Articles

Les découvertes des armes en bronze de la fin de l’âge du bronze sur le plateau de Bârlad

A surge in bronze metalworking can be seen taking place at the end of the Bronze Age, with ten deposits, containing 109 objects, and 28 isolated finds taking place in the Bârlad Plateau. The list of discoveries contains sickles, celts, broadswords, daggers, spearheads, and adornments and dress elements; the least represented are weapons, with only seven items. The broadsword from Epureni is of the Krasnyj Majak type, typical of the Sabatinovka culture, while the daggers are of the Labojkovka type, Malye Kopani variant. The three spearheads are of the Dremajlovka and Krasnyj Majak type. The weapons are typical of the Sabatinovka culture and are rare east of the Prut, in the region of the Noua culture.

Ancestral DNA ― an incontestable source of data for Archaeology

The DNA is present in every cell of a person’s body, not only in the cell’s nucleus but also in its cytoplasm, in mitochondria. Of great importance is the fact that, except for the rare occurrence of a mutation, the DNA in every cell of the person’s body is identical. As a result, DNA can be taken from saliva, sweat, blood, hair, skin or bone cells for individual identification. The many opportunities to obtain DNA evidence can be seen, for example, in the number of places where saliva has been identified: a bite mark, an area licked, bed linens, a mask worn, paper tissue, a washcloth, a cigarette butt, a toothpick, the rim of a bottle or glass, but all of those sources are available just for present DNA. In the case of old DNA, also called ancient DNA (aDNA), the things are different and the possibilities to analyse the substrate of genetic information are limited to bone fragments or teeth. Even in these conditions, the DNA analysis is a very accurate and powerful tool for getting useful information in Archaeology.

The art of the British Celts. A critical review

The article discusses Celtic art in pre-Roman Britain. The author of the article disagrees with the opinion expressed by R.G. Collingwood and certain other scholars that the art of British Celts, being fragile, linear and abstract, having shallow social foundations (since it was the art of the nobility), was doomed to decline and extinction, even if the Roman conquest of Britain had not taken place. The sources referred to in the article demonstrate that Celtic art, whose intrinsic feature was that bent for poetic abstraction which was typical of Celtic mentality in general, had great potential for growth that lay dormant during the Roman period. The view that the artistic style of British Celts possessed creative capacity which remained hidden under Roman reign is confirmed by the Celtic art’s revival in medieval Britain during the Anglo-Saxon domination.

Gaias Rechtsstreit und Caracallas Alexandria-Aufenthalt. Zum Kontext des Privatbriefs P.Oxy. 43/3094

The article offers a detailed interpretation of the private letter P.Oxy. 43/3094. This letter deals with a lawsuit which was carried on before three governors (M. Aurelius Septimius Heraclitus, L. Valerius Datu and Iulius Basilianus). A chronological reconciliation with the events and implications of Caracalla’s journey to Alexandria in the winter of 215/16 AD enables a detailed reconstruction of the course of the lawsuit, which lasted approximately three years. Furthermore the paper discusses the meaning of ὑπόμνημα in a juridical and administrative context.

Terminology of salt in Ancient Greek

This study addresses for the first time in the dedicated literature, the lexical reflexes of salt in ancient Greek, as part of an extended research project. An inventory was realized as comprehensively as possible on grammatical categories (nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs), derived from nominal compound ἁλ (ἅλς, ἁλὁς) in the initial and secondary position, emphasizing a majority of adjectives and a wide semantic spectrum (e.g. physical world, exploitation, food consumption and conservation, social and economic contexts, symbolic uses). This lexical variety indicates the crucial role of salt and sea in the development of Greek civilization.

Dall’“Epiclassico” di Franz Wieacker al’“Esplosione di Tardoantico” di Andrea Giardina

The late antiquity in modern historiography has generated two schools of thought: one side is seen as a time of slow transition to the Middle Ages, the other is regarded as a time of crisis and decline. Franz Wieacker spoke of period “epiclassic“ and Andrea Giardina has commented the explosive and sudden interest of researchers in the last thirty years.

“Classicism for all”: another way of disseminating antiquity ― the artistic movie

For centuries, the role of the humanistic studies and of the classical heritage has been regarded as central and irreplaceable. Over the past decades, however, changes have occurred in various sectors, including science and education, which is why classics are facing many difficulties. This paper aims to present a new initiative which attempts to overcome the classical education crisis and capture the interest for classical Antiquity, opportunity offered by cinematic depictions.

Some thoughts on settlement patterns. Late Bronze Age habitat in the Șomuzul Mare basin

The study aims to examine the prehistoric landscape in order to identify settlement patterns and relations between contemporary sites. In the Șomuzul Mare basin, Northeastern Romania, the local topography, resources and climate compelled its prehistoric occupants to adapt for a better exploitation of resources and protection. The archaeological database includes 30 archaeological sites dated to the Late Bronze Age discovered in the study area. GIS software was employed in order to gather information about the topographic and climatic characteristics of the areas where prehistoric sites were established. Slope, solar exposure, wind shelter and density maps, as well as the distances to the closest water source were used to identify settlement patterns.