News

Michael Ventris Award

On 1 February 2025 applications are due for the Michael Ventris Award for Mycenaean Studies for 2025 (up to £3000), to be awarded to scholars who have obtained a doctorate within the past eight years or postgraduate students about to complete the doctorate in the field of Mycenaean civilization or kindred subjects, to promote research in (1) Linear B and other Bronze Age scripts of the Aegean and Cyprus and their historical and cultural connections, or (2) all other aspects of the Bronze Age of the Aegean and Cyprus. Applications (6 pages maximum) should be sent by email, ideally as a PDF attachment to the Director (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Institute of Classical Studies, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Further information, including detailed application instructions, is available at https://ics.sas.ac.uk/awards/awards-prizes/michael-ventris-award-mycenaean-studies-2025.

Margo Tytus Visiting Scholars and Cincinnati Summer Residency Programs

On 15 March 2025 applications are due for both the Margo Tytus Visiting Scholars Program and the Cincinnati Summer Residency Program for 2025-2026. Applicants for the Margo Tytus Visiting Scholars Program will ordinarily be senior scholars who are a minimum of five years beyond receipt of the PhD, with notable publication histories, who are expected to be in residence at the University of Cincinnati for a minimum of one semester (ca. four months) and a maximum of two during the regular academic year. Tytus Scholars receive a monthly stipend of $1,500 plus housing near campus and a transportation allowance, as well as office space attached to the Burnam Classics Library.
Applicants for the Cincinnati Summer Residency program may be more recent PhDs and other scholars who would benefit from the use of a world-class Classics library with their Ph.D. in hand by the time of application; they will ordinarily be in residence at the University of Cincinnati for approximately two months in the summer terms, May to mid-August. Cincinnati Summer Residents receive housing near campus and office space attached to the Burnam Classics Library. Further information and application forms are available at https://classics.uc.edu/departments/classics/tytus.

Digital Impacts on Archaeological Fieldwork

On 4-5 December 2024 a conference entitled Digital Impacts on Archaeological Fieldwork: Advantages and Limitations will be held at the Norwegian Institute at Athens. This is the first of the Digital Archaeology Workshop Series (2024-2027): Exploring Layers of Digital Archaeological Practice. Further information is available at https://www.uib.no/sites/w3.uib.no/files/attachments/digital_archaeology_workshop_series_circular.pdf and https://www.uib.no/sites/w3.uib.no/files/attachments/digital_impacts_on_archaeological_fieldwork_advantages_and_limitations_flyer.pdf. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
V. Klinkenberg, “Fantasies and Fallacies of Going Digital at Palloures”
D. Nenova, P. Zafeiriadis, and Ž. Tankosić, “Gourimadi Archaeological Project Digital Recording Practices”

Human and Ecology Relations

On 4-6 December 2024 an international symposium entitled Çağlar Boyu İnsan ve Ekologi İlişkileri. Human and Ecology Relations Through the Ages will be held in Izmir. Further information is available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa-jisc.exe?A2=ZOOARCH;3c768ae2.2405. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
A. Karadaş, R. İlhan, S. Vardar, E. Öner, and A. Ersoy, “UNESCO Dünya Mirası Geçici Listesindeki İzmir Tarihi Liman Kentinin Paleocoğrafya ve Jeoarkeolojik Özellikleri”
Mısra Yanık, “An Anthrozoological Study on Findings of Domestic and Wild Pigs in the Bronze Age: Yassıtepe Mound”
H. Cevizoğlu and A. Moğol, “Kerpiç ve Kerpiç Yapıların İnşa Sürecinde İş Gücü Yönetimi –Eski Smyrna Örneğ”
S. Günel, “Çine Çayı (Marsyas) Bölgesinin Ekolojisi ve Çine-Tepecik Höyüğüne Kazanımları”

Mediterranean Survey Workshop

On 6-7 December 2024 the 47th International Mediterranean Survey Workshop will be held in Istanbul; registration for online attendance is available at https://dainst-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrdOmtqDMoG9UFwCpe3y-MZHuocgsemrdV#/registration. Further information is available at https://www.dainst.blog/transpergmikro/47th-ims-workshop-in-istanbul/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
A. Slawisch and T. Wilkinson, “Hans Lohmann’s Chora of Miletos Survey: Legacy and open questions”
H. Beck, N. Nenci, S. Nomicos, and S. Vlizos, “Archaeological and geophysical survey around the Amyklaion, Sparti”
M. Başaran, “The Survey Project of Bronze Age Harbours in the Çanakkale Strait”

The November 2024 issue of Nestor (51.11) is available as a free download.

MAGG

On 8 November 2024 the 3rd Meeting of the Archaeobotany in Greece Group (MAGG) will be held online. Further information is available at https://www.efa.gr/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-11-08_ARCHEOBOTANIQUE_programme.pdf. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
S. M. Valamoti, “Identification Criteria, Mystery Seeds and Misidentifications: Coming to Terms with a Process”
C. Diffey, A. Livarda, and H. A. Orengo, “‘DarkSeeds Updated’: Ongoing Investigations into the Nature of Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age Agricultural Economies in the Aegean”
A. Karathanou, “Charred Macrobotanical Remains from the 2nd mil. B.C. Kolonna, Aigina: Some First Results from the Study of Area K10”
S. Gkinoudis and E. Margaritis, “Bronze Age Aegean Agricultural Economy: Project Presentation”
T. Maltas, “Crop Diversity in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Aegean: Regional Trends and their Agroecological Significance”
G. Tsartsidou and L. Vokotopoulos, “Phytolith Evidence on Grapevine Cultivation at the Minoan Agricultural Terraces of Choiromandres, Eastern Crete”
G. Kasapidou and E. Margaritis, “Exploring Plant-related Practices in the Mycenaean Site of Iklaina”
N. C. Andriopoulou, E. Apostolaki, and C. E. Galanaki, “Preservation of Phytoliths from the Sediments of the Protopalatial Settlement of Agriana, North-Central Crete”
L. Picornell-Gelabert, M. Ntinou, T. Brogan, A. Livarda, C. H. Sophianou, and J. Soles, “The Role of Trees in Late Minoan East Crete Settlements: An Anthracological Approach”
A. Mavromati, “Bronze Age Vegetation in the Cyclades: A View from the Island Complex of Santorini”

SEAC 2024

On 12-17 November 2024 the XXXI Societé Européenne pour l’Astronomie dans la Culture (SEAC 2024): Skyscapes in the Sun Island will be held in Catania, Sicily. Further information is available at https://www.seac2024catania.com/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
E. Riorden and A. Orlando, “Archaeoastronomy and Landscape at Troy”
E. Riorden and A. Orlando, “An Early Bronze Age open-air sanctuary at Troy with depiction of Orion constellation”

ASOR 2024

On 20-23 November 2024 the American Schools of Overseas Research Annual Meetings (ASOR 2024) will be held in Boston and hybrid format. Further information is available at https://www.asor.org/am/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
A. Georgiou, “After 1177 BC: The Case of Cyprus”
L. Hitchcock, “This-Integration: When Utopia is Dystopia (aka 1176 BCE)”
E. Cline: Respondent to workshop “What Happened after Collapse? A Panel Discussion on After 1177 BC”
J. R. Chadwick, “Gath of the Philistines, Khirbet Qeiyafa, and the Metheg-ammah of 2 Samuel 8: Observations, Suggestions, and a Unique Proposal”
E. Fuller, “Desolate Shores: Late Bronze Age Aegean Harbours as Heterotopias”
J. Darwin, “Ships, Shells and Cyprus: The Maritime Significance of Late Cypriot Cult at Kition”
J. C. Skinner and A. E. Killebrew, “The Archaeology of Mediterranean Identities in the Erzin, Iskenderun, and Arsuz Plains (Cilicia, Turkey): The Bay of Iskenderun Landscape Archaeology Survey”
L. Meiberg, “A New Examination of the Philistine Pottery from the Weisenfreund Collection in the Hecht Museum”
K. M. Grossman, T. S. Paulette, L. Graham, and A. McCarthy, “Archaeological Research at Makounta-Voules-Mersinoudia, 2023–2024: New Results from a Prehistoric Site on the Northwest Coast of Cyprus”
L. Crewe, “The Bronze Age Settlement of Kissonerga-Skalia”
M. Godsey, T. Landvatter, and B. R. Olson, “Daily Life in a Fortification on Cyprus: Excavations at Pyla-Vigla 2024”
A. M. Wright, “Managing a Sustainable Database for the Excavations at Idalion, Cyprus”
P. M. Fischer, “The Cemetery of the Cosmopolitan Societies of Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus: Results from Recent Field Work”
S. Guterman and A. M. Maeir, “Clay Chronicles: The Figurines from Area P at Tell es-Safi/Gath”
E. Anderson, “Mutual Invasions? Moving Beyond Narratives of Takeover and Emulation in the Late Bronze Age Aegean”
B. Davis, “The Origin of Philistia - an Aegean Invasion?”
A. Georgiadou and A. Georgiou, “Maritime Transport Containers from the Region of Paphos: Exploring External Contacts and Exchange Networks in Southwestern Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age”
B. A. Clark, L. Recht, M. Yamasaki, and K. Zeman-Wiśniewska “Pithoi and Bathtubs: Storage and Processing at Erimi-Pitharka”
C. Barnes, G. C. Braun “A Study of Monumental Ashlar Constructions in Late Bronze Age Cyprus”
Z. Chovanec, “Local Vegetation Considerations in Interpreting Analysis of Microbotanical Remains: A View from Ais Giorkis, Cyprus”
G. Bourogiannis, “Phoenician Cult at the Sanctuary of Ayia Irini, Cyprus?”
B. A. Clark, “The Practicalities of a Digital Typology: A Case Study from Erimi-Pitharka”
C. Trent, D. Adams, and A. M. Büyükkarakaya, “Utilizing Two Dental Stress Markers to Infer the Most Stressful Periods of Juvenility at Early Bronze Age Karataş-Semayük”
Ç. Bal and E. Piskin, “The 4.2 ka BP Event in Western Anatolia: Tracing the Impact of Climatic Change”
M. T. Horowitz, “The 2024 Field Season of the Kalavasos-Laroumena and Arkhangelos Archaeological Research Project”
H. Herrick, “‘Getting Plastered!’: Experimental Lime Plaster Production and the Analysis of Late Bronze Age Plaster Floors at Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios, Cyprus”
E. H. Cline, “The Relentless Search for Atlantis and the Public Perceptive of Ancient Catastrophes”
S. J. Richardson, H. J. Greenfield, and A. M. Maeir, “Scanning, Statistics, and Scrutiny: Digitally Integrating Specialist and Legacy Datasets to Understand the Use of Space in the E5 Strata at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath”
J. Davis, S. R. Stocker, and M. Kilani, “Hathor at the Palace of Nestor in Bronze Age Greece”

ΑΕΠΕΛ4

On 20-23 November 2024 Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στην Πελοπόννησο: η τέταρτη συνάντηση (ΑΕΠΕΛ4) will be held in Kalamata. Further information is available at https://ham.uop.gr/arhaiologiko-ergo-stin-peloponniso-aepel. Papers and posters of interest to Nestor readers will include:
Δ. Χατζηαγγέλου, “Nεολιθικό αγγείο από το σπήλαιο της Κλένιας με γραπτή απόδοση προσώπου στις λαβές του”
Ά. Παπαδημητρίου, “‘Τίρυνθά τε τειχιόεσσα’: Μια μυκηναϊκή ακρόπολη στον 21ο αιώνα”
Α. Κόσσυβα, “Μυκηναίοι στην Ερμιονίδα: Η μαρτυρία των νεκρών”
Σ. Βουτσάκη, “Το Βόρειο Νεκροταφείο στον Άγιο Βασίλειο Λακωνίας: Νέα πορίσματα και νέα ερωτήματα”
Ε. Μπάνου and Δ. Κουτσούμπα, “Νέα δεδομένα για τον βυθισμένο προϊστορικό οικισμό Παυλοπετρίου Ελαφονήσου Λακωνίας”
Ν. Παπαδημητρίου, Ε. Παπακωνσταντίνου, Α. Μπαλιτσάρη, Κ. Νικολέντζος, Μ. Αναστασιάδου, Ο. Μεταξάς, and Φ. Τσεμπερά, “To προϊστορικό νεκροταφείο στη θέση Κλειδί Κάτω Σαμικού Ηλείας”
Χ. Ματζάνας, “Σωρός κρανίων σε αψιδωτό κτήριο της Μέσης/Νεότερης Νεολιθικής και ενδείξεις μεταθανάτιας (;) αποκοπής ανθρώπινων μελών σε νεκροταφείο της Νεολιθικής στον Χελωνάτα Ηλείας”
Χ. Παπούλια, “‘Αρχαιολογική έρευνα επιφανείας στην Άνω Μεσσηνία (2021-2025)’: τεχνολογία λαξευμένου λίθου από υπαίθριες θέσεις της BA Μεσσηνίας”
Ε. Ζυμή, Α. Μπάνου, Μ. Ξανθοπούλου, Γ. Μαλαπέρδας, Ε. Μηλίτση-Κεχαγιά, and Μ. Κάππας, “‘Αρχαιολογική έρευνα επιφανείας στην Άνω Μεσσηνία (2021-2025)’: αρχική επισκόπηση και προκαταρκτικά αποτελέσματα”
Α.-Χ. Νικόλαρου, “Κέρατα καθοσιώσεως: Ένα μινωικό σύμβολο στη μυκηναϊκή Πελοπόννησο”
Γ. Γρηγορακάκης and Ε. Παπαφλωράτου, “Η Πρώιμη Εποχή του Σιδήρου στην Κυνουρία: Το νεκροταφείο στη θέση ‘Μάκρος’”
Ε. Σαρρή, Χ. Αντωνιάδης, Χ. Τζανετέα, and Σ. Ψυχογυιός, “Εργασίες ανάδειξης του αρχαιολογικού χώρου της Λέρνας: πεπραγμένα και προοπτικές”

Status

On 28-29 November 2024 an online symposium entitled Decoding Representations of Status in the Bronze Age Aegean: Patterns, definitions and interpretations will be held via Zoom, hosted by the Dokuz Eylül University Archaeology and Archeometry Application and Research Center in Türkiye and the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens. Further information is available at https://www.iihsa.ie/events/symposium-decoding-representations-of-status-in-the-bronze-age-aegean-patterns-definitions-and-interpretations. The program will be:
C. De Gregorio, “Reassessing Social Distinctions: Ceramic Motifs and Elite Symbolism in Southern Crete’s Tholos Tombs during the Prepalatial to Protopalatial Transition”
I. Kostopoulou, “Signs of Status? Imported Pottery and Social Structure at Pyla-Kokkinokremos”
S. Spanos, “Koukounaries. The pictorial vase painting and the manifestation of status”
L. Balogianni, “Approaching aspects of status through pottery analysis: the case of the Zakros palace”
E. Gerontakou and M. Kyritsi, “Religious or/and political? Display of status through emblematic symbols from the Minoan palace of Zakros”
L. Phialon, V. Aravantinos, and E. Tsota, “Some observations on the depiction of ‘horns of consecration’ on larnakes from Tanagra in Boeotia”
V. Pliatsika, “Earth to earth. Clay figurines from the Atreus tholos tomb at Mycenae”
B. R. Jones, “Decoding the Status of the Ivory Triad from Mycenae: A Re-evaluation of its Hairstyles, Garments, and Poses”
N. Antognelli Michel, “Status of divinity for an interpretation of the ivory head from the cult centre at Mycenae as a goddess statuette”
N. Akıllı, “Status symbol objects in the Early Bronze Age graves of Western Anatolia and the Aegean region”
M. Tsipopoulou, “‘Διαχωρίζοντας την ήρα από το σταρι’. Τwo attempts at status differentiation in the Early and late Prepalatial phases of the elite necropolis at Petras, Siteia”
G. Grigorakakis, E. Papafloratou, and E. Vika, “Beyond warriors: a burial with weapons in LBA Kefalonia”
C. Zikidi, “Silent Echoes: Status and the Politicisation of Death during the Late Helladic period in Messenia (Greece)”
K. Paschalidis, “Cups of blessing. Decoding the pattern of men with weapons and drinking vessels in the LBA Aegean”
D. M. Wheeler, “Archive and Repertoire in the Mycenaean Funeral”
S. Mills, “Power and status in the Argolid in the Late Helladic III period”
Ö. Çelik and Z. Derin, “Indicators of the Existence of Organizational Management at the Beginning of the 3rd Millennium BCE: The Case of Yassıtepe Höyüğü”
J. Meier, “Status and Surplus from Suids at Petsas House, Mycenae”
L. Platon and A. Salichou, “Status in structure: a view from the palatial and domestic architecture of Minoan Zakros”
N. Bovoleti Ayash, “Insights of the Archaeological Implementation of the so- called Sanctuary of Koumasa”
A. Pefani, “Wall-paintings in their architectural environment: unraveling socio- political strategies through sensorial impact at the palace of Pylos”
H. Oniz, “Kumluca Bronze Age Shipwreck excavation – Antalya/Türkiye”
S. Dimaki, M.-C. Staikou, and Eleni Filippaki, “Metal objects from Late Helladic burials in Kalapodi, Phtiotis, Central Greece: symbols of status and wealth”
S. Aulsebrook, “Metals = Status: The Fundamental Law of the Mycenaean World?”
A. M. Vergaki, “Feasts as Rituals of Status: The case of Trypiti and Koumasa on the Southern Cretan Mountains”
T. S. Andreovits, “Shaping gender and status performances in Minoan seal imagery”
I. G. Worrall, “Interpreting Colour: The use of White in Late Bronze Age Aegean Wall Art”
K. Voutsa, “More than a bead: adding symbolic character to a small, semi- precious stone”
K. Nikita, “The power of technology, aesthetics and possession: the combination of glass with gold for the Early Mycenaean elites”
C. Kekes, “Nonverbal expression of status in the Bronze Age Aegean”
U. Thaler, “Competitive conformity. Prestige, self-limiting ambition and the fragility of power”
V. Petrakis, “Exploring nuances of status in the Third Palace Period Aegean: palatial agents in context”
D. Papadimitriou, “Absent Elites”
H. Kan, “Kings and Great Kings of the Mediterranean”
J. Kelder, “Empire Lost. On the status of the Ahhiyawan ‘LUGAL.GAL’ and the state of academic debate”
M. A. Erdem and Z. Derin, “The presence of the elites in Western Anatolia in the 2nd Millenium BC finds from İzmir Yassıtepe”
E. Kortanoğlu, “Narrative Production Processes in the Construction of Ancient Greek Cultural Chronology”

Inequality

On 28-29 November 2024 a conference entitled Social and Gender Inequality in Early Iron Age Greece will be held in Vienna. Further information is available at https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/oeai/events/event-detail/social-and-gender-inequality-in-early-iron-age-greece-1-1. The program will be:
S. Gimatzidis, “Introduction to the Social and Gender Inequality in Early Greece”
H. van Wees, “Textual and material evidence for social inequality: minding the gap”
B. A. Olsen, “Gender and Coming-of-Age Rituals in the Early Iron Age: Archaeology vs Historical Memory”
D. Lyons, “Who Wields the Shuttle?: Women's Agency in Light of the New Materialism”
J. Whitley, “From warriors to heroes: Early Iron Age weapon burial rituals and narratives of the self”
S. C. Murray, “Socio-Economic Change, Gender, and Labor Allocation in the Aegean Early Iron Age”
J. M. Luce, “The funerary 'sequence' in Iron Age Greece, between community and society”
O. Mariaud, “Formal burial or formal cemetery? Returning to the burial customs, monuments and social inequality of Early Iron Age Greece”
S. Gimatzidis, “Social contradictions in central Greece during the Early Iron Age”
M. Rönnberg, “Warriors, Rich Ladies and Invisible Children? Social and Gender Differentiation at Athenian Gravesites during the Early Iron Age”
M. Haysom, “Cretan Women Across the Iron Age”
M. D’Acunto, “Social and Gender Inequality in Early Iron Age and Early Archaic Dodecanese”
G. Papasavvas, “People and objects on the move: Migrating memories, antiques, and social power in Early Iron Age Cyprus”
F. Bernstein, “Social Inequality and its Persistence: A Look at the Early Colonial World of the Greeks”
A. Esposito, “Craft practices and Mediterranean trade networks: an overview of women and socio-economic relations in Italy (IXth-VIth centuries BC)”
F. Quondam, “A view from the West: Gender and Social Inequalities in Early Iron Age and Archaic Age Southern Italy”
M. Pacciarelli, “Final Bronze and Early Iron Age (1050–740 BC) Central Mediterranean: evidence of social inequalities”
A. Naso, “Social and Gender (In)equality in Iron Age and Orientalizing Etruria”
S. Gimatzidis, “Social contradictions in central Greece during the Early Iron Age”
M. Rönnberg, “Warriors, Rich Ladies and Invisible Children? Social and Gender Differentiation at Athenian Gravesites during the Early Iron Age”
S. Sherratt, “The possible effects of economic activity in a wider Mediterranean context on social relations in Early Iron Age Greece”
T. Hodos, “Interpreting Social Inequalities in Iron Age Greece via Multiple Scales of Analysis”

Archaeological Science

On 29 November 2024 an international conference entitled Half a Century of Archaeological Science in Greece will be held at the British School at Athens, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Marc and Ismene Fitch Laboratory for Archaeological Science. Further information is available at https://www.bsa.ac.uk/events/fitchanniversaryconference2024/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
K. Harvati, V. Tourloukis, E. Panagopoulou, and P. Karkanas, “Paleolithic dispersals, survivals and population contacts: uncovering human evolution in Greece”
P. Karkanas, “Archaeological soil and sediment microstratigraphy: understanding how archaeological sites are formed”
N. Galanidou, D. Sakellariou, and P. Tsakanikou, “Aegean in the spotlight. A new paradigm for reconstructing early Palaeolithic dispersals, settlement, and landscapes of habit”
A. Krahtopoulou, R. Veropoulidou, C. Frederick, H. A. Orengo, S. Riera-Mora, C. Knappett, and A. Livarda, “Coastal landscapes at Palaikastro, eastern Crete, from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age and historical periods”
M. Ntinou, A. Mavromati, and P. M. Theodosaki, “Celebration time, come on: anthracological studies in Greece, looking back, looking ahead”
G. Jones and A. Bogaard, “Linking present and past farming landscapes through archaeobotany”
E. Weiberg, M. Finne, and A. Bonnier, “Climate change and landscape histories in the Aegean”
E. Kiriatzi, C. Gardner, E. Marzec, S. Menelaou, and N. Mueller, “Approaching the past through multiscale analysis of Ceramic Landscapes”
A. Bevan, “On the key-holes and broad-brushes of landscape history”
N. Galanidou, D. Sakellariou, and P. Tsakanikou, “Aegean in the spotlight. A new paradigm for reconstructing early Palaeolithic dispersals, settlement, and landscapes of habit”
E. Skourtanioti, “Ancient DNA research in the Aegean: recent findings and future perspectives”
E. Nikita, “Paleomobility studies in the Aegean: where do we stand and where are we heading?”
B. Lis and E. Kiriatzi, “Tracing craftspeople mobility in the Aegean – past, present and future”
C. Knappett, I. Nikolakopoulou, and J. Hilditch, “Models of movement: integrating networks with multidimensional ceramic data”
T. Valamoti, “Plants and culinary practices in the prehistory and history of the Aegean”
E. Margaritis, “The role of viticulture and wine production in the social revolutions of the third millennium BCE Aegean”
P. Halstead and V. Isaakidou, “Understanding everyday life in ancient Greece: the contribution of zooarchaeology”
M. Roumpou, C. Heron, N. Kalogeropoulos, V. Kilikoglou, S. Boyatzis, and D. Anglos, “Understanding various aspects of everyday life through the analysis of organic residues”
H. Procopiou, “Techniques, senses and emotions: the case study of stone polishing in the prehistoric Aegean”
M. Choleva, T. Ogawa, N. Petropoulos, N. Mueller, and E. Kiriatzi, “Making the everyday world: an anthropological interdisciplinary approach to artefacts and crafts”
C. Renfrew, M. J. Boyd, E. Margaritis, D. Athanasoulis, N. Brodie, R. Campbell, G. Gavalas, M. Gkouma, B. Hartzler, J. Herbst, J. Hilditch, H. Indgjerd, I. Legaki, N. Meyer, I. Moutafi, and J. Wright, “Keros and the Small Cyclades: a twenty-first century approach to research design, field methodology, interdisciplinary research, and answering big questions from granular connected data”
E. Nodarou, D. Mylona, C. Sofianou, and T. Brogan, “Inter-disciplinarity in action: the case of Neopalatial Papadiokampos in east Crete”
S. Triantafyllou, N. Papakonstantinou, and S. Kiorpe, “Experiencing life histories in the prehistoric Aegean: old trends and new perspectives from the study of human remains”

The October 2024 issue of Nestor (51.10) is available as a free download.

Mycenaean Seminars

The University of London School of Advanced Study, Institute of Classical Studies has announced the following schedule of Mycenaean Seminars for Autumn 2024, to take place in the Institute of Classical Studies, Senate House South Block Ground Floor G22 / 26, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Unless otherwise stated, Mycenaean Seminars begin at 3:30 pm. Further information is available at https://ics.sas.ac.uk/search-events.
9 October 2024: L. Ursprung Nerling, “Resistance is Futile: An emerging Cretan collective ethos as displayed through the larnax”
13 November 2024: L. Spencer, “The Middle Helladic pottery from Lerna: an overview”
12 December 2024: J. Murphy, “How the dead fuel the living: A reassessment of the Bronze Age tombs excavated by Blegen around the Palace of Nestor, Pylos”

New York Aegean Bronze Age Colloquium

The New York Aegean Bronze Age Colloquium has announced the schedule of lectures for 2024-2025. All meetings will be held virtually on Zoom. Registration information, as well as abstracts for each talk, may be found online at nyabac.tumblr.com a few weeks prior to each meeting.
29 October 2024: O. Kouka, “Emerging Complexity in Prehistoric Samos and Beyond”
5 December 2024: T. Carter, “The Hill of Ariadne? The Minoan Peak Sanctuary of Stelida, Naxos”
11 February 2025: M. Oddo, “My Precious! Bronze Hoards and Other Buried Treasures of Minoan Crete”
18 March 2025: T. Van Damme, “Climatic Variability and Its Impact on Mycenaean Greece: Evidence from the North Slope of the Athenian Acropolis”
23 April 2025 (co-sponsored with the AIA NY Society): K. Kopanias, “Cyprus in Flux: Shedding Light on the 12th Century BCE through New Discoveries from Palaepaphos-Marchello, Cyprus (2021–2024)”

Sparta Live!

The Centre for Spartan and Peloponnesian Studies at the University of Nottingham has announced the schedule of Sparta Live! talks for Autumn 2024, to be held online at 5-6pm BST on MS Teams. Further information will be available at https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/csps/news-and-events/sparta-live.aspx. Lectures of interest to Nestor readers will include:
12 December 2024: M. Georgiadis, “The sacred landscape of Kythera and the peak sanctuary at Leska”

ARCH_RNT

On 3-5 October 2024 the 8th Symposium Archaeological Research & New Technologies (ARCH_RNT) will be held in Kalamata, Greece. Further information is available at https://archrnt.gr/. Papers and posters of interest to Nestor readers will include:
C. E. Tselios, “Mechanical properties and function of Mycenaean bronze Type A swords: From analytical data to iconography”
N. Nerantzis and D. Matsas, “Samothracian Middle Bronze Age Metallurgy: The evidence from Mikro Vouni”
V. Orfanou, B. O’Neill, D. Müller, B. Molloy, and L. Burghardt, “Towards a better understanding of prehistoric crucible metallurgy based on field of expreiments”
M. Kylafi, V. V. Panagiotidis, A. Kazolias, A. Karamitrou, E. Militsi, A. Stampolidis, and G. Tsokas, “Fusion of Remote Sensing data for ancient landscape interpretation: The Pylos Geoarchaeology Project”
S. Menelaou, “Crafting choices for pottery-making in prehistoric Thermi-Lesbos, Greece: Manufacturing strategies and connectivity”
A. Vafiadou, N. Laskaris, and G. S. Polymeris, “Obsidian hydration and luminescence (TL/OSL/IRSL) ages of archaeological interest from Greece and Turkey: an obvious hiatus within the 4th millennium BC”
S. Katsarou, A. Aidonis, C. Kakasa, E. Ganiatsou, A. Souleles, L. Winkelbach, J. Blocher, J. Burger, and C. Papageorgopoulou, “The Late Bronze Age population of the cave of Lakes, Peloponnese: An anthropological, palaeogenetic and palaeodietary study”
C. Kakasa, A. Aidonis, E. Ganiatsou, P. Bantavanou, V. Saripanidi, A. Chrysostomou, P. Chrysostomou, and C. Papageorgopoulou, “Archontiko during the Iron Age and the Early Archaic Period: Daily life, health and diet”
B. Semiz, M. Kibaroğlu, and F. Dedeoglu-Konakci, “Neolithic pottery from Ekşi Höyük in the Upper Menderes Basin in Western Anatolia: An archaeometric investigation of raw material sourcing and manufacturing processes”
K. Theodorakopoulou, M. Ghilardi, C. D. Athanassas, and C. Delhon, “Radiocarbon dating of a hearth layer beneath the Minoan eruption deposits at Akrotiri, Santorini”
L. A. Angelopoulou, M. Kouri, and V. V. Panagiotidis, “Mystery of sandy Pylos: Crafting an immersive escape room adventure in a web-based game around Voidokoilia”
A. Oikonomou and M Kaparou, “Degraded Mycenaean vitreous artifacts safe taxonomy: A handbook”
D. C. M. Brown, “Assessing artefact diversity in mortuary contexts of the Greek mainland during the Late Bronze Age Aegean”

The Connected Past

On 3-6 October 2024 a conference entitled The Connected Past: Religious Networks in Antiquity will be held at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, with an optional network science workshop on 2-3 October. Further information is available at https://phh-connected-past-2024.sites.olt.ubc.ca/conference-info/program/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
E. A. Keyser, “The Role of Rhyta in Mycenaean Networks of Ritual Practice and Power”
E. Bentley and S. A. Cox, “Protection for the Ladies: Diffusion of Egyptian Bes and Taweret to Minoan Beset and Genii during the Bronze Age”
K. Mallinson and M. Harder, “Computational Approaches to Minoan Peak Sanctuaries Outside of Crete”

FoMArc2

On 4-5 October 2024 the 2nd Graduate Forum for Mediterranean Archaeology (FoMArc) will be held on Zoom by the Archaeological Research Unit (ARU) of the University of Cyprus. Further information is available at https://www.ucy.ac.cy/fomarc/#:~:text=FoMArc%2C%20as%20a%20student%20initiative,focusing%20on%20the%20Mediterranean%20region. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
J. Webb, “Metal artefacts and artefact production in Early and Middle Bronze Age Cyprus”
A. Dybkjaer, “Minoan seal analysis: exploring the opportunities of GIS and network models”
E. Grabar, “Revisiting the bronze artifacts excavated by the French Expedition at Enkomi”
M. Mertens, “Exploring diet through the lens of zooarchaeology: The case of the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus”
N. Köknar, “Cultural Landscape and Connectivity of the Coastal and Inland Western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age”
P. De Weirdt, “Lost in Time, Bound by Space — Tracing the Diachronic Evolution and Spatial Configuration of the Archaeological Hinterland surrounding the Late Bronze Age site complex of Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus”

YRA 2024

On 15-19 October 2024 the 7th workshop Young Researchers in Archaeometry (YRA 2024) will be held at the Cyprus Institute, in Nicosia, Cyprus. Further information is available at https://yrarch.github.io/current.html. Papers and posters of interest to Nestor readers will include:
C. Theotokatou, “Breaking into the ‘Black Box’: The contribution of ethnographic work in decoding Late Cypriot household structures”
A. Cercone, “A Dangerous Tradition: Asbestos-tempered Pottery in Prehistoric and Modern Eskişehir, Türkiye”
S. Gkinoudis and E. Margaritis, “Ongoing Archaeobotanical Research in Mycenaean Iklaina, Messenia, Greece”
G. Kasapidou, “Phytolith analysis for the investigation of plant exploitation in Bronze Age Cyprus”
P. Koullouros, “Fuelling Ancient Idalion: Charcoal Analysis and Insights into 1st Millennium BCE Cyprus”
E. Margaritis and M. Boyd: Keynote
M. Giannakopoulou, “Silver-lead and copper production on Early Bronze Age southern Sifnos: an overview”
K. Regnier, “The ‘production’ of Minoan red serpentinite”
N. C. Andriopoulou, G. C. Polymeris, K. C. Stamoulis, M. Schöbel, G. E. Christidis, S. Papadakis, A. Novikova, and N. Papadopoulos, “Deciphering Past Coastal Environments: Beachrock Characterisation and Luminescence Dating in SE Lasithi, Crete, Greece”

MEDITARCH

On 18 October 2024 the 1st MEDITARCH Postgraduate Conference in Greek and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology will be held at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in hybrid format. Further information is available at https://meditarch.arch.uoa.gr/activities/meditarch_postgraduate_conference/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
P. García Alcalde, “Early Iron Age deathscapes: a case study of the cemeteries at Lefkandi”
E. Gourgouleti, “Fields of transformation: The case of the funerary field of Knossos during the Late Minoan IIB – IIIA transition”
C. Theotokatou, “New insight into the spatial arrangement and social significance of Late Cypriot households: the application of Space Syntax analysis”
A. Pefani, “Wall-paintings in their architectural environment: unravelling sociopolitical strategies through sensorial impact at the palace of Pylos”
G. Tasopoulos, “The Minoan channel kiln: A technological innovation of the late bronze age in Crete”
P. Peppe, “Maritime Trade and Urban Dynamics: The Role of Perge, Phaselis, and Aspendos in Shaping Interregional Networks from the LBA to the EIA”
M.-P. Kevork, “Τhe gender of Cycladic figurines”

Κέα-Κύθνος ΙΙ

On 20-24 October 2024 an international conference entitled Κέα-Κύθνος ΙΙ: Ιστορία και Αρχαιολογία will be held on Kythnos and Kea. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
Γ. Μπασιάκος, Ε. Φιλιππάκη, and Μ. Γεωργακοπούλου†, “Πρώιμες αιγαιακές μεταλλουργικές κάμινοι στην Κύθνο και σε άλλες θέσεις: Παλαιοτεχνολογικές συσχετίσεις”
Γ. Γαβαλάς, “Μετάλλων τόποι στις Δυτικές Κυκλάδες Κύθνος, Σέριφος, Σίφνος. Από την επιστημονική έρευνα στην δημιουργία βιώσιμων δράσεων για την ανάδειξη των αρχαίων και νεότερων μεταλλείων”
J. M. A. Murphy, N. Abell, S. LaFayette Hogue, M. Nazou, C. Papoulia, M. Georgakopoulou†, and J. R. Baxley Craig, “Insular Networks and Early Kea: Insights from the Kea Archaeological Research Survey”
Μ. Μαρθάρη, “Παναγία Αντιλαλούσα Γυάρου και Καρθαία Κέας στη Μέση Εποχή του Χαλκού: Βίοι Παράληλλοι”
D. M. Crego, N. Abell, and J. C. Overbeck, “Evidence for ritual at Ayia Irini in period IV”
A. Belza, “Refining Late Cycladic II: Period VII at Ayia Irini, Kea”
E. Gorogianni and R. D. Fitzsimons, “Revisiting the Northeast Bastion: Architecture, Ceramics, and Socio-Economic Dynamics in Late Bronze Age Ayia Irini”
N. Abell, “A preliminary report on ancient pot-mending practices at Ayia Irini, Kea”
J. R. Baxley Craig, “The Ground Stone Edge Tools from Kephala and Ayia Irini, Kea”
C. R. Hershenson and R. D. Fitzsimons, Early LBA Domestic Architecture at Ayia Irini: Notes and Observations”
N. Mourtzas and E. Kolaiti, “Human adaptation to the Late Holocene relative sea-level changes along the coast of Keos Island (NW Cyclades, Greece)”

2024 World Neolithic Congress

On 4-8 November 2024 the 2024 World Neolithic Congress will be held in Sanliurfa, Türkiye. Further information is available at https://www.worldneolithiccongress.org/sessions.aspx. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
J.-D. Vigne and T. Cucchi, “Domestication of insular ungulates during the Cyprus-PPNB”
A. Mari and A. Tiliakou, “Treating the dead, choosing the bone(s?): performing Neolithic secondary burials in the Cave of Pan at Marathon, Attica, Greece”
R. Haddad, “The False Pretense of Permanence: Early Neolithic Sedentism Seen from Cyprus”
L. Webster and B. Horejs, “Setting the absolute chronology of Neolithic Çukuriçi Höyük, western Anatolia”
R. Asal, M. A. Polat, S. Çölmekçi, E. Öncü, H. Yıldırım, and Y. Yılmaz, “An Old Village in The Historical Peninsula: Neolithic Settlement of Yenikapi Istanbul/Turkey”
N. Nikolova, A. Tsurev, and K. Bacvarov, “The Early Neolithic of the Middle Maritsa Valley”
M. Grebska-Kulow, “The Early Neolithic in South-west Bulgaria; causes and consequences”
A. Hafner, A. Bogaard Amy, K. Kotsakis, and W. Tinner, “Submerged settlements of the South: early farmers between the Adriatic and the Aegean”
R. Ruka and E. Andoni, “Unwinding the Late Mesolithic-Early Neolithic transition in Albania”
A. Wasse and J. Clarke, “Choice in the Face of Change. How ‘Neolithic’ Were Cyprus and the Greater Syrian Desert in the 7th and 6th Millennia BC?”
J.-D. Vigne, F. Briois, and J. Guilaine, “The Southwest Asian Neolithic transition scrutinized from the island of Cyprus”
R. Özbal, A. Breu Barcons, H. Özbal, L. Thissen, A. T. Bıyık, and F. Gerritsen, “The Emergence and Evolution of Dairying in Neolithic Northwest Anatolia: Insights from Barcın Höyük”
A. Fassoulas, “Giving Meaning to the Technique: The Socio-Cultural Dimension of Figurine-Making in Neolithic Aegean”
S. Katsarou and A. Sampson, “Human Representations and Farming Economy. Insights from the Advanced Farming Stage in the Aegean”
A. Nafplioti and I. Serpetsidaki, “The Neolithic cemetery at Katsambas (near Knossos) on Crete in Greece: Shedding light onto complex mortuary practices”
A. Papathanasiou, “Ritual intensification and ancestral memory in Neolithic Alepotrypa Cave of Southern Greece”
S. Katsarou, F. Georgiadis, A. Papathanasiou, A. Siros, and A. Darlas, “Burials and Caves: The Spiritual Aspect of Their Relationship”
A. Aydoğan, M. Somel, and Y. S. Erdal, “Association with Mesolithic-Related Ancestry or Demic Diffusion in Neolithic Northwest Anatolia”
C. G. Santiago-Marrero, M. Lymperaki, E. Vika, D. Urem-Kotsou, S. Kotsos, and J. J. García-Granero, “Insight into Neolithic cuisine: a holistic approach for investigating charred food crust and absorbed residues from cooking vessels from Neolithic Stavroupoli (northern Greece)”
S. Souvatzi, “Ring-Shaped Settlements in Neolithic Greece and Turkey: Social Significance and Diverse Habitation”
S. Cveček, S. Stefanović, Y. S. Erdal, R. Özbal, and F. Gerritsen, “Infant Burials Associated with Houses in Central Balkans and Western Anatolia during Neolithic: Similarities, Differences, and Exceptions”
J. Chapman and B. Gaydarska, “Exotics: kick‐starting the earliest hunter‐gatherer ‐ farmer networks in Anatolia, the Aegean and the Balkans”
D. Sarı, “Short‐term Hilltop and Cave Settlements during the Neolithic Period: The Case of Keçiçayırı and Gedikkaya Sites”
N. Kolankaya‐Bostancı and E. Fidan, “Bahçelievler Neolithic Chipped Stone Assemblage: Local Tradition and Interregional Contacts”
I. Gatsov and P. Nedelcheva, “Lithic Technologies and the Raw Material Supply as an Adaptive Strategy in the Settlement Patterns of Marmara Sea Region During 7‐6 mill BC”
Ş. Aydıngün, “Istanbul Lagoons Neolithic Finds”
F. Dedeoğlu, “Looking the Aegean from Inner Southwest Anatolia: Ekşi Höyük and its relations and interactions”
H Taşkıran, “A Late Neolithic Cave Settlement in Southwest Anatolia: Suluin”
A. Beyazıt, “The Origin of Paint Decorated Pottery from the Neolithic Period in the Burdur‐Antalya Region”
A. Arslan, “Unveiling Community Identities: Tracing Clay Object Makers via Ancient Fingerprints”
Z. Derin, “Yeşilova Höyük and the Neolithic ‘Coastal Aegean Culture’”
A. İ. Aytek, A. Y. Yavuz, and E. Tarhan, “Lion King and the others: Preliminary results of faunal analysis of Yeşilova Höyük, İzmir”.
A. Ozan and H. Sağlamtimur, “An overview of the Neolithisation of Western Anatolia: What does the Ege Gübre settlement tell us about the Neolithisation of the coastal Aegean?”
A. Cura, “Spread of Round Shaped Objects identified as Sling Missiles in the Aegean during the Neolithic Period”
S. V. Todaro, “Red Ochre and Seafaring? Some implications for connectivity in the southern Aegean during the Neolithic”
A. Minelli and M. R. Belgiorno, “The lithic industry of the archaeological site of Pyrgos Mavroraki: new data for the reconstruction of the human presence on the island of Cyprus”
A. H. Simmons, “The Neolithic on Water: Neolithic Seafarers and the Colonization of Cyprus”
C. Marangou, “Neolithic Symbolic Imagery: Reality and Fiction, Memories or Illusions in a Material World”
V. G. Koutrafouri, “Rituals and Symbolic Systems in Early Prehistoric Cyprus: A Transdisciplinary Analysis of Social Cohesion and Transformation”
K. Bacvarov, N. Nikolova, G. Katsarov, A. Tsurev, and K. McSweeney, “Regional ideologies vs local expressions: the Early Neolithic burial evidence from Nova Nadezhda in Upper Thrace”
Ö. Çevik and Mine Uçmazoğlu, “Common and Rarer Polished Stone Tools from Neolithic Ulucak”
T. Strasser, “Neolithic Stone Axes from Crete and their Implications for the Wider Aegean”
L. Dietrich, B. Horejs, and M. Brandl, “Greenstone chisel-like adzes for carpentry were components of the Neolithic Package in Anatolia and the Balkans”
H. Tekin, “Reflection of the Turkish Eastern Mediterranean's Late Neolithic Lifestyle on Pottery: The Case of Domuztepe”
Ç. Atakuman, D. Erdem, and B. Erdoğu, “Pits, Pots and Bodies at Uğurlu Höyük: The Case of the Poly-Pod Box Pottery”
D. Koptekin, A. Aydoğan, N. E. Altınışık, K. B. Vural, D. D. Kazancı, C. Karamurat, A. Doğu, D. Kaptan, H. C. Gemici, G. Umurtak, E. Fidan, Ö. Çevik, B. Erdoğu, T. Korkut, C. J. Knüsel, S. D. Haddow, E. Özdoğan, M. Özdoğan, F. Gerritsen, R. Özbal, U. O. Usanmaz, Y. C. Derici, M. Uçmazoğlu, A. Götherström, Ç. Atakuman, Y. S. Erdal, A.‐S. Malaspinas, F. Özer, and M. Somel, “Unravelling Cultural and Genetic Interactions during the Aegean Neolithization”
L. Bonga, “Island Neolithic of the Aegean Sea”
M. Boyd, D. Smith, J. Hilditch, E. Margaritis, J. Wright, G. Gavalas, D. Athanasoulis, M. Marthari, K. Dellaporta, and C. Renfrew, “Integrated approaches to emerging later Neolithic Islandscapes in the Cyclades”
P. Tomkins, “Regional diversity in the adoption of pottery in the Aegean during the late seventh millennium BC. A new view from Knossos, Crete”
L. Karimali and S. Papadopoulou, “Neolithic obsidian Melian network in Greece: patterns of circulation and technical traits”
T. Carter, “Building Castles on Sand: Current Models on the Impact of Insular Aegean Hunter‐Gatherer Populations on Neolithisation Processes”
D. Guilbeau, “The relations between Aegean, Anatolia, Balkans between the 7th and the 5th millennium through the analysis of the chipped stone industry of Uğurlu (Gökçeada/Imbros Island)”
E. Özdoğan, “Early Neolithic in the Northern Aegean and Eastern Thrace: Cultural Contexts and Regional Connections”
H. Balcı, “An Archaeobotanical Perspective to the Neolithization of North Aegean through Hoca Çeşme Neolithic Site”
K. Trantalidou, “Before surplus production: foragers and food producers in inland and island caves of the Southern Balkan‐Aegean area”
A. Reingruber and G. Toufexis, “Flat sites of the late 7th and early 6th millennium BC in Thessaly, Central Greece (and beyond)”
G. Naumov and A. Reingruber, “Dating the Early Neolithic of Pelagonia: closing a chronological gap in Balkan prehistory”
J.‐P. Demoule, “Kovačevo and the oldest Neolithic villages in the Balkans”
S. Tsaneva, V. Nikolov, G. Samichkova, and V. Petrova, “Late Neolithic pit sanctuaries at Maritsa River Bend in Northern Thrace”
E. Yurtdaş, “Pottery Unity in Diversity: Red on White Ware and Neolithic Cultural Synthesis in Cyprus”
B. Kızılduman, E. Doğru, B. Semiz, and H. İcil, “Neolithic Pottery in the Karpaz Peninsula: Insights into Production Techniques and Cultural Practices”
M. Kiessel and E. Tangül, “A New Neolithic Settlement on Cyprus? Recent Discoveries at Aphendrika, on the North-Eastern Coast of the Karpas Peninsula”
D. Pullen, A. Papathanasiou, M. Galaty, and W. Parkinson, “Monumentality and Memory in Death at Ksagounaki (Alepotrypa Cave), Greece”
A. McCarthy, “Burying Memories: a Ritual Pit Complex at Neolithic Prasteio Mesorotsos, Cyprus”
Y. Yılmaz, “Archaeotanatological Analysis of the Graves found at Pendik Höyük in İstanbul”
H. Öniz, “A View at Sunken Prehistoric Settlements off the Turkish Coast”
O. Kaycı, “Potential prehistoric island communities in Cilicia to the north of the Eastern Mediterranean”
M. Brunner, A. Anastasi, K. Anastasi, A. Maczkowski, M. Bolliger, M. Hinz, S. Szidat, I. Gjipali, and A. Hafner, “Lake Maliq revisited: Fresh perspectives on Neolithic submerged settlements at former Lake Maliq, Albania”
M. Hinz, A. Anastasi, M. Brunner, K. Anastasi, M. Yermorkhin, I. Gjipali, and A. Hafner, “Discovering the wooden pillars of the Neolithic settlement: the waterlogged site Lin 3, Albania”
G. Karahan and K. Özçelik, “Epipaleolithic Layers of Karain B (Mediterranean Region, Turkey)”
Ç. Al. Algül, O. Kaycı, S. Balcı, A. Gopher, D. Mouralis, H. Tümer, and D. Silibolatlaz, “Epipalaeolithic Hunter-Gatherers of the Central Taurus: Eşek Deresi Cave (East Mediterranean/Türkiye)”
J.-D. Vigne, F. Briois, T. Cucchi, R. Hadad, N. Mazzucco, P. Mylona, M. Rousou, and A. Zazzo, “New light about the Epipaleolithic in Cyprus: the settlement of Pakhtomena”
Y. Aydın and E. Erbil, “Late Epipaleolithic Hunter-Gatherers of Northwestern Anatolia: Ballık Cave, İzmir/Turkey”
D. Sarı, “Gedikkaya Cave in North-western Türkiye: the Epipalaeolithic layer that connected to ritual activity”
Ç. Atakuman, C. Karamurat, H. C. Gemici, D. Koptekin, M. Somel, “Patterns of the Neolithization in the Aegean: A synthesis of Material Culture and a-DNA Evidence”
L. Bonga, “Say ‘Cheese’? Rim-perforated pans and basins of the Aegean Neolithic”

The September 2024 issue of Nestor (51.9) is available as a free download.

62nd ARU Public Lectures Series

The program of the 62nd ARU Public Lectures Series of the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus, focusing on the archaeology of Cyprus and the Aegean, has been announced for autumn 2025. All lectures are held virtually via ZOOM every Monday at 7:30 pm (EET) with some held in hybrid format; they are free and open to the public, but registration is required for access before each event starts. Registration is available at https://www.facebook.com/ARU.UCY/. Lectures of interest to Nestor readers will include:

12-14 September 2024: DAAD – Taziz Workshop: Dealing with Material Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean. Between Excavation and Digitization (hybrid)
30 September 2024: M. Devolder, “Masons’ marks and their meaning for the development of monumental architecture and the circulation of builders in the Bronze Age Aegean and Cyprus” (online)
4-5 October 2024: Second Graduate Forum for Mediterranean Archaeology FoMArc (hybrid)
7 October 2024: S. Vilain, “Through the looking-glass: Investigating Egyptian and Levantine imitations of Bronze Age Cypriot ceramics” (hybrid)
14 October 2024: Ά. Σπύρου, “Η Ζωοαρχαιολογία συναντά τη Βιολογία Διατήρησης: Μια διεπιστημονική προσέγγιση στην ανάδειξη της αξίας της Κυπριακής φυλής βοοειδών” (hybrid)
25 November 2024: C. Kearns, “Challenges and opportunities in the archaeology of rural landscapes of Iron Age Cyprus” (online)
2 December 2024: T. Pedrazzi, “Between the Levantine coast and Cyprus: Canaanite commercial jars as indicators of cross-cultural contacts (13th-12th Centuries BCE)” (hybrid)

ESHE 2024

On 11-15 September 2024 the 14th Annual Meeting of the European Society for the Study of Human Evolution (ESHE 2024) will be held in Zagreb, Croatia. Further information is available at https://www.eshe.eu/meetings/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
E. Roditi, H. Bocherens, G. E. Konidaris, A. Athanassiou, V. Tourloukis, P. Karkanas, E. Panagopoulou, and K. Harvati, “Megaherbivore isotopic biogeochemistry supports glacial microrefugium status of the Megalopolis basin (Greece) across the Middle Pleistocene”
K. Harvati, V. Tourloukis, N. Thompson, D. Giusti, G. Tsartsidou, A. Athanassiou, G. Konidaris, E. Roditi, E. Panagopoulou, and P. Karkanas, “The MEGAPAL survey: New results on the lower Paleolithic of the Megalopolis Basin, Southern Greece”
G. A. Butiseaca, I. Vasiliev, M. T. J. van der Meer, I. J. E. Bludau, P. Karkanas, V. Tourloukis, A. Junginger, A. Mulch, E. Panagopoulou, and K. Harvati, “Expression of the MIS 12 glacial stage in the eastern Mediterranean and its impact over the middle Pleistocene hominins in Megalopolis Basin (Greece)”
G. Marciani, S. Lombardo, S. Arrighi, N. Thompson, V. Tourloukis, S. Benazzi, and K. Harvati, “The Uluzzian of Klissoura cave 1, Greece”
J. Gennai, P. Biagi, E. Starnini, and N. Efstratiou, “Neanderthal on the mountains: lithic technological behaviour at Samarina 1 (Pindus Mt., Greek Macedonia)”

PEBA 4

On 25-28 September 2024 the 4th Perspectives on Balkan Archaeology (PEBA 4). The Things of Life: Resources and Religion in the Metal Ages in Southeastern Europe will be held in Varna. Further information is available at https://pebasite.wordpress.com/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
S.-M. Valamoti: Keynote
R. Kurti, “Some Consideration on the Early Iron Objects from Iron Age Albania”
T. Valchev, “Late Bronze Age Daggers from the Lower and Middle Course of the Tundzha River, Bulgaria – Imports and Local Imitations”
J. Fries-Knoblach and M. Leppek, “Late Bronze Age Bresto (South-Western Bulgaria) - multiple resources, multi-purpose settlement?”
B. Athanassov, I. Kulov, and P. W. Stockhammer, “Pots and Pits: Ritual Practices at Iron Age Bresto?”
K. Çipa and S. Xhaferaj, “Economic Resources and Religious Aspects During the Bronze and Iron Age in Southwestern Albania”
M. Gori, “Mobility Between Tangible and Intangible Resources. What Makes the World Go Round?”
T. Krapf, “The Things of Life: The Diffusion of Cooking Pots in the Late Bronze Age Southern Balkans”

The August 2024 summer communications from Nestor (51.8) are available as a free download.

FRWG 2024

On 12-17 August 2024 the 22nd ICAZ Fish Remains Working Group (FRWG 2024) will be held in Toronto, Canada. Further information is available at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/anthropology/research/ontario-archaeology-utm/icaz-frwg-2024-toronto. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
T. Theodoropoulou, “Going for small catches in the Mediterranean Early Neolithic? The case of Sidari-Corfu (Greece) and the wider Mesolithic–Early Neolithic fishing strategies of the last hunter-gatherers and early farmerherders in the Mediterranean”

INSCRIBE at the Roots of Writing

On 11-13 September 2024 the final conference of the ERC-funded INSCRIBE Invention of Scripts and their Beginnings project, entitled INSCRIBE at the Roots of Writing, will be held in hybrid format in Bologna. Further information and registration forms for both in-person and online participation are available at https://site.unibo.it/inscribe/en/inscribe-at-the-roots-of-writing. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
B. Montecchi, “The Origins of Writing in Bronze Age Crete and the Conundrum of Documents in Perishable Materials”
J. Bennet, “‘A Frivolous Digression’ – Did the Decipherment of Linear B Transform the Aegean Late Bronze Age?
M. Corazza, “Investigating the Signs of Cypro-Minoan with Deep Learning”

WAVE

On 19-22 September 2024 a Visual Interactions in Early Writing Systems (VIEWS) conference entitled Writing as Visual Experience (WAVE) will be held in Cambridge. Further information is available from https://viewsproject.wordpress.com/writing-as-visual-experience/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
S. Ferrara, “How writing anchors images: cultural exaptation and evolution”
S. Finlayson, “Some thoughts on directionality in Aegean Bronze Age writing”

PeBA 2024

On 25-28 September 2024 the 4th Perspectives on Balkan Archaeology Conference: The Things of Life (PeBA 2024) will be held in Varna, Bulgaria. Further information is available at https://pebasite.wordpress.com/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
R. Kurti, “Some Consideration on the Early Iron Objects from Iron Age Albania”
T. Valchev, “Late Bronze Age Daggers from the Lower and Middle Course of the Tundzha River, Bulgaria – Imports and Local Imitation”
M. Šmolková, “Socioeconomy of Early Iron Age Hilltop Sites in the Context of Ohrid Lake Area (Dolno Lakocherej – a case study)”
J. Fries-Knoblach and M. Leppek, “Late Bronze Age Bresto (South-Western Bulgaria) - multiple resources, multi-purpose settlement?”
B. Athanassov, I. Kulov, and P. W. Stockhammer, “Pots and Pits: Ritual Practices at Iron Age Bresto?”
K. Çipa and S. Xhaferaj, “Economic Resources and Religious Aspects during the Bronze and Iron Age in Southwestern Albania”
M. Gori, “Mobility between tangible and intangible resources. What makes the world go round?”
T. Krapf, “The Things of Life: The Diffusion of Cooking Pots in the Late Bronze Age Southern Balkans”
M. Gleba, H. Potrebica, and A. Pravidur, “Textile Cultures of Iron Age Southeastern Europe”

The Connected Past: Religious Networks in Antiquity

On 3-6 October 2024 the conference The Connected Past: Religious Networks in Antiquity will be held in Vancouver, BC. Further information is available at https://phh-connected-past-2024.sites.olt.ubc.ca/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
C. Barnes and G. Braun, “Labour Input and Knowledge Networks in the Construction of Ashlar Buildings on Cyprus”
E. A. Keyser, “The Role of Rhyta in Mycenaean Networks of Ritual Practice and Power”
K. Mallinson and M. Harder, “Computational Approaches to Minoan Peak Sanctuaries Outside of Crete”

Decoding Representations of Status

On 1 September 2024 abstracts (300 words maximum) are due for a symposium entitled Decoding Representations of Status in the Bronze Age Aegean: Patterns, definitions and interpretations, to be hosted online on 28-29 November 2024 by Dokuz Eylül University Archaeology and Archeometry Application and Research Center in Türkiye and the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens. Further information is available at https://www.iihsa.ie/news/call-for-papers-decoding-representations-of-status-in-the-bronze-age-aegean. Topics will include:
• Manifestations of status on pottery
• The semantics of symbols in LBA society
• Display of status in graves
• Rituals (religious and/or secular) and status connections
• Defining status through architecture
• Storage strategies and their relation to status
• Possession of metals and status
• Indications of status in the osteoarchaeological and archaeobotanical archaeological data
• Theoretical approaches on status

Scapecon 7

On 1 September 2024 abstracts (c. 250 words) are due from early career scholars (Post-doc, PhD, MA) for the 7th edition of ScapeCon, Techniques Make Perfect: Exploring Crafts and Practices in Aegean Prehistoric Societies (Scapecon 7), to be held on 28-29 March 2025 at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris. Further information is available at https://scapecon7.sciencesconf.org/resource/page/id/2. The three main axes for discussion around techniques in Aegean Prehistory as they are currently studied will be:
• Acquisition and processing of raw materials
• Production processes
• Use and consumption techniques

Anatolian Chalcolithic Workshop

On 15 September 2024 abstracts (c. 200 words) are due for the first meeting of the new initiative of the Anatolian Chalcolithic Workshop, to be held online on 10 January 2025. Further information is available at https://www.nit-istanbul.org/projects/anatolian-chalcolithic-workshop. The geographical and temporal focus of this first meeting will be on Central-South-Eastern Anatolia (the region between Cilicia in the West, the Euphrates in the East, Cappadocia in the North, and Hatay in the South) during the sixth, fifth and first half of the fourth millennium. Abstracts are invited on new and ongoing research on one or more of the following themes:
• Material cultures and cultural systems
• Chronologies and periodization
• Technologies and productions
• Landscapes and settlement patterns
• Subsistence and economies

In Poseidon’s Realm XXX

On 30 October 2024 abstracts (250 words plus 2 figures) are due for the anniversary meeting 2025 of the DEGUWA - German Society for the Promotion of Underwater Archaeology e.V. In Poseidon’s Realm XXX: Shipping | Images, to be held on 8-13 April 2025 in Würzburg. Further information is available at https://www.ch-antiquitas.ch/fileadmin/redaktion_antiquitas/dokumente/News_Call_for_papers/2025_Wuerzburg_IPR_XXX_Cfp.pdf. Abstracts should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Topics will include:
• Ancient depictions of ships or shipping / works of art on ships and ship models
• The transportation of works of art, as illuminated above all by wreck finds (e.g. Mahdia/Tunisia and Antikythera/Greece)
• (Digital) images and reconstructions of pre-modern ships, shipping routes and transportation logistics
• Ancient and modern models and replicas of watercrafts

AIE 2024

On 11-14 June 2024 the conference Archaeometallurgy in Europe 2024 (AIE 2024) was held in Falun, Sweden. Further information is available at https://www.aie2024falun.com/. Papers and posters of interest to Nestor readers included:
A. Nikolopoulou, E. Filippaki, and O. T. Pryce, “Aspects of technology and provenance of the Early Bronze Age Mesi-Glyfada hoard, northern Greece: new information based on archaeometric analyses”
Y. Bassiakos and E. Filippaki, “The production of early arsenical copper in the Aegean”
P. P. Betancourt, S. C. Ferrence, and A. Giumlia-Mair, “Minoan Copper Trade in East Crete”
A. Charalambous, J. Webb, V. Kassianidou, and G. Papasavvas, “Metal procurement and exchange on the north coast of Cyprus during the Early and Middle Bronze Age”
D. Finn, N. Yahalom-Mack, and Y. Erel, “Reevaluating the Provenance of Late Bronze Age Copper Ingots using Lead Isotopic Data and a Mixing Model”
E. Doğru, N. B. Üllen, B. Kızılduman, and H. İcil, “Beyond the Surface: Examination of Late Bronze Age Bowl Production Techniques in Cyprus”
D. Ioannides, V. Kassianidou, and A. Charalambous, “Exploring Copper Production in 1st Millennium BC Cyprus: Insights from Asgata-Kalavasos mining region”

Paros VI

On 14-16 June 2024 the 6ο Διεθνές Συνέδριο Αρχαιολογίας Πάρου & Κυκλάδων. 6th International Conference on the Archaeology of Paros and the Cyclades (Paros VI) was held in Parikia. Further information is available at https://parosinstitute.gr/international-conferences/sixth-international-conference-on-the-archaeology-of-paros-and-the-cyclades/. Papers of interest to Nestor readers included:
Σ. Κατσαρού, “Κουκουναριές: Ο Οικισμός της Τελικιiς Νεολιθικής και το Πολιτισμικό του Πλαίσιο στις Κυκλάδες”
Θ. Γκαpώvης, “Κυκλαδικές Αλληλεπιδράσεις κατά την Πρώιμη Εποχή του Σιδήρου: Μια Προσέγγιση Δικτύων”
L. Karalί and D. Yamaguchi, “Cultural Contribution of Sea Food in Prehistoric Cyclades: Bioarchaeological Remains from Saliagos and Paros”
D. Grimanelis, “Material Connections between Paros and Naxos in the Geometric and Protoarchaic Periods: New Evidence from the Vitzi Cemetery at Paroikia”
S. Spanos, “The Lower Plateau of Koukounaries (Paros) during the Late Helladic IIIC Middle Period and the Rare Representation of a Ship”
R. Β. Koehl, “On destruction of the Koukounaries Hill's Mycenaean building”
S. Spanos, “Koukounaries: The Mycenaean Pottery from the Temple-Temenos Area”

AWOP4

On 30 June 2024 abstracts are due for the Δ’ Διεθνή Επιστημονική Συνάντηση “Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στην Πελοπόννησο. 4th International Scientific Meeting of the “Archaeological Work in the Peloponnese” (AWOP4), to be held on 20-23 November 2024 in Kalamata. Further information is available at https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2024/01/18/archaeological-work-in-the-peloponnese-4th-international-meeting/. Original papers on work undertaken in the Peloponnese, the islands of the Gulf of Argos, Kythera, and Antikythera during the last three years are invited, including:
• finds from recent excavations and other fieldwork
• the results of recent studies of new or old material
• work relating to the conservation and management of monuments and archaeological sites

2024 Samartzidis Fest

On 16–19 May 2024 the 2024 Samartzidis Fest: Keeping the Past Ever Present. Visual Art, Script, Poems, Songs, Human Feelings was held by the Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory and the University of Texas at Austin, Classics Department. Further information is available at https://sites.utexas.edu/scripts/2024/05/02/2024-samartzidis-fest-keeping-the-past-ever-present-visual-art-script-poems-songs-human-feelings/. The schedule was:
N. Samartzidis: Guided Tour and Intro to the Work
M. Telò, “Dylanologies of Extinction”
E. Sanders (via Zoom)
J. Goodkin, “The Blues of Achilles”
T. Palaima, “Linear B & Recitation”
J. Balmer (via Zoom), “An Ache of Absence: Excavating Contemporary Poetry From Ancient Texts”
L. A. Flores and S. Roberts, “Intro to the Archive”
C. Etherington, “Agents of Honor: Bella Injusta from Agamemnon to Bush”
A. Potts, “The Forgotten Goddess: Mistress of the Labyrinth”
C. Smith, “Linear Bob Dylan: Dylan Meets the Bronze Age in the Work of Nikos Samartzidis”
J. Prado, “The Threshold Moment: A Liminal Paradox at Alcinous’ Golden Doors”
A. Bronzo, “Reimagining the Art and Poetry of Mycenaean Scribes Through the Work of Nikos Samartzidis”

GIS in Crete

On 30-31 May 2024 an international conference entitled GIS in Crete: Archaeological Questions and Computational Answers was held in Athens. Further information is available at https://www.ugent.be/lw/archeologie/en/news-events/events/gis-in-crete. Papers of interest to Nestor readers included:
F. Buscemi and M. Figuera, “Managing complexity in long-term excavations: The GIS of Phaistos”
J. Pouncett, K. Smith, and A. Shapland, “Legacy of the labyrinth: Re-mapping the palace of Minos using the Sir Arthur Evans archive”
E. Vereketi, E. Paliou, and Y. Papadatos, “Reassessing the organization and social structure of the Prepalatial settlement at Myrtos Fournou Korifi through GIS”
J. Rapakko, “GIS methods in the analysis of intra-site architectural remains of Neopalatial Crete”
A.-M. Xenaki, “Point process modelling: applications, challenges, and limitations of exploring human-landscape relations in Eastern Crete”
G. Mastropavlos, “GIS and economy in the vicinity of Minoan Crete: The case of Kasos”
E. Kolaiti and N. Mourtzas, “Implementing relative sea level change indicators and ancient coastlines of Crete into GIS: Methodological issues and prospects”
D. Pollard and T. Whitelaw, “Constructing the Cretan landscape: Exploring parameters and expectations of ancient terracing on Bronze Age and Iron Age Crete using GIS”
N. Bovoleti Ayash, “The Minoan central Asterousia as a case of DEM-aided study of network connectivity”
D. Laguna-Palma, “Modeling ancient pathways of Cretan landscapes: Building networks and social landscapes”
V. Antoniadis, “Travel times to the sanctuary of Syme Viannou: Rules of thumb, formulas and slope-dependent functions vs historical documentation”
J. Muñoz Sogas, “Iron Age land routes in Crete: A GIS-based approach”
D.-G. Aquini, “Tracing the threads of luxury: A GIS approach to gold and silver jewellery in Pre- and Protopalatial Crete”
A. Tsingarida and I. Bossolino, “A GIS for Cretan pottery in the Mediterranean: The Project ‘Crete in a connected Mediterranean (ca 900 - 480 BCE)’”

Myrto Georgakopoulou Award, 2024-2025

On 21 June 2024 applications are due for the Myrto Georgakopoulou Award, 2024-2025 (€5,000), to support PhD students or early-career scholars (up to 8 years upon receiving their PhD) to undertake research on the archaeology of the Aegean and adjacent areas. Further information is available at https://www.bsa.ac.uk/awards/research-awards/the-myrto-georgakopoulou-award-2024-2025/.