The February 2025 issue of Nestor (52.2) is available as a free download.
Latest
Παλαιολιθικό Σεμινάριο 2025
The program of the Παλαιολιθικό Σεμινάριο 2025 has been announced, at the Danish Institute in Athens, organized by the University of Crete and the Ministry of Culture, Ephorate of Paleoanthropology-Spelaeology. Lectures are free and open to the public. Further information is available at https://www.history-archaeology.uoc.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Flyer%CE%A0%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%B8%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%CE%A3%CE%B5%CE%BC%CE%B9%CE%BD%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BF-2025.pdf. The program will be:
15 January 2025: O. Joeris, “Stone Age clothing – the hard, the soft, and the artistic evidence”
20 February 2025: F. d’ Errico, “Key transitions in the culturalisation of the human body”
13 March 2025: C. Perlès, “Our ornaments and those of the others: ornaments and cultural traditions at Franchthi”
3 April 2025: K. Hardy, “The antiquity and social implications of early twisted fibre technology”
7 May 2025: D. E. Bar-Yosef Mayer, “Palaeolithic adornment practices: Socio-economic connections and symbolic behaviour”
63rd ARU Public Lectures Series
The program of the 63rd ARU Public Lectures Series of the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus has been announced for spring 2025. All lectures will be held virtually via ZOOM at 7:30 pm (EET), with 10 of them in hybrid form (via ZOOM and at the ARU Lecture Room). All Monday lectures are free and open to the public, but registration (https://ucy.zoom.us/meeting/register/YfJExH0qSRKm9_vCBEvBpw) is required for access to the ZOOM lecture. Further information is available at https://www.academia.edu/126997525/University_of_Cyprus_Archaeological_Research_Unit_Lecture_Series_Spring_Semester_2025. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
3 February 2025: Γ. Σανίδας, “Μέταλλα και αποικισμός στο βόρειο Αιγαίο” (Zoom)
10 February 2025: V. Şahoğlu, “Çeşme - Bağlararası: A Western Anatolian harbour site
destroyed by the tsunamis and volcanic ashes of the Bronze Age Thera eruption” (hybrid)
17 February 2025: M. Rousou, “In search of the origins of Pistacia spp. fixed oil extraction: an ancestral Mediterranean practice? The case study of the Late Aceramic Neolithic site of Khirokitia in Cyprus” (hybrid)
24 February 2025: Κ. Καλογερόπουλος, “Η προϊστορική ακρόπολη της Βραυρώνας μέσα από τις έρευνες στις αποθήκες του τοπικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου” (Zoom)
8 March 2025: “Το Έργον '24. Archaeological Work, 2024” (hybrid; separate registration link at https://ucy.zoom.us/meeting/register/pfbKq-qTSDWtqLLOgczZuw)
31 March 2025: C. Donnelly, Cypro-Minoan and Its Writers: At Home and Overseas (Elements in Writing in the Ancient World) book presentation by M. Iacovou and A. Panayiotou-Trantafyllopoulou (hybrid)
7 April 2025: W.-D. Niemeier, “Kolaios of Samos, legendary Tartessos and the first Phoenicians in the Iberian peninsula” (hybrid)
5 May 2025: J.-D. Vigne, F. Briois, and J. Guilaine, “The Southwest Asian Neolithic transition seen from Cyprus” (hybrid)
INSTAP SCEC Online Lectures
The program of the INSTAP SCEC Online Lectures has been announced for spring 2025. All lectures will be held at noon EST (7 pm in Greece); separate registration is required for each lecture. The schedule will be:
26 February 2025: E. Tsafou, “Minoan Culinary Tradition(s): Understanding Bronze Age Cooking Practices through an Interdisciplinary Study of Cooking Vessels from North-Eastern Crete” (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/td78iWaERZ2dBlpeLyMXqQ)
19 March 2025: N. Abell, “Metallurgical tools and debris from Final Neolithic to Late Bronze Age Kea” (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Ful5slleQFqypcYeda9lfg)
23 April 2025: M. N. Pareja, “Between the Indus and Aegean: Evidence for Animal Commodities in the Bronze Age” (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/NpgIVgd5RZmlU5bc9IiR9Q)
Embedded in Clay
On 4-6 February 2025 an international conference entitled Embedded in Clay. Identity and Performance in Figurines and Ceramic Objects from Ancient Societies: Ancient Nile Valley, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia c. 2000-1200 BC will be held in Pisa. Further information is available at https://www.unipi.it/index.php/events/event/8474-embedded-in-clay. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
A. Fassoulas, “Making clay figurines in the Neolithic Aegean: The example of Thessalian plain (central Greece)”
C. Morris and A. Peatfield, “Life histories of clay figurines from Minoan peak sanctuaries”
Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property
On 5 February 2025 a workshop on Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property: An Archaeological Perspective will be held in hybrid format at the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus by the ENIGMA project at 9 am – 12 noon CET. Registration is available at https://forms.gle/17NbA2oypLtEHs4S6. Further information is available at https://www.facebook.com/EratosthenesCoE2020/photos/we-are-excited-to-invite-you-to-a-hybrid-workshop-dedicated-to-introducing-and-d/122197216244191216/?_rdr.
CEA
On 5-7 February 2025 the Conference of Environmental Archaeology (CEA) will be held in Nitra, Slovakia. Further information is available at https://www.iansa.eu/cea. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
P. J. Crabtree, “Hunted Resources in Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic Tepecik, Turkey”
Écritures et déchiffrements
On 6-8 February 2025 an international colloquium entitled Écritures et déchiffrements du golfe Arabo-Persique à la mer Égée entre les Troisième et Premier millénaires avant notre ère. Où en sommes-nous? will be held in Rome. Further information is available at https://www.iulm.it/en/news-ed-eventi/news/colloque-international-3-giorni-convegno. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
L. Godart and A. Sacconi, “L’apparition de l’écriture en Crète”
M. Civitillo, “What does ‘deciphering’ Cretan Hieroglyphic script mean? A few points on potentially ‘inflected’ sign sequences”
E. Notti, “Naming, writing and measuring ‘at the time of Minos’. Some reflections on Bronze Age Aegean notations on clay vessels and their representations”
C. Consani and M. Negri, “Geroglifico A-SA(-)SA-*095-NE- Lineare A (J)A-SA-SA-RA-ME (e varianti). Fra interpretazione fonetica dei segni, esegesi testuale e decifrazione. Parte I”
C. Consani and M. Negri, “Geroglifico A-SA(-)SA-*095-NE- Lineare A (J)A-SA-SA-RA-ME (e varianti). Fra interpretazione fonetica dei segni, esegesi testuale e decifrazione. Parte II”
C. Varias García, “Linear B script after Ventris’ decipherment: progress achieved and future perspectives”
M. Andreadaki-Vlazaki and A. Greco, “Le tavolette in Lineare B di Kydonia (The ku-do-ni-ja Epigraphic and Palaeographic Project)
S. Ferrara, “Synergistic Methods applied to the Decipherment of Ancient Scripts”
M. Valério, “The Cypro-Minoan script system: reappraising recent developments”
Kiel Conference 2025
On 24-29 March 2025 the Seventh Kiel Conference 2025: Scales of Social, Environmental and Cultural Change in Past Societies will be held at Kiel University. Further information is available at https://www.kielconference.uni-kiel.de/. Papers and posters of interest to Nestor readers will include:
A. Santamaria, S. Wichmann, “A quantitative model of conflict, with a case study from Early to Middle Bronze Age Crete”
K. Rottmann, “Adoption, Adaptation, and Rejection: A Transcultural View of the Minoanisation of the 'Seraglio' on Kos”
G. Staudacher, “Sealed Authority: Power Dynamics and Administrative Innovation at MM IIB Phaistos”
T. Valchev, “The Early Bronze Age burial mounds in the valley of Tundzha River and the new landscape”
Scapecon 7
On 28-29 March 2025 the 7th edition of Scapecon, Techniques Make Perfect: Exploring Crafts and Practices in Aegean Prehistoric Societies (Scapecon 7) will be held at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art in Paris. Further information is available at https://scapecon7.sciencesconf.org/resource/page/id/2. Papers of interest to Nestor readers will include:
E. Angeli, “‘Whose cup is this? Style and elements of individuality in the Neolithic cups from Halai (East Locris, Central Greece)”
E.-M. Kreuz, “Surface finishing and decorations of Aeginetan matt-painted pottery during the Shaft Grave period”
K. Mastorogiannis, S. Triantaphyllou, and S. Andreou, “Handprints on mud. Forming techniques of tableware pottery during the Late Bronze Age”
G. Tasopoulos, Y. Papadatos, N. Giannos, and G. Lazoura, “The Minoan channel kiln: an experimental approach to a technological innovation in the Aegean Bronze Age”
C. Nuttall, “Melian bowls and minoanisation: tracing technological and cultural shifts at Phylakopi, Melos”
S. Menelaou, “Approaching ancient pottery-making practices through an ethnoarchaeological investigation of modern traditions on Samos Island, Eastern Aegean”
G. Lazoura and N. Giannos, “Bull figurines from the Mamaloukos peak sanctuary in Crete (Greece): experimenting on manufacturing techniques”
T. Schlanger, “The crafting of anthropomorphic Mycenaean terracotta figurines: proposing ‘chaînes opératoires’”
V. Loescher, Q. Zarka, M. Monnier, and O. Boitte, “An Aegean perspective on Bronze Age metal sheets: new techniques and new possibilities for tools, weapons and vessels”
Y. Agafonova, N. Efstratiou, P. Biagi, and E. Starnini, “The language of stone: lithics and the first human occupations of Lemnos (North-East Aegean, Greece)”
K. Pavloglou, M. Pappa, and M. Ntinou, “Crafting stone, shaping society: knapped stone production at Neolithic Vassilika, Kyparissi”
O. Palli, “Exploring the quartz chipped stone assemblages in Greek prehistoric record”
S. Kapahnke, “The significance of the recipe in craft: characterizing the murex dye production process in Bronze Age Crete”
A. Kakodimou, “Exploring Aegean footwear in the Bronze Age– and an approach to their reconstruction”
C. Zikidi, “Activity-induced dental modifications in Prepalatial South-East Crete: insights from Vornospilia, Schinokapsala”
I. Sandei, “Function and use of Middle Bronze Age cooking wares from Crete. An experimental approach to side-spouted jars from Phaistos”
Z. Amoiridou, S. Triantaphyllou, and S. Andreou, “The human touch in textile production: shaping textile tools and techniques in the prehistoric settlement of Thessaloniki Toumba”
E. Platania and T. Messina, “The raw and the cooked in Prepalatial Phaistos: designing an experimental method for investigating animal bones processing in culinary practice”
G. Paglione, “Early Knossian state in the making: palatial control of craft and labor in the linear B evidence from the Room of the Chariot Tablets”
A. Verri, “The life cycle of button-like objects in the Mycenaean period”
T. Messina, “From quarry to palace: an insight into the design and construction of the Magazzini of the Late Bronze Age palace at Phaistos”
C. Barnes and G. Braun, “Ashlar masonry in Late Bronze Age Cyprus: reconstructing decisions in monumental construction practices through architectural energetics”
A. Samouris and S. Triantaphyllou, “Building technology and its societal dynamic. An experimental approach to the chaîne opératoire of mudbrick production and architectural craft specialization in Thessaloniki Toumba”
EXPLO
On 7-8 January 2025 the final meeting of the project Exploring the dynamics and causes of prehistoric land use change in the cradle of European farming (EXPLO) was held in Thessaloniki. Further information is available at https://exploproject.org/news/explo-final-meeting/. The program was:
P. Schläfli, C. De Jonge, K. Ganz, O. Rach, D. Sachse, A. Thévenaz, L. van Vugt, and W. Tinner, “A new Mediterranean palaeoclimate calibration and its relevance and limits for Late Glacial and Holocene temperature reconstructions at Limni Zazari, Northern Greece”
L. van Vugt, E. Gobet, K. Ganz, G. Wienhues, T. Giagkoulis, A. Damanik, H. Vogel, M. Grosjean, A. Bogaard, K. Kotsakis, A. Hafner, and W. Tinner, “The environmental context of Neolithization at Limni Orestiás Kastorias, Greece”
Q. Pourrier, L. van Vugt, E. Gobet, K. Ganz, M. Hinz, R. Ballantyne, A. Bogaard, A. Hafner, and W. Tinner, “Vegetation responses to climate and Neolithic agriculture at Lin (Albania, Lake Ohrid) from 6300 to 5700 cal BCE (8250-7650 cal BP)”
K. Ganz, S. Hersberger, L. van Vugt, E. Gobet, C. Morales-Molino, T. Giagkoulis, S. Breu, L. Hächler, L. Kiener, R. Lloren, S. Ogi, E. Schaad, P. Zahajská, P. D. Zander, N. Dubois, M. Grosjean, O. Heiri, H. Vogel, A. Bogaard, A. Hafner, K. Kotsakis, and W. Tinner, “From sea to summit: the impact of climate and land use on the vegetation at different altitudes in northern Greece”
J. Castillo-Guerra, L. van Vugt, E. Gobet, K. Ganz, C. Morales-Molino, J. F. N. van Leeuwen, T. Donders, and W. Tinner, “A novel higher resolution pollen record of Northern Greece discloses climatic, cultural and vegetational changes during the Bronze Age”
C. Morales-Molino, L. van Vugt, K. Ganz, S. Gassner, T. Giagkoulis, E. Gobet, A. F. Lotter, A. Bogaard, A. Hafner, K. Kotsakis, and W. Tinner, “Human impact on the vegetation around Limni Zazari during the Bronze Age”
L. van Vugt, K. Ganz, E. Gobet, C. Morales-Molino, R. Ballantyne, A. Ballmer, S. Brechbühl, S. Breu, S. O. Brugger, J. Castillo-Guerra, A. Damanik, N. Dubois, T. Giagkoulis, M. Grosjean, L. Hächler, O. Heiri, S. Hersberger, C. De Jonge, L. Kiener, A. Knetge, J. F. N. van Leeuwen, R. Lloren, A. F. Lotter, S. Ogi, O. Rach, Q. Pourrier, D. Sachse, E. Schaad, P. Schläfli, C. Schwörer, C. Senn, S. Szidat, A. Thévenaz, B. Vannière, H. Vogel, J. Volery, G. Wienhues, P. Zahajská, P. D. Zander, A. Bogaard, K. Kotsakis, A. Hafner, and W. Tinner, “The impact of Early Holocene climate change on the vegetation and the implications for the introduction of farming to Europe”
M. Bolliger, A. Maczkowski, J. Francuz, and J. Reich, “Dendroarchaeology at Lake Ohrid: Tree-Ring Chronologies from the Waterlogged Site of Ploča Mičov Grad, North Macedonia (5th to 2nd Millennia BCE)”
J. Reich, “Shore settlements in the southwestern Balkans: New perspectives on regional chronology”
M. Yermokhin, A. Maczkowski, M. Bolliger, J. Francuz, A. Anastasi, K. Anastasi, A. Ballmer, M. Brunner, I. Gjipali, T. Giagkoulis, M. Hinz, M. Hostettler, J. Reich, S. Szidat, and A. Hafner, “The last dendrochronological results from the Neolithic site of Lin 3, Albania”
M. Hinz, M. Brunner, A. Hafner, A. Anastasi, K. Anastasi, I. Gjipali, and R. Ruka, “Lin 3 on Lake Ohrid: New Results on Stratigraphy, Finds, and the Early to Middle Neolithic Transition”
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”
A. Maczkowski, J. Francuz, M. Bolliger, T. Giagkoulis, K. Kotsakis, and A. Hafner, “High resolution early summer precipitation reconstruction for the 55th-52nd centuries BC in the Kastoria Basin”
M. Hostettler, “Prehistoric Population and Land Use Dynamics in the Southern Balkans”
A. Hafner, “Wetland regions in the Southern Balkans: Dendrochronology and prehistoric settlements: Concluding remarks”
K. Kotsakis, “Dispilio before and after EXPLO”
T. Giagkoulis, F. Stefanou, D. Kloukinas, and E. Kalogiropoulou, “Aspects of Dispilio architecture: buildings, burned daub analysis, and cooking facilities”
S. Kyrillidou, I. Siamidou, and K. Kotsakis, “Site Stratigraphies at Neolithic Dispilio”
E. Voulgari, M. Sofronidou, E. Tsiola, N. Katsikaridis, and V. Kilikoglou, “The Middle and Late Neolithic pottery from Dispilio: ‘Deux ou trois choses que je sais d'elle’”
N. Saridaki, K. Christodoulou, A. Hein, and V. Kilikoglou, “Pottery technology and provenance in Dispilio”
T. Papadakou and G. Tsartsidou, “Phytolith analysis of organic temper in clay”
A. Dimoula, “Pottery relations North and South”
I. Siamidou, “The Final Neolithic at Dispilio Kastorias”
I. Chatzikonstantinou and S. Triantaphyllou, “Human remains from Dispilio: The study of cremations”
T. Bekiaris and G. Stratouli, “The macrolithic assemblage from Neolithic Dispilio, Kastoria, NW Greece”
B. Milić, A. Kita, and J. Gibaja, “Crafting Neolithic Lifeways: The Role of Lithics at Dispilio”
G. Stratouli and E. Koutsopoulou, “Bone and antler tools from the lake-side Neolithic Dispilio, Kastoria, NW Greece”
P. Halstead, D. Androulaki, R. Chronaki, V. Isaakidou, and I. Siamidou, “Farming, herding and foraging by the lake: recent land use and food procurement in the vicinity of Neolithic Dispilio”
R. Veropoulidou, M. Ergun, V. Isaakidou, S. Kyrillidou, M. Ntinou, K. Papayiannis, T. Theodoropoulou, G. Tsartsidou, D. V. Cardador, and A. Bogaard, “Site formation processes at Neolithic Dispilio: new insights from EXPLO”
V. Isaakidou, P. Halstead, K. Papayanni, T. Theodoropoulou, R. Veropoulidou, D. Androulaki, R. Chronaki, D. Kadi, and A. Bogaard, “Domestic and wild animal exploitation in the South Balkan lake district: the evidence of faunal remains from Neolithic Dispilio”
M. Ergun, M. Charles, C. Douché, E. Gkatzogia, E. Margaritis, M. Ntinou, E. Stroud, G. Tsartsidou, and A. Bogaard, “Plant diversity, crops and land use at Neolithic Dispilio”
D. V. Cardador, M. Charles, M. Ergun, T. Gkatzogia, P. Halstead, V. Isaakidou, A. Styring, R. Wood, and A. Bogaard, “Reconstructing the chronology and ecology of agropastoral management at Neolithic Dispilio”
R. Ballantyne, M. Ntinou, L. Stroud, and A. Bogaard, “Lin archaeobotany: site formation and land use”
S. Niehaus, “Fossil insect remains from Lin 3, Albania: Initial results”
A. Holguin, M. Charles, and A. Bogaard, “The archaeobotany of Ploča Mičov Grad”
A. Bogaard and the bioarchaeology team, “EXPLO bioarchaeology synthesis”
The January 2025 issue of Nestor (52.1) is available as a free download.
ASOR 2025
On 15 January 2025 proposals are due for member-organized sessions or workshops at the American Schools of Overseas Research Annual Meetings (ASOR 2025), to be held on 19-22 November 2025 in hybrid format in Boston. From 15 February 2025 through 15 March 2025 (1 April 2025 with a late fee) the ASOR Online Abstract Center will open for submissions of abstracts for paper and workshop presentation proposals. From 1 June 2025 through 1 August 2025 abstracts for posters can be submitted. Further information is available at http://www.asor.org.
ENE2025
On 20 January 2025 abstracts (250 words maximum) are due for the 2nd Conference on the Emergence of the Neolithic in Europe (ENE2025), to be held on 22-25 May 2025 at the University of Zadar, Croatia. Further information is available at https://conference.unizd.hr/ENE2025. The thematic sessions will be:
• Mesolithic–Neolithic Transition: Dynamics of Interactions among Hunter-Fisher-Gatherers and Farming Communities
• Modelling and Population Dynamics: Formal Approaches for the Understanding of European Late Hunter-Gatherers and Farmers
• People, Settlement and Territory: Constructing Communities from Local to Regional Scale
• Human-Environment Dynamics: Environmental Archaeology and Paleoclimate
• Subsistence and Health: Archaeology of the Emerging Food Systems, Dietary Patterns and Lifestyle Maladies
• Innovation and Tradition: Technological Perspectives on Europe’s Neolithisation
• Figurative Expressions and Socio-Symbolism
• Intersecting Identities and Social Dynamics during the Neolithisation of Europe
ASWA XVI
On 31 January 2025 abstracts for posters and oral presentations are due for the 16th International Meeting of the International Council for Archaeozoology: Archaeozoology of Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas (ASWA XVI), to be held on 26-28 May 2025 in München, Germany. Further information is available at https://spm.snsb.de/staatssammlung-fuer-palaeoanatomie-muenchen/icaz-working-group-archaeozoology-of-southwest-asia-and-adjacent-areas/.