bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rock-art, landscape and cultural transition in the Wadi al-Ajal, Fazzan
Authors: Barnett Tertia 
Published: February 2016

AbstractRock paintings and engravings form a significant component of the archaeological record in Libya. Working in tandem with other disciplines, the study of rock-art can help provide a perspective on the past that can not be derived from archaeology alone. Following on from the work of the Fazzan Archaeological Project, recent research in the Wadi al-Ajal has identified a number of previously unrecorded rock-art sites in relation to their physical context, and these are reported here. The engravings display distinct distribution patterns in relation to specific topographic features in the wadi, and these are discussed with particular reference to the Maknusa Pass. Finally, the relationship between the rock-art and the landscape in this region is implicated in cultural development and transition.
Quaternary environmental change in Cyrenaica evidenced by U-Th, ESR and OSL dating of coastal alluvial fan sequences
Authors: Rowan John S. , Black Stuart , Macklin Mark G. , Tabner Brian J. , Dore John 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe coastal alluvial fan sequences of Cyrenaica are important archives of environmental change data, but hitherto relatively little has been known about their formative processes and rates. The Wadi Zewana coastal fan near Tolmeita was studied and a range of dating techniques (U-Th, ESR and OSL) applied to selected components of the stratigraphy. The sequence spans the last two global glacial periods separated by an Interglacial. Cemented alluvial fan gravel units yielded U-Th leachate-residue ages of 201 ± 18 ka, 179 ± 15 ka and 138 ± 8 ka respectively. The fan toe units are interdigitated with bioclastic beach rock deposits dated to 150 ± 10.9 ka corresponding to an Interglacial high stand in sea level and marine recession sequence featuring transgressive lag gravels, beach sand and cemented aeolian dunes dated to 121 ± 8 ka. Within the Wadi Zewana catchment a complex cut and fill history is evidenced. Aggradation phases dated to 76 ± 4 ka, 42.1 ± 5.1 ka and 12.5 ± 1.5 ka are broadly coincident with global glacials and stadials, whilst during the Last Interglacial and successive interstadials the drainage system underwent entrenchment, manifested on the coastal plain as telescopic fan segmentation and associated fan head trenching.
The Garamantes: A Fresh Approach
Authors: Liverani Mario 
Published: February 2016

AbstractTraditional historiography views the Garamantes from the perspective of the Roman empire, as a peripheral people located in a remote desert. Recent field research is focussing on an inner Saharan perspective, locating the Garamantes at the very centre of trans-Saharan caravan networks. The emergence of the Garamantian state is explained in terms of the ‘longue durée’ and of ‘wide horizons’, in connection with the desertification process that precipitated changes in land use, settlement patterns, and technological availability. Toward the mid-first millennium BC the former pastoral exploitation of the environment changed to one based on oases and caravan traffic, with irrigation agriculture (supplied by foggaras) and long-distance trade (based on the dromedary). Summing up, the case of the Garamantes is presented as a clear case of tentative adaptation to climatic change: some features of the adaptation were short-lived, or required further improvement, while other features remained as definitive acquisitions in the exploitation of the arid environment.
Excavations at Tocra (1985-1992)
Authors: Buzaian Ahmed M. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis article presents a preliminary report on the post-excavation analysis of excavations conducted between 1985 and 1992 by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Garyunis (Benghazi) at the ancient city of Tocra. The construction and design of the buildings excavated are analysed, with particular emphasis on the late antique phases; and descriptions of pottery, other artefacts (including two early Islamic coins) are given. The area appears to have been an artisan district, as evidenced by the finds of a pottery kiln, ovens, vats and other structures associated with manufacturing activities. Mortar and plaster samples were analysed to help phase the structures, and to compare the excavated vats with their counterparts at another site within the city. A limited study of the faunal remains gives some insight into diet at the site in late antiquity.The study shows clearly that Tocra remained inhabited after the Arab conquest (AD 640s), confirming suggestions of previous excavations at other sites within the city wall.
The Fezzan Project 2000: Preliminary report on the fourth season of work
Authors: Mattingly David J. , al-Mashai Mohammed , Balcombe Phil , Barnett Tertia , Brooks Nick , Cole Franca , Dore John , Drake Nick , Edwards David , Hawthorne John , Helm Richard , Leone Anna , McLaren Sue , Peiling Ruth , Preston James , Reynolds Tim , Townsend Andrew , Wilson Andrew I. , White Kevin 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe fourth season of the Fezzan Project continued the interdisciplinary approaches of previous seasons. Geographical and environmental work focused principally in sampling sediments for scientific dating and with integrating ground observation with remote sensing data. Excavations continued at Old Germa, where the site has now reached Garamantian levels. In a separate development, the tentative identification has been made of an early mosque at the site, in an area adjacent to the G1 excavation trench. Substantial results were gained from work aimed at enhancing the important data recorded by Charles Daniels in his earlier excavations and survey in the Wadi al-Hayat. The enhancement of the Daniels' survey archive was integrated with completion of the wider prospection being undertaken by the new project. This survey included fieldwalking, standing building survey, analysis of the foggara irrigation systems and recording of rock art scenes. Finds work comprised the finalisation of a pottery type series for the Germa area, the study of small finds from the recent survey work, botanical analysis and completion of lithics recording. A programme of radiocarbon dating is now being undertaken to improve the phasing of sites and monuments. The first two volumes of final reports are now in preparation.
Siegecraft and spoliation,c.500 BC: a tale of two cities
Authors: Wright G. R. H. , White D. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractAt some date shortly after the Persian conquest of Egypt (525 BC) a Persian army dispatched by the satrap of Egypt, Aryandes, was encamped on the Lykaian Hill outside the city of Cyrene, threatening its capture. How far hostilities had advanced is not known, but very soon the army abandoned its position and marched off on the return way to Egypt (Herodotus IV, 16–67, 200–203). Herodotus' account is an involved story how the Persian force came to be in Cyrenaica, and it is not clear why it departed from Cyrene with little achieved there. The episode would be of limited substance except for the chance discovery of some antiquities in the region of the Persian camp. About 20 years later, in 498 BC, a Persian force was deployed in Cyprus to reduce the city of Paphos in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Cypriote uprising to support the Ionian revolt. A siege mound was raised against the city wall employing an unexpected variety of material. Latterly the mound has been excavated and afforded wide ranging information. Hitherto these archaeological facts have not been considered in conjunction, and an attempt to do so may be instructive.
Tripoli's musical soundscape: experiences and meanings
Authors: Ciantar Philip 
Published: February 2016

AbstractExploring the musical soundscape of a city like Tripoli is fascinating as much as it is challenging to retrieve meanings underlying the same soundscape. The fine blend between, for instance, ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ musical practices and aesthetics, appertaining to this soundscape, presents the music researcher with a complex scenario to investigate. For this purpose, contemporary music research recognises music ethnography (superficially defined as the writing about the way people get involved in and make music) as a means by which such scenarios can be explored. In line with this, the present article explores Tripoli's musical soundscape by presenting vignettes of people listening to music, actively participating in musical events, as well as making music. Such depictions must shed light on the musical life in contemporary Libya with particular focus on the musical life in Tripoli. The commentary accompanying these vignettes links the sound not only with the people interacting with it, but also with the events that generate it, the place in which it evolves and the socio-cultural context that endows it with meaning.
Una colonna a Leptis Magna: alcune considerazioni sul marmor iassense
Authors: Baldoni Daniela 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIn the so-called ‘Ninfeo dell'Ercole’, located along the cardo maximus of Leptis Magna, there is a column made from the red marble that the Romans called Marmor Iassense or Carium, after the ancient town of Iasos in Caria (Asia Minor), where quarries have recently been identified. Although this marble began to be exploited probably in Hellenistic times, most experts believe that its extensive trade started only in the third century AD, and increased in the followings centuries, when its occurrence became conspicuous in Asia Minor and in other eastern and central Mediterranean regions. The fact that this column in Leptis Magna belongs to a monument dating from the second half of the second century AD now provides positive evidence for the circulation of marble Iassense in earlier times. Moreover, particularly interesting is the peculiar composition of the stone, in which both the veined and the breccia-like varieties are present. This feature is rather uncommon and particularly significant, for the two types have usually been considered quite distinct. Recent investigations conducted in the quarries of Iasos, however, have revealed that the two varieties can coexist in the same outcrops.
Euesperides 2005: Preliminary Report on the Spring 2005 season
Authors: Wilson Andrew , Bennett Paul , Buzaian Ahmed , Found Ben , Göransson Kristian , Guinness Abby , Hardy James , Holman James , Kattenberg Alette , Morley Geoffrey , al-Mugasbi Musbah , Swift Keith , Vaughan-Williams Alys , Wootton William , Zimi Eleni 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis paper is a preliminary report on the Spring 2005 season of the excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi). Work continued in Areas P and Q, and on the processing of finds from the 2005 and previous seasons. In Area P a series of domestic deposits dated to the last quarter of the fourth or first quarter of the third century BC was excavated, including a hearth, a probable domestic altar and associated votive deposits, and a series of post-holes perhaps connected with furniture and a loom. Two small external yard areas seem to have been used for purple dye production. In Area Q late occupation to the west of the street is dated to the late fourth century BC; to the east of the street, the latest stratigraphy appears to have been truncated and the occupation levels so far excavated here date from 470 down to 300 BC.Selected finewares from the excavations are presented, ranging in date from the sixth to the third centuries BC. Work on the coarse pottery and amphora assemblages has begun to distinguish products of different production centres within Cyrenaica. Besides demonstrating the quantities of imported coarsewares from Corinth, the Aegean and the Punic world, we can now recognise four classes of Cyrenaican amphorae, including exports present at Punic Sabratha. The study of the wall plaster, environmental remains and other finds are also briefly discussed.Euesperides is a site both of archaeological importance and of considerable scientific interest for its rare wetland vegetation, but both of these aspects remain vulnerable to ongoing damage as a result of urban development, uncontrolled rubbish dumping and a lack of effective protection of the site.
Site d'un arc à Tocra et l'aménagement urbain de la ville
Authors: Bentaher Par Fuaad 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis article concerns the discovery of traces of an arch in the middle of the main decumanus that extends between the east and west gates of Tocra. This discovery is of special interest because the site of the arch provides us with new information about the layout of the city during the Roman period. An inscription dated to the first quarter of the fourth century AD was found nearby and is believed to be related to the arch.
Thomas Ashby e la Libia
Authors: Fabbricotti Emanuela 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThomas Ashby was a very well-known British archaeologist of the beginning of last century. He travelled a lot and left to the British School at Rome, of which he was the first student, many albums of photographs. Some of them have been recently published. This article deals with the trip to Libya by sea made in May 1910. He took photographs of Derna, Benghazi and Tripoli with general views of them. Of course, the panorama is now changed, but it is interesting to note some features which are nowadays lost, like the Turkish castle at Benghazi, or the arch of Marcus Aurelius at Tripoli still obstructed by later buildings, or the ‘modern’ technology of the radio masts at Derna.
Euesperides (Benghazi): Preliminary report on the Spring 2001 season
Authors: Wilson Andrew , Bennett Paul , Buzaian Ahmed , Fell Vanessa , Göransson Kristian , Green Chris , Hall Cassian , Helm Richard , Kattenberg Alette , Swift Keith , Zimi Eleni 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThis article reports on the third season of the current project at Euesperides (Benghazi). A programme of geological augering has begun to investigate the presumed location of the ancient harbour and the process by which the harbour and neighbouring lagoon silted up during antiquity. Continued excavation in Area P has revealed two phases of buildings, with a plain pebble floor of the fourth century BC and mixed pebble and irregular tesserae floors of the late fourth/early third century BC. In Area Q work has identified buildings either side of a street, and two phases of city defences; outside the defences excavation has confirmed the continuation of a linear quarry ditch. In Area R the occupation sequence has been elucidated and it seems that the two main phases of purple dye manufacturing activity, using Murex trunculus shellfish, follow the abandonment of a courtyard house. Comprehensive study and quantification of coarsewares and transport amphorae has begun alongside continued study of the finewares, and confirms a wide range of trading contacts. The excavations have also produced evidence for the minting of silver coinage at Euesperides.
Apollonia's East Fort and the Strategic Deployment of Cut-Down Bedrock for Defensive Walls
Authors: White D. , Wright G. R. H. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractApollonia's East Fort, set on a promontory overlooking the sea east of the walled town, is part of a series of outlying fortresses guarding access to the port and Cyrene. Excavated by the University of Michigan in 1967, the fort is dated by coins and pottery to the second half of the fourth or first quarter of the third century BC. A striking design feature is its use of cut-down bedrock for the lower wall levels. The same technique is employed for Cyrene's Hellenistic defensive curtain north of the Caravanserai and later in the construction of Roman-period Gasr el-Haneia. It is furthermore utilised in a fairly broad range of tombs and cultic monuments throughout the province. Traceable as far back as the Neolithic period, rupestrian architecture first appears in Egypt by the Middle Kingdom. Betweenc. 1000 and 500 BC it spreads from thence to Syro-Palestine, western Asia Minor, Urartu and eventually as far east as India. Rather than owing its deployment in Cyrenaica to the building traditions of Egypt, it is more likely the result of the region's second wave of colonists arriving from Asia Minorc. 580 BC, given that Cyrene's Archaic rock-cut tombs bear comparison with the contemporary tomb architecture of SW Turkey.
The Hellenistic and Byzantine Defences of Tocra (Taucheira)
Authors: Smith David , Crow James 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe fortifications of the Hellenistic and Roman city of Tocra are over 2 km long (including the sea-wall) and comprise a curtain wall up to 2 m wide flanked by 31 rectangular towers. Three main structural phases were noted in the survey carried out in 1966 by David Smith: (1) Hellenistic walls of isodomic ashlar, (2) later Hellenistic work of isodomic ashlar with bevelled edges, associated with the indented trace along the south rampart, and (3) an extensive rebuild of plain ashlar blocks including the towers and reconstruction to the East and West Gates, dateable, on the basis of Procopius, to the reign of Justinian. The general significance of the fortifications at Tocra is considered in the second part: these include the Hellenistic indented trace along the south side, later reinforced by towers in the sixth century AD. Also of wider importance was the use of an outer wall orproteichisma, and the pentagonal, pointed towers at the two main gates. Both these elements were unusual in Byzantine North Africa and they are discussed as part of the more general repertory of Byzantine fortifications. The unusual tower adjacent to the West Church is considered in the context of literary accounts. The article concludes by considering how the architecture and magnitude of the fortifications can allow a reassessment of the wider role of the city in the sixth and seventh century defences of Cyrenaica.
A Greek Price Inscription from Euesperides, Cyrenaica
Authors: Gill David W. J. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe price inscription on an Attic black-glossed lekanis is discussed. The lekanis was found during the excavations of one of the houses in the Greek colony of Euesperides. Its significance is considered alongside the small number of price inscriptions known from Cyrenaica. Price inscriptions draw attention to the low value of Attic pottery in antiquity, and the Euesperides graffito is considered against some of the literary and epigraphic evidence used in recent discussions.
Excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi): an interim report on the 1998 season
Authors: Lloyd J. A. , Bennett P. , Buttrey T. V. , Buzaian A. , Amin H. El , Fell V. , Kashbar G. , Morgan G. , Nasser Y. Ben , Roberts P. C. , Wilson A. I. , Zimi E. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractA third season of excavation and finds analysis at Euesperides in March/April 1998 completed the fieldwork of the project begun in 1995.Further examination of the city defences suggests that their first phase should be dated not later than the early sixth century BC. The earliest masonry buildings within (and abutting) the city wall seem to belong to the 580s/570s BC. Other discoveries included a plain pebble pavement and a decorated ‘mixed style’ mosaic which should pre-datec. 250 BC, as well as an enchytrismos burial of the fourth century BC. The preliminary results of detailed study of the coins, pottery and lamps, and of scientific analyses of wallplaster and metal, are also presented.
Material for the Investigation of the Seismicity of Libya
Authors: Ambraseys N. N. 
Published: February 2016

A historical monument may be vulnerable to earthquakes but it will be at no risk unless there is a finite probability of such an event occurring at the site during the lifetime of the structure. We define earthquake risk as follows:Equation (1) expresses earthquake risk as a function of the seismic hazard, that is of the probability of occurrence of a damaging earthquake, or earthquakes, during the lifetime of the structure and of the vulnerability of the structure to damage or destruction by an earthquake, or earthquakes, of damaging intensity.Seismic hazard is obviously beyond human control, but an accurate knowledge of it from seismicity studies over a long period of time is possible.The vulnerability of modern buildings to earthquake forces is the subject-matter of engineering; it is determined by the physical characteristics of structures and it can be assessed, controlled and reduced by appropriate action, though sometimes at a cost which must be justified by a diminished probability of loss.The vulnerability of old buildings, non-engineered structures and of historical monuments, whose dynamic characteristics are unknown and cannot easily be discovered, is difficult and quite often impossible to assess without irrecoverable intervention in the fabric of the structure.Let us first examine the practical implications of the earthquake hazard in Libya.
La dea con il silfio e l'iconografia di Panakeia a Cirene
Authors: Presicce Claudio Parisi 
Published: February 2016

Molte città antiche utilizzarono come emblema dei primi tipi monetali prodotti vegetali o agricoli dellachorache consentivano una immediata associazione con le località di provenienza delle monete. A Cirene fin dai primi conii, datati dal Robinson intorno al 560 a.C., compare il silfio, che costituisce nei diversi modi di rappresentazione (pianta, frutto, foglia, radice) il tipo principale per tutto il periodo regio.Secondo la tradizione letteraria l'apparizione della pianta era avvenuta in occasione di una pioggia abbondante e risaliva a sette anni prima della fondazione di Cirene. L'indicazione cronologica, che coincide con la data dell'arrivo in Cirenaica degliapoikoiguidati da Batto, si riferisce evidentemente al momento della scoperta del silfio da parte dei terei.La proposta di Evans di riconoscere la raffigurazione della pianta su alcune tavolette iscritte di Cnosso di età minoica, rivalutata di recente in seguito ai rinvenimenti a Cirene di materiale dell'età del bronzo, induce a non escludere che le proprietà della pianta fossero già note in precedenza. Ma al momento una eventuale conoscenza del silfio in età precoloniale può essere attribuita solo ai cretesi e non ai terei, che per giungere in Libya si servirono di Corobios, un pescatore di murici proprio dell'isola di Creta.Del resto Teofrasto e Plinio indicano che per gliapoikoiguidati da Batto si trattò di una vera e propria scoperta. E poichèl'inventionon può essere intesa come l'apparizione improvvisa di una nuova pianta, dobbiamo supporre che essa avvenne con la mediazione delle popolazioni locali, il cui ruolo nelle fasi dello sbarco e della ricerca del sito adatto allo stanziamento coloniale risulta ampiamente documentato.
Coins and Coinage at Euesperides
Authors: Buttrey T. V. 
Published: February 2016

The coinage of Euesperides was always minor in comparison with that of Cyrene, or even of Barca. But its sporadic issues do have an interest of their own. At this session we are also concerned with the city, and I wish to suggest what we can learn from the numismatic evidence — not just from the coins struck there, but from the coins of other mints which have been found there.It is preferable to speak generally of the ‘coinage’ of Euesperides rather than of its ‘mint’, for it seems certain that some of the issues bearing the city's name were actually produced at Cyrene, as indeed were also some issues of Barca. The coinage of Euesperides was always small in comparison with the older and much richer coinage of Cyrene. It is instructive that the catalogue proper of Robinson's BMC Cyrenaica requires 90 pages to list the autonomous and Ptolemaic coins struck at Cyrene, 18 for those of Barca, just 4 for Euesperides.For Euesperides there are no archaic tetradrachms, the denomination so prominent in a variety of types at Cyrene. The earliest Euesperidean coin in BMC, a drachm of types silphium/dolphin, is assigned by Robinson to before 480 BC.