In March 2001 the world watched in disbelief as explosives of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban reduced the gigantic Buddha statues at Bamiyan to stone powder. Yet few realise that such religious zeal to 'free' the world from 'pagan' art follows an old tradition. What role did it play in transforming the colourful world of Roman paganism into medieval Christianity? All over the ancient world images have been found which bear deep scar marks from iconoclastic attacks. Beheaded statues and mutilated fragments of images, once the objects of veneration and awe, speak a language as clear as words. As Ebehard Sauer shows in this important new work, the sad material remains of what survived the onslaught of the image-haters form a powerful complement to eyewitness accounts. Archaeology helps us to understand one of the most radical changes in world history. Why was it that Christianity achieved sole domination in the West but remained a minority religion in much of Asia? Can the past help us to put the outrages of the present into context?

The Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies is a unique collection of some seventy articles which together explore the ways in which ancient Greece has been, is, and might be studied. It is intended to inform its readers, but also, importantly, to inspire them, and to enable them to pursue their own research by introducing the primary resources and exploring the latest agenda for their study. The emphasis is on the breadth and potential of Hellenic Studies as a flourishing and exciting intellectual arena, and also upon its relevance to the way we think about ourselves today.

First published 1989, a new edition of the proceedings of a seminar held in South Shields (N England) in July 1985 on the architecture of the gates and defences of auxiliary forts in the early principate. Contents: 1) Timber gateways, with a note on iron fittings (W H Manning and I R Scott); 2) The evidence for the form and appearance of turf and timber defences of Roman forts in the late first century, based on experiments at the Lunt Roman fort (Brian Hobley); 3) The defences of the Roman forts at Bu Ngem and Gheriat el-Garbia (Derek Welsby); 4) The reconstructed Roman remains at Castlefield, Manchester (John Walker); 5) The principal gateways of masonry forts on the Hadrianic frontier in England: aspects of their construction, planning, and possible appearance (Julian Bennett); 6) Notes on the north gateway of milecastle 39, Castle Nick (James Crow); 7) The reconstruction of a gate at the Roman fort of South Shields (Paul Bidwell, Roger Miket and Bill Ford ).

Rome and Barbaricum: Contributions to the archaeology and history of interaction in European protohistory asks the following questions: How did the 'Barbarians' influence Roman culture? What did 'Roman-ness' mean in the context of Empire? What did it mean to be Roman and/or 'Barbarian' in different contexts? The papers presented here explore the concepts of Romanisation and of Barbaricum from a multi-disciplinary and comparative standpoint, covering Germania, Dacia, Moesia Inferior, Hispania, and other regions of the Roman Empire. They deal with issues such as conceptual analysis of the term 'barbarian', military and administrative organization, inter-cultural and linguistic relations, numismatics, religion, economy, prosopographic investigations, constructing identities; and they present reflections on the theoretical framework for a new model of Romanisation.

An archaeological study of evidence for Roman influence on the Germanic peoples of the middle Danube frontier in present day south-west Slovakia. Vrba uses data and finds from his own excavations at a site called Urbarske Sedliska to form an impression of the impact which the nearby frontier (16km to the south) had on the development of Germanic identity in the region concentrating on the period of the early empire (10 BC - AD 166). His work fits very much within recent reassesments of "Romanization," rejecting the idea that the use of Roman material culture implies the extistence of a Romano-Germanic identity, or even that the peoples of Roman period Slovakia were necessarily ever trading directly with Roman merchants.

In the spring of 1900, British archaeologist Arthur Evans began to excavate the palace of Knossos on Crete, bringing ancient Greek legends to life just as a new century dawned amid far-reaching questions about human history, art, and culture. With "Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism," Cathy Gere relates the fascinating story of Evans's excavation and its long-term effects on Western culture. After the World War I left the Enlightenment dream in tatters, the lost paradise that Evans offered in the concrete labyrinth--pacifist and matriarchal, pagan and cosmic--seemed to offer a new way forward for writers, artists, and thinkers such as Sigmund Freud, James Joyce, Giorgio de Chirico, Robert Graves, and Hilda Doolittle.

Assembling a brilliant, talented, and eccentric cast at a moment of tremendous intellectual vitality and wrenching change, Cathy Gere paints an unforgettable portrait of the age of concrete and the birth of modernism.

From about 2000 BCE onward, Egypt served as an important nexus for cultural exchange in the eastern Mediterranean, importing and exporting not just wares but also new artistic techniques and styles. Egyptian, Greek, and Roman craftsmen imitated one another's work, creating cultural and artistic hybrids that transcended a single tradition. Yet in spite of the remarkable artistic production that resulted from these interchanges, the complex vicissitudes of exchange between Egypt and the Classical world over the course of nearly 2500 years have not been comprehensively explored in a major exhibition or publication in the United States. It is precisely this aspect of Egypt's history, however, that Beyond the Nile uncovers. Renowned scholars have come together to provide compelling analyses of the constantly evolving dynamics of cultural exchange, first between Egyptians and Greeks-during the Bronze Age, then the Archaic and Classical periods of Greece, and finally Ptolemaic Egypt-and later when Egypt passed to Roman rule with the defeat of Cleopatra. Beyond the Nile is milestone publication on the occasion of a major international exhibition and one that will become an indispensable contribution to the field. With gorgeous photographs of more than two hundred rare objects, including frescoes, statues, obelisks, jewellery, papyri, pottery, and coins, this volume offers an essential and interdisciplinary approach to the rich world of artistic cross-pollination during antiquity.

This report presents an overview of Roman urban development in London south of the Thames. The establishment of the Roman bridge and the first approach roads and landing places, made Southwark an ideal location for the development of facilities for the trans-shipment of goods between land and river. The wide range of data from 41 previously unpublished north Southwark sites provides the means for 'mapping' Roman activity in Southwark: the nature of the early settlement, changing patterns of land use and broader processes of social and economic change. Early land reclamation preceded the establishment of a thriving trade centre involved in the redistribution or marketing of locally processed and imported goods, with evidence of a concentration of buildings burnt in Boudican fire of AD 61 along the main road to the bridgehead. Increased land reclamation and construction of more masonry buildings in the 2nd century AD indicate further growth. By the 3rd century large stone buildings at ten of the sites reported suggest an administrative area housing official residences. After the mid 4th century the settlement contracted to the area immediately around the bridgehead with a cemetery on previously occupied land to the south.

Twenty sites were excavated on the route of a National Grid pipeline across Holderness, East Yorkshire. These included an early Mesolithic flint-working area, near Sproatley. In situ deposits of this age are rare, and the site is a significant addition to understanding of the post-glacial development of the wider region. Later phases of this site included possible Bronze Age round barrows and an Iron Age square barrow. Elsewhere on the pipeline route, diagnostic Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age flints, as well as Bronze Age pottery, provide evidence of activity in these periods. Iron Age remains were found at all of the excavation sites, fourteen of which had ring gullies, interpreted as evidence for roundhouse structures. The frequency with which these settlements occurred is an indication of the density of population in the later Iron Age and the large assemblage of hand-made pottery provides a rich resource for future study. Activity at several of these sites persisted at least into the second or early third centuries AD, while the largest excavation site, at Burton Constable, was re-occupied in the later third century. However, the pottery from the ring gullies was all hand-made, suggesting that roundhouses had ceased to be used by the later first century AD, when the earliest wheel-thrown wares appear. This has implications for understanding of the Iron Age to Roman transition in the region. Late first- or early second-century artefacts from a site at Scorborough Hill, near Weeton, are of particular interest, their nature strongly suggesting an association with the Roman military. With contributions by: Hugo Anderson-Whymark (flint), Kevin Leahy (metal, glass, worked bone), Terry Manby (earlier prehistoric pottery), Chris Cumberpatch (hand-made pottery), Rob Ixer (petrography), Derek Pitman and Roger Doonan (suface residues: ceramics and slag), Ruth Leary (Roman pottery), Felicity Wild (samian ware), Kay Hartley (mortaria), Jane Young with Peter Didsbury (post-Roman pottery), Ruth Shaffrey (worked stone), Lisa Wastling (fired clay), Jennifer Jones (surface residues: fired clay), Katie Keefe and Malin Holst (human bone), Jennifer Wood (animal bone), Don O'Meara (plant macrofossils), Tudur Burke Davies (pollen) and Matt Law (molluscs). Illustrations by: Jacqueline Churchill, Dave Watt and Susan Freebrey

Following on from his earlier 2006 work on the suburban villas of Campania, Geoff Adams here turns his attention to the villas of the suburban environs of Rome itself. He uses both literary and archaeological evidence, but his principal method of enquiry is via a statistical survey of the architecture of the villas. Of particular interest are the ratio's of public to private space, and the percentages of space set aside for leisure and entertainment. Other types of villas (rural, urban, coastal) are also assessed, in order that the particular social functions of the suburban villa may be discerned.

10 papers from a 2005 conference in Xanten look at issues relating to the interaction between women and the Roman army. Essays discuss the evidence for women and children around forts and whether in fact it were even permitted for women to enter a Roman fort, as well as the lives of women left at home while the husbands served in the military. Archaeological work and inscriptions are both used and geographically the collection covers both the Rhine frontier and Hadrian's wall. Papers in German and English.

This study brings a variety of approaches to bear on problems realting to fish eating, its prevalence and economic and cultural significance in classical Greece. Archaeological work is used to determine how widespread fishing was, and in which regions fishing was particularly intensive. Although the scale of fishing appears highly variable there appears to be little link between this and environmental factors. Accordingly, much of the book is given over to literary and anthropological research to determine the reasons for fish consumption, looking at the ancient classification of fish, their use in cultic practices, processes of distribution and marketing, and the relationship between fish consumption and social class.

This study makes use of computer technology and statistical techniques to show how multivariate analysis can be of use in the study of coin hoards. Rather than attempting to answer specific questions through the use of statistics, Kris Lockyear instead tries to identifying patterns as a whole within the datasets to draw conclusions about coin supply and circulation.

This report publishes and analyses archaeological work undertaken at the Romano-British settlement at Wilderspool in Warrington from 1991-93. Settlement at the site began in the 1st century AD, and it seems from the start to have been associated with the military. There is considerable evidence of industrial activity, principally iron working and pottery. Such evidence is most plentiful at times of known military activity in the area, and the authors suggest that the settlement's main function was as supplier to the army. There is evidence of increased agricultural activity from the 3rd century when industries went into decline. The evidence from Wilderspool is supplemented with that from Holditch in Staffordshire, a sizeable Romano-British settlement which peaked in size and importance in the early 2nd century, and then quickly fell in disuse after 150, the result, the authors suggest of a northward shift in military stationing.

A large collection of 33 papers which cover a wide range of topics relating to the Late Roman military. Essays look at aspects of military reforms, of military strategy, from the broad picture to individual campaigns, at the administration and economic realties of the army, and at military architecture and particularly at the excavation of several military sites. Ultimately a picture is built up of change from Roman to Byzantine. Essays mostly in English with 5 in French and 2 in Italian.

This study looks at the archaeological evidence for Roman campaigning in Britain under the Flavians (AD 69-96). It discusses the tribal and place names in Ptolemy's map and the Ravenna Cosmology and attempts to identify the areas referred to. Finally it uses this information alongside Tacitus' Agricola, finding a remarkable degree of convergence with the archaeological and geo-political evidence.

One of the odder (and uglier or cuter dependent on your point of view) styles of Roman pottery is clearly the face pot - literally pots with facial features attatched in relief. This study creates a type series for such pots in the western provinces of the empire, and in doing so attempts to answer questions such as - What were their origins, Who or what did they represent and how were they used. The study also examines the distribution and dissemination across Europe and investigates their links with the army.

This volume sets out to prove that, far from being simply assimilated or subsumed into Roman religion, Gallic rites continued, and continued to be the basis of Gallo-Roman religion. In each chapter, the number of these Gallic beliefs and customs, which continued after the Roman Conquest, is examined and it is demonstrated that Gallic religion was not abandoned, that the Celtic sanctuary design was the basis for Gallo-Roman temple design and that Gallo-Roman religion continued to be Gallic as well as Roman.

Cosa, a small Roman town, has been excavated since 1948 by the American Academy in Rome. This new volume presents the surviving sculpture and furniture in marble and other stones and examines their nature and uses. These artifacts provide an insight into not just life in a small Roman town but also its embellishment mainly from the late Republic and through the early Empire to the time of Hadrian. While public statuary is not well preserved, stone and marble material from the private sphere are well represented; domestic sculpture and furniture from the third century BCE to the first CE form by far the largest category of objects. The presence of these materials in both public and private spheres sheds light on the wealth of the town and individual families. The comparative briefness of Cosa's life means that this material is more easily comprehensible as a whole for the entire town as excavated, compared for instance to the much larger cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Oxbow says: In 1999 excavations were held at Grange Park, Courteenhall in Northamptonshire by Birmingham University Archaeology Unit in advance of the re-development of the site. The project aimed to investigate the date and function of the various sites and features revealed, as well as the social organisation and economy of the site, from the first major occupation of the site in the middle Iron Age, to the early-middle Saxon period. This volume reports on the findings from the initial desk-based research, survey work, fieldwalking and test-pitting, and most especailly from the excavations carried out at the site. Reports on the pottery, including large quantities of Iron Age and Roman ceramics, metal, stone and clay finds, and on the envionment, people and economy, are included.

Oxbow says: To what extent did the indigenous population change their appearance and identity with the arrival of the Romans? Gillian Carr's revised thesis explores how we can detect shifts in modes of physical appearance and social identity by stuyding evidence from around 40 sites in Essex and Hertfordshire. Her study looks at artefacts traditionally symbolic of 'Romanisation', such as brooches, hairpins and other hair accoutrements, toilet instruments, and pigment and cosmetic pounders representing body tattooing and painting. Carr acknowledges that the link between artefacts and ethnicity or identity is somewhat problematic, especially with regard to differentiating between 'native' and Roman, although she does reach some interesting conclusions about the increased fluidity of identities in the late Iron Age, increased experimentation and attempts at social mobility through physical appearance.

This volume contains a range of papers from a seminar held in Oxford in 2005. What did art in its widest sense mean to them, the Romans, and what might it (or even should it), mean to us? The approach adopted avoids fashionable theory, mainly culled second-hand from the social sciences, and tries to engage directly with material culture.

This is a wide-ranging study of the southern English county of Wiltshire in the Roman and early medieval periods (c. 100-1100 AD), focusing on the key themes of landscape, settlement and society and using a combination of archaeological, topographical and historical evidence. Particular emphasis is given to place-names, which, it is argued, can help us to locate Romano-British settlements and inform us about the British survival in the post-Roman period. Early chapters tackle the transition between the Roman and Early Saxon periods, challenging current theories on the decline of Roman Britain and the Anglo-Saxon adventus. Subsequent chapters examine the evidence for early medieval territorial and ecclesiastical structure in Wiltshire, in addition to the Anglo-Saxon farming landscape. There is also detailed consideration of the origins of the medieval settlement pattern and a discussion of the relationship between settlements and the ranks of Anglo-Saxon society.