Greek Colonies Research Articles

Studiensammlung «Античный лапидарий» в Реставрационно-хранительском центре «Старая Деревня» как пример экспонирования эпиграфических источников

Studiensammlung is a phenomenon originating from the Classicist European tradition of creating open storages of pieces of art and scientific materials available at museums and universities as visual aids for students, scholars and collectors. Such collections have not lost their relevance today, as evidenced by their popularity at the Römisch-Germanisches Museum at Cologne, the University of Vienna, the British Museum and many others. Studiensammlung of the Hermitage Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities was opened for visitors at the Restoration and Storage Center “Staraya Derevnya” in 2015. About ninety epigraphic texts from archaeological sites in the Northern Black Sea region which were excavated in the 19th–20th centuries are presented here. The chronology of materials exhibited in the open storage “Antique Lapidarium” covers nine hundred years of Ancient Greek epigraphy: from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD. Each of the documents exhibited has its own significance for the reconstruction of the history of the region. The greater part of the collection was formed by the finds from archaeological excavations of the 19th century at the ancient sites of Tanais and Gorgippia, at the edge of 19th and 20th centuries in Panticapaeum and at the dawn of the 20th century in Olbia. Plenty of the pieces were purchased at different times. For example, many Gorgippian inscriptions were bought by N. I. Veselovsky in 1908 in Anapa. Due to various historical circumstances the Hermitage funds were replenished by epigraphic monuments from private collections of the Stroganovs and N. P. Likhachev, as well as from the collections of the Academy of Fine Arts and the Leningrad Historical and Linguistic Institute. In the mid-20th century and its second half, the Nymphaeum, Berezan and Chersonese archaeological expeditions of the State Hermitage made an invaluable contribution to the funds. Latin inscriptions are presented at the exhibition, but the monuments of ancient Greek epigraphy make up its bulk. Lapidary sources, except for those that are not amenable to recovery, can be considered by category. Particularly noteworthy are proxenoi, honorary decrees and manumissions, as well as dedications to gods. In addition, in the “Ancient Lapidarium” one can find table graffiti, inscriptions on amulets, and lead letters concerning workaday topics. The conclusions about the unique character and diversity of the collection are obvious. In addition to epigraphists who study the nuances of the chronology and paleography of local versions of ancient Greek writing, the collection of inscriptions of the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities should undoubtedly attract schoolchildren and students of specialized departments of higher educational institutions. The importance and benefits of open storage for historians and archaeologists are determined by the fact that the gallery contains a rare collection of documents, which sometimes are the only source for restoring historical events and clarifying knowledge about the state system, official religious cults in the Greek colonies of the Northern Black Sea region, about private and social life of residents of ancient cities in the region. Ancient authors did not always pay enough attention to the periphery of the Greek world, but epigraphic monuments help fill such gaps in.

Новые данные о религиозной жизни населения Елизаветовского городища в дельте Дона

The paper deals with a new perspective on specific features of religious life of the population of the Elizavetovskaya settlement on Don during two different periods of its existence: the first one lasted through the 4th century BC, and the second one is connected with the existence of the Great Greek Colony in the 300—270s BC. Some recent materials have never been published or analyzed before. Emphasis has been placed on the cults of Cybele as the Great Mother and Dionysus as the male deity. The research for the first time uses materials of an elite Pyatibratny kurgan group of the necropolis of the Elizavetovskaya settlement to study the religious life of the population of the Don River Delta.

THE FIND OF ANCIENT COINS IN THE TIASMYN RIVER BASIN FROM THE SIXTH TO THE FIRST CENTURY BC

THE FIND OF ANCIENT COINS IN THE TIASMYN RIVER BASIN FROM THE SIXTH TO THE FIRST CENTURY BC

Disseminating the knowledge on the complex interactions between humans and volcanoes: the geological section of the Villa Arbusto archaeological museum at Lacco Ameno (Ischia, Naples - Italy)

A room in the Archaeological Museum of Villa Arbusto (Lacco Ameno, Ischia) was set up to house rocks and fossils collected by the renowned archaeologist Giorgio Buchner during his excavation activity on the Island of Ischia. The collection is witness to a long multidisciplinary research activity that saw archaeological studies at the center of volcanological, pedological and palaeoenvironmental researches, aimed at reconstructing the archaeological contexts in the complex geological dynamics of the island. In fact, during the different phases of colonization recorded on the island, the Ischia volcanoes were very active and produced explosive and effusive eruptions, accompanied by a strong geological dynamics that included earthquakes, landslides (even gigantic ones), rapid ground uplift and strong hydrothermal activity. In the room, the samples on display “tell” the evolution of the island and its dynamics in four windows and a chest of drawers, where there is an exposition of the products of the various eruptions, from the oldest to the most recent, sedimentary rocks and the collection of macro and microfossils found in marine sediments, displaced at variable altitudes by the rapid volcano-tectonic deformations that characterize the island. A series of panels and monitors accompany the visitor along a path that, starting from the geological evolution of the island, passes through the relationship between humans and the volcano, the main volcanic phenomena and the reconstruction of an archaeological excavation of exceptional value, where it is possible to see the strong interaction between primary and secondary volcanic phenomena and a human settlement of the first Greek colony in the west: Pithecusae. The exhibition was designed with the purpose of educating the visitors and the local population about the natural history of the island and its volcanoes, and their impact on the human life through time.

Mykola Gogol and Greece

The article for the first time in a systematic way reveals the connections of Mykola Gogol with Greece and the Greeks, shows how they originated during his studies at the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences, prince Bezborodko in Nizhyn and what forms they took: the future writer's participation in theatrical student performances with the Greeks K. Basil, S. Guten and others, as well as joint work in publishing manuscripts and almanacs, including "Northern Dawn", in which high school students works were published, and in the study of the Greek language, which was introduced into the curriculum of the Gymnasium after the appearance of Greek students who emigrated from their homeland during the brutal struggle of the Greek people against the Turks for national independence. In addition, special attention is paid to how Gogol covers the life of the Greek colony in Nizhyn in the satire "Something about Nizhyn, or the law is not written for fools" and the mention of the heroes of the Greek Revolution of 1821-1827 in the poem "Hanz Kuchelgarten", in which the hero tries to take a direct part in this struggle and the poem "Dead Souls". Gogol's line with Konstantin Basil, a famous diplomat and writer, from almost his entire life, from his student years to his trip to the Holy Places of 1848 and living in Odessa, a mutual appreciation of their work.

Coins of Roman Times from Berezan Island – end of 20th – beginning of 21st century finds

The coin material of Roman times, which was found during archaeological studies of an ancient settlement on the island of Berezan, is analyzed in the paper.
 The ancient settlement on the island of Berezan is primarily known as the first Greek colony in the Northern Black Sea region.
 In addition to the sites of the archaic period of the 6th – 5th centuries BCE, the objects belonging to other historical epochs are studied on the island. Roman times are represented by a large number of materials: ceramics, epigraphic finds, damaged archaeological sites (remains of dwellings, utility pits, etc.). Almost all researchers of the site have singled out single artefacts from Roman times. Unfortunately, the cultural layers of the first centuries of the New Era were destroying starting from the construction of the Turkish fortress finishing the works that preceded World War II. And nowadays, the process of destruction is still in progress due to large-scale grave robbery. In recent years, during archaeological studies, the coins of Roman times have usually been found in mixed redeposited layers.
 Coins of the 2nd – 3rd centuries CE are rare archaeological artefacts, found during research on the island, but at the same time, they are not unique finds.
 Currently, there is no generalized work cataloguing the numismatic material of the Roman times found during more than a century of archaeological study of the ancient settlement on the island of Berezan. Information about coins can be found in archeological reports and publications only as additional material. Such finds are mentioned in the works of P.Y. Karyshkovskyi, V.A. Anokhina, M.F. Boltenko, S.B. Buiskykh, V.V. Krutilov, and others.
 At the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st century, coins of the Roman times were found at different excavation units of the archaeological research on the island headed by various scholars. V.V. Nazarov found coins at excavation units ‘R-1V’ and ‘T’, V.V. Krutilov at ‘T’ and ‘O’, and O.I. Smirnov and D.V. Bondarenko at ‘HSh’. All material is clearly dated to the 2nd – 3rd centuries CE, classified by Roman and Olbia minting of bronze and silver and belongs to the reigns of the emperors Antoninus Pius, Septimius Severus, and Archon of Olbia Dada son of Satyros. This gives us the opportunity to support the assumption of Ukrainian archaeologists that in the second half of the 2nd – beginning of the 3rd century CE on the island of Berezan there was a fortification of Roman troops detachment which garrisoned in Olbia.

Study of Olbia Agricultural History of 6th – 3rd Centuries BCE in the Light of Last Achievements of British and American Historiography of Antiquity

For a long time, Soviet and post-Soviet historiography tended to consider the ancient states of the Northern Black Sea region to some extent separately from the rest of the Greek world and ignore the theoretical achievements of British and American historiography of antiquity, specifically, in various areas of the ancient Greek economy.
 Meanwhile, the use of the findings of European and American scholars looks rather promising as a result of created innovative concepts and the involvement of a range of various written, epigraphic, and archaeological sources concerning the whole Greek world, and not just one of its parts. It is the subject to the agrarian history of ancient Greece as well. In recent decades, the ideas of scholars who prefer to consider ancient Greek agriculture not as static but as a dynamic system open to innovations have become more common. Progressive changes included 1) improving crop rotations; 2) cooperation between crop cultivation and animal husbandry, and 3) intensification of labor through the active use of ‘slave’ labor resources.
 Such innovations in agricultural technique, according to many scholars, were implemented primarily in lands where conditions differed from those familiar to Greeks. Those, in particular, were ‘overseas’ territories, where natural conditions were markedly different from the metropolis. Especially it was true of the steppe territories of the Black Sea region from Dobrudzha to the Kuban region, in particular, the Lower Buh region, where climate, soil, and natural vegetation were absolutely unlike the Balkans or Asia Minor. First of all, it is necessary to study the issue of the interaction between the crop cultivation and animal husbandry of Olbia and the history of slave relations in the polis. A comparative analysis of materials from the western and eastern Greek colonies, in particular from southern Italy and Sicily on the one hand and the Northern Black Sea region on the other, should also be carried out.
 Using of theoretical achievements of British and American historiography of ancient Greek agriculture while studying the economic history of Olbia in general and its agricultural component, in particular, looks very promising. This will contribute to a fuller and more comprehensive understanding of the accumulated archaeological, archeobiological, and epigraphic materials. On the other hand, such an understanding is needed in the verification of these hypotheses themselves, giving the opportunity to confirm, modify, or even deny them.

ITEMS FROM THE OGUZ KURGAN IN THE VARVARA AND BOHDAN KHANENKO COLLECTION (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE MUSEUM OF HISTORICAL TREASURES OF UKRAINE)

Twenty six precious items from the Varvara and Bohdan Khanenko collection discovered in the Oguz kurgan (Lower Dnieper region) are analyzed in the paper. These items were found by peasants in the fall of 1901 in the destroyed part of the kurgan and ended up to the hands of antiquities traders. Now these items are kept in the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine.
 The study of objects made us possible to conclude that only decorative items for horse equipment were of unconditional origin from Oguz kurgan (fig. 1—2). These items complement the finds that are kept in the State Hermitage (Sankt-Peterburg, Russia) and also come from the Oguz kurgan. Together they are four completes sets of decoration of horse bridle of so-called Chertomlyk type. Some round plaques (fig. 1: 4—5) were used for saddles decoration. The total number of such plaques indicates that 9 or 10 saddles were found. This determines the total number of horses buried in the Central tomb of the Oguz kurgan. The cone (fig. 2) served as a decoration for the horse’s neck. Five more such items are kept in the State Hermitage. They were found only in the Oguz kurgan.
 The significant part of other items (upholstery of a wooden bowl, jewelry, appliquйs (fig. 3) were probably found by peasants in other steppe kurgans which were robbed by diggers at the beginning of the 20th century. Two small appliquйs (fig. 3: 5—6) probably come from the necropolises of ancient Greek colonies, possibly Chersonesos.
 Unfortunately, almost all items from old or modern private collections lose the historical context in which they were found. Probably, some items (fig. 1: 6—9; 3: 3—4, 7—8) were «restored» by antiquities dealers and, as a result, lost their authentic appearance.

Comparing individuals buried in flexed and extended positions at the Greek colony of Chersonesos (Crimea) using cranial metric, dental metric, and dental nonmetric traits

AbstractThe Greek colony of Chersonesos was founded in the 5th century BC on the coast of the Crimean Peninsula in the northern Black Sea region. Extensive archeological research has investigated the timing and mode of the Greek land seizure and the responses of the local Taurian tribes, focusing on a large necropolis dating to the earliest period of the colony, somewhere between the 5th and the 4th century BC. Relying on burial traditions as an indicator of the biogeographic origin of the deceased, it was hypothesized that individuals buried in flexed positions were Taurian whereas individuals buried in extended positions were Greek. Here, we test the hypothesis that individuals in flexed and extended burial positions are biologically different by directly analyzing the human skeletal remains. For this, we collected three different types of phenotypic data commonly used for biodistance analysis, namely, (1) cranial measurements, (2) dental measurements, and (3) dental nonmetric traits, recorded for 47 individuals. Using Gower distance coefficients, we combine the three data types in a single analysis and estimate biological relationships among a subset of well‐preserved individuals with documented flexed (n = 8) and extended (n = 13) burial position. The estimated distances show a large amount of overlap between the two groups, with the exception of two individuals that are more divergent. To statistically corroborate this finding, we use distance‐based permutational multivariate analyses of variance (PERMANOVA) and dispersion (PERMDISP). Both analyses reveal no statistically significant differences between the groups, neither in group centroids nor in group dispersions. Our results therefore contradict the idea that burial position was determined by ancestry of the deceased. This has implications for future archeological research at Chersonesos and other Greek colonies of the northern Black Sea region.

Retrospective study on the incidence of pseudoexfoliatio lentis and related complications in a cohort of patients from the Island of Ischia: medico-legal and ergophthalmology considerations.

The population of the island has lived for centuries almost isolated from the rest of the continental population. In the seventh century BC, it was the first Greek colony in the southern Italy and was colonized by the Eubei, then it was the turn of the Roman rule. In the Middle Ages, the island was the victim of many raids of the Barbary pirates. Only in the last decades of the 800, did the island begin to open to tourism. However, it had a strong setback with the terrible earthquake of Casamicciola, in 1883. Tourism had gradually resumed in the second post-war period. These episodes have contributed to bringing people extraneous to the autochthonous community to the island. As in most of the coastal populations of the Mediterranean basin, there is a very high incidence of pseudoexfoliation lentis in the population of Ischia, which is a syndrome that often complicates in a challenging way the surgical intervention for the removal of cataracts.

Waterscape and Floods Management of Greek Selinus: The Cottone River Valley

Abstract This paper investigates water bodies in the Greek colony of Selinus, Western Sicily-Italy. It focuses especially on one of the two rivers of the city: the Cottone. The investigative strategy adopted in this study consists of an interdisciplinary approach based on the analysis of archaeological evidence, Earth Sciences data, and the study of historical cartography. Results indicate that the Cottone River was not a swampy and unhealthy intermittent stream as it was believed so far; it was instead a fully functional water body featuring an active floodplain. Most importantly, research presented in this article indicates several floods occurred in Selinus from the second or third quarter of the sixth century BC to the end of the fifth century BC. These floods, which occurred at the peak of Selinus’ cultural and economic life, were related to severe major events, rather than seasonal floods, as suggested by other scholars. The management of these floods and the waterscape was crucial to the city’s prosperity. This article also analyzes the relationship between the Cottone River and the fortification walls located at the Cottone River Valley. Results indicate that the fortification walls functioned not only as a defensive infrastructure, but also as a hydraulic engineering solution for flood retention. A better understanding of the environment in which Selinus was settled is now available, and knowledge on the importance of waterscapes and their management has been enhanced.

Synchronous Worlds

In the Mediterranean basin, the archaeological presence is extremely relevant and diffuse. Together with this is a difficult intertwining with contemporary urban settlements, which archaeology, by tradition, has to be protected from. If conservation is the goal of restoration, the problem of the cohabitation between past and present use is still an issue. This paper will focus on the project of enhancement of the archaeological park of the Greek colony of Naxos, near Messina, in Sicily, led by the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo in cooperation with the administrative head of the park. At the crossroads between the sea, the highway, a lemon orchard and the city of Giardini Naxos, the ancient Greek settlement could be an example of coexistence of the different layers composing the landscape, with the aim of making history and archaeology come to life as synchronous components of the contemporary fruition of the place.

Trepanations in the ancient Greek colony of Akanthos: Skull surgery in the light of Hippocratic medicine

ObjectiveThe study presents seven new cases of trepanations on four individuals from the ancient Greek colony of Akanthos (5th - 1st c. BC) and juxtaposes the paleopathological observations with the Hippocratic treatises. MaterialsA meta-analysis of 42 published trepanations on 27 individuals from Greece. MethodsTrepanations from Akanthos were observed macroscopically, stereoscopically and by computer tomography. The meta-analysis considers the demographic, geographical and temporal distribution, the techniques, associated pathology, and survival rate. ResultsTrepanations were observed on four females in Akanthos. Three trepanations were performed with scraping and four with drilling. Two individuals exhibited significant signs of healing, and two survived shortly after the operation. In two cases, trepanation was practiced for treating cranial injuries. In Greek antiquity trepanation was performed predominantly in males, principally as a surgical treatment of cranial injuries. The survival rate was 62.9 %. Scraping was the oldest, most frequent and successful technique. ConclusionsTrepanation performed systematically in Greece since the Bronze Age (ca. 2,000 BC). Hippocrates who rationally conceived medicine, codified the pre-existing empirical knowledge. The trepanations from Akanthos show technical similarities but also discrepancies from the Hippocratic recommendations, confirming the mental and technical readiness of the ancient surgeon. SignificanceThe synchronous to Hippocrates trepanations from Akanthos, provide the opportunity to compare physical evidence with the written sources. LimitationsThe frequency of trepanations is affected by the representativeness and the state of the skeletal preservation. Suggestions for future researchTrepanations published in previous decades, need to be reassessed with new imaging modalities. A standard recording methodology is fundamental for data comparison.

Greek Women and Greek Colonies

Did Greek women participate in the founding of Greek colonies? Facing the lack of sufficient evidence, I develop the argument that Greek women had to be present as implied by religion, about half female in terms of public cult – and mostly female in terms of household and life-cycle cults. The nomima of a colony were established at foundation and imply plenty of available women capable of conducting public rites. For example, fixing the sacred calendar that included female rites; oikos cults did not depend on a fixed calendar and familiarity with them had to be common across society and applicable at a moment’s notice (for example, birth, death). Analytically, 'mixed marriages' have been discussed in terms of 'hybridity'. Yet if applicable, the concept works against the idea: hybridity relies on the local and the regional for peculiar characteristics to emerge ('Roman' Gaul, for example). Yet the Small Greek World of Greek poleis, extending from the Black Sea to the western Mediterranean, shared far too many commonalities to allow for such a proposition.

Dynamics of Material Culture in Early Greek Colonies and Its Border. Some Archaeological Evidence of Euboean Migrants in South Italy

Dynamics of Material Culture in Early Greek Colonies and Its Border. Some Archaeological Evidence of Euboean Migrants in South Italy

Знахідки в басейні р. Тясмину мідних монет Ольвії з Деметрою та «істрійським» варіантом міської емблеми

У районі басейну р. Тясмину, як і в цілому на території Дніпровського Правобережного Лісостепу, зустрічаються знахідки давньогрецьких монет ІV ст. до н.е., у тому числі й досить рідкісні. Серед корпусу знахідок давньогрецьких монет на території басейну р. Тясмин особливе місце належить монетам Ольвії. У статті розглядаються знахідки в басейні р. Тясмину мідних монет Ольвії з Деметрою та «істрійським» варіантом міської емблеми. Номінал цього типу монет дослідники досить часто визначають як «обол». В історіографії містяться відомості про імена монетних магістратів відповідальних за випуск цього типу монет. Кількість цих імен у різних дослідників коливається від 14 до 20. Проте, ймовірно, ця кількість імен має бути більшою. Проаналізовані у статті ольвійські оболи з Деметрою та «істрійським» варіантом міської емблеми, знайдені далеко за межами ольвійської хори, вперше введені до наукового обігу монети даного типу, що значно розширює раніше відому топографію знахідок монет цього типу. Знахідки в басейні р. Тясмин на території Олександрівського району Кіровоградської та Чигиринського району Черкаської області монет, карбованих у IV ст. до н.е. у грецькій колонії Ольвії, свідчать про існування зв’язків населення басейну р. Тясмин з мешканцями грецьких міст Північно-Західного Причорномор’я у вказаний хронологічний період. Знахідки давньогрецьких монет на території Дніпровського Правобережного Лісостепу, у тому числі й районі басейну Тясмину, спростовують побутуючу в історіографії думку про те, що мешканці Середнього Подніпров’я мали виключно товарообмінні операції з грецькими колоніями в Північному Причорномор’ї, а бронзові монети, які випадково і в незначних обсягах потрапляли до даного регіону, могли використовуватися як сировина для виготовлення бронзових предметів.

Spectroscopic-assisted archaeometric studies to determine the production technology of the VI BC Zeus Enthroned statue (Paestum, Italy) and Pre-Roman technology transfer

This work summarizes the spectroscopic-assisted archaeometric study of the most important terracotta statue of Poseidonia-Paestum (Italy), the so-called Zeus Enthroned (VI sec. BC). The selected analytical strategy combines the mineralogical and molecular information provided by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman analysis with the elemental data obtained from X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) and Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled to Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM/EDS). To shed light on the raw materials used to create and decorate this unique artwork, the analytical results gathered in this study helped disclosing the applied production technology. As suggested by the detected mineral assemblages, the body was prepared in two steps, using calcareous clay (CC) rich in Mg- and Fe- minerals as raw materials. The inner core and the outer depurated layers were both fired in oxidizing conditions but reaching different temperatures (≥900 °C and 850–900 °C respectively). The statue was decorated by firing manganese- (jacobsite MnFe2O4) and iron- (hematite Fe2O3) oxides in oxidizing conditions. Knowing that the decoration techniques based on the use of Mn-oxides were mastered by Etruscans rather than by Ancient Greeks, the obtained results suggest a transfer of production technology across borders, thus providing an additional clue about the flourishing commercial and cultural exchanges occurred between Greek colonies and Italic pre-Roman societies.

Non-invasive characterization of the pigment’s palette used on the painted tomb slabs at Paestum archaeological site

A scientific interdisciplinary team promoted an integrated archaeometric study of selected frescoed tombs within a project funded by Archaeological Museum of Paestum (Capaccio, Salerno, southern Italy). By using a multi-disciplinary approach, a comparative study of the pigments used on the representative painted slab tombs was carried out with the aim of identifying specific markers and unveiling the new features of the executive techniques. The investigated tombs, displayed at the museum or stored in the deposits, come from Hellenistic and Lucan necropolis. The preliminary investigation here discussed involved several nondestructive analytical techniques (IRR, UV fluorescence, VIL, FORS, ER-FTIR, Raman and XRF). This multi-analytical research was applied on the pictorial surface of the following frescoed tombs: the well-known Tomb of the Diver from Tempa del Prete necropolis; the Tomb of the Palmettes from Arcioni necropolis; the tombs T314 and T210 from Gaudo necropolis; the tombs T6, T23, T21, T76, T20, T11, T12 from Andriuolo necropolis and the tombs T109 and T110 from Santa Venera necropolis, were investigated. The archaeometric results shed light on some markers of a local artisanal tradition developed in the Greek colony of Paestum around 500-475 BC.

New Light on the Silent Millennia: Mediterranean Africa, ca. 4000\u2013900 BC

The so-called neolithization process (ca. 6000/5500–4000 BC) in Mediterranean Africa and the Sahara has been increasingly researched in recent years. In contrast, relatively little is known, especially in Mediterranean Africa, of the period between the beginnings of irreversible climatic deterioration in the Sahara, around 4000–3500 BC, and the onset of Iron Age to broadly Classical times. Why, with the exception of the Nile Delta, is our knowledge of the period between the fourth millennium BC and the threshold of the first Iron Age Phoenician and Greek colonies so limited? To what extent can this information gap be attributed to aridification in the Mediterranean zone, or is it rather a product of the failure to look for the right kinds of materials and sites, and of their relative visibility? In order to answer these questions, this paper focuses specifically on Mediterranean Africa (with the exception of Egypt) from about 4000 BC to ca. 900 BC. It is mainly based on the data made available on MedAfriCarbon, a spatially linked, publicly accessible database and web app comprising the 14C chronometric evidence from Mediterranean Africa from 12,000 to 600 cal. BC, with details of associated cultural and economic information. Analysis of these data shows that most of Mediterranean Africa beyond the Nile was occupied to different extents throughout the 3000-year period covered in this article and that, with a few important exceptions, the robust and resilient nature of local, mainly pastoral, ways of life militated against a shift towards a fully agricultural economy.

Discriminating management strategies in modern and archaeological domestic caprines using low-magnification and confocal dental microwear analyses

Dental Microwear Analysis (DMA) is currently used for obtaining information on diet of different animal species. Low-magnification Microwear Dental Analysis (LMDA) is a DMA technique based on the identification of microfeatures (pits and scratches) on the tooth enamel surface. During the last decade, Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) has gained momentum as an alternative quantitative methodology thus offering more reliable and replicable results and allowing highlighting subtle dietary differences. In this paper we explore the capacities of LMDA and DMTA for discriminating flock managing strategies. Two groups of sheep that were fed differently during the last month of life, one roaming on rangeland, combining Mediterranean forest and meadows and the other on grassland were analysed. While LMDA did not allow discriminating both groups, DMTA showed significant differences between them. DMTA revealed good predictive capacity for the correct classification of the individuals grazing on grasslands, and a poor one for the ones grazing on rangeland, as some of them overlapped with the grassland group. The limitation for correctly classifying roaming individuals is probably explained by the variable composition of plants on rangeland. We used the classificatory rule obtained from the experimental program to classify two archaeological collections of caprines (sheep and goats), from two Iron Age sites from the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula: The Iberian site of El Turó de la Font de la Canya and the Greek colony of Empúries. Finally, we compared the results with those obtained in previous studies using low-magnification microwear techniques (LMDA). In this way, we show the potential of DMTA for discriminating between animal feeding strategies in the past.