Search results for "ancient"
showing 10 items of 810 documents
The Role of Palermo in the Central Mediterranean: The Evolution of the Harbour and the Circulation of Ceramics (10th–11th centuries)
2016
Palermo in the 10th and the first half of the 11th century was one of the big Mediterranean cities, fully integrated in the dār al-islām and in the area of Fatimid prosperity. This article deals with the role of Palermo in the central Mediterranean, crossing the information coming from the written sources and from the recent archaeological finds. The written sources show that, with the Fatimids, Palermo’s harbour became a built harbour, characterized by imposing defences and fortified structures, which not only had a functional character but were also a representation of power. Furthermore, the written sources reflect the commercial centrality of Palermo, while the study of ceramics allows …
Detecting the T1 cattle haplogroup in the Iberian Peninsula from Neolithic to medieval times: new clues to continuous cattle migration through time
2015
Abstract The spread of domestic animals through time is one of the topics studied by archaeologists to assess human trade and migration. Here we present mitochondrial analysis of 42 archaeological cattle ( Bos taurus ) bone samples, from 16 different sites in the Iberian Peninsula and covering a broad timeframe (from the early Neolithic to the Middle Ages), to provide evidence about the origin and dispersion of the T1 cattle haplogroup in relation to human contacts and movements. The presence of the T1 haplotype in one sample from an early Neolithic site close to the Mediterranean coast of Iberia, and its continuing presence in the Peninsula during Roman and Medieval times, clearly demonstr…
Exotic foods reveal contact between South Asia and the Near East during the second millennium BCE
2020
Aunque el papel clave del comercio a larga distancia en la transformación de las cocinas en todo el mundo está bien documentado desde al menos la época romana, la prehistoria del comercio de alimentos euroasiático es menos visible. Con el fin de arrojar luz sobre la transformación de las cocinas del Mediterráneo oriental durante la Edad del Bronce y la Edad del Hierro Temprana, analizamos los microrestos y las proteínas conservadas en el cálculo dental de individuos que vivieron durante el segundo milenio a. Nuestros resultados proporcionan evidencia clara del consumo de alimentos básicos esperados, como cereales (Triticeae), sésamo ( Sesamum ) y dátiles ( Phoenix ). Además, informamos evid…
Interpreting the Beaker phenomenon in Mediterranean France: an Iron Age analogy
2012
http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/086/ant0860131.htm; International audience; The author offers a new descriptive explanation of the Beaker phenomenon, by focusing on Mediterranean France and making reference to the Greek influx in the same area 2000 years later. In the Iron Age, the influence began with an exploratory phase, and then went on to create new settlements and colonise new areas away from the coast. The Beaker analogy is striking, with phases of exploration and implantation and acculturation, but adjusted to include a final phase where Beaker practice was more independent. Comparing the numerous models put forward to explain it, the author shows that immigration and a cultural package …
Historical biogeography in a linear system: genetic variation of Sea Rocket (Cakile maritima) and Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum) along European coasts
2000
The exclusively coastal Cakile maritima and Eryngium maritimum represent a linear biogeographical system. Genetic variation among 25 individuals of C. maritima and 16 individuals of E. maritimum, from the coasts of Europe, North Africa and the Canary Islands, was analysed using random amplified polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) and intersimple sequence repeats (ISSRs). Genetic distances (Dice) were calculated and used to investigate the correlation between genetic and geographical distances, to construct Neighbour Joining (NJ) trees, and to compare mean genetic distances between areas within and across species. Genetic distances and geographical distances measured along the coast are well correlated…
“In quel giorno, in quella notte, in quell’anno”. Cosmogonie e cosmologie sumeriche e assiro-babilonesi
2020
The paper attempts to reconstruct the cosmogonic and cosmological doctrines of the Mesopotamian peoples over their three millennia of history. It focuses on both Sumerian and Akkadian sources that describe the origin, formation, and organization of the universe according to Mesopotamian religious thought.
The Loss of Male Sexual Desire in Ancient Mesopotamia
2021
After more than fifty years since the last publication, the cuneiform texts relating to the treatment of the loss of male sexual desire and vigor in Mesopotamia are collected in this volume. The aim of the book is to present Mesopotamian medical tradition regarding the so-called nīš libbi therapies. šà-zi-ga in Sumerian, nīš libbi in Akkadian, lit. "raising of the 'heart'", is the expression used to indicate a group of texts intended to recover the male sexual desire. This medical tradition is preserved from the Middle Babylonian period to the Achaemenid one. This broad range testifies to the importance of the transmission of this material throughout Mesopotamian history. The book provides …
Shining castles and humans of metal/floral appearance ? metaphorical language in the Palaiologan romances Kallimachos and Velthandros
2019
About eight centuries after Heliodorus, the Greek novel resurfaced in the twelfth century, in Komnenian Byzantium, and again two centuries later under the Palaiologan dynasty. This latter literary revival was due to the political stability of the imperial Byzantine government, which promoted cultural production, rhetorical education, and patronage networks. Kallimachos and Velthandros, two Palaiologan romances presented as court literature, combine ancient and medieval tropes with rhetorical artistry to blur the boundaries between the artificial and the natural. Castles and objects made of precious metals thus resemble living, natural spaces, and human characters are portrayed in metallurgi…
Genetic Evidence of the Black Death in the Abbey of San Leonardo (Apulia Region, Italy): Tracing the Cause of Death in Two Individuals Buried with Co…
2021
The Abbey of San Leonardo in Siponto (Apulia, Southern Italy) was an important religious and medical center during the Middle Ages. It was a crossroads for pilgrims heading along the Via Francigena to the Sanctuary of Monte Sant’Angelo and for merchants passing through the harbor of Manfredonia. A recent excavation of Soprintendenza Archeologica della Puglia investigated a portion of the related cemetery, confirming its chronology to be between the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century. Two single graves preserved individuals accompanied by numerous coins dating back to the 14th century, hidden in clothes and in a bag tied to the waist. The human remains of the individuals were …