Macedonia-Alexandria : the monumental funerary complexes of the late Classical and Hellenistic age /
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This text explores the influence of Macedonians and Greeks settling in Alexandria ad Aegyptum on the structural form of underground tombs, comparing in synthetic form the structural elements of the cist graves, chamber and rock-cut tombs of Macedonia with the Alexandrian hypogea, while taking into account geographical factors that conditioned them.
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Previously issued in print: 2019. :
1 online resource (244 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and colour) :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9781789691375 (ebook) :
El sol, símbolo de continuidad y permanencia : un estudio multidisciplinar sobre la figura soliforme en el arte esquemático de la provincia de Cádiz /
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The purpose of this study is to analyse the soliform figures in schematic cave paintings. The author presents research on all the global factors relevant to the study of these figures (technological, typological, stylistic, semiotic, astronomical, anthropological and landscape) and their relationship with the whole of schematic rock paintings and the societies that produced them. The geographical scope of the study is the area of Laguna de la Janda and Campo de Gibraltar (Cádiz). One of the arguments the author maintains in this research is the shortage of studies conducted in the territory of Cádiz in relation to these figures - and to rock art in general, which has been a central motif in almost all primitive religions or mythologies since the birth of agricultural societies.
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1 online resource (xiv, 208 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and colour). :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781789691955 (ebook) :
The Buckley potteries : recent research and excavation /
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The small town of Buckley, in Flintshire, has been the focus for a regional pottery industry for at least 600 years, from the medieval period to the mid-20th century. However, despite Buckley's impressive industrial past, a visit to the town today reveals little evidence to suggest the extent and importance of what was once a major industry supplying traditional earthenware. This book is based on the results of recent research and excavation which has enhanced our understanding of the Buckley potteries, identifying over 30 individual production sites from documentary and cartographic sources. It considers the factors that influenced the siting and development of the industry, how it changed through time and the reasons for its eventual demise.
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Also issued in print: 2019. :
1 online resource (x, 122 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and colour) :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781789692235 (ebook) :
Geophysical phenomena and the Alexandrian littoral /
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Alexandria is located on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, bordered by Egypt's Western Desert and the fertile Nile Delta. For many centuries, Alexandria was the major port city in the Eastern Mediterranean and it has been repeatedly struck by natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and land subsidence, in its 2400-year history. This book focuses on the geomorphological and archaeological evidence on the coastal zone of Alexandria, attempting to provide a comprehensive review of its evolution, taking into consideration long-term and short-term factors. The book provides an extensive background on the geomorphology and recent geoarchaeological history of Alexandria, discussing historical maps and natural disasters.
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Also issued in print: 2019. :
1 online resource (x, 132 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and colour), maps (black and white) :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781789692358 (PDF ebook) :
Bioarchaeology and dietary reconstruction across late antiquity and the Middle Ages in Tuscany, Central Italy /
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This title presents the results of the first multidisciplinary bioarchaeological analysis to reconstruct living conditions in Tuscany between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. This was done through the examination of stress markers, including adult stature, periosteal reaction, cranial porosities, and linear enamel hypoplasia, and through palaeodietary reconstruction in order to explore the effects of socio-cultural and environmental factors in a diachronic perspective. The shift from Classical to Medieval times has long left its mark on the European historical consciousness. Nevertheless, the impact of this transition on living conditions and dietary practices remains a subject of debate, with a prevailing perception of these 'Dark Ages' as an impoverished phase following the collapse of the Roman agrarian villa system, particularly in the Mediterranean area.
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Also issued in print: 2021. :
1 online resource (xii, 192 pages). : illustrations (black and white), maps (black and white). :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781789698664 (PDF ebook) :
Ships, saints and sealore : cultural heritage and ethnography of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea /
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Just as the sea has played a pivotal role in the connectivity of people, economies and cultures, it has also provided a common platform for inter-disciplinary cooperation amongst academics. This book is a selection of conference papers and other contributions that has seen the coming-together of scholars and researchers from backgrounds as diverse as archaeology, history, ethnography, maritime and heritage studies of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Its strength lies in the way such diversity has been harnessed to provide an engaging and insightful study of the sea and its influences on various factors of life - both past and present.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource : illustrations (black and white). :
Specialized. :
9781905739967 (PDF ebook) :
Rainfed altepetl : modeling institutional and subsistence agriculture in ancient Tepeaca, Mexico /
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Climate variability and human management strategies on crop stands were major factors that frequently affected agricultural yields among indigenous populations from central Mexico. This work seeks to model food production in ancient Tepeaca, a Late Postclassic (AD 1325-1521) and Early Colonial (16th century) state level-polity settled on the central highlands of Puebla, by applying a model that recognizes the presence of two independent and interconnected forms of food production: subsistence agriculture and institutional agriculture.
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1 online resource : illustrations (black and white). :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781784910419 (PDF ebook) :
LBK realpolitik : an archaeometric study of conflict and social structure in the Belgian early Neolithic /
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The causes and consequences of violence and warfare have long interested social scientists, historians, and philosophers. While economic motivations for conflict are among the most commonly discussed drivers of human violence, prehistorians have often downplayed economic factors when studying non-state society. This volume explores linkages between conflict and socioeconomic organization during the early Neolithic of eastern Belgium (c.5200-5000 BC), using compositional analysis of ceramics from Linienbandkeramik villages to assess production organization and map intercommunity connections against the backdrop of increasing evidence for conflict.
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1 online resource : illustrations (black and white). :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781784910891 (PDF ebook) :
Eastern Han (AD 25-220) tombs in Sichuan /
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This work explores the many factors underlying the extended popularity of the cliff tomb, a local burial form in the Sichuan Basin in China during the Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25-220). The development of the cliff tomb was linked to a complex set of connections involved with burial forms, and continued through associations with many other contemporary burial practices: brick chamber tombs, stone chamber tombs, and princely rock-cut tombs. These connections and links formed to a large extent through the incorporation of the Sichuan region within the Empire, which began in the fourth century BC.
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1 online resource : illustrations (black and white). :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781784912178 (PDF ebook) :
Why did ancient states collapse? : the dysfunctional state
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Ancient states were rooted in agriculture, sedentism and population growth. They were fragile and prone to collapse, but there is no consensus on the causes or meaning of collapse, and there is an ongoing debate about the importance, nature and even existence of state-wide collapse
Explanations of collapse in terms of competing mono-causal factors are found inferior to those incorporating dynamic, interactive systems. It is proposed that collapse should be explained as failure to fulfil the ancient state’s core functions: assurance of food supplies, defence against external attack, maintenance of internal peace, imposition of its will throughout its territory, enforcement of state-wide laws, and promotion of an ideology to legitimise the political and social status quo.
To fulfil these functions certain necessary conditions must be met. The legitimacy of the political and social status quo, including the distribution of political power and wealth, needs to be accepted; the state should be able to extract sufficient resources to fulfil its functions such as defence; it must be able to enforce its decisions; the ruling elite should share a common purpose and actions; the society needs to reflect a shared spirit (asibaya) and purpose across elites and commoners who believe it is worthy of defence.
Weaknesses and failure to meet any condition can interact to exacerbate the situation: maladministration, corruption and elite preoccupation with self aggrandisement can induce fiscal weakness, reduced military budgets and further invasion; it can induce neglect of key infrastructures (especially water management). Inequality, a commonly neglected factor despite ancient texts, can erode asibaya and legitimacy and alienate commoners from defence of the state.
These themes are explored in relation to the Egyptian Old Kingdom, Mycenae, the Western Roman Empire (WRE), and the Maya. They all exhibit, to varying degrees, weaknesses in meeting the above conditions necessary for stability. (Some of the explanatory political and social factors involved have modern analogies but that issue is not examined).
A view from the herd : cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs in pharaonic Egypt : a primer for Egyptologists and archaeologists A view from the herd : cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs in ph...
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The importance of cattle, sheep, and goats; decision-making in ancient Egypt; and a little theory
Taxonomy and nomenclature
The origin of domestic cattle, sheep, and goats in Egypt
Setting the stage. Environmental factors : floods, rains, and climate change; The ecological biogeography of pastoralism in ancient Egypt; Feeding and foddering; Herd size in ancient Egypt; The assumptions : a framework for modeling animal management in ancient Egypt; pulling it all together
Cattle in pharaonic Egypt : herd dynamics, feeding behavior, production characteristics, and productivity. The Baladi breed : a model for cattle in ancient Egypt; Modeling pharaonic cattle management and productivity
Sheep, goats, and pigs in pharaonic Egypt : herd dynamics, feeding behavior, production characteristics, and productivity. Unimproved breeds of sheep : a model for pharaonic sheep; Unimproved breeds of goats : a model for pharaonic goats; Modeling pharaonic sheep and goat management and productivity; The pig in ancient Egypt; Comparing cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs : predictions and two normative assumptions reexamined
Consumption and nutrition. Butchering, nutrition, and patterns of consumption
Explaining patterning in the faunal remains from Old Kingdom Egypt. Archaeological data from the Old Kingdom : patterns and explanations