West & East II, 2017

The work aims to present the first results of the analysis and identification of vegetal and malacological remains – integrated with data from a micropalaeontological analysis – performed on some sediments of the harbour of the archaeological site of Magdala, on the western coast of the Lake of Galilee (Israel). The research at the site, which was carried out by means of a transdisciplinary approach, has shed a new light on the history of the city and on the geological history of this portion of the coast. As no geoarchaeological studies on specifically lacustrine ancient harbours are available to date, Magdala represents a case study of pivotal importance. The results of the analysis on the materials waterlogged in the harbour sediments – which can be considered a bio-archive – have contributed considerably to the palaeonvironmental reconstruction. The data that emerges from this preliminary study gives a reasonably clear and well delineated picture of the agrestic environment of Galilee in the Late Hellenistic and Roman period, a period In which the city of Magdala and its harbour achieved their greatest prosperity providing reliable evidence for the existence of a local and regional trade network at this moment of its history.

L’inizio della monetazione nella Troade avviene nell’ultimo quarto del VI secolo a.C. con l’emissione di piccole frazioni d’argento da parte di Abydo, Cebren e Dardano caratterizzate al dritto dalla presenza dell’animale-simbolo di queste città (un’aquila, un ariete e un gallo, rispettivamente) e, al rovescio, da un quadrato incuso irregolare. A queste poleis va ora aggiunta Asso, il cui tipo monetale era un grifone. Quest’ultima città fiorì nel VI s. a.C., e divenne famosa nel mondo antico per il suo imponente tempio Dorico costruito verso la fine di quel secolo sulla cima dell’acropoli. Tale ipotesi di anticipo dell’inizio della monetazione assia deriva da una riconsiderazione dell’iconografia del grifo, accucciato (come in tutte le emissioni ad Assos, mentre è seduto a Teos), che appare in rari dioboli arcaici sinora assegnati a Teos e invece da attribuire ad Asso, e datare al 520-510 a.C., ciò che anticipa di almeno due decenni l’inizio della monetazione in questa città. Nel presente articolo vengono poi descritte tutte le altre serie monetali argentee di Asso di età arcaica e classica, includenti alcune frazioni del tutto inedite recentemente apparse sul mercato antiquario, proponendone una nuova sequenza e datazione. Viene infine commentata l’emissione del primo bronzo di Asso negli ultimi decenni del V secolo a. C., del tutto precoce non solo per la Troade, ma per tutta l’Asia Minore.

Compared with neighbouring European areas, Middle Neolithic funerary practices in Southern France are characterised by a high proportion of individuals buried in domestic structures of settlements. The purpose of this paper is to characterise these human remains while discussing, among other things, the nature of the burials (conveying a positive or negative attitude towards the deceased) and the presence of the deceased in the space occupied by the living.

The current study examines skeletons found in Bronze and Iron Age destruction contexts from the southern Levant, within the framework of behavioural archaeology and the archaeology of destruction. It addresses the rarity of skeletons in such contexts, and argues that it is due to two main reasons: 1) genuine siege warfare was rather rare, and most cities capitulated without a battle, and therefore suffered no casualties; 2) after any destruction cities were thoroughly ‘cleaned’, mostly for hygienic reasons. A review of the find contexts of skeletons shows that their presence in surviving destruction layers occurs either because the skeletons could not be found soon after death, or their recovery was too difficult at the time. They may also have remained in these layers because the sites were abandoned, and thus hygiene did not play a major role. Yet, in some cases, it seems that skeletons were left in destruction layers intentionally, as a sort of punishment. Finally, it is suggested that the presence of skeletons in destruction contexts with no accompanying weapons, should not be seen as evidence for an earthquake as the cause of the destruction.