An Ivory Rod with a Cuneiform Inscription, Most Probably Ugaritic, from a Final Palatial Workshop in the Lower Citadel of Tiryns

The subject of this contribution is the fragment of an ivory rod with six cuneiform signs that was found in 2002. The rod came to light in a destruction layer dating to LH III B Final within a workshop for skilled crafting inside Building XI which is situated in the northernmost part of the Lower Citadel of Tiryns. The inscription is interpreted as the first example of an Ugaritic text found outside of the Levant. The text is written from left to right combining Akkadian logographic numerical signs and at least one letter of the regular Ugaritic alphabet. After discussing different possibilities concerning the object’s function, an interpretation as a ›tally stick‹ is proposed, i.e. a mnemonic device to document numbers, quantities or possibly a message, that was used by Levantine or Cypriote specialists for skilled crafting who were working in Building XI on behalf of the palace. The find assemblage in Building XI serves as a reminder that it would be highly misleading to regard oriental objects like the ivory rod with cuneiform signs or wall brackets appearing in a Mycenaean harbor town such as Tiryns as mere ›exotica‹. Instead, contextual analysis demonstrates that the users were well aware of the special significance attached to such objects in the east and employed them in accordance with practices of Near Eastern or Cypriote origin, thus signaling their cultural affiliations

Eastern Mediterranean Mobility in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages: Inferences from Ancient DNA of Pigs and Cattle

The Late Bronze of the Eastern Mediterranean (1550-1150 BCE) was a period of strong commercial relations and great prosperity, which ended in collapse and migration of groups to the Levant. Here we aim at studying the translocation of cattle and pigs during this period. We sequenced the first ancient mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA of cattle from Greece and Israel and compared the results with morphometric analysis of the metacarpal in cattle. We also increased previous ancient pig DNA datasets from Israel and extracted the first mitochondrial DNA for samples from Greece. We found that pigs underwent a complex translocation history, with links between Anatolia with southeastern Europe in the Bronze Age, and movement from southeastern Europe to the Levant in the Iron I (ca. 1150-950 BCE). Our genetic data did not indicate movement of cattle between the Aegean region and the southern Levant. We detected the earliest evidence for crossbreeding between taurine and zebu cattle in the Iron IIA (ca. 900 BCE). In light of archaeological and historical evidence on Egyptian imperial domination in the region in the Late Bronze Age, we suggest that Egypt attempted to expand dry farming in the region in a period of severe droughts

The BICS Mycenaean Seminar 2016-17

This annual publication contains summaries of the Mycenaean Seminar convened by the Institute of Classical Studies. The seminar series has been running since the 1950s, when it focused largely on the exciting new research enabled by the decipherment of Linear B. The series has now evolved to cover Aegean Prehistory in general, and is well known among subject specialists throughout the world. Taken together, the summaries provide a rich resource for Aegean Prehistory, and often provide the only citable instance of new research projects, until their fuller publication becomes possible. The summaries of the seminars have been published as part of BICS since 1963. Starting with the 2015–16 series, the Mycenaean summaries will be published separately online, retaining their original character and their close connection with BICS, and becoming far more widely available as Open Access publications via the Humanities Digital Library

The Nuclear Dynamics of M32. I. Data and Stellar Kinematics

We have obtained optical long-slit spectroscopy of the nucleus of M32 using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The stellar rotation velocity and velocity dispersion, as well as the full line-of-sight velocity distribution (LOSVD), were determined as a function of position along the slit using two independent spectral deconvolution algorithms. We see three clear kinematical signatures of the nuclear black hole: a sudden upturn, at ~0.3 arc seconds from the center, in the stellar velocity dispersions; a flat or rising rotation curve into the center; and strong, non-Gaussian wings on the central LOSVD. The central velocity dispersion is ~130 km/s (Gaussian fit) or ~175 km/s (corrected for the wings). Both the velocity dispersion spike and the shape of the central LOSVD are consistent with the presence of a supermassive compact object in M32 with a mass in the range 2-5 x 10^6 solar masses. These data are a significant improvement on previous stellar kinematical data, making M32 the first galaxy for which the imprint of the black hole's gravitation on the stellar velocities has been observed with a resolution comparable to that of gas-dynamical studies.Comment: 55 pages, 17 figures. Submitted to The Astrophysical Journa

Archaeometric evidence for the earliest exploitation of lignite from the bronze age Eastern Mediterranean

This paper presents the earliest evidence for the exploitation of lignite (brown coal) in Europe and sheds new light on the use of combustion fuel sources in the 2nd millennium BCE Eastern Mediterranean. We applied Thermal Desorption/Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Polarizing Microscopy to the dental calculus of 67 individuals and we identified clear evidence for combustion markers embedded within this calculus. In contrast to the scant evidence for combustion markers within the calculus samples from Egypt, all other individuals show the inhalation of smoke from fires burning wood identified as Pinaceae, in addition to hardwood, such as oak and olive, and/ or dung. Importantly, individuals from the Palatial Period at the Mycenaean citadel of Tiryns and the Cretan harbour site of Chania also show the inhalation of fire-smoke from lignite, consistent with the chemical signature of sources in the northwestern Peloponnese and Western Crete respectively. This first evidence for lignite exploitation was likely connected to and at the same time enabled Late Bronze Age Aegean metal and pottery production, significantly by both male and female individuals

Paper Session II-B - Early Results from the Space Telescope Imaging Spectograph

The STIS instrument was installed into HST in February 1997 during the Servicing Mission 2. It has completed checkout and is beginning its science program, and is working well. Several scientific demonstration observations were taken, illustrating some of the range of scientific uses and modes of observation of STIS. Keywords: Hubble, spectrograph, echelle, ultraviolet, optical, spectra, MAMA, black hole, galaxies, supernov

12. Against the Currents of History: The Early 12th c. BCE Resurgence of Tiryns

1. Tiryns’ special position during the transition from the 13th to the 12th c. BCE Chronological terminologies that differentiate phases and periods form the backbone of archaeological research and help facilitate communication among scholars. However, such subdivisions also have the disadvantage of demarcating stages that are then handled by separate research communities. This leads to reification and an overemphasis on the alleged differences between subdivided stages and may thus easily i..

Report on the Excavations at the Northern Tip of the Lower Citadel of Tiryns 2000–2003

Neue Ausgrabungen haben zu der überraschenden Erkenntnis einer grundlegenden Neukonzeption des Siedlungsplanes des nördlichsten Teils der Unterburg in den letzten Jahr-zehnten der mykenischen Palastzeit geführt. Die N-Pforte und auch die Gebäude an ihrer Innenseite gehören erst einer späten Umbauphase in SH IIIB Ende an, während zur Zeit der Erbauung der ›kyklopischen‹ Mauer der neu entdeckte N-Gang zunächst als einzige direkte Verbindung zwischen der nördlichen Unterburg und dem Stadtgebiet vorgesehen war. Die baugeschichtliche Analyse des N-Ganges differenziert zwischen den verschiedenen Phasen des Gewölbebaus und verdeutlicht die Unterschiede zwischen diesem Gewölbe und den in der Unterburgmauer integrierten Kanalbauten. Ferner wird gezeigt, dass es sich bei dem Gewölbe um eine Ausfallpforte gehandelt hat, die ihre beste Entsprechung in der sog. N-Galerie der NO-Erweiterung von Mykene findet. Der durch die Aufgabe des N-Ganges markierte Planungswechsel wird als Teil einer weitreichenden Neukonzeption interpretiert, zu der auch der Damm von Kophini und die hierdurch vorgenommene Flussumleitung gerechnet werden. Der ambitionierte, ja geradezu visionäre Charakter der Planungen deutet darauf hin, dass kurz vor dem Ende der Palastzeit die Machthaber die politischen Verhältnisse als stabil empfunden haben dürften. Gegen die Annahme, es habe am Vorabend der Katastrophe eine Krise im Fernhandel gegeben, spricht der erstaunlich hohe Anteil von Objekten mit Bezug zu Zypern und der Levante im Zerstörungsschutt von SH IIIB Ende, darunter auch das Fragment eines beinernen Stabes mit Keilschriftzeichen und eines Fayencerhytons wahrscheinlich in der Form eines Affenkopfes. Eine Gruppe beigabenloser Bestattungen wird als Teil eines Bestattungsplatzes der frühen Nachpalastzeit (SH IIIC) im Norden der Unterburg angesehen, der mit der Katastrophe am Ende von SH IIIB in Verbindung gebracht wird. Entweder handelt es sich um beigesetzte Opfer oder das Ereignis hat die bis dahin verbindlichen Regeln der Raumnutzung und die religiösen Überzeugungen der Menschen derart erschüttert, dass man vorübergehend Tote auf eine Weise bestattete, die mit älteren Traditionen brach. Die verspätete Wiederbebauung der nördlichen Unterburg in SH IIIC wird auf das Wissen um die Existenz dieses Bestattungsplatzes zurückgeführt.New excavations have led to the unexpected result of a fundamental restructuring of the settlement plan of the northernmost part of the Lower Citadel during the last decades of the Mycenaean palatial period. The North Gate and the buildings on its inner side belong to a late phase of rebuilding in LH IIIB Final, while originally, at the time of the construction of the Cyclopean wall, the newly discovered North Passage was intended to be the only direct connection between the northern Lower Citadel and the Lower Town. The architectural analysis disentangles several stages in the construction of the vault of the North Passage and highlights the difference between this vaulted structure and drainage channels found in other parts of the Cyclopean fortification of the Lower Citadel. In addition, it is demonstrated that the North Passage served as a Sally Port which finds its closest parallel in the so-called North Gallery of the North-eastern Extension of Mycenae. The change of planning is interpreted as part of a far-reaching master plan, to which also the dam at Kophini and the re-direction of the stream are believed to belong. The ambitious, even visionary, character of the new plan suggests that shortly before the end of the palatial period the ruling elite regarded the political circumstances as stable. Moreover, the high amount of objects with links to Cyprus or the Levant in the debris of the destruction at the end of LH IIIB Final, among them the fragment of a bone or ivory rod with cuneiform signs and fragments of a faience rhyton probably in the shape of a monkey’s head, counters the assumption of a crisis in the long-distance trade on the eve of the catastrophe. A group of burials without grave furnishings is regarded as part of a burial place of the early post-palatial period (LH IIIC) in the northern Lower Citadel, which in some way was connected to the catastrophe. Either we are dealing here with burials of victims of this catastrophe, or the event had such shattering repercussions on the established rules on the use of space as well as on people’s religious convictions that temporarily the deceased were buried in a way not conforming to earlier traditions. The belated rebuilding of the northern Lower Citadel during LH IIIC is attributed to an awareness of the existence of this burial place

Against the Currents of History. The Northern Lower Town of Tiryns: An Aborted Urbanization Project of the Mycenaean Post-Palatial Period

Das 12. Jh. v. Chr. war ein Abschnitt, während dem sich Tiryns gegenläufig zu allen anderen vormaligen mykenischen Palastzentren entwickelte, indem es expandierte, als diese schrumpften oder sogar verlassen wurden. Es gibt, abgesehen von der Oberburg, keinen anderen Siedlungsteil, in dem sich diese außergewöhnliche Dynamik derart klar manifestiert wie in der nördlichen Unterstadt. Ergebnisse eines neuen Forschungsprojekts in der nordwestlichen Unterstadt zeigen, dass dort ab dem frühesten Abschnitt von SH IIIC ein neuer Siedlungsteil entstand, dessen Gründung einen endpalastzeitlichen ›Masterplan‹ zu Ende geführt haben dürfte. Die unmittelbar nach der Zerstörung des Palastes eingeleitete systematische Erschließung der nördlichen Unterstadt scheint schon nach rund zwei Generationen ins Stocken geraten zu sein, was dazu führte, dass ein Prozess der Urbanisierung, der durchaus mit zyprischen Stadtplanungen des 12. Jhs. v. Chr. vergleichbar ist, beendet wurde. Der Zeitabschnitt, in dem Tiryns sich ›gegen den Strom der Geschichte‹ entwickelt hat, scheint damit bereits lange vor dem Ende der mykenischen Nachpalastzeit seinen Zenit überschritten zu haben.The 12th cent. B.C. was a period during which Tiryns developed differently than all other former Mycenaean palatial centers since it expanded, while the latter were shrinking or were even abandoned. Aside from the Upper Citadel, this unusual dynamic is most clearly reflected in the Northern Lower Town. Results of a new research project focusing on the Northwestern Lower Town indicate that, starting with the earliest part of LH IIIC, a new quarter was created whose foundation is likely to have brought a final palatial master plan to a conclusion. It seems that just two generations after the destruction of the palace the systematic development of the Northern Lower Town stalled and eventually was abandoned. In this way, a process of urbanization that bears a certain resemblance to town planning in 12th cent. B.C. Cyprus came to an end. Thus, the period in which Tiryns developed ›against the currents of history‹ seems to have passed its zenith long before the end of the post-palatial period