Aegean Archaeology

More than 30 years ago the American anthropologist-archaeologist William Adams wrote a seminal article on the interpretation of material culture change in ancient Nubia entitled ‘Invasion, Diffusion, Evolution?’ (1968). In it the author laid bare the inadequacies of invoking population movement to explain changes that could just as easily be attributed to cultural diffusion or evolution. A decade later Adams co-authored another article that took an even dimmer view of ‘migrationism’ (Adams, van Gerven and Levy 1978). In this latter article the authors offered up the Philistines as an example of a ‘historical migration’ – that is, a migration known from texts or through philology, but largely indiscernible through excavation. Although many of their points are well taken, the case of the Philistines should have been exempted from this sweeping criticism of the migrationist tendencies of culture-history. In addition to the textual evidence that attests to the movement and settlement of Philistines and other Sea Peoples along the Levantine coast, there is a burgeoning corpus of supportive archaeological data. Indeed, the Philistines, based on extensive excavations at three of their capital cities (i.e., Ashdod, Ashkelon and Tel Miqne-Ekron),  provide a superb case study of migration from an archaeological perspective.
The main purpose of this paper, however, is not to address Adams’ passing dismissal of the Philistine migration as an archaeologically observable event; but, rather, to counter the more focused and sustained revisionist thinking of the past decade regarding the Sea Peoples phenomenon. First, though, it is necessary to present a brief history of how the Philistines and their fellow Sea Peoples have been regarded over the past 150 years.

It was a February afternoon in 2009, in the prehistoric
antiquities room of the Archaeological Museum of Naxos,
when I first talked with Colin Renfrew about the publication
of all the Early Cycladic figurines found in excavations.
Our conversation took place among the cases in which
the antiquities from Keros, and all the large figurines
from Aplomata, Phiondas, and other sites are exhibited.
Renfrew, as the excavator of Keros, where a large number
of marble figurine fragments and vases have been recently
found, wanted to look for comparanda in the excavated
material. The author, as the then Ephor of the Ephorate
of Antiquities for the Cyclades but also the excavator of
Skarkos, wished to see all the excavated material published.
Thus we joined forces and after a long collaboration our
efforts materialized in the form of a symposium entitled
Early Cycladic Sculpture in Context, held at the Athens
Archaeological Society on 27–29 May 2014.

The results of this symposium are presented here.
The current volume aims to publish a very important
class of material, partly unknown to scholarship. At the
same time, it constitutes a break from the usual way of
treating and publishing Early Cycladic sculptures...

During the Minoan Neopalatial period (ca. 1700-1450 BCE) female figures are depicted in visual art sitting on rocks and stepped cult structures, both of which may be symbolic representations of mountains. Trees are also depicted in conjunction with rocks and stepped altars, sometimes replacing the female figure, and suggesting a tree-and-mountain combination. These scenes echo a tradition in the iconography of Syro-Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt of an association betweenand even the interchangeability of-trees, or more broadly vegetation, and female figures. While the Minoan female figures are unidentified, the east Mediterranean examples are associated with known goddesses. This paper suggests that, along with cult structures, Cretan Neopalatial female garments also belong to this tree-and-mountain symbolic visual language. Not only do abstract mountain forms appear on female garments, but the combination of female torso and elaborate skirt forms a silhouette that evokes the cult scenes in which women sit on rocks and stepped altars and platforms. Examination of the decoration, structure, and shape of Minoan Neopalatial garments as depicted in glyptic, wall painting, and three dimensions, will demonstrate their suitability for incorporation into the classification of landscape epiphany.

This study seeks to ascertain the identification and origins of the commodities in trade between the Levant and Aegean during the Persian period, ca. 540-330 B.C.  Using Semitic and Greek textual sources, as well as numismatic, epigraphic and archaeological evidence, I identify and discuss nearly 200 commodities, including spices, pigments, dyes, chemicals, and manufactured items such as coinage and ceramics.  In the final chapter, a synthesis of the material is presented along with the historic and economic conclusions for Persian period trade that can be drawn from the assembled evidence.

"Writing as Material Practice grapples with the issue of writing as a form of material culture in its ancient and more recent manifestations, and in the contexts of production and consumption. Fifteen case studies explore the artefactual nature of writing — the ways in which materials, techniques, colour, scale, orientation and visibility inform the creation of inscribed objects and spaces, as well as structure subsequent engagement, perception and meaning making.

Covering a temporal span of some 5000 years, from c.3200 BCE to the present day, and ranging in spatial context from the Americas to the Near East, the chapters in this volume bring a variety of perspectives which contribute to both specific and broader questions of writing materialities.

The authors also aim to place past graphical systems in their social contexts so they can be understood in relation to the people who created and attributed meaning to writing and associated symbolic modes through a diverse array of individual and wider social practices."

Though Odysseus’ tales to Eumaios and Aninoos in Odyssey 14.199–359 and 17.417–44, respectively, are presented as fictional tales within Homer’s larger myth, some elements have striking analogs in Late Bronze–Early Iron Age reality.

This article examines these portions of the hero’s false ainoi within their fictive context for the purpose of identifying and evaluating those elements. Particular focus is given to Odysseus’ declaration that he led nine successful maritime raids prior to the Trojan War; to his twice–described ill–fated assault on Egypt; and to his claim not only to have been spared in the wake of that Egyptian raid, but to have spent a subsequent seven years in the land of the pharaohs, during which he gathered great wealth.

Through a comparative examination of literary and archaeological evidence from the Late Bronze–Early Iron transition in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is shown that these aspects of Odysseus’ stories are not only reflective of the historical reality surrounding the time in which the epic is set, but that Odysseus’ fictive experience is remarkably similar to that of one specific member of the ‘Sea Peoples’ groups best known from 19th and 20th dynasty Egyptian records: the ‘Sherden of the Sea.’

ABSTRACT: Preface to the Guide:

Focus and limitations:
The compilation of this guide began in Spring 2007 as a series of check lists and book requests for the somewhat small collection of Egyptological and related works in M. H. Sterne library at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  During the development of several courses on Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Near East, and other areas spanning Prehistory through to the Roman period (and later), the collection grew, and continues to expand, and began to require a research paper guide for students enrolled in courses dealing with these geographic areas and time periods. The nature of the prime cliental, namely undergraduate to MA students in a North American setting, in conjunction with limited funding, has steered  –of necessity– the building of both Sterne library’s collections and this guide towards mostly English-language sources, less expensive works, and more easily available and more recent publications.

Overall aims:
In order to maximize student and public research usage of the existing, albeit still limited, collections, I have since compiled and incorporated selected journal articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and other book titles from Sterne Library’s physical holdings (i.e., non-electronic sources) into diverse categories of research topics/subjects.  In addition, every effort has been made to add a full listing of electronic sources (including links) available to researchers of the geographic and temporal areas covered by this guide (i.e., mainly Prehistoric to Roman period Egypt).  The guide also provides general assistance for more serious/professional scholars (i.e., a quick reference to key articles, chapters, and volumes), but remains a tool aimed at English-speaking undergraduate-MA students and the public, focusing on Sterne’s holdings (note: other emerging Egyptological libraries will also approximate Sterne’s holdings).

Design and usage:
An attempt has been made to obtain sources spanning all aspects of Ancient Egypt and related areas, which have in-turn influenced the subdivision of the guide into general works, time periods, and diverse subject areas. Some of these categories have grown sufficiently large to merit further subdivision, such as the New Kingdom section, which has a general list of sources, materials regarding individual rulers, and a few affiliated topics of interest (Exodus; Sea Peoples).  I have attempted to place each source (i.e., books; book chapters; encyclopedia entries; journal articles) under each pertinent topic category that it covers, but naturally I may have missed some categories, while there may be other complementary and broader works that cover such topics elsewhere.  A list of the pertinent call number ranges has been placed at the end of the guide (see table of contents) to assist in the merits of additional shelf-browsing.

Beyond the guide:
Naturally there are numerous significant Egyptological sources outside Sterne Library’s holdings (including electronic links: e.g., JSTOR) that might be retrieved via interlibrary loan.  Sterne Library’s current Egyptological resources, however, are sufficient to introduce most areas of Egyptological research, and enable the researcher to consult the endnotes/footnotes and bibliographic data listed in recent books, articles, and encyclopedia entries to compile a list of further resources that may either be accessed via interlibrary loan, or possibly by visiting directly a neighbouring professional Egyptological library: e.g., the instructor (UAB); Atlanta (Emory University); Memphis (Memphis State University).

The collections in other Birmingham and Alabama libraries have online links via Sterne Library’s website, and offer many duplicate and different Egyptological works that are often accessible to the public/students: e.g., Birmingham Public Library, Gorgas Library (UA).  Naturally, I encourage students, faculty, and public researchers to see me for further assistance with this guide and their research topics.

Gregory Mumford (UAB)
Update: 15 Jan., 2021

PLEASE NOTE: This resource has received substantial updates in pertinent sections within the guide.  Some additional sorting of various articles/entries is still required, but these articles can be found, unsorted, at the end of the guide (e.g., articles from KMT, JSSEA, EA, etc., listed chronologically and by issue). I anticipate another update in the following year ...

Forthcoming April 2017

http://upers.kuleuven.be/en/book/9789462701052

Chapters by:
Simon Jusseret (The University of Texas at Austin, Université catholique de Louvain)
Manuel Sintubin (KU Leuven)
Jan Driessen (Université catholique de Louvain)
Susan E. Hough (U.S. Geological Survey)
James P. McCalpin (GEO-HAZ Consulting Inc.)
Christoph Grützner (RWTH Aachen University, University of Cambridge)
Thomas Wiatr (RWTH Aachen University, German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy)
Charalampos Fassoulas (Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete)
Gerassimos A. Papadopoulos (National Observatory of Athens)
Jack Mason (RWTH Aachen University)
Klaus Reicherter (RWTH Aachen University)
Clairy Palyvou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Eleftheria Tsakanika (National Technical University of Athens)
Jeffrey S. Soles (University of North Carolina – Greensboro)
Floyd W. McCoy (University of Hawaii – Windward)
Rhonda Suka (Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii)
Colin F. Macdonald (The British School at Athens)
Tim Cunningham (Université catholique de Louvain)

This paper investigates the stable isotopic composition from late Pleistocene–Holocene (~ 13 to ~ 10.5 cal ka BP) shells of the land snail Helix figulina, from Franchthi Cave (Greece). It explores the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental implications of the isotope palaeoecology of archaeological shells at the time of human occupation of the cave. Modern shells from around the cave were also analysed and their isotopic signatures compared with those of the archaeological shells. The carbon isotope composition of modern shells depicts the consumption of C3 vegetation. Shell oxygen isotopic values are consistent with other Mediterranean snail shells from coastal areas. Combining empirical linear regression and an evaporative model, the δ18Os suggest that modern snails in the study area are active during periods of higher relative humidity and lower rainfall δ18O, probably at night. Late glacial and early Holocene δ18Os show lower values compared to modern ones. Early Holocene δ18Os ...

geopark naturtejo Meseta Meridional, geology and Paleontology office, centro cultural raiano. Av. Joaquim Morao 6060-101 idanha-a-nova, Portugal 2 Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichita, universita di trieste, via lazzaretto vecchio 6, 34123, trieste, italy universita di udine, via Palladio 8, Palazzo Florio, 33100 udine, italy natural history Museum of the lesvos Petrified Forest, Sigri, lesvos island, greece cnrS, cerege, universite Aix-Marseille, europole de l’Arbois, BP 80, 13545, Aix-en-Provence, France corresponding author e-mail: andrea@tracemaker.com

This article (in Dutch) evaluates the evidence for Mycenaean participation in Royal Gift Exchange, focusing especially the relation between the King of Mycenae and the Great Kings of Egypt and Hatti). It argues that the Mycenaean world was very much a part of the 'international age'.

The institution of feasting in the Bronze Age Aegean, as in much of the world, has been the subject of considerable recent scholarship, with a broad consensus that feasts provided a locus for the negotiation and performance of sociopolitical and religious hierarchies. Despite the publication of numerous edited volumes, monographs, and journal articles on the subject, the relationship between feasting and gender has been explored only minimally. In the very few cases where gender has been discussed in the context of feasting, the assumption or argument has been that women were excluded from public feasting activities, with the implication that women were excluded from a critical venue for the creation and reinforcement of social and political status. While iconographic evidence for Mycenaean women feasting is almost nonexistent (and indeed, iconographic evidence for anyone at all feasting may also be, insofar as we have no images of anyone in the Bronze Age Aegean eating), there are a few hints that at least elite women and probably most or all women were present at some prehistoric feasts. Comparable public feasts in both the contemporaneous Near Eastern world and in later Greek contexts often included women, including in feasts honoring some of the same divinities whom Linear B tablets tell us were worshipped in the Late Bronze Age. The Ta tablets from Pylos, representing the paraphernalia for a feast, include footstools, which are iconographically and archaeologically associated with women; this suggests that women did indeed participate. The presence of lower status women who attended feasts is more difficult to identify, but the vast quantities of food and wine known to have been provided suggest that access must have been broadly inclusive.

During the Aegean Bronze Age (ca. 3,200-1,100 B.C.), blue pigments are rendered from a myriad of different sources across distinct media: from naturally-occurring minerals such as riebeckite and lapis lazuli to man-made compounds like Egyptian blue, and even plant- and animal-based pigments, such as murex purple and indigo. The ways in which these colors are employed in wall painting, however, often leaves modern viewers with more questions than answers. For instance, why render the shaved scalps of young individuals in blue? The fur of monkeys and cats, and the feathers of birds are not blue in reality either, so why depict them as such? One might turn to color theory, which is well established for the art of neighboring regions (Egypt, Mesopotamia), yet no such over-arching theory exists for the Aegean. Previous, cursory explanations for the choice to show a pictorial element as blue either regard Aegean artistic norms as mildly derivative of Egyptian artistic convention, or simply state that blue is more visually appealing than gray or brown. Rather than entertain reductionist notions, this paper seeks to propose a new, polyvalent understanding for the use of Aegean color. Not only might the pigments themselves serve as material references to the places from which they come (mostly The East), but blue may also be considered a luxury pigment, perhaps evocative of inextricable notions of personal or regional identity, access to far-flung trade networks, and participation in or belonging to an elite, international lineage.

This paper focuses on the occurrence of sealings impressed by the same seal faces or by very similar seal faces at different archaeological sites in the Late Minoan I period. Sealings are small clay lumps impressed one or more times with one or more seal faces, and at times inscribed with Linear A signs. Such a sealing system was aimed at controlling the mobilization of resources and goods. The existence of a dense network of inter-regional trade in the Neopalatial Period is indeed well documented by the overall archaeological evidence. Since impressions left on clay nodules by the same seals or by very similar seals occur on different types of sealing found at different sites on Crete (Knossos, Sklavokambos, Hagia Triada, Gournia, Zakros, and Chania) and outside Crete (Akrotiri on the island of Thera), we can argue that the inter-regional trade was, at least in part, managed by one or more central administrations. The aim of this paper is to clarify this last point and address the issue of whether or not we can infer the existence of diplomatic and legal bonds between the Knossos Palace and the other main Aegean settlements from the sealings.