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Slavery and Slave Trading in Eastern Africa: Exploring the Intersections of Historical Sources and Archaeological Evidence

Paul J. Lane

in Slavery in Africa: Archaeology and Memory

This chapter reviews the historical evidence concerning the development of slavery in eastern Africa, the various forms found in societies on the coast and in the interior, the social and cultural ... More

This chapter reviews the historical evidence concerning the development of slavery in eastern Africa, the various forms found in societies on the coast and in the interior, the social and cultural consequences of enslavement, and its ultimate abolition. It then looks at the known and potential archaeological traces of the trajectories of these different systems of slavery, with particular reference to the area along the middle and lower Pangani River, Tanzania. The chapter concludes with a consideration of whether or not it would be possible to discern slavery from the surviving archaeological remains alone, and the implications of this answer for future archaeological investigations of slavery elsewhere in the region.Less

Geological Constraints and Organizational Implications

Alfred Michael Hirt

in Imperial Mines and Quarries in the Roman World: Organizational Aspects 27 BC-AD 235

This chapter discusses the geology and topography of marble outcrops and ore deposits which very much dictates the technology employed and the scale of extractive operations. These restrictions ... More

This chapter discusses the geology and topography of marble outcrops and ore deposits which very much dictates the technology employed and the scale of extractive operations. These restrictions significantly influence the organizational structures and, together with the geographical location, determine the organizational challenges faced by the heads of these extractive operations. Moreover, the geology and topography of a mining or quarrying district also determine the spatial arrangement of operative (work procedures) and directive processes (planning and controlling of assets and goals, direction of human resources etc.). This is exemplified by the topographical layout of building structures, transport facilities, and extractive locations, or rather: their archaeological remains, within imperial districts such as the quarries in the Eastern Egyptian Desert or in mining areas such as Dolaucothi or Roflia Montan∏.Less

Termez in Antiquity

PIERRE LERICHE and SHAKIR PIDAEV

in After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam

This chapter discusses the latest developments in the work concerning the first periods of the existence of the ancient city of Termez. It explains the history of Temez in antiquity and during the ... More

This chapter discusses the latest developments in the work concerning the first periods of the existence of the ancient city of Termez. It explains the history of Temez in antiquity and during the medieval period, based on written sources. The chapter describes the site of ancient Termez as consisting of four distinct elements: the citadel or kokendoz, the medieval lower town or shahristan, the fortified suburbs or rabats, and an area covered by archaeological remains.Less

Zooarchaeology: Reconstructing the Natural and Cultural Worlds From Archaeological Faunal Remains

Michael MacKinnon

in The Science of Roman History: Biology, Climate, and the Future of the Past

This chapter discusses zooarchaeological exploration that might be less familiar (but no less important) within the discipline's broader contribution to classical archaeology. Scientific ... More

This chapter discusses zooarchaeological exploration that might be less familiar (but no less important) within the discipline's broader contribution to classical archaeology. Scientific investigations and analyses of zooarchaeological materials from classical archaeological sites have grown rapidly since the 1980s. These are broadened further through initiatives taken not simply to understand biological and environmental components of the past (aspects that might, superficially, ally better with natural science), but to engage animals as markers of cultural complexity as well. Investigations today are increasingly conducted by zooarchaeologists who specialize in the scholarship of Greek and Roman antiquity, a tactic consequently helping to blur or dissolve traditional academic boundaries in classical studies that previously emphasized primacy to other categories of material remains, such as texts or art. Scientists now infiltrate classics, and vice versa.Less

Hunting Deer, Elk, and Other Creatures

George C. Frison

in Survival by Hunting: Prehistoric Human Predators and Animal Prey

This chapter investigates the hunting of deer, elk, and other creatures in Rocky Mountains during the prehistoric period. It describes the remains of mule deer and Rocky Mountain elk in ... More

This chapter investigates the hunting of deer, elk, and other creatures in Rocky Mountains during the prehistoric period. It describes the remains of mule deer and Rocky Mountain elk in archaeological remains and discusses the behavioral patterns of other animals including small mammals, birds, and black and grizzly bears. It also explains the hunting strategies for these animals.Less

Archaeological Remains of Everyday Life in the Fayoum

Gawdat Gabra

in Christianity and Monasticism in the Fayoum Oasis: Essays from the 2004 International Symposium of the Saint Mark Foundation and the Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society in Honor of Martin Krause

This chapter examines archaeological remains and artefacts of everyday life in the Fayoum Oasis in Egypt. It aims to demonstrate the importance of archaeological remains for the reconstruction and ... More

This chapter examines archaeological remains and artefacts of everyday life in the Fayoum Oasis in Egypt. It aims to demonstrate the importance of archaeological remains for the reconstruction and understanding of everyday life and not to present a global overview of everyday life in the Fayoum on the basis of a mixed assemblage of material remains of different quality from various collections. Some of the everyday objects found in Fayoum include curtains, tunics, and storage vessels.Less

Introduction and Background

Charles Le Quesne

in Quseir: An Ottoman and Napoleonic Fortress on the Red Sea Coast of Egypt

As a piece of archaeological research, the work carried out at Quseir Fort is unusual because it examines evidence from the events of the last 450 years, the modern era, by Egyptian archaeological ... More

As a piece of archaeological research, the work carried out at Quseir Fort is unusual because it examines evidence from the events of the last 450 years, the modern era, by Egyptian archaeological standards. The investigations of American Research Center in Egypt have demonstrated the value of archaeological techniques in such a relatively recent context. Interpretation of the archaeological remains of the fort has been made very much easier thanks to historical evidence. A number of key documents came to light during and after the archaeological investigations: of particular importance are the Ottoman foundation firman of 1571 and a series of Napoleonic plans of the fort. The French plans throw much light on the original form of the Ottoman fort, the extensive damage caused by an intense naval bombardment from two British warships in 1799, and the major reconstruction of the defenses undertaken by the Napoleonic occupying force.Less

Extending Sovereignty

in Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society

Following Israel's capture of the Old City in June 1967, a series of expropriation and demolition orders prepared the ground for the excavations and the colonial urbanism to come, thus adding new ... More

Following Israel's capture of the Old City in June 1967, a series of expropriation and demolition orders prepared the ground for the excavations and the colonial urbanism to come, thus adding new destruction layers to those produced during the 1948 war. In designing and building the new Jewish Quarter, standing and partly destroyed buildings were partially restored and reconstructed as ruins in order to memorialize more recent histories of destruction, and older stones were integrated into modern architectural forms in order to embody temporal depth. Insofar as archaeology was an integral part of this project to build a new Jewish Quarter, archaeological remains themselves were made. Ancient ruins were subsequently integrated into the contemporary urban design. These new phenomena, produced through archaeological practice, came to restructure the real, extending the boundaries of Jewish national-territorial claims that emerged as taken for granted in the decades to come.Less

Modified and Unmodified Turtle Remains from Nu‘alolo Kai

Michael W. Graves, Stephanie Jolivette, Kelley S. Esh, and Julie S. Field

in Abundance and Resilience: Farming and Foraging in Ancient Kaua'i

This chapter examines modified and unmodified archaeological remains of sea turtles from Nuʻalolo Kai. The 1958–1964 and 1990 archaeological excavations at Nuʻalolo Kai yielded only a small number of ... More

This chapter examines modified and unmodified archaeological remains of sea turtles from Nuʻalolo Kai. The 1958–1964 and 1990 archaeological excavations at Nuʻalolo Kai yielded only a small number of sea turtle remains relative to the total bone assemblage, but the sample represents the largest collection of sea turtle bones recovered from an archaeological site in the Hawaiian Islands. This collection is also unique in that it contains identified elements from both the green sea turtle and the hawksbill turtle. This chapter discusses the presence of sea turtle remains in the archaeological collection from Nuʻalolo Kai, with particular emphasis on the distribution of modified and unmodified elements in the stratified deposits. The results indicate that sea turtles were used extensively in the later occupations of Nuʻalolo Kai and that hunting focused on the subadult and adult portions of the population.Less

Commerce and Craft

Kathleen Deagan and José María Cruxent

in Columbus's Outpost among the Tainos: Spain and America at La Isabela, 1493-1498

This chapter presents the range of crafts and industries practiced in the colony, as can be gathered from La Isabela's archaeological remains. Documentary accounts are vague about these crafts and ... More

This chapter presents the range of crafts and industries practiced in the colony, as can be gathered from La Isabela's archaeological remains. Documentary accounts are vague about these crafts and artisans, with Las Casas noting only that there were “several men for each of the various trades,” and Ferdinand Colon that his father recruited “artisans of all kinds.” Regardless of their essential contributions to the functioning and survival of the medieval community, artisans were irrevocably relegated to the lower levels of the Spanish social hierarchy. The hidalgo class despised physical work in any form, and those who performed it. Although they demanded the goods and luxuries they considered necessary to their station, hidalgos felt that the handiwork needed to supply those goods was beneath contempt.Less

In the Belly of the Barque

Wafaa EL Sadik and Rüdiger Heimlich

in Protecting Pharaoh's Treasures: My Life in Egyptology

This chapter recounts the author's participation in the Egyptian excavation site in Tura. The name Tura is notorious in all of Egypt. A few kilometers south of Cairo lies the state prison where ... More

This chapter recounts the author's participation in the Egyptian excavation site in Tura. The name Tura is notorious in all of Egypt. A few kilometers south of Cairo lies the state prison where political opponents of the regime were tortured and abused, often enough to death. Its inmates were required to labor in the limestone quarries that supplied the nearby cement plant. In the winter of 1977, the cement plant wanted to expand. The new building site extended into the ancient stone quarries. Before the extension could proceed, however, the new site had to be explored for possible archaeological remains and excavations undertaken wherever something looked promising.Less

The Rise of the Hittite Sun: A Deconstruction of Western Civilization from the Margin

Wendy Shaw

in Selective Remembrances: Archaeology in the Construction, Commemoration, and Consecration of National Pasts

This chapter focuses on the rewriting of Turkish history in the early 1930s sponsored by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk himself. It shows how the rewriting of Turkish history mirrored and inverted the ... More

This chapter focuses on the rewriting of Turkish history in the early 1930s sponsored by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk himself. It shows how the rewriting of Turkish history mirrored and inverted the theories of Western origins that were then popular, including notably the civilizing roles attributed to superior Aryans. This chapter highlights the use of the rich archaeological remains from Turkey to support this Turkish historical narrative, such as the Hittite sun which initially symbolized the emergent secular state.Less

Between History and Geography: The El Alamein Project: Research, Findings, and Results

Aldino Bondesan

in El Alamein and the Struggle for North Africa: International Perspectives from the Twenty-first Century

The El Alamein Project began in 2008 as a research project promoted by the University of Padova (Italy) and the Italian Society of Military Geography and Geology in order to study and preserve the El ... More

The El Alamein Project began in 2008 as a research project promoted by the University of Padova (Italy) and the Italian Society of Military Geography and Geology in order to study and preserve the El Alamein battlefields. The conditions of ordinary soldiers, manning the dusty outposts in the desert, crouching for days in foxholes and trenches, is clearly revealed and documented in this absorbing account of the University of Padova's geomorphic project of mapping and analyzing the desert battle terrain. Surveying and documenting these areas before the site is transformed to an extent that results in the disappearance of such remarkable and unique historical war remains, is now clearly essential. The El Alamein Project has two goals. The first is to establish a complete, detailed database of military archeological remains, and to publish the associated findings. Second, to create from those findings a framework of guidelines for the development of a well designed historical, cultural, tourist site on the old battlefield.Less