Derek B. Counts

Regum Externorum Consuetudine: The Nature and Function of Embalming in Rome

Although embalming is traditionally considered an Egyptian custom, ancient sources suggest that in imperial Rome the practice was not employed by Egyptians or Egyptianized Romans alone. The mos Romanorum in funerary ritual encompassed both cremation and inhumation, yet embalming appears in Rome as early as the first century AD and evidence points to its limited use during the first three centuries AD. Within the social structure of Rome9s dead these preserved corpses certainly occupied a distinct place. Yet who were they and why were they embalmed? It is argued here that various factors allowed for the occasional use of embalming by Romans: (1) an apparent shift in attitudes towards Egypt, (2) the manipulation of death ritual for social distinction, and (3) the flexibility of the traditional Roman funeral, which was able to incorporate deviations in methods of body disposal. Although embalming has been largely ignored as a significant aspect of Roman funerary history, its patrons come from the classes of highest status, including even the imperial household. This fact alone makes it worthwhile to examine this small corpus of evidence. For example, the emperor Nero embalmed his wife Poppaea; such a deviation from standard disposal methods reflects imperial fashion, but also requires us to re-evaluate Nero9s reign and, especially, the societal constructs of Neronian Rome. This study attempts to contextualize embalming within Roman society and offer some likely causes and effects of its use.

A fragmented past: (re)constructing antiquity through 3D artefact modelling and customised structured light scanning at Athienou- Malloura , Cyprus

Abstract Many archaeological objects are recovered as fragments, and 3D modelling offers enormous potential for the analysis and reconstruction of large assemblages. In particular, structured light scanning provides an accurate record of individual artefacts and can facilitate the identification of joins through details of breakage surfaces and overall morphology. The creation of 3D digital models has the further advantage of enabling the records to be accessed and manipulated remotely, obviating the need for prolonged access to the original materials in museums or repositories. Here, the authors detail the use of structured light scanning to produce a corpus of 3D models based on a sample from a large assemblage of terracotta and limestone sculptural fragments from the Cypro-Archaic period (c. 750–475 BC) at Athienou-Malloura, Cyprus.

New Approaches to the Elusive Iron Age Polities of Ancient Cyprus: An Introduction

Maria Iacovou: Archaeological Research Unit, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, PO Box 20537, Nicosia, 1678 Cyprus, mariai@ucy.ac.cy Last year marked the 15th anniversary of BASOR’s theme issue devoted to “The City-Kingdoms of Early Iron Age Cyprus in Their Eastern Mediterranean Context” (BASOR 308 [1997]). According to its guest editors, the late Diana Buitron-Oliver and Ellen Herscher, the issue (which had its roots in an organized session at an annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America) set out to elucidate the evidence for “daily life in the kingdom, contacts among the kingdoms in Cyprus, and foreign trade” (Buitron-Oliver and Herscher 1997: 5). The issue thus brought together excavators to provide surveys of the literary, numismatic, and archaeological data related to the history of five Iron age polities: Kition (Yon 1997), Amathous (Aupert 1997), Idalion (Hadjicosti 1997), Marion (Childs 1997), and Kourion (Buitron-Oliver 1997). A second article on ancient Marion (Smith 1997) focused specifically on the Archaic-period sanctuary at Peristeries, its phases and use, but also the relationship of cult activity to broader economic and social concerns within that polity (Fig. 1). The result was an important contribution to our knowledge of the cultural history of these individual sites, with a particular focus on questions of chronological phasing (Table 1) and foundation histories, sacred and secular building projects and burial grounds in the identified urban centers, and the wealth of material culture (ceramics, sculpture, metal finds, etc.) uncovered through recent excavations. Nevertheless, in that same issue, the published responses to the articles by Rupp (1997) and Reyes (1997) were strikingly unified in their assessment of the contributions. It is worth recalling Reyes’s (1997: 65) rather prophetic appraisal of the current (at that time) state of research in Iron Age Cyprus:

Shedding light on the Cypriot rural landscape: Investigations of the Athienou Archaeological Project in the Malloura Valley, Cyprus, 2011–2013

Abstract Since its inception in 1990, the Athienou Archaeological Project (AAP) has focused on diachronic patterns of rural land use within the Malloura Valley located along the edges of Cyprus’s fertile Mesaoria plain. Employing careful field methods of excavation and recording, members of AAP have sought to reconstruct ancient life in this understudied region by charting local responses to regional and pan-Mediterranean networks of exchange. The present contribution reports on the results of excavations (2011–2013) in the Geometric to Roman period rural sanctuary and of limited pedestrian survey (2013) in light of the project’s research goals, while highlighting AAP’s effective implementation of a mobile computing platform that streamlined field recording through an increased reliance on born-digital data. For a discussion of AAP’s mobile computing platform in the context of our fieldwork in Cyprus, please see our online supplementary article on the JFA website (http://www.maneyonline.com/doi/suppl/10.1179/0093469015Z.000000000112).