Papers by natural scientists, archaeologists, egyptologists and classicists discussing the newest evidence of the Santorini eruption. The papers fall into two sections. I: Evidence, geology, archaeology & chronology; II: Debate: typology, chronology, methodology. Contributors include: Walter L. Friedrich & Jan Heinemeier, Philip P. Betancourt, Max Bichler, Thomas M. Brogan, Peter M. Fischer, Karen Polinger Foster, Hermann Hunger, Felix Hoflmayer, Rolf Krauss, Bernd Kromer, Alexander R. McBirney, Floyd W. McCoy, J. Alexander MacGillivray, Sturt W. Manning, Robert Merrillees, Raimund Muscheler, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Nikolaos Sigalas, Chrysa Sofianou, Jeffrey S. Soles, Georg Steinhauser, Johannes H. Sterba, Annette Hen Sensen, Peter Warren, Malcolm H. Wiener.
Papers by natural scientists, archaeologists, egyptologists and classicists discussing the newest evidence of the Santorini eruption. The papers fall into two sections. I: Evidence, geology, archaeology & chronology; II: Debate: typology, chronology, methodology. Contributors include: Walter L. Friedrich & Jan Heinemeier, Philip P. Betancourt, Max Bichler, Thomas M. Brogan, Peter M. Fischer, Karen Polinger Foster, Hermann Hunger, Felix Hoflmayer,Rolf Krauss, Bernd Kromer, Alexander R. McBirney, Floyd W. McCoy, J. Alexander MacGillivray, Sturt W. Manning, Robert Merrillees, Raimund Muscheler, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Nikolaos Sigalas, Chrysa Sofianou, Jeffrey S. Soles, Georg Steinhauser, Johannes H. Sterba, Annette Hen Sensen,Peter Warren, Malcolm H. Wiener.
When the Greek island of Santorini, or Thera, erupted dramatically in the seventeenth or sixteenth century BC, it produced one of the largest explosions ever witnessed by humankind. The event covered Bronze Age settlements on the island with volcanic ash, and altered the course of civilisation in the region, possibly giving rise to the legend of Atlantis. Fire in the Sea blends the thrill of scientific discovery with a popular presentation of the geology, archaeology, history, peoples and environmental setting of Santorini. It is a case study of a natural disaster that will fire the imagination. Excellent colour photographs and illustrations along with easily understandable scientific and historic details make this book highly appealing to a wide audience. It will also be useful as a supplementary text for introductory courses in earth and atmospheric science, geology, volcanology, palaeoclimatology, as well as ancient history and archaeology.
The Atlantis story remains one of the most haunting and enigmatic tales from antiquity, and one that still resonates very deeply with the modern imagination. But where did Atlantis come from, what was it like, and where did it go?Atlantis was first introduced by the Greek philosopher Plato in the fourth century BCE. As he discusses about the origins of life, the universe and humanity, the great thinker puts forward a stunning description of Atlantis—an island paradise with an ideal society. But the Atlanteans soon degenerate and become imperialist aggressors: they choose to fight against antediluvian Athens, which heroically repels their mighty forces, before a cataclysmic natural disaster destroys the warring states.Plato’s tale of a great empire that sank beneath the waves has sparked thousands of years of debate over whether Atlantis really existed. But did Plato mean his tale as history—or just as a parable to help illustrate his philosophy?
This volume is a major revision and expansion of Taylor’s seminal book Radiocarbon Dating: An Archaeological Perspective. It covers the major advances and accomplishments of the 14C method in archaeology and analyzes factors that affect the accuracy and precision of 14C-based age estimates. In addition to reviewing the basic principles of the method, it examines 14C dating anomalies and means to resolve them, and considers the critical application of 14C data as a dating isotope with special emphasis on issues in Old and New World archaeology and late Quaternary paleoanthropology. This volume, again a benchmark for 14C dating, critically reflects on the method and data that underpins, in so many cases, the validity of the chronologies used to understand the prehistoric archaeological record.
The Greek Bronze Age, roughly 3000 to 1000 BCE, witnessed the flourishing of the Minoan and Mycenean civilizations, the earliest expansion of trade in the Aegean and wider Mediterranean Sea, the development of artistic techniques in a variety of media, and the evolution of early Greek religious practices and mythology. The period also witnessed a violent conflict in Asia Minor between warring peoples in the region, a conflict commonly believed to be the historical basis for Homer's Trojan War. The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean provides a detailed survey of these fascinating aspects of the period, and many others, in sixty-six newly commissioned articles. Divided into four sections, the handbook begins with Background and Definitions, which contains articles establishing the discipline in its historical, geographical, and chronological settings and in its relation to other disciplines. The second section, Chronology and Geography, contains articles examining the Bronze Age Aegean by chronological period (Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age). Each of the periods are further subdivided geographically, so that individual articles are concerned with Mainland Greece during the Early Bronze Age, Crete during the Early Bronze Age, the Cycladic Islands during the Early Bronze Age, and the same for the Middle Bronze Age, followed by the Late Bronze Age. The third section, Thematic and Specific Topics, includes articles examining thematic topics that cannot be done justice in a strictly chronological/geographical treatment, including religion, state and society, trade, warfare, pottery, writing, and burial customs, as well as specific events, such as the eruption of Santorini and the Trojan War. The fourth section, Specific Sites and Areas, contains articles examining the most important regions and sites in the Bronze Age Aegean, including Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Knossos, Kommos, Rhodes, the northern Aegean, and the Uluburun shipwreck, as well as adjacent areas such as the Levant, Egypt, and the western Mediterranean. Containing new work by an international team of experts, The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean represents the most comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date single-volume survey of the field. It will be indispensable for scholars and advanced students alike.
The Bible's grand narrative about Israel's Exodus from Egypt is central to Biblical religion, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim identity and the formation of the academic disciplines studying the ancient Near East. It has also been a pervasive theme in artistic and popular imagination. Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective is a pioneering work surveying this tradition in unprecedented breadth, combining archaeological discovery, quantitative methodology and close literary reading. Archaeologists, Egyptologists, Biblical Scholars, Computer Scientists, Geoscientists and other experts contribute their diverse approaches in a novel, transdisciplinary consideration of ancient topography, Egyptian and Near Eastern parallels to the Exodus story, the historicity of the Exodus, the interface of the Exodus question with archaeological fieldwork on emergent Israel, the formation of biblical literature, and the cultural memory of the Exodus in ancient Israel and beyond. This edited volume contains research presented at the groundbreaking symposium "Out of Egypt: Israel’s Exodus Between Text and Memory, History and Imagination" held in 2013 at the Qualcomm Institute of the University of California, San Diego. The combination of 44 contributions by an international group of scholars from diverse disciplines makes this the first such transdisciplinary study of ancient text and history. In the original conference and with this new volume, revolutionary media, such as a 3D immersive virtual reality environment, impart innovative, Exodus-based research to a wider audience. Out of archaeology, ancient texts, science and technology emerge an up-to-date picture of the Exodus for the 21st Century and a new standard for collaborative research.
This volume focusses on ashlar masonry, probably the most elaborate construction technique of the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age, from a cross-regional perspective. The building practices and the uses of cutstone components and masonries in Egypt, Syria, the Aegean, Anatolia, Cyprus and the Levant in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC are examined through a series of case studies and topical essays. The topics addressed include the terminology of ashlar building components and the typologies of its masonries, technical studies on the procurement, dressing, tool kits and construction techniques pertaining to cut stone, investigations into the place of ashlar in inter-regional exchanges and craft dissemination, the extent and signifi cance of the use of cut stone within the communities and regions, and the visual eff ects, social meanings, and symbolic and ideological values of ashlar.
Proceedings from Session II-8 of the XVIII UISPP Congress, Paris, 2018, questioning temporal correlations between intra-site and off-site data in archaeology-related contexts. The word ‘site’ describes here archaeological sites – usually settlements – where recent research has produced information on the duration and timing of human presence.
