Ancient Trade Routes

Communication routes are an important subject in the study of the human past. They allowed interactions between communities and the dispersal of goods and ideas. Their study, therefore, can shed light on the way in which communities inhabited the landscape, related to each other and were affected by macro-regional trends. Many methods, such as archaeomorphological analysis and Least Cost Route modelling (LCR), have been devised and are routinely employed for the reconstruction of ancient routes. Their analysis in terms of communication, trade or historical significance, however, has usually been left unexplored. This is probably due to the connected nature of routes, which form communication networks: these are shaped by interconnected nodes and extend over territories surpassing the regional scale in such a way that even a change in a single node or link can affect the whole network. Consequently, the partial reconstruction of communication networks provided by the aforementioned m...

Communication routes are an important subject in the study of the human past. They allowed interactions between communities and the dispersal of goods and ideas. Their study, therefore, can shed light on the way in which communities inhabited the landscape, related to each other and were affected by macro-regional trends. Many methods, such as archaeomorphological analysis and Least Cost Route modelling (LCR), have been devised and are routinely employed for the reconstruction of ancient routes. Their analysis in terms of communication, trade or historical significance, however, has usually been left unexplored. This is probably due to the connected nature of routes, which form communication networks: these are shaped by interconnected nodes and extend over territories surpassing the regional scale in such a way that even a change in a single node or link can affect the whole network. Consequently, the partial reconstruction of communication networks provided by the aforementioned methods does not usually allow a holistic analysis. In this paper the relatively well understood British Roman road network is employed to explore the analytical possibilities offered by a combination of Social Network Analysis, Spatial Network Analysis and spatial interpolation-based distribution analysis. The British road network has been reconstructed using published data but also a variation of LCR in which cost surfaces are derived from cultural data obtained from large-scale cultural inventories. The distribution of introduced food plants during the Roman period serve as an excellent proxy for the study of trade along the network and its historical consequences. This multi-period archaeobotanical dataset has some evident advantages to other types of material remains: archaeobotanical remains are not reused as, for example, amphorae and, accordingly, they reflect a distribution pattern based on consumption or commerce. Some of them are imported (as they cannot be produced locally) and, consequently, their distribution would be applied through usage of the main routes. The results suggest a continuous inflow of exotics but highlight their changing transport routes, their differential access and the particular weight of certain nodal sites in the development of this commerce with direct impact on urbanisation and the overall economy of Britannia. The Roman road network acted as a major factor in the distribution of sites, their political and economic importance and their permanence or disappearance as global economic trends changed over time.

A cache of artifacts, recovered in 2014 by the cultural heritage squadron of the Guardia di Finanza (Gruppo Tutela Patrimonio Archeologico of the Nucleo Polizia Tributaria di Roma), included two Mycenaean stirrup jars among the pottery illegally brought into Italy from the Northern Levant. The stirrup jar has one of the most distinctive shapes of the Mycenaean repertoire and is found throughout the Mediterranean around the end of the Late Bronze Age. Even if removed from their original context, both of these stirrup jars can be ascribed to a distinctive cultural milieu within a specific chronological range, based upon morphological and stylistic parameters. Furthermore, their good state of preservation suggests that the original context of deposition may have been a tomb. Comparison with stirrup jars found at key sites in the Eastern Mediterranean allows us to re-contextualize them as part of the wide diffusion of Mycenaean luxury goods in the Levant.

SUMMARY: Lecture-3 continues examining the Neolithic period in Anatolia, including trends, with a major focus on Chatal Huyuk, including trade, shrines, burials, clothing, and other aspects of this site (in PART-2), plus a brief summary of the Neolithic in Syria-Palestine, a summary of the parts 1-2 lectures, and selected sources.  This lecture is designed mainly as an educational resource for college students (i.e., normally posted only on my institution's course website), the public (e.g., people auditing my course), and interested colleagues from other disciplines (to whom I provide copies privately).  I am posting it here, both as a broader access, educational tool, and especially to promote the study of this region and its past societies.  For further knowledge about this region and period, I refer interested parties to the textbooks and other sources from which the materials were extracted (see syllabus), and/or the bibliographies in these works and my online resource guides (see other files in my academia folders).  The lecture summarizes the pertinent materials in the course textbook(s), adding in other data, and furnishing numerous images to clarify information encountered within the textbook(s).  Some generic imagery (usually indicated as such) is posted to aid in transmitting various concepts visually, and/or when a specific image remains not located (temporarily).  I update and revise such lectures each time, with such elective courses normally being taught once every two years.  I try to cover the most current, mainstream views, and usually place summary notes at the end of each lecture alongside some of the key sources used for compiling the ppt.  Over time, each lecture is improved, errors rectified, and additional data placed within the lecture.  These ppt. lectures take many hours to compile, but they have proved useful to many of my more serious students and I hope they can be of benefit to others as well.  My apologies for any errors I may have made, and my liberal usage of educational imagery from professional sources and vetted internet sources (new slides, sources, and formatting, Sept., 2020).

This paper examines the influence of inter-vassal strife on interruptions to traditional trade routes in 14th Century Canaan, with particular emphasis on the Egyptian vassal city of Byblos. Rib-Addi, vassal-mayor of Byblos, can be seen in the Amarna letters to frequently complain of a reduced supply of grain, notably from the city of Yarimuta. This lack of grain supply appears to be a significant factor in increasing internal stability problems within the city of Byblos, contributing to the building threat of revolt from the peasantry.

This paper will explore the changing state of trade routes in Canaan of the Amarna Period, during the time of the reigns of Amenophis III and Akhenaton. It will be argued that inter-vassal warfare had a disruptive influence on traditional trade routes in the region, to the detriment of domestic stability in vassal cities such as Byblos. It will be argued further that the issue of grain supply in Canaan was politically significant, with accusations of disruption of grain distribution and misappropriation of resources being reported to Pharaoh from both sides of the dispute.

The early colonial period witnessed new scales of connectivity and unprecedented projects of resource extraction across the Spanish Americas. Yet such transformations also drew heavily on preexisting Indigenous landscapes, technologies, and institutions. Drawing together recent discussions in archaeology and geography about mobility and resource materialities, this article takes the early colonial route as a central object of investigation and contributes to new emerging interpretive frameworks that make sense of Spanish colonialism in the Americas as a variable, large-scale, and materially constituted process. Using three case studies—the ruta de Colón on the island of Hispaniola, the routes connecting the southeastern Caribbean islands with mainland South America, and the ruta de la plata in the south-central Andes—we develop a comparative archaeological analysis that reveals divergent trajectories of persistence, appropriation, and erasure in the region's routes and regimes o...

The paper examines the Near Eastern and Greek dedications at the Sanctuary of Hera in Samos during the 8th to 6th centuries BC. Contextualising the types of dedications and their origins indicate the identity of the dedicators, and whether they were Samians, other Greeks or from the Near East. Much scholarship has been devoted to the Samian Heraion and this paper contributes to these discussions by tracing the socio-economic and political objectives of the dedicators and bringing different theories into a single narrative. The paper presents a selection of votive dedications and connects them to four comprehensive themes and functions: firstly as a political act between states; as a display of social power; the growing trade routes and role of sanctuary markets; and finally, the other modes of contact that emerged, such as mercenaries and pirates. Overall, the Samian Heraion played an essential role as a timely crossroads between the East and West, where the dedication practices shed light on the various groups of dedicators.

Although the Mediterranean Sea was the center of Greek and Roman life, the Red Sea tells another story of the West trying to catch up with Eastern refinement. The trade of the Red Sea has again and again been called into question where extensive bibliography can conveniently be found. My present study, in a way, continues this interest, but with a crucial shift of emphasis. The trade of the Red Sea is not my particular concern as such, though it remains important. My purpose is to weigh how the luxury trade of the Red Sea appeared in Augustan poetry. (1) It is a subject on which two principal lines of thought can be traced: : First: How did this luxury trade affect the literary perspectives of the Roman poets in connection with women? Second: The Roman poets' reflections on this trade. Time and again, I would assist my argument by references to other sources outside the Augustan poetry to give emphasis to the Augustan poetical view. (2) Many Latin texts address the issue of female adornment. Our knowledge of the Roman women's extravagance of getting the luxury products of the East comes from a variety of literary sources, usually and mainly Pliny the elder, Seneca the younger, and the satirists Juvenal and Martial. I would suggest, in this context, to illuminate the evidence of Roman love elegy. (3)

Simpson, E., ed. The Adventure of the Illustrious Scholar: Papers Presented to Oscar White Muscarella. Leiden: Brill, 2018.

The Adventure of the Illustrious Scholar: Papers Presented to Oscar White Muscarella, edited by Elizabeth Simpson, is a Festschrift celebrating the career of one of the foremost archaeologists of the ancient Near East. Oscar Muscarella is a former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a formidable scholar who has excavated at sites in Turkey, Iran, and the United States. He has published eight books and nearly 200 articles, excavation reports, and reviews on topics ranging from the arts of antiquity and the importance of connoisseurship, to the difficulties of dating and the problems of forgeries, the looting of ancient sites, and the antiquities trade. The forty-seven contributors are experts in the areas of Muscarella's interests and are major scholars in their fields. This volume constitutes an unusual, important, and timely addition to the archaeological and art historical literature.

Although archaeoichthyological studies from the Aegean Sea are increasing, the discovery of zooarchaeological remains linked to processed fish from the Classical and Roman Antiquity remains scarce. The earliest faunal material hitherto found in Greece comes from the so-called Punic Amphora Building at Corinth (dating mid-5th c. BC). The abundant fishbone remains found together with Punic transport amphoras have been interpreted as the evidence of considerable trade of tarichos between the West and the Eastern Greek cities as early as the 5th century BC (Zimmermann- Munn 2003). More western Punic amphorae found at Olympia and Athens, as well as some quotes in the Greek literary sources of the 5th c. BC confirm the magnitude of those trading links. The first publication of the archaeological assemblage at Corinth underlined the commercial role of the building, and the presence of the amphorae in the open backyard, but also in other contexts in the surroundings (Williams, 1978, 1979 an...

Worlds Apart Trading Together sets out to replace the outdated notion of ‘Indo-Roman trade’ with a more informed perspective integrating the new findings of the last 30 years. In order to accomplish this, a perspective focusing on concrete demand from the ground up is adopted, also shedding light on the role of the market in long-distance exchange. Accordingly, the analysis conducted demonstrates that an economically highly substantial trade took place between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean in the 1st–6th cen. CE, altering patterns of consumption and modes of production in both India, South Arabia and the Roman Empire. Significantly, it can be documented that this trade was organised at the centres of demand and supply, in Rome and India, respectively, by comparable urban associations, the transport in-between being handled by equally well-organised private networks and diasporas of seagoing merchants. Consequently, this study concludes that the institution of the market in Antiquity was able to facilitate trade over very long distances, acting on a scale which had a characteristic impact on the economies of the societies involved, their economic structures converging by adapting to trade and the market.
NB: See uploaded addenda in paper below 'Worlds Apart Trading Together – addenda'
Available reviews:
—J. Simmons in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018.09.59 (http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2018/2018-09-59.html).
—R. Tomber in Journal of Roman Archaeology 31, II (2018): 948–52.

Ce travail est issu de recherches en cours portant sur toute la région du Dendi. Ces recherches concernent bien d'autres localités et populations que celles dont il est question ici. Des documents supplémentaires sont en préparation. Ce travail est centré sur les Kumate. Cela ne signifie pas que ce groupe soit plus important ou plus ancien que les autres, ou qu'il ait des droits particuliers dans l'accès au pouvoir et à la terre. La place accordée aux Kumate tient à ce qu'ils sont principalement associés aux sites de mémoire étudiés dans ce document. Ce travail est fait avec toute l'honnêteté, le sérieux et le respect que nous devons aux personnes qui nous ont accueillis et ont dialogué avec nous depuis 2011. Comme toute recherche historique, il contient des interprétations qui ne correspondent pas nécessairement au point de vue des personnes interrogées. Ces interprétations sont avant tout des hypothèses, qui doivent être discutées, critiquées, améliorées ou rejetées. Ce travail relève d'un projet strictement scientifique. S'il est destiné à être partagé avec toute personne intéressée, il ne doit et ne peut en aucun cas être utilisé à des fins politiques. La vérité politique est souvent sans lien avec la vérité scientifique et il est toujours dangereux de les confondre. Olivier Gosselain Février 2018 4

In 2015 five ancient coins dating from 276-290/291 AD were found in the cadastral area of Šafléřov. This probably was a scattered hoard or a votive offering. A part of this hoard were also two provincial coins minted in Egyptian Alexandria which is quite surprising. An early medieval equal-armed brooch was later found in the same place, but it is probably not directly related to the coins. This rather interesting assemblage consisting of imported artefacts was found in a landscape which was unpopulated at that time and is probably associated with a historic road connecting South Bohemia and the Danube River region.

Decades of archaeological excavations in Jerusalem have revealed no major evidence of the role of the city as a trade center in the Late Iron Age. One must carefully distinguish the situation in Jerusalem from that in the other regions of Judah. For even though the integration into Assyria’s economy is certainly behind the material prosperity of, for example, the northern Negev sites, the scarcity of imported goods found in the excavations in Jerusalem suggests that the commercial factor played a little role in the city’s growth.

ÖZET: Bizans ve Sâsânî İmparatorlukları arasında akdedilen barış antlaşmalarındaki iktisâdî hükümlerin değerlendirilmesi, bu savaşların arkasında yatan, ticâret yollarının kontrolünden kaynaklı iktisâdî sebeplerin de anlaşılmasını sağlayacak mahiyettedir. 562 yılında akdedilen Dara Antlaşmasının tam metni günümüze ulaştığından, antlaşma metni temelinde inceleme yapılabilmesi mümkündür. Antlaşmanın başlıca iktisadî hükümleri, devletlerarası ticaretin sadece belirli şehirlerle sınırlandırılması, elçilere ve diplomatik heyetlere verilen ticâret izni, her iki devletin tabiyetindeki Arap tüccarların ve tüm diğer tüccarların da Nisibis ve Dara üzerinden mutabık olunan ticari yolları takip etmeleri ve yeni ticari yollar denememeleridir. Bu hükümler, eski antlaşmalar ve yasal düzenlemeler temelinde tetkik edileceği gibi, Iustinianus döneminde yeni ticâret yolları tesis etme çabası, Bizans İmparatorluğunda ipekli dokuma sektörünün teşekkülü gibi girişimler, Sâsânîlerin İpek Yolu’nun ana ticârî güzergâhlarını kontrolünde tutmasının yarattığı sorunlar göz önüne alınarak tarihsel bağlamda değerlendirilecektir. Bu çalışmada, ticari ilişkilerin eski durumuna geri döndürülerek restore edilmesi çabasının Bizans-Sâsânî savaşlarının bir bir boyutunu teşkil etme ihtimali de tartışılacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Bizans-Sâsânî Savaşları, Bizans-Sâsânî İktisâdî ve Ticârî İlişkileri.

ABSTRACT: An evaluation of the economic clauses of the peace treaties that were concluded between Byzantine and Sāssānid Empires, can make us understand the underlying economic factors that was based on controlling the trade routes. Since we have the full text of the treaty of Dara that was concluded between the Byzantine and Sāssānid Empires in 562 AD, it is possible to make a research based on this text. The main economic clauses in the treaty contains the limitation of the interstate commerce by certain cities, the permission to trade of the ambassadors and the diplomatic envoys, and the constraint of the Arabian merchants and all other merchants that are subjects of either state for trying new trade routes and their enforcement to follow the agreed trade routes by Nisibis and Dara. These clauses will be examined on the basis of older treaties and legal regulations,  on the historical context of the effort to establish new trade routes and the attemp to establish the silk weaving industry in Justinian’s times and regarding the problems caused by the Persians' controlling of the main trade routes of the Silk Road. In this work, the possibility of the restoration effort of the commercial relations to its previous state as one of the aspects of the Byzantine-Sāssānid wars, will also be discussed.

Keywords: Byzantine-Sasanian Wars, Byzantine-Sasanian Economic and Commercial Relations.

ABSZTRAKT: A Bizánci és a Sāssānid Birodalom között megkötött békeszerződések gazdasági záradékainak értékelése segíthet megérteni a mögöttes gazdasági tényezőket, amelyek a kereskedelmi útvonalak ellenőrzésén alapultak. Mivel rendelkezésünkre áll a Bizánci és a Sāssānid Birodalom között Kr. u. 562-ben kötött dárai szerződés teljes szövege, lehetőség van arra, hogy a szöveg alapján kutatást végezzünk. A szerződés főbb gazdasági záradékai tartalmazzák az államközi kereskedelem korlátozását bizonyos városok által, a követek és diplomáciai követek kereskedelmének engedélyezését, valamint az arab kereskedők és minden más, bármelyik állam alattvalójának számító kereskedő korlátozását új kereskedelmi útvonalak kipróbálására, és a Nisibis és Dara által megállapított kereskedelmi útvonalak követésére való kényszerítését. Ezeket a záradékokat a régebbi szerződések és jogi szabályozások alapján, az új kereskedelmi útvonalak létrehozására irányuló törekvések és a selyemszövőipar létrehozására tett kísérletek történelmi kontextusában vizsgáljuk meg Jusztiniánusz idejében, valamint a Selyemút fő kereskedelmi útvonalainak perzsák általi ellenőrzése által okozott problémák tekintetében. Ebben a munkában a kereskedelmi kapcsolatok korábbi állapotának helyreállítására irányuló erőfeszítések lehetőségét, mint a bizánci-sāssānid háborúk egyik szempontját is tárgyaljuk.

Kulcsszavak: Bizánci-szaszanida háborúk, bizánci-szaszanida gazdasági és kereskedelmi kapcsolatok.

АБСТРАКТ: Оценка экономических положений мирных договоров, заключенных между Византийской и Сасанидской империями, может помочь нам понять экономические факторы, которые лежали в основе контроля над торговыми путями. Поскольку у нас есть полный текст Дарийского договора, заключенного между Византийской и Сасанидской империями в 562 году н. э., можно провести исследование на основе этого текста. Основные экономические пункты договора содержат ограничение межгосударственной торговли определенными городами, разрешение на торговлю послам и дипломатическим посланникам, а также ограничение арабских купцов и всех других купцов, подданных обоих государств, на новые торговые пути и их принуждение следовать согласованным торговым маршрутам Нисибиса и Дары. Эти положения будут рассмотрены на основе более древних договоров и правовых норм, в историческом контексте попыток установления новых торговых путей и создания шелкоткацкой промышленности во времена Юстиниана, а также в связи с проблемами, вызванными контролем персов над основными торговыми путями Шелкового пути. В этой работе также будет обсуждаться возможность восстановления торговых отношений до прежнего состояния как один из аспектов византийско-сасанидских войн.

Ключевые слова: Византийско-сасанидские войны, византийско-сасанидские экономические и торговые отношения.

The question of trans-Saharan trade in antiquity has recently been illuminated by the results of new fieldwork, principally the Fazzan Project and Desert Migrations Project directed by David Mattingly in the Libyan Fazzan, and the excavations and survey work directed by Mario Liverani around Ghat. The results show an unexpected quantity of Roman imports to Garamantian sites in the Fazzan, and to a rather lesser extent to ancient sites around Ghat, demonstrating cultural contact between the Mediterranean coast and the Libyan Sahara from the 4th c. BC to the 6th or 7th c. AD, with a period of particularly intense contact from the late 1st century  AD onwards, where the quantities of imports are sufficient to allow one to speak of something like a regular caravan trade.
So far however it has largely been the easily recognisable and datable Roman imports that have allowed us to sketch a picture of this trade. Much more enigmatic is the question of what the Garamantes exported to the Roman world from the Sahara, or through the Sahara originally from further south, in return. This chapter reviews what we currently know or might deduce about such Saharan exports, and proposes some avenues for future research. Using a combination of ancient written sources and comparative models from better documented periods, it concentrates particularly on the question of the trade in slaves, carnelian/”carbuncle” gemstones, natural resources such as natron, and foodstuffs including dates and grain. The paper will suggest some archaeological approaches to tracing Saharan exports in the Roman world, and review what ancient written sources suggest about their reception and social/economic significance in the Mediterranean world.

Transport amphoras are exceptional sources for understanding ancient networks. Their frequency and recognisability allow them to visually represent spatial and temporal networks across the ancient world. A case study based on Rhodian, Cnidian and Coan amphoras attributed to the Hellenistic period will show that amphoras can be used as material evidence of networks in the ancient Greek world. However, the transformation of amphoras into network data can result in a distorted picture of such networks if adequate attention is not paid to non-stamped amphoras, different stamping practices and fluctuating volumes of amphoras, which all can have a major impact on the number of amphoras. The pivotal point of the article is its methodological consideration, which intends to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the use of amphoras in network studies.

Sauer, N. 2018. Transport Amphoras as Interlinks in the Ancient World, Skyllis 18.1: 33–41.

ABSTRACT: This lecture provides a summary of the reigns of Ahmose (brief re-capping of previous lecture), Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, and the co-regency of Thutmose III and Hatshepsut.  The lecture outlines the various events and achievements, ranging from each ruler's succession and status, to individual domestic building programs (e.g., temples; monuments), international relations (e.g., expeditions; campaigns), special features within each reign, and the royal tomb, mortuary complex, and furnishings (January 28, 2019). UPDATED: Some new text, images, and bibliography update (Feb. 4, 2021).

From the Contents:
Foreword by Alessandra Avanzini; KHOR RORI: SUMHURAM AND ITS TERRITORY: Vittoria Buffa, Alexander V. Sedov, The residential quarter: Area A; Alexander V. Sedov, Excavations at the trench A13; Alexander V. Sedov, The storage quarter: Area B; Alexander V. Sedov, The cultual quarter: Area F; Alexia Pavan, Alexander V. Sedov, Religious architecture in Sumhuram: the extra muros temple; Alexander V. Sedov, The coins from Sumhuram: the 2001A - 2004A seasons; Alessandra Lombardi, Vittoria Buffa, Alexia Pavan, Small finds; Gabriele Carenti, Barbara Wilkens, Terrestrial fauna and marine produce in Sumhuram; Marta Mariotti Lippi, Roberto Becattini, Tiziana Gonnelli, Arcahaeopalinology at Sumhuram; Mauro Cremaschi, Alessandro Perego, Patterns of land use and settlements in the surroundings of Sumhuram; An intensive geo-archaeological survey at Khor Rori: report of field season February 2006: Alessandra Avanzini, Notes for a history of Sumhuram and a new inscription of Yashhurlil; AMR AL-SHARQIYA: ISLAMIC POTTERY: Axelle Rougeulle, A medieval trade entrept at Khor Rori? The study of the Islamic ceramic from amr al-Sharqiya; scientific surveys: Mauro Raffaelli, Marcello Tardelli, Stefano Mosti, Scientific activity in Dhofar (2000 - 2004): botanical mission of Florence University; Mauro Raffaelli, Marcello Tardelli, Stefano Mosti, Khor Rori natural environment ; Erika Ribechini, Mauro Raffaelli, Maria Perla Colombini, Botanical and chemical characterization of frankincense resin from Dhofar; Erika Ribechini, Maria Perla Colombini, Chemical investigation of the resinous material from Sumhuram; Marta Mariotti Lippi, Pasquino Pallecchi, Cristina Bellini, Tiziana Gonnelli, Investigations on the constructional technique of a mud-brick structure in Sumhuram; Pasquino Pallecchi, Analysis of the mortars used to coat the masonry structures in Sumhuram: preliminary results; dhofar: Mario Dini, Carlo Tozzi, Prehistoric archaeological prospecting in Dhofar; Mauro Raffaelli, Marcello Tardelli, Stefano Mosti, Preserving and restoring the frankincense tree (Boswellia sacra) at wadi Doka: a work in progress; Appendix: Appendix i - Radiocarbon dates and chronological sequence of Sumhuram; Appendix ii - Sumhuram: list of A (ambiente), B (building), M (muro), US (unità stratigrafica); Plates; Authors and Istitutions.

The ribbed fibulae found in Bologna. New remarks. The ribbed fibulae were studied by Raffaele C. de
Marinis who proposed a typology of the exemplares of the G. I period (from the 9th to the 7th century BC): the discs
type is the most ancient (G. I A1), followed by the Mörigen type (G. I A2), the Castelletto Ticino type (G. I B) and,
finally, the Ca’ Morta type (G. I C). Starting from some fibulae found in Bologna, inside the S. Francesco hoard, in
some graves of the San Vitale cemetery (graves nr. 66, 777 and 778) and of the Villanova-Roveri (grave nr. 27), the
typology of the ribbed fibulae is reconsidered as well as their distribution outside the Golasecca culture.
During the G. I A1 phase there seems to be in use the discs type fibula (De Marinis), documented only inside the
Golasecca territory, together with the small ribbed fibulae, mostly diffused outside the Golasecca culture, and the
worm type, again typical of the Golasecca culture. The Mörigen type is subdivided in the classic type, a production of
the Golasecca culture, and the large and flat ribs one, probably made by workshops outside the Golasecca culture.
The Castelletto Ticino type, subdivided into two varieties and the Ca’ Morta type are documented both inside and
outside the Golasecca culture.
The distribution of this kind of fibulae, pertaining exclusively to the female dress, outside the Golasecca culture reveals
the moving of some high rank women especially towards the eastern area of Northern Lombardy: to Bologna, the center
of the exchanges, Este and many places along the Adige valley which was an important route to the central Europe regions.
Once again there is a strict link between female ornaments of Golasecca culture and the routes of trades, meaning that
marriages were the basis of the trading relations, especially during the 8th and the7th century BC.

This paper reviews the archaeological data concerning the mining and circulation of copper extracted from the mines of the Arabah valley (Timna and Faynan) during the Iron Age. In addition to describing the finds, the paper presents a socioeconomic reconstruction of the exploitation and exchange of copper controlled, in the Iron Age I, by the local pastoral groups, and in the Late Iron Age II by the Edomite state.

- From the perspective that each Wamani is a sacred landscape, it is proposed that the route of Qhapaq Ñan to the Chinchaysuyu served to reconnect a series of sacred landscapes with Cuzco, by implementing ritual circuits with Inca infrastructure, through the establishment of places for libation and commemoration, becoming all this route as an imperial circuit, consisting mainly of roads and ceremonial platforms Usno as marks of memory, associating the link of the ancestors of each local Wamani with the Inca sun worship. This route demarcated with Usnos, would have served to perform sequential libations with purposes of reaffirmation in the local memory of the imperial territorial domain, which in sum conformed a network that was integrating all Huacas of the Tawantinsuyu.
- Desde la perspectiva que cada Wamani constituye un paisaje sagrado, se propone que la ruta del Qhapaq Ñan hacia el Chinchaysuyu sirvió para reconectar varios paisajes sagrados con el Cuzco, mediante la implementación de circuitos rituales con infraestructura Inca, pero sobre todo mediante el establecimiento de lugares destinados a la libación y conmemoración, constituyéndose toda esta ruta como un circuito imperial, conformado principalmente por caminos y plataformas ceremoniales Usno como hitos de la memoria, que asociaban el vínculo de los ancestros de cada Wamani local con el culto solar Inca. Esta ruta demarcada con Usnos, habría servido para la realización de libaciones secuenciales con fines de reafirmación en la memoria local del dominio territorial imperial, que en suma conformaba una red que integraba a todas las Huacas del Tawantinsuyu.
Keywords / Palabras claves: Qhapaq Ñan, Wamani, paisaje sagrado, memoria, Chinchaysuyu, Territorialidad.

This research examines broad regional patterns of interregional trade for the world's first colonial trading system, the economic expansion of southern Mesopotamia into southwest Iran and southeast Anatolia. Stable carbon and deuterium isotope analyses of bitumen artifacts from several Uruk enclaves and colonies show diachronic changes in trade routes as well as changes in the nature of the Uruk expansion from the Middle to Late Uruk periods. Hacinebi Tepe, a Chalcolithic Anatolian site located on the upper Euphrates River had material primarily from northern Mesopotamia in the period before the Uruk expansion. These findings highlight the importance of sites such as Tell Brak and Hamoukar which reached a high level of complexity in the early fourth millennium BC and influenced societies prior to trade with southern Mesopotamia. In the late Middle Uruk Period, during the Uruk expansion, bitumen found in trade colonies in the northern Euphrates regions derived mainly from central and southern Mesopotamia and an unidentified source area, while later colonies from the Late Uruk period acquired most of their material from the northern Mesopotamian sources. The significantly large quantity of bitumen from the sources near Hit and Khuzistan at the site of Hacinebi during Uruk contact suggests a high volume of trade in this area. The changes over the course of the Uruk expansion demonstrate shifting emphases in the upper Euphrates from riverine trade routes oriented north–south back to overland trade routes running east–west. These changes are consistent with the idea that Late Uruk colonies were focused on settlement and colonization rather than exchange. The preliminary results of these analyses demonstrate the utility of bulk isotopic analyses as a first step in the identification of broad regional patterns, which then can be bolstered with detailed isotopic and molecular work on asphaltene extractions of bitumen (Connan and Nishiaki, 2003).

More than 500 beads and pendants were excavated by a Czechoslovakian team in the early 1960s at two sites in Lower Nubia. The beads were associated with 40 tumuli in the Wadi Qitna cemetery and two tumuli in the Kalabsha-South cemetery. These 4th-century cemeteries are related to the Blemmyes, the Eastern Desert dwellers whose pottery has been commonly recognized in the region between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea coast at a time of intensive overseas trade contacts. The bead assemblage, stored at the Naprstek Museum in Prague, was recently restudied and its materials and parallels could be more specifically identified. In addition to ostrich eggshell of Nubian Desert origin, Red Sea shells and glass beads of Eastern Mediterranean and South Asian origin are present. Some beads are modern European intrusions.

Το τραγικό συμβάν του ναυαγίου των Αντικυθήρων αποδείχθηκε αστείρευτη πηγή έρευνας και ελκυστική περιπέτεια αναδίφησης του παρελθόντος. Η μελέτη του φορτίου του πλοίου που ναυάγησε έξω από τα Αντικύθηρα άνοιξε νέα προοπτική για την κατανόηση της αρχαιότητας στο λυκόφως της ελληνιστικής εποχής στην Ανατολή και της Ρωμαϊκής δημοκρατίας στη Δύση. Το ναυάγιο των Αντικυθήρων εντοπίστηκε τον Απρίλη του 1900, όταν δύο μικρά σφουγγαράδικα από τη Σύμη, το «Ευτέρπη» και το «Καλλιόπη», στο ταξίδι της επιστροφής τους από τον κόλπο της Βεγγάζης, όπου πήγαιναν να μαζέψουν σφουγγάρια, βρήκαν πολύ άσχημο καιρό και προσπαθώντας να προστατευθούν από την κακοκαιρία, που μαινόταν στα ανοιχτά, προσάραξαν στη θέση «Πινακάκια» (Eικ. 3), βορειοανατολικά της νήσου των Αντικυθήρων (Eικ. 4). Τα βράχια είναι εκεί απόκρημνα, όπως και ο βυθός. Έριξαν άγκυρα και για να μην πάει χαμένη η μέρα και ο καπετάνιος Δημήτρης Κοντός έριξε μέσα τον Ηλία Σταδιάτη, έμπειρο δύτη, για να διαπιστώσει εάν υπάρχουν σφουγγάρια.