9 papers presented at a colloquium held in honour of J.J. Coulton at Lincoln College, Oxford on 17 April 2004, to mark his retirement from the Readership in Classical Archaeology at Merton College, Oxford. Jim Coulton devoted much of his early career to the study of Cycladic architecture. He saw earlier than most how important this area would be in advancing our knowledge not only of ancient architecture but also of many aspects of ancient Greek civilisation in general.

This volume presents an analysis of the human remains found in the Middle Bronze Age cemetery of Sant' Abbdondio, Pompeii. More specifically, Mary Anne Tafuri applies ICP-MS trace element analysis to the human bone and teeth from the cemetery in an attempt to reconstruct the social dynamics of the group. Reconstructing dietary habits, assuming that people ate local resources, opens a window, not only on the Middle Bronze Age economy, but also on residence and mobiity. The methods of Tafuri's analysis are outlined in detail and the results are interpreted in terms of the relationships between people, resources and the environment at Sant' Abbdondio.

At the heart of this study of Roman pottery in Macedonian Greece is a catalogue of over 1,900 vessels from five sites in the area of: Amphipolis, Philppi, Kepia, Abdera and Thasos. Vaitsa Malamidou's aim is that the material should throw light on the internal and external cultural influences in north-eastern Greece', arguing that the evidence indicates that, during the Roman period, the influence on pottery was always from the east, with most of the important vessels imported from Asia Minor. The large amounts of local wares is also an indicator of regional prosperity. The catalogue is preceded by a discussion of Roman pottery studies in general and the historical evidence for Roman Macedonia and Thrace. There is also a discussion of methodology, the excavations and the archaeological provenance of the fine and coarse wares.

Vindonissa (Canton of Aargau, Switzerland) was an important Roman camp during the 1st century AD. The tiles are among the most common archaeological findings in the Vindonissa legionary camp, but commonly occur in different Roman sites of Switzerland. The principal aim of this study was the petrographic and chemical characterisation of the Vindonissa tiles to determine the production site (or sites) for these ceramics and to obtain information concerning the technological aspects of the tile production and the distribution of these stamped tiles in Switzerland in Roman times. Abstracts in French and German.

This volume is a study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the "mystery cults" popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Roger Beck describes Mithraism from the point of view of the initiate engaging with the religion and its rich symbolic system in thought, word, ritual action, and cult life. He employs the methods of anthropology of religion and the new cognitive science of religion to explore in detail the semiotics of the Mysteries' astral symbolism, which has been the principal subject of his many previous publications on the cult.

The positioning of the legions of the Imperial Roman army provides a window into both the thinking and the course of events during the period from 30 B.C. to 300 A.D. When one can identify the locations and date the redeployments of the legions, it is possible to recreate the planning that caused the army to be so placed. Redeployments, of necessity, shows a major shift of events or a significant refocussing of the strategic thinking of the then ruling emperor at that particular moment. This book starts from the assumption that a legion's headquarters remained at a base until that legion was permanently posted to another base. A legion might temporarily serve in another province, even for more than a year, perhaps with its eagle present, but know that it would return to its permanent base. At any moment in time, a legion might have detachments serving in a variety of locations.

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.

This collection of papers from an international colloquium held in Gijon in 2002 discusses the question of unity and diversity among people living along the Atlantic littoral during the Roman period. The papers are divided into sections that look specifically at issues of territories, frontiers and military strategy, at production, circulation and consumption, with particular attention paid to ceramic evidence, and at the structure of settlements before and after the Romans arrived. Whilst some contributions examine a particular site or area such as the provinces of Galicia and Asturias, others look more widely to the Atlantic littoral as a whole and its interaction with the rest of the Empire. Papers in Spanish and English.

Ceramic building material, particularly roofing material, is one of the most common finds on Romano-British sites, yet despite its abundance, it has been relatively little studied. Whole books have been devoted to relatively minor pottery types, but it is extremely rare for a book to devote as much as a single chapter to ceramic roofing material. This book is devoted to the study of ceramic roofing material, primarily tegulae. It considers how they were made and develops and dates a typology. It looks at the role of stamps and signatures and how these can inform the study of when and by whom the tegulae were made. It analyses how the tiles were fitted onto pitched roofs, how these roofs were constructed and proposes four stages in their evolution. It suggests that tegulae might also have been used on some vaulted roofs. Finally the logistics, costs and economics of tile manufacture and distribution are addressed. The book follows a logical sequence considering first how tegulae were manufactured, next their typology and then their dating in order to prepare the ground for the subsequent chapters on stamps and roof construction. The final chapter brings all the evidence together to examine the economic and social data that can be derived from a study of tegulae, grouped together as a single site. In contrast, where a useful assemblage of tiles has come from an individual site within a town, this has been identified separately from other assemblages within the same town. If these separate assemblages within the same towns are aggregated together then the number of individual sites falls from 104 to 85.

Aegean-type pottery has been found in the West Mediterranean for more than a century and several publications have tried to explain the phenomenon from an Aegeancentric point of view. The search for metals, the arrival of Mycenaean people after the LH III B destructions in Mainland Greece and the hypothesis that Mycenaeans had to sail westwards because of the dominance of the Minoan thalassocracy on the eastern routes are only some of the proposals. Yet, what do we know about the Italics, the people who consumed, and eventually produced, Aegean-type pottery? This question is at the centre of this study. The state of research on this topic, in spite of almost a century and a half of studies is disappointing. The phenomenon is still seen in terms of economic exchange, where the Aegeans are the primary players. There has been no attempt to research methodically the reasons why the Italics accepted and used Aegean-type pottery. In the last few decades, many anthropologists have concentrated their efforts on ethnographic studies of patterns of consumption and several theoretical models have been published as a result. In particular, globalisation has provided the stimulus for research focussed on cross-cultural consumption of standardised products. Using these studies, this research has tried to provide the Italic perspective, one of consumption as well as production. The results of this research demonstrate the independence of the Italics in their choices as consumers and provide insights on the social and cultural processes of these Bronze Age populations. As a result, while the role of the Aegeans in the phenomenon appears less important, the complexity of the regional Italic processes associated with the presence of Aegean-type pottery in the West Mediterranean becomes more apparent.

A reprint with updated material of the authorAEs 1991 research into villas and farms and rural economy in the Late Roman era (Britain, Gaul, Italy, Spain and Gallia Belgica in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD). The volume challenges the assumption that the period studied was one of dramatic decline, and analyses the archaeological evidence in a wide-ranging survey."

Are we to believe that Late Minoan Crete was over-run with dancers and bull leapers? As Senta German shows, dancing and bull-leaping were the most prevalent themes of Late Bronze Age glyptic art although, aside from their demonstration of a social and perhaps symbolic activity, they also had a much deeper function in Late Minoan society. German examines archaeological and art-historical evidence and uses it to create a typology of performance art (performativty, performative art and social drama). She questions the role of gender, class and age as social categories within this art and concludes that the seals, as vehicles of the value-laden message of performace at the palaces', were symbolic of power centred around palatial life.

This work examines the post-palatial phase of Late Helladic IIIC middle. During this phase in Greek prehistory, Greece undergoes important changes that will transfer the palace administrative system of the Mycenaean era to that of the city-states of the early Greek period. At the time of its publication much of the material evidence known today was still unpublished and although the material examined provided a most thorough account of what was known at the time it was still limited as a result of the lack of publications or as often was the case the lack of LH IIIC, or so defined, deposits. This phase of the BronzeAge has been periodically examined either through the investigation of specific sites or in certain cases with the study of a particular type of material find such as pottery. What this publication aims to provide is a more synthetic study of the middle phase in its entirety within the regions of the central and southern Aegean. By examining the archaeological material from settlements and burials of the middle phase, together with their associated finds of pottery, terracotta figurines, jewellery and weapons, it is hoped that they will provide valuable insight into this phase and provide information concerning the new social and economic structures that arose in response to the loss of the Mycenaean administrative centres.

This book attempts to bring an anthropological perspective to the historical archaeology of a complex period in the Greek past. Traditionally, discussion of the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Byzantine period in the Aegean region has focused on the fate of Classical urban culture. Scholarly opinion is divided as to whether the Classical polis and its constituent institutions emerged intact from the disruptive events of the third to sixth centuries A.D. Over the past two decades a consensus has emerged that argues that the break between Classical and Byzantine occurred in the seventh, not the fourth or fifth centuries A.D., and that it was a more gradual process than previously believed. The present study examines the Byzantine Fortress at Isthmia in the Peloponnese with an eye to understanding social change in this critical period, at the level of the site and then the region, in terms of an evolutionary perspective . This study focuses on three problems at different levels of abstraction: (1) A descriptive problem; (2) A methodological problem; (3) A broader historical problem. The methodological element becomes the link between the gathering of site-specific data and the wider historical implications for that information.

Combines a personal, historical and archaeological approach to the study of the legion (roughly the first four centuries after Christ) as a whole. Epigraphic and historical evidence is presented for all those individuals known to have served with the Twentieth Legion in their various capacities. Sources are quoted, with translation, for each of these and significant details of the careers discussed.

The goddess Hera is associated with pregnancy, childbirth, marriage, the home and family, agriculture and vegetation, and military matters. A number of sanctuaries, heraia, were built to honour the goddess and to house the cult activities associated with her. This study looks at votive offerings from six heraia, at Perachora, Argos, Tiryns, two at Poseidonia-Paestum and the Samian heraion in Ionia, to determine the nature of these cult activities. Each sanctuary is examined individually and then the evidence is compared providing a discussion of Hera's cult on a panhellenic, polis, and private level'. The study of votive offerings period-by-period also allows some speculation on the development of the cult through time.

Arguably, Britain's valuable and abundant supplies of iron were one of the principal attractions to its Roman invaders. This detailed investigation of the social technology of Roman iron production is based on an analysis of archaeometallurgical sites in the eastern Midlands (form the Humber to Oxford), which was one of the principal centres for ironworking during the Roman period. These sites are then considered within the wider picture of social and landscape development. Combining scientific and technological analysis with social history, the study initially explores the principles behind Roman iron production and the types of slag which are studied here. The author then compares the industry of iron production with others in Britain and how this industry was affected by the Roman occupation. Finally, Schruefer-Kolb explores the social implications of iron production for the east Midlands. Includes a gazetteer of sites.

Evidence for Neolithic graves and cemeteries in Greece is scant and not without its problems, although this study shows that the data can still be rendered meaningful. Thirteen sites from across Greece, dating to the early, middle, late and final Neolithic are examined in terms of the information they contain on people's reactions to the dead and their motives in disposing of them. Kent Fowler analyses the degree of visibility of the dead, the complexity of the disposal practices, and asks what this may reveal about issues such as ideology, social differentation and ritual practices.

This volume presents nine papers and one poster from general sessions at the XIVth UISPP Congress held at the University of Liege in 2001. These contributions focus on recent developments in Roman archaeology across Europe. Specific subjects include: the native aristocracy of Roman Pannonia; a Roman camp in Belgium; linguistics; three Etruscan trephinned skulls; the Gaulish Coligny calendar; Roman bronze ware in eastern Slavonia; Portuguese amphorae; Cilicia. Six papers in English, the remainder in French.

Aby Thomas F Tartaron Drawing on environmental and artefactual data from the Nikopolis Project carried out in south-west Epirus from 1991 to 1995, this revised thesis focuses on Bronze Age settlement in the lower valley of the river Acheron. Using this evidence, as well as survey data and study of assemblages from previously excavated sites in the area, Thomas Tartaron argues that the climate and resources of the river valley would have provided a good environment for year-round settlement, especially when practising a diverse subsistence strategy. The importance of interaction with other areas, particularly the Mycenaean worldm and the impact of the foundation of a Mycenaean trading colony close by, are also discussed.

Permanent settlements were founded by Greek marine traders as early as the mid 7th century in and around the Black Sea region. This revised thesis seeks to describe and examine the nature of these permanent emporia from this period until 590/580BC, as well as well as determine the conditions under which they appeared and how they compared to other settlements traditionally labelled as colonies.

The Hebrew versions of the five poems in the book of Lamentations are riddled with debated readings. Debated readings are words, phrases, or sentences whose forms and meanings modern readers find difficult or objectionable. In this book, Gideon R. Kotze adopts a text-critical approach to the interpretation of such readings and suggests that some of them make sense as expressions of images and ideas that circulated widely in the cultural and intellectual environment of Lamentations. After surveying examples of passages in Lamentations where the Hebrew wordings show remarkable resemblances to the images and ideas exhibited by cultural products from all over the ancient Near East, the author discusses five case studies of debated readings that can be explained along similar lines. On this interpretation, the readings in question are not corrupt and do not have to be emended for that reason.

This investigation is concerned with the accuracy of Hadrian's reputation as a prolific builder in the western provincial cities. The pursuit of this not only reveals more of Hadrian's personal building, but also that all construction work during this period is shown to have contributed to a general perception of intense and continuous building during Hadrian's reign.

Based on the author's PhD thesis, this volume examines the possibility of a cult of the dead among the Mycenaean civilisations. Focusing on the period 1425/1390-1190/1180 BC, and drawing largely on archaeological evidence from tholos and chamber tombs from the regions of the Argolid and Corinthia, Attica and Samalis, Boeotia and Euboea, Gallou puts her theoretical ideas about the recognition of acts of ancestor veneration into action. Highlighting certain diagnostic traits among the evidence, she assesses the presence of notions of an afterlife, respect shown for the deceased, changes to tomb design and the funerary landscape as a whole, and differentiation among the burial facilities, offerings and acts associated with the dead.

First discovered in the 19th century, the remains of a Roman settlement at the site of Kuecuek Burnaz in the eastern area of ancient Cilicia, were investigated more fully in 1991 by the Ozgen/Gates survey. This volume presents an overview of this region of ancient Cilicia from the 1st century BC to the 14th century AD, providing the background to Tobin's discussion of the architecture, ceramics and small finds recovered from the site in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. The evidence suggests that the Roman settlement was most likely founded in the 1st century BC and was thought orignally to have lain on the coast, providing an important port for goods and troops entering and leaving the region.