American Journal of Archaeology

The article presents and discusses the results, relevant to the period 350–300 B.C.E., from an interrogation of a new archaeological database containing 583 (proto)urban centers (≥2 ha) of the Italian peninsula. Quantitative and geospatial analyses of site numbers, dated fortifications, and instances of regularized town planning reveal that the Early Hellenistic period was the most dynamic period of peninsular settlement growth in classical antiquity. Analyzing settlement patterns at the peninsular level counterbalances the strong regionalism of existing studies. Although there is already awareness of the processes described, here they are defined at the peninsular level for the first time, quantitatively and geographically, thus providing a reference for future research. This article also considers the challenges presented by the stark variances in the sources, quality, and quantity of data relevant to the archaeological sites. The project’s research design and methodology is described. A preliminary discussion on the causes of this settlement growth assesses existing regional explanations. Known contemporary supraregional processes are also discussed, including the rise in the number of rural sites and the Roman conquest. It is suggested that the vibrancy of major settlements might be linked with novel agricultural strategies or systems of landholding, and possible directions for future research are proposed.

This article presents the first results of an ongoing investigation of the Temple of Hera at Olympia. Because it is traditionally believed that the temple was designed with wooden columns that were only later replaced by the stone columns now in situ, the Heraion has been widely cited as a key example for the tectonic theory of the origins of Doric architecture. However, a review of the archaeological evidence at Olympia and comparable sites, the testimony of Pausanias, and the findings from recent fieldwork demonstrate that the Heraion’s peristyle was very likely stone from the beginning. This challenge to the traditional understanding of the construction history of the Heraion has broad ramifications for our understanding of early Doric architecture.

This article explores social practices and the material world at Aredhiou Vouppes, a Late Bronze Age rural community in the Cypriot hinterland. In-depth analysis of the excavation results demonstrates that this site was more complex than current typologies of inland production centers, based mainly on survey data, would suggest. Instead, it was multifunctional and played an important economic role within the wider Cypriot landscape. This article addresses the evidence for initial occupation at Aredhiou during Middle Cypriot III–Late Cypriot (LC) I, but the main focus is on the substantial LC IIC remains. Through a detailed contextual analysis and the identification of a multiplicity of activities practiced at the site, I examine social practice, gender relations, and ritual performance within a small farming community.

This article presents for the first time a complete discussion of the archaeological basis for the architectural form of the Arch of Augustus at Pisidian Antioch as excavated, recorded, and graphically restored by a University of Michigan team in 1924. A three-dimensional digital model of the excavated state of the monument, produced via analysis of archival photographs, supplements the discussion of the excavation archive. The results confirm that the overall form was a triple-bayed arch with four engaged Corinthian columns flanking the passageways, and that the arch stood atop a monumental stairway punctuated by four projecting pedestals and four small fountains. The blocks with sockets for the attachment of the dedicatory inscription are published, and alterations to the restored decorative program, including the addition of a combined representation of the clipeus virtutis and corona civica flanked by winged Tritons, are presented. Uncertain features, such as the articulation of the rear facade and the possible presence of a transverse passageway, are discussed. Finally, a review of evidence concerning the inscribed Res Gestae Divi Augusti shows that the inscription is likely to have been located not on the arch itself but rather on some nearby wall or monument.

The recent conservation and reinstallation of the Nike of Samothrace, the restudy of its archaeological context and petrology, the collapse of the consensus that it celebrated the Rhodian naval victories at Side and Myonessos in 190 B.C.E., and the growing accord among naval historians that its ship is not a trihēmiolia together prompt a reexamination of its date and purpose. Fortunately, the monument offers three significant clues, all previously overlooked or underappreciated. First, why was it dedicated on the remote island of Samothrace, and not, for example, on independent Delos? Second, although ancient galleys could not fight in gales and never did, why is it battling one? And third, why is its ship made of imported Rhodian marble and probably a quadrireme, a vessel superseded elsewhere by the quinquereme but still favored by the Rhodians? The Great Gods’ rescue of pious initiates from storms at sea and second-century B.C.E. naval history point to one occasion in particular: Prousias II of Bithynia’s abortive invasion of Pergamon in 155, his impious assaults on the sanctuaries en route, his fleet’s sudden destruction by a storm, and the Rhodian contribution of five quadriremes to Attalos II’s successful naval counteroffensive in 154.

Satellite remote sensing at Mantinea and Elis in the Peloponnese has identified an extensive network of near-surface orthogonal streets and sections of city blocks. This new and valuable information reveals the general organization of urban space and its parameters, showing that Mantinea and Elis were planned settlements at some point in time. In presenting the evidence for buried archaeological features, the report describes the wider urban layout of each city and outlines a partial reconstruction of an orthogonal network of streets. As Peloponnesian settlements, Mantinea and Elis are considered more broadly within the traditions of Greek town planning. In particular, the report highlights the evidence for planned settlements in the Peloponnese and in doing so challenges the misconception that the region was disinclined to adopt trends in Greek town planning. Finally, an argument is made for the wider integration of satellite remote sensing applications in archaeological fieldwork projects throughout Greece, where until now they were generally lacking.

Attic mortuary practices of the last three decades of the eighth century B.C.E. (Late Geometric [LG] II) are principally marked by the dominance for adults of inhumation over cremation. Nevertheless, this transformation was not universally applied at all burial sites in Attica. Instead, funerary rites present a high degree of variability unprecedented in earlier periods. The Late Geometric burial record has been considered in certain quarters to be a reflection of the changes in contemporary social structures affected by the emergence of the polis. The collection and study of all LG II funerary evidence, not only that from Athens or the well-excavated and published necropoleis of Attica, lead to several interesting observations that demand a reconsideration of the attested funerary variability and the proposed interpretations. The treatment of the deceased seems to have largely depended on their age, with all age groups represented in the organized necropoleis. Thus, the discerned horizontal dimension of the mortuary rites needs to be addressed within the framework of contemporary Attic social developments.