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A Fragmented History
This dissertation presents four methodological case studies that elaborate on the results of two field survey projects (the Astura and Nettuno surveys) that were carried out by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA). The case studies aim at investigating biasing factors that limit the analytical and comparative value of data from archaeological survey in general using these two projects as a suitable testing ground. Both surveys, carried out between 2003 and 2005, fell within the ambit of the Pontine Region Project (PRP), a long-term research program aimed at the diachronic archaeological investigation of the various landscape units forming this region. They covered two contiguous areas, situated on the Tyrrhenian seaboard, approximately 60 kilometres south of Rome. The study area comprises the communal area of the modern town of Nettuno, as well as the lower valleys of the Astura and Moscarello rivers (see fig. 0.1).2 As such it incorporates parts of the hinterland of the ancient towns of Antium and Satricum. In chronological terms this dissertation considers a time-span of 1300 years, from the 6th century BC to the 7th century AD.
Naples: the City of the Sun and Parthenope: the role of astronomy, mythology and Pythagoras in the urban planning of Neapolis
This essay delves into the most intimate secret of Naples through an archaeoastronomical inquiry. It demonstrates that religious and philosophical motivations were central to the urban planning of its ancient Greek centre, Neapolis, constructed in the 6th- 5th centuries BC by Cumaeans and other Greek colonists. The design of the city's streets and its distinctive geographical-astronomical orientation evoked the cults of Apollo (the Greek Sun-god) and Parthenope (the local Numen, who reminds the mythical Sibyl of Cumae) on solstices and equinoxes. Neapolis' street grid was also inspired by Pythagorean cosmology, as it was designed with golden ratio and decagonal proportions. These elements combined to make Neapolis a perfect microcosm, or better yet, a temple-city centred on the cult of the Sun and Parthenope. Finally, the city’s religious traditions likely increased the public impact of the martyrdom of Saint Januarius, facilitating the Christianization of Naples in the 4th century AD. Naples’ ancient streets, culture, and Cathedral still preserve the legacy of Neapolis' solar traditions in their geometries, symbols, hymns, sweets, mosaics, and relics
Reframing the Roman Economy
This book focuses on those features of the Roman economy that are less traceable in text and archaeology, and as a consequence remain largely underexplored in contemporary scholarship. By reincorporating, for the first time, these long-obscured practices in mainstream scholarly discourses, this book offers a more complete and balanced view of an economic system that for too long has mostly been studied through its macro-economic and large-scale – and thus archaeologically and textually omnipresent – aspects. The topic is approached in five thematic sections, covering unusual actors and perspectives, unusual places of production, exigent landscapes of exploitation, less-visible products and artefacts, and divergent views on emblematic economic spheres. To this purpose, the book brings together a select group of leading scholars and promising early career researchers in archaeology and ancient economic history, well positioned to steer this ill-developed but fundamental field of the Roman economy in promising new directions.
Rome and the Classic Maya
This volume compares two of the most famous cases of civilizational collapse, that of the Roman Empire and the Classic Maya world. First examining the concept of collapse, and how it has been utilized in the historical, archaeological and anthropological study of past complex societies, Storey and Storey draw on extensive archaeological evidence to consider the ultimate failure of the institutions, infrastructure and material culture of both of these complex cultures. Detailing the relevant economic, political, social and environmental factors behind these notable falls, Rome and the Classic Maya contends that a phenomenon of “slow collapse” has repeatedly occurred in the course of human history: complex civilizations are shown to eventually come to an end and give way to new cultures. Through their analysis of these two ancient case studies, the authors also present intriguing parallels to the modern world and offer potential lessons for the future.
The Early Roman Expansion into Italy
Argues that Roman expansion in Italy was accomplished more by means of negotiation among local elites than through military conquest.
Food Provisions for Ancient Rome
This book defines the processes used for delivering a range of food items to the city of Rome and its hinterland from the first century AD using modern supply chain modelling techniques. The subject matter delves into the wider supply of goods, such as wood and building products, to add further perspective to the breadth of the system managed by the Roman administration to ensure supply and political stability. It assesses the impact of strategic changes such as the introduction of water-powered milling technology and restructuring of the annona in this period, as well as administrative reforms. Evidence from ancient sources, both literary and epigraphic, along with relevant archaeological c...
Population Dynamics in Prehistory and Early History
Migrations and population dynamics are considered very problematic topics in the fields of ancient studies. Recent scholarship in (pre)historical population has generated new impulses by using scientific approaches using radiogenic and stable isotopes, and palaeogenetics, as well as computer simulation. As a result, the state of migration research has undergone rapid change. Several research groups presented papers at aconference held in Berlin in 2010, addressing specific historical aspects of population dynamics and migration, with no chronological or geographical restrictions, in the light of cutting-edge bio-archaeological research. This volume, divided into three larger thematic sections (isotope analysis, population genetics, and modelling and computer simulation), presents experiences and insights about methodological approaches, research results and prospects for future research in this area in a varied collection of papers. Scholars from widely diverse scientific disciplines present their approaches, findings and interpretations to an audience far broader than the circles of the individual disciplines.
Byzantine Ornaments in Stone
Architectural sculpture and liturgical furniture are key genres of late antique and Byzantine archaeology and art, and this book provides the first general overview. It offers two alternative ways of access, via technical terms and illustrations. It can thus serve as dictionary, if a term requires explanation and illustration, or as a visual gazetteer for the research of artefacts. In addition the volume can also serve as an academic textbook.
Classical Archaeology in Context
This book compiles a series of case studies derived from archaeological excavation in Greek cultural contexts in the Mediterranean (ca. 800-100 B.C), addressing the current state of the field, the goals and direction of Greek archaeology, and its place in archaeological thought and practice. Overviews of archaeological sites and analyses of assemblages and contexts explore how new forms of data; methods of data recovery and analysis; and sampling strategies have affected the discourse in classical archaeology and the range of research questions and strategies at our disposal. Recent excavations and field practices are steering the way that we approach Greek cultural landscapes and form broad...
Staging Death
Places are social, lived, ideational landscapes constructed by people as they inhabit their natural and built environment. An ‘archaeology of place’ attempts to move beyond the understanding of the landscape as inert background or static fossil of human behaviour. From a specifically mortuary perspective, this approach entails a focus on the inherently mutable, transient and performative qualities of 'deathscapes': how they are remembered, obliterated, forgotten, reworked, or revisited over time. Despite latent interest in this line of enquiry, few studies have explored the topic explicitly in Aegean archaeology. This book aims to identify ways in which to think about the deathscape as a cross between landscapes, tombs, bodies, and identities, supplementing and expanding upon well explored themes in the field (e.g. tombs as vehicles for the legitimization of power; funerary landscapes as arenas of social and political competition). The volume recasts a wealth of knowledge about Aegean mortuary cultures against a theoretical background, bringing the field up to date with recent developments in the archaeology of place.
