In a companion book to the best-selling Stories from Ancient Egypt, Joyce Tyldesley re-tells some of the most interesting and entertaining myths and legends from the Classical world. These stories tell us how the spider spun the first web, how a simple ball of string defeated the fearsome minotaur, and how Romulus founded the mighty city of Rome. The “this book belongs to” introduction teaches the reader how to write their name using ancient Greek letters, and their age using Roman numerals. Each of the stories includes a question and answer section for enthusiastic young archaeologists. The book is illustrated with imaginative and amusing line-drawings by acclaimed artist and archaeologist Julian Heath. Stories from Ancient Greece and Rome is primarily aimed at children between the ages of 7-11, but it offers an entertaining and informative introduction to the myths of ancient Greece and Rome to readers of all ages.

Cults Loch, at Castle Kennedy in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, lies within a landscape rich in prehistoric cropmark sites and within the loch itself are two crannogs, one of which has been the focus of this study. A palisaded enclosure and a promontory fort on the shores of the loch have also been excavated. The Cults Loch crannog is only the second prehistoric site in Scotland to be dated by dendrochronology and analysis has revealed the very short duration of activity on the crannog in the middle of the 5th century BC. Bayesian analysis of the dating evidence from all the excavated sites has yielded a chronological sequence which suggests a dynamic and sequential settlement pattern across the landscape. The implications of this sequence for later prehistoric settlement throughout south-west Scotland are explored. The Cults Loch Landscape Project arose out of the Scottish Wetland Archaeology Programme (SWAP), the objective of which is to fully integrate the wetland archaeological resource of Scotland into the more mainstream narratives of ‘dryland’ archaeology. The Cults Loch project has sought to bridge this apparent divide between ‘wetland’ and ‘dryland’ by focusing on a wetland site, the crannog, which lies at the centre of a prehistoric landscape, rather than being peripheral to it. Thus, the wealth of well-preserved evidence from the crannog, particularly the rich ecofactual assemblages, as well as the higher chronological resolution possible through the dendro-dating of waterlogged timbers, are brought to bear on our understanding of the evidence from the cropmark sites around the loch. The role and function of crannogs are also explored via the relationship between the crannog in Cults Loch and its social and physical landscape.

The Late Iron Age coinage of England has long been recognised as an invaluable potential source of information about pre-Roman Britain, although its purpose has been much debated and never clearly established. Most research using this source material has been either detailed numismatic studies, which seek to categorise and tabulate the types of coin and order them chronologically based on stylistic change, or more general attempts to draw out meaning from the imagery or inscriptions on the coins. In Made for Trade, John Talbot presents the findings of a decade-long investigation that has challenged many pre-conceptions about the period. The coinage of the Iceni in East Anglia was used as the raw material with a view to establishing its original purpose and what it can tell us about society and the use of coinage in the Late Iron Age of this region. A die-study was performed on every known example – over 10,000 – coins. Each coin was created by a metal pellet being struck by two dies, and the die-study sought to identify the dies used in each of the 20,000 strikes. Because dies wear, change and are replaced, this enabled definitive chronologies to be constructed and the underlying organisation of the coinage to be fully appreciated for the first time. It is believed to be one of the largest such studies ever attempted and the first of this scale for a British Iron Age coinage. Talbot further explores production, weight and metal content as the coinage evolved, the use of imagery and inscriptions, and patterns of hoarding. These various threads demonstrate that the coinage was economic in nature and reflected development of a more sophisticated monetary society than had previously been thought possible, contradicting many previous assumptions.

This latest volume in the Swedish Rock Art series bridges the gap between analysis and interpretation of rock art imagery, location and chronology in the northern and southern regions of Scandinavia. Long viewed as belonging to distinctive regional traditions, there are many underlying similarities, themes and formats in common, overlain by regional complexities and variations. The authors explore new approaches and methods of analysis. There has been a tendency in rock art research to focus merely on either the Northern Tradition or the Southern Tradition of Scandinavian rock art and there is certainly a need to broaden this discussion. This collection of new research papers stimulates different perspectives and themes that place emphasis on the intersection between these traditions. North meets South puts the focus on Scandinavian rock art regardless of regions and traditions. Even though there are obvious differences in space and time regarding these two traditions, there are also features and formats in common across both time and space, and a significant theme running through the contributions presented here is to highlight the interaction between these rock art traditions. A major conclusion to be drawn from this exercise is the great complexity and variation of rock art and the need for perspectives comparing various regions across Scandinavia. This volume is the outcome of an international symposium organised by the Swedish Rock Art Research Archives (SHFA).

Twenty-four experts from the fields of Ancient History, Semitic philology, Assyriology, Classical Archaeology, and Classical Philology come together in this volume to explore the role of textiles in ancient religion in Greece, Italy, The Levant and the Near East. Recent scholarship has illustrated how textiles played a large and very important role in the ancient Mediterranean sanctuaries. In Greece, the so-called temple inventories testify to the use of textiles as votive offerings, in particular to female divinities. Furthermore, in several cults, textiles were used to dress the images of different deities. Textiles played an important role in the dress of priests and priestesses, who often wore specific garments designated by particular colours. Clothing regulations in order to enter or participate in certain rituals from several Greek sanctuaries also testify to the importance of dress of ordinary visitors. Textiles were used for the furnishings of the temples, for example in the form of curtains, draperies, wall-hangings, sun-shields, and carpets. This illustrates how the sanctuaries were potential major consumers of textiles; nevertheless, this particular topic has so far not received much attention in modern scholarship. Furthermore, our knowledge of where the textiles consumed in the sanctuaries came from, where they were produced, and by who is extremely limited. Textiles and Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean examines the topics of textile production in sanctuaries, the use of textiles as votive offerings and ritual dress using epigraphy, literary sources, iconography and the archaeological material itself.

This collection of papers by an international cohort of contributors explores the nature of the maritime connections that appear to have existed in the Transmanche/English Channel Zone during later prehistory. Organised into three themes, ‘Movement and Identity in the Transmanche Zone’; ‘Travel and exchange’; ‘Identity and Landscape’, the papers seek to articulate notions of frontier, mobility and identity from the end of the 3rd to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, a time when the archaeological evidence suggests that the sea facilitated connections between peoples on both sides of the Channel rather than acting as a barrier as it is so often perceived today. Recent decades have since a massive increase in large-scale excavation programmes on either side of the Channel in advance of major infra-structure and urban development, resulting in the acquisition of huge, complex new datasets enabling new insights into later prehistoric life in this crucially important region. Papers consider the role of several key archaeologists in transforming our appreciation of the connectivity of the sea in prehistory; consider the extent to which the Channel zone developed into a closely unified cultural zone during later Bronze Age in terms of communities that serviced the movement of artefacts across the Channel with both sides sharing widely in the same artefacts and social practices; examine funerary practices and settlement evidence and consider the relationship between communities in social, cultural and ideological terms; and consider mechanisms for the transmission of ideas and how they may be reflected in the archaeological record.

Engaging with the Dead adopts a cross-disciplinary, archaeologically focused, approach to explore a variety of themes linked to the interpretation of mortuary traditions, death and the ways of disposing of the dead. Nineteen papers highlight the current vitality of ‘death studies’ and the potential of future research and discoveries. Contributors explore changing beliefs and practices over time, considering how modern archaeology, ethnography and historical records can aid our interpretations of the past, as well as considering how past practices may have influenced understandings of death and dying within the modern world. It is clear that there are very significant variations in the quantity of dead that appear in the archaeological record over time, and the contributions to this volume attempt to understand why that might be the case. By bringing together papers from a variety of specialists working within Europe and the Near East, we investigate the pivotal role of death studies in the 21st century, providing a case for the retention of human remains in archaeological collections. Engaging with the Dead aims to set period specific contributions within a broader perspective and integrates papers from bioarchaeologists, theologists, textual specialists, as well as archaeologists. It provides an in-depth introduction to the multitude of ways in which the mortuary record can be interrogated and interpreted and explores the role of archaeology and theology within contemporary social studies. This volume challenges our current understanding and conceptualisation of mortuary practices in the ancient and contemporary world.

The question of how to conceptualize the role of technological innovations is of crucial importance for understanding the mechanisms and rhythms of long-term cultural change in prehistoric and early historic societies. The changes that have come about have often been modelled as gradual and linear, innovations have been considered positively as a progress in the development of humankind and the focus has been on the localisation of the origin of innovations and the routes of their spread. Appropriating Innovations goes beyond the current discussion by shedding light on condition that may facilitate the rapid spread of technological innovation and on processes involved in the integration of new technologies into the life world of the appropriating societies. In particular, papers concentrate on two key innovations, namely the transmission of the various components of the so-called “Secondary Products Revolution” in parts of the Near East and Europe during the 4th millennium BCE and the appropriation of early bronze casting technology, which spread from the Near East to Europe and China in the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BCE. Of particular interest is non-technological knowledge that is transmitted together with the technological, the latter being always deeply interconnected with the communication of social practices, ideas and myths. The acceptance of new technologies, therefore, requires the willingness to change existing world views and modify them due to the potentials and problems which are connected with the new technology. Contributions, therefore, concentrate on the conditions facilitating or hindering the spread of innovations and the transformative power of these innovations in the appropriating society. They analyse how the introduction of novel technologies and the associated non-technological knowledge led to a transformation of existing economic systems and the underlying social orders in Late Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Eurasia by integrating innovative methodological approaches and contextual studies.

Major recent excavations have shed much light on the complexity of Iron Age society and religion in southern Palestine, a region where both Judeans and Edomites lived. However, it is not clear whether the religious practices attested at these sites were a reflection of localised customs or were common rituals for peoples of Cisjordan and we do not know their extent. An isolated shrine site at Wadi ath-Thamad Site WT-13 in northern Moab which contained numerous finds of Iron Age figurines and statues has been the subject of detailed excavation. The rich harvest of figurines, ceramic statues, beads, miniature ceramic vessels, architectural models, faunal remains and shells and fossils constitutes the evidence for repeated cultic activities. Although dating to the Iron Age at the time of the consolidation of the kingdom of Moab, there is insufficient evidence at present to determine the full range of cultic practices and deities venerated by the peoples of the lands within ancient Moab and by those visitors to the shrine. The links between WT-13 and the surrounding town sites is only now coming to light with excavation at Atarus and Khirbat al-Mudayna, as well as at the Ammonite site of Tall Damiyah in the Jordan Valley, where a comparable shrine has recently been uncovered. WT-13 clearly serves as a link between the Jordan Valley and the Negev, adding to our knowledge of local and foreign influences in the region during the Iron Age.

These twenty-three papers focus on recent research into the Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant, a murky period of human history (ca 45,000 to 20,000 years ago) during which modern patterns of human behaviour and communication became the norm. The vast majority of archaeological data from this period relates to chipped stone tools and most contributors focus on defining and distinguishing the two main traditions in lithic technology - the Levantine 'Aurignacian' and the 'Ahmarian'. Some papers report on recent fieldwork, others seek to define and explain reasons for variation and change in material culture. Do lithic traditions represent different corporate groups of hunter-gatherers, or can variation be explained by other factors, such as adaptations to local landscapes and environments or changing patterns of mobility? An appendix provides a comprehensive list of available Upper Palaeolithic 14C dates in the Near East. Most of the papers derive from a conference session on the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic, held as part of the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting in 2000.

The Earlier Iron Age (c. 800-400 BC) has often eluded attention in British Iron Age studies. Traditionally, we have been enticed by the wealth of material from the later part of the millennium and by developments in southern England in particular, culminating in the arrival of the Romans. The result has been a chronological and geographical imbalance, with the Earlier Iron Age often characterised more by what it lacks than what it comprises: for Bronze Age studies it lacks large quantities of bronze, whilst from the perspective of the Later Iron Age it lacks elaborate enclosure. In contrast, the same period on mainland Europe yields a wealth of burial evidence with links to Mediterranean communities and so has not suffered in quite the same way. Gradual acceptance of this problem over the past decade, along with the corpus of new discoveries produced by developer-funded archaeology, now provides us with an opportunity to create a more balanced picture of the Iron Age in Britain as a whole. The twenty-six papers in the book seek to establish what we now know (and do not know) about Earlier Iron Age communities in Britain and their neighbours on the Continent. The authors engage with a variety of current research themes, seeking to characterise the Earlier Iron Age via the topics of landscape, environment, and agriculture; material culture and everyday life; architecture, settlement, and social organisation; and with the issue of transition - looking at how communities of the Late Bronze Age transform into those of the Earlier Iron Age, and how we understand the social changes of the later first millennium BC. Geographically, the book brings together recent research from regional studies covering the full length of Britain, as well as taking us over to Ireland, across the Channel to France, and then over the North Sea to Denmark, the Low Countries, and beyond.

The nature and causes of the transformation in settlement, social structure, and material culture that occurred in Britain during the Later Iron Age (c. 400-300 BC to the Roman conquest) have long been a focus of research. In the past, however, there was a tendency for attention to be directed mostly to southern England and the increased manifestations of Gaulish and Roman influence apparent there towards the end of this period. For the most part, developments in other regions were assumed to be secondary in character and of relatively little significance. Thanks to new work, this viewpoint can no longer be sustained. Throughout Britain, the extent and vitality of the social changes taking place during the later first millennium BC is becoming more apparent, as is the long-term character of many of the processes involved. The time is ripe therefore for new narratives of the Later Iron Age to be created, drawing on the burgeoning material from developer-funded archaeology and the Portable Antiquities Scheme, as well as on new methodological and theoretical approaches. The thirty-one papers collected here seek to re-conceptualise our visions of Later Iron Age societies in Britain by examining regions and topics that have received less attention in the past and by breaking down the artificial barriers often erected between artefact analysis and landscape studies. Themes considered include the expansion and enclosure of settlement, production and exchange, agricultural and social complexity, treatment of the dead, material culture and identity, at scales ranging from the household to the supra-regional. At the same time, the inclusion of papers on Ireland, northern France, the Low Countries, Denmark, and Germany allows insular Later Iron Age developments to be placed in a wider geographical context, ensuring that Britain is no longer studied in isolation.

Since the earliest use of pottery, vessels have been associated with both the general shape and specific parts of the human body. The production of human-shaped pottery might be understood as one element of the spectrum of figural art in prehistoric communities. The idea of studying anthropomorphic pottery and the return of human beings into a body made of clay, which forms the core theme of this collection of 12 papers, stems from work on anthropomorphic features of Neolithic communities between the Near East and Europe. Contributors are engaged in questions about the analysis of human features and characteristics on vessels, their occurrence, function and disposal. Beginning with the European Neolithic and moving on through the Bronze and Iron Ages, papers focus on diachronic archaeological patterns and contexts as well as on the theoretical background of this particular type of container in order to shed light on similarities and differences through the ages and to understand possibilities and limits of interpretation.

Children, Death and Burials assembles a panorama of studies with a focus on juvenile burials; the 16 papers have a wide geographic and temporal breadth and represent a range of methodological approaches. All have a similar objective in mind, however, namely to understand how children were treated in death by different cultures in the past; to gain insights concerning the roles of children of different ages in their respective societies and to find evidence of the nature of past adult–child relationships and interactions across the life course. The contextualisation and integration of the data collected, both in the field and in the laboratory, enables more nuanced understandings to be gained in relation to the experiences of the young in the past. A broad range of issues are addressed within the volume, including the inclusion/exclusion of children in particular burial environments and the impact of age in relation to the place of children in society. Child burials clearly embody identity and ‘the domestic child’, ‘the vulnerable child’, ‘the high status child’, ‘the cherished child’, ‘the potential child’, ‘the ritual child’ and the ‘political child’, and combinations thereof, are evident throughout the narratives. Investigation of the burial practices afforded to children is pivotal to enlightenment in relation to key facets of past life, including the emotional responses shown towards children during life and in death, as well as an understanding of their place within the social strata and ritual activities of their societies.

Beads, beadwork, and personal ornaments are made of diverse materials such as shell, bone, stones, minerals, and composite materials. Their exploration from geographical and chronological settings around the world offers a glimpse at some of the cutting edge research within the fast growing field of personal ornaments in humanities’ past. Recent studies are based on a variety of analytical procedures that highlight humankind’s technological advances, exchange networks, mortuary practices, and symbol-laden beliefs. Papers discuss the social narratives behind bead and beadwork manufacture, use and disposal; the way beads work visually, audibly and even tactilely to cue wearers and audience to their social message(s). Understanding the entangled social and technical aspects of beads require a broad spectrum of technical and methodological approaches including the identification of the sources for the raw material of beads. These scientific approaches are also combined in some instances with experimentation to clarify the manner in which beads were produced and used in past societies.

Puṣpikā Volume 4 contains the proceedings of the seventh International Indology Graduate Research Symposium (Leiden 2015). The fourteen papers included here cover a rich variety of topics related to the intellectual traditions of South Asia such as grammar, poetry and philosophy, examined from a plurality of disciplinary perspectives, with a particular emphasis on philology, history and sociology. The first four articles of focus on the Sanskrit language, from the strictly linguistic and historical perspective to the wider political issue of its uses and abuses. The second section deals with issues in poetry, aesthetics and performative arts, ranging from classical Sanskrit mahākāvyas to contemporary Kathak dance. The third section is focused on the philosophical traditions of South Asia (and beyond), with an eye to both a strictly historical approach and a more argumentative and evaluative one. Finally material culture and its relations to both the historical and the ideological are the themes treated in the last section of the volume.