The Aegean And The East

Old theories for the origins of domesticated animals and plants from the East and the spread of farming and husbandry in Europe have affected generations of archaeologists, resulting in several theories of migrations of populations. However, there is no evidence in the archaeological record of population movements from the East, while so far the contribution of the pre-Neolithic populations of the Aegean has been neglected. This book shows that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers developed a dense maritime network on the Aegean islands and contributed to the Neolithisation process, transferring domesticated species from the East to the Aegean through Cyprus. Their great specialization in fishing and long journeys was due to a tradition that had roots in the Palaeolithic period. This text is based on practical experience from excavations and surface surveys over the past 25 years in Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in the Aegean Basin and continental Greece.

The transport stirrup jar was a vessel type used extensively in the Late Bronze Age III Aegean world. Found in a variety of contexts, the type was used both to transport and to store liquid commodities in bulk. The peak of the production and exchange of this jar corresponded with the time of economic expansion on the Greek mainland. On Crete, stirrup jars appeared at most major centers on the island. Their presence in large numbers in storerooms indicates the movement of commodities and the centralized storage and control of goods. The broad distribution of stirrup jars at coastal sites in the eastern Mediterranean and their presence in the cargoes of the Uluburun, Gelidonya, and Iria shipwrecks clearly shows their role in the extensive exchange networks within the Aegean and beyond. Because they represent significant Aegean exchange, tracing their origins and movement provides information regarding production centers and trade routes. This study concentrates on determinating of provenance of the jars and the subsequent tracing of exchange routes. The fully integrated research design is an interdisciplinary, collaborative archaeological project that embraces typological, chemical, petrographic, and epigraphic approaches in order to shed light on the jars' classification and origin. The results of the chemical and petrographic work constitute primary parts of the study. By establishing the origins and distribution of the jars, these vases are placed within their historical context. The identification of production centers and export routes is critical for a full understanding of the economic and political conditions in the Late Bronze Age Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.

The years c. 1250 to 1150 BC in Greece and the Aegean are often characterised as a time of crisis and collapse. A critical period in the long history of the region and its people and culture, they witnessed the end of the Mycenaean kingdoms, with their palaces and Linear B records, and, through the Postpalatial period, the transition into the Early Iron Age. But, on closer examination, it has become increasingly clear that the period as a whole, across the region, defies simple characterisation – there was success and splendour, resilience and continuity, and novelty and innovation, actively driven by the people of these lands through this transformative century. The story of the Aegean at this time has frequently been incorporated into narratives focused on the wider eastern Mediterranean, and most infamously the ‘Sea Peoples’ of the Egyptian texts. In twenty-five chapters written by 25 specialists, Collapse and Transformation instead offers a tight focus on the Aegean itself, providing an up-to date picture of the archaeology ‘before’ and ‘after’ ‘the collapse’ of c. 1200 BC. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean regions, as well as providing data and a range of interpretations to those studying collapse and resilience more widely and engaging in comparative studies. Introductory chapters discuss notions of collapse, and provide overviews of the Minoan and Mycenaean collapses. These are followed by twelve chapters, which review the evidence from the major regions of the Aegean, including the Argolid, Messenia, and Boeotia, Crete, and the Aegean islands. Six chapters then address key themes: the economy, funerary practices, the Mycenaean pottery of the mainland and the wider Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region, religion, and the extent to which later Greek myth can be drawn upon as evidence or taken to reflect any historical reality. The final four chapters provide a wider context for the Aegean story, surveying the eastern Mediterranean, including Cyprus and the Levant, and the themes of subsistence and warfare.

The expanded third edition of this popular cruising guide encompasses the Greek Dodecanese islands and the Turkish coast eastwards from the Samos Strait to Kas and Kekova. Fully illustrated with up to date plans and numerous new photographs, it is packed with all the essential information for getting to the area, formalities and sailing these beautiful cruising grounds. There is a level of further detail to this coverage in terms of anchorages and other destinations than is found in the Heikell’s Greek Waters Pilot and Turkish Waters and Cyprus Pilot. This handy guide also whets the appetite for the local cuisine and culture and gives some historic context to exploration ashore. The fantastic background information with historical and mythological anecdotes gives ... a richness too often missing from bald pilot guides. Royal Cruising Club ... no East Med cruiser will want to sail without a copy. Yachting Monthly

Contents: Foreword ; List of abbreviations ; A. KEYNOTE ADDRESS ; James D. MUHLY : Archaeology and Archaeometry: Why We Need (and Should Want) to Work Together ; B. MEASURING THE AEGEAN LANDSCAPE ; Gisela WALBERG: Measuring the Aegean Landscape ; Daniel J. PULLEN: Site Size, Territory, and Hierarchy: Measuring Levels of Integration and Social Change in Neolithic and Bronze Age Aegean Societies ; Richard ROTHAUS, Eduard REINHARDT, Thomas TARTARON and Jay NOLLER: A Geoarchaeological Approach for Understanding Prehistoric Usage of the Coastline of the Eastern Korinthia ; Anastasia DAKOURI-HILD, Eleni ANDRIKOU, Vassilis ARAVANTINOS and Elena KOUNTOURI: A GIS in Boeotian Thebes: Taking Measures for Heritage Management, Archaeological Research and Public Outreach ; C. MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION ; Thomas F. TARTARON: The Characterization of Inorganic Materials in Aegean Prehistory ; Pat GETZ-GENTLE, Norman HERZ, Yannis MANIATIS and Kyriaki POLIKRETI: Sourcing the Marble of Early Cycladic Objects: : Tristan CARTER: Problematizing the Analysis of Obsidian in the Aegean and Surrounding Worlds ; Zofia A. STOS-GALE and Noel H. GALE: Lead Isotopic and other Isotopic Research in the Aegean ; Carole GILLIS, Robin CLAYTON, Ernst PERNICKA and Noel GALE: Tin in the Aegean Bronze Age ; Susan Ferrence, Kristalia Melessanaki, Maripaz Mateo, Philip P. Betancourt and Demetrios Anglos: Adaptation of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for the Analysis of Archaeological Artifacts ; Philip P. BETANCOURT: Interpreting Ceramic Petrography: The Special Product Model, a New Model for Pottery Distribution in the Early Minoan Period ; Evangelia KIRIATZI: Sherds, Fabrics and Clay Sources: Reconstructing the Ceramic Landscapes of Prehistoric Kythera ; Vassilis KILIKOGLOU, Evangelia KIRIATZI, Anna PHILIPPA-TOUCHAIS, Gilles TOUCHAIS and Ian WITHBREAD: Pottery Production and Supply at MH Aspis, Argos: The Evidence of Chemical and Petrographic Analyses ; D. ARTIFACT-BASED STUDIES ; Elizabeth HENDRIX: Some Methods for Revealing Paint on Early Cycladic Figures ; Walter MWalter MULLER: Minoan Works of Art - ; Thanos PANTAZIS, Andreas G. KARYDAS, Christos DOUMAS, Andreas VLACHOPOULOS, Petros NOMIKOS and Mark DINSMORE: X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of a Gold Ibex and other Artifacts from Akrotiri ; Elizabeth B. SHANK and Costas BALAS: The MuSIS 2007 and its Application to the Throne Room Fresco at Knossos ; Ann BRYSBAERT: Rotating Angles in Measuring the Aegean Bronze Age. The Technology of Bronze Age Painted Plaster from the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean ; Maria C. SHAW: Grids and other Drafting Devices in Minoan and other Aegean Wall Painting. A Comparative Analysis Including Egypt ; E. EXPERIMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY AND REPLICATION PROJECTS ; Elizabeth J.W. BARBER: Archaeology by Experiment and Reproduction ; Eva ANDERSSON and Marie-Louise B. NOSCH: With a Little Help from my Friends: Investigating Mycenaean Textiles with Help from Scandinavian Experimental Archaeology ; F. ENVIRONMENTAL AND BIOLOGICAL ANALYSES ; Robert ARNOTT and Elizabeth STUCKEY: Finding the Hydra: The Search for Malaria in the Prehistoric Aegean ; Sevi TRIANTAPHYLLOU: A Bioarchaeological Approach to Bronze Age Cemetery Populations from Western and Central Greek Macedonia ; Margaret SERPICO: Quantifying Resin Trade in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age ; G. ARCHITECTURAL AND CONSTRUCTIONAL STUDIES ; Donald PREZIOSI: What Does a Module Mean? ; Joseph W. SHAW: Palatial Proportions: A Study of the Relative Proportions between Minoan Palaces and Their Settlements ; David Gilman ROMANO: Minoan Surveyors and Town Planning at Gournia ; Louise A. HITCHCOCK: Louise A. HITCHCOCK: "And Above Were Costly Stones, Hewn According to Measurement:" ; Michael C. NELSON: Leveling Ashlar Walls ; H. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ; Maria Emanuela ALBERTI: Weighting and Dying between East and West Weighing Materials from LBA Aegean Funerary Contexts ; Karl M. PETRUSO: Quantal Analysis of Some Mycenaean Balance Weights ; Lorenz RAHMSTORF: The Identification of Early Helladic Weights and Their Wider Implications ; Anna MICHAILIDOU: Measuring Weight and Value in Bronze Age Economies in the Aegean and the Near East: A Discussion on Metal Axes of No Practical Use ; I. STATISTICAL ANALYSES OF CERAMICS ; Marianna NIKOLAIDOU, Nikos MEROUSIS, Aikaterini PAPANTHIMOU and Angeliki PAPASTERIOU: From Metron to Context in Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Mandalon, Northwestern Greece: The Example of Ceramics ; Iris TZACHILI: Quantitative Analysis of the Pottery from the Peak Sanctuary at Vrysinas, Rethymnon ; J. MEASURING AND LINEAR A ; Dimitri NAKASSIS and Kevin PLUTA: Linear A and Multidimensional Scaling ; Massimo PERNA: Ideograms of Vases and Fractions in Linear A Script ; K. MEASURING ACROSS SPACE AND TIME ; George F. BASS: Carolyn: A Submersible for Underwater Archaeology ; Robert LAFFINEUR and Jean-Noel ANSLIJN: Laser Plotting and 3D Reconstruction of Aegaean Archaeological Remains. From the River Meuse to the Aegaean Sea ; Benjamin R. FOSTER: The Measure of Ancient Mesopotamia ; Malcolm H. WIENER: Time Out: The Current Impasse in Bronze Age Archaeological Dating ; L. POSTERS ; Paolo BELLI: On Measuring Tholoi in the Aegean Bronze Age ; Andrew BEVAN and Doniert EVELY: The Andrew BEVAN and Doniert EVELY: The "Stone Vessels of the Bronze Age Aegean" ; Giuliana BIANCO: Two Different Building Modules of Measurement at Kommos - A Neopalatial Module in Building T and a Postpalatial Module in Building P ; Janice L. CROWLEY: IconA: Classification and Database for Aegean Glyptic ; Cesare D''ANNIBALE and Dan LONG: Replicating Bronze Age Obsidian Blade Manufacture: Towards an Assessment of the Scale of Production during the Minoan Period ; Karen Polinger FOSTER and Max BICHLER: Theran Pumice from Egyptian Graves? ; Bernice JONES: Veils and Mantles: An Investigation of the Construction and Function of the Costumes of the Veiled Dancer from Thera and the Camp Stool Banqueter from Knossos ; Walther KAMM: The Nippur-measuring-rod and its Reference to the Linear-Measure Used during the Aegean Bronze Age ; Athanasia KRAHTOPOULOU: Geomorphic Processes and the Creation of the Modern Archaeological Record of Northern Pieria, Macedonia, Greece ; Robert LAFFINEUR: Automatic Profile Drawing of Sherds and Vases at the University of Liege ; Abby LILLETHUN: The Recreation of Aegean Cloth and Clothing ; Severine LIVIN : An Advanced Skill in Hydraulic Engineering at Knossos? ; Walter MULLER : Precision Measurements of Minoan and Mycenaean Gold Rings with Ultrasound ; Steven SOETENS, Apostolos SARRIS, Klaas VANSTEENHUYSE and Sofia TOPOUZI: GIS Variations on a Cretan Theme: Minoan Peak Sanctuaries ; Gisela WALBERG and John HANCOCK : Digital Midea: An Interactive Computer Model of a Mycenaean Citadel ; John G. YOUNGER: Calculating Vessel Volumes ; M. ABSTRACTS ; Stelios ANDREOU, Sarantis DIMITRIADIS, Vassilis KILIKOGLOU, Evangelia KIRIATZI, Kostas KOTSAKIS and Alexandra TSOLAKIDOU: Measuring Demand and Supply of Mycenaean and Protogeometric Style Pottery in Late Bronze Age Macedonia with Special Reference to Thessaloniki Toumba ; Andrew BEVAN: Exploring Kythera: Island Dynamics and GIS ; Keri A. BROWN, Christine FLAHERTY, John PRAG and Terence A. BROWN: Families, Faces and Ancient DNA at Mycenae ; James CONOLLY: Quantitative Analysis of Aegean Survey Data: A Case Study from Kythera ; Charles FREDERICK, Athanasia KRAHTOPOULOU and Maria KOUSOULAKOU: Polycyclic Terracing: The View from Kythera ; Thea A. POLITIS, Meg H. ABRAHAM and J. Peter NORTHOVER: PIXE, Gold, and Granulation: Potential Applications for Measuring Social and Technological Interaction in the Aegean Bronze Age ; Sven VAN LOKEREN: Metallurgical Technologies and Production Organisation on LBA Kythera ; N. CLOSING ADDRESS ; Paul REHAK and John G. YOUNGER: Concluding Remarks.