American Journal of Archaeology

Amorgos is widely known for its Early Cycladic antiquities, which now predominantly adorn private collections and numerous museums outside Greece. Some of the finest Cycladica associated with the island emerged before the first systematic excavations were conducted in 1894 by Christos Tsountas. With the exception of brief references, this early period of Cycladic exploration is little known. This article attempts to identify and reconstruct the private excavations that took place on Amorgos and the organization, operation, and trafficking of the island’s Early Cycladic antiquities between 1880 and 1894. By integrating archival and archaeological material, this study offers glimpses of the cultural history of late 19th-century Amorgos and of some of the protagonists who paved the way for the systematic investigation of the early Cyclades.

Scale and symmetry in monumental architecture are embraced by archaeologists as the primary vocabulary in past statements of power. In ancient Mesopotamia in particular, the excessive size of public buildings implied the control of both space and people. The predictable, often symmetrical plans regulated and reflected control over users’ behavior. However, interpretations based on plans alone remain simplistic; analyses from ground level can better encompass the lived experience of a building’s occupants or users. Close ground-level phenomenological analysis of movement through the Neo-Assyrian capital city of Khorsabad (constructed and inhabited 717–706 B.C.E.), particularly its citadel, indicates that manipulation of fields of view, interplay of light and shadow, and variations in sound were equally important means of conveying ideological messages.

This article explores the complexity of nonurban and rural landscapes. Using published and unpublished survey data from the Balikh River valley and integrating remotely sensed data sets, such as satellite imagery, I demonstrate that subregional environmental diversity can constrain emerging urban landscapes and result in long-term, stable nonurban and/or rural settlement patterns. Rather than viewing these areas of low occupation density as “backwaters,” I suggest that they reveal divergent settlement trajectories that were crucial components of regional settlement systems.

Sanctuaries and religion were instrumental in forming the worldview of the ancient Cypriots, and one would expect that social power relations, meanings, and identities were expressed through the holistic concept of sacred landscapes. This contribution primarily discusses the change in the use and perception of sacred landscapes, which were originally constructed in the era of the Cypriot basileis (kings) but continued to function in a new political environment under the control of the Ptolemaic strategos (general). Furthermore, it proposes a contextualized methodology for approaching the study of sacred landscapes in Iron Age Cyprus, revealing new possibilities and their effects on our understanding of Cypriot social, cultural, and political histories and at the same time indicating the limits and the dangers of such a task. Drawing on ideas from theoretical/methodological studies of landscape archaeology and their relevant applications in other Mediterranean histories, this article explores how spatial order (i.e., the hierarchical arrangement of sites), as observed in sacred landscapes, is expected to articulate social order and to be linked with shifting relations of power and cultural influence in an ancient Cypriot context. It also suggests that a closer consideration of sacred landscapes and their complexities from a long-term perspective not only makes the transition from the Cypriot city-kingdoms to the Hellenistic period more comprehensible but also illuminates the political and sociocultural histories of both periods when they are studied in their own terms.

The 2012 edition of the “Archaeology in Jordan” newsletter presents short reports on select excavations and archaeological projects in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan conducted during 2010 and 2011. Reports are generally organized geographically from north to south.

In the 1970s, a fragmentary sculpted portrait of the empress Livia wearing a wreath of wheat was found in a monumental building (dubbed the Imperial Cult Building) on the forum of ancient Thysdrus (El Jem, Tunisia). Published here for the first time, the head dates to ca. 10–20 C.E. The new Livia is part of a cluster of Augustan and Julio-Claudian statuary—an Augustus, a possible Octavia, and three hitherto-unpublished headless statues—that sheds new light on the prosperity and public ambitions of Thysdrus in the Early Empire. The unadulterated crown of wheat accentuates ties to Ceres with unusual emphasis but fits in with contemporary African coinage and dedications.

Among Heinrich Schliemann’s discoveries of architecture at Mycenaean Tiryns in the Argolid Plain in southern Greece, one of the most impressive was a single huge rectangular stone slab that covered the floor of a relatively small square room. The slab’s surface was smoothed down and provided with drilled sockets to anchor a wooden dado. The slab was tilted slightly to provide a slope for water to run off through a carved trough and surely served as an unusual floor for a room devoted to bathing, not far from the Throne Room of the palace. This article deals with the bathing room and, in particular, a proposed wooden bench built along its side walls. It also investigates what we know about bathing in the Aegean during the Late Bronze Age.

Adornato, G., Phalaris: Literary Myth or Historical Reality? Reassessing Archaic Akragas: 483–506

Archaeological Institute of America, Awards Presented at the 113th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America: 363–68

Ashurov. See Ristvet et al.

Bakhshaliyev. See Ristvet et al.

Bryant. See Ristvet et al.

Çelik. See Gutzwiller and Çelik.

Counts, D.B., and E. Cova, Book Reviews Editorial Statement: 3–4

Cova. See Counts and Cova.

Curvers. See Schwartz et al.

Dunham. See Schwartz et al.

Finlayson, C., New Excavations and a Reexamination of the Great Roman Theater at Apamea, Syria, Seasons 1–3 (2008–2010): 277–319

Glatz, C., Bearing the Marks of Control? Reassessing Pot Marks in Late Bronze Age Anatolia: 5–38

Gopnik. See Ristvet et al.

Griffin. See Pitts and Griffin.

Guldager Bilde, P., and S. Handberg, Ancient Repairs on Pottery from Olbia Pontica: 461–81

Gutzwiller, K., and Ö. Çelik, New Menander Mosaics from Antioch: 573–623

Handberg. See Guldager Bilde and Handberg.

Keller, D.R., B.A. Porter, and C.A. Tuttle, Archaeology in Jordan, 2010 and 2011 Seasons: 693–50

Langridge-Noti, E., “This is Sparta”: Recent Publications on Sparta and Laconia: 751–55

Lau. See Ristvet et al.

Lavan, L., Public Space in Late Antique Ostia: Excavation and Survey in 2008–2011: 649–91

Longfellow, B., Roman Fountains in Greek Sanctuaries: 133–55

Lord. See Norman and Lord.

Marston, J.M., Agricultural Strategies and Political Economy in Ancient Anatolia: 377–403

Neils, J., University Antiquities Collections: Old and New: 543–48

Neils, J., and P. Schultz, Erechtheus and the Apobates Race on the Parthenon Frieze (North XI–XII): 195–207

Norman, N.J., and V. Lord, A Letter from the AJA: 1

Özen. See Summers and Özen.

Pitts, M., and R. Griffin, Exploring Health and Social Well-Being in Late Roman Britain: An Intercemetery Approach: 253–76

Porter. See Keller et al.

Ristvet, L., H. Gopnik, V. Bakhshaliyev, H. Lau, S. Ashurov, and R. Bryant, On the Edge of Empire: 2008 and 2009 Excavations at Oğlanqala, Azerbaijan: 321–62

Robinson, B.A., “Good Luck” from Corinth: A Mosaic of Allegory, Athletics, and City Identity: 105–32

Rothe, U., The “Third Way”: Treveran Women’s Dress and the “Gallic Ensemble”: 235–52

Royal, J.G., Illyrian Coastal Exploration Program (2007–2009): The Roman and Late Roman Finds and Their Contexts: 405–60

Schultz. See Neils and Schultz.

Schwartz, G.M., H.H. Curvers, S.S. Dunham, and J.A. Weber, From Urban Origins to Imperial Integration in Western Syria: Umm el-Marra 2006, 2008: 157–93

Shapiro, H.A., No Longer Banned in Boston: 369–75

Shaw, J.W., Bathing at the Mycenaean Palace of Tiryns: 555–71

Smith, J.S., Seals, Scripts, and Politics at Late Bronze Age Kourion: 39–103

Smith, T.J., Greek Vases: From Artistic Personalities to Archaeological Contexts: 549–54

Stirling, L.M., A New Portrait of Livia from Thysdrus (El Jem, Tunisia): 625–47

Summers, G.D., and E. Özen, The Hittite Stone and Sculpture Quarry at Karakız Kasabası and Hapis Boğazı in the District of Sorgun, Yozgat, Central Anatolia: 507–19

Tuttle. See Keller et al.

Watrous, L.V., The Harbor Complex of the Minoan Town at Gournia: 521–41

Weber. See Schwartz et al.

Wootton, W., Making and Meaning: The Hellenistic Mosaic from Tel Dor: 209–34

Online Only

Book Reviews

Alroth, B., Rev. of Prêtre, ed., Le donateur, l’offrande et la déesse: Systèmes votifs dans les sanctuaires de déesses du monde grec. Actes du 31e colloque international organisé par l’UMR Halma-Ipel (Université Charles-de-Gaulle/Lille 3, 13–15 Décembre 2007)

Arnold, B., Rev. of Bonfante, ed., The Barbarians of Ancient Europe: Realities and Interactions

Barletta, B.A., Rev. of Ratté, Lydian Architecture: Ashlar Masonry Structures at Sardis

Baughan, E.P., Rev. of Simpson, The Gordion Wooden Objects. Vol. 1, The Furniture from Tumulus MM

Becker, M.J., Rev. of Lazer, Resurrecting Pompeii

Bernbeck, R., Rev. of Schachner, Assyriens Könige an einer der Quellen des Tigris: Archäologische Forschungen im Höhlensystem von Birkleyn und am sogenannten Tigris-Tunnel

Blackwell, N.G., Rev. of Betancourt and Ferrence, eds., Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why. Studies in Honor of James D. Muhly

Bultrighini, I., Rev. of Haysom and Wallensten, eds., Current Approaches to Religion in Ancient Greece: Papers Presented at a Symposium at the Swedish Institute at Athens, 17–19 April 2008

Bultrighini, I., Rev. of Lohmann and Mattern, eds., Attika: Archäologie einer “zentralen” Kulturlandschaft. Akten der internationalen Tagung vom 18.–20. Mai 2007 in Marburg

Burrell, B., Rev. of Longfellow, Roman Imperialism and Civic Patronage: Form, Meaning, and Ideology in Monumental Fountain Complexes

Butcher, K., Rev. of Tzaferis and Israeli, Paneas

Cadogan, G., Rev. of Gill, Sifting the Soil of Greece: The Early Years of the British School at Athens (1886–1919)

Calkins, R.M., Rev. of Posamentir, The Polychrome Grave Stelai from the Early Hellenistic Necropolis

Campbell, V.L., Rev. of De Simone and Macfarlane, eds., Apolline Project. Vol. 1, Studies on Vesuvius’ North Slope and the Bay of Naples

Christakis, K.S., Rev. of Giannopoulou, Pithoi: Technology and History of Storage Vessels Through the Ages

Clarke, J.R., Rev. of Dwyer, Pompeii’s Living Statues: Ancient Roman Lives Stolen from Death

Cline, E.H., Rev. of Levy, Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future: The New Pragmatism

Cummings, C., Rev. of Woolf, Tales of the Barbarians: Ethnography and Empire in the Roman West

D’Ambra, E., Rev. of Platt, Facing the Gods: Epiphany and Representation in Graeco-Roman Art, Literature and Religion

de Grummond, N.T., Rev. of Camporeale and Firpo, eds., Arezzo nell’antichità

Dipla, A., Rev. of Pellegrini, Eros nella Grecia arcaica e classica: Iconografia e iconologia

Donnellan, L., Rev. of Petersen, Cultural Interactions and Social Strategies on the Pontic Shores: Burial Customs in the Northern Black Sea Area c. 550–270 BC

Emme, B., Rev. of Trümper, Die “Agora des Italiens” in Delos: Baugeschichte, Architektur, Ausstattung und Funktion einer späthellenistischen Porticus-Anlage

Fall, P.L., Rev. of Miller, Botanical Aspects of Environment and Economy at Gordion, Turkey

Frangipane, M., Rev. of Carter and Philip, eds., Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and Integration in the Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East

Fullerton, M.D., Rev. of Stansbury-O’Donnell, Looking at Greek Art

Galvao-Sobrinho, C.R., Rev. of Dey, The Aurelian Wall and the Refashioning of Imperial Rome, AD 271–855

Harding, A., Rev. of Earle and Kristiansen, eds., Organising Bronze Age Societies: The Mediterranean, Central Europe and Scandinavia Compared

Helmers, M., Rev. of Tilley and Bennett, Body and Image: Explorations in Landscape Phenomenology 2

Hoffman, G.L., Rev. of Gruen, Cultural Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean

Höflmayer, F., Rev. of Milevski, Early Bronze Age Goods Exchange in the Southern Levant: A Marxist Perspective

Holloway, R.R., Rev. of Dardenay, Les mythes fondateurs de Rome: Images et politique dans l’Occident romain

Hope, V., Rev. of Carroll and Rempel, eds., Living Through the Dead: Burial and Commemoration in the Classical World

Howe, T.N., Rev. of Senseney, The Art of Building in the Classical World: Vision, Craftsmanship, and Linear Perspective in Greek and Roman Architecture

Kardulias, P.N., Rev. of Jennings, Globalizations and the Ancient World

Kielt Costello, S., Rev. of Marchesi and Marchetti (Watson, trans.), Royal Statuary of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia

Kleiner, D.E.E., Rev. of Prusac, From Face to Face: Recarving of Roman Portraits and the Late-Antique Portrait Arts

Kleiner, F.S., Rev. of Müller and Kockel, Die Ehrenbögen in Pompeji

Krentz, P., Rev. of Buraselis and Meidani, eds., Marathon: The Battle and the Ancient Deme

Laurence, R., Rev. of Sewell, The Formation of Roman Urbanism 338–200 B.C.: Between Contemporary Foreign Influence and Roman Tradition

Maeir, A., Rev. of Sasson, Animal Husbandry in Ancient Israel: A Zooarchaeological Perspective on Livestock Exploitation, Herd Management and Economic Strategies

Mattingly, D., Rev. of Eckardt, ed., Roman Diasporas: Archaeological Approaches to Mobility and Diversity in the Roman Empire

McDonald, D.K., Rev. of Cohen and Kangas, eds., Assyrian Reliefs From the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II: A Cultural Biography

McIlwaine, I.C., Rev. of Winckelmann, Letter and Report on the Discoveries at Herculaneum

Mifflin, J., Rev. of Wolfe and Singerman, Mummies in Nineteenth Century America: Ancient Egyptians as Artifacts

Moore, A.M.T., Rev. of Rak, The Rhyton from Danilo: Structure and Symbolism of a Middle Neolithic Cult-Vessel

Moore, M.B., Rev. of Zimmermann-Elseify, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. Germany 89. Berlin, Antikensammlung ehemals Antiquarium 12: Attisch Weissgrundige Lekythen

Nakhai, B.A., Rev. of Budin, Images of Woman and Child from the Bronze Age: Reconsidering Fertility, Maternity, and Gender in the Ancient World

Nanoglou, S., Rev. of Lillios and Tsamis, Material Mnemonics: Everyday Memory in Prehistoric Europe

Neils, J., Rev. of Fehr, Becoming Good Democrats and Wives: Civic Education and Female Socialization on the Parthenon Frieze

Osborne, J.F., Rev. of Gilibert, Syro-Hittite Monumental Art and the Archaeology of Performance

Papalexandrou, N., Rev. of Despinis, Ἄρτεµις Βραυρωνία: Λατρευτικά ἀγάλµατα καί ἀναθήµατα ἀπό τά ἱερά τῆς θεᾶς στή Βραυρώνα καί τήν Ἀκρόπολη τῆς Ἀθήνας

Peña, J.T., Rev. of Reynolds, Hispania and the Roman Mediterranean, AD 100–700: Ceramics and Trade

Peterson, J., Rev. of Finlayson and Warren, Changing Natures: Hunter-Gatherers, First Farmers and the Modern World

Pevnick, S.D., Rev. of Calder, Cruelty and Sentimentality: Greek Attitudes to Animals, 600–300 BC

Poehler, E., Rev. of Jansen, Koloski-Ostrow, and Moormann, eds., Roman Toilets: Their Archaeology and Cultural History

Pollock, S., Rev. of Frachetti, Pastoralist Landscapes and Social Interaction in Bronze Age Eurasia

Prag, K., Rev. of Richard, Long, Jr., Holdorf, and Peterman, eds., Khirbat Iskandar: Final Report on the Early Bronze IV Area C “Gateway” and Cemeteries

Radner, K., Rev. of Barjamovic, A Historical Geography of Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period

Richardson, M.B., Rev. of Butz, The Art of the Hekatompedon Inscription and the Birth of the Stoikhedon Style

Rohl, D.J., Rev. of Cosh and Neal, Roman Mosaics of Britain. Vol. 4, Western Britain

Rojas, F., Rev. of D’Andria and Romeo, eds., Roman Sculpture in Asia Minor: Proceedings of the International Conference to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Italian Excavations at Hierapolis in Phrygia, Held on May 24–26, 2007, in Cavallino (Lecce)

Roller, D.W., Rev. of Sidebotham, Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route

Rotroff, S.I., Rev. of Horejs, Jung, and Pavúk, eds., Analysing Pottery: Processing, Classification, Publication

Schon, R., Rev. of Terrenato and Haggis, eds., State Formation in Italy and Greece: Questioning the Neoevolutionist Paradigm

Scotton, P.D., Rev. of Lindblom and Wells, eds., Mastos in the Berbati Valley: An Intensive Archaeological Survey

Serwint, N., Rev. of Jeammet, Tanagras: Figurines for Life and Eternity. The Musée du Louvre’s Collection of Greek Figurines

Sinos, R.H., Rev. of Kokkou-Vyridi, Μελανόμορφα γαμήλια αγγεία από τις πυρές θυσιών στο ιερό της Ελευσίνας

Stewart, A., Rev. of Santi, I frontoni arcaici dell’Acropoli di Atene

Sturgeon, M.C., Rev. of Despines, Stephanidou-Tiveriou, and Voutyras, eds., Κατάλογος Γλυπτών του αρχαιολογικού μουσείου Θεσσαλονίκης. Vol. 3

Tsetskhladze, G., Rev. of Dietler, Archaeologies of Colonialism: Consumption, Entanglement, and Violence in Ancient Mediterranean France

Tuck, A., Rev. of de Grummond and Edlund-Berry, eds., The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria

Turfa, J.M., Rev. of Gabrielli, Ceramica etrusco-corinzia del Museo archeologico di Tarquinia

Uhlenbrock, J.P., Rev. of Bookidis, The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore: The Terracotta Sculpture

Whitehead, J., Rev. of Lulof and Rescigno, eds., Deliciae Fictiles IV: Architectural Terracottas in Ancient Italy. Images of Gods, Monsters and Heroes

Winkes, R., Rev. of Caneva, Il codice botanico di Augusto: Roma, Ara Pacis. Parlare al popolo attraverso le immagini della natura/The Augustus Botanical Code: Rome, Ara Pacis. Speaking to the People Through the Images of Nature

Younger, J.G., Rev. of Duhoux and Morpurgo Davies, eds., A Companion to Linear B: Mycenaean Greek Texts and Their World. Vol. 2

Younger, J.G, Rev. of Pini, Aegean and Cypro-Aegean Non-Sphragistic Decorated Gold Finger Rings of the Bronze Age

Zagermann, M., Rev. of Collins and Allason-Jones, eds., Finds from the Frontier: Material Culture in the 4th–5th Centuries

Books Recieved

January 2012

April 2012

July 2012

October 2012

Reviewed Works

Spartans: A New History, by Nigel Kennell. Pp. vii + 218, figs. 12, map 1. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2010. £20.99. ISBN 978-1-4051-3000-4 (paper).

Sparta: Comparative Approaches, edited by Stephen Hodkinson. Pp. xxxiii + 502, figs. 7. The Classical Press of Wales, Swansea 2009. £55. ISBN 978-1-905125-38-8 (cloth).

Sparta: The Body Politic, edited by Anton Powell and Stephen Hodkinson. Pp. viii + 348, figs. 5. The Classical Press of Wales, Swansea 2010. £50. ISBN 978-1-905125-26-5 (cloth).

This article presents the work of the University of Kent section of the Late Antique Ostia Project, which since 2008 has studied the evolution of public space in the central area of the city, in conjunction with the Humboldt University of Berlin. This research has sought to detect and document Late Antique remains within a clearance-excavated classical site using minimally invasive methods. It has demonstrated that Ostia saw a level of investment in secular public buildings that surpassed other cities in Italy outside of Rome. Thus, Russell Meiggs’ view that the construction of Portus led to the demise of Ostia, in terms of its political and economic vitality, now seems unlikely. Until the mid fifth century, Ostia was still significant as a center of political representation that followed the urban fashions of the age, which now came from the eastern Mediterranean rather than from Rome. English summaries of the work of the Berlin team are provided by its director, Axel Gering; that work is published in greater detail in a parallel report in Römische Mitteilungen.