Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens

The next Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens is entitled "Mortuary Practices and Society".

The Seminar is taking place at 6.30pm, 15th of April 2010 at the Irish
Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens (51a Notara Street, Exarcheia).

If interested in participating, please email the IIHSA (iihsa@hol.gr) to
request the suggested and recommended reading list.

'Diazoma' Association

Source: Diazoma

‘DIAZOMA’ is a movement of active citizens from all over Greece, who are determined to put our esteem for the country’s monuments and cultural heritage into practice.

Ancient theatres are the focus of our interest and our aim is to enhance them, to find funding and, wherever feasible, to include these monuments in the daily life of Greece.
‘DIAZOMA’ introduces to Greece a new pro-active approach to achieving its aims, which relies on citizens and their actions.

Open to all citizens of Greece, ‘DIAZOMA’ seeks to take ancient theatres, this culminating achievement of ancient Greek architecture, under its wing.

Έξωση στο Κέντρο Νεολιθικών Μελετών Διρού

Source: Αρχαιολογία και Τέχνες Online

Υπό έξωση βρίσκεται το Κέντρο Νεολιθικών Μελετών Διρού, το οποίο έχει δημιουργηθεί για τη μελέτη των ευρημάτων από τις ανασκαφές στα ονομαστά σπήλαια της περιοχής. Αιτία είναι η καθυστέρηση καταβολής ενοικίων ύψους 11.600 ευρώ στον ιδιοκτήτη του ακινήτου στο οποίο στεγάζεται το κέντρο. Η αγωγή εξώσεως εκδικάζεται στο Πρωτοδικείο Γυθείου στις 9 Δεκεμβρίου και σε περίπτωση που η πολιτεία δεν ευαισθητοποιηθεί εγκαίρως κινδυνεύει να βρεθεί στον δρόμο επιστημονικός εξοπλισμός πολλών χιλιάδων ευρώ, μια βιβλιοθήκη με 4.000 εξειδικευμένα συγγράμματα και πολύτιμα ντοκουμέντα του ανασκαφικού έργου. Το Κέντρο Νεολιθικών Μελετών Διρού στεγάστηκε σε ένα παραδοσιακό μανιάτικο πυργόσπιτο στον Πύργο Διρού Λακωνίας. Όταν όμως το 2006 ο τότε γενικός γραμματέας του ΥΠΠΟ, Χρ. Ζαχόπουλος διέκοψε τα κονδύλια για τις ανασκαφές που γίνονταν στην Αλεπότρυπα, το μέλλον του κατέστη επισφαλές.

British School at Athens: New Website Launch

Source: The British School at Athens

The British School at Athens is proud to announce the launch of its new website. We have redesigned the site from the ground-up to facilitate public access to the latest information about the School from current events, to available awards, to the on-going projects and research taking place at the School. Whether you are a long-time user or a new visitor, we encourage you to explore our reconceived site in order to learn more about our research and activities and the many ways in which you can get involved. Please check back often: the new site is an active directory of our activities in all domains and will be updated regularly.

History In 3-D: Digitally Archived Works Of Art

Source: ScienceDaily

ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2009) — If you don't have the time to travel to Florence, you can still see Michelangelo's statue of David on the Internet, revolving in true-to-life 3D around its own axis.

This is a preview of what scientists are developing in the European joint project 3D-COFORM. The project aims to digitize the heritage in museums and provide a virtual archive for works of art from all over the world. Vases, ancient spears and even complete temples will be reproduced three-dimensionally.

In a few years' time museum visitors will be able to revolve Roman amphorae through 360 degrees on screen, or take off on a virtual flight around a temple. The virtual collection will be especially useful to researchers seeking comparable works by the same artist, or related anthropological artifacts otherwise forgotten in some remote archive.

The digital archive will be intelligent, searching for and linking objects stored in its database. For instance, a search for Greek vases from the sixth century BC with at least two handles will retrieve corresponding objects from collections all over the world.

3D documentation provides a major advance over the current printed catalogs containing pictures of objects, or written descriptions. A set of 3D data presents the object from all angles, providing information of value to conservators, such as the condition of the surface or a particular color. As the statue of David shows, impressive 3D animations of art objects already exist.

"But we are still a long way from being able to sensibly correlate 3D data between different objects," says Dr. André Stork, Head of Department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD in Darmstadt and a partner in the 3D-COFORM consortium.

Stork and his team are generating 3D models and processing them for the digital archive.

"A 3D scan is basically a cloud of measured points. Further processing is required to map the object properly," Stork explains.

Researchers are developing calculation specifications to derive the actual object from the measured data. The software must be able to identify specific structures, such as the arms on a statue or columns on a building, as well as recognizing recurring patterns on vases. A virtual presentation also needs to include a true visual image -- a picture of a temple would not be realistic if the shadows cast by its columns were not properly depicted. The research group in Darmstadt is therefore combining various techniques to simulate light effects.

Remains of a Minoan-style painting discovered during excavations of the Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri

Source: University of Haifa Communications and Media Relations

The remains of a Minoan-style wall painting, characterized by a blue background, the first of its kind to be found in Israel, was discovered in the course of the recent excavation season at Tel Kabri. This fresco joins others of Aegean style that have been uncovered during earlier seasons at the Canaanite palace in Kabri. “It was, without doubt, a conscious decision made by the city’s rulers who wished to associate with Mediterranean culture and not adopt Syrian and Mesopotamian styles of art like other cities in Canaan did. The Canaanites were living in the Levant and wanted to feel European,” explains Dr. Assaf Yasur-Landau of the University of Haifa, who directed the excavations. READ FULL STORY

Aegeus – Society of Aegean Prehistory

A new society devoted to Aegean prehistory.

Description from the official website and Facebook group.

Aegeus - Society of Aegean Prehistory was officially established on 30 April 2009 as a non-profit organization with research, cultural and educational objectives.

Some of the aims of the Society are:

1. The study, research and dissemination of prehistoric archaeology of the Aegean and the neighboring regions; from the Paleolithic until the Early Iron Age, and comparatively with the subsequent eras.

2. The strengthening of multidisciplinary collaborations and specializations of archaeology, e.g. bioarchaeology, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, etc.

3. The promotion of collaborations with other social sciences and humanities (e.g. philology, social anthropology, etc.).

Thera tsunamis once again...

Source: The New York Times

In the Mediterranean, Killer Tsunamis From an Ancient Eruption

By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: November 2, 2009


The massive eruption of the Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea more than 3,000 years ago produced killer waves that raced across hundreds of miles of the Eastern Mediterranean to inundate the area that is now Israel and probably other coastal sites, a team of scientists has found.

The team, writing in the October issue of Geology, said the new evidence suggested that giant tsunamis from the catastrophic eruption hit “coastal sites across the Eastern Mediterranean littoral.” Tsunamis are giant waves that can crash into shore, rearrange the seabed, inundate vast areas of land and carry terrestrial material out to sea.

The region at the time was home to rising civilizations in Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Phoenicia and Turkey.

For decades, scholars have suggested that the giant eruption, just 70 miles from Crete, might have brought about the mysterious collapse of Minoan civilization at the peak of its glory. The remnants of Thera’s eruption today make up a circular archipelago of volcanic Greek isles known as Santorini.

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Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens

The next Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens is entitled "Imitation in Archaeology".

The Seminar is taking place at 6.30pm, 6th November 2009 at the Irish
Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens (51a Notara Street, Exarcheia).

If interested in participating, please email the IIHSA (iihsa@hol.gr) to
request the suggested and recommended reading list.