Despite the developing emphasis in current scholarship on children in Roman culture, there has been relatively little research to date on the role and significance of the youngest children within the family and in society. This volume singles out this youngest age group, the under one-year-olds, in the first comprehensive study of infancy and earliest childhood to encompass the Roman Empire as a whole: integrating social and cultural history with archaeological evidence, funerary remains, material culture, and the iconography of infancy, it explores how the very particular historical circumstances into which Roman children were born affected their lives as well as prevailing attitudes towards them. Examination of these varied strands of evidence, drawn from throughout the Roman world from the fourth century BC to the third century AD, allows the rhetoric about earliest childhood in Roman texts to be more broadly contextualized and reveals the socio-cultural developments that took place in parent-child relationships over this period. Presenting a fresh perspective on archaeological and historical debates, the volume refutes the notion that high infant mortality conditioned Roman parents not to engage in the early life of their children or to view them, or their deaths, with indifference, and concludes that even within the first weeks and months of life Roman children were invested with social and gendered identities and were perceived as having both personhood and value within society.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Excavations at Chester: the northern and eastern Roman extramural settlements presents the results of fifteen archaeological investigations carried out within the canabae to the north and east of the Roman legionary fortress at Chester between 1990 and 2019. The results demonstrate that there was sparse development of the canabae to the north of the fortress during the 1st and 2nd centuries; instead, this area was predominantly used for the extraction of building materials - sandstone and clay. By the 3rd century, the final phase of usage took the form of a small cemetery, the first to be examined in this area. Subject to more constraints, the sites investigated within the eastern canabae close to the fortress produced limited evidence for urban plot divisions, whilst those further east provided evidence for the division and management of agricultural land forming the prata legionis.

Many hundred of bone and antler combs have been uncovered during half a century of excavation at the medieval settlement of Novgorod in Russia. Recovered from sites across the city, and spanning its entire medieval history, the combs reveal much about the changes in comb-making during the transition from the Viking to medieval period, while their archaeological provenance contributes to our understanding of the cultural and economic development of Novgorod. At the heart of the study is a detailed, illustrated typology of combs, along with analyses of their distribution, their decoration, the bone material, the location of possible industrial centres and chronological changes in design. Additional data is presented on a CD.

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.

This work investigates the use of Old Red Sandstone from South Wales, Gloucestershire, Avon and Somerset during the Roman period, for rotary querns. It is based on detailed petrographic studies of these rocks at both microscopic and macroscopic levels to define practical keys which allow types of Old Red Sandstone, and hence artefacts made from it, to be identified and provenanced to their geological formations. 1200 rotary querns of Old Red sandstone from 180 sites were analysed (stretching from southeast Wales in the west, to Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire in the east. It extends as far south as Dorchester (Dorset) and as far north as Coleshill (Warwickshire)). The petrological study also identifies the three major source areas in the Roman period as the Forest of Dean, the Bristol area and the Mendips and investigates the differences in the distribution of finds from each of these sources. A typological study is included, with a detailed description and analysis of the types of ORS querns manufactured, their dating and their distribution. The routes and mechanisms through which the querns were moved are also investigated and the production of ORS querns is also assessed.

These fourteen papers were presented as part of Section 14 of the XIVth UISPP Congress held at the University of Liege in 2001. The papers present a broad mix of medieval archaeology and history, including: cave santuaries in the Pre-Urals; the early medieval Great Hungarian Plain; ritual bronze cauldrons; fountains in Viterbo; a cemetery at saint-Esteve-le-Pont; funerary practices in Picardy; woodworking in central and northern Europe; interaction between migration groups and local populations in the early Middle Ages; fortresses on the French-Spanish border; ceramics from an abandoned chateau; the study of architecture from an archaeological perspective; dwarfism; catacombs.

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 volume draws on two pieces of evidence which offer insights into life in Byzantium: the illuminated manuscript Skylitzes Matritensis and the great Christian monument turned mosque, Hagia Sophia. The main part of the discussion focuses on Skylitzes Natritensis which is a dramatic portrayal of the historical events of the period from Michael I Rangabe (811-813) to the accession of Isaac Comnenos (1057-1059), described as a videotape in action style'. The manuscript depicts a great many themes, including coronations, marriages, ceremonial life, disasters, persecutions, war, violence and so on, with accompanying legends. The rather shorter discussion of the Hagia Sophia looks at the transformation of the Christian monument into an Ottoman mosquem at its role as a prototype and antitype' of the mosque, its influence on Ottoman mosque architecture of Istanbul and Edirne, and at iconoclasm. Literary references to Hagia Sophia are also discussed, with extracts.

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.

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.

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.

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.