This volume presents the results of diachronic archaeological and palaeoecological research conducted in two study areas: the intermontane Kazanlak Valley along the Upper Tundzha River of central Bulgaria, and the Thracian Plain along the Middle Tundzha River south of the city of Yambol in southeastern Bulgaria. The Tundzha Regional Archaeology Project (TRAP), a cooperative effort including Australian, Bulgarian, and Czech investigators, undertook archaeological survey and environmental sampling between 2009-2011. Major field activities of the project included over 100 sq km of systematic pedestrian survey, legacy data verification and mapping, trial excavations, artefact processing, and environmental sampling in and around the study areas. Through this research, TRAP inventoried over 100 surface artefact concentrations and 800 burial mounds. At the heart of the volume is a geospatial analysis of settlement patterns derived from the survey dataset, which relates the footprint of past human activities to environmental and sociocultural drivers. We also present a range of associated studies conducted between 2009-2015: histories of archaeological research in both study areas, soil erosion and productivity modelling in the Kazanlak Valley, reconstruction of a 30,000-year environmental history based on samples from a wetland in the Thracian Plain north of Yambol, investigation of palaeodiet using isotope analysis of human remains from Bronze Age burials in the Yambol study area, exploration of shifting Roman occupation patterns based on trial excavations in the Yambol area, research into subsistence strategies based on palaeobotanical evidence recovered from one of the Yambol area trial excavations, analysis of trade and exchange based on the transport amphorae fragments recovered during Yambol-area survey, and epigraphic comparison and synthesis of Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman inscriptions from the two study areas. Finally, TRAP has produced a granular digital dataset of surface artefacts and features unparalleled in Bulgaria to promote reinterpretation of our results, encourage secondary studies, and foster comparative research.

Alexander was perhaps the greatest conquering general in history. In just over a generation, his northern Greek state of Macedon rose to control the whole of the vast Persian Empire. It was the legacy of his father, Philip, that launched Alexander on a spectacular career of conquest that planted Hellenic culture across most of Asia. In a dozen years Alexander took the whole of Asia Minor and Egypt, destroyed the once mighty Persian Empire, and pushed his army eastwards as far as the Indus. No-one in history has equalled his achievement. Julius Caesar, contemplating his hero’s statue, is said to have wept because by contrast he had accomplished so little.Much of Alexander’s success can be traced to the Macedonian phalanx, a close-ordered battle formation of sarissa-wielding infantry that proved itself a war-winning weapon. The army Alexander inherited from his father was the most powerful in Greece, highly disciplined, trained and loyal only to the king. United in a single purpose, they fought as one. Alexander recognized this and is quoted as saying, “Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.” Cavalry was also of crucial importance in the Macedonian army, as the driving force to attack the flanks of the enemy in battle. A talented commander, able to anticipate how his opponent would think, Alexander understood how to commit his forces to devastating effect, and was never defeated in battle. He also developed a corps of engineers that utilised catapults and siege towers against enemy fortifications. Alexander led from the front, fighting with his men, eating with them, refusing water when there was not enough, and his men would quite literally follow him to the ends of the (known) world, and none of his successors was able to hold together the empire he had forged. Although he died an early death his fame and glory persist to this day.This concise history gives an overview of Alexander’s life from a military standpoint, from his early military exploits to the creation of his empire and the legacy left after his premature death.

During the 1960s large numbers of Early Cycladic sculptures of marble, often broken, appeared on the illicit market. These were usually of the strikingly simple form of the folded-arm figure of marble long-known from the Early Cycladic cemeteries. Excavations at Kavos on the island of Keros revealed a location later named the ‘Special Deposit North’, from which these had been looted. During the years 2006-2008 systematic excavations at a location 110m to the south revealed a hitherto undisturbed location, the Special Deposit South, from which hundreds more of these broken Cycladic figures were recovered. This volume describes in detail the marble sculptures and marble vessels, almost always broken in the course of ritual practice, which formed the key part of the systematic depositions undertaken at this time during the Early Bronze Age from ca. 2750-2300 BC. Details of the excavation were reported in Volume II. Here in Volume III the remarkable marble finds from the systematic excavation are fully described and illustrated. The volume offers a systematic discussion of the Special Deposits at Kavos in relation to the adjacent settlement at Dhaskalio, seen in their Aegean perspective at the conclusion of the excavations in 2008. The sanctuary on Keros is recognized as a key site for the emergence of ritual practice in the Aegean.

Ever since the definition of the Neolithic Revolution by Vere Gordon Childe, archaeologists have been aware of the crucial importance of food for the understanding of prehistoric developments. Numerous studies have classified and described cooking ware, hearths and ovens, have studied food residues and more recently also stable isotopes in skeletal material. However, we have not yet succeeded in integrating traditional, functional perspectives on nutrition and semiotic approaches (e. g. dietary practices as an identity marker) with current research in the fields of Food Studies and Material Culture Studies. This volume brings together leading specialists in archaeobotany, economic zooarchaeology and palaeoanthropology to discuss practices of food production and consumption in their social dimensions from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age in the Balkans, a region with intermediary position between and the Aegean Sea on one side and Central Europe and the Eurasian steppe regions on the other side. The prehistoric inhabitants of the Balkans were repeatedly confronted with foreign knowledge and practices of food production and consumption which they integrated and thereby transformed into their life. In a series of transdisciplinary studies, the contributors shed new light on the various social dimensions of food in a synchronous as well as diachronic perspective. Contributors present a series of case studies focused on themes of social interaction, communal food preparation and consumption, the role of feasting, and the importance and management of salt production.

Between 2006 and 2009 Worcestershire Archaeology completed a series of investigations in advance of quarrying at Clifton Quarry, Worcestershire revealing one of the most important sequences of prehistoric to early medieval activity discovered to date from the Central Severn Valley. Well-preserved palaeoenvironmental deposits were recovered from features and associated abandoned channels of the River Severn. Analysis of this evidence is underpinned by a comprehensive programme of scientific dating, providing a record of changing patterns of landuse and activity from the Late Mesolithic onwards. Significant discoveries included a series of Grooved Ware pits and an extensive area of Early to Middle Iron Age activity. One of the Grooved pits was of particular importance as it contained an exceptionally rich material assemblage comprising two whole and four fragmentary polished axes, numerous flint tools and debitage, significant quantities of Durrington Walls and Clacton Style pottery, and abundant charred barley grains and crab apple fragments. The Early to Middle Iron Age activity was notable since unusually for a lowland site it was dominated by in excess of 100 four-post granary structures and 130 pits. The full extent of the activity was not established but it appears unenclosed and it is suggested that this represents the specialised storage zone of a much larger settlement. Phases of activity on the floodplain and terraces adjacent to the river also included a Bronze Age burnt mound with associated pits and a trough, a scatter of Romano-British features and an early medieval timber-lined structure associated with flax retting.

This two volume monograph about the region of Thy in the early Bronze Age provides a high resolution archaeological and ecological model of the organisation of landscape, settlements and households during the period 1500-1100 BC. Bordering the North Sea to the west, and the calmer waters of the Limfjord to the east, the region of Thy in Denmark experienced four centuries of intense economic and demographic expansion. By combining results from environmental and economic research (pollen and palaeo-botanical analyses) with intensive field surveys and excavations of farmsteads with exceptional preservation, it has been possible to open a window to the changes that transformed Bronze Age society and its environment during a few centuries of exceptional expansion and wealth consumption. The results from this interdisciplinary venture made it possible to link together the histories of local farmsteads with the wider regional and global history of the Bronze Age in North-western Europe during this period. Here is much to feed on for students and researchers of the Bronze Age alike.

Cille Pheadair is one of more than 20 Viking Age and Late Norse settlements discovered on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), off the west coast of Scotland. Its unusually well-preserved stratigraphic sequence of nine phases of occupation, including five longhouses and many smaller buildings, provides a remarkable insight into daily life on a Norse farmstead during two centuries of near-continuous occupation c. AD 1000 –1200. Although the excavation at Cille Pheadair was a rescue project undertaken before the site was destroyed by coastal erosion, it provided an opportunity to address important research questions about the domestic use of space, agricultural economy, and relationships with the wider world beyond the Outer Hebrides. Careful and ground-breaking analysis of preserved house floors provided profound insights into the changing use of space within a Norse longhouse and its surrounding outbuildings. The rich assemblage of pottery, ironwork, gold and silver reveals that the inhabitants of Cille Pheadair had long-distance connections across the Viking world. A battery of scientific studies, including faunal and floral analyses, isotopic and lipid residue analyses, and soil chemistry, have revealed much about the social and economic dimensions of life on a Norse farm. Detailed survey and excavation in South Uist, reveals a remarkable picture of Norse-period settlement across this island which was part of the insular Viking world between Ireland and Norway, becoming part of the Kingdom of Man and later the Kingdom of the Isles. Cille Pheadair’s status as an ordinary, if wealthy, farmstead can be contrasted with the much larger and longer-lived high-status settlement at Bornais to the north. The two sites together provide a fascinating insight into similarities and differences within the settlement hierarchy of the time that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the Viking world.

The might of Rome rested on the back of its legions; the superbly trained and equipped fighting force with which the imperial Roman army conquered, subdued and ruled an empire for centuries. The legionary soldier served for 20 years, was rigorously trained, highly equipped, and motivated by pay, bonuses and a strong sense of identity and camaraderie. Legionaries wore full body-armour, carried a shield which could be used defensively to form a shield wall or a tortoise, or it could be used offensively to punch at opponents and throw them off-balance in close-quarters fighting, as well as two javelins, a sword, and a dagger. In battle they hurled their javelins and then immediately drew their swords and charged to close combat with the enemy. They were the finest heavy infantrymen of antiquity, and a massed legionary charge was a fearsome sight.Many legionaries had rural backgrounds; they were considered hardy with higher levels of endurance. This was needed to cope with incredibly tough training, during which recruits had to march first 29 km in five hours, and then 35 km in five hours with faster steps – all the while carrying a backpack that weighed over 20 kg. The slower ones were severely beaten by centurions and officers with their staffs. They were drilled in battlefield maneuvers, signaling and weapons handling, with faux swords and shields that were twice as heavy as the real ones, to acclimatize them to the exhaustion that could happen in the heat of battle.This concise and entertaining history of the Roman legionary covers their history from the age of Augustus through the heyday of the Roman Empire. Topics include training, tactics, weapons, the men themselves, life on and off the battlefield as well as significant triumphs and disasters in the great battles of the era.

Excavations by Oxford Archaeology at Kingshill South on the eastern edge of Cirencester in Gloucestershire uncovered evidence for prehistoric and Roman activity. The earliest evidence comprised a pit dating to the late Neolithic period or early Bronze Age, and the site was also inhabited during the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age. There was a gap in activity until the late 1st century AD, when fields were laid out on the site's southern slope. Three buildings were recorded within the area of the excavation. Building 1 was a domestic, stone-footed building best described as a proto-villa. Building 2 was an aisled building with an apsidal end and is likely to have served an agricultural function. Both were constructed in the 2nd century AD. Building 3, dated to the late Roman period, is interpreted as a granary. The settlement was abandoned by the late 4th century AD. The site remained agricultural land until the establishment of Cirencester's eastern suburb in the 20th century. Grain, meat, and wool, among other goods, were produced at the Roman settlement, probably to supply the town of Corinium Dobunnorum. Evidence for craft activity, including pin-making, horn-working and smithing, was also recorded. Formal burials and disarticulated human bone were encountered across the settlement. Analysis of the bones revealed remarkable insights into the lives of the settlement's inhabitants. The habitual, possibly craft-related, activity performed by one young female adult required her to spend much of her time in a squatting position. One adult male had a facial disfigurement which had an impact not just on his daily life, but also the manner of his burial.

The aim of this book is to promote the thesis that myth may illuminate archaeology and that on occasion archaeology may shed light on myth. Medieval Irish literature is rich in mythic themes and some of these are used as a starting point. Some myths are of great antiquity and some were invented by contemporary authors. It is a challenging source, first explored in the author's earlier work Archaeology and Celtic Myth and this work will elaborate on some of the themes pursued there and introduce some new ones. Combining literary and archaeological evidence chapters deal with the construction of the past, illustrating how the Irish medieval world invented aspects of the past; the abuses of myth presented in later literature; the evidence for the survival of pagan beliefs and practices well into medieval times in Ireland; evidence to illustrate the key elements of the institution of sacral kingship, a consideration of sacred trees; mythology of the underworld and its archaeological expressions and the equine aspects of the myths attached to the Irish goddess Macha (linked to Navan Fort) and her Welsh counterpart Rhiannon. John Waddell brings a lifetimes experience of studying Irish history, Bronze Age archaeology and Celtic mythology in this personal and lively exploration of mythology and its archaeological expression.

During the mid-third millennium BC, people across Europe started using an international suite of novel material culture including early metalwork and distinctive ceramics known as Beakers. The nature and social significance of this phenomenon, as well as the reasons for its rapid and widespread transmission have been much debated. The adoption of these new ideas and objects in Ireland, Europe’s westernmost island, provides a highly suitable case study in which to investigate these issues. While many Beaker-related stone and metal artefacts were previously known from Ireland, a decade of intensive developer-led excavations (1997-2007) resulted in an exponential increase in discoveries of Beaker pottery within apparent settlement contexts across the island. This scenario is radically different from Europe where these objects are found with Beakers in funerary settings, stereotypically with single burials. Using an innovative approach, this book interlinks the study of the pottery and various object types (that have traditionally been studied in isolation) with their context of discovery and depositional treatment to characterise social practices within settlements, funerary monuments, ceremonial settings and natural places. These characterisations deliver rich new understandings of this period which reveal a much more nuanced narrative for this international phenomenon.Significantly, this integrated regional study reveals that the various Beaker-related objects found in Ireland were all deposited during a series of highly structured and rule-bound activities which were strongly influenced by pre-existing Irish traditions. This is a departure from previous interpretations which incorrectly attributed the adoption of Beakers to large-scale immigration or a prestige goods economy. Instead, these new international ideas, objects and practices played an important role in enabling people in Ireland to perform and negotiate their personal and group identities by using this new suite of object to frame and maintain their social relations with other groups across Europe.

This volume presents the collated results of a number of archaeological investigations undertaken on the Danish peninsula Djursland over a period of almost 40 years. It begins with the findings of the excavations carried out around the former marine lagoon of Vængesø in the northeastern part of the Helgenæs peninsula. Then follows an overview of an excavation undertaken at the site of Holmegaard, located on the former Stubbe Fjord complex. One of the sites (Vængesø I) has been published previously in 1975, but the interpretation of this locality has been revised in the light of research and the results of other investigations undertaken over the intervening four decades.

This book presents the history of the Hoplites, fighters who permanently altered the art of war in the West. You will be able to enter the history and the life of its elite warriors which appeared in the 8th century BC and discover their equipment and martial tactics. Richly illustrated, you can study the most beautiful artefacts and iconographic witnesses. Ce livre présente l’histoire de ces combattants, les Hoplites, qui ont modifié durablement l’art de la guerre en Occident. Ainsi, vous pourrez pénétrer dans l’histoire et la vie de ses guerriers d’élite apparus au VIIIe siècle av. J.-C et découvrir leur équipement et leurs tactiques martiales. Richement illustré, vous pourrez observer les plus beaux artefacts ou témoins iconographiques.

From the Foundations to the Legacy of Minoan Archaeology provides a range of new approaches to key issues in Minoan archaeology, inspired by Professor Keith Branigan’s long-standing contribution to the archaeology of Bronze Age Crete. From the way in which the developmental trajectory of a single site can offer insights into regional patterns, to the importance of integrating local survey information in reconstructing generalhistorical processes and the significance of temporal variability in the construction of space, contributors evaluate the general frameworks within which Minoan archaeology operates, assess the usefulness of chronological horizons in understanding continuity and change and provide a critical framework for the diachronic analysis of culture, how the study of settlement patterns can reveal structural continuity through time and the political reach of territorial states. Articles focus on the way the power bases of Minoan society were articulated through the interplay between individual and collective social strategies, further illustrated by in-depth considerations of the role and value of material culture from a social and technological perspective. The largest portion of discussion is devoted to mortuary practices, reassessing the significance of micropatterns in the articulation of mortuary behaviour, while also emphasizing broader temporal and spatial processes that affect practices of ostentatious display in burial, critically evaluated by recent osteoarchaeological studies throwing light on mortuary ritual and the constitution of the social units using the cemeteries. The volume is offered in honour of Professor Branigan, as a reflection of his influence in shaping our current understanding of Minoan society.

Communities in Transition brings together scholars from different countries and backgrounds united by a common interest in the transition between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age in the lands around the Aegean. Neolithic community was transformed, in some places incrementally and in others rapidly, during the 5th and 4th millennia BC into one that we would commonly associate with the Bronze Age. Many different names have been assigned to this period: Final Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Eneolithic, Late Neolithic [I]-II, Copper Age which, to some extent, reflects the diversity of archaeological evidence from varied geographical regions. During this long heterogeneous period developments occurred that led to significant changes in material culture, the use of space, the adoption of metallurgical practices, establishment of far-reaching interaction and exchange networks, and increased social complexity. The 5th to 4th millennium BC transition is one of inclusions, entanglements, connectivity, and exchange of ideas, raw materials, finished products and, quite possibly, worldviews and belief systems. Most of the papers presented here are multifaceted and complex in that they do not deal with only one topic or narrowly focus on a single line of reasoning or dataset. Arranged geographically they explore a series of key themes: Chronology, cultural affinities, and synchronization in material culture; changing social structure and economy; inter- and intra-site space use and settlement patterns, caves and include both site reports and regional studies.

In many regions of Europe and beyond fortifications belong to the most impressive of archaeological remains. Their study has a long tradition and today a multitude of aspects about architecture, function or symbolism has been explored. However, fortifications are generally examined in a temporally, regionally or culturally limited context. Going a step further, this volume aims to bring into focus concepts of fortifications, which can be socially, symbolically or functionally, but also chronologically and supra-regionally aligned. An important question is to determine which fortification elements are culture-specific, and which can be regarded as convergence or even universal phenomena. Adopting a comparative view, the central aim of the volume is to highlight the diversity and the structural similarities of ancient fortifications. The chronological framework goes from the Neolithic to the Late Iron Age, and the geographical scope from the Ural steppes to the Iberian Peninsula.