Marshall Joseph Becker

A Roman “implant” reconsidered

A supposed “wrought iron” dental implant was recently reported from a second century CE Gallo-Roman necropolis in Chantambre (Essonne, France), but in my view the data need to be re-evaluated in the light of what is known regarding ancient and modern dentistry,. The item is described as “severely corroded”, for example, but an X-ray reveals a perfectly formed tooth with a smooth, intact surface free from the pitting expected on a small iron object interred for nearly 2,000 years under less than ideal conditions. The archaeological context and data on finds of iron in this and other tombs are not provided.

MAYA HETERARCHY AS INFERRED FROM CLASSIC-PERIOD PLAZA PLANS

Recognition of architectural patterning among groups of structures at lowland Maya sites dating from the Classic period provides insights into the ways that residences and ritual complexes were organized. Each structured group arrangement, or Plaza Plan (PP), reveals an architectural grammar that provides the database enabling us to predict urban as well as rural settlement patterns. Wide variations in sizes among examples of residential PPs suggests that heterarchy was an important aspect of Classic Maya society. Examination of PP2 at Tikal indicates that a heterarchic pattern of organization existed. Heterarchy may relate to the fragility of the structure of lowland Maya kingship, and this may explain the gradual demise of states during the Terminal Classic and Postclassic periods and their replacement by re-emergent Maya chiefdoms.

A CLASSIC-PERIOD BARRIO PRODUCING FINE POLYCHROME CERAMICS AT TIKAL, GUATEMALA: Notes on ancient Maya firing technology

Significant indirect evidence suggests that one of the Classic-period residential groups at Tikal was the residence of a family of potters who produced high-quality painted wares. Delineation of the borders of residential Group 4H-1 at Tikal led me to postulate that the bajo was a major resource zone for ceramic manufacturing rather than a spatially limiting feature. This family of upscale ceramic producers used the adjacent bajo as a source of clay and fuel for firing pottery. The configuration of other groups near Group 4H-1 suggests not only that the people occupying the several groups on this peninsula were related, but that they were all involved in the production, painting, and distribution of fine ceramics. These several residential groups, located on adjacent house lots, define a barrio within Tikal whose occupants formed an extended kin unit sharing an economic focus on the production of high-quality ceramics. A consideration of the contents of trash deposits that were used by the Maya for building fill and a study of the middens found adjacent to residential groups at Tikal provide clues to the location of a specific kiln, or firing area. Broken pottery in the structure fill tells us more than architectural history. In this example, pottery indicates how other aspects of one or more house lots were organized and used. In particular, these data suggest that a barrio-like cluster of households at Tikal, with its own ritual center (Group 5G-I), housed families of ceramic producers who had specifically located their residences in direct proximity to the bajo. The search for the firing facilities associated with the production of ceramics in Group 4H-1 is now a major research focus. “Kilns,” or firing facilities, should be among the various architectural features found “out back,” or located on the margins of a house lot. Kilns may have been of the trench type or free-standing small buildings, possibly within sheds, and are expected outside the perimeter formed by the main buildings of the residential group. The structures facing a plaza or series of plazas that are the most obvious elements of a single household tend to attract archaeological attention. Location of structures “out back,” or peripheral to the residential core buildings, could help define the configuration of household lots.

Etruscan gold dental appliances : three newly discovered examples

Dental appliances fashioned from flat gold bands are known from references in ancient Roman literature and

The Valsiarosa Gold Dental Appliance: Etruscan Origins for Dental Prostheses

THE VALSIAROSA GOLD

Cremated human skeletal remains from three Roman Glass urns from Italy in the National Museum of Denmark

Although a small number of Roman glass urns used as cinerary containers are known, no study has ever been conducted of the human bones that they contain. This pilot study presents information regarding age and gender of the individuals found in three of these urns at the Danish National Museum as well as basic data regarding the urns themselves. This information, when compared with data that may be secured from the collections of the British Museum and elsewhere, may provide evidence for cultural, temporal or regional variations in the use of glass containers as urns for the bones of the dead.

Human skeletal remains from cremation urns in the National Museum of denmark

Analysis of the skeletal contents of this random collection of cremation urns provides some very interesting general observations (see Table 1, below). The remains of as many as 19 people have been identified, although fewer actually may be present (e.g., see 875 and 876). Two of these 19 are infants, ages 1 and 3, and a third may be a child of 11 years. Where sex can be identified, ten of the “adults” appear to be females, and only 5 are identified as males.The high proportion of females may be explained by the kinds of cinerary containers here reviewed. The relatively simple urns which are represented in this selection of cinerary containers are typical of those used for women, reflecting the relatively low status of women in the ancient world. Also of note is the fact that 4 of the females were between 17 and 22.5 years of age at death, and another 2 may have been about 25 years at death. This suggests that many women were dying in childbirth. The diverse origins of these vessels prevents us from reaching any specific conclusions regarding their use, but the high proportion of young adult women suggests that they had been married, and probably that they died in childbirth before having achieved high status as the mother of grown children. Therefore, these women received relatively low status interments in inexpensive containers which probably were placed among the more elaborate sarcophagi and other containers in upper class tombs. These were the target of excavations during the 19th and early 20th century.The possibility that one or more soldiers graves are here represented should be considered. In this regard, the people in the Roman glass urns (529 and ABc 813) identified respectively as a Male?? and a Female??? should be reviewed. Comparative data from Inv. Nr. 848 as well as from other glass urns of that period may provide clues regarding patterns of burials using these containers.Together with archaeological data from these contexts and from more recent excavations, this skeletal information provides interesting insights into the demography of these ancient populations, the social position of women, and health hazards in the ancient world.

Rockshelter use during the “Late Woodland” Period in the Northeast: Increased use as an Aspect of the Pelt Trade

A recent series of papers (North American Archaeologist, 2010:255-479) relating to the archaeology of rockshelters assembled an important array of information that illustrates the importance of these locations to understanding the culture history of the greater Northeastern Woodlands region. Paul Rabers contribution specifically addressed the apparent increase in the use of these geological features during the Late Woodland period in Pennsylvania, about 900 to 1650 CE. In Ohio the “Late Woodland” period may be differently defined and assigned completely different dates. Raber suggests that rockshelters became important to aspects of foraging strategies that supplemented the horticultural systems of the village dwelling cultures in central and western Pennsylvania, particularly during the Little Ice Age. I suggest that after 1500 CE rockshelters became important in the temporary storage of peltry, the basis for a vast trading system. The European demand for peltry had rapidly changed traditional trading dynamics among Native Americans, leading to a focus on gaining European goods. The volume and perishable nature of peltry made dry storage an essential part of collecting and trade networks.

Excavations at Le Mura di Santo Stefano, Anguillara Sabazia

This report presents the results of excavations undertaken between 1977 and 1981 at the remarkable ruins known as Le Mura di Santo Stefano, situated near Anguillara Sabazia, just under 3 km south of Lake Bracciano. The earliest phase of occupation concerned a first-century ad farm. Around ad 200 a range of buildings was constructed, including a three-storey rectangular building lavishly decorated with nineteen types of marble, suggesting that the complex was a luxury retreat, possibly part of a latifundium. There is evidence for further activity in the third or early fourth century. In the ninth century, after a period of abandonment, part of the complex was converted into the church of Santo Stefano. The rectangular building was reoccupied and the remaining ruins used as a cemetery. It is argued that the site may have functioned as the centre of a medieval estate, part of a papal domusculta, or alternatively as a fundus of a monastic establishment. In the eleventh century the site was deserted after the skeletal remains of a least 90 individuals, along with the bones of three dogs, were interred in a pit and capped with several pieces of Roman marble sculpture.

Storytelling: Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Perspectives, and: Telling Stories the Kiowa Way (review)

theoretical models, she wrestles with difficult questions and grounds her study firmly in existing scholarship. Donlon discusses porch culture as a place where gender, race, and class are performed and negotiated. For women, Donlon notes, the porch is a place of work and leisure. The same front porch can be a place where one snaps beans in the morning and dresses to formally greet passersby in the afternoon. For children, it is a place to play and a space where one becomes socialized into a community. For men, it is most often a space of “socializing and relaxation” after a day of working away from home in the public sphere (p. 114). For young people, the porch is a place to be alone, yet not unchaperoned, when courting. Donlon also delves into the dichotomy between the front porch, as a public space, and the back porch, when a family had one, as the place for private gatherings and housework. Donlon’s foray into defining a particular southern space/place is commendable, but the photographs she uncovers in her own family albums, the albums of others, and historical archives are one of the best features of this book. The pictures of porches, and people performing porch culture, add a depth to this study that cannot be overestimated. Fortunately, Donlon’s study steers away from nostalgic longing for the days before air conditioning or pleas for preservation of porch culture, instead giving examples of functioning porches throughout the history of the American South and positing that the culture of the porch may also be found in other places, such as the kitchen table. Donlon does not claim to have written the final word on porch culture— indeed, she invites further scholarship on the spaces and places of southern culture. I look forward, as I hope others do, to engaging her in this new conversation. Storytelling: Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Perspectives. Ed. by Irene Maria F. Blayer and Monica Sanchez. (New York: Peter Lang, 2002. Pp. xi + 175, bibliographies, index.)