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MAARC 2023
Mediterranean Archaeology Australasian
Research Community
Online: 13-15 February, 2023
Co-hosted by:
The Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens;
Chau Chak Wing Museum
Near Eastern Archaeological Foundation
University of Sydney Discipline of Archaeology
1
MAARC 2023
Welcome
Welcome to the 2023 meeting of the Mediterranean Archaeology Australasian Research
Community (MAARC). This year’s meeting is the third annual MAARC meeting, co-hosted
by the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Near
Eastern Archaeological Foundation, and the Discipline of Archaeology at the University of
Sydney.
MAARC Annual Meeting Organising Committee for 2023
Craig Barker, Yvonne Inall, Melissa Kennedy, Joseph Lehner, Stavros Paspalas, Melanie
Pitkin, Candace Richards and Holly Winter
MAARC 2023
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About the Conference Organising Committee
Craig Barker is a Mediterranean archaeologist and museum educator and administrator. He is Director of the Paphos
Theatre Archaeological Project, excavating the World Heritage-listed site of the theatre of Nea Paphos in Cyprus, and
Head, Public Engagement at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Craig has a PhD in Classical Archaeology from the University
of Sydney and extensive eldwork experience in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Australia. He is actively engaged in public
archaeology, hosting ABC Radio’s Can You Dig It segment from 2015 to 2022 and hosts the CCWM podcast Object
Matters since 2020.
Yvonne Inall holds a BA (hons) and MPhil in Classical Archaeology from the University of Sydney was awarded a PhD
in History by the University of Hull (UK). Yvonne’s research focusses on Iron Age weapons and warfare, violence and the
construction of martial identities in the Mediterranean, Northwest Europe and Britain. She also conducts research into
memorialisation practices and was a postdoctoral fellow on the Remember Me Project at the University of Hull from 2015-
2018. Since 2018 she has been a Project Ofcer at the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens.
Melissa Kennedy (Ph.D. 2012, The University of Sydney – presenting author) is a Research Fellow at the University of
Western Australia and is the Co-Director of the AAKSA project in northwest Saudi Arabia. She has undertaken eldwork
in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Greece and Australia. Her research interests lie in the Early to Middle Holocene
archaeological landscapes of the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula.
Joseph (Seppi) Lehner is an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award Fellow who specializes in the
archaeology of Southwest Asia. He nished his PhD at the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and is a past Alexander
von Humboldt German Chancellor Fellow at the University of Tübingen and a Senior Fellow at the Research Center for
Anatolian Civilizations at Koç University in Istanbul. He conducts extensive eld work in Turkey and Oman, and has been
involved in projects elsewhere in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, and Arctic North America. His research focuses on the social,
environmental, and cultural impacts of strategic resource management, in particular mining and metallurgy.
Stavros Paspalas is the Director of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens. He has worked extensively in the
Aegean, at the polis (and more) of Torone in the Chalkidike, at the Early Iron Age settlement of Zagora on Andros, and
at the sea’s western extremity on an archaeological survey of northern Kythera. He has published extensively on archaic
and classical period ceramics, particularly on connections in pottery output between the northern and eastern Aegean.
His publications extend to ancient Macedonia, and especially the kingdom’s contacts with the Achaemenid Empire and its
legacy both before and after Alexander III.
Melanie Pitkin is Senior Curator of the Nicholson collection of antiquities at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. She has more
than 15 years of experience working in museums in Australia and the UK, and providing support to colleagues at museums
in Egypt. Melanie holds a PhD in Egyptology from Macquarie University, a Masters in Museum Studies from the University
of Sydney, and an honours degree in ancient history, also from Macquarie University. Prior to joining the Museum, Melanie
was as a Research Associate (Egyptian Antiquities) at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.
Candace Richards (presenting author) is the assistant curator of the Nicholson Collection at the Chau Chak Wing Museum
and a Mediterranean archaeologist. Her recent publications focus on provenance studies of Egyptian cultural heritage in
Australia, and on the archaeology of Nea Paphos, Cyprus.
Holly Winter is a PhD candidate at -the University of Sydney, who specialises in Near Eastern Archaeology. After
completing her undergraduate degree and Honours at Flinders University, Holly moved to Sydney to pursue her PhD,
where she is completing her thesis on palace function in the Middle and Late Bronze Age in the Southern Levant. She has
convened the University of Sydney Near Eastern Seminar Series (NESS) for the past four years. Holly is a trench supervisor
and team member of the University of Sydney Pella Excavation Project and the British Museum excavation project Khirbet
Umm al-Ghozlan in Jordan. In addition to working on several overseas projects, Holly is a senior archaeologist for Casey
and Lowe, a historical archaeological and heritage consulting company in Sydney.
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General Information and Etiquette*
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION:
Conference registration is open currently and will remain open throughout the conference; however, we
encourage all to pre-register to avoid disappointment. All attendees who register will receive an email invite
to join the Slack workplace where conference communication will take place. This workspace is where the Zoom
links for sessions can be found and where topical discussions can take place.
All registrants will receive an invitation to join the Slack workspace (please check your junk/trash email) before
the start of the conference. If you do not, please email mediterraneanarchaeology@gmail.com
ACCESSIBILITY
In addition to hosting the conference online and keeping it free to attend, we are keen to improve our
accessibility this year in a number of other areas:
•For all presentations, we will be enabling Live Transcript auto-captions via Zoom. Please see the
following instructions for how to turn on these subtitles or access the full transcript on your screen: https://
support.zoom.us/hc/enus/articles/4403492514829-Viewing-closed-captioning-live-transcription
•In instances where we have obtained speaker permission, we will be recording presentations and
related Q&A and making these available to registrants for a limited time after the conference via a
secure link
We also encourage speakers to consider incorporating the following principles into their presentations:
•Create accessible slides by adding AltText, and make sure to specify reading order. The following link
may be a good starting point: https://www.perkinselearning.org/technology/blog/how-write-alt-text-
and-image-descriptions-visually-impaired
•Use PowerPoint’s in-built accessibility checker when designing your slides: https://support.microsoft.
com/en-us/ofce/improve-accessibility-with-the- accessibility-checker-a16f6de0-2f39-4a2b-8bd8-
5ad801426c7f#PickTab=Windows
• Describe pertinent elements of images, videos, and other visuals displayed on your slides as you present.
•Include archaeological site names and ancient/foreign language words on slides (as closed captions
may struggle).
•Consider providing access to slides (and/or transcript if your speech is written out in full) upon request.
These are a few optional suggestions that will help ensure everyone gets the most out of the conference.
CONFERENCE ETIQUETTE AND ONLINE PARTICIPATION:
Most of you will be familiar with the Zoom interface. If you are not, please take the time to
acquaint yourself with it. We ask that all attendees know how to: mute/unmute their audio,
turn on/turn off their camera, raise their hand, use the chat feature, and all presenters
should know how to share their screen.
Please note that the following terms and rules regarding recordings apply to all
registrants for MAARC 2022:
•Attendees agree not to record, publish, distribute, share, resell, or in any other way, exploit the content
of this event.
•Event presentations and materials are the original works of authorship and are the individual property
of the respective presenters. Written authorization of both the respective presenter and MAARC is
required to reference or share any content associated with the MAARC 2023 conference.
Tme zone etiquette
Please note that while our conference is being hosted from Australia, numerous registrants are international,
and attendees may by communicating from different time zones. The organisers are based in Sydney.
MAARC 2023
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Australia and are on Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time (GMT+10). The Chairs are similarly based
in Australia and are in one of our 4 time zones. This time scale will require patience for responses to your
questions from us as well as your fellow attendees. We appreciate your cooperation and kindness especially
for those participants presenting early in the morning, late at night, or via pre-recorded video due to the
global nature of this event.
SPEAKER INSTRUCTIONS:
• Prepare your materials in advance
• Be mindful of background noise. When your microphone is not muted, avoid activities that could create
additional noise, such as shufing papers.
•Position your camera properly. If you choose to use a web camera, be sure it is in a stable position and
focused, at eye level, if possible. This will help to create a more direct sense of engagement with other
participants.
•Limit distractions. You can make it easier to focus on the meeting by turning off notications, closing or
minimizing other running apps, and muting your smartphone.
• Avoid multitasking.
•If you will be sharing content during the meeting, make sure you have the les open and/or links ready
to go before the meeting begins.
HEALTH AND SAFETY:
The conference organisers are responsible for each Zoom meeting to monitor participants. All participants are
registered guests, and the Zoom links are only available through the attendees’ Slack channel.
• We ask participants NOT to share publicly (including on social media) invites to the conference slack
channel or links to any of the sessions. In the event of an uninvited guest attending/sharing videos/
pictures the organisers will locate the offender and remove them from the meeting.
• Again, please DO NOT record any of the conference sessions. This is a common courtesy, but
unauthorised recording may be a criminal offense in some jurisdictions (including Australia, where the
conference is being hosted).
•Organisers can and will mute any person not permitted to speak by the chair.
• Organisers maintain the right to mute any participant if deemed necessary under above guidelines.
• Organisers and session chairs maintain the right to remove anyone behaving inappropriately from the
meeting, and maintain the right to delete inappropriate comments in the slack channels and session
chats.
SLACK INTERFACE:
The conference has its own Slack workspace. All zoom links will be posted in Slack. Please note that you
will not receive the zoom links by email; you must join the Slack workspace. Slack functions as the ofcial
announcement centre and venue for coffee break chats. If you are not familiar with the Slack interface,
please see the link below to view a short introductory video on how to use the program:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YUTc4Cigc8
There will be a Slack channel set up for each zoom stream, but we also invite you to create your own
channels (e.g. for specic conversation topics) or utilise the chat feature to have one-on-one discussions with
other attendees.
The most important channel in Slack workspace is the announcements channel, where all our ofcial
communication will be posted. Please ensure you have announcement notications turned on and do not miss
out on important updates.
In addition, there will be a separate channel for each daily stream. You will nd the zoom link for the
relevant session pinned to the top of its corresponding Slack channel. For example, if you would like
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to see the session ‘Museums and collections in Australasia’, the zoom link will be pinned to the top of the
channel ‘monday-stream 2’. See the program on pages 7 to 12 of this document for session themes, times and
streams.
We encourage you to post relevant links and handouts in these stream channels and use them to continue the
conversation. You can use Slack workspace through internet browser, a desktop app or on your smartphone.
For chairs and speakers of the conference, we encourage you to use the direct message features of Slack
to ask your panel any direct questions or raise issues. This could be asking someone how to pronounce their
name before their paper and introduction. You can direct message an individual or a small group of people
depending on your needs.
Help
If you need immediate help with an issue throughout the conference. Please email us with HELP in the subject
line, and DM the organisers in Slack. One of us will attempt to get in touch with you as soon as we can.
PAPER SESSIONS:
Session chairs are responsible for the running of their sessions, including brief introductions and moderating
discussion time. Session chairs will alert presenters who are approaching the end of their allocated time.
Speakers are asked to be mindful of their peers. When a speaker runs over time, they are taking time away
from others. Please do not deprive others of their opportunity to be heard. We have done our utmost to
avoid clashes between related topics of parallel sessions.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME:
The programme aims to be as informative as possible. We apologise in advance in case there are any
inaccuracies, or anything has been overlooked. Please check the Announcements channel in the Slack
where any changes and notices will be posted.
MAARC 2023
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Keynote Speaker
Professor John K. Papadopoulos (Professor of Classics UCLA, Director of
Excavations at the Athenian Agora and Sydney University alumnus)
About our Keynote Speaker: Professor Papadopoulos has
excavated widely in Australia, both on Aboriginal and historic
sites, and in Greece, Italy and Albania. He has been a member
of the excavation team at Torone in northern Greece since
1979 and eld director of the excavations, as well as the
geophysical and underwater surveys, from 1986 to 1995.
He was co-director of the UCLA-Institute of Archaeology at
Tirana excavations at the pre- and protohistoric burial tumulus
of Lofkënd in Albania, and is currently working, with Greek
and American colleagues, at the site of Methone in Pieria,
north Greece. He is also currently working on a two-volume
publication of the Early Iron Age material from the Athenian
Agora, the rst of which will appear as Agora XXXVI.
Abstract: Ancient Methone (Pieria) was a major port and industrial center in northern Greece from the rst millennium B.C.
until Philip II of Macedon destroyed the city in 354 B.C., and in the process lost his right eye. Excavations at the site since
2003 have unearthed Bronze Age burials, important Early Iron Age deposits and inscriptions and direct evidence of the
Macedonian siege, destruction, and aftermath, thereby extending the history of the settlement from the Late Neolithic
period past the fourth century B.C. In 2012 an international team from UCLA joined the Ephorate of Antiquities of Pieria
to study and publish these discoveries, and as the Ancient Methone Archaeological Project, launched a fresh phase of
multidisciplinary eldwork from 2014 to 2017, the results of which are presented here.
Professor John K. Papadopoulos at the Athenian Agora
Aerial view of Methone archaeological site
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Conference Program
Monday 13 February
Time
(AEDT)
Session Speaker Paper title Session Speaker Paper title
8.30 BYO Coffee: zoom rooms open - hosts on slack ready to answer questions
8.45 ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF COUNTRY - WELCOME TO MAARC 2023
9.00 Stream 1, Session 1
Everything changed
when Mediterranean
systems collapsed!
Causation, effect, and
responses to the Late
Bronze Age collapse.
Chair: Emily Simons
Laura Pisanu Mors tua vita mea. Perspective
on the Late Bronze Age from the
Sardinian shores.
Stream 2, Session 1
The History of
Mediterranean
Archaeological
Research in the
Antipodes
Chair: Andrew
Wilson
James Donaldson Chaplain William Maitland Woods and “Archaeology”
during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915-18)
9.30 Madeline Bowers Continuity and Change in the
Aftermath of the LBA Collapse
through the Aegean Textile Culture
Craig Barker AD Trendall, JR Stewart and the founding of the
Department of Archaeology at the University of Sydney
10.00 Susan Lupak Did Everything Change in the
Mediterranean Collapse?: Signs of
Religious Continuity from the Bronze
Age through the Early Iron Age
Robert Merrillees Ethel Hunter and Kouklia : A Forgotten Episode of
Australian Archaeological Activity in Cyprus.
10.30 AM break
11.00 Stream 1, Session 2
Everything changed
when Mediterranean
systems collapsed!
Causation, effect, and
responses to the Late
Bronze Age collapse.
Chair: Samantha
Mills
Louise Hitchcock,
Aren Maeir,
Laura Pisanu
Roll up for the Mystery Tour:
Islands of the Transition and their
Contribution to ‘Western’ Civilization
Stream 2, Session 2
Museums and
collections in
Australasia
Chair: Alina
Kozlovski
Stan Florek, David
Chan, Ourania Mihas,
Peter Dadswell
Search for Provenance: Egyptian antiquities at the
Australian Museum
11.30 Zachary Thomas The case for socio-political continuity
from the Late Bronze to early Iron
Age in the southern Levant
James Donaldson, Brit
Asmussen
Lt Col. George Bourne and The Curious Case of the
Alabaster Pyramidion
12.00 Eric H. Cline Resilience, Transformation, and
Catastrophe: Looking at the
Aftermath of the LBA Collapse
through the Lens of the Adaptive
Cycle, Resilience Theory, and
Extreme Events
Candace Richards,
Chris Jones, Emilia
Stubbs Grigoriou
Engaging researchers and managing archaeological data
in museum collections: new methodologies
12.30 Lunch break
13.00
13.30 Stream 1, Session 3
Changing the narrative
Chair: Joseph Lehner
Vinko Kerr-Harris A Dark Embrace: Darkness, Ritual
Space, and the Senses.
Stream 2, Session 3
Museums and
collections in
Australasia
Chair: James
Donaldson
Georgia Pike-Rowney Establishing a new hands-on outreach program at the ANU
Classics Museum
14.00 Conor Truow "Non-secular Approaches to
Archaeology in the Levant: A
Critical Response."
Charlotte Mann Wondrous Machines: Hero of Alexandria’s Ancient
Automata
14.30 R. Eser
Kortanoğlu
Narrative Production Processes in
Ancient Greek Cultural Chronology
Alina Kozlovski Controversial copies: ancient ivory objects and modern
plaster casts
15.00 PM break
MAARC 2023
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Monday 13 February
Time
(AEDT)
Session Speaker Paper title Session Speaker Paper title
15.30 Stream 1, Session 4
Re-examining ceramic
objects and their uses
Chair: Craig Barker
Stream 2, Session 4
Museums and
collections in
Australasia- Lightning
talks
Chair: Alina
Kozlovski and
James Donaldson
15.30-15.40: Moira
White
Unoriginal but not fraudulent
16.00 Leah Wild Figurines? In Archaic Corinthian
pottery, and their implications
for understanding the temple of
Demeter and Kore in Corinth.
15.40-15.50: Neil
Apted
Copy of a fake from the Louvre in the John Elliott Classics
Museum
16.30 Stavros Paspalas The “Necklace” Vessels of Old
Smyrna: A New View on East Greek
Ceramics.
15.50-16.00: Joylene
Kremler
A Pataikos gure in the Antiquities Collection of the
National Gallery of Victoria
16.00-16.10: Camilla
Norman
A painted plaster kore, Chau Chak Wing Museum
16.10-17.00: Round
table discussion
17.00 End of day
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Tuesday 14 February
Time
(AEDT)
Session Speaker Paper title Session Speaker Paper title
9.00 Stream 1, Session 5
Spatial studies
Chair: Candace
Richards
Sarah
Chandlee
Constructing the house in Late Period and
Ptolemaic Egypt
Stream 2, Session 5
Epigraphy in Mediterranean
Archaeology: Texts and
Contexts
Chair: Ray Laurence
Francesca D’Andrea What can a cippus tell us? Dening the private
properties: some examples from the Esquiline Hill
in Rome.
9.30 Robyn Cooper Roman domestic religion across the Iberian
Peninsula
Jessica McKenzie Carving outside the lines: Negotiating epigraphic
texts, contexts, and constructions of identity
between Sicily and Italy in the Roman period.
10.00 Tamara Lewit It takes a village... Social capital in rural
communities of the late antique Levant
David Serrano
Ordozgoiti
The Global Impact: The Image of Emperor
Gallienus’ Power (253-268) through the Latin
Epigraphy of the Entire Roman Empire.
10.30 AM break
11.00 Stream 1, Session 6
Violence in the
Mediterranean World
Chair: Jenny Webb
Matthew Crum Understanding the Churches of Kythera as a
Response to Insecurity
Stream 2, Session 6
Metalwork and meaning
Chair: Melissa Kennedy
Zozan Tarhan "Near Eastern Motifs on Cretan Metalwork
New Observations"
11.30 Frederico
Agosto
The violence inherent in the system! The idea
of violence in the scope of western European
megalithism: concepts, discourses and
materialities
Ronak Hossini "A re-evaluation of the meaning, context and
cultural inuences of the Etruscan bronze
lamp of Cortona"
12.00 Alex Michael
Elliott,
Rui Mataloto
Viriathus, Sertorius, or Somewhere In
between? Castelo de Cuncos and Warfare
in Southwestern Iberia during the Later
Republican Period
Elizabeth Thomas,
Floriana Salvemini
Revealing the Secrets of Egyptian Mirrors through
Neutron Techniques
12.30 Lunch break
13.00
13.30 Stream 1, Session 7
Violence in the
Mediterranean World
Chair: Yvonne Inall
Tülin Kaya War and Violence in Byzantine Anatolia
(7TH-9TH C. AD): An Archaeo-Historical
approach
Stream 2, Session 7
Reports from the eld and the
lab
Chair: Jane McMahon
Robert Brown, Andrew
Wilkinson
Towards a new Understanding of the Roman Domus,
Mdina, Malta. The Melite Civitas Romana Project
2022 Field Season overview
14.00 Matthieu
Hagenmüller
Commemorating Victory: a comparison
between private and royal war iconography
in ancient Egypt
Melissa Kennedy, Hugh
Thomas
Results from the Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia, AlUla and Khaybar Excavation
and Survey Projects 2018-2022
14.30 Jenny Webb Identifying violence within a Middle Bronze
Age community in Cyprus
Arzak Mohamed, Kerry
Head, Virginia Ho
Conservation and rehousing of 2 and 3-dimensional
papyrus at Chau Chak Wing Museum: Technical
report.
15.00 PM break
MAARC 2023
10
Tuesday 14 February
Time
(AEDT)
Session Speaker Paper title Session Speaker Paper title
15.30 Stream 1, Session 8
Violence in the
Mediterranean World
Chair: Susan Lupak
Helen
Nicholson
Men behaving badly Stream 2, Session 8
Epigraphy in Mediterranean
Archaeology: Texts and
Contexts
Chair: Ray Laurence
Peter Keegan Female participation in epigraphic culture: a
revision of the received tradition.
16.00 Yvonne Inall Eye of the Tiger? Helmet-Headed Aryballoi
and the construction of Martial Identities
Federica Fumante Iuvilas inscriptions: fakes and authenticity;
contextualisation of inscriptions.
Federica Fumante
16.30 Ludovico M.
Bevilacqua, Lorenzo
Calvelli
The Nicholson Epigraphic Collection at the Chau
Chak Wing Museum: Composition, Origins,
Forgeries
17.00 End of day
11
Wednesday 15 February
Time
(AEDT)
Session Speaker Paper title Session Speaker Paper title
9.00 Keynote John
Papdopolous
The Ancient Methone Archaeological Project
9.30
10.00 AM break
10.30 Stream 1, Session 9
Investigations across
the Roman Empire
Chair: Candace
Richards
Natasha Heap,
Sarah Blessing,
Michael Given,
Xenia Kyriaou
The Kourion Hook Incisor: a new nonmetric
dental trait
Stream 2, Session 9
Digital humanities and
archaeology
Chair: Thomas Romanis
Tom Keep My B*stard of a Summer: Photogrammetry work
on the Marzuolo Archaeological Project, Jezreel
Valley Regional Project, and Plain of Gioia Tauro
Survey Project
11.00 Rory McLennan,
Duncan Keenan
Jones, Glenys
McGowan,
Amelia Brown
Investigating the development and dispersal
of ancient waterproof mortar lining
technology in 1st century BCE – 4th century
CE Roman Italy
Emily Tour “Pots don’t breed”: An exploration of the
applications of phylogenetics in archaeology, and
the debate around its suitability.
11.30 Gijs Tol A 5000-piece puzzle: untangling the
provenance and interpretation of the terra
sigillata stacks from Podere Marzuolo
(Tuscany, Italy)
Lieve Donnellan The contribution of drone photography to the study
of urban architecture in Haliartos (Boeotia, GR)
12.00 Lunch break
12.30
13.00 Stream 1, Session 10
Australasian Women in
Ancient World Studies
Sponsored Panel
Chair: Amelia Brown
Amelia Brown Images of Women, Images by Women?:
Finding female artists in the ancient world
Stream 2, Session 10
Digital humanities and
archaeology
Chair: Thomas Keep
Tom Romanis Centring Student Training in the Digital Humanities
13.30 Paige Maunder Families of the Frontier: Women and Children
at Vindolanda
Daniel Carvalho On VR as a “Time Machine”. How virtual reality
impacts Archaeology and its engagement with
different publics
14.00 Beatrice
McLoughlin
Female potters and their wares - a
conversation.
Bianca Casa, Valentina
Vassallo, Rahaf Orabi,
Peter M. Fischer, Sorin
Hermon
Hand-held tools for rapid, detailed 3D
documentation of archaeological sites and public
outreach: A case study from Late Bronze Age Hala
Sultan Tekke, Cyprus
14.30 PM break
15.00 Stream 1, Session 11
Analysing wall
paintings
Chair: Damien Stone
Lambros
Tapinos
Minoan Frescoes and Heterotopia: Creating
Ritual Spaces and Visual Language at Mari,
Alalakh, Tel Kabri.
Stream 2, Session 11
Digital humanities: collections
and archives
Chair: Thomas Keep
Steven Gray, Tamar
Hodos
Virtual Reality and artefact collections
15.30 Polymnia
Synodinou
Byzantine wall paintings in Venetian Crete:
the case of Hagioi Apostoloi Church at
Kavousi (14th- 15th centuries)
Julia Hamilton, Alex
Woods
Antiquity in the Archive: Redocumenting Beni Hassan
in the Grifth Institute Archive, Oxford University
MAARC 2023
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Wednesday 15 February
Time
(AEDT)
Session Speaker Paper title Session Speaker Paper title
16.00 Get your popcorn ready!
16.30
17.45
Film screening Craig Barker Point of View: Capturing Australian archaeology in the Mediterranean on Film
If you are in Sydney feel free to join us at Chau Chak Wing Museum, Education Room (lvl 3) to enjoy the lm together
Join us for a unique experience to view historical and contemporary Australian archaeological project captured on lm over the past decades. Using archival and current footage of Australian projects
in Greece, Cyprus and Jordan we will view the changing nature of excavation and eldwork recording from some of the iconic excavations conducted by Australian archaeologists in the region. The
lm will be bookended by screenings of the animated short lms A Glimpse of Teenage Life in Ancient Rome (on its tenth anniversary) and Four Sisters in Ancient Rome both created by Ray Laurence and
Cognitive Animation. It will allow us to examine how we may be able to better utilise and present visual recording of our research and excavation work in the era of Youtube, drones and home editing.
18.00 Ofine social events - Please join us for a casual get together at...
Sydney: The Glebe Hotel (63 Bay St). Contact: Candace Richards
Melbourne: Naughtons Hotel. Contact: Gijs Tol
Brisbane: St Lucy’s, UQ Campus. Contact: Amelia Brown
13
Abstracts
In this section you will nd all abstracts of accepted papers listed in accordance with the running order of the
conference program. *Indicates the presenting author for papers with multiple authors.
Day One, Stream One:
Session 1: Everything changed when Mediterranean systems collapsed! Causation, effect, and responses to the Late Bronze
Age collapse
Laura Pisanu
University of Melbourne
Mors tua vita mea. Perspective on the Late Bronze Age from the Sardinian shores
Since the 16th century BC, the human occupation of Sardinia (Italy) is known as being part of the Nuragic Civilization,
whose main building type the “Nuraghe” was a tower built using a dry-stone construction technique. More than 7,000
nuraghes were built in Sardinia and communities lived around them sharing economic strategies to exploit natural resources,
craft knowledge and rituals. In this contexts, Nuragic groups seem to have been well integrated in the Mediterranean
Bronze Age scenario in which raw materials, products and ideas were exchanged even more intensively during the Late
Bronze Age. Although the Late Bronze Age is known for the collapse of the Mediterranean systems, this may not have been
extended to the whole Mediterranean basin. Archaeological data witness for this period changes in Nuragic societies
but not the economic, cultural, and political upheaval widespread among the Eastern Mediterranean societies. Indeed,
nuraghes and collective tombs were no longer built while began the construction of sanctuaries and new settlements that
seem to have been linked to the ourishment of bronze artefacts’ production and the import of Cypriot ox-hide ingots.
This paper aims at investigating changes in Nuragic Sardinia over the Late Bronze Age through the analysis of archaeological
data from different contexts. In this way it would be possible to provide a different geographical and archaeological
perspective to illustrate how the Late Bronze Age might have also been considered as vibrant and challenging period so
that it cannot be generally dened as a disruptive time for all Bronze Age Mediterranean groups.
Laura Pisanu is an archaeologist and a PhD Candidate at the University of Melbourne working on Nuragic settlements in
the Montiferru area and interactions and relationships between Sardinia and Eastern Mediterranean Sea over the Bronze
and Early Iron Age. She undertook specialised studies at the Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici (University of
Cagliari), and obtained a master’s degree in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the University of Cagliari.
Madeline Bowers
Macquarie University
Continuity and Change in the Aftermath of the LBA Collapse through the Aegean Textile Culture
More than mere woven cloth, textiles are manifestations of economic and cultural practices. A textile culture refers to the
nished cloth products and the culturally specic techniques and technology used in their production. It is driven by the
needs, aesthetics, and values of a society. As such, a society’s textile culture is a valuable lens through which to understand
its context.
Scholarship investigating the production and consumption of textiles during the Palatial period have dened the textile
culture of the Late Bronze Age Aegean. It is well-known from documentary and archaeological evidence that the palaces
were heavily invested in the production of cloth on an industrial scale; however, the destruction of the palaces saw the
collapse of this system of production. Nevertheless, the fundamental necessity of textiles indicates that they continued
to be produced and consumed. This paper will dene the textile culture of the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age Transition
(c. 1200–800 BCE) and explore the degree to which it, and the economic and cultural needs and desires it represents,
shifted following the Late Bronze Age collapse.
Madeline Bowers is a doctoral candidate at Macquarie University and a graduate of the University of Sydney and
the University of Oxford. Her research interests include textiles and the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age Transition in the
Aegean. Madeline’s research aims to explore socio-cultural and economic continuity and change through the lens of textile
production and consumption. When not working on her PhD she can often be found at her loom.
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Susan Lupack
Macquarie University
Did Everything Change in the Mediterranean Collapse?: Signs of Religious Continuity from the Bronze Age through the Early
Iron Age
The transition from the Greek Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age is characterized by the loss of monumental architecture,
the ner arts and crafts, the skill of writing, and a severe curtailment of trade. Nonetheless, the traditions surrounding
religious worship may have been maintained as an essential and integral part of people’s daily lives in the succeeding
Iron Age. Furthermore, aspects of their worship can be seen as the foundation for the religion that appears in the Archaic
period. Mycenaean religion exhibits several features that are seen in later historical periods – these features include
structural similarities, but it is possible that there was continuity even in some religious belief, for instance in that both
cultures practiced hero worship. I address the question of what aspects of Mycenaean cult practice were taken through
the Iron Age by considering both the textual evidence provided by the Linear B tablets and in light of recent discoveries
substantiating continuity in religious practice at sites such as Mt Lykaion in Arcadia. It is true that our Mycenaean textual
evidence predominantly attests to the cult as practiced by the palatial elite, but I argue that this was not simply an elite
cult, but also the religion of the people. In the collapse, the wanax was lost, but at a time of stress and change, the
continued performance of traditional rituals likely functioned as a sustaining force for the people.
Susan Lupack is a Senior Lecturer of Greek and Roman archaeology in the History and Archaeology Department of
Macquarie University, who has worked on archaeological projects in Italy, Cyprus, and Israel, but predominantly in
Greece. From 2006 to 2012 she co-directed the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project, which was supported by a
Canadian SSHRC grant. She is now directing a survey project around the Sanctuary of Hera at Perachora, Greece, with
Panagiota Kasimi, Ephor of the Corinthia. She is also a CI on the ARC-funded project ‘History, heritage and environmental
change in a deindustrialised landscape’. In her research, Susan investigates the economy and religion of Late Bronze
Age Aegean society by combining archaeological material with the textual information provided by Linear B tablets.
This expertise led to her editing the ‘Homeric World’ section of the Cambridge Guide to Homer (2020). Her upcoming
publication in Local Horizons of Greek Religion (CUP) investigates Mycenaean Greek religion as it was practiced in the
Minoan territory of Knossos.
Day One, Stream One:
Session 2: Everything changed when Mediterranean systems collapsed! Causation, effect, and responses to the Late Bronze
Age collapse
Louise Hitchcock*
University of Melbourne
Aren Maeir
Bar Ilan University
Laura Pisanu
University of Melbourne
Roll up for the Mystery Tour: Islands of the Transition and their Contribution to ‘Western’ Civilization
Our contribution is part of the Being an Islander project afliated with the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and aims
to consider the pioneering sociological roles that island and coastal cultures played in developing and disseminating
the technologies of the Bronze and Iron Ages. We give particular attention to the large islands of Sardinia, Crete, and
Cyprus. We intend to argue that these technological achievements complement scientic studies of island artefacts and
that they played a key role in in ancient globalization or “bronzization” through spreading culture along with commodities
and technology. We argue that commodities were key drivers of maritime interaction bringing islands and coastal regions
together. Further, we discuss how their acquisition and use imply the development and mastery of different technologies.
Mobility and trade further resulted in new types of settlement structures and monumental buildings that advertise them
as players on a cosmopolitan and global stage. As the intricate system of the “brotherhood of kings” broke down in the
12th century collapse, it was the survival of technological knowledges that enabled the resilient cultures of the Iron Age
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to emerge and thrive. We conclude that rather than promoting insularity, island interactions promoted globalization and
connectivity, and contributed to stability in the post-collapse era of the Iron Ages.
Louise Hitchcock is Professor of Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology in the Classics and Archaeology Program at the
University of Melbourne. She is the author of Minoan Architecture: A Contextual Analysis, Theory for Classics, Aegean Art
and Architecture (co-authored with Donald Preziosi), and is the co-editor of DAIS: The Aegean Feast, Aegaeum 29 and
of the Festschrift for Aren Maeir, as well as the author of over 100 articles dealing with Aegean, Cypriot, and Philistine
archaeology, architecture, theory, gender, and space. Her current research is engaged with architecture, piracy, Aegean,
Cypriot, and Philistine identities, and entanglements. She has done eldwork in Cyprus, Crete, Egypt, Greece, Israel, and
Syria. The Australian Research Council and INSTAP has funded her excavations at the Philistine site of Tell es-Sa/Gath,
where she was an area supervisor. She has been awarded multiple competitive fellowships including a Fulbright and
National Endowment for the Humanities.
Aren Maeir is Professor of Archaeology and Head of the Institute of Archaeology in the Martin (Szusz) Department of
Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel. He directs the Tell es-Sa/Gath
archaeological project in Israel (gath.wordpress.com). He is, inter alia, the author of “In the Midst of the Jordan”: The
Jordan Valley during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000–1500 BCE) - Archaeological and Historical Correlates (Vienna,
2010) has edited several volumes, including Tell es-Sa/Gath I and II: Reports (Wiesbaden, 2012 and 2020), and has
jointly and singly authored numerous articles on ancient Near Eastern archaeology, the nds from Tell es-Sa/Gath, the
Philistines, and the Aegean. In addition, he is co-director of the Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram
in Biblical Times (aramisrael.org).
Laura Pisanu is undertaking her PhD on Nuragic landscapes and their connections to Cyprus and the Aegean at the
University of Melbourne. She received her Masters degree on the study of Nuragic cooking pots from the University
of Cagliari in Sardinia (Italy). Laura’s expertise lies in eld archaeology, landscape studies, heritage studies, ceramics
analysis, and the prehistoric architecture of Nuragic culture in Sardinia. She has extensive eldwork experience in Sardinia
and she has lately directed her own survey project. Laura has a BA Honours degree in Cultural Heritage with a research
thesis on the Prehistoric and Protohistoric Tombs at Narbolia (Oristano District) and has had numerous internships and
training at Sardinian Museums and in cultural heritage management. Finally, Laura has presented numerous papers at
international conferences including the EAA, ASOR, and the AIA, and she has published several articles on Sardinian
archaeology, including two with Louise Hitchcock and Aren Maeir.
Zachary Thomas
Tel Aviv University
The case for socio-political continuity from the Late Bronze to early Iron Age in the southern Levant
A concomitant idea with that of the Late Bronze Age “collapse” is that in the southern Levant at least, this juncture marks
a stark division between two different socio-political worlds: The world of “city-states” and “empires” in the Late Bronze
and “ethnic”, “tribal” or “territorial” states during the early Iron Age, and that moreover the early Iron Age political
landscape was radically changed with the emergence of new polities. This notion never made much sense given that some
polities, like those of the “Phoenician” coast, continued unabated from one period to another. More recent research that
has focused more on emic expressions of socio-political structure (rather than etic labels) indicates that important modes
of organization like the patrimonial household in the Late Bronze Age continued to hold sway in the early Iron Age. This
actually does make sense, given the increasing amount of material cultural continuity and both the increasingly evident
lack of destructions in this region at the end of the Late Bronze and persistence of international trade to it during the
early Iron Age.
This paper will provide a synoptic look at the case for viewing the socio-political situation in the early Iron Age southern
Levant as one of fundamental continuity, even amidst the disruptions and changes that did take place in the region.
Zachary Thomas completed his PhD in 2019 at Macquarie University and recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship
at the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University. His research is concerned with the anthropological approaches to the
history and archaeology of the southern Levant during the early Iron Age, and has been a staff member of multiple
excavation projects
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Eric H. Cline
George Washington University
Resilience, Transformation, and Catastrophe: Looking at the Aftermath of the LBA Collapse through the Lens of the Adaptive
Cycle, Resilience Theory, and Extreme Events
The centuries following the Late Bronze Age Collapse in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean was a time of rebirth
and resilience — less of a Dark Age and more of a reboot for many of the societies which were affected. There are
examples of adaptation and transformation, but also of failure to thrive or even to survive in some cases. We essentially
have eight case studies of what to do (and what not to do) in the event of a systems collapse, ranging from the Assyrians
to the Egyptians to the Mycenaeans and others in between. Of particular interest, and potential use, is discussing all of
this in terms of panarchy and the Adaptive Cycle. Of additional use are thoughts about resilience (and resilience theory)
as well as modern denitions for adapting, coping, and transforming as used by the IPCC (“Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change”), which has considered both climate change and disaster risk management for extreme events. Using
these approaches, I will propose a ranking of which societies fared the best and which the worst in the aftermath of the
Collapse, as well as considering the possible reasons why.
Eric H. Cline is Professor of Classics and Anthropology, the former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern
Languages and Civilizations, and the current Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington
University, in Washington DC. A National Geographic Explorer, NEH Public Scholar, Getty Scholar, and Fulbright Scholar
with degrees from Dartmouth, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, he is an active eld archaeologist with more
than 30 seasons of excavation and survey experience in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Crete, and the United
States, including ten seasons at Megiddo (1994-2014), where he served as co-director before retiring from the project
in 2014, and another ten seasons at Tel Kabri, where he currently serves as Co-Director. He is the author or editor of
twenty books and nearly one hundred articles; translations of his books have appeared in nineteen different languages.
Day One, Stream One:
Session 3: Changing the Narrative
Vinko Kerr-Harris
Victoria University of Wellington - Te Herenga Waka
A Dark Embrace: Darkness, Ritual Space, and the Senses.
Keywords: Minoan Crete; Darkness; Ritual; Spaces; Sense/Experience
Be it the cavernous night sky, the oppressive claustrophobia of a subterranean passage, or that space under our bed
which always seemed to harbour the most unspeakable horrors of childhood, “darkness” is an inescapable feature of
our lives. Darkness, whether naturally occurring or articially constructed, is capable of evoking a range of visceral
physiological and psychological responses which oftentimes defy logic and rationalisation. Works such as Jun’ichirō
Tanizaki’s architectural treatise In ‘Praise of Shadows’ have demonstrated the unique ways in which modern cultures
interact and respond to “the dark”, while the scholarship of David Lewis-Williams and others have demonstrated that
our primal sensory-driven reaction to darkness is the product of thousands of generations worth of evolutionary priming.
Yet for all of the scholarship on contemporary aesthetics and Palaeolithic development, comparatively little discourse on
the matter exists within the context of the Bronze Age Aegean. What role might darkness have played in the “sacred”
spaces, constructed or organic, of Minoan Crete? Did darkness play an “active” role in ritual practice, or was it merely a
“passive” environmental element? Might darkness even have constituted a ritual space in and of itself? By wading into the
shadows of Aegean cult spaces and embracing the darkness therein, this paper hopes to shed some light upon Minoan
ritual experiences.
Vinko Kerr-Harris is an early-career researcher and senior tutor in the Classics Programme at Victoria University of
Wellington. His primary research area is the Aegean Bronze Age, with a particular focus on social inter-connectivity, death
and ritual, sacred spaces, and sensorial experiences in the Minoan world. He also maintains interests in the archaeologies
of Egypt and Early Iron Age Greece, ancient cuisine, and the (mis)appropriation of antiquity in extremist political
ideologies and authoritarian regimes. When not occupied with research or teaching, Vinko works its an administrator in
the Wellington Faculty of Health research centres at Victoria while seeking opportunities for further study
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Conor Trouw
University of Melbourne
Non-secular Approaches to Archaeology in the Levant: A Critical Response
Exploring the often contentious issue of cultural identity in 21st century Levantine archaeology, through Critical Discourse
Analysis an attempt will be made to address current debates from a secular perspective. For example, can architecture be
used as a means of dening cultural identity? Is it possible to balance material evidence that contradicts long standing
"cultural markers" when in doing so one's one faith is challenged too? Over the past three decades, archaeology has
shown that much of what has been considered denitive is anything but, and while this may upset those who still seek to
use excavation as a means of bolstering the Bible's historicity, this presentation seeks to show what we as archaeologists
are at risk of overlooking if such approaches continue to be accepted without diligent debate and analysis.
Conor Trouw is a PhD candidate within the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne.
Conor's previous work has also involved archaeology in the Levant, specically the excavations at the "City of David" in
occupied East Jerusalem.
R. Eser Kortanoğlu
Anadolu University
Narrative Production Processes in Ancient Greek Cultural Chronology
The chronological periodisation of post-Bronze Age Greece begins with the Early Iron Age, and most accessibly with
the Geometric Period, a signicant part of which falls within what used to be termed "the Dark Ages." It is clear from
the archaeological evidence that processes during the eighth century were fundamental for the later development of
"Ancient Greece." Furthermore, it is evident from the preserved written record -Homer and Hesiod- that the dominant
element in cultural production during the eighth and seventh centuries was a discursive one which focussed on the creation
and narration of myths. In the framework of cultural periodisation this phase could be termed the "Narrative Period."
The Narrative Period was a phase rich in tales and discursive in nature. It established references which continued to have
cultural signicance for centuries while simultaneously building on earlier cultural forms. Consequently, the archaeology
of the Narrative Period is one of discourse: the telling and retelling, and so further development, of tales, as well as of
human society more broadly. As writing was unknown in the Aegean area prior to the eighth century our comprehension
of this fundamental period is dependent on what we can understand of the discursive nature of myth-making.
R. Eser Kortanoğlu graduated Istanbul University Classical Archaeology Department in 1995, 1999 (MA), 2006 (Ph.D.).
Worked Istanbul University Classical Archaeology Department (1999-2006). Working Anadolu University Classical
Arvhaeology Department (1995-1999, 2006-). Worked Ainos, Dorylaion, Tieion/Tios, Pessinus (with Melbourne Team
as co-president), Side, Hierapolis Kastabala, Nif excavations in Anatolia at several years. 2 books, 30 articles, 11 book
critique, 15 papers (about numbers).
Day One, Stream One:
Session 4: Re-examining ceramic objects and their uses
Leah Wild
University of Cambridge
Figurines? In Archaic Corinthian pottery, and their implications for understanding the temple of Demeter and Kore in Corinth
Keywords: Gender; Corinth; Iconography; Archaic vase painting; Greek religion
Ines Jucker’s famous article on the Frauenfest (“women’s-festival”) imagery on Archaic Corinthian pottery attributes the
motif to real cultic celebrations of the goddess Artemis. However, recent scholarship, coupled with the publication of
excavations at the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Corinth, has led others to suggest that the Frauenfest depicted the
cult of Demeter. This identication calls into question other interpretations of the imagery of Archaic Corinthian vases. The
Demeter sanctuary is teeming with miniature gurines, the majority depicting female votaries. Their meaning so far has
been underexplored, but this paper argues that vase-painting can help us to interpret them.
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Previous studies have identied the smaller humanoid gures on these vases as children. However, I argue that some of
them actually represent miniature gurines, like those preserved in the archaeological record. Using the vase imagery,
this paper will demonstrate that the interplay between female worship, weaving, and gurines can only be understood
in reference to the sanctuary of Demeter. It will explore the possible uses of these gurines at key moments of transition
in women’s lives, from “raw” unspun girls, to “converted” wives, who themselves weave as part of their household duties.
Unspun wool, parthenoi, the changing of the body from unformed to controlled and productive: these Archaic vases can
inform us as to what the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore in Corinth is all about.
Leah Wild is a second-year PhD student in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge. She is working on a PhD
on miniaturisation in ancient Greece with Professor Robin Osborne, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council,
UK. She denes her research interests as “anything tiny and shiny”, with focuses on women’s religious experience and
Greek sanctuaries.
Stavros A. Paspalas
Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens
The “Necklace” Vessels of Old Smyrna: A New View on East Greek Ceramics.
Keywords: Ceramics; Old Smyrna; “East Greece”; Rhodes; Black Sea
The archaeology of the region referred to by classical archaeologists as “East Greece” – the western coast of modern
Turkey and the islands immediately to its west – has shown that it was a complex area comprised of identiable sub-
regions as well as having strong links with areas well beyond its geographical connes. It can be shown by the study of
a number of categories of material culture that an East Greek imprint can be detected in various regions, particularly in
the northern Aegean and, further north yet, in the Black Sea. This paper examines a category of amphorae and hydriai
from the Anglo-Turkish excavations at Old Smyrna (Bayraklı) as documented a number of decades ago by J.M. Cook.
These vessels are decorated in a distinctive manner (thus the “necklaces”) and share certain morphological features. They
also nd parallels in pieces excavated in disparate centres that stretch from Rhodes northwards to the Crimean peninsula.
The Smyrnaean pieces are set in their archaeological and cultural contexts and by doing so the wider corpus as a whole
is examined and more closely dened. Questions regarding the category’s origins and means of distribution are also
broached. The presentation of this hitherto understudied group of vessels enriches our appreciation of the mechanics of
production and distribution in the “East Greek” world of the archaic and classical periods.
Stavros Paspalas is the Director of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens. He has worked extensively in the
Aegean, at the polis (and more) of Torone in the Chalkidike, at the Early Iron Age settlement of Zagora on Andros, and
at the sea’s western extremity on an archaeological survey of northern Kythera. He has published extensively on archaic
and classical period ceramics, particularly on connections in pottery output between the northern and eastern Aegean.
His publications extend to ancient Macedonia, and especially the kingdom’s contacts with the Achaemenid Empire and its
legacy both before and after Alexander III.
Day One, Stream Two:
Session 1: The History of Mediterranean Archaeological Research in the Antipodes
James Donaldson
University of Queensland
Chaplain William Maitland Woods and “Archaeology” during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915-18)
Senior Chaplain William Maitland Woods was not a trained archaeologist. He was a classically trained Anglican
clergyman who emigrated to Australia in 1889 and went on to become a chaplain with the Australian Imperial Force
during the First World War. In 1917 Woods was responsible for removing the Shellal Mosaic, the oor of a 6th century
CE Christian church, from the eastern side of Wadi Ghuzze in 1917. The main portion of this oor is now held by the
Australian War Memorial.
This biographical paper utilises Wood’s archival papers held by the State Library of Queensland, supplemented by a
range of other archival and documentary sources, to explore how Wood’s classical and theological training informed his
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wartime encounters with the ancient past in Palestine. Central to this discussion will be the case of the Shellal Mosaic, but I
will attempt to place the removal of the Shellal Mosaic in a wider context of both Wood’s antiquities collecting activities
and his role as a chaplain in educating service personnel about the history and archaeology of Sinai and Palestine. This
research provides a case study into early Australian “archaeological” experiences in Palestine, in a period before there
was formal archaeological training available at Australian universities. It can be contrasted with similar “excavations”
undertaken during the war at Gallipoli, Salonica, Malta and elsewhere.
James Donaldson is a PhD candidate with the University of Queensland researching why Australians took ancient
material culture as souvenirs during the First World War (1914-18). He is working on a special project documenting
the history of removal, damage, reconstruction and dispersal of the Shellal Mosaic, removed from Shellal on the Wadi
Ghuzze in 1917. James is also Manager and Curator of the RD Milns Antiquities Museum at the University of Queensland
and has a particular interest in the history of collecting ancient material culture in Australia, and the antiquities trade in
Australia.
Craig Barker
The University of Sydney
AD Trendall, JR Stewart and the founding of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sydney
In 1948 the University of Sydney established the Department of Archaeology, Australia’s rst academic department
dedicated to archaeological teaching and research. Inaugurated by A Trendall, the foundation Professor of Archaeology,
and with teaching assistance of J.R. Stewart, the Department was ambitious for growth and to make the University of
Sydney a centre of Mediterranean archaeological research and excavation. The Department would operate closely with
the Nicholson Museum, and indeed Trendall and Stewart’s 2nd edition of the Handbook to the Nicholson Museum (1948)
would serve as the textbook for undergraduate students.
The Mediterranean focus of the Department is demonstrated by rst undergraduate course offered. ‘Ancient Art and
Archaeology’, was based around 90 lectures and practical classes in the Nicholson Museum, which following a survey of
the Ancient Near and Middle East, Egypt and Cyprus would then focus on Minoan and Mycenaean Art, Greek Art and
Roman Art. Archaeology of other regions of the world, including Australia would not be taught for some decades.
Based on recent archival research, this paper will examine the rst decade of the Department’s existence and will also
explore some of the missed opportunities for the development of archaeology at Sydney. The legacy of the Department
(now Discipline) of Archaeology in its 75th year will be discussed.
Craig Barker is a Mediterranean archaeologist and museum educator and administrator. He is Director of the Paphos
Theatre Archaeological Project, excavating the World Heritage-listed site of the theatre of Nea Paphos in Cyprus,
and Head, Public Engagement at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Craig has a PhD in Classical Archaeology from the
University of Sydney and extensive eldwork experience in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Australia. He is actively engaged
in public archaeology, hosting ABC Radio’s Can You Dig It segment from 2015 to 2022 and hosts the CCWM podcast
Object Matters since 2020. He has published and presented on museum education, Rhodian amphora and the Hellenistic
wine trade, Cypriot archaeology, ancient theatre architecture, archaeology in popular perception and the history of
archaeology. He is author of the catalogue Aphrodite’s Island (2012) and co-author of Fabrika: an ancient theatre in
Paphos (2007) and is currently writing a history of archaeology at the University of Sydney.
Robert Merrillees
Independent Scholar
Ethel Hunter and Kouklia : A Forgotten Episode of AustralianArchaeological Activity in Cyprus.
Ethel Mary Hunter was an Australian student of archaeology who took part in the Liverpool City Museum and St Andrews
University expedition to Kouklia in Cyprus in 1953. She had graduated from the University of Sydney where she was
taught by J.R. Stewart and A.D. Trendall, and undertook research for a Master of Arts degree at the University of
Glasgow. On her return to Australia in 1954 she moved from the academic world to the federal bureaucracy to make
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a living but retained not only an attachment to Cyprus but the responsibility for publishing the tomb groups from the
Asproyi, Evreti and Kaminiacemeteries excavated by the British expedition at Kouklia. The dig’s leaders subsequently
gave H.W. Catling permission to publish the same nds, which led to an impasse that only ended when the report came
out posthumously under Catling’s name in 2020. Ethel’s legacy lives on through the allocation to the Nicholson Museum of
the contents of Kouklia Asproyi Tomb A4 and the substantial sum she bequeathed, after her death in Canberra in 1988, to
the University ofSydney for the use of students concerned with Cypriote prehistory. The grant has seldom beenawarded.
Robert Merrillees holds a B.A. University of Sydney with Honours in Archaeology (1959) and was awarded a PhD in
Egyptology in1965 by University College, University of London. He served as a Foreign Affairs Ofcer in the Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (1964 – 1998). He is the author of over 200 monographs, articles and reviews
on the archaeology and historiography of Cyprus and the Levant, with special reference to Egypt
Day One, Stream Two:
Session 2: Museums and collections in Australasia
Stan Florek,* David Chan, Ourania Mihas, Peter Dadswell
Australian Museum
Search for Provenance: Egyptian antiquities at the Australian Museum
In the past two years, we conducted a search for the provenance of ancient Egyptian artefacts for which acquisition
documents indicate a specic geographical location. There are 720 items in this category. To our surprise and joy,
we were able to locate digital documents and link those 200 items to individual graves or tombs documented during
excavation and some included or referenced in excavation-related publications. For many items, this context data is not
highly revealing and signicant, although equally welcomed. But there are several cases where the context revealed via
provenance, signicantly expanded our knowledge of and understanding of individual artefacts. In this paper, we outline
our research process and where it proved the most fruitful, as well as provide a few examples where provenance greatly
illuminated an object’s history and signicance.
Stan Florek works in a curatorial team, caring for and researching the World Cultures Collection at the Australian Museum.
His interests include indigenous technology, stone tools, population dynamics, deep human prehistory, the interplay between
environment and culture, archaeology, history, and art, especially in Oceania. He also works on providing physical and
digital access to the Collections for communities, students, and the public, as well as web publication of collections-related
material. His collection-based projects include Torres Strait artefacts, the First Nations (Aboriginal) boomerangs, the
earliest ethnographic collections of the Australian Museum, indigenous watercraft in Oceania, Balinese paintings and
ceremonial artefacts, and ancient Egyptian artefacts and documentation, including mining tools.
James Donaldson
RD Milns Antiquities Museum, University of Queensland
Brit Asmussen
Queensland Museum
Lt Col. George Bourne and The Curious Case of the Alabaster Pyramidion
In 1964 the Queensland Museum accepted into its collection a “Piece of Alabaster, from the Tombs of the Queens at Luxor,
ve thousand years old”. This pyramidion of alabaster, despite the obviously incorrect date, is not what it seems. Collected
by a First World War ofcer in Egypt in 1915, the fragment has only recently been identied for what it is: a fragment
of alabaster from the Mosque of Mohammed Ali in Cairo.
This paper explores the story of the original collector, Lt Col George Bourne of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment, his
acquisition of antiquities during the war, the artefact’s loss of identity and its recovery via archival research conducted
at the State Library of Queensland as part of the First World War Antiquities (Queensland) project, a collaboration
between the RD Milns Antiquities Museum, UQ and the Queensland Museum.
James Donaldson is a PhD candidate with the University of Queensland (UQ) researching why Australians took ancient
material culture as souvenirs during the First World War (1914-18). He is working on a special project documenting
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the history of removal, damage, reconstruction and dispersal of the Shellal Mosaic, removed from Shellal on the Wadi
Ghuzze in 1917. James is also Manager and Curator of the RD Milns Antiquities Museum at the University of Queensland
and has a particular interest in the history of collecting ancient material culture in Australia, and the antiquities trade in
Australia.
Brit Asmussen is the Senior Curator of Archaeology, Indigenous Cultures, in the Cultures and Histories Program at the
Queensland Museum and Sciencentre, Southbank. She is principal investigator for Queensland Museum in UQ’s First World
War Antiquities Project. Brit has also been involved in a number of archaeological and anthropological research projects
investigating people-land-resource relationships in Australia, Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea.
Candace Richards,* Chris Jones, Emilia Stubbs Grigoriou
The University of Sydney
Engaging researchers and managing archaeological data in museum collections – new approaches and methodologies.
The Mediterranean collections of the Chau Chak Wing Museum (formerly Nicholson Museum) includes signicant
provenanced archaeological material from 20th century excavations as well as objects purchased via the art market
or acquired by individual collectors and donated to the Nicholson Collection throughout its 160-year history. Access
to the collections is sought after for practical archaeological investigation by members of the Australasian research
community, and international colleagues, on an ongoing basis. This includes access to sensitive and complex material, such
as archaeologically excavated human remains, archival documentation and samples of collection items. Recent research
requests have led to the development of new management methods that reconcile the needs of archaeological research,
including invasive sampling techniques, with professional collection management policies and documentation standards.
This paper will introduce two different aspects of the Nicholson’s archaeological collections- ‘Co-mingled skeletal
remains’ and ‘the Sample Library’- then reect on the historic practices that led to their creation and discuss the in-house
methodologies developed for managing access while adhering to the international museum standards for preservation
and sustainability. This paper will address the ways in which the Chau Chak Wing Museum aims to collaborate with
members of the research community for the future.
Candace Richards (presenting author) is the assistant curator of the Nicholson Collection at the Chau Chak Wing Museum
and a Mediterranean archaeologist. Her recent publications focus on provenance studies of Egyptian cultural heritage in
Australia, and on the archaeology of Nea Paphos, Cyprus.
Christopher Jones is the Collections Manager, Chau Chak Wing Museum and specialises in database management and
collection documentation.
Emilia Stubbs is Museum and Heritage Studies masters student at the University of Sydney and was responsible for the
registration of the Nicholson Collection ‘Sample Library’ during her 2022 internship.
Day One, Stream Two:
Session 3: Museums and collections in Australasia
Georgia Pike-Rowney
Australian National University
Establishing a new hands-on outreach program at the ANU Classics Museum
This presentation will share new developments at the ANU Classics Museum, including the establishment of a new hands-on
outreach program. This initiative has been catalysed by the new appointment of a dedicated curator for the museum, and a
recent donation of over 470 ancient objects and fragments by Emeritus Professor Graeme Clarke, from his archaeological
excavations at the Hellenistic site of Jebel Khalid in Syria. A bespoke object-based learning space is being established
to house and activate this new collection, as well as a touring collection that will be shared with schools and community
groups further aeld. This paper will share the process of establishing such a program, including the management of
the donated collection, designing and building the new object-based learning space, and consulting with the education
and community sectors in order to develop meaningful outreach programs, resources and training opportunities. The new
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curator of the ANU Classics Museum will also share how her previous work in community and educational outreach from
other disciplinary perspectives has inuenced the development of programs for the museum.
Georgia Pike-Rowney is the Friends' Lecturer and Curator of the ANU Classics Museum, a philanthropically funded
position that began in July 2022. Georgia is a researcher and practitioner focussing on the role of the arts in education,
health and wellbeing from a historical perspective as well as in current practice. Georgia completed a BA in Law and
Classics at the ANU (2006), a Grad. Dip. (Secondary) through Monash University (2009), and completed her PhD in
2017, supervised by Prof. Elizabeth Minchin (also previous Curator of the ANU Classics Museum). She has held academic
positions across the ANU since 2011 in music (running a city-wide music outreach and education program), and since 2018
in mental health and medicine, before nding her way back to the Centre for Classical Studies in 2022.
Charlotte Mann
University of Warwick and Macquarie University
Wondrous Machines: Hero of Alexandria’s Ancient Automata
This paper uses the RD Milns Antiquities Museum’s current exhibition Wondrous Machines: Hero of Alexandria’s Ancient
Automata as a case study to discuss the challenge of reconstructing ancient objects within a museum. Wondrous Machines
brings to life Hero of Alexandria’s automaton, a self-animated and self-propelling ancient Dionysiac preserved only in
mechanical texts. This paper discusses how 3D printing technology and digital animations were used to recreate Hero’s
mobile shrine, and ancient artefacts used to illustrate its sensory spectacle, thus bringing an ancient object to life in a
museum.
Charlotte Mann is a cotutelle PhD student studying at the University of Warwick in the UK and Macquarie University in
Sydney, where she completes her research as a Junior Fellow of the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies. Her
doctoral thesis uses material culture to reassess the public image of Hadrian and the Antonine emperors. Alongside her
studies, Charlotte is an assistant curator at the RD Milns Antiquities Museum working on the exhibition Wondrous Machines:
Hero of Alexandria’s Ancient Automata.
Alina Kozlovski
University of New England
Controversial copies: ancient ivory objects and modern plaster casts
Copies of ancient works have a long history. The material of the copy, whether made from marble by the Romans, bronze
in the Renaissance, plaster in the 19th century, or 3D printed plastic more recently, has been a continued source of debate
about authenticity and value. In this paper I turn this conversation around by examining the role of the material of the
original in how a copy is valued and interpreted. My focus is a set of 19th century plaster copies of ancient ivory objects
from the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney. As a material that has been considered valuable since ancient
times, today ivory artefacts can be controversial additions to museum collections with many discussions about whether their
display is detrimental to efforts to curb the material’s illicit trade. Plaster copies of ivory objects occupy an interesting
space in this debate as they are not made of the illicit material themselves but still overtly reference it. I argue that due to
this complicated relationship to the physical parameters of their originals, these particular plaster casts are a useful case
study for exploring notions of materiality and authenticity as they play out in copies of ancient artefacts.
Alina Kozlovski is the Lecturer of Digital Innovation (Ancient History and Archaeology) at the University of New England.
She has worked in museums in the US, UK, and Australia including on exhibitions such as Buried by Vesuvius: Treasures from
the Villa dei Papiri at the Getty Villa and The Invisible Revealed at the Powerhouse Museum. She completed her PhD at the
University of Cambridge and her research focuses on concepts and histories of curation, starting from ancient Greece and
Rome to the contemporary world, and on the role of copies, both material and digital, in museum collections.
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Day One, Stream Two:
Session 4: Museums and collections in Australasia- Lightning talks
Moira White
Tūhura Otago Museum
Unoriginal but not fraudulent
Tūhura Otago Museum has great collections of wonderful unique items; undoubtedly some fakes; and also, a number of
replicas – objects that by denition are not unique.
Many of these replicas are copies of objects that were of such interest and signicance that multiples were traded around
the globe; reproduced for audiences who could not see the original work:
The Rosetta stone, the bust of Nefertiti, the Aphrodite of Melos, Menkaure and his wife, the Narmer Palette…
Pre-Internet; pre-digital photography, pre-3D printing, in years when some aspects of travel were more challenging than
our experience of it now, this practice was more important than is easy to imagine today.
Some are still on display in our exhibition galleries. Because they weren’t originals, records of when, where and how they
were acquired are often limited but they, too, have a provenance; a story; and evoke public reactions.
Moira White is Curator, Humanities, Tūhura Otago Museum, Dunedin, New Zealand. She writes about a variety of
museum-related topics – history, staff, donors, visitors... She is not a Classics scholar but greatly enjoys working in an
institution with an internationally signicant Classics collection.
Neil Apted
John Elliott Classics Museum, University of Tasmania
What value a replica of a fake?
Is there any value in a Museum exhibiting a replica of a fake antiquity?
Some considerations around accepting a donation of a replica of a fake, the Egyptian ‘tête bleue’ acquired by the Louvre
in 1923, and how it might be used.
Neil Apted has been Keeper of the John Elliott Classics Museum, University of Tasmania, since 2009.
Joylene Kremler
Independent researcher (formerly with the National Gallery of Victoria)
A Pataikos gure in the Antiquities Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria
During a re-appraisal of the NGV's Pataikos gures, questions were raised about the completeness of a particular
gure that had a broad collar of ller around its neck from a previous repair. Nobody knew if the head was attached
and moreover, several anomalies indicated that perhaps the head and body did not belong together. It was decided to
examine the gure under UV light.
Joy Kremler worked at the NGV for 23 years in various curatorial and administrative roles, including the Department
of International Decorative Arts and Antiquities. During that time, she contributed articles for publication on the NGV’s
collections of Egyptian mummy portraits and Pataikos gures and has had several articles published on Egyptian frog
amulets and gures.
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Camilla Norman
The University of Sydney
A painted plaster kore, Chau Chak Wing Museum
Replicas of ancient art, especially Classical sculpture, were once prized in the West as souvenirs from the Grand Tour and
considered de rigueur to a well-rounded education in the liberal arts. With the rise of affordable travel and accessible
photography, they came to be considered gauche and fell from grace. The vast majority of plaster cast collections,
gathered with great care and at considerable expense, were relegated to basements and forgotten, split up and
dispersed, and in some cases even destroyed.
In recent years there has been a resurgence in interest in the casts as people begin to rethink them not as copies but objects
in their own right, with their own individual histories and stories to tell. One such plaster cast resides in the storerooms of
the Chau Chak Wing Museum: a kore whose ‘original’ once stood on the Athenian Acropolis. The cast is of especial interest
as she was not only painted but made in the atelier of the famous archaeological illustrator Emile Gilliéron. This paper
outlines a current conservation project aimed at better understanding the kore’s life path and signicance, her material
make-up, and what should and could be done to rehabilitate her after years of neglect and numerous ill-considered
treatments.
Camilla Norman holds a BA (hons) and PhD in archaeology from The University of Sydney, where she also worked for
many years, most notably as the Project Ofcer of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens. Her own research
focuses on the indigenous populations of pre-Roman Italy and the Adriatic basin. In this capacity, she has held post-
doctoral fellowships at the British School at Rome and the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London. She is also a
member of the Innsbruck excavation team at Ascoli Satriano, Apulia (Italy). More recently Camilla has been studying for
a Masters in Cultural Materials Conservation at Melbourne University. After completing a minor thesis on the assessment
and treatment of the Chau Chak Wing kore, she will graduate in mid-2023.
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Day Two, Stream One:
Session 5: Spatial studies
Sarah Chandlee
Monash University
Constructing the house in Late Period and Ptolemaic Egypt
Keywords: Egyptology; domestic architecture; household archaeology; urbanism
In this paper, I will present several aspects of my PhD research which included the study of the architectural forms of
Late Period and Ptolemaic houses that have been recorded in the Delta, Fayum, Sinai, Upper Egypt, and Western Oases
(c. 664-332 BCE). Through qualitative and quantitative analyses of architectural features, it is possible to undertake
a comparative evaluation of domestic structures by time period. The study of architectural features also suggests the
opportunity to reconstruct a house ‘from the ground upwards’ and begin working towards a methodology that can be
utilised in future research. This is signicant to archaeologists and researchers as the foundations are the only surviving
feature in a number of instances. The origins of the Egyptian tower house are also reviewed and determined, as it is
generally noted in the literature that this house form either originated in the Late Period Delta or was a form introduced
from abroad, with no previous conclusive argument.
Sarah Chandlee is currently a Heritage Advisor with Extent Heritage in Melbourne, and recently completed her PhD at
Monash University, researching domestic architecture in Late Period and Ptolemaic Egypt. This research includes a sample
of 151 houses located throughout Egypt, considering the house itself as an architectural form and the surrounding urban
context. She looks forward to presenting a part of her research at this conference, and continuing to study the dynamic
structure that is a house.
Robyn Cooper
University of Melbourne
Roman domestic religion across the Iberian Peninsula
Keywords: Domestic religion, Roman Hispania, shrines, spatial analysis
With the expansion of Rome into the Iberian Peninsula, new gods and cult practices were incorporated into the daily lives
of its population. Using domestic cult spaces as a source, this paper seeks to explore the development and relationship
between cult practice and the Roman home across the Iberian Peninsula. Domestic cult spaces allowed for religious
practice to be carried out within the home and so can reveal much about how a residents’ religious beliefs inuenced
their wider domestic sphere. Several methods including space syntax have been utilised in order to analyse domestic cult
spaces focusing on function, accessibility, visibility, and decoration. Data from the 2nd century B.C. to the 5th century A.D.
has been collected to allow for the investigation of domestic cult practice over time. By also comparing this data to that
seen in Pompeii and Herculaneum, this paper seeks to increase our understanding of not only Roman domestic religion in
the Iberian Peninsula but also throughout the wider Roman world.
Robyn Cooper is currently completing her Master of Arts at the University of Melbourne. Her thesis titled “Romans, Religion,
and Residences. Investigating the relationship of domestic cult spaces and Roman homes throughout Pompeii, Herculaneum,
and the Iberian Peninsula,” aims to provide the most comprehensive and up to date study of Roman domestic cult spaces.
Through the analysis of over 800 domestic cult spaces, her thesis seeks to increase our understanding of not only Roman
domestic religion but also how cult practice inuenced and interacted with the wider domestic sphere.
Tamara Lewit
University of Melbourne
It takes a village... Social capital in rural communities of the late antique Levant
Keywords: Late Antiquity, rural villages, eastern Mediterranean, monasteries, wine and oil technologies.
In examining the archaeological remains of ancient villages, we often focus on their material characteristics – housing
and other buildings, vegetation and animal husbandry, pottery and material culture. Yet a living community is far more
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than its material parts. The proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” does not refer to a physical village but to people
and their networks, or “social capital”. Social capital has been dened as relationships between people or communities
that form resources analogous to nancial or material resources. This paper explores how we might deduce elements
of social capital within rural villages in the 4th to 6th century CE Levant through examination of their material remains,
along with modern and ethnographic parallels. It will be argued that late antique Levantine villagers could draw on
varied sources of social capital, including household networks, engagement in Christian or Jewish congregations, and
communities of practice within production. It is proposed that these sources of social capital enhanced productive, trading,
and technological capacities of such late antique villages.
Tamara Lewit is an Honorary Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne
and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London. Her main area of research is the archaeology of late antiquity,
particularly wine and oil production and eastern Mediterranean villages and monasteries. Her recent publications include:
‘Innovation in wine-making technologies: The role of local artisans and farmers’ in D. Van Limbergen, E. Dodd and
M. S. Busana (eds) Vine-growing and winemaking in the Roman world (in press) and ‘A viewpoint on eastern Mediterranean
villages in late antiquity: Applying the lens of Community Resilience Theory’ Studies in Late Antiquity 4.1 (2020).
Day Two, Stream One:
Session 6: Violence in the Mediterranean World
Matthew S. Crum
University of California, San Diego
Understanding the Churches of Kythera as a Response to Insecurity
This paper presents ndings from an ongoing study of the medieval settlement patterns on the small Greek island of
Kythera. It attempts to situate several of these churches within their landscape as a response to the violence and insecurity
that many parts of the island faced during the Byzantine-Roman and Venetian periods of rule on Kythera. The medieval
history of Kythera is marked by the presence and persistent threat of violence. In such stories, churches and the saints
associated with them gure prominently in the defence of the island and its inhabitants. However, the architectural features
and specic location of some of the island’s churches suggest that they served an additional role beyond spiritual centres
of protection. Rather, I suggest that some of these churches were part of a local defensive network that provided cphysical
protection from and advanced notice of potential threats. Such an interpretation can advance our understanding of the
locations of these churches, many of which stand outside of the island’s medieval settlements. Moreover, it provides insight
into how local populations responded to potential threats of violence by developing their own networks independent of
the imperial powers who governed the island.
Matthew S. Crum is a PhD candidate at the University of California, San Diego. My dissertation, “Unbecoming Romans,”
studies Romanness as an ethnic identity on the geographic margins of the Roman state, or Romanía, between the 7th and
11th centuries. I am also a member of APKAS (the Australian Paliochora-Kythera Archaeological Survey), which is in the
process of publishing its ndings.
Frederico Agosto
UNIARQ – Center of Archaeology of the University of Lisbon; CFUL – Center of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon
The violence inherent in the system! The idea of violence in the scope of western European megalithism: concepts, discourses
and materialities
Being a concept that possesses a long genealogy, the idea of violence has dotted the prehistoric discourses in Europe,
where megalithism – hereby understood as all forms of the megalithic phenomenon – has become a prime stage for this
discussion.
Initially, the idea of violence in prehistory was commonly framed between the of a noble savage or a violent barbarian,
but, lately, violence has started to encompass a wider range of realities and materialities, bolstering its conceptual
robustness. Moreover, the archaeological record has long given us a multitude of evidence for violent conicts in Europe,
such as the neolithic sites of Achenheim and Bergheim in Alsace–Lorraine (France), or even contexts of cannibalism and
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sacrice in the neolithic site of Cournanel (Aude, France).
The megalithic phenomenon in the Iberian Peninsula also serves as an empirical basis for the discussion of such topics
(e.g., San Juan Ante Portam Latinam, Álava, Spain), where multiple examples of violent encounters and social instability
are visible, temporarily framed between the 4th and 3rd Millennium BCE.
In our paper we proposed to discuss the denition and concept of violence and presenting the materialities and contexts
associated with violence within the megalithic phenomenon, while framing it within the overall discourse on violence in the
study of megalithism.
Frederico Agosto is a researcher in UNIARQ – Center of Archaeology of the University of Lisbon and in the CFUL –
Center of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon, with a M.A in Archaeology developing a PhD project beginning in 2023
that fuses Philosophy, Prehistory and Landscape studies. His interests dwell in Archaeological Theory, Practical Philosophy,
Aesthetics, and the Iberian Prehistory of the 5th-3rd millennium BCE, as well as the synergies between Philosophy and
Archaeology. in Western Europe.
Alex Michael Elliott*
University of St Andrews
Rui Mataloto
Municipality of Redondo, Portugal
Viriathus, Sertorius, or Somewhere In between? Castelo de Cuncos and Warfare in Southwestern Iberia during the Later
Republican Period
Roman literary sources describe numerous wars of conquest taking place in the Southwest of Iberia during the later 2nd
and early 1st centuries BC. Despite the near century long period of intermittent warfare, existing accounts are vague and
generally treated as an aside to the more well-known conicts of the era. As a result, it is unclear how many campaigns
took place or in what areas they occurred. Castelo do Monte Novo (known locally as Castelo de Cuncos) is a substantial
fortied settlement situated in the Central Alentejo of modern Portugal. The largest known Late Iron Age site in the region,
early investigations revealed wide stretches of vitried walls and a ceramic assemblage appearing to end in the late
2nd/early 1st century BC, perhaps suggestive of a sudden or violent abandonment. In 2019, the Castelo de Cuncos
Archaeological Project was established to learn more about the site’s occupation, particularly its potentially abrupt
ending. This presentation will present the results from our rst several years of excavation and will investigate whether
it is possible to link the archaeological signs of destruction and warfare with the conicts known from literary sources.
Additionally, several related archaeological sites will also be discussed, framing our research within the greater regional
and chronological contexts of Southwestern Iberia in the Late Iron Age/Roman Republican period.
Alex Elliott (Presenting Author) is a PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews whose research is centred on the
Roman military, especially its often-overlooked naval elements. Alex's PhD focuses on a re-appraisal of the development
and use of naval forces in the Later Roman Empire (3rd - 6th centuries). In addition to his PhD work, Alex has worked on
several archaeological excavations in the Alentejo, Portugal. Currently, he is the co-director of the Castelo de Cuncos
Archaeological Project, excavating an Iberian oppidum which appears to have been abandoned during the conicts of
the late Republican period.
Rui Mataloto is the archaeologist and cultural ofcer for the Municipality of Redondo, Portugal. He holds an MA in
Prehistory and Archaeology from the University of Lisbon and has worked as a professional archaeologist in the Alentejo
region for over a decade. He also served as a researcher for UNIARQ, the Center for Archaeology at the University of
Lisbon, as vice president of the PortAnta Archaeological Cooperative, and founding board member of Western Iberia
Archaeology. He has published extensively on the archaeology of Alto Alentejo, including the Carta Arqueológica de
Redondo (2001) and many articles on topics in the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman Republican periods. Rui's research
interests encompass lithics, prehistoric landscapes, and interactions between indigenous Alentejans and Roman settlers.
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Day Two, Stream One:
Session 7: Violence in the Mediterranean World
Tülin Kaya
Istanbul University/Austrian Academy of Sciences (Andreas Külzer’s Lab)
War and Violence in Byzantine Anatolia (7th-9th C. AD): An Archaeo-Historical Approach
Byzantine Anatolia is characterised by a period of warfare between the 7th and 9th centuries that had an impact on the
movement of patterns and communication networks, as well as the dynamics of urbanisation. From the 7th century onwards,
major structural changes occurred in the urban fabric, such as the construction of monumental city walls or the strengthening
of existing ones to make cities heavily fortied; the construction of hilltop, walled refuge areas within urban boundary;
changes in the status and context of urbanisation from ‘urban collapse’, ‘shrinkage’, or ‘localisation’, to ‘impoverishment’;
and urban settlements becoming military bases. Warfare caused unrest in urban areas and communication networks,
which was exacerbated by Arab raids into Anatolia. Historical and archaeological data show that many cities were
closed and transformed into fortied towns, militarised for security and the movement of troops. In this regard, this study
provides an archaeo-historical approach on the ways in which war and violence affected changes in urbanisation, and
communication networks in Byzantine Anatolia.
Tülin Kaya earned a BA in History from Gazi University in Ankara, an MA in Archaeology from the same university, and
a PhD in Settlement Archaeology from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. Between 2003 and 2010,
she worked on several archaeological projects in Turkey, including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Crude Oil Pipeline Project led
by British Petroleum and the Avkat Archaeological Project by Princeton University. Tülin’s doctoral dissertation examines
Byzantine Routes and Communications in Anatolia between the 4th and 9th centuries. She is currently a GIS specialist
candidate and an associate’s degree student in Geographic Information Systems at Istanbul University. She also maintains
contact with Prof. Dr. Andreas Külzer of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and is in a Post-Doc interview with him, and is
now a member of Prof. Külzer’s Lab. For more information, see https://www.researchgate.net/lab/Andreas-Kuelzer-Lab
Matthieu Hagenmüller
Sorbonne University (Paris)
Commemorating Victory: a comparison between private and royal war iconography in ancient Egypt
From Karnak to Abu Simbel, many New Kingdom temples depict the Egyptian kings’ victories in Nubia, Libya, and Asia.
They are signicative of the military culture at the end of the 2nd millennium and of a new penetration of war in Egyptian
society. It is thus remarkable that no private tomb from this period contains representations of war. Eleven tombs, from the
Old to the Middle Kingdom, nevertheless include such images in their decoration. Although these two bodies of evidence
do not date from the same period, I think a comparison can be drawn between them.
Following my ongoing PhD research on private iconography, I wish to ask three questions. The rst is about propaganda,
and how we t this complex idea into ancient documentation: how can we describe private images which were put on
tombs’ walls, and how the question of their visibility impacts the relationship we must assume between the artists, the
patron, and the audience? Secondly, how are represented the protagonists? While we can speak of heroisation in the case
of the New Kingdom king, tomb iconography follows a different organisation, with few recognisable individuals. Also, can
we differentiate different ways of portraying enemies, especially when they are foreigners? Finally, I would like to focus
on some elements that are present in only one of these bodies of evidence and try to understand the absence in the other.
One of the most striking differences is the military camp in Ramesses 2nd’s reliefs, completely lacking in private images.
Matthieu Hagenmüller is a PhD candidate at Sorbonne University, under the supervision of Chloé Ragazzoli. He studies
the iconography of violence in private funerary decoration, especially war, punishment and rendering of accounts scenes.
He has presented papers in a few symposiums, in France, the UK and Canada.
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Jennifer Webb
La Trobe University
Identifying violence within a Middle Bronze Age community in Cyprus
Prehistoric Bronze Age Cyprus has long been regarded as comprised of peaceful villages with a low level of internal
socioeconomic differentiation and few differences between sites and regions. This picture is signicantly challenged,
however, by the large number of bladed weapons, primarily spearheads, which have been found on the north coast,
and in particular at Lapithos where ownership or at least burial with a weapon had become common by the MBA. This
investment in weaponry suggests that violence (real or imagined) and associated bodily practices were a signicant part
of the lived experience of the community at Lapithos, and that status, authority and maleness were being reied here
and manipulated in the burial process in a way that appears not to have been the case elsewhere. This may be linked
to the exposure of north coast communities to the wider world through sea-borne trade and the likely role of Lapithos in
the management and distribution of Cypriot copper. It may also be linked with the construction of fortresses on transport
routes from the copper mines to the north coast, preguring structures previously thought not to have been in place until
the LBA. Thus, a new picture of Cyprus in the MBA is emerging, one in which the threat of violence not only served as an
avenue for negotiating internal status but was directed outward to safeguard alliances and monopolise the accumulation
of goods at a time of increasing competition for control over resources and signs of unrest across the island.
Jenny Webb studied Classics and Ancient History at the University of Melbourne and subsequently at the British School of
Archaeology at Athens, where she undertook a PhD on the architectural and iconographic evidence for ritual practice in
Late Bronze Age Cyprus for the University of Melbourne. She has held teaching positions at the University of Adelaide, the
University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. She held an Australian Research Council Fellowship at La Trobe University
from 1998 to 2002 and has co-directed excavations at Marki, Deneia and Politiko in Cyprus. Jenny is currently Adjunct
Professor with the Archaeology Program and Editor-in-Chief of Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, a monograph
series published in Sweden by Astroms Forlag. She is also Senior Research Fellow with the University of Cyprus.
Day Two, Stream One:
Session 8: Violence in the Mediterranean World
Helen Nicholson
Kalliope Consultancy
Men behaving badly
There are almost 100 representations of armed and athletic satyrs found on Attic red and black gured vessels. In other
words satyrs are depicted with attributes normally associated with Athenian citizens. As such they strike at the heart of
men’s military responsibilities and civic aspirations and conict with personal, individual experiences of the Athenian
citizens the satyrs parody. The resulting ambiguity and the hilarity expressed in armed and athletic satyrs would confront
serious masculine concerns and play on their fears and anxieties. In war, individual self-interest was pitted against
group survival. War is the ultimate competition. Armed satyrs, therefore, represent the antithesis of Athenian citizens by
subverting and playing out their serious concerns. In other places and times it has been shown that these concerns are
addressed, and group cohesion and identity reinforced, through the visual and dramatic arts. Image and performance
are considered to be two sides of the same coin, and to reect the cultural milieu from which these imaginary zoomorphic
gures arose.
In the 1990s Helen Nicholson (BA Hons I, MPhil) researched representations of armed and athletic satyrs on Attic
red and black gured pottery of the sixth and fth century BCE but her resulting MPhil has collected dust ever since
it was submitted. She has always sought to share the stories archaeology can reveal and there is a good story behind
these representations of satyrs. Helen currently works as an archaeology consultant in Sydney and has wide ranging
teaching experience from the numerous lectures, workshops, programs and overseas study tours she has delivered to
undergraduate, adult, museum, school and professional audiences over the last 30 years.
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Yvonne Inall
Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens
Eye of the Tiger? Helmet-Headed Aryballoi and the construction of Martial Identities
The period 620-550 BC saw the limited production of a range of plastic aryballoi forms in the shape of a helmeted
head. Geralyn Lederman, in her doctoral thesis Athletes, Warriors, and Heroes: The Helmeted-Head Aryballos in its Archaic
Greek Context (1998) suggested that these vessels were representative of young warriors forming their martial identities
in gymnasia. Taking this premise as a starting point, this paper will explore how the vessels functioned to construct martial
identities in this primary context, as well as their secondary contexts as funerary vessels, which served to construct martial
identities in death as well as in life.
Yvonne Inall holds a BA (hons) and MPhil in Classical Archaeology from the University of Sydney was awarded a PhD
in History by the University of Hull (UK). Yvonne’s research focusses on Iron Age weapons and warfare, violence and the
construction of martial identities in the Mediterranean, Northwest Europe and Britain. She also conducts research into
memorialisation practices and was a postdoctoral fellow on the Remember Me Project at the University of Hull from 2015-
2018. Since 2018 she has been a Project Ofcer at the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens.
Day Two, Stream Two:
Session 5: Epigraphy in Mediterranean Archaeology: Texts and Contexts
Francesca D’Andrea
Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
What can a cippus tell us? Dening the private properties: some examples from the Esquiline Hill in Rome
The Esquiline Hill, located at the eastern periphery of the imperial city of Rome, should be considered as a hybrid space,
where lavish dwellings stand alongside tombs, aqueducts, sanctuaries, and commercial areas. Although it is not an easy
task for scholars to delineate borders within this multifunctional area, this paper puts the spotlight on the boundary
markers (inscribed cippi) as one of the most reliable sources for locating and dening public and private properties.
This study intends to collect and analyse the cippi from the Esquiline, considering their twofold nature as archaeological
monuments and written documents. Particular attention will be paid to the boundary markers dening the distribution of
élite properties (horti),and to a discussion of the history and topography of these peripheral residences during the Imperial
age. The paper will start with the contextualisation of the cippi in light of the heterogeneous corpus of other sources
available, to better specify the appearance and location of these properties. Attention will then shift to the epigraphic
texts. Interestingly, the identication of the property owners mentioned by the epigraphic and literary sources will reveal
their strong connection with the emperors, thus demonstrating the imperial concern for control over strategic urban areas
through the donation of land to family members and to the emperors’ most-trusted men. Ultimately, this study will show
the political and ideological meaning, just as the economic and social advantages, derived from the appropriation of
coveted estates on the Esquiline, which will prove itself to be a political landscape.
Francesca D’Andrea currently collaborates with the Scuola Normale Superiore in various projects, including the
archaeological excavation in Agrigento and the implementation of GIS technologies. In 2020, she obtained her PhD at
the Scuola Normale, with a project focusing on the topography of the Esquiline Hill in Rome. Previously, she earned the B.A.
and M.A. degrees at Sapienza Università di Roma. Her master’s thesis focused on the archaeological and epigraphic study
of a group of imperial tombs, discovered in Rome near the Porta Maggiore. She completed the post-graduate program
(Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici) at the Università Statale in Milan, where she studied an epigraphic
collection housed near the Tomb of the Scipios. Her research interests include Roman archaeology and topography, Latin
epigraphy, Roman history, history of archaeology, and she relies heavily on the digital humanities and archival work
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Jessica McKenzie
Macquarie University
Carving outside the lines: Negotiating epigraphic texts, contexts, and constructions of identity between Sicily and Italy in the
Roman period
The Strait of Messana separates Sicily and Italy by only a few kilometres of famously turbulent sea. The primary cities
on its shores – ancient Messana on the Sicilian coast and Rhegium on the Italian – had a long history of collaboration
and division that saw the maritime boundary between the cities serve as a connective hinterland in the Roman period.
Moreover, the cities had been Greek colonies long before the arrival of Rome, and they maintained a strong Greek
identity long into the Roman period. Despite the transformative processes of cultural and political change that so heavily
inuenced other major cities of Sicily and south Italy, we see in Messana and Rhegium different dynamics of identity being
negotiated, as those peoples visible through the epigraphic record balance a multiplicity of identities.
This paper, which draws from my PhD, explores these negotiations of identity through the epigraphic records of Messana
and Rhegium in the Roman period, demonstrating how identities were negotiated, challenged, and performed on the
boundary between Italy and Rome’s rst province. Through the examination of key inscriptions, this paper will explore the
societal pressures and processes that directed these negotiations of identity, the degree to which the urban and natural
spaces of the Strait inuenced these negotiations, and offer conclusions that open future avenues for how we study ancient
identities through inscriptions in boundary regions.
Jessica McKenzie is an ECR Ancient Historian and Archaeologist from Macquarie University, Sydney. Her research
interests are the identities, environments, and literary depictions of Graeco-Roman Sicily, historiography, spatial theory,
and classical reception. They were the Gale Award holder at the British School at Rome for 2020, the Queens Club Award
holder for 2022, and are currently developing a book based on their PhD entitled ‘The Strait of Messina in the Roman
Period’.
David Serrano Ordozgoiti
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
The Global Impact: The Image of Emperor Gallienus’ Power (253-268) through the Latin Epigraphy of the Entire Roman Empire
The study of the III century A.D., at the turn of the High Imperial and Late Antiquity researches, has been able to assist a
recent renewal thanks to the new data, in a maximum of archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic nature, and to the
new techniques of study undertaken, among which the deepening of the image of power. Following these methodological
principles, we propose to reconstruct, through the Latin epigraphic trace, the image of power congured in the entire
Roman Empire by one of the most important and enduring emperors of the period of military anarchy, as is the case of
the emperor Gallienus (253-268). The most interesting statistics will be highlighted and compared through the view of
the different epigraphic realities, such as Occidental, Italic, Central or Eastern provinces. After Valerian's capture from
Sapor I in the East, different usurpers rise against Gallienus's central power. We will therefore analyse the changes in
Gallienus's Latin epigraphic image during his joint government with Valerian until 260, and then his resilience during his
solo government until 268, paying special attention to the types, enclaves, provinces, devotees and deities most used
in each period. Finally, new questions and new investigations for the future of the study of the image of power will be
proposed.
David Serrano Ordozgoiti holds a Bachelor in History from the UCM (2015) and Inter-college Master in History and
Antiquity Sciences UAM/UCM (2017). He is an Extraordinary Prize Upon Graduation in History and has worked on
various research projects on Antiquity in the CSIC and the Epigraphic Archive of Hispania UCM. He has also participated
in several research colloquia and scientic meetings and collaborated in archaeological excavations in Spain and Italy.
He is currently in the process of defending his PhD entitled “Image and self-representation of the Emperor Publius Licinius
Gallienus (253-268)”.
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Day Two, Stream Two:
Session 6: Metalwork and meaning
Zozan Tarhan
Soa University St. Kliment Ohridski
Near Eastern Motifs on Cretan Metalwork: New Observations
Keywords: Crete, Ancient Near East, cultural inuence, Iron Age, metalwork
The present paper deals with the Near Eastern motifs on Cretan metalwork considered to be records of relations between
the cultures and some form of Near Eastern inuence. The artefacts under discussion are as follows: a bronze tympanon
found at the Idaean cave as an object of dedication, a bronze shield dedicated at the Idaean cave as well, and a bronze
shield discovered in the necropolis of Orthi Petra, in tomb A1/K1, near to Eleutherna. The analysis is based on the study of
concrete elements in the scenes, compared with other similar motifs and artefacts from Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and The
Levant. Thus, the paper provides some new observations and it would contribute to the studies of Eastern Mediterranean.
The time between 1200–600 B.C. is a period of demographic, economic, socio-political and cultural changes for the
Greek world, concerning especially Crete. The role of Crete is more specic, which is connected to different factors,
including its geographic position. The complex relations preceded the period before 1200 B.C., but from the late 9th
century B.C. the island established active contacts with the other Greek regions and the Near East. These contacts are the
reason to emerge the apparent Near Eastern inuence on the material culture, especially on Cretan metalwork.
Zozan Tarhan's research interests of are focused in the eld of Ancient Near Eastern Studies and in topics such as Near
Eastern inuence in Ancient Hellas and Thrace.
During her bachelor’s and master’s studies, Zozan Tarhan enriched her academic knowledge obtained at Soa University
St. Kliment Ohridski by means of two academic stays abroad – at Trakya University in Edirne and University of Warsaw
– focusing on Ancient Near Eastern and Classical Archaeology. During her doctoral studies, Zozan Tarhan acquired
specialised knowledge and skills in the eld of Assyriology at the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Julius
Maximilian University of Würzburg.
Zozan Tarhan received her PhD degree from Soa University with a dissertation entitled “Authority and Ideology in the
Early Neo-Assyrian Empire (934–745 B.C.)”. Afterwards, she participated in a Cuneiform Epigraphy Masterclass which
took place at the Department of Assyriology at Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg.
Ronak Hossini
The University of Melbourne
A re-evaluation of the meaning, context and cultural inuences of the Etruscan bronze lamp of Cortona
Keywords: Etruscan, Cortona, oriental cult, Dionysus, phiale
This work addresses three unresolved problems with the Etruscan bronze lamp of Cortona; its iconographic meaning,
primary context, and prototype. Drawing upon various literary sources and additional iconographic evidence, some of
the previous theories will be proven as insubstantial. Subsequently, this survey rst proposes a new date for the Cortona
lamp. Following this, new identities will be proposed for the key gures on the lamp which allows all the gures to be part
of acoherent mythological narrative. These new ndings lead to the conclusion that the iconography of the Cortona lamp
is a manifestation of Dionysian thiasus and that it was a cult object associated with the mystery cult of Dionysus plausibly
located in Vulci rather than Cortona. It will be shown that the lamp belongs to the Oriental artistic repertoire and its
iconography was derived from prototypes from the Black Sea region dominated by Scythian and Thracian counterparts.
This research project also contributes to refuting the concept of “Dionysism without Dionysus” in Archaic Etruria.
Ronak Hossini received her Bachelor of Arts in Information Technology (IT) from York University (Toronto) in 2013. She
worked in the IT industry untilApril 2020. She recently graduated with a Grad-Diplomadegree in classical studies and
archaeology from the University of Melbournein 2022.Her primary research interest is in cross-cultural encounters in the
Archaic period with a special focus on transmission of knowledge, cult practices as well as human mobility from the East
towards the West, particularly to central Italy.
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Elizabeth Thomas*
University of Liverpool
Filomena (Floriana) Salvemini
Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
Revealing the Secrets of Egyptian Mirrors through Neutron Techniques
Keywords: Metallurgy, Neutrons, Non-destructive, Manufacture, Reections
Egyptian mirrors produced desirable reections of their owners; this leads to research questions concerned with how ancient
Egyptian people viewed themselves. However, the literature draws on cultural evidence to address these questions, or
treats them as art focusing on their visible physical attributes in order to draw conclusions. Investigation into the function of
the metal itself is lacking, with comments limited to ‘made of bronze’ or ‘polished to almost gold’. Metallurgical analyses
are the only means with which to determine the technical choices made during manufacture.
Neutron-based techniques have been demonstrated to be the most suitable tools to qualitatively and quantitatively
characterise composition and micro-structural properties of metal artefacts in a non-destructive way. These methods aid
the reconstruction of the manufacturing processes and explore any changes in the composition of metals. They have only
recently been applied to archaeological materials and have not yet been conducted on Egyptian mirrors, artefacts where
there are important questions about manufacturing methods that have yet to be satisfactorily addressed. The insights
that the identication of such changes may provide regarding technical skill, production cost, functionality, and the social
signicance of mirrors will add important knowledge to our understanding of Ancient Egypt.
We will present the preliminary results from the investigation of four Egyptian mirrors from the Nicholson collection in the
Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney.
Elizabeth Thomas* is an AHRC funded PhD researcher at the University of Liverpool investigating the metallurgy of
Egyptian mirrors. Elizabeth has been studying Egyptian mirrors since undergraduate level and to date has analysed over
60 mirrors from UK collections.
Filomena (Floriana) Salvemini is an instrument scientist on the neutron imaging instrument DINGO in Australia's Nuclear
Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). She brings expertise in the area of neutron imaging and diffraction for
the investigation of Cultural Heritage, physical metallurgy and archaeometallurgy.
Day Two, Stream Two:
Session 7: Reports from the eld and the lab
Robert Brown*
Melite Civitas Romana Project (Co-Director) / Australian National University
Andrew Wilkinson
Melite Civitas Romana Project (Co-Director)
Towards a new Understanding of the Roman Domus, Mdina, Malta. The Melite Civitas Romana Project 2022 Field Season
overview
In 2019 a collaborative team from Heritage Malta, the University of South Florida, and Intercontinental Archaeology
used GPR to reveal tantalising targets worthy of investigation at the Roman Domus in Mdina Malta and the extant
archaeological environment. In 2022 an exploratory excavation program began across the site. Although the results
are preliminary, the initial results conrmed the location of previous excavations, details of the 1881 and later museum
construction, evidence of Arabic graves, and previously unidentied structures. The chronology of nds from bronze age
through to modern times is indicative of the complexity of a site with long period of use.
The Melite Civitas Romana Project is a multinational exploration of the Domus, 100 years after the last large scale, yet
largely unpublished, excavation of the site. The aim of the project is to gain a better understanding of the site and the
surrounding archaeological environment making use of 21st century technology and methodologies.
This paper serves to give a brief overview of the project and some standout results from the June 2022 eld season.
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Robert Brown* is a PhD Candidate at the Australian National University undertaking research in archaeology with a
focus on Roman Malta. He is also a co-director and one of the founders of the Melite Civitas Romana Project currently
operating in Mdina, Malta. Rob has a strong research interest in the expansion and infrastructure of the Roman State and
how that inuenced the colonies, provincial centres, and peoples of the Mediterranean region. With over a decade of
experience in the eld in Pompeii he is also a senior Ancient History teacher and HSC Pompeii specialist in NSW education
as well as a Sessional Academic at Macquarie University.
Andrew Wilkinson is a long serving consultant archaeologist working for an Australian rm as well as completing an MA
at Flinders University in Roman Archaeology. He is also a co-director of the Melite Civitas Romana Project. Andrew has an
interest in Roman domestic and commercial spaces, and the association of these spaces within the broader Roman economy
and maritime landscape. As an ex-service member, Andrew is also interested in the archaeology of the Australian military
and supports programs utilising archaeology for accessibility and veteran recovery.
Melissa Kennedy, Hugh Thomas
The University of Sydney, University of Western Australia
Results from the Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, AlUla and Khaybar Excavation and Survey Projects
2018-2022
Keywords: Saudi Arabia, Holocene, Monumentality, Survey, Excavation
A vital preliminary to the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) developing AlUla county has been to document its rich
archaeology. To accomplish this, it established an extensive landscape survey with the Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia – AlUla (AAKSAU) project tasked in early 2018 to record the county’s vast hinterland. In early 2019, the
Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia –Khaybar (AAKSAK) project was created to survey Khaybar County,
when parts of the region were placed under RCU’s remit. The University of Western Australia projects utilise remote
sensing, aerial archaeology by helicopter, ground survey and targeted excavation to document and record the extensive
and exceptional archaeology of the AlUla hinterland and parts of Khaybar.
This paper presents the results of the AAKSAU and AAKSAK projects after four years work, which has documented more
than 20,000 sites dating from Palaeolithic through to the present. This paper also outlines the results from the targeted
excavation programme, which has explored Neolithic mustatil as well as a monumental Bronze Age funerary landscape
that traverses both regions. Finally, this paper presents new information on a series of as-of-yet unknown structures that
are unique to the region and are the amongst the county’s oldest structures.
Melissa Kennedy (Ph.D. 2012, The University of Sydney – presenting author) is a Research Fellow at the University of
Western Australia and is the Co-Director of the AAKSA project in northwest Saudi Arabia. She has undertaken eldwork
in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Greece and Australia. Her research interests lie in the Early to Middle Holocene
archaeological landscapes of the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula.
Hugh Thomas (Ph.D. 2013, The University of Sydney) is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia
and is the Co-Director of the AAKSA project and a Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Sydney. He has performed
eldwork in Saudi Arabia, Greece, Cyprus and Australia. His research interests include burial rituals in antiquity, UAVs,
3D recording, and thermal infrared imaging.
Arzak Mohamed*
Chau Chak Wing Museum and Macquarie University
Virginia Ho, Kerry Head
Chau Chak Wing Museum
Conservation and rehousing of 2 and 3-dimensional papyrus at Chau Chak Wing Museum: Technical report
Ancient Egyptians used papyrus plants to prepare writing supports from the Third Millennium BC to the Eleventh Century
AD. These sheets represent a vital source of historical, scientic, and religious information from ancient civilizations.
This report primarily shows the steps of the conservation and re-housing of papyrus NMR 408.1 at the Chau Chak
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Wing Museum, University of Sydney, in addition to some fragments and a small-sized roll. The process involved digital
photography documentation, and primary investigations, such as measuring the papyrus thickness, acidity value, and
testing the sensitivity of the ink, while the treatment included cleaning, consolidation, and re-housing. Re-housing the at
fragments was conducted by placing the papyrus between two sheets of glass sealed with Filmoplast tape; a particular
method for housing the 3D papyrus roll was designed using environmentally friendly materials in order to save the
papyrus and facilitate access and handling for the papyrologist, analyst, and conservator for future study.
Arzak Mohamed holds a Bachelor of Archaeology from the Conservation Department, Fayoum University, Egypt and
a Masters degree in Conservation of Archaeological Materials, Cairo University, Egypt. She worked as a Teaching
Assistant from 2006 to 2013 and Assistant Lecturer from 2013 till now at the Faculty of Archaeology, Fayoum University.
She spent one year as a Visiting Researcher at Grimwade Centre of Conservation, Melbourne University, from 2018 to
2019. She was also a Visiting Research Fellow at RMIT University from September 2018 to January 2019, working to
evaluate the effects of nanomaterials in the deacidication of archaeological papyrus. She is currently undertaking her
PhD in the School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University (with the support of an iMQRES scholarship) in the analysis of
archaeological materials using X-ray uorescence, X-ray diffractometry, Raman, FTIR Spectroscopy, and SEM Microscopy.
In 2022, she was appointed as a papyrus conservator at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney.
Day Two, Stream Two:
Session 8: Epigraphy in Mediterranean Archaeology: Texts and Contexts
Peter Keegan
Macquarie University
Female participation in epigraphic culture: a revision of the received tradition
Did women see, commission, and set up inscribed objects and monuments that line Roman roads outside city walls? Did
they read, interpret, and appropriate what these material and textual memorials represented? To nd answers to these
questions, we need to know something about the ability of women of variable age, ethnic origins, social afliations, and
power, to produce and consume words and images in epigraphic form. We also need to identify the various contexts
where women interacted with private Latin inscriptions.
Moving beyond the potential for participation to conceivable situations for involvement, this paper will examine specic
categories of female participation in civic activity: regional attestations – CIL 12.1687 (Tegianum, 2nd/1st century BCE);
CIL 12.1837 (Trebula Putuesca, 1st century BCE); CIL 12.2544 (Sulmo, 1st century BCE); CIL 12.1610 = CIL 10.1213
(Abella, 1st century BCE); CIL 12.1597 = CIL 10.4263 (Campania, 1st century BCE); CIL 12.1588 = CIL 10.4052 (Capua,
1st century BCE) – and epitaphs from the city of Rome – CIL 12.1295 = CIL 6.16608; CIL 12.1296; CIL 12.1301; and
CIL 6.29436 (similarly dated, tentatively, to the 1st century BCE). This should provide a sense of the degree to which
expressions of literate production and consumption within the epigraphic environment permeated the lifeways of the
peninsular Italian and metropolitan Roman population. Importantly, such a survey will foreground instances of female
participation in the ancient epigraphic environment, across boundaries of status afliation, economic classication, and
ethnic origin.
Peter Keegan is a Professor in Roman History at Macquarie University. His research ranges from sexuality and body
history to the spatial dynamics of social relations in urban and periurban contexts and the epigraphy of ephemeral
grafti and death. Publications relevant to the proposed paper include Inscriptions in the Private Sphere in the Greco-
Roman World (Brill 2015), Grafti in Antiquity (Routledge 2014), Roles for Men and Women in Roman Epigraphic Culture
(Archaeopress 2014), and Written Space in the Latin West 200 BC to AD 300 (Bloomsbury 2013).
Federica Fumante
Università degli studi di Salerno
Iuvilas inscriptions: fakes and authenticity; contextualisation of inscriptions
The corpus of iuvilas, so called for the term iuvilas which only occurs here, is a group of oscan inscriptions comes from
ancient Capua. These inscriptions are an unicum, in the entire Sabellic area, for the 1) structure and nature of the texts
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themselves - which mention a religious ritual in the presence of a magistrate -, 2) the iconography which codies part of
the information, 3) the almost constant mention of calendar data. Most of the texts come from the Patturelli Fund, where
there was an important pre-Roman sanctuary dating back to the middle of the 6th century BC.; only a few, probably,
from Tirone Fund. In particular, deserve to be taken into account the relationship between the distribution of writing in
relation to the supports, as well as the placement and arrangement of the stelae in the context. Our analysis began
with the reorganization of what is already known and its relative misunderstanding, through a reconsideration of recent
innovations of the corpus itself, but also of broader acquisitions of languages and cultures of pre-Roman Italy over the
past thirty years. The research started with the review of the extra-linguistic context which the linguistic data in the
texts refer to. The revision of the historic-archaeological aspect was fundamental: the current knowledge of the contexts
of iuvilas excavations, from the discovery to the present day, have been reviewed at the light of unpublished archival
documents. The research aims to contribute to Italic philology and increase knowledge of the languages and cultures of
pre-Roman Italy.
Crawford, Michael: 2009 «The fondo Patturelli Sanctuary at Capua: excavation and interpretation», in Cahiers du Centre
Gustave Glotz, vol. 20, pp. 29-56.
Duhoux, Yves: 1988 «A propos des inscriptions osques dites "iúvilas" et du texte vetter 94 in A Linguistic Happening in
Memory of Ben Schwartz, ed. Y. L. Arbeitman, « bcill », pp. 333-348.
Franchi De Bellis, Annalisa: 1981 Le iovile capuane, Firenze.
Heurgon, Jacques: 1942 Etude sur les inscriptions osques de Capoue dites iúvilas, Paris.
Im.It. = M. Crawford, Imagines Italicae, London, 2011.
Lejeune, Michel 1990: «Capoue: iovilas de terre-cuite et iovilas de tuf», in Latomus 49, pp. 785-791.
Federica Fumante is PhD in “Classical antiquities and their fortune: archaeology, philology and history” at University
of Rome Tor Vergata (2021). Her dissertation, jointly supervised with École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris), is a
“Contributions to a re-edition of the corpus of the Capuvan iuvilas inscriptions”. This project, focused on Oscan inscriptions
of South Italy (Campania), providing a critical edition of the texts accompanied by a detailed archeological and linguistics
comment. To achieve this goal she found and studied inedited ancient manuscripts, written in Italian and Latin, collected
in Campanian (South Italy) historical archive and library. Her research interests concern historical linguistics (especially
languages of ancient Italy and writing systems), dynamics of language change, metaphors and cognitive linguistics,
sociolinguistics, interlinguistics, South Italy Dialects, palaeography, archaeology. Currently she teaches comparative
linguistics at ‘University of Salerno’. Her linguistics contributions concerned Latin (phenomena of grammaticalizations,
cognitive metaphors, numerals) and modern languages (metaphors and interlinguistics).
Ludovico M. Bevilacqua, Lorenzo Calvelli
Ca' Foscari University of Venice
The Nicholson Epigraphic Collection at the Chau Chak Wing Museum: Geographic Provenance and Educational Goals
This paper will examine the history of the Nicholson Epigraphic Collection, today kept at the Chau Chak Wing Museum of
the University of Sydney. At its largest extent, as recorded in the 1945-48 catalogue published by Arthur Dale Trendall,
the collection consisted of 71 funerary inscriptions (66 written in Latin and 5 in Greek). Almost all the inscribed monuments
(68/71) were collected, along with hundreds of other ancient objects, by Sir Charles Nicholson (1808-1903), the English
founder of the University of Sydney (1850), during two trips across Italy made between 1857 and 1858. His aim was
to establish the rst Australian Museum of Antiquities, which was founded in 1860 and became known worldwide as the
Nicholson Museum. Our paper will focus on two points. On the one hand, we will try to identify the provenance of the
inscriptions by examining unpublished archival evidence and Nicholson's original passport, now kept in USyd's Archives.
This is an outstanding document, which lists precisely all the locations that the Englishman visited during his trips to Italy. On
the other hand, we will investigate Nicholson's colonial approach to antiquities, in order to better understand the criteria
upon which he selected ancient monuments and to clarify the goals of the educational project that led him to create the
largest collection of classical inscriptions of the southern hemisphere. Our presentation is part of a wider international
collaborative research project between the Ca’Foscari University ofVenice and the University of Sydney, coordinated by
37
Prof. Lorenzo Calvelli and Candace Richards, which entails the participation of both humanists and experts in conservation
science.
Ludovico M. Bevilacquais* a prospective PhD candidate working on Ancient History and Latin Epigraphy. In 2022, he
graduated with honours in the Master’s Degree Programme in Ancient Civilizations: Literature, History and Archaeology of
the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy). His MA dissertation was dedicated to the analysis of the Nicholson Epigraphic
Collection kept at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, which culminated in a 3-month mobility period in Sydney (March-June
2022), thanks to an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility (ICM) scholarship.
Lorenzo Calvelli is an Associate Professor in Ancient History at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice. He has been a
Research Fellow at the Universities of London, Harvard and Princeton, and a Visiting Scholar at Sydney and Oxford.
His research focuses on the uses of the past, on writing as a medium for conveying complex ideas, and on the notion
of forgery in relation to digital epigraphy. From 2017 to 2021, he was the Principal Investigator of a major research
project sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Education on forged ancient inscriptions, which involved more than 50 scholars
from all over Italy. He currently represents Italy in the Committee of the International Association of Greek and Latin
Epigraphy (AIEGL). He also coordinates the Ca' Foscari Research Institute on Digital CulturalHeritage and is a member
of the Executive Board of the Center for Cultural Heritage Technology, which was established in Venice in 2019 with
the purpose of ensuring the digital and physical preservation of cultural heritage through Articial Intelligence,
Machine Learning and advanced 3D digitisation techniques.
Day Three, Stream One:
Session 9: Investigations across the Roman Empire
Natasha Heap*
University of Southern Queensland
Sarah Blessing
Cyprus Institute of Science / Wrexham Glyndwr University
Michael Given
University of Glasgow
Xenia Kyriakou
Florida Gulf Coast University
The Kourion HookIncisor: a new nonmetric dental trait
Keywords: Bioarchaeology, Roman Cyprus, Dental Anthropology
Excavations at the Kourion Amathus Gate Cemetery (KAGC)in Cyprus, conducted by Danielle Parks between 1995
and 2000,identied twenty-twocist graves dated between the 4th–6thcentury A.D. representing a mixture of Christian
and pagan burial practices (Given et al. forthcoming).Preliminary analysis of the human remains from the cist tombs
revealed aminimum number of individuals (MNI)of 79, comprising bothadultsand subadults(Parks & Chapman, 1999).A
detailed bioarchaeological analysis of the comingled remains from KAGC has commenced. The work includes an
analysis of the dental nonmetric traits to investigate population connections in the region. During the analysisa previously
unrecognisednonmetric dental trait was identied.An analysis of 959permanent teeth lead to the identication of the
“KourionHook Incisor” in 26incisors (central and lateral). The “KourionHook” trait has been rst identied onthe island
of Cyprusand the high prevalence of the trait suggests that it may be population or region-specic. Broadly, the goal
of dental morphological analysis is to improve the understanding of population relationships at both large and small
scales, at both global and more regional levels(Edgar & Ousley, 2013; Willermet et al., 2013).The identicationand
then analysis of previously unidentied nonmetric traits in populations willstrengthen this tool. With the identicationof
the Kourion Hook incisor we hope that other researchers will include this trait in their work so a stronger understanding
of this prevalence of this trait, both temporally and geographically, can be gainedstrengthening our understandingsof
populationconnections.
Natasha Heap* has a BA in ancienthistory from Macquarie Universityand a MPhil in biological anthropology /
bioarchaeology from James Cook University. She has excavated and completed post excavation analysis of skeletal remains
in Laos and most recentlyin Cyprus as part of the team analysing the Kourion Amathus Gate Cemetery population. Her
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research interestsfocus on dental morphology, biodistance, population connections, palaeopathologyand the application
of archaeological/ osteoarchaeological methods in forensic and disaster victim identication. She is soon tocommence
her PhD research in Roman bioarchaeology. Natashais a former airline pilot whoworks as a lecturer in Aviation at the
University of Southern Queensland.
Rory McLennan,* Glenys McGowan, Amelia Brown
The University of Queensland
Duncan Keenan Jones
The University of Queensland, The University of Manchester
Investigating the development and dispersal of ancient waterproof mortar lining technology in 1st century BCE – 4th century
CE Roman Italy
Keywords: Mortar, Italy, Technology, Trade, Microscopy
Human attempts to control water systems has been a long-term process, but methods became increasingly complex and
archaeologically visible in Eurasia during the ancient Mediterranean as growing expertise in construction paved the
way for a new scale of conspicuous water consumption. This process peaked under the Roman Empire, where thousands
of monumental hydraulic structures enabled unprecedented levels of water consumption. Facilitating the proliferation of
Roman water networks were distinct innovations in water-proof lining mortar technology in Italy during the 3rd century BCE.
Extensive study has gone into understanding the complex physical characteristics that gave Italian cementitious materials
their renowned durability, strength and water resistance, however, limited archaeological research has investigated the
wider socio-economic and political factors that enabled the spread of this specialised technology. Collecting mortar
specimens from numerous structures in Naples, Pompeii and Rome, that range from the 1st century BCE – 4th century CE,
this research used microscopy and digital image analysis to identify and quantify key attributes in Roman mortars. From
this, several socio-economic factors that contributed to the dispersal of Roman mortar technology across Italy could be
identied, such as the exible use of locally available resources to maintain economic feasibility, as well as evidence of
consistent efforts to improve mortar quality over time. This research produced new insight into how specialised construction
materials developed in the Roman Empire and provides future pathways to investigate how specialised technology moved
across the ancient Mediterranean, and what impact this had on the success of Punic, Greek and Roman communities.
Rory McLennan (presenting) completed a rst-class honours investigating diachronic change in ancient waterproof mortars
from Roman Italy in 2021. Building on this pilot study, Rory is continuing to research Roman cementitious technology through
a Master of Philosophy also at The University of Queensland, which looks to expand their research to investigate the role
neighbouring technological traditions from Hellenic and Punic cultures may have had in inuencing early innovations in
Roman concretes and mortars.
Duncan Keenan-Jones is Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Queensland. His research focuses on the
relationship between environment, technology and society in the past, especially in the ancient Mediterranean and in
Australia, as well as how these can help us manage this relationship today. He has current projects on the climate, ooding
and water management in ancient Italy and oodplain management in Australia's channel country, as well as how Roman
mortar developed and why it is so durable.
Glenys McGowan is a Lecturer in Archaeology in the School of Social Science. Glenys' teaching focus is on forensic
archaeology, bioarchaeology, historical archaeology, and archaeological science. She researches site conditions and
human behaviours that cause the deterioration or preservation of human remains and personal effects in forensic and
archaeological contexts. Glenys has expertise in the microscopic analysis of manufactured materials, including textiles,
pottery, mortars, and metals.
Amelia R. Brown is Senior Lecturer in Greek History & Language in the Classics & Ancient History discipline of the School
of Historical & Philosophical Inquiry, at the University of Queensland, Australia. Her current research focuses on Late
Antiquity, Greek religion and Mediterranean maritime history, particularly in Roman Corinth, Thessaloniki and Malta. 'She
has excavated at Halasarna (Kos), Polis (Cyprus), Ancient Messene and Corinth, and is currently completing books on
Corinthian history and Mediterranean Maritime Religion.
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Gijs Tol
University of Melbourne
A 5000-piece puzzle: untangling the provenance and interpretation of the terra sigillata stacks from Podere Marzuolo (Tuscany,
Italy)
Keywords: Terra Sigillata; ancient trade; pottery production; Early Imperial period; Podere Marzuolo
This presentation focuses on the famous terra sigillata stacks from the nucleated rural centre of Podere Marzuolo in inland
Tuscany. These stacks comprise c. 400 fragmented, but fully reconstructable vessels of terra sigillata, the emblematic ne
ware of the early Imperial period. Half of this deposit was excavated in the early 2010s by the Roman Peasant Project
and was at the time interpreted as the result of on-site production of the ware. The recent excavation of the second part
of the stacks by the Marzuolo Archaeological Project, and a subsequent study campaign during which these vessels were
painstakingly reconstructed, now allows us to explore alternative interpretations for the stacks.
Gijs Tol is a senior lecturer in Roman Archaeology at the University of Melbourne. He obtained his PhD from the University
of Groningen (The Netherlands) in 2012, and subsequently worked as a post-doctoral researcher and lecturer at the same
institution. His main research interest is the study of Roman (rural) society and economy. He leads landscape archaeological
eldwork in the former Pontine Marshes (southern Lazio, Italy) and co-directs excavations at the Early Imperial period
artisanal centre of Podere Marzuolo (Tuscany). Some of his recent publications include ‘An integrated approach to the
study of local production an exchange in the lower Pontine Plain’ (Journal of Roman Archaeology 29, 2016) and the
co-edited volume Rural communities in a globalizing economy: new perspectives on the economic integration of Roman
Italy (Brill, 2017). Together with A/Prof Astrid van Oyen (Cornell University/Radboud University Nijmegen) he is currently
working on a handbook on Roman Rural Archaeology, under contract with Cambridge University Press.
Day Three, Stream One:
Session 10: Australasian Women in Ancient World Studies Sponsored Panel
Amelia Brown
University of Queensland
Interest in female agency in the arts is at an all time high, with the example of contemporary to Renaissance and medieval
creators of painting, sculpture and music all the subject of intense study. The archaeology of the ancient world is just
beginning to follow suit, however, with recent explorations of women making and illustrating painted pottery (Murray
2020), and composing the choral and lyric songs which they are shown performing (Klinck 2008). Progress has also been
made on researching the production of textiles from the home to industrial scale, and in family-based businesses of all
varieties, from Piraeus’ factories to Eumachia’s fullers’ building on the Forum at Pompeii. After giving a survey of these
various forms of female artistic and artisanal production, this paper will go on to discuss how some common assumptions
about the arts in Antiquity and the present still impede our better understanding of ancient gender-based roles and
realities in the arts and craftsmanship, and the wider Greek, Roman and Mediterranean societies which created and
consumed art, and artefacts. This AWAWS-sponsored panel will then proceed with two Australasian-based scholars
of the ancient world who explore questions of gender, artisanal production and artefact use in their research. Paige
Maunder discusses her MPhil research into the artefactual signature of women and children at the Roman legionary fort
and town of Vindolanda. Beatrice McLoughlin will then conclude the panel with a conversation on the trajectory of her
research on potters working at the Early Iron Age settlement at Zagora, Andros, through the lens of the anthropology of
[ceramic] technology. This has been a journey from the 1990s attempting to characterize potting traditions as carefully
non-gendered signiers of identity and mobility of skilled practitioners in the “colonization period”, to the 21st century.
Her research seeks to create spaces for stories of gendered crafting as an integral part of resource specialization within
complex dynamic networks of household economies in the 1st millennium BCE, freed from the corsets of western Hellenism.
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Paige Maunder
University of Queensland
Families of the Frontier: Women and Children at Vindolanda
This paper examines the presence and role of women and children in the auxiliary fort of Vindolanda. Roman authors
were dismissive, contemptuous, or seemingly ignorant of the presence of families within military communities. In his Annals,
Tacitus claimed that within women, ‘there were elements apt, by luxury or timidity, to disable the business of peace
and war,’ indeed, that the Roman frontiers were no place for wives (Tac. Ann. III.33). Roman military scholarship has
been shaped by this perspective. The activities of war have continued to fascinate researchers, sometimes at the cost of
providing a social history of the Roman army. This paper will ll this niche, analysing the rich, archaeological resource
that is Vindolanda to argue that women and children were both present and productive members of military communities.
Building on Penelope Allison’s pioneering use of GIS (Geographic Information System) to analyse archaeological data
from several Roman military sites in Germany, this paper will map the presence of female- and child-related objects
onto the settlement at Vindolanda, demonstrating that both women and children were present across time and space. It
demonstrates that, despite literary assertions that families were a detriment to the army, relationships between soldiers
and civilians were established and bore children. The resulting families supported fort life by providing entertainment,
food and other goods, and future soldiers, in other words, by providing a whole and complex community.
Paige Maunder is a current Master of Philosophy (Ancient History) student at the University of Queensland. Her thesis
concerns the presence of women and children in Roman military communities in northern England. In addition to her
research, she works at the RD Milns Antiquities Museum as a tour-guide, and at the Queensland Museum as a Visitor
Experience Ofcer.
Day Three, Stream One:
Session 11: Analysing wall paintings
Lambros Tapinos
The University of Melbourne
Minoan Frescoes and Heterotopia: Creating Ritual Spaces and Visual Language at Mari, Alalakh, Tel Kabri
This paper interprets the meaning and function of Minoan decorative patterns discovered at the Palace of Zimri-Lim at Mari
and frescoes discovered at the Palace of Yarim-Lim at Alalakh and Canaanite Palace at Tel Kabri. Images are juxtaposed
with comparanda to identify cultural idioms, syntax, and semantic relationships, which help determine symbolic meaning.
The analysis reveals iconographic elements such as grifns, bucrania, sacred gardens, and epiphanic birds, retained
religious symbolism across temporal and cultural milieus – although acculturated to the needs of the receiving culture.
Erwin Panofsky’s iconological approach is used to contextually interpret the frescoes and read the visual language, which
aligns with palace rituals and divine kingship ideology. Frescoes complemented the architectural space they decorated,
acting as a backdrop for ceremonies or mnemonic devices, like a photograph capturing activities occurring in the palace.
Michel Foucault’s heterotopia is employed as an analytical tool to interpret painted rooms where elites gathered for
diacritical feasting and ceremonial rituals. Foucault describes heterotopia as a physical space, which through illusions,
reshapes reality and perceptions of other worlds, which are contradictory, paradoxical, and incompatible with our own
but required for a specic purpose in society. Architecture and paintings were the main tools for this transformation, while
sensory devices and other archaeological assemblages contributed to the illusion. Lime plaster was also perceived to be
manufactured with esoteric knowledge under divine patronage and together with religious visual language created a
heterotopia of the rulers’ utopian landscape conducive to ceremonial rituals and diacritical feasting.
Lambros Tapinos has completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (Advance) within the Discipline of Classics and
Archaeology at The University of Melbourne (2022) completing an Honours Thesis under the supervision of Professor
Louise Hitchcock. Previously, Lambros completed a Masters' Degree in Ancient History at Macquarie University (2016).
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Polymnia Synodinou
University of Crete
Byzantine wall paintings in Venetian Crete: the case of Hagioi Apostoloi Church at Kavousi (14th- 15th centuries)
Keywords: Crete, Byzantine Art, Byzantine archaeology, Venetian Occupation, Iconography, Iconographic programme
Byzantine art in Crete (1211- 1669) is well known due to the numerous small orthodox churches that arose during the
Venetian Occupation in the Cretan countryside. The vast majority of instances remain unpublished today. The current
announcement uses the church of Hagioi Apostoloi in Kavousi village in the Ierapetra region of Crete as a case study.
The church, covered by a tiled gable roof, has at least two superimposed layers of wall paintings, and we could witness
among the scenes, a dedicatory portrait with an inscription, scenes from the Festival, Dogmatic and Eschatological Cycle,
gures of saints, and numerous engravings. This announcement aims to contribute to the Byzantine archaeology and
History of Art of the Cretan hybrid, shed light on the architecture and iconographic programme of Hagioi Apostoloi
church and investigate the religious artistic milieu in eastern Crete during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Polymnia Synodinou is a current post graduate student at the MA Program in ByzanMne and Medieval Studies at the
University of Crete (Greece) in the eld of Byzantine Archaeology and History of Art. She has worked as an archaeologist
in numerous excavaMons in Greece, and she has received scholarships from the University of Crete for auxiliary work and
from the Foundation for Education and European Culture in Greece. Her scientic interests are the study of art in Venetian
Crete, western inuences in Byzantine Art, History of Costume etc.
Day Three, Stream Two:
Session 9: Digital humanities and archaeology
Thomas J. Keep
The University of Melbourne
My B*stard of a Summer: Photogrammetry work on the Marzuolo Archaeological Project, Jezreel Valley Regional Project, and
Plain of Gioia Tauro Survey Project
Photogrammetric modelling of archaeological sites and excavated materials has become best practice for eld
documentation, facilitating the quick recording and storage of high quality data, sharing research internationally, and
providing a highly accurate visual representation for comparing ongoing excavations over and between seasons. In May-
August of 2022, I acted as photogrammetrist on the the Marzuolo Archaeological Project, Jezreel Valley Regional Project,
and Plain of Gioia Tauro Survey Project, each of which had particular intentions and applications of photogrammetric
modelling. This paper will discuss and compare the photogrammetry methodologies and outcomes of these projects, while
also introducing a eld photogrammetry recording sheet developed by the author to record notes and relevant metadata
while undertaking photography and photogrammetry processing.
Tom Keep is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne researching the applications of 3D modelling and virtual reality
of rural archaeological sites for improved public interest, comprehensibility, and preservation. He has recently returned
from three Mediterranean archaeological projects where he acted as an assistant area supervisor, photogrammetrist,
topography assistant, and nds photographer. These projects were the Marzuolo Archaeological Project in Tuscany, Italy;
the Jezreel Valley Regional Project in Legio, Israel; and the Plain of Gioia Tauro Survey Project in Calabria, Italy. He has
previously completed the Hellenic Museum Digitization Project, and is continuing to work on the Mernda VR Project and
the Sacrice interdisciplinary art project.
Emily Tour
The University of Melbourne
"Pots don’t breed”: An exploration of the applications of phylogenetics in archaeology, and the debate around its suitability
Phylogenetics is an area of study focused on determining ancestor-descendant relationships between species by identifying
the nature and extent of shared heritable traits between them. Originally developed within the eld of evolutionary
biology, it has been increasingly used as a tool in archaeological analysis since the 1990s. Applied to artefacts as
varied as stone tools and snow skis, phylogenetics is seen as offering a more data-driven and experimentally-grounded
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approach to understanding issues of classication, chronology and cross-cultural connection, than what is offered through
more “traditional” comparative methods in archaeology.
In this paper, I will explore some such case studies, including the use of phylogenetics in my own research into the
administrative systems of the Bronze Age Aegean. Through these examples, I will aim to highlight the many advantages
phylogenetics can offer to researchers in our eld, as well address as the debate around whether theories and tools
developed for the purposes of understanding biological processes are equally as valid in the study of material culture.
I will also consider how the capabilities of phylogenetics have also been signicantly enhanced through ongoing digital
advances, with both a range of software available to support more advanced and accurate analysis, and the ability to
harness other digital methods, including photogrammetry for shape analysis.
Lieve Donnellan
University of Melbourne
The contribution of drone photography to the study of urban architecture in Haliartos (Boeotia, GR)
The study of urban architecture in Ancient Greece has primarily been (and still is) conducted through excavations.
Increasingly, and often within the context of intensive ceramic survey, archaeological projects include the study of remains
of standing architecture, visible on the surface, in their study. The survey of architecture comes with its specic challenges
and problems, especially if the aim of the survey is the coverage of an extensive size of terrain, such as is the case with
ancient Greek poleis, which usually covered several ha. Archaeologists have rapidly discovered the versatility, speed and
relatively low cost of consumer drones to study extensive remains of urban architecture, as well as extra-urban features
such as fortications, which are often located on inaccessible locations to exploit the natural topography maximally. Drone
photography can indeed add and even partially substitute traditional methods of archaeological documentation, but the
method comes with their own procedures, which have not been standardized and pose specic challenges. This paper will
reect on some practices and uses of drone photography in the study of Haliartos (Boeotia, GR).
Lieve Donnellan is Lecturer in Classical Greek Archaeology at the University of Melbourne. Lieve obtained her MA and
PhD degrees at the University of Ghent in Belgium in 2012 and next embarked on an international career covering the
US, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark before joining UoM in 2020. Lieve’s research interests include the so-called
ancient Greek colonisation in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, urbanisation phenomena in Ancient Greece and urban
architecture as well as the application of digital tools in archaeology such as network analysis and drone photography.
Day Three, Stream Two:
Session 10: Digital humanities and archaeology
Thomas Romanis
Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens
Centring Student Training in the Digital Humanities
The digital humanities are becoming an increasingly vital part of archaeological research, with advancements in technology
generating new and exciting ways to connect audiences with heritage and archaeological materials. Geographical
mapping software, digital archives and databases, and 3D modelling have found ways to interest increasing demographics
with history, many of which would not typically go to a museum or archaeological site. To build upon these developments
and to successfully integrate these technologies into archaeology, the training of students in the digital humanities is a
crucial responsibility. Opportunities for Australian students to develop these skills and learn such practices, while growing,
are still limited.
The Digital Horizons Project is a student training initiative created by the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens.
The DHP offers training in over a dozen skills and practices relating to the digital humanities, such as GIS usage, archive
digitisation, database development and maintenance, public engagement, and photogrammetry. The archaeological
materials and data that form the basis of these training roles are the AAIA excavations at the Iron Age Greek site of
Zagora. Hosting a hybrid in-person and online platform, the DHP offers opportunities for students from six Australian
universities throughout the country. Within three years, 37,000 archaeological records have been processed within the
AAIA’s database system and 145 students have been involved.
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This paper will examine the advantages to offering students online training opportunities when it comes to their
archaeological education. Discussions will also be made on the limitations and considerations to the hybrid model when it
comes to providing strong engagement from university students.
Thomas Romanis is the Director of the Digital Horizons Project, and the Coordinator of Volunteer Programming at the
Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens. He received his Masters of Museum and Heritage Studies from the University
of Sydney in 2020, and received his Bachelor of Ancient History from Macquarie University in 2018. His current research
focusses on the digital humanities, and uses of technology in engaging audiences with archaeological materials.
Daniel Carvalho
UNIARQ; LAQU; FCT
On VR as a “Time Machine”. How virtual reality impacts Archaeology and its engagement with Digital Humanities
The uses of VR (Virtual Reality) span across multiple areas and applications. From the videogame industry to manufacturing,
medical inquiries and education, this new form to present and, in some senses, engage with visual data in entire novel ways.
As this stream of technology advanced, its potentialities have increased as well and, as we argue in this communication,
Archaeology has a capacity to greatly benet from it. As VR enables us to travel to fabricated worlds, archaeologists’
interpretations of the Past can be constructed in 3D environments and be experienced. In other words, VR permits us,
archaeologists, to view, touch, and dwell within the ideas of the Past – structures, sites, contexts.
In this paper, we want to discuss how VR can be used as a “time machine” and allows for otherwise impossible experiences
in traditional forms of archaeological engagement and narratives. With a reection on the possibilities and opportunities
of this technology in archaeological sites, we strive to open the debate on the impact of VR for the divulgation of the
discipline and for a democratization of knowledge among different publics.
Daniel Carvalho is a PhD student and a researcher at UNIARQ (Center of Archaeology of the University of Lisbon)
and LAQU (Quantitative Archaeology Lab of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona), being funded by FCT (Foundation
for Science and Technology). His research interests are Articial Intelligence and Robotics applied to Archaeology,
Archaeological Theory and Contemporary Archaeology.
Bianca Casa,* Valentina Vassallo, Rahaf Orabi, Sorin Hermon
The Cyprus Institute
Peter M. Fischer
University of Gothenburg
Hand-held tools for rapid, detailed 3D documentation of archaeological sites and public outreach: A case study from Late
Bronze Age Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus
The need for rapid, cost-efcient, and detailed eld documentation against time and budget constraints has plagued
archaeologists for centuries. iPad Pro LiDAR and the Polycam application were used to stratigraphically document tomb
mortuary contexts and human skeletal remains in situ during excavations at Late Bronze Age Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus.
This technique enables rapid 3D data capture of archaeological contexts in minutes, compared to traditional recording
methods. A combination of geometry and texture were captured through the photogrammetric technique, generating a
mesh that can be digitally combined into a scaled and layered 3D model. The results are high-resolution 3D models of
mortuary contexts, with ne details such as bone positioning/articulations and artefacts assessable in situ with an error
margin of less than 1cm accuracy. Archaeological contexts can be 3D scanned in minutes, exported in various le formats
and merged into a single 3D model using open-source software (e.g. CloudCompare, MeshLab). The workow may be
learned in less than one day. The output can be exported in several formats (e.g. PLY, STL) and accessed using standard
computer software or converted into web les for dissemination on websites. This tool provides a digital stratigraphic
diary of archaeological deposits that may be preserved and restudied. The generated 3D models can be viewed
layer by layer, observed from all axes, and metrically measured. 3D models are valuable tools for public outreach,
particularly through digital cultural heritage platforms, including EpHEMERA, an online 3D database system for visualising
and analysing endangered architectural and archaeological heritage in the southeastern Mediterranean area.
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Bianca Casa* is an Australian PhD candidate and Graduate Research Assistant at the Cyprus Institute, Nicosia Cyprus.
She completed a BA Hons (1) in archaeology at the University of Queensland, Australia, and an MSc in Bioarchaeological
and Forensic Anthropology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Valentina Vassallo is a Dual PhD candidate in Science and Technology in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the
Cyprus Institute, Nicosia Cyprus and in Archaeology and Ancient History at Lund University Sweden. She obtained a
MA in Conservation of Cultural Heritage – Archaeology from La Tuscia University, Italy and a MA in Conservation and
Management of Cultural Heritage from University of Cassino, Italy. Currently. she holds a position as a research assistant
at the Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC) of The Cyprus Institute.
Rahaf Orabi is a Research Technical Specialist at the Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research
Center (STARC) of The Cyprus Institute.
Peter M. Fischer is a senior professor of Cypriot and Near Eastern Archaeology at The University of Gothenburg,
Sweden. He is the director of the New Swedish Cyprus Expedition and the director of excavations at Late Bronze Age
Hala Sultan Tekke Cyprus. Peter is a member of the Swedish and Austrian Academies of Sciences.
Sorin Hermon is an Associate Professor in Digital Cultural Heritage at the Cyprus Institute.
Stephen Gray, Tamar Hodos
University of Bristol
Virtual Reality and artefact collections
Over the past two years, the University of Bristol Library and Department of Anthropology and Archaeology have been
developing Virtual Reality (VR) experiences to allow users to interact with 3D scanned collections of artefacts in more
active and engaged ways than allowed by ubiquitous passive digital presentations of cultural heritage. We have used a
collection of Mediterranean antiquities held by the University of Bristol, the Blandford Bequest, as our pilot project.
This paper shares the development of our initiative from its rst step of 3D scanning of the Blandford Bequest objects.
It explains how we established collaborative VR research spaces, where researchers can work together to interrogate
objects in ways which would be impossible in the real world, and it outlines how we have produced VR archival catalogues
which rene the search & retrieve process using spatial tools. These steps have led to our current undertaking, which is
building the world’s rst persistent VR museum.
Stephen Gray has worked with digital humanities and cultural heritage collections in universities, museums, galleries,
archives and libraries for the past twenty years. His work has an emphasis on digital preservation, conservation and
digitisation. His current role in the University of Bristol Library spans digital scholarship and Open Research.
Tamar Hodos is Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Bristol and curator of the objects in the
Blandford Bequest. She has collaborated in a number of projects with museums such as the British Museum and Bristol
Museums to tell new stories of their holdings through innovative methodologies.
Julia Hamilton, Alex Woods
Macquarie University
Antiquity in the Archive: Redocumenting Beni Hassan in the Grifth Institute Archive, Oxford University
Antiquity in the Archive is a collaborative project between Macquarie University and the Grifth Institute, University of
Oxford, to digitise, catalogue, index and contextualise the archival records produced by the Egypt Exploration Fund’s
(EEF) late-19th century archaeological survey of the ancient cemetery of Beni Hassan in Egypt. The rst part of this paper
introduces the project’s broader aims and aligns it with the growing call for researchers to engage with the materiality of
archival holdings, and to consider archival documents as historical artefacts with complex conditions of production, and
for archives to consider their role as instruments of colonial and institutional power (e.g., in Egyptology: Riggs 2017). An
important outcome of this project will be to produce a free bi-lingual (English and Arabic) public-facing resource, which
will make these archival documents digitally accessible to an international audience and publicise the archive's cultural
legacy. In the second part of this paper, an advance preview of this website will be presented, accompanied by a
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discussion of some of the practical challenges for producing a bi-lingual resource of this nature, reecting on the different
needs of the potential users of this archive.
Bibliography:
Christina Riggs (2017) Objects in the photographic archive: Between the eld and the museum in Egyptian
archaeology, Museum History Journal, 10:2, 140-161, DOI: 10.1080/19369816.2017.1328818.
The current collaborators for the Antiquity in the Archive project are Dr Alex Woods (Macquarie – Lead Investigator),
Sara Hany Abed (Translator), Dr Julia Hamilton (Macquarie – co-Investigator, presenting this talk), Dr Nicolle Leary
(Macquarie/Vienna – research afliate). The pilot stages of the Antiquity in the Archive project have been funded by
CACHE (Centre for Ancient Cultural Heritage and Environment), Macquarie University, and the Macquarie University
Research Acceleration Scheme (2022).
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Notes
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Featured Cover Image:
Ruins of Acropolis of Lindos view, Rhodes, Dodecanese Islands, Greek Islands,
Greece. Acropolis of Lindos, ancient architecture of Rhodes, Greece.
By daliu (Adobe Stock Images)