Anatolica

Gladiators at Ancyra

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:26:02 GMT

The public fascination with the gladiators of the Roman Empire was exemplified relatively recently by the highly commercial success of the US $ 110 million film Gladiator (2000), albeit those from an earlier generation or knowledgeable on the subject matter prefer its more reliable and oft-repeated predecessor, Spartacus (1960). Despite the popularity of these films, and their bias towards the gladiators of Rome and Italy, it is surprisingly little known just how ubiquitous gladiatorial displays were in the Roman World. This is especially true of its Hellenised parts, areas where earlier historians believed the local �civilised� peoples rejected such �barbaric� spectacles on high moral grounds.

Coinage of Justin II and its Imitations

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:29:38 GMT

The Emperor Justin II (565-578) remains, as he was at the time of his own reign, a controversial figure. It is clear from the contemporary and near-contemporary opinions about Justin II that views of his reign varied widely from commissioned panegyrics to highly critical descriptions of his actions, particularly when they were written with the benefit of hindsight. A murky succession, financial troubles, religious persecutions, military defeats (particularly against the Persians), and finally, a descent into madness, helps to explain why many writers were extremely critical. One aspect of his rule that is examined here are his coinage and the subsequent imitations of the coinage in Syria and Palestine in the 7th century. The gold coinage of Justin II was not radically different from that of his predecessors, but it is unusual in that it has attracted the interest of two very different Late Antique writers: Dioscorus of Aphrodito and John of Ephesus. Since coinage was part of everyday life in the Byzantine Empire, they are rarely remarked upon in any detail. These two passages are important not only because they provide an unusual insight into how coinage was perceived by its users, but they also provide an insight into contemporary perceptions of Justin II. This paper, after briefly examining the coinage of Justin II, will examine the two passages in detail, placing them in their historical, papyrological, numismatic, and artistic context. After an examination of the passages, the paper will then look at the imitation Justin II coinage produced in Syria under the Persians and in Palestine under the Muslims and what this tells us about coin circulation.

Excavations at Ziyaret Tepe 2007-2008

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:32:47 GMT

The eleventh and twelfth seasons of archaeological fieldwork at Ziyaret Tepe took place during July-September 2007 and 2008. Dr. Timothy Matney (University of Akron) served as the project director and Dr. Lynn Rainville (University of Virginia) was the assistant director. Three fieldwork initiatives were undertaken at Ziyaret Tepe during the 2007-2008 seasons. Excavations on the eastern high mound were conducted by Dr. Dirk Wicke (University of Mainz) and concentrated on the excavation of the residential section of the Late Assyrian palace (Operation A/N) first discovered in 2000 (Matney et al. 2002; 2003). On the northern high mound, Prof. Dr. Kemalettin K�roğlu (Marmara University) continued our excavations in Operation L, where a well stratified sequence of remains has been uncovered dating from the early Iron Age through the Medieval periods. Work here in 2007 and 2008 concentrated on the Late Assyrian, Early Iron Age, and Middle Assyrian deposits (levels L4 to L6). In the southwestern lower town, excavations in four areas were overseen by Dr. John MacGinnis (Cambridge University) including work on the city�s gate and fortification system, public and domestic structures (Operations G/R, P, and Q).

The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP)

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:37:09 GMT

During the summers of 2007 and 2008, members of the Upper Tigris Archeological Research Project (UTARP) undertook an eighth and ninth season of fieldwork in the Upper Tigris River region of southeastern Turkey (figure 1). The 2007 field season was aimed at completing the excavations of the Ubaid period domestic structures partially unearthed at Kenan Tepe in previous seasons. The 2008 field season was the first of three study seasons aimed at completing the analysis of our excavated material and preparing it for publication. The 2007 season, which was our last season of excavation, took place between June 1st and July 6th. Excavations concentrated on the Ubaid period remains previously identified on the eastern slopes of Kenan Tepe�s high mound (Parker, Creekmore and Dodd 2004; Parker and Dodd 2004; 2005; Parker et al. 2006). This research revealed a number of important Ubaid period contexts including outdoor work areas belonging to our Ubaid Phase 1 in trench D8, and an earlier phase of construction of our Ubaid Structure 3 in trench E2 (figure 2). We also found evidence for the latest phase of Ubaid period occupation at Kenan Tepe (Ubaid Phase 4) in Trench D6. The highlight of the 2007 season was, however, the discovery of a well preserved Ubaid period burnt house (Ubaid Phase 2/3). This structure was characterized by a dense collapse layer and a large number of in situ artifacts and ecofacts. During the summer of 2008, members of the Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP) returned to southeastern Turkey to conduct a study season. The aim of the study season was to process and analyze all of the relevant data from Ubaid period contexts in preparation for a final report. The 2008 study season took place between June 1st and July 3rd. What follows is a preliminary assessment of this research.

A Note on the Prehistory of the Devrek Region, Northern Turkey

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:40:38 GMT

In this brief report we would like to present Prehistoric ceramics collected at a number of sites in central Zonguldak. These assemblages are of interest in relation to the broader topic of Anatolian Prehistory for two reasons. First, at present nothing has been published about the Prehistory of this part of northern Turkey, except in passing in brief reports in the Arkeoloji Sonu�ları Toplantısı (Karauğuz 2005; 2006; 2007). Second, we are convinced that some of these sherds date to the fifth millennium BC, and are thus of great importance because they date to the Middle Chalcolithic (ca. 5500 to 4000 cal BC), which is archaeologically poorly documented and understood across most of Asia Minor.

Neolithic 'Cult Tables' from Barcın H�y�k

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:43:54 GMT

The campaigns of 2005 and 2006 at the twin mound of Barcın H�y�k (formerly Yenişehir II) in the Yenişehir Plain revealed several fragments of so called 'cult tables', small rectangular boxes on legs, made of clay. The collection consists of 21 pieces: four single legs and 17 bigger and smaller wall fragments.

Chalcolithic Caprines, Dark Age Dairy, and Byzantine Beef

poj@peeters-leuven.be — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:48:29 GMT

North central Anatolia, comprising the northern portion of the Classical province of Cappadocia, is well known archaeologically as the heartland of the Hittite empire and as such the Late Bronze Age of this region has been intensively explored for almost a century. Although research on the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of the southern central plateau has been active for decades, the prehistoric sequence in the northern part of this region is still largely a �blank slate� (Steadman et al. 2007:385; although see Schoop 2005). As a result, key events, such as the development of increasingly complex pre-state societies in the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age as well as the Hittite collapse and the subsequent transition to the Early Iron Age are only poorly understood, particularly from a paleoeconomic perspective. Moreover, since Late Bronze and Iron Age centers have been the focus of much of the archaeological research in this region little is known about how agro-pastoral systems, the foundations on which such societies were built, were organized or how they responded over time to patterns of regional political centralization and decentralization, population movements, climatic crises, and social upheavals from the Chalcolithic onwards. This paper focuses on addressing some of these gaps by presenting the first results of ongoing zooarchaeological work at �adır H�y�k, a multi-period mound site located in north central Anatolia (Yozgat, Sorgun, Turkey). �adır presents a unique opportunity to examine the organization of the animal economy at a �rural center� on the northern Anatolian plateau and to begin to frame these systems and their change over time in context of changes in the site�s function and regional sociopolitical context through the middle and late Holocene. This report focuses on analysis of faunal remains from Late Chalcolithic, Late Bronze Age, Iron Age and also Byzantine contexts. The primary goal is to outline the nature of the animal economy in these periods and to define its change through the stratigraphic sequence. A secondary focus is to begin to place faunal evidence from �adır into a larger regional context.