Myth and Symbol I: Symbolic phenomena in ancient Greek culture

Papers from the first international symposium on symbolism at the University ofTromsø, June 4-7,199

Nothing Lasts Forever: Environmental Discourses on the Collapse of Past Societies

The study of the collapse of past societies raises many questions for the theory and practice of archaeology. Interest in collapse extends as well into the natural sciences and environmental and sustainability policy. Despite a range of approaches to collapse, the predominant paradigm is environmental collapse, which I argue obscures recognition of the dynamic role of social processes that lie at the heart of human communities. These environmental discourses, together with confusion over terminology and the concepts of collapse, have created widespread aporia about collapse and resulted in the creation of mixed messages about complex historical and social processes

Riser induced damping

164 σ.Στόχος της παρούσας εργασίας, είναι η εκτίμηση του μεγέθους της διαχεόμενης ενέργειας και μέσω αυτής των συντελεστών απόσβεσης C για χρονικό διάστημα μιας περιόδου, σαν αποτέλεσμα της κίνησης λεπτόγραμμης κατασκευής τύπου riser (λεπτομήκης κατακόρυφος σωλήνας) μέσα στο νερό, κάτω από την επιβολή διαφόρων διεγέρσεων, πλατών και συχνοτήτων διέγερσης στην κορυφή του (άνω άκρο). Τα μεγέθη των προαναφερθέντων συντελεστών εξετάστηκαν για τη διεύθυνση x, τόσο σε πειραματικό μοντέλο όσο και σε πέντε πραγματικά, για διαφορετικά βάθη νερού. Επιπρόσθετα εκτιμήθηκαν οι μεταβολές της τάσης, ροπής, ταχυτήτων (εφαπτομενικής και κάθετης στο riser) και διατμητικής δύναμης κατά μήκος του ολικού (ανηρτημένου) μήκους των διαφόρων τύπων risers, για χρονικό διάστημα δύο περιόδων. Η επίλυση του δυναμικού, μη γραμμικού αυτού προβλήματος, πραγματοποιήθηκε στο πεδίο του χρόνου, με χρήση κωδίκων σε γλώσσα προγραμματισμού FORTRAN, βάση μιας προέκτασης της μεθόδου των πεπερασμένων διαφορών (The Keller Box Finite Differences Method), για λεπτόγραμμες κατασκευές τύπου riser μη μηδενικής καμπτικής ακαμψίας ΕΙ. Τέλος έγινε υπολογισμός των συντελεστών απόσβεσης για διάφορα πλάτη, διεγέρσεις και συχνότητες διέγερσης στην κορυφή, ενδεικτικά ενός πραγματικού μοντέλου με ΕΙ = 1 Nm², ούτως ώστε να εκτιμηθεί ο βαθμός απόκλισης των νέων τιμών αυτών από τις αρχικές (με ΕΙ = 0.1209 109 Nm²), στην περίπτωση που το riser συμπεριφέρεται σαν γραμμή αγκύρωσης για την οποία ισχύει ότι ΕΙ ≈ 0 Nm².This paper deals with the evaluation of the magnitude of dissipation energy and through it of damping coefficients C for one period, as a result of the motion of catenary shaped riser through the water, under the imposition of a variety of excitations, amplitudes and excitation frequencies at the top. The magnitude of damping coefficients C, was evaluated for direction x, for an experimental and five real models respectively, for several water depths. The changes of tension, bending moment, velocities and shear force, along the suspended length of the riser, were also evaluated for two periods. The solution of this dynamic, non linear problem, realized in the time-domain, by an extension of the Keller Box Finite Differences Method for slender structures, like risers, that have non zero bending stiffness ΕΙ. Finally, the damping coefficients for several amplitudes, excitations and excitation frequencies at the top, were calculated suggestively for one real model with ΕΙ = 1 Nm², in order to evaluate the declination of the new values in terms of the initial ones (with ΕΙ = 0.1209 109 Nm²), in the case that the riser behaves as a mooring line which has ΕΙ ≈ 0 Nm².Ιωάννης Ν. Μαρινάτο

Traces of places: sacred sites in miniature on Minoan gold rings.

Sacred sites in Minoan Crete are known from both archaeological remains and iconography. Glyptic art is the most extensive body of Aegean Bronze Age representational art and consists of carved seals in the form of engraved metal signet rings, stone seals, and the clay impressions (sealings) that these were used to produce. Gold signet rings from the Cretan Neopalatial period (1750–1490 BCE) depict various types of sacred site including mountain, rural, cave, and urban sanctuaries. How should we understand the built structures depicted in these miniature cult scenes? Do they all depict variations of walls or buildings, or are they altars? This paper differentiates the built structures depicted in cult scenes on Minoan gold rings, correlates them to archaeological remains at Minoan sacred sites, and proposes an explanation of ephemeral cult structures now only recorded in the iconographic evidence. It will be demonstrated that these miniature art forms represent Minoan sacred sites in three ways: as natural places characterised by the presence of trees and stones and the absence of architecture; as outdoor sanctuaries surrounded by ashlar stone walls; and as shrines and altars, the shapes of which evoke natural cult locations such as mountains and sacred groves through abstract form. It will be argued that representation of Minoan cult structures that evoked the natural landscape within prestigious art forms was a method whereby Neopalatial elites naturalised their authority by depicting themselves in special relationship with the animate landscape