The Vlochos Archaeological Project: Report on the 2016– 2018 seasons of Greek-Swedish archaeological work at Vlochos, Thessaly

The Vlochos Archaeological Project (2016–2018) was a Greek-Swedish archaeological investigation of the remains of the ancient urban site at Vlochos in western Thessaly, Greece. Employing a wide array of noninvasive methods, the project succeeded in completely mapping the visible remains, which had previously not been systematically investigated. The extensive remains of multi-period urban fortifications, a ClassicalHellenistic city, a Roman town, and a Late Antique fortress were identified, evidence of the long history of habitation on this site. Since comparatively little fieldwork has been conducted in the region, the results significantly increase our knowledge of the history and archaeology of Thessaly

The deformation of the Egersund-Ogna anorthosite massif, south Norway: finite-element modelling of diapirism

This paper aims at testing the mechanical relevance of the petrological model of anorthosite massif diapiric emplacement. The Egersund-Ogna massif (S. Norway) is of particular interest because recent petrological and geochronological data constrain the initial geometry, emplacement conditions and timing (about 2 m.y.). The formation of this anorthosite massif is in agreement with the classical petrological model, in which accumulation of plagioclase takes place in a deep-seated magma chamber at the crust-mantle limit, from which masses of plagioclase separate and rise through the lower crust up to the final level of emplacement at mid-crustal depths. The Egersund-Ogna massif also displays a foliated inner margin, in which strain ellipsoids have been reconstructed by investigating at 51 sites the deformation of megacrysts of high-alumina orthopyroxene. Based on these petrological data, a model made up of one rigid layer (upper granitic crust) and three viscous layers (lower part of the granitic crust, noritic lower crust and anorthosite) has been built up. The upper crust behaviour is represented by an elastoplastic law and the viscous layers obey elastic-viscoplastic laws with Newtonian viscosity. An inverse density gradient is considered between the lower crust (d = 3.00) and the anorthosite (d = 2.75), the loading consisting only in gravity. The modelling is carried out under axisymmetrical conditions, using the LAGAMINE finite-element code coupled with an automatic re-meshing algorithm designed to deal with large strains in complex structures. The results show that, from a mechanical point of view, the diapirism model is a robust and consistent assumption for the emplacement of anorthosites, because realistic diapir and rim-syncline shapes are obtained. Moreover, the numerically obtained emplacement time (about 2.5 m.y.) is in agreement with the available geochronological data, and the computed strain field is coherent with field measurements, especially regarding the circumferential extension, which becomes the largest extension strain component in the expansion phase. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Roman and Early Byzantine evidence from the area of Palamas

This paper presents preliminary results of the Palamas Archaeological Project relating to the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods in the study area in western Thessaly, Greece. These periods are comparatively understudied in Thessaly, and the aim of this work is to highlight the extent of the material and the potential of investigating the archaeology of Late Antiquity in the region. The work was centred on excavations and survey at the site at Vlochos, alongside architectural survey at the neighbouring site on Kourtikiano hill. The paper also presents studies into Late Roman and Early Byzantine material found during cleaning at Vlochos. Additionally, an unpublished inscription spoliated in a church in nearby Palamas is presented. The results show a dynamic and detailed range of Late Antique activity in the area, adding significantly to our understanding of the post-Classical habitations on the western Thessalian plain

Rurality and education relations: Metro-centricity and local values inrural communities and rural schools

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in six different types of rural area and their schools in different parts of Sweden, this article identifies how rural schools relate to the local place and discusses some of the educational implications from this. Recurrent references to the local community were present in some schools and people there explicitly positioned themselves in the local rural context and valorised rurality positively in education exchanges, content and interactions, with positive effects on young people’s experiences of participation and inclusion. These factors tended to occur in sparsely populated areas. An emphasis on nature and its value as materially vital in people’s lives was present as was a critique of middle-class metrocentricity. Such values and critique seemed to be absent in other areas, where rurality was instead often represented along the metrocentric lines of a residual space in modernizing societies