Jak malá byla Marobuda říše? Prameny k rozsahu Marobudem ovládaného území a jejich interpretace / Wie klein war das Marbod-Reich? Die Quellen zur Ausdehnung des von Marbod beherrschten Gebiets und ihre Interpretation

How Small Was the Maroboduus Empire? Sources on the Extent of the Territory Ruled by Maroboduus and Their Interpretation. The article discusses the scope of the “Maroboduus Empire”, which is traditionally described as a vast power structure in central Europe at the beginning of the first millennium. However, the demarcation of its size and borders is based on just a few ambiguous mentions in antique written sources. The article points out that existing ideas on the Maroboduus domain are inconsistent with archaeological knowledge. The author critically evaluates written and archaeological sources and existing attempts to demarcate the empire, reaching the conclusion that its territory can most probably be connected with the lowlands in the northern part of the Bohemia. This area represented the permanent core of the Maroboduus Empire, to which additional Germanic tribes from outside the Bohemian Basin could have joined, although these were likely temporary and impermanent alliances. The Maroboduus Empire apparently never represented a stable (pre)state entity with permanent and respected borders.

Among the Tentative Haunters

Nautical archaeologists act as architects of ruins as they rebuild ships from wrecks. Architectural salvation from demonic depths appeals to two aspects of the Early Modern legacy: God as Divine Architect and the restoration of Edenic utopia from dystopia. This chapter considers the uncanny encounters between scholar and shipwreck that must precede archaeological resurrection. Ships are reengineered with information negotiated from the wreckage underwater, yet submersion dulls or nullifies each of the five senses classically used in scientific enquiry. The concept of dystopian phenomenology explains how archaeological knowledge of shipwrecks is acquired underwater. Recollections of ‘visitations’ to a wrecked sixteenth-century galleon in Ribadeo, Spain inform a phantasmal sensory approach to help unveil the elusive ontology of shipwrecks.

The Colors of the Circus Mosaic from Barcino (Roman Barcelona): Characterization, Provenance, and Technology Issues

Archaeometric studies on mosaics often concentrate only on glass tesserae, while comprehensive studies including both stone and glass tesserae are scarce; however, both types of tesserae can sometimes bring relevant data to elaborate archaeological knowledge on a studied mosaic. In this paper, a representative set of tesserae from a large polychrome Roman mosaic retrieved in Barcelona (NE Spain) is investigated using various methods. Most of the techniques were directly applied on samples prepared as petrographic thin sections (including polarized-light, cathodoluminescence and electron microscopies, and synchrotron through-the-substrate μX-ray diffraction). The results indicate that, from the ten sampled stone tesserae, there are (i) seven limestones, one of them identified as Alveolina limestone (early Eocene) from the southern Pyrenees (ii) two sandstones from Barcelona’s Montjuïc hill (Miocene) and, (iii) a Carrara white marble from the Apuan Alps (Italy). The profuse presence of tesserae of both local and imported materials with well-known uses in architecture, epigraphy, and sculpture could imply that tesserae were a by-product of their main use. Two different production technologies were identified for the three sampled glass tesserae. The concurrent use of antimony- and tin-based opacifiers is in agreement with the accepted archaeological chronology of the mosaic (4th century AD).

The Use of Serious Games as an Educational and Dissemination Tool for Archaeological Heritage Potential and Challenges for the Future

In the last decades, digital technologies have pervaded every aspect of the production of archaeological knowledge and they have been massively used to communicate the past. This contribution analyses the potential and benefits of serious games as they appear a promising tool for engaging the users in active learning of cultural contents, for attracting new audiences and promoting knowledge and awareness around archaeological heritage. Moreover, the need for multidisciplinary collaborations between archaeologists and developers and the necessity of assessment studies on learning levels to implement their effectiveness will be highlighted.

Beyond Plague Pits: Using Genetics to Identify Responses to Plague in Medieval Cambridgeshire

Ancient DNA from Yersinia pestis has been identified in skeletons at four urban burial grounds in Cambridge, England, and at a nearby rural cemetery. Dating to between ad 1349 and 1561, these represent individuals who died of plague during the second pandemic. Most come from normative individual burials, rather than mass graves. This pattern represents a major advance in archaeological knowledge, shifting focus away from a few exceptional discoveries of mass burials to what was normal practice in most medieval contexts. Detailed consideration of context allows the authors to identify a range of burial responses to the second pandemic within a single town and its hinterland. This permits the creation of a richer and more varied narrative than has previously been possible.

Going from Analogue to Digital: A Study of Documentation Methods during an Excavation of the Neolithic Flint Mines at Pilbladet, Sweden

The ‘digital turn’ in archaeology has resulted in documentation, analysis, visualization and repository requirements becoming increasingly digital in recent years. However, we are only at the beginning of understanding how the shift from analogue to digital affects archaeological interpretation, as attention has mainly been directed towards technological aspects. However, how archaeology is executed influences the production of archaeological knowledge, and additional research into digital practices and their consequences is needed. During the latest excavation in 2014 of the Neolithic flint mines of Södra Sallerup, in Malmö in southern Sweden, several recording methods were used to document the remains in plan, including hand drawing, digital mapping with GPS and digital photography using a camera mounted on a pole. The records were used to create both a digital plan as well as georeferenced orthophotos from a 3D model and from photomosaic. The aim was to produce a record comparable to previous documentation from decades of archaeological excavations of the flint mines in the area, as well as one that is up-to-date with today’s digital standards. The methods are described and their consequences for the archaeological results are discussed.

The Iron Age Dogs from Alaybeyi Höyük, Eastern Anatolia

To date, little is known about the biological and cultural status of Iron Age dogs in Anatolia. Here, we present a zooarchaeological study of an assemblage of 143 Iron Age dog bones, including two dog skeletons, unearthed from the 2016 and 2017 salvage excavations at Alaybeyi Höyük, Eastern Anatolia. At least eight adults and one juvenile individual, along with a large number of miscellaneous specimens, were identified. The morphological status of the Alaybeyi dogs were primarily compared to previously published Iron Age dogs from Yoncatepe in Eastern Anatolia, and with the average mean of 18 modern dog breeds. Unlike in other Eastern Anatolian Iron Age sites, butcher marks were observed in some specimens, indicating at least occasional cynophagy at the site. Noticeable pathologies were found in about 5% of the sample, particularly pathologies of the oral cavity and dentitions, suggesting that some of the dogs at Alaybeyi Höyük might have been undernourished, had to live on solid food, and probably injured by humans. The results of this study reflect both the morphological and biological status of Alaybeyi dogs, as well as the Alaybeyi people’s attitudes toward dogs, adding vital information to the very limited archaeological knowledge of dogs in Anatolia.