Solide case per tempi di crisi. Immagazzinamento e attività cerimoniali a Festòs nel periodo tra il primo e il secondo palazzo: le Case della Rampa e di Chalara a confronto

This paper deals with two domestic buildings located in the proximity of the palace at Phaistos, namely the House to the South of the Ramp (end of MM IIB-MM IIIA) and the LM IB House of Chalara. Both were built at a time when the palace was not in function, having been destroyed at the end of MM IIB, temporarily and partially reoccupied in MM IIIA, and eventually rebuilt as late as LM IB. The two houses can be usefully compared, as they show both storage facilities, comprising large storage jars and doorless spaces, that outnumber the needs of a purely domestic household, and boast ritual and cultic features, such as specialized vessels and/or dedicated ritual spaces (the so-called “lustral basin”). By analyzing the composition of the ceramic assemblages retrieved on the floors and nearby dumps and drawing on comparison with two ceramic deposits recently unearthed at Gournia, the author eventually argues that the House to the South of the Ramp was involved in the organization of empowering or entrepreneurial feasts, aimed at asserting the continuity between the local household and the former palace; conversely, the House of Chalara hosted patron-role feasts, that functioned within a more stable political framework, centred upon the nearby administrative site of Hagia Triada

LINEARE B KI-TA-NO E L΄INDUSTRIA TESSILE A KNOSSOS IN ETÀ MICENEA

The interpretation of the Linear B term ki-ta-no, which is uniquely attested in the tablets belonging to the set Ga(5) at Knossos, has been much debated since the decipherment of Linear B and is still contentious. In this paper, the texts registering this term are analyzed anew and their major peculiarities are highlighted. Moreover, drawing on former studies by E. Foster and on a comparative analysis of the Linear B texts from Pylos referring to linen textiles and the SA commodity, a new interpretation is put forward, according to which ki-ta-no would represent the Mycenaean adaptation of the Minoan term for flax, possibly attested on a Linear A inscription incised on a pithos from Petras Sitias. If accepted, this identification would imply that flax bundles were measured by volume in litres at both Knossos and Pylos, rather than being weighed, as was formerly believed

THE LM III FRESCOES FROM THE VILLAGGIO AT HAGHIA TRIADA: NEW OBSERVATIONS ON CONTEXT AND CHRONOLOGY

This paper deals with the LM IIIA1-A2 frescoes discovered in the Villaggio of HagiaTriada. Drawing on an analytical interpretation of Halbherr’s and Paribeni’s excavation day-books, and taking advantage of an unpublished plan drawn by Enrico Stefani in 1911, it tries to solve three main problems: 1) the exact location of the groups of frescoes belonging to the Fossa degliaffreschi, namely the «Great Procession» and «Woman and Altar» respectively. It is argued here that they were found on the floor of room A of Casa VAP, not far from the East and South walls, making it plausible that they originally belonged to the decoration of that room. A third assemblage, the «Little Procession», dated to LM II/IIIA1, might possibly be identified with a group of frescoes that Halbherr discovered under the floor of room B of Casa VAP in 1911. 2) The chronology of both the creation and destruction of these assemblages: the frescoes from the Fossa degliaffreschi were created in ripe LM IIIA2, and fell from the walls of Casa VAP after its abandonment in LM IIIB; the «Little Procession» could have been destroyed, perhaps in a fire, during early LM IIIA2. A lowering in date of the creation of the Painted Sarcophagus (late LM IIIA2) is also suggested. 3) The wider context of the frescoes of Casa VAP. The latter is the only residential building dis-covered to date at HagiaTriada, and should have belonged to the household which was in charge of the site from LM IIIA2 through LM IIIB. The frescoes belong to a main figurative cycle, which was probably intended to mark the beginning of an entirely new era in the political history of the settlement

Di là dal fiume e tra gli alberi. Considerazioni cronologiche e topografiche sull'impianto della necropoli di Kalyvia presso Festòs

The necropolis of Kalyvia was explored in 1901 to the North of the Phaistos hill. In spite of its early publication (1904), several pieces of information regarding the find-spots of the ceramic assemblages as well as the data on the structure of the various tombs remained ill-defined or unknown. Drawing on a fresh reading of Stephanos Xanthoudidis’ original fieldnotes, it is now possible to carry out a critical reappraisal of the necropolis. This will help reconstruct the single funerary assemblages and will enable to contextualize Kalyvia within the western Messara and to set it within the political framework of the LM II-IIIA2 early Knossian state. In this paper, in particular, an unpublished jug is presented, that is interpreted as anLM II heirloom discovered in the famous warrior grave inside tomb 8

Study of Inclusive J/psi Production in Two-Photon Collisions at LEP II with the DELPHI Detector

Inclusive J/psi production in photon-photon collisions has been observed at LEP II beam energies. A clear signal from the reaction gamma gamma -> J/psi+X is seen. The number of observed N(J/psi -> mu+mu-) events is 36 +/- 7 for an integrated luminosity of 617 pb^{-1}, yielding a cross-section of sigma(J/psi+X) = 45 +/- 9 (stat) +/- 17 (syst) pb. Based on a study of the event shapes of different types of gamma gamma processes in the PYTHIA program, we conclude that (74 +/- 22)% of the observed J/psi events are due to `resolved' photons, the dominant contribution of which is most probably due to the gluon content of the photon.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Accepted by Phys. Lett.

Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory. Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km$^2$ str and provides us with an unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X$_{max}$ data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100% duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, talk given at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Rio de Janeiro 201

Operations of and Future Plans for the Pierre Auger Observatory

Technical reports on operations and features of the Pierre Auger Observatory, including ongoing and planned enhancements and the status of the future northern hemisphere portion of the Observatory. Contributions to the 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference, Lodz, Poland, July 2009.Comment: Contributions to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland, July 200

Atmospheric effects on extensive air showers observed with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

Atmospheric parameters, such as pressure (P), temperature (T) and density, affect the development of extensive air showers initiated by energetic cosmic rays. We have studied the impact of atmospheric variations on extensive air showers by means of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The rate of events shows a ~10% seasonal modulation and ~2% diurnal one. We find that the observed behaviour is explained by a model including the effects associated with the variations of pressure and density. The former affects the longitudinal development of air showers while the latter influences the Moliere radius and hence the lateral distribution of the shower particles. The model is validated with full simulations of extensive air showers using atmospheric profiles measured at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{$6\times 10^{19}$eV}. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than $3.1^\circ$ from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron $12^{\rm th}$ catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is $(38^{+7}_{-6})$, compared with $21$ expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of $(69^{+11}_{-13})$. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201