Opuscula 11 (2018) is available for purchase at Amazon.com, Adlibris, Bokus and bokorder.se. Distributed by eddy.se ab. Preliminary report of the Malthi Archaeological Project, 2015–2016 By Rebecca Worsham (Smith College), Michael Lindblom (Uppsala University) & Claire Zikidi (Independent scholar, Greece). Abstract This article offers preliminary results and tentative interpretations of new work at the previously excavated settlement of Malthi in Messenia, south-west Pelopponese. The work included an intensive survey of the site architecture, as well as test excavations of spaces within and outside of the fortification wall. We propose updated observations on the chronology and phasing of the site based on pottery dates from the new excavation and comment on the preserved architecture as it compares to other settlements of the period. The settlement appears to have been first inhabited in the second half of the Middle Helladic period. Little, if any, architecture from this phase can be securely identified today. At the beginning of the Late Helladic period a fortification was erected, and the entire layout of the site was transformed. The construction likely took place as a single project, as argued by the original excavator, and so indicates a significant investment of labor and capital. Such an undertaking…

Opuscula 8 (2015) is now available for purchase and free download at Bokorder.se. Also available at Amazon.com, Bokus.com and Adlibris.com. The Swedish Jordan Expedition 2014 at Tall Abu al-Kharaz. Preliminary results from Areas 12 and 13 By Peter M. Fischer & Teresa Bürge Abstract In previous seasons excavations have concentrated on the periphery of the city of Tall Abu al-Kharaz, a multi-period tell in the Central Jordan Valley. Tall Abu al-Kharaz flourished from the Early Bronze to Islamic times, from roughly 3200 BC to the 10th century AD. The main object of the field work in 2014 was to investigate the area around the geographical centre of the city (Area 12). Preference was given to further investigation of the Iron Age sequence, i.e. the period from the 12th to the 7th centuries BC (local Phases IX–XV). Another task was to extend the excavations in the northern part of the city, Area 7, which produced essential information on the Iron Age, towards the south (Area 13) in order to generate a coherent picture of Iron Age occupation in the city’s northern half. Domestic structures and a system of fortified walls were uncovered. The rich find assemblage confirmed connections with the Cypriote…

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 Swedish Jordan Expedition 2013 at Tall Abu al-Kharaz. Preliminary results from Areas 9, 10 and 11 By Peter M. Fischer & Teresa Bürge Abstract The Swedish excavations at Tall Abu al-Kharaz, a twelve-hectare tell in the central Jordan Valley, continued in 2013 in order to shed further light on the Iron Age occupation of this city that was first settled around 3200 BC, corresponding to the conventional Early Bronze Age IB. The Iron Age occupation lasted from the 12th century BC until 732 BC, when the city was conquered by the Neo-Assyrians. From 2009 to 2012, excavations in Area 9 revealed an exceptionally well-preserved two-storey compound dating from Iron Age I (local Phase IX), i.e. around 1100 BC. The stone compound was exposed for a length of 46 m. It consists of 21 rooms, with walls still standing to a height of more than 2 m. Several hundred complete vessels and other objects point to the extensive contacts of a fairly rich society. Contacts with the Aegean and Cyprus, through offshoots of the Sea Peoples/Philistines, and with Egypt…

Published by the Swedish Institute at Athens. Distributed by Astrom Editions The function of the “Minoan villa”. Proceedings of the Eight International Symposium at the Swedish Institute at Athens, 6–8 June, 1992 Edited by Robin Hägg These twenty papers, presented at an international conference in Athens, deal with various aspects of the so-called villas in Neopalatial Crete and their possible predecessors or equivalents in the preceding, Protopalatial period. They are followed by transcripts of the discussions of the symposium. Among the problems treated are: the origin of the “villa system”, the definition of the “villa”, the architectural analysis of buildings and building complexes, the magico-religious background of the “villa”, the role of religious painting, the origin of the Cretan andreion, and a study of ceramic exchange between towns and outlying settlements in Neopalatial eastern Crete. Special discussions concern the functional analysis of the architecture, administration and bureaucracy, with special reference to seals, sealings and Linear A tablets and political geography. Contents ‘Preface’, 7 Henri van Effenterre & Micheline van Effenterre, ‘Towards a study of Neopalatial “villas”: modern words for Minoan things’, 9–13 Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier, ‘The origins of the Minoan “villa” system’, 15–19 J.A. MacGillivray, ‘The Cretan countryside in the Old…

Published by the Swedish Institute at Athens. View record at WorldCat. The function of the Minoan palaces. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium at the Swedish Institute in Athens, 10–16 June, 1984 Edited by Robin Hägg & Nanno Marinatos Fourty-seven papers on the functions of the palace, the most characteristic phenomenon of the Minoan Bronze Age civilization in Crete, read at an international conference in Athens; the papers are followed by transcripts of the discussion of the symposium. The papers are arranged in eight groups, discussing (1) background (Near Eastern and Egyptian economy), parallels (Mycenaean palaces) and methodology; (2) the emergence of the Cretan palaces; (3) the relations of the palace with town and territory; (4) recent archaeological finds; (5) the palaces as ceremonial and religious centres; (6) the palaces as centres of trade and manufacture; (7) the administrative systems of the Minoans and Mycenaeans; and (8) the function of the frescoes in the palace. For James Walter Graham and to the memory of Spyridon Marinatos. Contents Preface (p. 9) Background and methodology Benjamin R. Foster | The Late Bronze Age palace economy: A view from the East (pp. 11–16) Wolfgang Helck | The dissolution of the palace economy in…