Ina Berg

The meanings of standardisation: conical cups in the late Bronze Age Aegean

Standardisation is not simply an indicator of economic factors, such as mass-production or craft specialization but can have roots which may be technical, social or political. Here the fabric, forming technique and dimensions of conical cups in the Bronze Age Aegean are studied by comparing products from the islands of Kea and Melos. While the fabric and forming technique on both islands are standardised and emulate Cretan models, the degree of standardisation of the pottery shapes varies between the two sites. This is explained by their having different social contexts of production.

X-Radiography of Knossian Bronze Age Vessels: Assessing our Knowledge of Primary Forming Techniques

This article investigates the potential of X-radiography for identifying primary forming techniques of Cretan Bronze Age vessels. X-radiography of 95 EM III through to LM II vessels from Knossos has now demonstrated its suitability for fine, semicoarse and coarse Cretan fabrics. In several cases, it has been possible to rectify erroneous attributions based on visual inspection alone and to provide more specific details of the diversity and development of past forming techniques. Στο άρθρο αυτό εξετάζονται οι δυνατότητες της ραδιογραφίας ακτίνων-Χ στην αναγνώριση βασικών τεχνικών κατασκευής των κρητικών αγγείων της Εποχής του Χαλκού. Η ακτινογράφηση ενενήντα πέντε IIM III έως και YM II αγγείων από την Κνωσό, χρονολογούμενων από την IIM III έως την YM II, απέδειξε την καταλληλότητά της τεχνικής αυτής για την εξέταση της κρητικής λεπτής, ημιχονδροειδούς και χονδροειδούς κεραμικής. Σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις, κατέστη δυνατόν να διορθωθούν εσφαλμένα συμπεράσματα, που είχαν βασιστεί αποκλειστικά σε οπτική παρατήρηση, και να διευκρινιστούν καλύτερα συγκρεκριμενες περισσότερο οι ακριβείς λεπτομέρειες ως προς την ποικιλία και την εξέλιξη των παλαιών τεχνικών κατασκευής.

The attraction of islands: travellers and tourists in the Cyclades (Greece) in the twentieth and twenty-first Centuries.

Islands have long acted as projection surfaces of ever-changing desires. Tourism organisations have drawn most vigorously upon the paradise metaphor in an attempt to position modern island holidays at the forefront of our minds – regardless of an islands location. Tracing the most recent history of our island-longing and illuminating the use of the island metaphor by tourist organisations is the aim of this article. A short account of the history of tourism in Greece (especially the Cycladic Islands) provides the backdrop to an in-depth picture and text analysis of nine official English and German tourist guides to the Cyclades, as well as the English-speaking version of the official Cyclades website. Images and text are coded according to pre-determined themes and contrasted with each other. Investigating islands from the perspective of tourists and tourist organisations, it becomes apparent that the official brochures draw on established island tropes and stereotypical island imagery as a means to attract travellers, and thus follow a long-established pattern of what Western culture considers unique for island locations. Dissonances, however, are emerging as our longing for island locations is contradicted by our need for ease and speed of access, thus negating the sought-after quintessential ‘islandness’.

The Pots of Phylakopi: Applying Statistical Techniques to Archaeology

The web or sheet feeding apparatus of a reprographic machine consists of first and second sets of endless bands respectively trained over co-operating pairs of driven and driving rollers. These rollers are arranged so that adjacent reaches of the bands of the two sets extend parallel to each other to define a passageway along which web or sheets are fed by the moving bands. One or more micro-switches controlling the operation of the apparatus are mounted between adjacent passage-defining reaches of bands of the first set and have actuating arms which extend into the passageway for actuation by the web or sheets. To accommodate these actuating arms, the passage-defining reaches of the bands of the second set adjacent the micro-switches are passed below spindles so as to deflect these reaches away from the micro-switches. The passage-defining reaches of the other bands of the second set pass between the spindles and the adjacent reaches of the bands of the first set and so are not deflected.