Global Perspectives on Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology – serie

This book explores the place of birds in Roman myth and everyday life, focusing primarily on the transitional period of 100 BCE to 100 CE within the Italian peninsula.A diverse range of topics is considered in order to build a broad overview of the subject. Beginning with an appraisal of omens, augury, and auspices – including the ‘sacred chickens’ consulted by generals before battle – it goes on to examine how Romans farmed birds, hunted them, and kept them as pets. It demonstrates how the ownership and consumption of birds were used to communicate status and prestige, and how bird consumption mirrored wider economic and social trends. Each topic adopts an interdisciplinary approach, considering literary evidence alongside art, material culture, zooarchaeology, and modern ornithological knowledge. The inclusion of zooarchaeology adds another dimension to the work and highlights the value of using animals and faunal remains to interpret the past.Studying the Roman view of birds offers great insight into how they conceived of their relationship with the gods and how they stratified and organised their society. This book is a valuable resource for bird lovers and researchers alike, particularly those studying animals in the ancient world.

This book explores the place of birds in Roman myth and everyday life, focusing primarily on the transitional period of 100 BCE to 100 CE within the Italian peninsula.A diverse range of topics is considered in order to build a broad overview of the subject. Beginning with an appraisal of omens, augury, and auspices – including the ‘sacred chickens’ consulted by generals before battle – it goes on to examine how Romans farmed birds, hunted them, and kept them as pets. It demonstrates how the ownership and consumption of birds were used to communicate status and prestige, and how bird consumption mirrored wider economic and social trends. Each topic adopts an interdisciplinary approach, considering literary evidence alongside art, material culture, zooarchaeology, and modern ornithological knowledge. The inclusion of zooarchaeology adds another dimension to the work and highlights the value of using animals and faunal remains to interpret the past.Studying the Roman view of birds offers great insight into how they conceived of their relationship with the gods and how they stratified and organised their society. This book is a valuable resource for bird lovers and researchers alike, particularly those studying animals in the ancient world.

This book provides the first detailed study of the water supply of households in antiquity. Chapters explore settings from Classical Greece to the Late Roman Empire across a wide variety of environments, from dry deserts and moderate Mediterranean zones to wet and temperate climates further north.The different case studies presented in each chapter are united by three intimately interconnected aspects. The first, rainwater harvesting in cisterns, provides detailed techno-hydraulic investigations of the household water supply systems. The second aspect, households and water at the margins, stresses how domestic water supply systems were successfully adapted to unusually harsh environmental conditions. The third, other waters for houses, focuses on other types of water supply systems (rivers, water-bearers, stepped pools, wells) and their life biographies. As shown by the different chapters, a careful study of a household’s water supply is a rich source of evidence for understanding everyday decisions, anxieties, and changes in life. They also build towards a greater understanding of the social inequalities that are at play in the ancient Mediterranean and beyond, providing a wealth of new research to greatly augment our understanding of water as a resource in the ancient Mediterranean.Providing a new and important perspective on a central part of everyday life in the ancient world, this book is aimed at archaeologists and historians of the ancient Mediterranean, notably the Greek and Roman worlds, especially those with an interest in ancient households and water culture.

This book provides the first detailed study of the water supply of households in antiquity. Chapters explore settings from Classical Greece to the Late Roman Empire across a wide variety of environments, from dry deserts and moderate Mediterranean zones to wet and temperate climates further north.The different case studies presented in each chapter are united by three intimately interconnected aspects. The first, rainwater harvesting in cisterns, provides detailed techno-hydraulic investigations of the household water supply systems. The second aspect, households and water at the margins, stresses how domestic water supply systems were successfully adapted to unusually harsh environmental conditions. The third, other waters for houses, focuses on other types of water supply systems (rivers, water-bearers, stepped pools, wells) and their life biographies. As shown by the different chapters, a careful study of a household’s water supply is a rich source of evidence for understanding everyday decisions, anxieties, and changes in life. They also build towards a greater understanding of the social inequalities that are at play in the ancient Mediterranean and beyond, providing a wealth of new research to greatly augment our understanding of water as a resource in the ancient Mediterranean.Providing a new and important perspective on a central part of everyday life in the ancient world, this book is aimed at archaeologists and historians of the ancient Mediterranean, notably the Greek and Roman worlds, especially those with an interest in ancient households and water culture.

This volume substantiates the island of Cyprus as an important player in the history of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, and presents new theoretical and analytical approaches.The Cypriot Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age are characterised by an increasing complexity of social and political organisation, economic systems, and networks. The book discusses and defines how specific types of material datasets and assemblages, such as architecture, artefacts, and ecofacts, and their contextualisation can form the basis of interpretative models of social structures and networks in ancient Cyprus. This is explored through four main themes: approaches to social dynamics; social and economic networks and connectivity; adaptability and agency; and social dynamics and inequality. The variety and transition of social structures on the island are discussed on multiple scales, from the local and relatively short-term to island-wide and eastern Mediterranean-wide and the longue durée. The focus of study ranges from urban to non-urban contexts and is reflected in settlement, funerary, and other ritual contexts. Connections, both within the island and to the broader Eastern Mediterranean, and how these impact social and economic developments on the island, are explored. Discussions revolve around the potential of consolidating the models based on specialised studies into a cohesive interpretation of society on ancient Cyprus and its strategic connections with surrounding regions in a diachronic perspective from the Neolithic through the end of the Bronze Age, i.e. from roughly the seventh millennium to the eleventh century BCE.Dynamics and Developments of Social Structures and Networks in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Cyprus is intended for researchers and students of the archaeology and history of ancient Cyprus, the Aegean, and the Eastern Mediterranean.

This volume substantiates the island of Cyprus as an important player in the history of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, and presents new theoretical and analytical approaches.The Cypriot Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age are characterised by an increasing complexity of social and political organisation, economic systems, and networks. The book discusses and defines how specific types of material datasets and assemblages, such as architecture, artefacts, and ecofacts, and their contextualisation can form the basis of interpretative models of social structures and networks in ancient Cyprus. This is explored through four main themes: approaches to social dynamics; social and economic networks and connectivity; adaptability and agency; and social dynamics and inequality. The variety and transition of social structures on the island are discussed on multiple scales, from the local and relatively short-term to island-wide and eastern Mediterranean-wide and the longue durée. The focus of study ranges from urban to non-urban contexts and is reflected in settlement, funerary, and other ritual contexts. Connections, both within the island and to the broader Eastern Mediterranean, and how these impact social and economic developments on the island, are explored. Discussions revolve around the potential of consolidating the models based on specialised studies into a cohesive interpretation of society on ancient Cyprus and its strategic connections with surrounding regions in a diachronic perspective from the Neolithic through the end of the Bronze Age, i.e. from roughly the seventh millennium to the eleventh century BCE.Dynamics and Developments of Social Structures and Networks in Prehistoric and Protohistoric Cyprus is intended for researchers and students of the archaeology and history of ancient Cyprus, the Aegean, and the Eastern Mediterranean.

This book centres on the transformation of landscapes, focusing on the Western Mediterranean during the end of the Roman Republic and the Early Roman Empire.This volume brings together diverse contributions that utilise both theoretical and practical approaches from landscape studies and archaeology to examine the transitions to the Empire in the provincial landscapes of the western Roman Empire. Focusing on wider processes of change and continuity, identified through diverse approaches (e.g., settlement patterns, mobility and communication, and military expansion) and methods (e.g., spatial analysis, remote sensing, and GIS), the contributions highlight the profound socio-economic, political, and environmental factors whose interplay shaped the region. In doing so, the book underscores the agency of local communities in shaping their landscapes and their varied responses to Imperial policies, thus generating new insights into the processes of social and political change brought about by Augustan reforms and how these were implemented and experienced at the local level.This book will be of interest to students and researchers of archaeology and ancient history, particularly those focused on Roman and landscape archaeology.

This volume explores the relationship between how elite masculinity was expressed and warfare in Cisalpine Gaul between c. 400 and 50 BC.The first half of the book demonstrates that material changes in funerary assemblages reflected broader socio-political and military developments. The second half of this study presents the first in-depth analysis of the organisational and tactical capabilities of infantry and cavalry forces in Cisalpine Gaul. Ultimately, this book demonstrates that the Cisalpine Gallic tribes experienced significant socio-political developments during the third century, which significantly increased the sophistication of their warcraft and military forces.Owing to its broad scope and interdisciplinary approach, this book will appeal to professional scholars, university students, and history enthusiasts alike who are interested in archaeology, expressions of elite identity, military studies, and the socio-political development of the lesser-known cultural groups of pre-Roman Italy, the western Mediterranean, and the wider Celtic world in the last four centuries BCE.

This volume brings together academics and museum professionals responsible for ancient Mediterranean collections across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to report on their collections’ legacies and their ongoing value for research, education, and community engagement in the twenty-first century.An introductory chapter offers an overview of the themes that unite these Mediterranean collections: their colonial legacies, their more recent history, and the network of scholars who have fostered their development. Subsequent chapters offer thematic case studies from the perspective of curators, museum professionals, educators, and researchers working with collections across Australasia. They explore several themes, including museum archaeology, provenance studies, pedagogy, and participatory programming and engagement, and they address two issues that are of interest to everyone who engages with museum collections today: restitution and the ethical management and display of human remains. Taken together, these contributions situate the region’s collections on a global scale, highlighting their continued relevance in the present and for the future. The volume includes a distribution guide to all known ancient Mediterranean collections in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, a much-needed resource for students, provenance researchers, and museum professionals.This volume will be of interest to researchers in Mediterranean archaeology and related disciplines, to museum studies scholars and postgraduate students, and to a general audience.

This volume brings together academics and museum professionals responsible for ancient Mediterranean collections across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to report on their collections’ legacies and their ongoing value for research, education, and community engagement in the twenty-first century.An introductory chapter offers an overview of the themes that unite these Mediterranean collections: their colonial legacies, their more recent history, and the network of scholars who have fostered their development. Subsequent chapters offer thematic case studies from the perspective of curators, museum professionals, educators, and researchers working with collections across Australasia. They explore several themes, including museum archaeology, provenance studies, pedagogy, and participatory programming and engagement, and they address two issues that are of interest to everyone who engages with museum collections today: restitution and the ethical management and display of human remains. Taken together, these contributions situate the region’s collections on a global scale, highlighting their continued relevance in the present and for the future. The volume includes a distribution guide to all known ancient Mediterranean collections in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, a much-needed resource for students, provenance researchers, and museum professionals.This volume will be of interest to researchers in Mediterranean archaeology and related disciplines, to museum studies scholars and postgraduate students, and to a general audience.