricum includes a review of much recent research on the province, detailed references to the source material, a comprehensive bibliography and valuable appendices. It is a substantial work of ancient history and archaeology and will interest both the specialist and the general reader.

This book is an inquiry into the relationships between archaeology, colonialism and ecotourism at the famous standing stones of Hintang, Laos. It investigates the conditions under which archaeological knowledge has been produced, appropriated, contested, commodified, and consumed by colonialism from the 1930s until today and what it shows about the power dynamics of heritage and ecotourism. The volume-explores how the discourses of colonialism and ecotourism affect tourists, archaeologists, heritage managers, and the local community;-is written as a set of overlapping creative essays, each giving an overlapping perspective on Hintang;-is a multidisciplinary research project based on ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, interviews with community members, biography, material culture studies, and text analysis.

The topics of style and function within evolutionary archaeology have been the subject of great debate in the field of archaeology in general over the past two decades. Evolutionary archaeologists have a unique perspective on these concepts-one that has sometimes been misunderstood by archaeologists working within other theoretical perspectives.

The dichotomy between style and function was first formulated in the late 1970s by Robert Dunnell and remains axiomatic within the theoretical perspective of evolutionary archaeology. The original definitions of style and function were grounded in biological evolutionary concepts regarding neutral variation versus variation that is subject to natural selection. Several chapters expand upon these concepts, and explore how Darwinian evolutionary theory may be used to understand the archaeological record. Other chapters demonstrate this application through empirical case studies. Dunnell provides a foreword introducing and re-examining his original thesis.

This volume is the only text devoted to the topic of style and function within the literature of evolutionary archaeology. It provides not only theoretical discussions and augmentation, but also significant historical background regarding the development of the style/function distinction within archaeology. Moreover, it presents several case studies that provide examples of how evolutionary style and function may be applied to the prehistoric record.

Recent droughts in Africa and elsewhere in the world, from China to Peru, have serious implications for food security and grave consequences for local and international politics. The issues do not just concern the plight of African peoples, but also our global ecological future.
Global climatic changes become manifest initially in regions that are marginal or unstable. Africa's Sahel zone is one of the most sensitive climatic regions in the world and the events that have gripped that region beginning in the 1970's were the first indicator of a significant shift in global climatic conditions.
This work aims to bring archaeology with the domain on contemporary human affairs and to forge a new methodology for coping with environmental problems from an archaeological perspective. Using the later prehistory of Africa as a comparison, the utility of this methodological strategy in interpreting culture change and assessing long-term response to current, global climatic fluctuations is examined and understood.

The Sacred Identity of Ephesos offers a full-length interpretation of one of the largest known bequests in the Classical world, made to the city of Ephesos in AD 104 by a wealthy Roman equestrian, and challenges some of the basic assumptions made about the significance of the Greek cultural renaissance known as the 'Second Sophistic'. Professor Rogers shows how the civic rituals created by the foundation symbolised a contemporary social hierarchy, and how the ruling class used foundation myths - the birth of the goddess Artemis in a grove above the city - as a tangible source of power, to be wielded over new citizens and new gods. Utilising an innovative methodology for analysing large inscriptions, Professor Rogers argues that the Ephesians used their past to define their present during the Roman Empire, shedding new light on how second-century Greeks maintained their identities in relation to Romans, Christians, and Jews.

This wide-ranging yet detailed study describes and assesses the many-faceted cultural achievement of an area remote from Athens, the Dorian islands. Elizabeth Craik's scholarship sets this lively outlying region of the ancient Greek world - which included Rhodes, Kos, Karpathos, Melos, and Thera - in the perspective of Greek civilization as a whole, demonstrating that excessive emphasis on the Athenian advancements of the fifth century BC tends to obscure the contribution of other regions. Beginning with a discussion of the geographical setting, natural resources and historical development of the area, The Dorian Aegean goes on to survey linguistic usage and local scripts, and to examine the regional contribution to literature, medicine and science. In the final three chapters, the religious traditions and practices of the islands are discussed, in terms of myths, cults and administration. This work will appeal to students of the classical world, archaeology, and cultural history.

This book makes a contribution to the developing field of complex hunter-gatherer studies with an archaeological analysis of the development of one such group. It examines the evolution of complex hunter-gatherers on the North Pacific coast of Alaska. It is one of the first books available to examine in depth the social evolution of a specific complex hunter-gatherer tradition on the North Pacific Rim and will be of interest to professional archaeologists, anthropologists, and students of archaeology and anthropology.

This volume includes new research on the theoretical implications regarding the mechanisms of change in the geographical distribution of hunter-gatherer settlement and land use. It focuses on the long-term changes in the hunter-gatherer settlement on a global scale, including research from several continents. It will be of interest to archaeologists and cultural anthropologists working in the field of the forager/ collector model throughout the world.