Opus signinum is an antique floor-covering technique, especially noted in the Mediterranean area. The technique is based on a waterproof mortar of a mixture of lime, water and tile powder which gives it a reddish colour. This current research focused mainly on the opus signinum process as recorded in the antique literature (especially Vitrivius and Pliny) and then scientific analysis, in order to define the composition of the mortar. Over 100 pavements from Mediterranean countries (5th c BC 2nd c AD) have been compiled in the catalogue, making it possible to study the ornamental patterns and the various uses the rooms/spaces were put to. French text.

Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall defined the edge of the Roman Empire in Britain. Today, the spectacular remains of these great frontier works stand as mute testimony to one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. This new accessible account, illustrated with 25 detailed photographs, maps and plans, describes the building of the walls, and reconstructs what life was like on the frontier. It places these frontiers into their context both in Britain and Europe, examining the development of frontier installations over four centuries.Designed for students and teachers of Ancient History or Classical Civilisation at school and in early university years, this series provides a valuable collection of guides to the history, art, literature, values and social institutions of the ancient world.

In the Greek world the gods were intricately linked to most aspects of life so it should be no surprise that weapons and military equipment were given as offerings to them in Greek sanctuaries. Based on the author's thesis, this study examines how and why this took place, how war, ritual and religion were linked, and includes a catalogue of arms and other pieces of equipment that were dedicated at particular sanctuaries. It concludes that most of the weapons were presented as offerings, and may have been booty from defeated enemuies, and that items from the military panoply were dedications of personal equipment to the gods. Cult places of gods such as Ares, Zeus, Apollo, Artemis and Athena are discussed in turn as the author explores the role of the gods in the celebration and commemoration of victory and the symbolism of trophies. Spanish text.

This volume presents a zooarchaeological study of eleven Gallo-Roman bone assemblages retrieved over the past fifteen years from rescue excavations in Paris. The Roman occupation of Lutecia is divided into four periods (1st c. BC - 4th c AD). The limits of the antique city on the left bank of the Seine are situated within the 5th and 6th districts of todays city of Paris. Only a restricted area of the right bank is occupied. Two Necropolises are known and are located at the south and south east of these limits. Until now, no Iron-age occupation has been found under the Roman city. Eight of the studied assemblages are habitat contexts, two are located in dump areas of the city, and the last specialized in ceramic production. The finds help to improve our understanding of Gallo-Roman society while emphasizing the influence of the conquest on native peoples. Considerable progress has been made towards a more comprehensive understanding of the provisioning of urban contexts, the hierarchy of food and the status of consumers. In addition, light is shed on some aspects of butchery and meat redistribution and the post-conquest orientation of agriculture. This work increases the resolution of zooarchaeology in the analysis of antique societies and these advances will further increase the interest of classical archaeology in the collection and study of animal bones.

Eight papers from the Roman Archaeology conference held at Trier in 2001.

21 papers on contemporary perspectives of Romanization presented at a graduate seminar and colloquium on 'Romanization and Self-Romanization' held at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universitat Jena and the Siegmundsburg-Centre of Studies. The first section deals with theoretical models and sociological concepts; the second looks at archaeological and historical studies. The geographical scope covers the entire Empire from Lusitania to Asia Minor, from Hadrian's Wall to the Sahara. In German.

Vanessa Soupault's thesis provides a study of metal dress accessories on Roman male costume in the Black Sea area between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD. Much of the volume comprises an illustrated catalogue of fibulae, buckles, fittings, bracelets, torques and other items from sites on all sides of the Black Sea. The catalogue is preceded by a regional discussion of artefacts and trends, particularly in fibulae types, distribution, iconography and social context of these elaborate objects.

Every year archaeological research is producing new evidence for the study of Greek colonisation. The eight essays in this collection dedicated to Sir John Boardman provide an up-to-date survey of these new discoveries. They introduce new approaches to handling both the old and new data, pointing out at the same time the gaps and possible future directions for the study of Greek colonisation from the archaeological viewpoint. Contributors include A M Snodgrass (The growth and standing of the early Western colonies), M R Popham (Early Greek contact with the East), D Ridgway (Phoenicians and Greeks in the West), J N Coldstream (Pithekoussai, Kyme and central Italy), B. Shefton (Massalia and colonisation in the north-western Mediterranean), F. De Angelis (The foundation of Selinous: Overpopulation or opportunities?), G. Tsetskhladze (Greek penetration of the Black Sea), John Boardman (Settlement for trade and land in North Africa).

Christopher Wordsworth (1807-85), the "Great Christopher" of Winchester and Trinity College, Cambridge, was a nephew of William the poet, and brother to the student who launched the University Boat Race. In 1832 he took a gap-year, after his brilliant studies in ancient Greek and Latin classics, to travel back in time over two thousand years to Pericles' Athens. The account of his tour, Athens and Attica (1836), is still the perfect scholarly companion to the history, topography, and myths of an area compact in dimension yet vast in terms of its contribution to Western civilization. "The Bazaar or Market at Athens is a long street. Looking up you command a view of the commodities. Barrels of black caviar, small pocket-looking-glasses in red pasteboard cases, onions, tobacco piled up in brown heaps, black olives, figs strung together upon a rush, pipes with amber mouthpieces and brown clay bowls, silver-chased pistols, dirks, belts, and embroidered waistcoats. Such is the present state of Athens...a few Turks still doze in the archways of the Acropolis, or recline while smoking their pipes, and leaning with their backs against the rusty cannon. A few days ago the cannon of the Acropolis fired the signal of the conclusion of the Turkish Ramazam - the last which will ever be celebrated in Athens." - Christopher Wordsworth, 1832

Based on the author's dissertation, this study discusses the evidence for the reconstruction of the palaeovegetation of northern Greece in the Late Glacial and Holocene periods. The three case studies discussed are the rockshelter site of Boila and the Late Neolithic sites of Dispilio and Makri, and an analysis of charcoal and palaeobotanical samples from the sites is presented. Spanish text, short English summary.

The low ridge of Phourni rises smoothly at the north-west edge of the fertile Cretan plain of Archanes, situated c. 12 km south of Knossos. Uncovered along this ridge was one of the most important burial sites of the Bronze Age Aegean. Its historical trajectory extends from the beginning of the EM II to LM III B, covering approximately 14 centuries of almost uninterrupted use: the spectacular Tholos tomb E was unearthed in 1975. This present study is divided into 3 parts. Part 1 examines the tomb's architecture, stratigraphy, and find contexts. Part 2 takes up the presentation and evaluation of the large and varied number of finds, including very early fragments of Linear A and one of the earliest securely dated seal groups of Minoan Crete. The third part is dedicated to a comprehensive analysis of mortuary data, and provides further theoretical material for funerary beliefs in Bronze Are Crete.

Hippodamus was widely regarded as the inventor of modern urban planning, promoting the use of regular street layout, with intersecting axes and a more systematic and defined separation between public and private place. This study looks at the origins of cities founded in the Greek colonies of the west, the evolution of a characteristic city plan and the development of the polis . Exploring the archaeology of cities such as Naxos, Megara Hyblaea, Metapontum, Selinus and Posidonia, Varela traces the aims of the colonisers, the characteristivs of the intial settlements and the emergence of the planned city and polis . Spanish text; long English conclusion.

Not only is one of the most famous pieces of ancient Greek art-the celebrated gold and ivory statuette of the Snake Goddess-almost certainly modern, but Minoan civilization as it has been popularly imagined is largely an invention of the early twentieth century. This is Kenneth Lapatin's startling conclusion in Mysteries of the Snake Goddess-a brilliant investigation into the true origins of the celebrated Bronze Age artifact, and into the fascinating world of archaeologists, adventurers, and artisans that converged in Crete at the turn of the twentieth century. Including characters from Sir Arthur Evans, legendary excavator of the Palace of Minos at Knossos, who was driven to discover a sophisticated early European civilization to rival that of the Orient, to his principal restorer Swiss painter Emil Gillieron, who out of handfuls of fragments fashioned a picture of Minoan life that conformed to contemporary taste, this is a riveting tale of archeological discovery.

"Villa to Village" challenges the historical view that hilltop villages in Italy were first founded in the tenth century. Drawing upon recent excavations, the authors show that the makings of the medieval village lie in the demise of the Roman villa in late antiquity. The book describes the lively debate between archaeologists and historians on this issue. It also examines the evidence for the first manorial villages of the Carolingian era and describes how these were transformed into the familiar feudal villages that are characteristic of much of Italy.

In this book Stephen Dyson provides a new synthesis, describing current research on the Roman countryside within a topological rather than a geographical or historical framework. He first examines the Roman villa, looking at changing interpretations of the villa and the ways they have been shaped both by new information and evolving interpretative models, relating the survey-settlement evidence to larger questions of landscape use and landscape transformation during the Roman period. Focussing on areas where some of the most innovative rural research has been conducted - Italy, North Africa, Spain, and France - he discusses what happened in rural areas in the period of transition between the end of Antiquity and the emergence of medieval society. He shows that the period of transition was much longer than previously thought, and that there was tremendous variation not only between one part of the Empire and another, but also between micro-regions within a single province.

Danguillier's thesis discusses and catalogues depictions of philosophers in Roman art between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD. The detailed study presents a typology of iconography found in different types of portraiture, including mosaics, sculpture, sarcophagi, Greek replicas and Christian art and traces chronological trends in style.

Combining a guide for the Museum visitor with scholarly discussions of all objects on display, this catalogue provides background on the society, history, technology, and commerce of the Etruscan and Faliscan cultures from the ninth through the first centuries B.C. Several groups of material illustrate social, historical, and technological phenomena currently at the forefront of scholarly debate and study, such as the crucial period of the turnover from Iron Age hut villages to the fully urbanized princely Etruscan cities, the development and extent of ancient literacy, and the position of women and children in ancient societies. Many special objects seldom found or generally inaccessible in the United States include Faliscan tomb groups, Etruscan inscriptions, helmets, and trade goods.The catalogue presents and analyzes objects of warfare, weaving, animals, religious beliefs, architectural and terracotta roofing ornaments, Etruscan bronze-working for utensils, weapons, and artwork, and fine, generic portraiture. It discusses the symbolic meaning of such objects deposited in tombs as a chariot buried with a Faliscan lady at Narce, a senator's folding stool buried in a later tomb at Chiusi, and a pair of horse bits with the teeth of a chariot team still adhering to them where the teeth fell when sacrificed for a funeral in the fifth-century necropolis at Tarquinia--much later than the horse sacrifice was previously known in Etruria.

The election of Solon to Archon in the early 6th century BC paved the way for a series of political and religious reforms in Athens. This is not an exhaustive history of those reforms, but it is a discussive and analytical essay on the nature of religion, society, politics and institutions before, during and after Solon's legislation. Based on archaeological, literary and religious evidence, Valdes discusses the formation of a civic religion, the consolidation of the polis in Athens and the re-organisation of festivals and cults within the context of other political and institutional reforms. French text.

Papyri nos 2999-3087. (Egypt Exploration Society, Graeco-Roman Memoirs 58, 1974)

A study of palaeoanthropology and funerary practices on the island of Corsica focusing on data dating from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age. After a detailed discussion of the environmental and archaeological context and of the first human occupation of the island, Helene David presents the methodology for her work and previous research carried out on the island and its history. The sites and their funerary remains are then discussed in turn and in chronological order, followed by a comparison of burial types, treatment of the body, weight, age and sex profiles, funerary architecture and palaeoanthropological findings, between sites and through time. The results are then briefly compared to those found in the neighbouring island of Sardinia. French text.

Archaeologists excavate structures and objects, but they can and should aim to reconstruct the societies of the past and seek to understand them. Artefacts and Archaeology brings together essays written by leading scholars in the fields of Iron Age and Roman archaeology and material finds in Britain in order to examine the ways in which the study of sites, artefacts and ancient societies are interdependent. Artefacts and Archaeology deals with the wide range of objects produced by the Iron Age and Roman cultures, from ironwork, defences and the Roman army and Roman finds. It emphasises the role of the archaeologist as interpreter of people, not things, and shows how object studies can move beyond pure description and instead attempt to communicate with the past. Individual essays discuss Iron Age and Romano-British religion, the Roman army in Wales, Roman bronze, pottery and glass objects, the Roman economy and museum objects, and the collection as a whole offers a fascinating overview of the material culture of Iron Age and Roman western Europe.

An illustrated catalogue and discussion of approximately 100 bronze balsam or balm vessels which are decorated with figurative or non-figurative relief decoration. The catalogue is preceded by a discussion of the proposed typology series, the iconography and manufacture of the vessels throughout the Roman world along with a consideration of the cultural use of these decorative vessels and their archaeological context.

A study of the production and trade in textiles in the Roman west during the Late Republic. It addresses the problems of interpreting the sources, especially the epigraphic evidence, and attempts a reconstruction of the organisation and economic importance of the industry. Geographically the study looks at Rome and Italy, Gaul, Germany, Britain, Iberia and Africa.

'Classical' and 'archaeology' are both terms which call for definition. Here the term 'Classical' is interpreted as widely as possible to include material relating to periods from the Bronze Age to the early Byzantine, and to countries from Britain to Turkey. Coverage of 'archaeology' will range from the discovery of sites to conserving and presenting them, from the viewpoint of practising archaeologists working in various parts of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. This book combines explanation of methods and techniques with case studies of particular sites which demonstrate different themes in, and approaches to, the overall subject. Principles and methods including prospecting, excavation, dating, stratigraphy and presentation are considered alongside an account of the development of Classical archaeology - as seen in the work of famous pioneers such as Evans and Schliemann - to the more scientific approaches used in contemporary projects. Case studies include sites which are currently being studied by the authors. Aimed at A-level students and first-year undergraduates as well as those with a general interest, this is a lively introduction to the ways in which archaeologists interpret Classical sites, enabling informed observation and enhanced understanding of technical publications. It is profusely illustrated and benefits from topical research, with the inclusion of results of current fieldwork.