LATEST ARTICLES IN STUDIA ANTIQUA ET ARCHAEOLOGICA

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.

Some Roman coin finds from Southern Moldavia

We present in this paper three batches of Roman coins belonging to Roman Republican and Imperial hoards, from the collections of Museum of Vrancea in Focșani and Town Museum in Adjud. The coins were discovered in the following locations: I. Adjud (Vrancea County) (3 AR dated from C. Maianus to C. Mamilius Limetanus); II. Repedea (Străoane commune, Vrancea county) (4 AR, dated from M. Papirius Carbo to Ulpia Severina); III. Olăreni (Slobozia Bradului commune, Vrancea county) (6 AR, dated from Marcus Antonius to Marcus Aurelius and 1 AE – Constantinopolis type). In regards to the last two hoards we have serious doubts that the most recent coins actually belong to the initial findings.

Life expectancy and age structure of the male population in Noricum. Comparative approach

This study deals with the statistic results acquired for life expectancy of the male population in Noricum. They were compared with the data from other Danubian provinces (Pannonia Superior, Pannonia Inferior, Dacia, Moesia Superior, Moesia Inferior) and from Roman Egypt. We stopped on the age-rounding process, analysing the rapport between rounded ages and unrounded ages at the level of the entire male sample. For an insight of the male population we compared the age structure values from all the Danubian province on three age categories, in terms of numbers and percentage.

Ancient literary sources concerning fishing and fish processing in the Black Sea region

This article proposes a revision of the ancient literary sources concerning the conservation of fish stocks in the Black Sea region in Greek and Roman classical antiquity. The abundance and the chronological variety of the sources indicate, on the one hand, that these economic activities have always been part of people’s lives, and on the other hand the quality of Pontic fish products, known from Britannia to Egypt . It seeks, in addition to spatial and chronological approach, the types of sources that are subject to submission, taking into account the category of recipients to whom they were addressed and the purpose for which they were written, in order to verify their typicality and credibility.