Luxurious Merovingian Textiles Excavated from Burials in the Saint Denis Basilica, France, 6th-7th century

A new examination of the textile fragments found in the Merovingian burials in the basilica of Saint Denis, near Paris, has recently underscored the diversity of fabrics used to make garments in which members of the royal court were buried. Among them, some woolens of fine quality had been dyed with indigotin. The most astonishing fibre found belongs to a mixed textile (not skin) with beaver fibers and wool. Silks contained shellfish purple and in one case kermes? Two dyestuffs associated with royalty and privilege. Along with this was large number of gold threads, probably produced locally and that were used in tablet-woven borders or for embroideries. In addition, several figured silks, of oriental origin, testify to the importance of this "foreign" material and the taste for textiles woven with complex techniques and probably what had originally had beautiful designs. Although none of these designs have been preserved and many colors have been greatly damaged, the technical characteristics of the remnants indicate proveniences as far as Byzantium, Sassanid Persia and the Chinese court. Such precious textiles show the high social status and political power of the Merovingian court, a testament to their ability to access such luxurious and costly textiles through diplomacy and/or trade with other powerful empires. The examination of these rare textiles along with other fine silks and luxury objects from the same period found in France expand our view of the fundamental role of textiles in the political sphere of this early period of European history.

A Possible Case of Möller-Barlow Disease in Northwestern Switzerland (7th Century)

The excavation site Reigoldswil is located at 550 m above sea level on the Jura chain hillside in north-western Switzerland. The mountains divide the Rhine valley from an agriculturally rich region. The origin of the village lies in the early medieval time. Until now the skeletons of one cemetery have been morphologically studied. Around 216 individuals were excavated from under the foundation walls of a church and in the open field. They date to the 7/8th up to the 10th century. The striking part is the high amount of subadult (0-18 years) individuals with 58% (n=126). One of these children, an approximately 1.5 year old toddler from the 7th century, was buried in a stone cist. Its bones show morphological traces like porotic lesions of the greater wings of the sphenoidale, the squama, the mandibule and the scapula as new bone formation on both femora and tibiae. These signs could be an indicator for Möller-Barlow disease (Ortner 2003, Brickley and Ives 2008, Stark in press). As scurvy is associated with an insufficient intake of vitamin C, malnutrition must be assumed. A reason might be the geographic location or/and a harsh climat with crop failure and famine the first settler had to face. Besides the morphological diagnose amino acids of the bone collagen have been analyzed (Kramis et. al.). Further examinations, such as radiocarbon dating and stable isotope ratios (C, N, O, S) to specify nutrition, are planned.

The episcopal complex of Eio-El Tolmo de Minateda (Hellín, Albacete, Spain). Architecture and spatial organization. 7th to 8th centuries AD

The episcopal complex of Eio, located in El Tolmo de Minateda, was built between the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century, possibly as a political decision taken by the ecclesiastical authority in the capital of the Visigothic kingdom (Toletum). With the comprehensive study of the whole complex presented below (construction cycles, furniture, decoration and location of spaces), we can interpret the function of each space in the basilica and the domus episcopi, the liturgical and general movement routes, the existence of some hierarchical environments, and specify the chronological development of the buildings. After the Arab-Berber conquest of Hispania in the early 8th century, the whole complex will experience a series of transformations that will convert the religious and monumental public area into a private, residential and industrial Islamic quarter.

Locus Bonus : The Relationship of the Roman Villa to its Environment in the Vicinity of Rome

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship of the Roman villa to its environment. The villa was an important feature of the countryside intended both for agricultural production and for leisure. Manuals of Roman agriculture give instructions on how to select a location for an estate. The ideal location was a moderate slope facing east or south in a healthy area and good neighborhood, near good water resources and fertile soils. A road or a navigable river or the sea was needed for transportation of produce. A market for selling the produce, a town or a village, should have been nearby. The research area is the surroundings of the city of Rome, a key area for the development of the villa. The materials used consist of archaeological settlement sites, literary and epigraphical evidence as well as environmental data. The sites include all settlement sites from the 7th century BC to 5th century AD to examine changes in the tradition of site selection. Geographical Information Systems were used to analyze the data. Six aspects of location were examined: geology, soils, water resources, terrain, visibility/viewability and relationship to roads and habitation centers. Geology was important for finding building materials and the large villas from the 2nd century BC onwards are close to sources of building stones. Fertile soils were sought even in the period of the densest settlement. The area is rich in water, both rainfall and groundwater, and finding a water supply was fairly easy. A certain kind of terrain was sought over very long periods: a small spur or ridge shoulder facing preferably south with an open area in front of the site. The most popular villa resorts are located on the slopes visible from almost the entire Roman region. A visible villa served the social and political aspirations of the owner, whereas being in the villa created a sense of privacy. The area has a very dense road network ensuring good connectivity from almost anywhere in the region. The best visibility/viewability, dense settlement and most burials by roads coincide, creating a good neighborhood. The locations featuring the most qualities cover nearly a quarter of the area and more than half of the settlement sites are located in them. The ideal location was based on centuries of practical experience and rationalized by the literary tradition.

Israel Museum Jerusalem Coin

Obverse: Silver 5 Lirot coin. Replica of the capital and part of a pillar, of the 7th century BCE found at Ramat Rachel on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Reverse: A stylized relief of the buildings of Israeli Museum in Jerusalem.

Environmental change and anthropogenic impact on lake sediments during the Holocene in the Finnish - Karelian inland area

This thesis discusses the prehistoric human disturbance during the Holocene by means of case studies using detailed high-resolution pollen analysis from lake sediment. The four lakes studied are situated between 61o 40' and 61o 50' latitudes in the Finnish Karelian inland area and vary between 2.4 and 28.8 ha in size. The existence of Early Metal Age population was one important question. Another study question concerned the development of grazing, and the relationship between slash-and-burn cultivation and permanent field cultivation. The results were presented as pollen percentages and pollen concentrations (grains cm 3). Accumulation values (grains cm 2 yr 1) were calculated for Lake Nautajärvi and Lake Orijärvi sediment, where the sediment accumulation rate was precisely determined. Sediment properties were determined using loss-on-ignition (LOI) and magnetic susceptibility (k). Dating methods used include both conventional and AMS 14C determinations, paleomagnetic dating and varve choronology. The isolation of Lake Kirjavalampi on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga took place ca. 1460 1300 BC. The long sediment cores from Finland, Lake Kirkkolampi and Lake Orijärvi in southeastern Finland and Lake Nautajärvi in south central Finland all extended back to the Early Holocene and were isolated from the Baltic basin ca. 9600 BC, 8600 BC and 7675 BC, respectively. In the long sediment cores, the expansion of Alnus was visible between 7200 - 6840 BC. The spread of Tilia was dated in Lake Kirkkolampi to 6600 BC, in Lake Orijärvi to 5000 BC and at Lake Nautajärvi to 4600 BC. Picea is present locally in Lake Kirkkolampi from 4340 BC, in Lake Orijärvi from 6520 BC and in Lake Nautajärvi from 3500 BC onwards. The first modifications in the pollen data, apparently connected to anthropogenic impacts, were dated to the beginning of the Early Metal Period, 1880 1600 BC. Anthropogenic activity became clear in all the study sites by the end of the Early Metal Period, between 500 BC AD 300. According to Secale pollen, slash-and-burn cultivation was practised around the eastern study lakes from AD 300 600 onwards, and at the study site in central Finland from AD 880 onwards. The overall human impact, however, remained low in the studied sites until the Late Iron Age. Increasing human activity, including an increase in fire frequency was detected from AD 800 900 onwards in the study sites in eastern Finland. In Lake Kirkkolampi, this included cultivation on permanent fields, but in Lake Orijärvi, permanent field cultivation became visible as late as AD 1220, even when the macrofossil data demonstrated the onset of cultivation on permanent fields as early as the 7th century AD. On the northern shore of Lake Ladoga, local activity became visible from ca. AD 1260 onwards and at Lake Nautajärvi, sediment the local occupation was traceable from 1420 AD onwards. The highest values of Secale pollen were recorded both in Lake Orijärvi and Lake Kirjavalampi between ca. AD 1700 1900, and could be associated with the most intensive period of slash-and-burn from AD 1750 to 1850 in eastern Finland.

Salamanca, de poblado a ciudad : aproximación histórica a su origen, configuración y desarrollo sociourbanístico antes de la invasión musulmana

Resumen: En este artículo se aborda el origen, configuración y evolución urbana de Salamanca durante las ocupaciones soteña, celtibérica, romana y visigoda, comprendidas entre el siglo VII a.C., Primera Edad del Hierro, y la invasión musulmana de principios del siglo VIII d.C. La principal base documental la constituyen informes de las numerosas excavaciones arqueológicas, en su gran mayoría inéditos depositados en el Museo Provincial, realizadas a partir del año 1984 tanto en el cerro de San Vicente, núcleo germinal de la ciudad, como en el cerro de las Catedrales, núcleo de consolidación definitiva de Salamanca.

Salted fish products from the Coptic monastery at Bawit, Egypt: evidence from the bones and texts

Fish bone assemblages are described that were recently discovered in the storage area of two rooms, dated to the 7th century AD, from the monastery of Bawit, Egypt. The species composition, the reconstructed sizes of the fish and the find contexts show that this material represents pickled fish (salsamenta). This product was made in one case of medium-sized Clarias catfish, whereas another assemblage, found inside an amphora, consisted of small-sized fish, mainly cyprinids and alestiids. The latter product was stored in a Late Roman Amphora 5/6 of Palestinian origin, traditionally considered as a container for wine. The amphora was clearly re-used since the fish found in it are Nilotic species which excludes that the salsamenta came from outside Egypt. A few additional finds of fish inside amphorae were available, but due to the low number of bones it was unclear if salted fish products were stored in them. Textual information provided by ostraca and papyri from the same site shows that the monks exerted fishing activities themselves and also suggests that the production of pickled fish took place locally. One of the two Nilotic fish taxa (Labeo) that is specifically mentioned by written evidence is the most common ingredient found in the amphora with abundant fish remains. The paper ends with a brief summary of other faunal evidence for salted fish products from monastic and other historic sites in Egypt.

Long-term mass balance of perennial firn and ice in an Alpine cave (Austria):Constraints from radiocarbon-dated wood fragments

Hundsalm ice cave located at 1520 m altitude in a karst region of western Austria contains up to 7-m-thick deposits of snow, firn and congelation ice. Wood fragments exposed in the lower parts of an ice and firn wall were radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dated. Although the local stratigraphy is complex, the 19 individual dates - the largest currently available radiocarbon dataset for an Alpine ice cave - allow to place constraints on the accumulation and ablation history of the cave ice. Most of the cave was either ice free or contained only a small firn and ice body during the 'Roman Warm Period'; dates of three wood fragments mark the onset of firn and ice build-up in the 6th and 7th century ad. In the central part of the cave, the oldest samples date back to the 13th century and record ice growth coeval with the onset of the 'Little Ice Age'. The majority of the ice and firn deposit, albeit compromised by a disturbed stratigraphy, appears to have been formed during the subsequent centuries, supported by wood samples from the 15th to the 17th century. The oldest wood remains found so far inside the ice is from the end of the Bronze Age and implies that local relics of prehistoric ice may be preserved in this cave. The wood record from Hundsalm ice cave shows parallels to the Alpine glacier history of the last three millennia, for example, the lack of preserved wood remains during periods of known glacier minima, and underscores the potential of firn and ice in karst cavities as a long-term palaeoclimate archive, which has been degrading at an alarming rate in recent years. © The Author(s) 2013.

Victorius vs Dionysius: the Irish Easter controversy of AD 689

Over the past few decades, the early medieval Easter controversy has increasingly been portrayed as a conflict between the ‘Celtic’ and the ‘Roman’ churches, limiting the geographical extent of this most vibrant debate to Britain and Ireland (with the exception of the disputes caused by Columbanus’ appearance on the Continent). Both are not the case. Before c.AD 800, there was no unanimity within the ‘Roman’ cause. Two ‘Roman’ Easter reckonings existed, which could not be reconciled, one invented by Victorius of Aquitaine in AD 457, the other being the Alexandrian system as translated into Latin by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525. The conflict between followers of Victorius and adherents of Dionysius occurred in Visigothic Spain first, reached Ireland in the second half of the 7th century, and finally dominated the intellectual debate in Francia in the 8th century. This article will focus on the Irish dimension of this controversy. It is argued that the southern Irish clergy introduced the Victorian reckoning in the AD 630s and strictly adhered to that system until the end of the 7th century. When Adomnan, the abbot of Iona, converted to Dionysius in the late AD 680s and convinced most of the northern Irish churches to follow his example, this caused considerable tension with southern Irish followers of Victorius, as is impressively witnessed by the computistical literature of the time, especially the texts produced in AD 689. From this literature, the issues debated at the time are reconstructed. This analysis has serious consequences for how we read Irish history towards the end of the 7th century; rather than bringing the formerly ‘Celtic’ northern Irish clergy in line with southern Irish ‘Roman’ practise, Adomnan added a new dimension to the conflict.

The rhetorics of violence in Joshua: Foucauldian Power, Israelite Identity, and the Ethics of Interpretation

The goals of this project are manifold. First, I will attempt to discover evidence in the book of Joshua that will lend support to the theory of a Josianic influence enacted in the 7th century BCE. I will do this through an analysis of the rhetoric in selected stories in Joshua using the ideas of Foucault. Second, I will address the significance of this kind of analysis as having potential for the emancipation of oppressed peoples. The first section delineates scholarly discussion on the literary and historical context of the book of Joshua. These scholarly works are foundational to this study because they situate the text within a particular period in history and within certain ideologies. Chapter 2 discusses the work of Foucault and how his ideas will be applied to particular texts of the book of Joshua. The focused analysis of these texts occurs within chapters 3 to 6. Chapter 7 presents an integration of the observations made through the analyses performed in the previous chapters and expands on the ethical significance of this study.

La scuola di Gundēšābūr. La conoscenza del corpo umano (anatomia e fisiologia) e la trasmissione delle teorie medico-scientifiche nel mondo sasanide e post-sasanide.

Questo lavoro traccia un quadro della diffusione e trasmissione delle conoscenze riguardanti l’anatomia e la fisiologia del corpo umano nel mondo iranico in età sasanide (III-VII sec. d.C.). La tesi analizza il ruolo delle scuole di medicina in territorio iranico, come quelle sorte a Nisibi e Gundēšābūr, delle figure dei re sasanidi interessati alla filosofia e alla scienza greca, e dei centri di studio teologico e medico che, ad opera dei cristiani siro-orientali, si fecero promotori della conoscenza medico-scientifica greca in terra d’Iran.

La documentazione monetale come fonte per la storia di Classe (Ravenna) Gli scavi condotti nell’area portuale (anni 2001-2005) e nell’area della basilica di San Severo (anni 2006-2010)

Gli scavi effettuati a Classe, a sud di Ravenna, presso i siti archeologici dell'area portuale e della Basilica di San Severo, hanno portato alla luce un numero abbondante di moneta, 2564 dall'area portuale e 224 dalla basilica, un totale di 2788 reperti monetali, di cui solo 863 sono leggibili e databili. La datazione dei materiali dell’area portuale, fondata agli inizi del V secolo, parte dal II secolo a.C. fino all’VIII secolo d.C.. La maggior parte dei reperti è relativa al periodo tra il IV e il VII secolo, il momento di massima importanza del porto commerciale, con testimonianza di scambi con altri porti del bacino mediterraneo, in particolare con l’Africa del Nord e il Vicino Oriente. La documentazione proveniente dalla Basilica di San Severo, fondata alla fine del VI secolo per la custodia delle reliquie del santo, mostra un trend diverso dal precedente, con monetazione che copre un arco cronologico dal I secolo a.C. fino al XIV secolo d.C.. La continuità dell’insediamento è dimostrato dall’evidenza numismatica, seppur scarsa, fino alla costruzione del monastero a sud della basilica, l’area dalla quale provengono la maggior parte delle monete. I quantitativi importanti di monetazione tardoantica, ostrogota e bizantina, in particolare di tipi specifici come il Felix Ravenna, ipoteticamente coniato a Roma, oppure il ½ e il 1/4 di follis di produzione saloniana emesso da Giustiniano I, hanno concesso uno studio dettagliato per quello che riguarda il peso, le dimensioni e lo stile di produzione di queste emissioni. Questi dati e la loro distribuizione sul territorio ha suggerito nuove ipotesi per quello che riguarda la produzione di questi due tipi presso la zecca di Ravenna. Un altro dato importante è il rinvenimento di emissioni di Costantino VIII, alcune rare e altre sconosciute, rinvenute solo nel territorio limitrofo a Classe e Ravenna.

Biostratigraphical investigations of Lago d'Averno, near Naples

Remains of diatoms, molluscs, ostracods, foraminifera and pollen exines preserved in the sediments of Lago d'Averno, a volcanic lake in the Phlegrean Fields west of Naples, allowed us to reconstruct the changes in the ecological conditions of the lake and of the vegetation around it for the period from 800 BC to 800 AD. Lago d'Averno was at first a freshwater lake, temporarily influenced by volcanic springs. Salinity increased slowly during Greek times as a result of subsidence of the surrounding land. Saline conditions developed only after the lake was connected with the sea by a canal, when Portus Julius was built in 37 BC. The first post-Roman period of uplift ended with a short freshwater phase during the 7th century after Christ. Deciduous oakwoods around the lake was transformed into a forest of evergreen oaks in Greek times and thrived there - apparently almost uninfluenced by man - until it was felled, when the Avernus was incorporated into the new Roman harbour in 37 BC, to construct a shipyard and other military buildings there. Land-use was never more intense than during Roman times and weakest in Greek and Early Roman times, when the Avernus was considered a holy place, the entrance to the underworld.

RELIGIÃO PROFÉTICA E CRISE POLÍTICA: Um estudo da sociedade norte-israelita à luz de Oséias 9,1-9.

Com o desenvolvimento deste projeto de pesquisa Religião profética e crise política: estudo da sociedade norte-israelita à luz de Oséias 9,1-9 queremos identificar que momento de crise foi essa pelo qual passou a sociedade norte-israelita no século VIII a.C., e qual seria o background oseânico que teria funcionado como um verdadeiro leitmotiv em sua vida profética. Ao invés de partirmos de uma regressão, i.é., de um estudo dedutivo (método descendente), devido à falta de material e também pela complexidade do trabalho, farei o inverso, partirei da teoria que hoje é plenamente aceita no meio acadêmico. Fundado numa metodologia que privilegia os resultados obtidos a partir dos mais rigorosos dados historiográficos métodos históricos críticos e pesquisas arqueológicas este projeto de pesquisa utilizará o método indutivo, i.é., partiremos de um processo ascendente. O desafio está em delinear a trajetória autonômica da monarquia norte-israelita, procurando estabelecer quais foram os momentos mais marcantes desta caminhada histórica, suscetíveis de forjar a manifestação de profetas como Amós, Oséias, Miquéias e tantos outros. Como objeto principal de nossa pesquisa, o foco estará sobre o profeta Oséias que soube como nenhum outro antes dele, fazer uma síntese entre religião e vida, i.é., soube desenvolver critérios éticos que serviram como parâmetro avaliativo de pureza da religião javista