PRESENCE AND RESIDENCE OF NEAR EASTERNERS IN CRETE DURING THE IRON AGE

Since Prehistory, human beings have migrated from one place to another in order to meet their needs. The Iron Age saw an increase of interactions in the Mediterranean Sea. Archaeological settlements of the island of Crete (Greece), such as Knossos, Eleutherna or the Idaean Cave, have provided Near Eastern material that suggests these contacts. The finds indicate the presence of Near Easterners in the island (figurines of Egyptian gods from Knossos show the transmission of oriental religion; North Syrian ivory furniture found at the Idaean Cave and oriental bronzes manufactured at Eleutherna imply a Near Easter craftsmen working there), but also their residence (attested by “cippi”, an oriental mortuary practice). Therefore, between the 9th and the 8th centuries BC, Crete saw some Near Eastern traders and metalworkers who arrived, settled, practised their craft and taught their techniques to local people in the island. This multi-cultural character of Crete shows an early phase of migratory movements where cultural practices are shared among different groups of people It is a phenomenon that implies processes of hybridisation, localisation and even globalisation, reminding us that cultures should never be considered in isolation

Dating agricultural terraces in the Mediterranean using luminescence : recent progress and challenges

Funding: This paper derives from the TerraSAgE project (Terraces as Sustainable Agricultural Environments) which is funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number: AH/T000104/1].Agricultural terraces provide farmers in hilly landscapes with effective ways to increase the area available for crops. They mitigate the risks of soil erosion and promote crop productivity by slowing surface water runoff and retaining moisture. As in other parts of the world, terraces have been constructed and used in the Mediterranean for millennia. The availability of terraced agriculture had important socio-economic, ecological, and environmental implications for past societies. However, the chronology of construction, use, and abandonment of terraces in different regions remains uncertain. A more robust set of chronological data will allow better assessment of whether terrace agriculture was a resilient strategy in the face of past economic or ecological instability and, in turn, inform how terraces could be used to address future agricultural and environmental challenges. In this paper, we review the application of luminescence dating to terrace sediments, the key challenges involved, and the currently published data which include over 250 luminescence ages. We also discuss the use of a multidisciplinary approach involving other geoarchaeological tools (e.g., use of GIS analyses, field-based luminescence readers, and micromorphology) to enhance the ways that past terrace systems can be understood. Terrace systems are inextricably linked to sustainable land use across the Mediterranean. Luminescence dating methods, therefore, have a crucial role to play in understanding the complexities of past and future landscape change.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A quantitative analysis of the spatial and temporal evolution patterns of the bluetongue virus outbreak in the island of Lesvos, Greece in 2014

Bluetongue virus (BTV) causes an infectious disease called bluetongue, a vector-borne viral disease of ruminants, which has major implications and causes severe economic damage due to its effect on livestock. These economic costs are mostly ascribed to the trade restrictions imposed during the epidemic period. In August 2014, an epidemic of bluetongue occurred in the island of Lesvos, Greece. The epidemic was severe and evolved over time, lasting until December 2014. The total cases of infected farms were 490, including a total number of 136,368 small ruminants. In this paper, we describe a bluetongue virus serotype 4 (BTV-4) epidemic and utilize Bayesian epidemic models to capture the spatio-temporal spread of the disease. Our study provides important insights into the drivers of BTV transmission and has implications for designing control strategies. The results showed strong spatial autocorrelations, with BTV being more likely to spread between farms located nearby. The spatial modelling results proposed a certain spatial radius (~12 km) around the onset of a similar epidemic for imposing restrictions on animal movement, which can be sufficient for the control of the disease and limit economic damage

Sustainability of underground hydro-technologies: from ancient to modern times and toward the future

An underground aqueduct is usually a canal built in the subsurface to transfer water froma starting point to a distant location. Systems of underground aqueducts have been applied byancient civilizations to manage different aspects of water supply. This research reviews undergroundaqueducts from the prehistoric period to modern times to assess the potential of achieving sustainabledevelopment of water distribution in the sectors of agriculture and urban management, and providesvaluable insights into various types of ancient underground systems and tunnels. The review illustrateshow these old structures are a testament of ancient people's ability to manage water resources usingsustainable tools such as aqueducts, where the functionality works by using, besides gravity, only"natural" engineering tools like inverted siphons. The study sheds new light on human's capabilityto collect and use water in the past. In addition, it critically analyzes numerous examples ofancient/historic/pre-industrial underground water supply systems that appear to have remainedsustainable up until recent times. The sustainability of several underground structures is examined,correlated to their sound construction and regular maintenance. Moreover, several lessons canbe learned from the analysis of ancient hydraulic works, particularly now, as many periodicallyhydrologic crises have occurred recently, overwhelmingly impacted by climate change and/orover-exploitation and degradation of available water resources

A survey of Late Bronze Age funerary archaeology over the last 25 years in the central and southern Aegean

This contribution offers a brief survey of funerary archaeology undertaken in the central and southern Aegean over the course of the last 25 years. Major construction projects and salvage and systematic excavations have brought to light some 1,700 new Late Bronze Age tombs (i.e. 27% of the extant corpus). Despite these discoveries, however, very few tombs have received a final publication and few of these projects are context driven. New data are and will continue to be desirable – but it is the quality of recording these data, our research questions and the careful application of new methodologies, during and after excavation, that will open up new interpretative avenues and debates. With the number of secure archaeological contexts dwindling fast, not least because of the constant threat of looting, developing new approaches (for example understanding site formation and episodes of use) is crucial if we are to recover as much as possible and advance our knowledge of the multivalent roles played by burials within ancient societies.Non

Sustainability of Underground Hydro-Technologies: From Ancient to Modern Times and toward the Future

An underground aqueduct is usually a canal built in the subsurface to transfer water from a starting point to a distant location. Systems of underground aqueducts have been applied by ancient civilizations to manage different aspects of water supply. This research reviews underground aqueducts from the prehistoric period to modern times to assess the potential of achieving sustainable development of water distribution in the sectors of agriculture and urban management, and provides valuable insights into various types of ancient underground systems and tunnels. The review illustrates how these old structures are a testament of ancient people’s ability to manage water resources using sustainable tools such as aqueducts, where the functionality works by using, besides gravity, only “natural” engineering tools like inverted siphons. The study sheds new light on human’s capability to collect and use water in the past. In addition, it critically analyzes numerous examples of ancient/historic/pre-industrial underground water supply systems that appear to have remained sustainable up until recent times. The sustainability of several underground structures is examined, correlated to their sound construction and regular maintenance. Moreover, several lessons can be learned from the analysis of ancient hydraulic works, particularly now, as many periodically hydrologic crises have occurred recently, overwhelmingly impacted by climate change and/or over-exploitation and degradation of available water resources

Comments to distribution of several Greek Tetramorium Mayr, 1855 species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Based on studied material three Tetramorium species are recorded from Greece for the first time: Tetramorium indocile Santschi, 1927, Tetramorium staerckei Kratochvíl, Novák & Snoflák, 1944 and Tetramorium sulcinode Santschi, 1927. Additionally, distribution records of recently revised members of the Tetramorium caespitum group are reexamined and assigned to proper taxa. Tetramorium rhodium Emery, 1922 is recorded from the East Aegean Islands for the first time

Vicious or Virtuous Cycle? The Privacy Implications of Active Assisted Living Technologies for Older People

A variety of technologies are being developed to help older people live healthier, more independent, and safer lives, for longer. While many of these technologies are positively impacting the lives of older adults, they also have the potential to dictate specific behaviours or restrict their autonomy rather than empower them. The vulnerability theory of privacy proposes that vulnerable populations are not only more likely to be susceptible to privacy violations, but are also disproportionately affected by said violations. In this position paper, we adapt the vulnerability theory of privacy to the older adult population, and identify a further potential exacerbatory cycle. The risk of a 'slippery slope' of privacy violation occurs when AAL technologies enable an elevated and quantified visibility of (mis)behaviour and irregular activity that could seem to justify the deployment of further AAL technology. We present ĝ€?FOR VERIFICATION>ratchet-wise rehabilitation' as an alternative vision to the ĝ€?FOR VERIFICATION>slippery slope' and identify research and design challenges throughout the paper