In this book, Anne Porter explores the idea that mobile and sedentary members of the ancient world were integral parts of the same social and political groups in greater Mesopotamia during the period ...4000 to 1500 BCE. She draws on a wide range of archaeological and cuneiform sources to show how networks of social structure, political and religious ideology, and everyday as well as ritual practice worked to maintain the integrity of those groups when the pursuit of different subsistence activities dispersed them over space. These networks were dynamic, shaping many of the key events and innovations of the time, including the Uruk expansion and the introduction of writing, so-called secondary state formation and the organization and operation of government, the literary production of the Third Dynasty of Ur and the first stories of Gilgamesh, and the emergence of the Amorrites in the second millennium BCE.
The archaeological record is a combination of what is seen by eye, as well as the microscopic record revealed with the help of instrumentation. The information embedded in the microscopic record can ...significantly add to our understanding of past human behaviour, provided this information has not been altered by the passage of time. Microarchaeology seeks to understand the microscopic record in terms of the type of information embedded in this record, the materials in which this information resides, and the conditions under which a reliable signal can be extracted. This book highlights the concepts needed to extract information from the microscopic record. Intended for all archaeologists and archaeological scientists, it will be of particular interest to students who have some background in the natural sciences as well as archaeology.
Networked spaces Abdelrahman, Ali Mohamed; Ayenachew, Deresse; Barge, Olivier ...
07/2022
eBook, Book
Open access
The 34 articles published in this volume form the proceedings of the 9th Red Sea conference held at Lyon in July 2019, whose core topic was the “spatiality of networks in the Red Sea”, including the ...western Indian Ocean. In the networked space that the Erythra Thalassa never ceased to be, stable factors such as landscape, climate, and wind patterns have been constantly entangled with more dynamic elements, such as human activity. The contributors to this volume explored how the former were integrated into the countless networks formed by humans in the region, and how these were impacted by spatial constraints over the long course of history. This volume offers a wide range of stimulating contributions. The first articles are devoted to medieval and modern European sources on the Red Sea and its exploration, and to the networks of knowledge dissemination about the region. They are followed by papers relating to the main nodes, the ports and islands of the Red Sea. Several articles are then focusing on the agency of hinterland populations in the networks, and the relationships between the regions bordering the Red Sea and central powers that governed them, often from distant lands. Production and consumption networks are the subject of the next articles, to assess the extent and nature of exchanges and to shed light on the archaeology of circulations. The logistics of exploration, exploitation and trade in the regions bordering the Red Sea are then examined. The last series of papers focuses on regions where archaeological work started only recently: Somaliland, Tigray, and the Horn of Africa. Thanks to all the participants, whether they have exploited new data or re‑examined long-known material, the 9th edition of the “Red Sea Project” gave rise to vibrant debates, showing that the Erythra Thalassa remains an endless source of knowledge.
Archaeological Oceanography is the definitive book on the newly emerging field of deep-sea archaeology. Marine archaeologists have been finding and excavating underwater shipwrecks since at least the ...early 1950s, but until recently their explorations have been restricted to depths considered shallow by oceanographic standards. This book describes the latest advances that enable researchers to probe the secrets of the deep ocean, and the vital contributions these advances offer to archaeology and fields like maritime history and anthropology. Renowned oceanographer Robert Ballard--who stunned the world with his discovery of the Titanic deep in the North Atlantic--has gathered together the pioneers of archaeological oceanography, a cross-disciplinary group of archaeologists, oceanographers, ocean engineers, and anthropologists who have undertaken ambitious expeditions into the deep sea. In this book, they discuss the history of archaeological oceanography and the evolution and use of advanced deep-submergence technology to locate and excavate ancient and modern shipwrecks and cultural and other sites deep under water. They offer examples from their own expeditions and explain the challenges future programs face in obtaining access to the resources needed to carry out this important and exciting research. The contributors are Robert D. Ballard, Ali Can, Dwight F. Coleman, Mike J. Durbin, Ryan Eustace, Brendan Foley, Cathy Giangrande, Todd S. Gregory, Rachel L. Horlings, Jonathan Howland, Kevin McBride, James B. Newman, Dennis Piechota, Oscar Pizarro, Christopher Roman, Hanumant Singh, Cheryl Ward, and Sarah Webster.
This volume is a critical study of recent archaeology in the Western Wall Plaza area, Jerusalem. Considered one of the holiest places on Earth for Jews and Muslims, it is also a place of controversy, ...where the State marks ‘our’ remains for preservation and adoration and ‘theirs’ for silencing.
The publication of the 18th Annual Southern Conference proceedings is the fifth volume in an ongoing publication series of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Southern district in cooperation with the ...Department of Biblical Studies, Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. The present book contains sixteen scientifically peer-reviewed articles, seven in English, nine in Hebrew. The majority of the articles were presented at the conference in March of 2022. The articles include new findings in archaeological excavations and research of Israel's south, conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and by Ben Gurion University in the Negev, as well as articles on Historical Archaeology of the south and new archaeological excavations and research conducted by various institutions along the "Judean Kings' Trail", at sites along its route.
Late antique sites are often excavated badly and are hardly ever published in full, especially in the East. This volume seeks to provide a critique of this situation and exemplars of best practice. ...It will be an important reference work for scholars engaged in fieldwork and those seeking to use archaeological evidence in historical discussions.
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