Opuscula 7 (2014) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2013. Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke. Preliminary results. By Peter M. Fischer & Teresa Bürge. With contributions by R. Árnadóttir, M. Mehofer, F. Köstelbauer, A. Satraki, L. Mazzotta, A. Trecarichi, D. Blattner, B. Stolle, & A. Miltiadous Johansson Abstract The results from a 1.3-hectare GPR survey in 2012 were confirmed during the 2013 excavation of a limited area (200 m2). Three phases of occupation were partly exposed. The most recent phase, Stratum 1, contained living and working facilities, e.g. for spinning, weaving and purple dyeing. Textile production also took place in the older Stratum 2, where the major activity was metal-working: 300 kg of remains from copperworking consist of tapped slag, furnace walls, fragments of at least five tuyères, crucible fragments, copper/bronze fragments and pieces of raw copper. Another of these unique kraters of White Painted Wheel-made Pictorial Style (WPPS) was found. It was termed “Horned God Krater” on account of one of the decorative elements. These kraters may indicate that there was a “Hala Sultan Tekke painter”. The oldest phase of occupation so…

Opuscula 7 (2014) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. Labraunda 2012-2013. A preliminary report on the work at the sanctuary. With a new reconstruction drawing of the sanctuary by Jesper Blid Kullberg and an appendix by Fredrik Tobin By Lars Karlsson, Jesper Blid Kullberg, Baptiste Vergnaud, Agneta Freccero & Fredrik Tobin Abstract This article is divided into two parts. In the first part, preliminary reports on the archaeological work conducted at the sanctuary during the years 2012 and 2013 is presented, and in the second part, two conservation projects are discussed. The first part includes a description of the excavations at the Split Rock by Lars Karlsson, an account of the excavations on the slope of the Monumental Tomb, a description of the work at the Akropolis Fortress gate by Baptiste Vergnaud, and a synopsis of the work at the M-Building. The second part starts with a report on the preparations for the stabilization of Andron A and continues with an account of the last two years of marble conservation by Agneta Freccero. The final report on the Exedra of Demetrios on the Temple Terrace will be presented…

Opuscula 7 (2014) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. Ancestors at the gate. Form, function and symbolism of the imagines maiorum. A comparative analysis of Etruscan and Roman funerary art By Chiara M. Mazzeri Abstract Scholars have interpreted the imagines maiorum (face-like representations of Roman familial ancestors), such as the ones represented in the famous Barberini statue, as wax masks that were worn by actors who impersonated the dead during funeral processions. Since members of the Roman aristocracy displayed the imagines of their ancestors who had held an important office, most scholars have concluded that the usage of the imagines was merely social and political and therefore devoid of any ritual or symbolic value. My paper, through close analysis of Roman literary and material evidence, argues that the imagines maiorum were not masks but complete portable wax heads; furthermore, that the imagines displayed in the Roman atrium, in addition to serving as status markers, played an important role in domestic rituals. There is convincing evidence that the imagines were objects of specific, periodic ritual acts (burning of incense, application of colours and laurel). Finally, I argue that the…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. Books reviewed in Opuscula 6 (2013) Jesper Blid | Building a new Rome: The imperial colony of Pisidian Antioch (25 BC–AD 700), eds. E.K. Gazda & D. Y. Ng, in collaboration with Ü. Demirer, Ann Arbor, Michigan 2011. 219 pp., 168 ills. +1 video disc. ISBN 978-0-9741873-4-1. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-06-11 Anton Bonnier | E. Farinetti, Boeotian Landscapes. A GIS-based study for the reconstruction and interpretation of the archaeological datasets of ancient Boeotia (BAR-IS, 2195), Oxford: Archaeopress 2011. xiv + 425 pp. + 1 CD. ISBN 978-1-4073-0750-3. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-06-12 Maja Kramer | G. López Monteagudo, M.L. Neira Jiménez, ‘Mosaico’, in Arte Romano de la Bética. Mosaico. Pintura. Manufacturas, ed. P. León, Sevilla: Focus-Abengoa 2010. 381 pp., 482 ills. ISBN 978-84-89895-27-0. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-06-13 Gullög Nordquist | Mesohelladika. La Grèce continentale au Bronze Moyen. Actes du colloque international organisé par l’École française d’Athènes, en collaboration avec l’American School of Classical Studies at Athens et le Netherlands Institute in Athens, Athènes, 8–12 mars 2006 (BCH Suppl., 52), eds. A. Philippa-Touchais, G. Touchais, S. Voutsaki & J. Wright, Athens 2010. 1046 pp. ISBN 978-2-86958-210-1. https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-06-14 Vassilis P. Petrakis…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. The Swedish Jordan Expedition 2011 and 2012 at Tall Abu al-Kharaz. Preliminary results from the early Iron Age occupation in Area 9 By Peter M. Fischer & Teresa Bürge. With contributions by D. Blattner, M. Alrousan & A. Abu Dalo Abstract Tall Abu al-Kharaz, a twelve hectare-large tell in the central Jordan Valley, was occupied for approximately five millennia. In earlier excavation seasons most of the early Iron Age remains were found to have been disturbed by later settlers. Between 2009 and 2012 excavations revealed an extremely well-preserved city quarter dating from around 1100 BC, which represents an essential part of the settlement history of this city. The stone-built architectural compound consists of 21 rooms, with walls still standing to a height of more than 2 m. The inventories of these rooms, which comprised more than 200 complete vessels and other objects, were remarkably intact. Amongst the finds were imports from Egypt and Phoenicia. There were also finds which are associated with the culture of the Sea Peoples/Philistines, such as several Aegean and Cypriote-style vessels and other objects. The…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. On the dating of two early 2nd century coin issues from Kos and the IGCH 1320 hoard By Kerstin Höghammar Abstract This paper presents and discusses the dates of two Koan silver issues, drachms with young Herakles/crab and club in incuse, and hemidrachms with Apollo/lyre. A date in the 190s BC is suggested on several grounds. Weights and diameters correspond with those of HI XII and XIII of the 3rd century, suggesting that the issues discussed here followed shortly thereafter. The other Koan silver issues of the 2nd century were minted on a lower weight-standard. The IGCH 1320 hoard contains examples of both issues, and the other Koan issues in it date to the middle and second half of the 3rd century or the 190s/c. 190. Groups of homonyms occur in issues dating to the end of 3rd/early 2nd century. A connection with Kalymnos seems likely for the hemidrachms, and this may suggest a date early in the 190s during the war with king Philip V of Macedonia. Bibliographical information Kerstin Höghammar, ‘On the dating of two early 2nd…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. The Makrakomi Archaeological Landscapes Project (MALP). A preliminary report on investigations carried out in 2010–2012 By Maria-Foteini Papakonstantinou, Arto Penttinen, Gregory N. Tsokas, Panagiotis I. Tsourlos, Alexandros Stampolidis, Ilias Fikos, Georgios Tassis, Konstantina Psarogianni, Lambros Stavrogiannis, Anton Bonnier, Monica Nilsson & Henrik Boman Abstract In this article we provide a preliminary report of the work carried out between 2010 and 2012 as part of the Makrakomi Archaeological Landscapes Project (MALP). The programme of research is carried out in co-operation between the Swedish Institute at Athens and the 14th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Lamia. The interdisciplinary project started in the summer of 2010, when a pilot survey was conducted in and around the hill of Profitis Elias, in the modern municipality of Makrakomi, where extensive traces of ancient fortifications are still visible. Systematic investigations have been conducted since 2011 as part of a five-year plan of research involving surface survey, geophysical survey and small-scale archaeological excavation as well as geomorphological investigation. The primary aim of MALP is to examine the archaeology and geomorphology of the western Spercheios…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. A moving story about exotica: objects’ long-distance production chains and associated identities at Tiryns, Greece By Ann Brysbaert & Melissa Vetters Abstract Studying materials through a chaîne opératoire approach is common practice in studying craft activities. Whilst unravelling a chain of production can be very rewarding, many issues still arise: can all the steps be captured even when no material evidence is present, i.e. how can we approach production chains in the case of inconsistently or partially preserved material in settlement contexts? How may the steps that we are able to observe be contextualized in order to inform us about interconnected activities? In our research project carried out at Tiryns, Greece, we map certain steps through the production and consumption journey of a series of objects and materials, some of which have been referred to as “exotica”. Our aim was to understand the life histories of those specific items, and with that, those of the people associated with them. In problematizing the etic category of exotica, this paper investigates patterns of movement that transcend the pure material aspect. By…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. Textual evidence for Aegean Late Bronze Age ritual processions By Jörg Weilhartner Abstract In the Aegean Late Bronze Age there exists rich iconographic evidence for the ritual practice of processions, demonstrating the practice’s importance within Mycenaean official cult. In contrast, due to the nature of the Linear B documents which are the records of the palace administration referring to particular aspects of the palace economy, hardly any explicit textual information about processions in Mycenaean times is available. Among the rare exceptions is the outstanding tablet Tn 316 from Pylos whose lexical items seem to point to a ritual of this kind. Moreover, the term te-o-po-ri-ja/*θεοφóρια (“the carrying of the gods”) is generally understood as the name of a religious festival in which a (terracotta) cult figurine representing a deity was carried in a procession. Some additional textual evidence on processions may be provided by terms ending in -po-ro/-φóρος. Along these lines, this paper argues that the term to-pa-po-ro may denote men whose description reflects activities they have performed in connection with processions. Similarly, it is suggested that the individuals…

Opuscula 6 (2013) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Amazon.de, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. Archaic pottery and terracottas from the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia By Alexandra Alexandridou Abstract The excavation season of 2009 in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia brought to light a deposit of Archaic pottery and associated metal and other objects in conjunction with a long terrace wall (Wall 49) southeast of the Temple of Poseidon. The deposit in question is the largest accumulation of Archaic material recovered from the entire sanctuary thus far. The fine-decorated, black-glazed and coarse pottery together with the terracotta figurines are discussed in detail in this article.  Furthermore, the results of the quantitative analysis of the pottery are presented. The study of the deposit provides an overview of the ceramic vessels and other terracotta objects originally dedicated to the deity or used in the sanctuary during the Archaic period. Moreover, based on the chronology of its deposition, it seems possible to incorporate it into a narrative of the development of the sanctuary over time. The significance of the deposit as a whole will be more fully discussed in the forthcoming final publication of the…