Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts in Wien, Band 81/2012

In the course of the work on the basins and high stands in the Archaeological Museum of Izmir, a group of stands both in clay and stone has been investigated, which are subject of this paper. New evidence associated with this group has appeared since the new archaeological explorations have been carried out in the recent years on the western coast of Anatolia; because of this reason it seems important to present the whole group systematically. Dated to the Late Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods, they represent a very common type of their own class and have not yet been treated comprehensively. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the examples of the louteria in the Archaeological Museum of Izmir by referring to comparable finds from other centres in Ionia, as well as from sites in mainland Greece.

Schlagworte:

In 2011 work at Aigeira focused on three main areas: ›Solon‹, the so-called saddle at the southeastern side of the acropolis, and the area of the theatre. Research at the large, presumably public building complex at ›Solon‹ concentrated on the various architectural phases. A number of trenches were dug to bedrock in order to find additional stratigraphic evidence for the date to the first building phase. In the area of the ›saddle‹ excavations were resumed after more than thirty years. Here a promising Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age stratigraphic sequence was discovered, indicating that the Late Bronze Age settlement was. not limited to the acropolis. The most interesting architectural features are the remains of two massive walls at the southern and eastern slope of the acropolis. Their date is yet not clear, but one may belong to the Late Classical/Hellenistic period, the other to the Late Bronze Age. In the area of the theatre and the adjacent Hellenistic temples a program was initiated to finally publish the remains of the 1972 to 1996 excavations. Most surprising was the re-discovery of a large number of wall-paintings from one of the temples.

Schlagworte:

Pheneos is situated in northeastern Arcadia in a high valley, a former lake, completely surrounded by steep mountains. Ancient literature – except Pausanias, who mentions some monuments – does not tell much about this minor polis. The small city hill (813 m) lies in the northwestern part of the plain and has never been thoroughly investigated. In 2010, a bilateral agreement was signed between the University of Graz and the 37. EPCA Korinthia, creating a 5 years’ research cooperation. Main topic is the archaeological investigation of the city walls, which are only known and partially unearthed on the northern slope of the acropolis hill. The first campaign in August 2011 yielded information about the construction of the wall with its five semicircular towers in mostly trapezoidal masonry; stratified finds suggest an erection date in the second half of the 4th century B.C. Layers containing wasted votive offerings indicate a late archaic to classical sanctuary nearby. Surprisingly, the whole acropolis and her eastern and southern foothills turned out to have been covered by an unusually big Middle Bronze Age settlement. Research will continue in August 2012.

Schlagworte:

In 2011, the Department of Studies of Central European Archaeology of the Austrian Archaeological Institute started a new research project in the western part of the ancient town of Aquileia. The research project focuses on the diachronic development of the western part and the suburbium of the ancient town. The results of the first field campaigns in 2011 allow new conclusions regarding the urban development and the fortification system. Below the circus, constructed towards the end of the 3rd century, a suburban workshop quarter adjacent to a river or a canal could be recognized. In the south it was possible to identify a structure which is similar to the warehouses of the river harbour in the east of the city at the Natisone. Thus, in the Roman Imperial period, there must have been at least two harbour ports at Aquileia, namely at the Canale Anfora in the west and at the Natisone in the east. Therefore, with the abandonment of the workshop quarter and of the harbour at Canale Anfora in the late 3rd century A.D., and with the new construction of the city wall which enclosed the circus, the entire area underwent a transformation in function from suburban to urban area. Furthermore the results of the geophysical survey now allow us to reconstruct the complete outline of the defensive wall and its towers in the area of the circus. From 2013–2016 the research project is funded by the Austria Science Fund (FWF-P25176-G19).

Schlagworte:

It has been long maintained that the system of barrier walls and fortlets in the Julian Alps dates to the early 4th century and that it was a fortification line used to defend Italy during times of cival war. Reviewing both the historical, archaeological and topograhic evidence, it is here argued that its military importance has been much exaggerated; one role may well have been to regulate traffic and perhaps to exact taxes from the civilians using the imperial road system, or crossing from Illyricum into Italy. Its date cannot be yet established for certain but the most likely context is the very end of the 4th century A.D., not long before it was abandoned at some point during the first decade of the 5th century. Contrary to received wisdom, it was incapable of repulsing any major threat from the East, whether Goths or Romans. Regulation and taxation, however, do not require the erection of barrier walls. There must have been additional reasons for its construction even though the walls were unable to deal with anything more than a low intensity threat. What the perceived danger was, it is impossible to say, except that there were a series of problems facing the Western Empire ca. 390–400 which could warrant the system’s creation in the Julian Alps; an influx of refugees from Illyricum, Gothic war bands from Thrace, raiding parties from across the Danube and the endemic danger posed by local bandits. Any one of these, or more likely a combination of several factors, precipitated the decision to regulate, but not seriously to defend the routes which led west from Illyricum and into the Italian peninsular.

Schlagworte:

A new project to document the fortifications at Hisn al-Bab, south of Philae on the Egyptian-Nubian border, began in 2012. Of the two forts identified, the earlier is of late Antique origin, and adds to our knowledge of the border arrangements at this period. The early medieval fortress is Nubian in character, and forms the northernmost of a chain of such fortifications seen throughout Lower Nubia. It can probably be identified with the border fort of al-Qasr, mentioned by medieval Arab historians as the site of Nubian-Egyptian interactions. Thus Hisn al-Bab provides an opportunity to study the details of changing border controls over a period relatively little documented archaeologically in Egypt.

Schlagworte:

The Roman middle Danube provinces of Noricum, Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior have yielded an extraordinary number of gravestones from the Roman period, often including relief portraits of the deceased. The spectacular native dress worn especially by the local women has long been considered a characteristic aspect of the region’s culture in the Roman period. Nonetheless, it has not been treated to a detailed analysis since J. Garbsch’s study of 1965, and has never been covered in a comprehensive manner. This article provides a typology of all dress items – both men’s and women’s, Roman and native – that appear on the middle Danubian gravestones. It seeks to outline how these garments and ensembles may have evolved and what significance they may have held for the people who wore them.

Schlagworte:

In 2008 the location Keplerwiese in Linz (Upper Austria) excavations brought to light two storage cellars containing an early ensemble of imported jugs and pitchers and Auerberg jars. The context was completed by two carrot amphorae, manufactured in the Levante. One of them bears a titulus pictus that can be read in different ways. E. Harrauer opts for a description of the content, U. Ehmig proposed a single name. Along with a small number of Italic Sigillata tableware came a service of six eggshell cups Mayet 34 of Baetican origin as well as a few cooking vessels. The ensemble seems a debris filling after a fire destroyed the overlaying houses rather than the vessels stored in the cellars. This further evidence of early Roman finds from Linz can be compared with similar contexts in early Noricum, Iuvavum, the Magdalensberg and Nauportus. Furthermore it underlines the importance of the crossroads of two ancient traffic routes. In Linz the ancient. salt road from the Alps to Bohemia arrived at a spot where the Danube could be crossed with a reasonable danger.

Schlagworte:

In the course of a cooperation project between the Austrian Archaeological Institute and the Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research on Egypt the ancient structures in the Upper Egyptian settlement Nag el-Tawil (about 20 km north of Aswan) were studied in 2011 and 2012. The monumental sand stone feature along the western Nile bank was the focus of this research and was previously described by Horst Jaritz in 1972. Today it is a tourist attraction during boat trips. Research by the Swiss Institute in 2008 indicated a Roman settlement in this location. Based on the complete documentation of the sand stone monument along the Nile bank this structure can be interpreted as a quay and shipping peer for boats that is composed of a southern and northern pier. Earlier theories could not be verified according to which a possible corridor or entrance led to a temple located above on the plateau. The urgency of the complete documentation of this monument is illustrated by the loss of 15 % of the walls by the robbing of stone since its initial photographic documentation 40 years ago. Excavations of the foundations of the monument provide a date in the middle imperial period (2nd century A.D.).

Schlagworte:

Within Terrace House 2 at Ephesos, fragments of a bronze tool have been found, till now of unknown purpose. This article proposes an identification as a pantograph. It would be the first known to us before 1603, with consequences regarding methods of e.g. manufacture of stamps for coining or methods of copying in general.

Schlagworte: