This edited volume (a Special Issue with "Open Archaeology" Journal) focuses on digital approache... more This edited volume (a Special Issue with "Open Archaeology" Journal) focuses on digital approaches both to ritual space and to artefacts relating to ritual practice and cult. The terms ritual and cult are used broadly to include sanctuaries, temples, and churches, as well as the domestic and funerary spheres of life. Although the main focus of the issue is the Mediterranean region, there are also relevant contributions from researchers working in other areas of the world, with a view to stimulating wider methodological dialogues and comparative approaches. The chronological range is also open, ranging from prehistory to the recent past, and including cultural heritage management.
This monograph focuses on religion to explore how the socio-cultural infrastructure of Cyprus was... more This monograph focuses on religion to explore how the socio-cultural infrastructure of Cyprus was affected by the transition from segmented administration by many Cypriot kings to the island-wide government by a foreign Ptolemaic correspondent. It approaches politico-religious ideological responses and structures of symbolism through the study of sacred landscapes, specific iconographic elements, and archaeological contexts and architecture, as well as through textual and epigraphic evidence. A fresh approach to the transition is put forward, connecting the island more emphatically with its longue durée. Moving beyond the field of Cypriot studies, this work also serves as a paradigm for the study of religion in relation to social power in other fields of classics and, in particular, for the enrolment of other areas of the Mediterranean into the political and cultural Hellenistic oikoumene.
Mapping surface ceramics through systematic pedestrian archaeological survey is considered a cons... more Mapping surface ceramics through systematic pedestrian archaeological survey is considered a consistent method to recover the cultural biography of sites within a micro-region. Archaeologists nowadays conduct surface survey equipped with navigation devices counting, documenting, and collecting surface archaeological potsherds within a set of plotted grids. Recent advancements in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and image processing analysis can be utilised to support such surface archaeological investigations. In this study, we have implemented two different artificial intelligence image processing methods over two areas of interest near the present-day village of Kophinou in Cyprus, in the Xeros River valley. We have applied a random forest classifier through the Google Earth Engine big data cloud platform and a Single Shot Detector neural network in the ArcGIS Pro environment. For the first case study, the detection was based on red–green–blue (RGB) high-resolution orthophotos. In ...
Ioannides M., Fink E., Cantoni L., Champion E. (eds) Digital Heritage. Progress in Cultural Heritage: Documentation, Preservation, and Protection. EuroMed 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12642. Springer, Cham, 2021
Landscape studies have evolved into a significant branch of historical archaeological research, b... more Landscape studies have evolved into a significant branch of historical archaeological research, by placing emphasis on the ecological, economic, political and cultural values of pre-modern settled and sacred landscapes. The aim of our work is to support the systematic exploration of landscape archaeology in the Xeros River valley in Cyprus, through time, from prehistory to today, through the design and development of an Augmented Reality (AR) application. The AR application supports the exploration of pre-modern monuments and archaeological sites in the Xeros River valley, serving as a guided tour for visitors of the area. By employing image recognition and utilizing a location-based practice, the application provides the users with an immersive and educational experience. Initial reactions by experts in landscape studies indicate the potential of the application in enabling the narration and visualization of the historicity of the landscape and the fate of religious and other monuments of the past 1500 years.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2013
This article explores the relationship between power and cult, not in the age of the Cypriot city... more This article explores the relationship between power and cult, not in the age of the Cypriot city-kingdoms per se but rather in the context of a changing political landscape that eventually led to the abolition of the autonomous polities and the establishment of a new order by the Ptolemaic Empire. In particular, this contribution explores some of the Cypro-Classical kings' internal responses to the changing political map of the Mediterranean, suggesting a shift from eastern to western orientations and cultural and iconographic prototypes. Furthermore, it attempts to put Cyprus in a broader context of Hellenistic monarchies in the Mediterranean, considering the resulting transformations of the island's political geography and cultural identities. Finally, through the medium of sacred landscapes, this article explores the response of Cypriot populations (elite and non-elite) to Ptolemaic power and rule.
This article explores the materiality of the Orthodox Christian cult of the Epitaphios on Good Fr... more This article explores the materiality of the Orthodox Christian cult of the Epitaphios on Good Friday of 2020 when, during the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and isolation were deemed the most effective means of protecting societies from exposure to the virus. Epitaphios is a metonym that references a venerated object, a decorated cloth or wooden icon bearing the image of Christ prepared for burial. It is placed upon a wooden bier, representing the Tomb of Christ, also called the Epitaphios. During the pandemic, people reacted inventively to restrictions imposed on practicing this communal cult publicly in churches by constructing homemade Epitaphioi and displaying them in privately-owned spaces. We examine the materiality of the homemade Epitaphioi in the context of popular religion, evaluating how crisis may divert the forces of the longue durée into a different channel, and how ethnographic analogy may be useful for understanding ritual and cult in archaeology.
In: Papantoniou, G., Michaelides, D. and Dikomitou-Eliadou M. (eds.) Hellenistic and Roman Terracottas. Monumenta Graeca et Romana Vol. 23, 7-43. Leiden: Brill., 2019
In this editorial article for the Special Issue on "Unlocking Sacred Landscapes: Digital Humaniti... more In this editorial article for the Special Issue on "Unlocking Sacred Landscapes: Digital Humanities and Ritual Space" (Open Archaeology Journal: De Gruyter), we introduce the applicability of digital humanities to the study of ritual space. The Issue focuses on digital approaches both to ritual space and to artefacts relating to ritual practice and cult. The terms ritual and cult are used broadly to include sanctuaries, temples and churches, as well as the domestic and funerary spheres of life. We include contributions with a strong methodological focus on computational developments, digitisation processes and spatial analyses. Although the main focus of the Unlocking Sacred Landscapes (UnSaLa) Research Network is the Mediterranean region, we have also encouraged colleagues working in other areas of the world to contribute to this volume, with a view to stimulating wider methodological dialogues and comparative approaches. The chronological span ranges from prehistory to the recent past, and includes cultural heritage management.
This edited volume (a Special Issue with "Open Archaeology" Journal) focuses on digital approache... more This edited volume (a Special Issue with "Open Archaeology" Journal) focuses on digital approaches both to ritual space and to artefacts relating to ritual practice and cult. The terms ritual and cult are used broadly to include sanctuaries, temples, and churches, as well as the domestic and funerary spheres of life. Although the main focus of the issue is the Mediterranean region, there are also relevant contributions from researchers working in other areas of the world, with a view to stimulating wider methodological dialogues and comparative approaches. The chronological range is also open, ranging from prehistory to the recent past, and including cultural heritage management.
This monograph focuses on religion to explore how the socio-cultural infrastructure of Cyprus was... more This monograph focuses on religion to explore how the socio-cultural infrastructure of Cyprus was affected by the transition from segmented administration by many Cypriot kings to the island-wide government by a foreign Ptolemaic correspondent. It approaches politico-religious ideological responses and structures of symbolism through the study of sacred landscapes, specific iconographic elements, and archaeological contexts and architecture, as well as through textual and epigraphic evidence. A fresh approach to the transition is put forward, connecting the island more emphatically with its longue durée. Moving beyond the field of Cypriot studies, this work also serves as a paradigm for the study of religion in relation to social power in other fields of classics and, in particular, for the enrolment of other areas of the Mediterranean into the political and cultural Hellenistic oikoumene.
Mapping surface ceramics through systematic pedestrian archaeological survey is considered a cons... more Mapping surface ceramics through systematic pedestrian archaeological survey is considered a consistent method to recover the cultural biography of sites within a micro-region. Archaeologists nowadays conduct surface survey equipped with navigation devices counting, documenting, and collecting surface archaeological potsherds within a set of plotted grids. Recent advancements in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and image processing analysis can be utilised to support such surface archaeological investigations. In this study, we have implemented two different artificial intelligence image processing methods over two areas of interest near the present-day village of Kophinou in Cyprus, in the Xeros River valley. We have applied a random forest classifier through the Google Earth Engine big data cloud platform and a Single Shot Detector neural network in the ArcGIS Pro environment. For the first case study, the detection was based on red–green–blue (RGB) high-resolution orthophotos. In ...
Ioannides M., Fink E., Cantoni L., Champion E. (eds) Digital Heritage. Progress in Cultural Heritage: Documentation, Preservation, and Protection. EuroMed 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12642. Springer, Cham, 2021
Landscape studies have evolved into a significant branch of historical archaeological research, b... more Landscape studies have evolved into a significant branch of historical archaeological research, by placing emphasis on the ecological, economic, political and cultural values of pre-modern settled and sacred landscapes. The aim of our work is to support the systematic exploration of landscape archaeology in the Xeros River valley in Cyprus, through time, from prehistory to today, through the design and development of an Augmented Reality (AR) application. The AR application supports the exploration of pre-modern monuments and archaeological sites in the Xeros River valley, serving as a guided tour for visitors of the area. By employing image recognition and utilizing a location-based practice, the application provides the users with an immersive and educational experience. Initial reactions by experts in landscape studies indicate the potential of the application in enabling the narration and visualization of the historicity of the landscape and the fate of religious and other monuments of the past 1500 years.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2013
This article explores the relationship between power and cult, not in the age of the Cypriot city... more This article explores the relationship between power and cult, not in the age of the Cypriot city-kingdoms per se but rather in the context of a changing political landscape that eventually led to the abolition of the autonomous polities and the establishment of a new order by the Ptolemaic Empire. In particular, this contribution explores some of the Cypro-Classical kings' internal responses to the changing political map of the Mediterranean, suggesting a shift from eastern to western orientations and cultural and iconographic prototypes. Furthermore, it attempts to put Cyprus in a broader context of Hellenistic monarchies in the Mediterranean, considering the resulting transformations of the island's political geography and cultural identities. Finally, through the medium of sacred landscapes, this article explores the response of Cypriot populations (elite and non-elite) to Ptolemaic power and rule.
This article explores the materiality of the Orthodox Christian cult of the Epitaphios on Good Fr... more This article explores the materiality of the Orthodox Christian cult of the Epitaphios on Good Friday of 2020 when, during the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and isolation were deemed the most effective means of protecting societies from exposure to the virus. Epitaphios is a metonym that references a venerated object, a decorated cloth or wooden icon bearing the image of Christ prepared for burial. It is placed upon a wooden bier, representing the Tomb of Christ, also called the Epitaphios. During the pandemic, people reacted inventively to restrictions imposed on practicing this communal cult publicly in churches by constructing homemade Epitaphioi and displaying them in privately-owned spaces. We examine the materiality of the homemade Epitaphioi in the context of popular religion, evaluating how crisis may divert the forces of the longue durée into a different channel, and how ethnographic analogy may be useful for understanding ritual and cult in archaeology.
In: Papantoniou, G., Michaelides, D. and Dikomitou-Eliadou M. (eds.) Hellenistic and Roman Terracottas. Monumenta Graeca et Romana Vol. 23, 7-43. Leiden: Brill., 2019
In this editorial article for the Special Issue on "Unlocking Sacred Landscapes: Digital Humaniti... more In this editorial article for the Special Issue on "Unlocking Sacred Landscapes: Digital Humanities and Ritual Space" (Open Archaeology Journal: De Gruyter), we introduce the applicability of digital humanities to the study of ritual space. The Issue focuses on digital approaches both to ritual space and to artefacts relating to ritual practice and cult. The terms ritual and cult are used broadly to include sanctuaries, temples and churches, as well as the domestic and funerary spheres of life. We include contributions with a strong methodological focus on computational developments, digitisation processes and spatial analyses. Although the main focus of the Unlocking Sacred Landscapes (UnSaLa) Research Network is the Mediterranean region, we have also encouraged colleagues working in other areas of the world to contribute to this volume, with a view to stimulating wider methodological dialogues and comparative approaches. The chronological span ranges from prehistory to the recent past, and includes cultural heritage management.
The aim of this contribution is to introduce the topic of this volume and briefly measure the evo... more The aim of this contribution is to introduce the topic of this volume and briefly measure the evolution and applicability of central place theory in previous and contemporary archaeological practice and thought. Thus, one needs to rethink and reevaluate central place theory in light of contemporary developments in landscape archaeology, by bringing together ‘central places’ and ‘un-central landscapes’ and by grasping diachronically upon the complex relation between town and country, as shaped by political economies and the availability of natural resources.
Settled and Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus (SeSaLaC) is a systematic archaeological survey project o... more Settled and Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus (SeSaLaC) is a systematic archaeological survey project of the University of Cyprus in the Xeros River valley in the Larnaka district in Cyprus. This article aims to present a first synthesis of the diachronic settlement pattern in the region. After a short introduction on the area and the SeSaLaC project, we attempt to identify and interpret settlement evolution and landscape changes in the region, from early prehistory to Late Antiquity. The contextualisation and evaluation of settlement changes in the Xeros River valley are carried out within a multi-layered framework along the main strands of approach presented in this Land special issue. The presentation and analysis that follows below is a work in progress.
The meeting will focus on digital approaches both to ritual space and to artefacts relating to ri... more The meeting will focus on digital approaches both to ritual space and to artefacts relating to ritual practice and cult. The terms ritual and cult are used broadly to include sanctuaries, temples, and churches, as well as the domestic and funerary spheres of life. We particularly welcome papers with a strong methodological focus on computational developments, digitisation processes and spatial analysis. Although the main focus of the network is the Mediterranean region, we also warmly welcome relevant papers from colleagues working in other areas of the world, with a view to stimulating wider methodological dialogues and comparative approaches. The chronological range is also open, ranging from prehistory to the recent past, and including cultural heritage management. In particular, we welcome archaeological, art-historical, anthropological, ethnographic, historical, computational, cultural heritage or inter-disciplinary papers dealing with: (1) inter-and intra-site Geographic Information System (GIS) approaches and spatial statistics and modelling of ritual space and/or its associated material assemblages, (2) digitisation and virtual reconstruction of ritual space and/or its associated material assemblages,
This workshop aims: 1. provide the Archaeology of Pre-Modern Economies students an introduction t... more This workshop aims: 1. provide the Archaeology of Pre-Modern Economies students an introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and their potential in grasping issues related to economic archaeology in general, and spatial analysis of ritual and cult more specifically, 2. provide the new students with the opportunity to discuss informally – in a friendly and collegial environment – the possibility of applying inter-and intra-site GIS analyses to their work, 3. provide the more advanced students with the opportunity to present – in a friendly and collegial environment – their ideas or their preliminary GIS results, and to get feedback and stimuli from various GIS specialists, 4. provide a forum through which both the Archaeology of Pre-Modern Economies Research Training Group and the Unlocking Sacred Landscapes Network have the opportunity of networking with other projects/scholars in Germany and beyond.
The research Project “The Silver Coinage of the Kings of Cyprus: Numismatics and History in the A... more The research Project “The Silver Coinage of the Kings of Cyprus: Numismatics and History in the Archaic and Classical Periods (6th to 4th centuries BC)” (acronym SilCoinCy)” is realised in the Institute of Historical Research (IHR), Section of Greek and Roman Antiquity, National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF), Athens, Greece and is funded by the Action ARISTEIA II.
The Action falls under the Fourth Strategic Objective of the Operational Programme (OP) 'Education and Lifelong Learning’ (EdLL), entitled 'Supporting the Human Capital in order to Promote Research and Innovation' of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007-2013 which is co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and National Resources.
The website, entitled: Kyprios Character. History, Archaeology & Numismatics of Ancient Cyprus is currently under construction but you can leave your email and receive information as soon as it goes live.
The website will include by July 2015 a complete numismatic bibliography, a numismatic database including at least 1.500 Cypriot coins that were given permissions for online publication, together with more than 50 scientific essays on the history and archaeology of ancient Cyprus, written by external scientific collaborators from around the world.
The website will finally propose news, a calendar of events and links related to the history, archaeology and numismatics of ancient Cyprus.
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For a review of this book see:
http://ancienthistorybulletin.ca/AHBOR03(2013)/AHBReviews(2013)05.WebbOnPapantoniou.pdf
For a review of this book see:
http://ancienthistorybulletin.ca/AHBOR03(2013)/AHBReviews(2013)05.WebbOnPapantoniou.pdf
The Action falls under the Fourth Strategic Objective of the Operational Programme (OP) 'Education and Lifelong Learning’ (EdLL), entitled 'Supporting the Human Capital in order to Promote Research and Innovation' of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007-2013 which is co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and National Resources.
The website, entitled: Kyprios Character. History, Archaeology & Numismatics of Ancient Cyprus is currently under construction but you can leave your email and receive information as soon as it goes live.
The website will include by July 2015 a complete numismatic bibliography, a numismatic database including at least 1.500 Cypriot coins that were given permissions for online publication, together with more than 50 scientific essays on the history and archaeology of ancient Cyprus, written by external scientific collaborators from around the world.
The website will finally propose news, a calendar of events and links related to the history, archaeology and numismatics of ancient Cyprus.