Lower Town Research Articles

CONTEXTUAL REANALYSIS OF THE ARCHITECTURAL FORM AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE PANAGIA HOUSES AT MYCENAE

The Panagia Houses, one of the building complexes at Mycenae, located to the south-west of the Citadel, were interpreted by the excavators as a group of three independent units. They were constructed and occupied during the Late Helladic (LH) IIIB phase, with two main phases distinguishable in the archaeological record, followed by a reoccupation phase. Careful analysis of the archaeological data published by Mylonas-Shear, which focused on the arrangement of individual units, formality of layout, access and movement patterns, and visibility, suggests that the group should be interpreted rather as a single complex, developed during the period of the maximum expansion of the settlement. The building was gradually expanded to form an extended household, with primary living space surrounded by a number of additional rooms for storage, work and habitation. It was composed of a rectangular main unit, surrounded by an extension formed around a small inner courtyard. The movement between the two levels was organised through a system of connected rooftops, with trapdoors and staircases ensuring access to the various rooms of the complex. During the LH IIIB2 Early phase, Mycenae was hit by a devastating earthquake. Much of the town was left in ruin, but the Panagia Houses were rebuilt, although in a smaller form, with the main unit abandoned and the courtyard inside the extension transformed into the main room of the complex. The status of the complex probably changed, but it was still inhabited by a middle-class family, who possessed a number of valuables and took part in the palatial mobilisation system. The household probably suffered in a widespread fire which destroyed Mycenae at the end of LH IIIB. Its remains were then used as two small dwellings by the survivors of the catastrophe. The history of the complex reflects the changing vicissitudes of the Lower Town of Mycenae.

The medieval houses of Nijmegen’s Benedenstad (Lower Town)

The medieval houses of Nijmegen’s Benedenstad (Lower Town)

Skulpture Marije Pobjednice u gradovima tvrđavama na jugoistočnoj granici Habsburške Monarhije

The paper analyses statues of Mary the Victorious (Maria victrix, Santa Maria de Victoria, Marija Zmagovalka, Maria vom Siege, Gyözedelmes Immaculata) in the fortified cities at the south-eastern frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy, highlighting some previously unidentified examples of this iconographic type in Petrovaradin and Alba Iulia. These cities were part of a comprehensive fortification system conceived by Eugene of Savoy following Habsburg victories over the Ottomans under his leadership. The paper examines comparative graphic, painterly, and sculptural works that may have influenced the authors of these sculptures. Notably, two altarpieces by Carlo Maratta (1625–1713), executed in the 1660s for the Franciscan church of S. Isidoro Agricola in Rome and the church of S. Agostino in Siena, emerge as highly influential in this context, with numerous artworks modelled upon them. The iconographic type of Mary the Victorious depicts the joint triumph of the Virgin Mary and her Child over Evil, with Christ piercing the personification of evil at their feet with a cross-shaped spear. This paper associates this specific iconographic choice with the origin of these artworks near the Habsburg-Ottoman frontier, interpreting it as an expression of Catholic and Habsburg triumphal rhetoric and propaganda. Some examples suggest probable Jesuit influence, as they were among the primary promoters of this iconographic type. In Osijek, a city of exceptional strategic importance on the south-eastern Habsburg-Ottoman frontier, the iconographic type of Mary the Victorious is represented by two examples. The earlier, more elaborate one, tentatively dated to the 1730s, originally adorned the city gate of Osijek’s fortress Tvrđa. In 1784, together with three other statues, it was placed on the outer perimeter of the Holy Trinity monument in the centre of Tvrđa. The second Osijek example is located in the Lower Town and dated by an inscription to 1757, when it was erected as a votive statue against the plague. Two public statues of Mary the Victorious are located in Petrovaradin, the second most important fortress on the south-eastern frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy. Unlike those from Osijek, the Petrovaradin statues are not free-standing, but inserted into the façade niches of public buildings in the suburbs of the Petrovaradin fortress. The polychromous wooden statue on the building of the Šajkaš Battalion stands out for its quality, with stylistic features pointing to the early decades of the 18th century. The second statue is located in the niche of the nearby Bridge Toll Office building. It is argued that the Jesuits or the Franciscans may have selected this iconographic type, as they were the key promoters of Mary the Victorious. The statues were probably commissioned to commemorate Mary’s role in the Christian victory over the Ottomans near Petrovaradin in 1716, as their locations suggest. Mary’s role as the saintly protector against the plague, which struck the area in 1738, should also be considered. In Alba Iulia, which was the easternmost point of Eugene’s chain of fortified cities, Mary the Victorious is the central statue on the side altar in the cathedral of St Michael, constructed around 1754. In conclusion, the paper presents two examples of sculptural and painterly depictions of Mary the Victorious in the wider frontier area (Požega, Valpovo), commissioned by the Jesuits or members of the Habsburg elite, since due to specific political circumstances, they emerge as key patrons of significant artworks in this region.

Living in the Lower Town at Kınık Höyük (Niğde). Preliminary Report on the 2021-2022 Campaigns in Anatolia

Excavations at the site of Kınık Höyük have brought to light over the past twelve years several occupational phases dated to the first Millennium BCE both on the acropolis and in the lower town, especially for the Middle Iron Age and the Hellenistic period. Since 2021 the University of Firenze joined the University of Pavia (Italy), NYU-ISAW (USA) and Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir (Turkey) in the excavations at the site of Kınık Höyük, and since 2022 the same university took over in the management of the project. This article is a preliminary report on recent excavations area D2-3, located in the lower town, where archaeologists could identify six phases of occupation and two large primary contexts dated to the beginning of the Middle Iron Age, that provide new insights on every-day assemblages and inventories produced locally and the architectural and archaeological context they are related to. The most interesting element in terms of urban layout and structure is related to the construction of the massive defensive fortification of the lower town, that seems to be related so far to the earliest occupation of the Iron Age lower town, i.e. possibly at the end of the Early Iron Age. A selection of the materials and a detailed report on deposits and architecture provides the reader with the archaeological data collected mainly in the campaign 2022 and 2021 in the lower town excavations, while a general overview on the urban fortification of the acropolis allows a general picture of the whole settlement defensive system and space organisation.

Городские стены Боспора в юстиниановское время

Procopius of Caesarea’s account that Emperor Justinian I, having found the fortress walls of the capital of the Bosporan Kingdom destroyed, strengthened them, is of fundamental importance for the understanding of the limits of this city in the Early Byzantine Period. For ages, the researchers have been discussing the spatial organization of the city in question in the sixth century. Some of them have inferred that Early Byzantine Bosporos was reduced to a small town in the area of the ancient port, where Justinian had erected the fortress walls, along the contour of which the Genoese-Turkish castle was built later. Other researchers have supposed that the walls of Bosporos were simply repaired under this Byzantine emperor. To a large extent, the solution to this question is hampered by the limited volume of written sources. When the evidence of the kind is absent, archaeological sources should play the main role. However, in the case of Kerch, the large-scale systematic archaeological excavations are restricted due to the continuity of the area covered by urban buildings. The analysis of the areas of the Bosporan city in question which lay far from each other and were uncovered by small-size archaeological researches allows a rather fragmentary notion of the specifics and dynamics of the urban development. However, one has enough reasons to state that the six-century city of Bosporos occupied a significant part of the territory of ancient Pantikapaion, with the lower town extended at least 500 m northwards of the foot of Mithridates Hill. Under Emperor Justinian I, the old fortress walls in the lower (flat) part of the city were repaired in certain areas, as it comes from archaeological data, particularly uncovered in recent years. There is no objective evidence of the condition of the walls of the upper town, where a few nests of residential buildings continued in the sixth century. In the seventh century, the entire city area reduced to the flat territory (ca 25–30 hectares), protected by fortress walls, and the upper town became a cemetery.

UTILITY COMPLEX OF THE EARLY 15Th century FROM CHERKASY PODIL

This paper introduces the materials from archaeological explorations in 2022 at Gagarina str. 60 in Cherkasy. This area belongs to Cherkasy Podil (Lower Town) located in 200 m from the Lithuanian time castle at Dzelegora. Semi-pit-house or pit-storage (dwelling 2) dated to the beginning of 15th century is one of the most interesting features revealed by the excavations. The Feature is dated to the time when Cherkasy was shifted from a small border town of Podil principality (Lithuanian vassal) to an important administrative center of the Great Lithuanian Kingdom.
 The dwelling was destroyed in fire which caused the preservation of its wooden construction including the wall coverage. Complex of finds composed of wooden and ceramic vessels, tannery’s threshing machine, handle of a huge bucket, scythe, needle, knife and bronze icon-amulet comes from the feature’s floor and filling. Charcoaled seeds were found on the floor of this dwelling. These are represented by rye (Secale cereale). The other domesticated plants were not found. We may note an admixture of weed looking similar to Convolvulus arvensis which is counted at 1.5 %. The latter estimate indicates the net cereal yield. Rye is a widely spread cereal. Its significance is underlined by the symbolic meaning in folk songs and expressions. Rye is a symbol of a good harvest and richness.
 Burning of the dwelling may be explained by either the unintentional burning, or the military aggression. The latter may be indirectly confirmed by the arrowhead found in the filling of the dwelling. The analyzed feature is important in the study of subsistence and material culture of the «Lithuanian» period in the region.

TOWARDS A RADIOCARBON-BASED CHRONOLOGY OF URBAN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE EARLY TO MID-SECOND MILLENNIUM BC: INITIAL RESULTS FROM KURD QABURSTAN

ABSTRACTRadiocarbon (14C) data for 2nd millennium BC urban sites in northern Mesopotamia have been lacking until recently. This article presents a preliminary dataset and Bayesian model addressing the Middle and early Late Bronze Age (Old Babylonian and pre/early Mittani) strata of Kurd Qaburstan—one of the largest archaeological sites on the Erbil plain of Iraqi Kurdistan. The results place the large, densely occupied and fortified Middle Bronze Age city in the first part of the 18th century BC, an outcome consistent with the site’s tentative identification as ancient Qabra. A long occupation gap (up to two centuries) probably ensued, before a smaller town confined to the high mound and part of the northeastern lower town resumed in the late 16th and early 15th centuries BC, possibly before this region became part of the Late Bronze Age kingdom of Mittani.

POWOJENNA ODBUDOWA ZAMKU KSĄŻĄT GRYFITÓW POMORSKICH W SZCZECINIE

Rebuilt in the years 1958-1980 in the Renaissance style with elements of Gothic, the Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes from the Griffin dynasty in Szczecin is located on a promontory of the high western escarpment of the Odra river valley, within the non-existent medieval perimeter walls of the city, in the area of today's Rycerska, Kuśnierska, Mściwoja and so-called Castle Route. Below the castle, there is a partly rebuilt lower town called Podzamcze. Reconstructed in Renaissance forms, the castle is one of the archaeologically and architecturally well-recognized objects of the Duchy of Gryfit. Szczecin's medieval Old Town was almost completely destroyed during American and British air raids on the Szczecin ship base in 1942. It caused the greatest destruction in the history of the Old Town and the castle located in its immediate vicinity. The degree of destruction of the Szczecin castle after the war, as well as the entire Old Town, was estimated at 85%. No elements of the interior furnishings of the castle have survived, except for individual pieces of furniture stored in the cellars. Valuable paneling and wooden furnishings were burnt down in a fire that lasted for many days after the bombing. The preserved buildings were completely unknown to Poles, not related to Polish tradition and history, so it was considered whether they should not be completely demolished, and the area cleared of rubble should be used for new buildings. This is what happened to a large part of the Old Town, where only a few buildings have survived, the technical condition of which allowed their further use. The reconstruction of the castle began in 1956 and was basically completed in 1985, taking into account new program elements, allocating the rooms of the castle, mainly for cultural purposes. In order to preserve the historic character of the building, scientific and conservation supervision over the reconstruction of the castle was carried out by art historians: Dr. Henryk Dziurla from Wrocław (until 1960) and residents of Szczecin: Dr. Zbigniew Radacki in the years 1960-1984 and Krystyna Kroman after 1984. A multi-stage renovation of the former duke's castle was started in 2005, combined with the modernization and change of the technical equipment of the rooms. The unknown stone foundations dating back to the 12th century were discovered under the main courtyard of the Pomeranian Dukes' Castle in 2012.

Middle Byzantine glazed pottery from Nauplio: an overview

From the 1970s up to the present day the Greek Archaeological Service has carried out several rescue excavations at the castle and in the Lower town, which have yielded interesting ceramic material. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the unpublished Middle Byzantine glazed pottery identified in the other rescue excavations conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service.

KURD QABURSTAN ON THE ERBIL PLAIN: FIELD RESEARCH 2016–2017

A 2016 study season and 2017 excavation season at the 95-hectare walled site of Kurd Qaburstan on the Erbil plain have generated a variety of new results. Geophysical survey on the lower town revealed details of the Middle Bronze occupation in the southeast part of the site, including the city wall, a large open area, streets, houses, and a monumental temple comparable to examples from Tell al Rimah, Aššur, and Larsa. Excavations confirmed the Middle Bronze date of the temple and explored further Middle Bronze contexts elsewhere on the lower town. On the High Mound North Slope, Middle Bronze occupation included a fortification wall and large-scale architecture inside it. On the High Mound East, Late Bronze architecture of apparent elite character was documented. Archaeobotanical analyses complementing the excavations reveal the existence of naan-style bread in both Middle and Late Bronze contexts. Given radiocarbon and ceramic results, the Middle Bronze occupation at Kurd Qaburstan is datable to c. 1800 B.C., while the Late Bronze phases on the High Mound East belong to an early LB horizon in the 16–15th centuries B.C., perhaps predating the imposition of Mittani political authority in the region.

Review: Tokyo before Tokyo: Power and Magic in the Shogun’s City of Edo

Review: <i>Tokyo before Tokyo: Power and Magic in the Shogun’s City of Edo</i>

Islamic ancient Termez: An active and long-established ceramic manufacturing centre along the silk road

This paper presents the most recent comprehensive archaeological investigation at ancient Termez, a large site located in southern Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya river. The Joint Uzbek-Spanish team has worked there since 2006. After a first phase of investigation up to 2012, the campaigns restarted in 2018. The paper concentrates on the pottery manufacturing centres related to the Islamic period, located outside the rabad (suburbs) to the north-west and in the shahristan (lower town). Besides accurately investigating the structures and the stratigraphy of each context, ceramic vessels have been collected during surveys and excavations and a selection of them is presented in this paper to give a broad overview of the wares produced and circulating at Termez. First of all, the finding of several pottery workshops unquestionably proves that the city was a very active manufacturing centre for a long period of time. Moreover, the study demonstrates that a large variety of glazed and unglazed items were locally produced, such as fine tableware, storage and kitchen vessels, but also sphero-conical vessels. Their forms and decorations largely conform to the Central Asian Islamic ceramic horizon. The ceramics collected have been dated between the 8th/9th and the 16th/17th century CE.

Toxic and allergenic plant species in primary school yards of Zagreb’s Lower Town district

Abstract The green infrastructure of Zagreb’s Lower Town is made up of row-planted trees and green spaces within blocks of buildings. All schools are surrounded by green spaces that have a positive impact on the environment. Although most green spaces contribute to improving the quality of life, they also contain toxic and allergenic species which are potentially hazardous, particularly to children. This paper aims to make an inventory of plant species in the environment of primary schools in Zagreb’s Lower Town district, and to determine the presence of toxic and allergenic species. The field research was conducted from March to the end of May 2021 at 7 primary school locations. 13 either annual or biennial plant families were catalogued. In total, 34 species of herbaceous perennials and geophytes, and 36 species of trees from 17 plant families were listed. A total of 38 species of shrubs and climbers were found. Also, a total of 35 poisonous and 28 allergenic plant taxa are planted in the green spaces surrounding primary schools. The most common poisonous species found are Hedera helix and Taxus baccata, and Ilex aquifolium, a highly poisonous species, was also found. No moderately poisonous species have been found at all. As far as allergenic species are concerned, school environments are dominated by those that produce low and moderate levels of pollen concentration in the air. Species that produce high levels of pollen concentration (e.g., Betula pendula, Robinia pseudoacacia, etc.) are the least represented ones, while species that produce a very high concentration of pollen have not been recorded in any of the localities.

Ancient Cults in Ḫattuša (I)

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The present essay explores the question of continuity and change between Kaneš and Ḫattuša in the cultic sphere, reviewing the cult of Parga, probably a fertility goddess of local Anatolian origin, in the Hittite sources. It reveals that Parga appears in several different cultic contexts but within a relatively invariable sequence of offerings, often appearing with the same, often “exotic” deities, such as Zūluma, Šišumma/i, and Šurra. The probable location for performance of many of these cultic sequences in the lower town of Ḫattuša, one of the most ancient parts of the city, shows a great deal of continuity between the Old Assyrian and the Old Hittite periods, and may further highlight the antiquity of these cults. Since some of the cultic action considered in this essay took place in close proximity to the ašuša-gate, the evidence concerning the location of that gate, probably at the western or northwestern section of the fortification wall and near some of the institutions located in its vicinity, will be examined.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

The City of Zagreb Lower Town Urban mobility development program

Common development issues in historic city centers are dense urban blocks (with buildings that do not follow modern construction standards), narrow traffic corridors, and low mobility of pedestrians and cyclists. Modern solutions, like smart traffic control systems, parking restrictions, the introduction of speed limitations and dynamic yellow lanes, increasing control of existing yellow lanes, and the establishment of multimodal solutions, are introduced to eliminate traffic problems in these areas. When it comes to the abovementioned development issues, the historic Lower Town area in Croatia’s capital Zagreb, with residential and commercial buildings and infrastructure dating from the beginning of the 20th century, is no exception. Following a very strong earthquake that hit in March 2020, severely damaging the structures in Zagreb’s historical center, a program for the complete reconstruction of this area is being developed, which will contain the Urban mobility development program. This paper presents the process and the results of Zagreb City’s Lower Town urban transport reprogramming performed by the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Civil Engineering. The main premise of the Zagreb historic center reconstruction program is that the quality of life in the area will be improved through the regeneration of neglected and unorganized city blocks, as well as the planning and construction of new public spaces. The aspiration is the transformation of Lower Town into the "15-minute city". The prerequisite for this is (1) improved mobility and (2) reshaped transportation system, with the emphasis on cost-effective technical solutions and the integration of zero-emission modes of transport, and green mobility. At the same time, it will be necessary to preserve buildings and infrastructure that are part of the identity of the City and to prevent the transformation of the reconstruction process into a process of gentrification.

Change and Continuity in Early Nineteenth-Century Foodways in Québec City’s Lower Town

Plant and insect remains found in a privy structure were analyzed to gain insight into foodways of Québec City’s Lower Town inhabitants in the early nineteenth century. We use dietary practices as a window to examine how the population of the St. Roch neighbourhood responded to changes taking place in the decades that followed the instauration of the British regime and how these changes may have influenced different aspects of their food consumption practices. Through comparisons with assemblages from two French-regime sites as well as from three later nineteenth-century sites, we find that a certain continuity characterizes the plant consumption of Québec City’s French-Canadian population. We address some of the challenges of this research, as it is difficult to distinguish between consumption as a choice related to identity versus more practical considerations such as availability and access.

Ebla, Ten Years After: An Assessment of the Damages

The archaeological excavations at Tell Mardikh, ancient Ebla, forcefully stopped in 2011 because of the political crisis in Syria. Immediately after, with a peak in 2018, the site suffered from illicit excavations and an extensive military occupation on its entire surface that caused heavy destruction of the buildings that were excavated and restored by the Italian expedition and severe changes of the morphology of the ancient city (particularly in the Lower Town and on the rampart). This contribution intends to offer a preliminary overview of the current situation through the analysis of satellite images and observations in the field.

Die Insula II von Velia – ihre Forschungsgeschichte und neue Forschungsfragen

The monumental complex of Insula II, a public building in the Lower Town of Velia, founded by the Phocaeans in 535 BCE, is one of the most known and discussed buildings in the town due to the spectacular finds of marble statues. The reason why the function and the chronology of this complex remain unclear until today can be found in the complex and – because of the inadequate state of publication – difficult to comprehend history of research. In fact, the building has been understood as the meeting place of a medical school, as a place of memory of an important Velinian family or as a complex for the imperial cult. The present contribution starts with the presentation of the various stages of research and the different attempts to explain the building. On this basis, we then give a synthesis of the stratigraphical sequence found during the Austrian excavations in the so-called Triporticus court and distinguish three phases. The first phase, following the suggestion of Hans Lauter, who studied the façade of the building, is dated to the Late Republican period. After its destruction, possibly due to a mudflow, the complex that is visible today was built in the Augustan period. It is here that we can assume that the marble portraits were exhibited. In the later 1st c. AD this building was destroyed as well. While M. Napoli supposed that the reason could be found in an earthquake, testified for Pompeii in 62 AD, new investigations make it more probable that the damage can be connected with the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. The subsequent phase of reorganization is difficult to reconstruct, as all contexts were already excavated in the 1960s, but the Hadrianic period, as suggested by M. Napoli, does not seem improbable. Finally, the development of Insula II is compared to a newly found building complex in Velia. The so-called Masseria Cobellis, a monumental building organized around an open court like Insula II, but housing a natural spring, was found in the vicinity of Insula II and shows not only similarities in architecture, but also in the history of the building. This allows us to reach new conclusions depending upon the stage of development of ideas and function of this area of the Lower town.

Flaked Stone Tools and Domestic Economy in a Classical Polis: Lithics from the Lower Town at Halieis, Greece

The advent of metallurgy in the Bronze Age corresponded with a reduced role for stone tools. Objects of worked stone from historic contexts have therefore received less attention than objects made of other materials. An assemblage from the Classical city-state of Halieis in the southern Argolid demonstrates the continued use of lithics in historic periods. The material, consisting largely of obsidian blades, with few cores and other production residue, reflects either primary reduction off-site and importation of finished tools or preforms, or recycling of older material. Despite the assemblage's small size, the lithics reveal some nuances of an underreported aspect of the ancient Greek economy.

Honeybees as a biomonitoring species to assess environmental airborne pollution in different socioeconomic city districts.

Honeybees have been used in Europe as environmental bioindicators for heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). However, their potential has been little explored in North America, especially between environments which have similar pollution levels. Many urban residents and stakeholders are concerned with air quality, mainly in regard to gradients of exposure to industrial pollution between deprived and privileged subpopulation. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the use of honeybees as bioindicators to assess exposure to heavy metals and PAHs in Québec City, Canada, in different socioeconomic districts of Quebec City (deprivation index). Honeybees were sampled over a 5-month period (May to September) at six locations distributed in two urban areas that are distinct geomorphologically and socioeconomically (lower town socio-economically deprived and upper town socioeconomically privileged) and two control rural locations. Six PAHs were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), while four heavy metals were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Arsenic was the only measured pollutant that showed a significant gradient of exposure between rural and urban environments, but also between the two urban areas. Furthermore, we were able to detect significant differences at certain sampling times for heavy metals and PAHs. Overall, the results show that honeybees are sensitive enough to detect differences between the differential urban environments of a city presumed to have similar pollution levels and therefore could be used when potential socio-environmental inequalities are present.