Archaeological Excavation

Nel 1950 venne scavata una villa romana in loc. Su Loi a Capoterra (Cagliari). L’intervento d’emergenza è documentato
solo da uno schizzo e da 59 fotografie, ma grazie a queste ultime è stato possibile ricostruire la pianta
dell’edificio e avanzarne il posizionamento geografico.
In 1950 it was excavated a Roman villa in loc. Su Loi in Capoterra (Cagliari). The emergency intervention is documented
only by a sketch and from 59 photographs, but thanks to them it was possible to reconstruct the plan of the
building and avanzarne the geographic positioning.

Permanent link to open access version: http://hdl.handle.net/10523/10586

Materialising Ancestral Madang documents the emergence of pottery production processes and exchange networks along the northeast coast of New Guinea during the last millennium before the present. This dynamic period in the Pacific’s human past involved important fluctuations to people’s mobility, social interaction, and technological organisation. It therefore remains crucial to understanding and historicising the expansive maritime subsistence trading networks that famously characterised the coast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This book investigates these transformations by exploring the archaeology of Madang District; the heart of the Madang exchange network that revolved around the production and distribution of distinctive red-slipped pots. Potsherds of this style have been previously found spanning a 200 km radius, reaching Karkar Island, the Bismarck Archipelago, and even the New Guinea Highlands. By combining archaeological survey, excavation, craft ethnography, and archaeometric analyses, the volume systematically delineates the production groups that were working within this broader community of practice. The study shows that pre-colonial potters made use of a range of local raw materials and were free to improvise with their forming and decorating techniques but learned and reproduced similar technological sequences over the past 500–600 years. It is likely that social restrictions permitted only potters from a small number of clans to produce ceramics and that the finished vessels were then distributed both informally within the local area and strategically during extensive trade voyages along the northeast coast of New Guinea. These results therefore cast light on an important but previously obscured aspect of Pacific culture history and provide a model for how craft production and exchange processes have manifested and co-modified across the generations

SUMMARY: Chapter 3, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers many approaches to looking for and finding sites, and archaeological remains within sites, such as historical and local reports, ground reconnaissance (e.g., walking surveys; sampling strategies), aerial surveys (e.g., LiDAR; crop marks), satellite remote sensing, recording & mapping (e.g., GIS), subsurface detection (e.g., probes), ground-based remote sensing (seismic; acoustic; electromagnetic; magnetic; etc.), excavation techniques, underwater archaeology, and processing & classification.  In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record.  REVISED: Jan. 2023.

Umhlatuzana rockshelter has an occupation sequence spanning the last 70,000 years. It is one of the few sites with deposits covering the Middle to Later Stone Age transition (~40,000-30,000 years BP) in southern Africa. Comprehending the site's depositional history and occupation sequence is thus important for the broader understanding of the development of Homo sapiens' behavior. The rockshelter was first excavated in the 1980s by Jonathan Kaplan. He suggested that the integrity of the late Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age sediments was compromised by large-scale sediment movement. In 2018, we initiated a high-resolution geoarchaeological study of the site to clarify the site formation processes. Here, we present the results of the excavation and propose a revised stratigraphic division of the Pleistocene sequence based on field observations , sedimentological (particle size) analyses, and cluster analysis. The taphonomy of the site is assessed through phytolith and geo...

Статья посвящена судьбе коллекции античных памятников, принадлежавшей одесскому штабс-капитану Е.А. Шуманскому, предложенной в начале XX в. для приобретения Императорскому Эрмитажу, отклоненной, но частично представленной на 12 сохранившихся фотографиях. В это собрание, составленное на рубеже XIX–XX вв., входили найденные в Северном Причерноморье, а также вывезенные из Италии и Греции предметы, среди которых имелись подделки. В результате обращения к архивным материалам Государственного Эрмитажа, Одесского археологического музея и ГАОО удалось выяснить, что 9 вещей из числа запечатленных на фотографиях предметов находятся ныне в Одесском археологическом музее. Сохранившиеся в фондах РГВИА, газетах и других изданиях начала XX в. сведения позволили уточнить подробности не вполне ординарной биографии Е.А. Шуманского — военного, коллекционера, публициста, монархиста и участника одесского шулерского синдиката по кличке «Наполеон». Этот персонаж характерен для своего времени, как и судьба его коллекции. В конце XIX–начале XX в. рост интереса к древностям и их коллекционированию достиг невиданного размаха среди широких слоев населения. Для удовлетворения потребностей этого рынка активизировались нелегальные раскопки на территории некрополей античных городов Северного Причерноморья, создавались подделки, перепродавались найденные в Греции и Италии артефакты. Благодаря появившимся в те годы многочисленным частным любительским коллекциям, древности оказывались в весьма удаленных краях Российской Империи, и многие из этих вещей до сих пор хранятся в местных музеях.

Vasko D.S. An Odessa Collector Eugene A. Shumansky and His Collection of Antiquities. Klio #11 (107) 2015, pp. 118–130.

The article tells about the collection of antiquities that was once held by an Odessa collector, junior captain (ober-lieutenant) E.A. Shumansky. It was unsuccessfully offered for sale to the Imperial Hermitage in the early XX century. This collection was partly represented on 12 preserved photographs. The antiquities were found in the Northern Black Sea region, some artifacts came from Italy and Greece, also including several forgeries. Nine items from this collection have been found in the OdessaArchaeologicalMuseum. The author has also got more specific information on the biography of E.A. Shumansky, who was not only an officer and an amateur collector, but also a writer and a monarchist. He was also known as «Napoleon» in the Odessa cardsharpers’ syndicate. This person and the fate of his collection are very typical for that time. In the end of the XIX–beginning of the XX centuries people in Russian Empire became very interested in collecting the ancient monuments. To fulfill the demand of this quick-growing market, the illegal excavations were activated, the forgeries were produced and some artifacts from Italy and Greece were resold. Because of a lot of collections of antiquities which were made and scattered across the Russian Empire some artifacts are able to be found in the local museums.

"Earlier provisional title was "Archaeology, Tourism, Museum...."

"This chapter is divided into two distinct sections that are positioned in a point-counterpoint structure of dialogue. These two position statements invoke the etymological meanings of the word essay, to attempt, put to the test, trial, to act out, to explore, travel, and travail. The first is an historical analysis written in the third person by an anthropologist whose expertise includes the ethnography of archaeology and the anthropology of tourism. The second is a counterpoint commentary written in the first person by an anthropologist whose specializations include Pre-Columbian and historical archaeology. Both of us have significant research experience in same area of the Maya world in Yucatán, México. From these two differing vantage points, we chart our perspectives on the relationship between archaeology and tourism in terms of the problems of exploration, protection, and exploitation.
In the first section, Castañeda takes an historical approach to the emergence of archaeology in the institutional context of the modern museum. He essays an analytical and theoretical manifesto about the deep, intimate interconnections between tourism and archaeology as revealed through an understanding of the museum. In his historical analysis of the role of archaeological representation in the museum, he identifies the sociological creation of universal heritage. He theorizes a notion of the universal citizen-heir as the implied benefactor of this universal heritage. In the second section, Mathews elaborates a commentary on this historical analysis of archaeology, tourism, heritage and the museum. Specifically, she counter-argues and assesses Castañeda theoretical and analytical claims through the use of archaeology and tourism at sites that are not postcard worthy. Together these two “attempts” grapple with the historical and contemporary interconnections between archaeology and tourism. Together we put to the test our typical assumptions about the ethics of archaeologists, tourists, and tourism promoters in the contemporary contexts in which we are now beginning to ask how and why archaeology and tourism are interwoven phenomena in today’s world.""

Extensive shovel probing and high resolution block excavations based on the quantified results of the probes have revealed a midden with a possibly contiguous seasonal village or hamlet of probable Woodland ascription. The site labeled Sexton (8IR01822) is situated on a slightly elevated limestone hammock in Indian River County, Florida, and was episodically occupied/visited into the Historic period. The results of the field work are summarized and compared to other previously studied localities in central Florida.

Informationen zu den Ausgrabungen mit Beteiligung der Berliner Museen. Grabungsgeschichte von den Anfängen bis 1999, Publikationen und beteiligte Personen zusammengestellt aus den Grabungspublikationen sowie Archivalien der Antikensammlung der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin.
Die Zusammenstellung wurde nur in wenigen Kopien für den Gebrauch im Archiv der Antikensammlung hergestellt.

BA in Topography of Ancient Rome, Archaeology  (final mark: 110/110) Sapienza, University of Rome. Department of Archaeology and History of Greek and Roman Art; Tutor Prof. Alessandra Ten.
Thesis: “Salvatore Aurigemma's excavation in Villa Adriana”.

This paper presents the results of the excavation of a single keyhole trench at the oblong vitrified fort of Dunnideer, Aberdeenshire, along with a brief history of the study of oblong forts and vitrification. The excavation yielded two radiocarbon dates derived from destruction layers, which are discussed along with the results of a limited programme of archaeomagnetic dating at the same location.

Resumen: El presente trabajo ofrece una breve síntesis de las actuaciones arqueológicas que se han desarrollado en el tholos de Montelirio, ubicado en Castilleja de Guzmán (Sevilla), desde su descubrimiento en 1998 hasta la última actividad desarrollada en el año 2010. Se exponen las circunstancias y los motivos que han dado lugar al estudio de este gran monumento megalítico, incluyendo su excavación completa y el estudio científico de los datos obtenidos, a la vez que se vinculan los resultados de las distintas actuaciones arqueológicas con la evolución de las figuras de protección de carácter patrimonial que se han dado al monumento y a la Zona Arqueológica de Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán, de la que es parte. Abstract: This paper offers a short synthesis of the archaeological work carried out at the Montelirio tholos, located in Castilleja de Guzmán (Sevilla), since its discovery in 1998 until the last excavation season, which took place in 2010. The circumstances and motives that have led to the study of this great megalithic monument, including its full excavation and the scientific analysis of the evidence retrieved, are discussed. At the same time, the results of the various archaeological interventions are connected with the evolution of the legal measures adopted to protect the monument and the Valencina de la Concepción-Castilleja de Guzmán Archaeological Zone it is part of.

During the German occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War Prof. Dr. Jacob Friesen was stationed on Texel as an German officer in the role of Inselkommandant (Island Commander) of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy). The famous archaeologist did its duty and took the opportunity to dig test trenches in the Frisian/Frankish circular fortress of Den Burg, the main village on Texel. He concluded that the history  of Texel was deeply rooted in the Germanic  past.

The application of 3D digital technologies in the archaeological research expands more and more during the last decades. 3D recording, visualisation, representation and reconstruction of archaeological sites, monu-ments and artefacts become almost a common trend in the archaeological work. Moreover, CAD reconstruc-tions, 3D simulation, computer animation and other uses of computer systems change the traditional work-flow. The archaeological experience, though, recognizes these tools more for the general public in order to offer a visualisation of the target object than as a mechanism that can offer new possibilities for the research itself.
The focus of this article is to take a look at some of the opportunities given to the research field of archaeology by 3D technologies. Specifically the article will look into technologies regarding the 3D recording, processing, visualisation and representation of archaeological data. Through the use of specific case studies we will investigate how applications can contribute to the understanding first and the interpretation later on of a certain archaeological object. Issues such as the types of questions and problems that can be faced and answered with these 3D technologies will be raised and discussed. The possibility to get an expansion of the archaeological research in new aspects, as it happens with other technological tools (e.g. databases), will be also examined. In addition to these, the disadvantages and limitations of the application of these 3D tech-nologies in the archaeological field will be also looked at, in order to accomplish a more complete view of its usage.

The Royal Delft Museum in the Netherlands receives more than 100,000 international visitors each year. Few of those visitors are likely to know that there was once a similar industry operating in Lancaster in the second half of the 18th century. The redevelopment of St George’s Quay between 2007 and 2016 provided a rare and exciting opportunity for archaeologists to shed light on this long-forgotten production site. Excavations beside the river Lune uncovered the remains of a huge former pottery building and kiln, alongside a dispersed mound of delftware wasters and kiln furniture. While other delftware potteries are known to have been established in similar riverside locations within the UK, none have been found to be so well-preserved.

Immigrant Dutch potters first began producing delftware in Britain at Norwich beside the river Wensum in the late 16th century, before moving to a set of locations beside the Thames in London, where the industry became well established in the 17th century. With the increase in Atlantic trade, several delftware potteries were established along Britain’s west coast at Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow, all towns which at the same time became heavily involved in the slave trade between Africa and the New World.

Documentary evidence demonstrates that the work began on the construction of St George’s Quay in 1750, with the Lancaster pothouse being set up in 1754 as a direct result. The decision to build a proper quayside was motivated by the desire to profit from the growing Atlantic trade of the mid-18th century. The pothouse operated for about 30 years, corresponding with the height of the town’s involvement with the slave trade.

Study of the material from the waste heap has yielded a wealth of information on the products of the Lancaster kiln and the 18th-century potters’ manufacturing techniques. The majority of the delftware produced in Lancaster was probably exported to the colonies and plantations of the Caribbean and Atlantic coast America. Until now it has been very difficult to distinguish the items produced in Britain’s various delftware production centres from one another. Thanks to typological research and scientific fabric analysis resulting from the excavations in Lancaster, it is now possible to link archaeological discoveries made overseas back to their point of origin.

A summary of over a decade of surveys and excavations at the site of a previously unknown Roman period settlement at the southern end of Margary's RR14 road from London at Bridge Farm, Nr. Barcombe Mills, Lewes, East Sussex, England. Investigations at the site are ongoing and this paper is in the form of a project diary which will need many more years of research before a final written report can be produced. Currently evidence suggests activity at the site from mid/late 1st century through to lthe early 5th with a short-lasting double earthwork defensive enclosure constructed during the late 2nd/early 3rd century. The settlement appears to be based on commercial/strategic requirements more than purely residential providing a transfer hub from road to river at the junction od roads from London, Pevensey and Chichester. More details are available on the projet website: www.culverporject.co.uk.

The excavation has revealed 19 structures, foundations of houses, cellars, pier remains and harbor walls. Each one is given a specific structure number. Not all of the structures count as archaeological remains as defined by section 3 of the Icelandic law no. 80/2012 on cultural artifacts. The harbor wall, 1928-1929 [10], is built out of large rocks with a top layer made of carved stones with slits in four places to accommodate sewage. The wall is well preserved, about 94 m long and close to 4 m tall. It was disturbed next to the Tollhúsinu (Tollhouse) at Tryggvagata during construction in the 20th century, where the Steinbryggja (Bæjarbryggja) used to be. An intersecting harbor on the east end reaches under Geirsgata outside of the research area. The so called worker's shelter (Verkamannaskýli) stood on that harbor and foundation of it was excavated. Wooden remains of the Ziemsen dock [7] lay on top of the harbor wall along with four thick and rusted chains. Bólverkið [20] is a harbor wall from the 19th century, about 50 m long and 3 m tall. It can be seen on a map from 1876 but is conceivably quite a bit older. The Ziemsen dock [8] east of Bólverkið is lower than the wall, about 3.8 m long and 5.6 m wide. Bólverkið is well preserved and meticulously built out of carved stones. Íshúsið - Nordalsíshús [15] was built in 1894 and has gone through a series of construction phases and changes. It comprised a number of houses with the last one torn down in 1945. The foundation is incomplete but stone walls have been preserved from various parts of the house. Foundation of a house [11] is likely from a cellar with a concrete floor. The walls were built of stone with concrete poured around them. The foundation is 7.8 m long and 5.3 m wide. Its orientation is east - west and it is located at the corner of Tryggvagata and Lækjargata.
There is no available information yet regarding the exact age of the following structures but there is nothing to suggest that they fall under the legal definition of archaeological remains. Foundation of a house [17]. Nordalsíshús has been disturbed on the east side by a concrete foundation at the corner of Geirsgata and Lækjargata. It is 6.9 m long and 6.9 m wide. Foundation of a house [18]. A section of the foundation of house 18 was excavated and measured to be 8.3 m long. Parts of the northern stone wall still stand. All the rocks are carved, and the floor consists of a concrete base. Its orientation is north-south, and it continues under Lækjargata were it has most likely been disturbed to a large extent. Foundation of a house [19] comprises two parallel foundations of kerosene tanks. Their orientation is north-south. Walls and floor base were made of concrete. Their total length is 4.3 m and width is 2.4 m.

Archaeologically monitored topsoil stripping of the site of a waste water treatment works at Ballywilliam, Donaghadee, Co Down, led to the identification and excavation of a burnt mound and a number of associated pits. Some are interpreted as troughs, and one preserved evidence of having been wood-lined. Radiocarbon determinations indicate use in the Early Bronze Age.

The presentation took place at the V Congress "The present and the future of our monuments. Cultural heritage and the 3rd Community Support Framework. The contribution of the Hellenic Archaeological Service to society."
The Corfu Opera Hall was to be erected on a 15.0000 m2 plot of land in the area of the necropolis of ancient Korkyra. Despite various problems -lack of final study, incoplete expropriations, funding flow etc.- until the end of 2005 aproximately 4.000 m2 have been excavated for explonatory purposes (70% of the building area). The excavations have brought to light two sections of ancient funerary paths, two funerary monuments and 248 tombs (pit graves, tile covered vaulted graves, cist graves, funerary urns, sarkophagoi and clay construction used as crematoria) dating from 7th to the 2nd century BC, in this way enriching our knowledge of burial customs and the organisation of the necropolises of ancient Corfu (Korkyra)

Archaeological excavations undertaken between 2004 and 2008 at Wednesbury Forge, Wednesbury, West Midlands encountered extensive remains of timber and masonry structures and other features. Historical and archaeological evidence revealed a sophisticated ironworking complex in existence by c. 1600, which was subsequently continually adapted and redeveloped until the site closed in 2005. Processes included finery and chafery forges, nail-making,
saw-making, gun-making and edge-tool manufacture. Later developments included a wind-powered grinding mill, internal railway networks, water turbines, rolling mills, housing and workers’ recreational facilities. Archaeological investigations comprised documentary research, excavation, building recording, oral history and process recording.

The volume entitled Res Gestae. The work of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Arta during the years 2014 - 2020, presents the work conducted for the antiquities by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Arta under my supervision. The city of Arta and its surrounding area was the core for the development of considerable urban centres in the past, as demonstrated by the succession of the Corinthian colony of Ambracia in antiquity by the byzantine Arta and the Ottoman Narda.
During the years that followed the foundation of the local Ephorate, in 2014, a number of large-scale projects for the promotion of archaeological sites and monuments was concluded, excavations that brought to light new and largely unidentified to date archaeological sites and finds were executed and the frescoes in numerous Byzantine monuments were conserved, while the closer contact of the Ephorate and the antiquities with the local society was achieved through numerous extroversion activities.
Ο συλλογικός τόμος «Res Gestae. Τα Πεπραγμένα της Εφορείας Αρχαιοτήτων Άρτας κατά τα έτη 2014-2020» περιλαμβάνει το έργο που πραγματοποίησε η Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων Άρτας υπό την επίβλεψή μου σε αρχαιολογικούς χώρους και μνημεία της αρμοδιότητάς της. Η Άρτα και η ευρύτερη περιοχή της αποτέλεσαν τον πυρήνα για την ανάπτυξη μεγάλων αστικών κέντρων ανά τους αιώνες, της Αμβρακίας, κορινθιακής αποικίας κατά τους αρχαίους χρόνους, της βυζαντινής Άρτας και της Narda των οθωμανικών χρόνων.

Κατά τη διάρκεια των ετών που ακολούθησαν μετά την ίδρυση της Εφορείας το 2014 ολοκληρώθηκαν μεγάλα έργα ανάδειξης αρχαιολογικών χώρων και μνημείων, πραγματοποιήθηκαν ανασκαφικές έρευνες που έφεραν στο φως νέες, άγνωστες μέχρι σήμερα, αρχαιολογικές θέσεις και ευρήματα, έγινε συντήρηση τοιχογραφιών πολλών βυζαντινών και μεταβυζαντινών μνημείων, ενώ μέσα από τις πολυάριθμες δράσεις εξωστρέφειας πραγματοποιήθηκε μία ουσιαστική προσέγγιση της τοπικής κοινωνίας με την Υπηρεσία και τις αρχαιότητες.