Throughout the entire span of Graeco-Roman antiquity Alexandria represented a meeting place for many ethnic cultures and the city itself was subject to a wide range of local developments, which created and formatted a distinct Alexandrine 'culture' as well as several distinct 'cultures'. Ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish observers communicated or held claim to that particular message. Hence, Arrian, Theocritus, Strabo, and Athenaeus reported their fascination of the Alexandrine melting pot to the wider world and so did Philo, Josephus and Clement. In various fashions, the four papers of Part I of the volume, Alexandria from Greece and Egypt, deal with the relationship between Ptolemaic Alexandria and its Greek past. However, the Egyptian origin and heritage also play important roles for the arguments. The contributions to the second part of the book are devoted to discussions of various aspects of contact and development between Rome, Judaism and Christianity.

Tylos Period Burials in Bahrain - Volume II - The Hamad Town DS 3 & Shakhoura Cemeteries

The East London Line Project presented a unique opportunity, as structures were demolished and cleared for London's latest railway, to discover more about some of London's earliest railways. This included previously undiscovered parts of one of the world's first operational passenger railways, the Eastern Counties of 1840. The new construction led to important archaeological discoveries, particularly at the site of Holywell Priory and beneath Bishopsgate Goods Yard in Shoreditch. The sparsely occupied hinterland of Roman London either side of Roman Ermine Street was used for occasional burials. Gradual medieval development came with the foundation of Holywell Priory on one side of Shoreditch High Street, contrasting with the outskirts of the village of Shoreditch lining the other, with open fields to the east. The growth of early post-medieval occupation, notably the earls of Rutland's Tudor mansion on the site of the priory, followed the Dissolution. The spread of the suburbs from the 17th century onwards encouraged large-scale quarrying of brickearth and brickmaking on the expanding periphery of new settlement, east of Shoreditch High Street. By the mid 18th century the character of the area had completely changed and it was covered with suburban housing. In the early 19th century, the railway cut through the area and continued to develop and expand throughout the century.

This book presents the structures and stratigraphy of the important Iron Age sequence at Tille Höyuek, a mound at a crossing of the Euphrates in eastern Turkey. The site, which was excavated between 1979 and 1990 by the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, revealed ten major structural levels of the Iron Age, spanning the period from the 11th century to the 6th-4th centuries BC, as well as earlier and later remains, and the wide exposure of architecture provides a sequence of intelligible and impressive building plans. After the initial discussion of the background and methodology of their excavation, the successive levels are carefully described and fully illustrated. The earliest Iron Age occupation, simple buildings among the ruins of the Late Bronze Age, was followed by a major settlement of the Middle Iron Age, when the Neo-Hittite kingdom of Kummuh was at its height. Most impressive architecturally are a large palatial building centred on a courtyard paved with a pebble mosaic, which was probably built after the Assyrian annexation of Kummuh in 708 BC and continued in use through the seventh, and the excellently preserved Level X with many distinctively Persian architectural features (built in the latter half of the 6th or the early 5th century and probably lasting for a substantial time). The structures and stratigraphy are also important as the context for the first rigorously established ceramic sequence in this part of Turkey, which will be presented, together with the other materials and artefacts, in the companion to this volume (already complete in draft). Lying on the fringes of the Mesopotamian world, and with contacts with North Syria, North Mesopotamia, and the Levant rather than with Anatolia or the Mediterranean, Tille casts vivid new light on the cultural and political history of the region in the Iron Age.

This groundbreaking, authoritative and best-selling study of the Vikings establishes the facts behind their rise to prominence, and cuts away the myths about their military and seafaring skills, reputation, and exploits. The author applies modern military thinking to the Viking art of war and examines their tactics, seamanship, mobility, strategy, and how they exploited victories and dealt with defeats. Learn how the Vikings established colonies in hostile territory and defeated a diverse array of enemies, including the Anglo-Saxons, the Franks, the Volga Bulgars, and the wild tribes of Ireland, in three centuries of military adventure. About the AuthorPaddy Griffith was a senior lecturer in war studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for 16 years. He is the author of numerous articles and books on the history of warfare, including Battle Tactics of the Western Front, 1916-18 and The Art of War of Revolutionary France, 1789-1802.

This report presents the results of archaeological investigations undertaken in 20035 along the 6km route of the A505 Baldock bypass, Hertfordshire. The evidence spans the late Neolithic to the medieval period, although no evidence for activity from the later 5th century to the beginning of the 11th century was found. The late Neolithic evidence was dispersed across the route corridor and comprised bowl-shaped pits, shaft-like pits and a small funerary enclosure. Early Bronze Age activity was restricted to the northern portion of the route and included a small roundhouse and a cluster of seven barrows. These barrows subsequently became the focus of burial activity in the late Iron Age and earlier Roman period. Evidence for early to middle Iron Age activity was concentrated on the Clay-with-flints soils of the Weston Hills. It comprised clusters of pits and occasional post-holes which were grouped into a series of activity areas. The pottery recovered hints at a chronological shift from north to south. These activity areas are thought to represent evidence for more permanent settlement, although the actual dwellings are assumed to lie outside the route corridor. Roman boundary ditches and enclosures were found across most of the route corridor. Although evidence is somewhat piecemeal, there does appear to have been a reorganisation of the land boundaries, evidenced by infilling of later Iron Age boundaries and the excavation of new boundaries along a different alignment. Dominating the evidence for the Roman period were two roadways, each displaying a sequence of maintenance and repair. Both roadways lead into the Roman town of Baldock and both were on a similar alignment. A study of the repair sequences and associated finds suggests that a continuing problem of drainage and silting on one road led to the construction of a slightly realigned replacement. Evidence for medieval settlement was confined to the northern portion of the route corridor, and included a rectangular enclosure containing a cemetery, pits and post-holes, with evidence of a hollow way running along the western side of the enclosure. Analysis of documentary evidence strongly suggests that this enclosure can be identified as the 13th-century Hospital of St Mary Magdalene in the parish of Clothall. Woodland clearance along the route appears to have been complete by the early Bronze Age, with the earlier landscape probably a patchwork of woodland, pasture and cultivated fields. This clearance appears to be associated with a reduction in the numbers of pigs kept by the Bronze Age farmers, and the development of a pastoral economy based upon cattle and sheep. Much of the route from later prehistory onwards has been open calcareous grasslands, probably well grazed by sheep, which became increasingly important in the local economy; much of the wealth of medieval Baldock derived from wool.

This survey offers an accessible and broad-ranging synthesis of the history and archaeology of Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, and aims to inform conservation guidance for future development. Kirkintilloch lies at a key point in Scotlands central belt. Here, by accident of geography, the Antonine Wall, ancient and modern route ways and the Forth and Clyde Canal pass within yards of each other. Here also, iron founding was added to the linen and cotton weaving industry giving Kirkintilloch an important role in Scotlands nineteenth-century economic development. The town has benefited from archaeological investigations in advance of development, and those designed to enhance our knowledge of the Antonine Wall. The authors consider where the areas of archaeological potential lie, in order to inform future management of Kirkintillochs historic environment, and pose questions about the evolution of Scotlands burghs.

This book is the story of an area of landscape in the English Midlands from earliest prehistory to around AD 900. Although it looks like a typical rural landscape, archaeological research, much of it in advance of quarrying, has revealed that this area has a long and remarkable history of occupation stretching back to the Ice Age. In particular at Catholme the project has revealed spectacular monuments from the Neolithic and Bronze Age (including a 'woodhenge-type' monument, a 'sunburst' monument and a cursus) that represent a regional expression of the monumental traditions of the age of Stonehenge.

Archaeology, as the discipline that searches to explain the development of society by means of material remains, has been avoiding the big issues involved with its research agenda. The topic of social evolution is concealed by anxiety about previous paradigmatic malpractice and the primary archaeological division of the world in culture areas still suffers from the archaic methods by which it was established. Archaeological inference of developing societies is weighed down by its choice of particularism within agency approaches and overtly reductionist due to the prevalence of statistical, classificatory and biological approaches. This book addresses these issues through a perspective on the spatial analysis of the built environment. As one of the principal properties of our dataset, as well as being the first materialisation of sociality, such spatialities are suggested to be a fundamental key for enabling an understanding of the developing social identity of places, regions and areas. In order to arrive at a truly social inference of spatial datasets, archaeology's usual analysis working from material remains towards socio-cultural interpretations needs to be inverted. The vantage point of this study consists of aprioristic social theory. It constructs its arguments through an epistemological foundation comprising a selection of essential ideas regarding the three constitutive axes of developing societies: time, human action and human space. As it recognises the inherent position of these axes combined in the discipline of human geography, a historical comparison of these two disciplines presents the angle from which plausible theoretical advancements can be made. The core of the book explores selected works of human geographers Allan Pred, Benno Werlen and Andreas Koch against the backdrop of theories like structuration or systems theory, phenomenology, action theory, and to a lesser extent Actor Network Theory and autopoiesis. From this follows its own theoretical proposal called the social positioning of spatialities. On this basis hypotheses for methodological opportunities are discussed, establishing a research agenda. Firmly placing its efforts in current paradigmatic debates in the discipline, this study offers archaeological theorists an incentive to leave the safety of materially bound science and adapt an alternative perspective. It is an attempt to put archaeology back in the forefront of the social theoretical debates it should contribute to.

In the 1980s work began on construction of the vast underground Castle Mall shopping centre in Norwich. The associated archaeological excavation was one of the largest of its kind in northern Europe, designed to investigate not only the castle bailey but also pre-Conquest settlement and, for the post-Conquest period, areas of the surrounding medieval city. Although Parts I and II both contain summary accounts of the faunal remains, setting them into their wider context and including additional information on craft activities, the scale of the data made publication of a separate and more specialised report on the faunal remains desirable and this is published here as Part III.

In the 1980s work began on construction of the vast underground Castle Mall shopping centre in Norwich. The associated archaeological excavation was one of the largest of its kind in northern Europe, designed to investigate not only the castle bailey but also pre-Conquest settlement and, for the post-Conquest period, areas of the surrounding medieval city. Documentary evidence that supplements the substantial data presented in the monograph (parts I and II) forms Part IV (EAA occasional paper 23), published separately because of the scale of the data and because it forms a rounded resource in its own right. It provides additional data on medieval and later properties around the entire circuit of the Castle Fee, permitting ease of access to information that might otherwise have been obscured within the complexity of the integrated monograph.

At its core, this volume reports upon three large-scale excavations at Fengate, Peterborough. These cast new light on Briton's premier Bronze Age fieldsystem and their results lead to significant reappraisal of facets of Pryor's earlier interpretations and, also, approaches to the period's land-use generally. Reflecting upon such crucial issues as the character of settlement, landholding/territory and power, their discussion is furthered by the book's summary presentation of other recent prehistoric fieldsystems projects within the East Anglian Fenlands. Indeed, greater contextual overview is provided by an in-depth interview contribution by the 'Fieldsystem Triumvirate' of the '70/80s: Richard Bradley, Andrew Fleming and Francis Pryor himself. In keeping with its series' groundbreaking directive of 'Historiography and Fieldwork', having access to Wyman Abbott's archival sources (augmented by his correspondence with E.T. Leeds), for the first time, his early 20th century investigations can now be fully incorporated with subsequent excavations. This historiographic perspective allows, moreover, for unique insights into Edwardian archaeological practices, particularly the impact of type-based methodologies - pots, pits and peoples - and even the lingering influence today of prehistoric 'type cultures' concepts.

A Roman cadastre is a particular form of land allotment which looks like a chequerboard. It was implemented by the Romans in regions throughout the Empire, from Syria to Gaul. Yet, how did a Roman cadastre exactly look like? What has Roman cadastration in common with centuriatio and parcellation, and what not? Are aerial photographs and maps a reliable source to reveal traces of a Roman cadastre? Did Roman cadastres exist outside the Mediterranean region, and if so, what are the consequences of its existence on a socio-cultural level? Behind these apparently straightforward questions are for most scholars simple definitive answers. On the basis of these answers scholars have regarded the archaeological study of Roman cadastres often as optimistic, biased and even unscientific. In Cadastres, Misconceptions and Northern Gaul Rick Bonnie argues that during the Middle-Roman period a cadastre was implemented by the Romans around the provincial Roman city of Tongres. In contrast to general beliefs, Bonnie demonstrates that it is possible, using aerial photographs and maps, to reconstruct a landscape outside the Mediterranean region that was overlain by a Roman cadastre. It furthermore discusses and examines the history of research, historical and archaeological sources on Roman cadastres, as well as the Roman period of the Belgian Hesbaye region. Rick Bonnie studied Classical Archaeology at Leiden University (MA cum laude 2008). His thesis was awarded the W. A. van Es-prize by the Dutch Institute for Cultural Heritage and was nominated for the Leiden University thesis prize 2007-2008.

In 1856 L.J.F. Janssen, curator of the Dutch Museum of Antiquities, published his book Hilversumsche Oudheden. Eene bijdrage tot de ontwikkelingsgeschiedenis der vroegste Europesche volken (Translation: Antiquities from Hilversum. A contribution to the history of development of the earliest European peoples ). It will not be surprising that the book is scientifically not completely up to date. However the book is still of interest when considering its historical context. Archaeology, as we know it today, is for an important part based on ideas that were developed in the middle of the 19th century. Between 1830 and 1933, Charles Leyell published his Principles of Geology , stressing that the earth was much older than could be determined from the bible. It was unclear how this related to the history of mankind; it would be three more years before The Origin of Species would be published by Charles Darwin. In 1837 C.

This monograph presents a translation, commentary and interpretation of the bilingual monumental Stele of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, which stood in the temple district of Heracleion-Thonis in the north-western Nile Delta of Egypt. The six metre high stele was erected sometime between either 141/140 and 131 or 124 and 116 BC and was discovered during the excavations of the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology. Unfortunately immersion in the sea has damaged the surface of the stele and little of the Greek text can be made out. Nevertheless much of the hieroglyphic portion of the document can be read and interpreted. It is laid out in traditional style complete with a royal protocol and eulogy and contains information about the local affairs of the priests of Heracleion.

Excavations at two sites in the southern suburbs of the modern industrial town of Scunthorpe, originally a rural landscape with a scatter of villages overlooking the River Trent and its tributary, Bottesford Beck. Finds of flint tools show that humans had been around throughout prehistory; by the late Iron Age the Burringham Road site probably lay at the southern limit of a settlement, and for much of the Roman period there is evidence of various activities, mostly agriculture-related, and including several corn-driers; perhaps there was a villa nearby. The Baldwin Avenue site shows evidence of a Middle Saxon settlement with notable artefacts being three large lead vessels of a type that seems peculiar to the region. The title of the report reflects the fact that these two sites are peripheral to larger complexes, but nevertheless provide good information about them.