Internet Archaeology 9

This paper on Red Lustrous Wheel-Made Ware, which is found over an extraordinarily wide area of the Near East, is an initial attempt to address the problem of its source. Using recently excavated pottery from Kilise Tepe in south-central Anatolia, a study of the typology and petrography of this pottery has been undertaken to compare the possible sources of Red Lustrous Wheel-Made Ware, which include Cyprus, Syria and Anatolia.

This study, which forms part of a larger project on Canaanite amphorae, illustrates the use of ceramic petrography in refining the visual classification of the fabrics of imported New Kingdom amphorae excavated from Memphis and Amarna in Egypt. Provenances for the Canaanite amphorae are suggested which contradict previous assumptions.

Review of the Electronic Beowulf CD-Rom, edited by K. Kiernan and published by the British Library and University of Michigan Press, a navigable copy of the manuscript of Beowulf.

The article presents the results of the HRB-funded survey of a sample of the Ave valley undertaken between 1994 and 1998. Introductory sections describe the geographical background and summarise the approaches followed. The field-walking results are then presented with especial emphasis on the ceramics. The field-walking evidence is used to identify a series of newly discovered sites which are assessed. The results of geophysical surveys of several of these sites are also presented. Information about the settlement patterns is presented based on a GIS analysis of both previously known sites and the results of the field-walking. Patterns in the changing distribution of settlement are discussed in relation to local social dynamics and the Roman annexation and exploitation of the region.The article is supported by databases which present the results of the field-walking and ceramic analyses.The article is jointly authored by: Martin Millett, Francisco Queiroga (Universidade Fernando Pessao, Porto), Kris Strutt, Jeremy Taylor and Steven Willis. The nature of a field-walking survey which produces a sequence of related databases (for field and finds) attached to a sequence of maps is particularly appropriate for electronic publication. Attempting such a publication in electronic form seems a worthwhile project in itself aside from the importance of the results.

A mineralogical and chemical study of clay figurines excavated in Turkey is presented with the aim of characterising the raw materials used and to suggest possible provenances. These figurines may be amongst the earliest examples of fired clay, and the suggestion of the use of pyrotechnology to harden the clay is investigated.

Petrography has been used to elucidate patterns of production and consumption of kitchenware at a typical Early Christian desert monastery on the Pilgrim route. While some vessels may have been produced locally, there is evidence for long distance trade of other vessels.