Jordan is part both of the Fertile Crescent and the Holy Land. Its archaeological remains extend in time from prehistory to the British Empire. The country is, of course, renowned for the magnificent ruins at Petra - a World Heritage Site - and the superb remains of the Roman city of Jerash. But beyond these high profile places is a rich and varied cultural heritage. Sites are everywhere in this great outdoor museum: one tally has calculated over 25,000 sites visible above ground alone, making Jordan one of the great treasure houses of the world. Even at ground level these sites are striking and memorable, but the best view, as is so often the case, is seen from the air. The book contains over 200 high quality colour photographs, taken from the air, illustrating the breathtaking range of sites. Chapters deal with periods through history from prehistoric times through the Nabateans, Greeks and Romans, the early Islamic period, the Crusaders and Saracens, to the Ottoman and British Empires. The photographs are accompanied by descriptions of the sites pictured.

From Handaxe to Khan - Essays Presented to Peder Mortensen on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday

Nimrud is an exceptionally generous site, and has richly rewarded those that work there. It was first famous for the Assyrian bas reliefs found by the 19th century archaeologist, Austen Henry Layard, but is also famous for the thousands of ivories found during the 19th and 20th centuries. The ivories were mostly imported from the Levantine kingdoms to the west, either as tribute or booty, although there were some in the distinctive local Assyrian style. They were used to embellish furniture, as well as small objects, and are carved in a great variety of styles, but interestingly with a relatively limited repertoire of subjects. Their time of manufacture probably dates to the early centuries of the first millennium BCE, although their archaeological context is dated by the fall of the Assyrian empire in 614-612 BCE. This publication is a supplement to the volumes already published, which catalogue the ivories, and instead presents scans from the original photographs, where possible, of the ivories from Fort Shalmaneser, which have been published in the first five volumes, so that scholars can select and rearrange ivories as appropriate. In this way, the next generation of work involving deeper stylistic and analytic studies by a range of scholars asking different questions may be undertaken.

For over 500 years, from the middle Iron Age to the early Roman period, the 1st gravel terrace of the river Thames at Thornhill Farm appears to have been lived in and worked as a cattle ranch. Extensive excavations by Oxford Archaeology between 1986 and 1989 revealed large parts of the settlement, including paddocks, stock enclosures and droveways, all designed to control and manage the herds of animals. Evidence for domestic houses points to small family groups living at the site and tending to the livestock. The surrounding gravel terraces and floodplain would have formed open pastureland, upon which lay a number of other settlements, some of which were also operating specialist pastoral economies. The settlement at Thornhill Farm was constantly being developed and remodelled until the early 2nd century AD, when it was replaced by a series of trackways and some of the earliest hay meadows in Britain. What happened to the inhabitants of Thornhill Farm at this time is unknown, but it seems likely that the whole settlement was subsumed into a larger agricultural estate based at neighbouring Claydon Pike. The excavations at Thornhill Farm formed part of a co-ordinated archaeological response to the threat posed by gravel extraction during the creation of the Cotswold Water Park. This book presents the results of this phase of work, and discusses the significance of the site within the local and regional landscape.

The subject matter of archaeology is the engagement of human beings, now and in the past, with both the natural world and the material world they have created. All aspects of human activity are potentially relevant to archaeological research, and, conversely, the ways in which others, especially artists and anthropologists, have investigated the world are of interest to archaeologists. Archaeological artefacts and sites are also used by groups and nations to establish identity, and for financial gain, both through tourism and trade in antiquities. Colin Renfrew has actively engaged with art, with politics and with the antiquities trade, and has presented his ideas to broad audiences through accessible books and television programmes, as well as championing the cause of archaeology in many public roles. The papers in this volume, which have been written by colleagues and former students on the occasion of his retirement, relate to all of these subject areas, and together give some idea of the complexity of the issues raised by critical engagements with the material world, both past and present.

The discovery of the well preserved remains of a Bronze Age boat in Dover in 1992 was one of the most important post-war finds in Britain. The boat was of a stitched oak plank structure, and has been dated to 1550 BC. To mark the tenth anniversary of the boat's discovery, a conference was held in Dover in 2002. This publication brings to a wider audience sixteen of the papers presented there, allowing all those interested in this fascinating relic to share in the findings of experts from all over Europe. Subjects include: evidence of the boat's marine environment; the reconstruction of the boat; boats as Bronze Age artefacts; British prehistoric shipbuilding; the use of model ships in archaeological research; north-west European boats before AD 400; the sewn-plank boats of the Humber; the prehistoric harbours of Kent; the environmental context of the Dover boat; sea-faring voyages and rock art ships; social and religious perceptions of the ship in Bronze Age northern Europe; the heritage management of boats; the social role of the ship and the sea in Bronze Age Norway. Contributors: Peter Clark, Christopher Green, Peter Marsden, John Coates, Francis Pryor, Owain Roberts, Seán McGrail, Edwin Gifford and Joyce Gifford, Béat Arnold, Robert Van de Noort, Keith Parfitt, Mike Bailie, Kristian Kristiansen, Flemming Kaul, Thijs Maarlveld, Frode Kvalo .

This volume challenges the orthodox view that fishing and fish played only a marginal role in the economy of the ancient world. In fact, there is archaeological evidence for ancient fish processing on a commercial scale not only in the Mediterranean itself, but also on the Atlantic coast and in the Black Sea region, especially the Crimea. Our literary sources testify to the widespread culinary and medicinal use of salted fish and fermented fish sauces in antiquity, and especially in the first centuries AD. In this book, the authors assess the present state of research on ancient fishing and discuss its implications for the history of the Black Sea region, especially the period of Greek colonisation along its shores. While grain has traditionally been viewed as the main export commodity of the Pontic colonies, the existence of salting-vats on the coast of the Crimea indicate production of salt-fish or fish sauce on a large scale, presumably for export. However, many questions remain unanswered: for instance concerning ownership and organisation of the processing facilities, or how the finished product was transported to distant markets.

The tremendous collection of about 500 pre-Columbian textiles held in the National Museum of Denmark are catalogued in this slightly oversized volume. The textiles, which are mainly fragments, date from c.500 BC-1550 AD and were found in tombs in Peru, particularly at Pachacamac. Several short essays describe weaving techniques, and tools.

Few river valleys can claim the historical importance of the Tiber, and an understanding of the river and its valley is key to an understanding of Rome and its place in the ancient world. When Rome was in its ascendancy, the Tiber became a vital route for communication and trade, but when Rome went into decline, the Tiber became a buffer-zone between Rome and Byzantium. This ebb and flow, with the associated reorganisation of social, political and economic life are themes central to any study of Roman civilisation. The 19 papers published in this volume were first presented at two workshops at the British School at Rome, in 1997 and '98. These workshops came about as part of the Tiber Valley Project, which aims to examine the changing landscapes on both sides of the valley from 1000 BC to AD 1300. English and Italian text.

This collection of eight essays on the archaeology of Greek colonisation, dedicated to Sir John Boardman on the occasion of his retirement, has now been reprinted in paperback. Greek colonisation continues to be a much debated topic among ancient historians and archaeologists of the Mediterranean region. These classic essays focus on archaeological research, but they consider themes relevant to archaeologists and historians alike, including: the motivation for colonisation, identity, and social integration; technology and trade; collaboration, competition and conflict. First published in 1994, the new edition includes a new preface and corrections. Contributors: A M Snodgrass, M R Popham, D Ridgway, J N Coldstream, B B Shefton, F De Angelis, G R Tsetskhladze, and J Boardman.

This volume presents the results of work from five separate developer-funded excavations between 1992-8. Bronze Age field ditches were sealed by domestic buildings relating to the expansion of early Roman London after AD 70, contemporary with the timber amphitheatre located nearby beneath the Guildhall. The masonry fort was built in the early 2nd century AD and there was no evidence of a long-suspected predecessor. The fort's buildings seem to have gone out of use around the end of the 2nd century AD and its southern defensive ditch was backfilled. Extensive reoccupation came with the establishment of burgage plots after AD 1050. Twelfth-century development included buildings with cellars and evidence of bone- and metalworking. Birds of prey and high-quality pottery and glass imply the presence of a high-status person or property in the 13th century, but little survies from after this time.

In 1995 a second phase of excavations was undertaken by Oxford Archaeological Unit (OAU) at Reading Business Park in advance of development. This volume reports on the occupation evidence they found dating to the Neolithic, Bronze Age and medieval periods. The Neolithic features included an unusual segmented ring ditch, and a number of pits and postholes, with associated flint assemblages dating to the late Neolithic. A field system, composed of rectangular boundary ditches, was laid out in the area prior to the establishment of the late Bronze Age settlement. The evidence for the late Bronze Age settlement included five roundhouses, and a number of post-built structures. The excavators also found numerous deposits of burnt flint that were made in one area in the later Bronze Age, and over time these grew into a substantial and unusually large elongated burnt mound. The authors discuss the origin of these deposits, together with the management of the overall landscape in the later Bronze Age.

Wimbotsham is one of more than 400 moated sites in Norfolk and was investigated ahead of a sewer being laid by the local water company. This report on the excavation and associated archival research reveals Wimbotsham as a moated rectory, most probably built by the de Warenne family at the end of the 12th century. The excavation found two earth building platforms, a series of internal drainage channels, remains of a 13th- or 14th-century timber-framed building and an assemblage of finds that included domestic and some high-status objects. The site went into decline in the 15th and 16th centuries and was abandoned by 1626.

Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica publishes archaeological studies undertaken between 1953 and 1971 by the late J. B. Ward-Perkins (d. 1981) and the late R. G. Goodchild (d. 1968). It presents Ward-Perkins accounts (mostly left in advanced draft form) of 44 monuments, 35 of them certainly churches, together with plans of each made by professional architects after survey on the ground, drawings of some details and a considerable number of photographs, together with a draft overview of the buildings techniques used. Colleagues have provided introductory notes on other major features of the buildings and drawn attention to some of the problems that they raise. They have also added a brief account of other Christian buildings reported since Ward-Perkins' last visit to Cyrenaica, both in Cyrenaica itself, the late antique province of Libya Superior, and in that area of the Western Desert which formed the closely-related province of Libya Inferior.The detailed evidence collected here represents a basis for the study of late antique and early Byzantine Cyrenaica of a quality and extent that has never been available before; and is all the more important because time and chance have now damaged some of that evidence. It also gives a quite up-to-date, although very summary account of new evidence awaiting serious study; which, we may hope, will lead to further advances in our understanding of the late antique and early Byzantine periods.

This is a corpus of the best-preserved earthworks in Norfolk grassland. Each site plan is accompanied by descriptive text and a summary of the documentary evidence. The settlement earthworks are almost entirely medieval and include deserted villages and the more numerous shrunken settlements as well as manorial sites where more than a single moated platform survives. Monastic sites and castles where, in some instances, additional earthworks have been found, form two important sections. Water features include some fishponds together with plans of Norfolk's few water meadows. Ridge and furrow, another rarity in the county, also appears and the survey ends with a selection of parkland earthworks.

A thorough and detailed report on the excavation of a low-status Roman site in advance of gravel extraction in Boreham, 8 km to the north-east of Chelmsford. Whilst briefly discussing prehistoric evidence at the site relating to Neolithic deposits, early to middle Bronze Age ring-ditches, a late Bronze Age settlement and an early Iron Age building, the main focus is on the 2nd- to 4th-century Roman villa and associated settlements and deposits. The Roman aisled villa and house was found to be set within a ditched compound with a network of fields and enclosures and also encompassing a bath-house and ancillary buildings including a granary and workshop or store. The methodology and results of the excavation are rpesented in detail and analysis of finds, zoological and botanical remains attest to the economy and means of production in the site as well as its wider significance for the area. Summaries in English, French and German.