Tumulus Burial In Albania The Grave Circles Of Mycenae And The Indo Europeans

Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East follows the evolution of the author’s scholarly work and interests and is divided into several categories of interrelated fields. The first part deals primarily with excavations and associated artifacts, issues in ancient geography and the identification of ancient sites in northwest Iran, the author’s research involving the culture and chronology of the Phrygian capital at Gordion in Anatolia, and the chronology and Iranian cultural relations of a site in the Emirate of Sharjah. Part two is wide-ranging and includes chapters on Aegean and ancient Near Eastern cultural and political interconnections, the role of fibulae in revealing cultural and chronological matters, and the gender-determined usage of parasols and their recognition in excavated contexts. There are also articles specifically concerned with “Plunder Culture” and the forgery of both objects and their alleged proveniences. "At 1,088 pages, this volume provides a wonderful sample– chosen by Muscarella himself – of forty papers spanning the author’s career and many interests...This volume is so rich that it contains something for everyone." D.T. Potts, NYU, Bibliotheca Orientalis lxxIII n° 3-4, mei-augustus 2016

Classical Greeks considered the Mycenaean civilization to be the basis of their glorious and heroic heritage, but its material existence was not confirmed until the excavations of Heinrich Schliemann in the late nineteenth century. In the ensuing years, as with the field of archaeology in general, emphasis has shifted from revealing monuments and finding treasure to dealing with less glamorous, more scientifically-oriented investigations concerning aspects such as social and political organization, economic functions and settlement patterns. With its more than 2000 entries, this reference work serves as both an introduction to and a summary of the study of ancient Mycenaean civilization. Considerably expanded from the first edition, there are 500 new entries representing materials published since 1991. The largest part of the book is made up of annotated bibliography entries arranged topically with introductory material for each section. The book also includes a general introduction to Mycenaean civilization, a glossary, and author, place and subject indexes.

Mycenaean Greece, first published in 1976, investigates from an historical point of view some of the crucial periods in the Greek Bronze Age. The principal subject is the so-called ‘Mycenaean’ culture which arose during the sixteenth century BC, as assimilation of the previous ‘Helladic’ culture of mainland Greece with some of the developments of Minoan Crete. Many of the material aspects of the Mycenaean civilisation are examined, as are the extent of Mycenaean expansion overseas and the eventual destruction of Mycenaean sites which marked the end of their civilisation. The author also considers the evidence relating to the religious beliefs of the Mycenaeans and their social, political and economic organisations, and he relates the Mycenaean culture to the later civilisation of Archaic and Classical Greece. There is an Appendix containing a list of Mycenaean sites, with reference to excavation reports, and a full bibliography.

The Bronze Age, roughly 2500 to 750 BC, was the last fully prehistoric period in Europe and a crucial element in the formation of the Europe that emerged into history in the later first millennium BC. This book focuses on the material culture remains of the period, and through them provides an interpretation of the main trends in human development that occurred during this timespan. It pays particular attention to the discoveries and theoretical advances of the last twenty years that have necessitated a major revision of received opinions about many aspects of the Bronze Age. Arranged thematically, it reviews the evidence for a range of topics in cross-cultural fashion, defining which major characteristics of the period were universal and which culture and area-specific. The result is a comprehensive study that will be of value to specialists and students, while remaining accessible to the non-specialist.

The burial tumulus of Lofkend lies in one of the richest archaeological areas of Albania (ancient "Illyria"), home to a number of burial tumuli spanning the Bronze and Iron Ages of later prehistory. Some were robbed long ago, others were reused for modern burials; few were excavated under scientific conditions. Modern understanding of the pre- and protohistory of Illyria has largely been shaped by the contents of such burial mounds. What inspired the systematic exploration of Lofkend by UCLA was more than the promise of an unplundered necropolis; it was also a chance to revisit the significance of this tumulus and its fellows for the emergence of urbanism and complexity in ancient Illyria. In addition to artifacts, the recovery of surviving plant remains, bones, and other organic material contribute insights into the environmental and ecological history of the region.

This volume, the first of two dealing with the Early Iron Age deposits from the Athenian Agora, publishes the tombs from the end of the Bronze Age through the transition from the Middle Geometric to Late Geometric period. An introduction deals with the layout of the four cemeteries of the period, the topographical ramifications, periodization, and a synthesis of Athens in the Early Iron Age. Individual chapters offer a complete catalogue of the tombs and their contents, a full analysis of the burial customs and funerary rites, and analyses of the pottery and other small finds. Maria A. Liston presents the human skeletal material, Deborah Ruscillo presents the faunal remains, and Sara Strack contributes to the pottery typology and catalogue. In an appendix, Eirini Dimitriadou provides an overview of the locations of burial activity in the wider city.