All content of Opuscula 13 is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. Vidracco, Braone, and San Lorenzo. Recruitment or dilectio? By Svante Fischer (Independent scholar, Sweden) & Ian N. Wood (University of Leeds, United Kingdom) Abstract This paper is a study of three solidus hoards located at strategic passages through the Italian Alps. It is argued that the hoards are connected to barbarian mercenaries in Roman service. The hoards are analysed and compared to historical sources and solidus hoards from Scandinavia. It is argued that it may be possible to distinguish between hoards that contain solidi used to pay for barbarian recruits and hoards that are proof of dilectio, bonus payments. In the latter case, it is argued that freshly minted solidi from northern Italy are more likely to represent dilectio than older and imported coins. Bibliographical information Svante Fischer & Ian N. Wood, ‘Vidracco, Braone, and San Lorenzo. Recruitment or dilectio?’, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom) 13, Stockholm 2020, 165–186. ISSN: 2000-0898. ISBN: 978-91-977799-2-0. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-13-07

All content of Opuscula 13 is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. Religion and family politics in Hellenistic Kalaureia. Three new inscriptions from the sanctuary of Poseidon By Nikolaos Papazarkadas (University of California, Berkeley, USA) & Jenny Wallensten (Swedish Institute at Athens, Greece) Abstract This article presents three unpublished Hellenistic inscriptions from the sanctuary of Poseidon in Kalaureia (modern Poros): two found during archaeological excavations on the site and one recorded in a letter that was once part of Ioannis Kapodistrias’ official correspondence. All three inscriptions were dedicatory and carved on bases supporting portrait statues. Interestingly, they were offered to Poseidon by members of a single family already known from other documents in the Kalaureian epigraphic corpus. Remarkably, eight out of the 18 inscriptions discovered in Kalaureia make repeated references to men and women of this very family, which appears to have materially dominated Poseidon’s temenos and its environs during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC through the careful placement of portraits of its members. Most of these statues were conspicuously placed by the entrance to the sanctuary, though at least one of them…

All content of Opuscula 13 is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. A Protocorinthian aryballos with a myth scene from Tegea By Erik Østby (University of Bergen, Norway) Abstract During the preparation of the new exhibition in the Museum of Tegea it was discovered that one composed fragment from a Protocorinthian aryballos with a complicated, figured representation, found during the excavations of the Norwegian Institute at Athens in the Sanctuary of Athena Alea in the 1990s, joined with another fragment found by the French excavation at the same site in the early 20th century. After the join, the interpretation of the scene must be completely changed. The aryballos has two narrative scenes in a decorative frieze: a fight between two unidentified men over a large vessel, and an unidentified myth involving the killing of a horse-like monster by two heroes, with the probable presence of Athena. Possibly this is an otherwise unknown episode from the cycle of the Argonauts, involving the Dioskouroi, perhaps also Jason and Medea. The aryballos was produced by an artist closely related to and slightly earlier than the so-called Huntsmen…

All content of Opuscula 13 is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. A Mycenaean pictorial vase from Midea By Katie Demakopoulou (Director Emerita, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece) Abstract The Greek-Swedish excavations on the Mycenaean acropolis of Midea have brought to light a large amount of fine decorated pottery, which includes numerous fragmentary vases and sherds with pictorial decoration. This material has firmly established Midea as an important find-spot of figure-style pottery, like other great Mycenaean Argive centres, such as Mycenae, Tiryns and Berbati. This paper presents a remarkable pictorial vase recently found at Midea. It is a ring-based krater, almost completely restored from fragments, decorated with a row of six birds. The bird is a common motif in Mycenaean pictorial vase painting and also well attested on many other ceramic pieces at Midea, particularly the type of the folded-wing marsh bird. This type of bird is also popular at Tiryns, providing evidence that this category of pictorial pottery from the two citadels, dated to the LH IIIB2 period, was produced in the same workshop, which must have been situated at or near Tiryns….

All content of Opuscula 13 is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2019: Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke (The Söderberg Expedition). Preliminary results, with contributions by L. Recht, B. Placiente Robedizo, C. Eriksson, L. Andersson, M. Svensson, L. Avial Chicharro, S. Hermon, M. Polig & D. Kofel By Peter M. Fischer (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) & Teresa Bürge (Austrian Academy of Sciences) Abstract The tenth season of excavations at the Late Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke was carried out in four areas: City Quarter 1 (CQ1), CQ4, City Wall 1 (CW1), and Area A (Tomb RR). The excavations in CQ1 provided additional information on the pre-LC IIIA occupation of the city. Stratum 3 which can be dated to the LC IIC (13th century BC) was further exposed. For the first time in the city even older phases, Strata 4 and 5, were found. These are tentatively dated to the LC I–II (15th to 14th century BC). In CQ4 numerous storage areas were exposed, which belong to a large compound. There is also evidence of production of textiles…

All content of Opuscula 13 is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. The 2016–2018 Greek-Swedish archaeological project at Thessalian Vlochos, Greece By Maria Vaïopoulou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa, Greece), Helene Whittaker (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Robin Rönnlund (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Fotini Tsiouka (Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa, Greece), Johan Klange (Arkeologikonsult Ltd., Sweden), Derek Pitman (Bournemouth University, United Kingdom), Rich Potter (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Lawrence Shaw (University of Winchester, United Kingdom), Josephine Hagan (Bournemouth University, United Kingdom), Ellen Siljedahl (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Matilda Forssén (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Sujatha Chandrasekaran (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), Sotiria Dandou (Swedish Institute at Athens, Greece), Veronica Forsblom Ljungdahl (National Museums of History, Sweden), Asta Pavilionytė (Bournemouth University, United Kingdom), Hayden Scott-Pratt (Bournemouth University, United Kingdom), Elisabet Schager (National Museums of History, Sweden) & Harry Manley (Bournemouth University, United Kingdom) Abstract The Vlochos Archaeological Project (2016–2018) was a Greek-Swedish archaeological investigation of the remains of the ancient urban site at Vlochos in western Thessaly, Greece. Employing a wide array of non-invasive methods, the project succeeded in completely mapping the visible remains, which had previously not…

All content of Opuscula 12 (2019) is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. Greece and the Levant in the 10th–9th centuries BC. A view from Tel Rehov By Amihai Mazar (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) & Nota Kourou (University of Athens, Greece) Abstract Tel Rehov in the Beth Shean Valley, northern Israel, yielded 14 Greek (mainly Euboean and Attic) pottery sherds from the Late Protogeometric to Middle Geometric periods. This is the largest number of Greek sherds from these periods found at a single site in the Southern Levant in stratigraphic contexts. Since the Tel Rehov strata, well-dated by a large number of 14C dates, yielded some of the richest assemblages of finds from the 10–9th centuries BC in this region, the Greek sherds provide an opportunity to examine both their absolute dating in context and to discuss the nature of the relations between the two regions. Six of the 14 sherds were published previously (Coldstream & Mazar 2003); in the present paper, we describe the finds from Tel Rehov and other sites in the Southern Levant according to five chronological divisions, update…

All content of Opuscula 12 (2019) is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. Palaepaphos-Skales Tomb 277. More prestigious burials. With an appendix by Maria A. Socratous By Vassos Karageorghis (The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus) & Efstathios Raptou (Cyprus Museum, Cyprus) Abstract Tomb 277 in the Skales cemetery at Palaepaphos, excavated by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities, is among the richest ever found in the south-west of the island. It dates to the Cypro-Geometric III period (c. 900–750 BC) and was used for multiple burials of important members of the Palaepaphian society, namely warriors and important women (priestesses of the Great Goddess?) judging from the abundant offerings of arms and armour as well as gold jewellery respectively (including gold plaques embossed with the head of the Egyptian goddess Hathor). Notable among the offerings are two bronze basins, six small hemispherical bronze bowls, two bronze mace-heads (symbols of authority), a bronze shield of a rare type, and two richly decorated belts of oriental type. We also mention two iron swords and a bronze spearhead. Among the pottery we note the high percentage of Phoenician imports. Both inhumations…

All content of Opuscula 12 (2019) is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2018: Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke (The Söderberg Expedition). Preliminary results, with contributions by J. Tracz and D. Kofel By Peter M. Fischer (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) & Teresa Bürge (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria) Abstract During the ninth field season at the Late Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke, excavations in City Quarter 1 (CQ1) continued and brought to light industrial and domestic structures belonging to three phases of occupation (Strata 3–1) dating to the 13th and 12th centuries BC (LC IIC–IIIA). Finds of more than half a ton of copper slag together with remains of furnaces and tuyères indicate intensive urban copper production. There is also evidence of textile production in CQ1. A magnetometer survey of roughly 23 ha resulted in the discovery of another large city quarter (CQ4) between CQ1 and Area A (the cemetery) with regularly arranged stone-built compounds of imposing dimensions intersected by streets. Several massive walls are faced with ashlar slabs which distinguishes this quarter from the industrial and…

All content of Opuscula 12 (2019) is available with open access. Printed edition distributed by Eddy.se AB. Also available at Amazon.com, Adlibris, and Bokus. View volume at ERIH PLUS. Plants in the sanctuary. Charred seeds from Areas C and D at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros By Anaya Sarpaki (Independent scholar, Greece) Abstract Excavations at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaueria in the years 2003–2005 produced a small but quite interesting assemblage of charred seeds and fruits. Their analysis adds to a small existing body of such evidence and sheds light on several issues including aspects of the physical environment in the past, the agricultural economy in the area of the sanctuary, the role of plants in cult, and also the preparation and eating of plant foods and the possible alternative uses of them. The charred seeds that are presented here are part of a larger body of bioarchaeological remains that illuminate daily life in the sanctuary. Bibliographical information Anaya Sarpaki, ’Plants in the sanctuary. Charred seeds from Areas C and D at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros’, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome (OpAthRom) 12, Stockholm 2019, 271–286. ISSN: 2000-0898. ISBN:…