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”