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This article proposes and tests a novel interdisciplinary method for reconstructing the ancient humans' environment by using plant imprints on pottery. Sherds with plant imprints may provide a valuable source for reconstructing certain components of the ancient vegetation, and the imprints may represent a link to the potter's immediate environment, pottery production methods, and the local cultural relationships with plants. We examined 15 sherds with plant imprints retrieved from Hellenistic strata from the Giv'ati Parking Lot, Jerusalem. Plant imprints were analysed for their position on the vessel and to determine which plant organ was presented; the imprints were then scanned and measured to determine the plant species. Results show clear evidence for the intentional use of green leaves for vessel rim repair. Archaeobotanical analysis of these sherds has also revealed the earliest evidence for the presence of fig tree, Ficus carica, in Jerusalem and the surrounding region. These results show that analysis of plant leaf imprints on pottery can further improve the reconstruction of ancient settlement life and its environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excavations of Hellenistic necropolises in ancient Issa located on the island of Vis in coastal Croatia revealed significant amounts of pottery, mostly tableware, dated from the second half of the 4th to the 1st c. BCE. Recovered pottery contained different stylistic forms thought to have been produced locally or imported. The goal of this study was to report on technological and compositional aspects of pottery economics embedded in the frame of social development of Issaean society. For this purpose, a set of 42 samples was analysed by X-ray diffractometry, polarization and electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and automated electron microscopy. The results of archeometric inquiry combined with stylistic traits showed most of the vessels were produced locally whereby the procurement of raw material was dependent on the local occurrences of Terra Rossa. This required a high level of manufacture organisation, defining Issa as a presumably wellestablished Hellenistic city already in the second half of the 4th c. BCE. At the time the city maintained a strong exchange with the Italian South as suggested by excavated red figure and Gnathia pottery characterized by the superior production technologically compared to local imitations. A rare example of recovered amphoriskoi and their distinct material characteristics provided a strong indication of the presence of Levantine pottery in Issaean graves which, until now, has not been attested in the Eastern Adriatic. Such a finding speaks of the involvement of Issa in the Late Hellenistic networks of economic and cultural seaborne connectivity between the Adriatic and the Eastern Mediterranean and introduces Issa as a far-flung market of, at the time popular Levantine luxury products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study of several Hellenistic Etruscan cremation urns originating from the city of Chiusi, Italy that are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It goes on to examine the urns from both manufacturing and archaeological contexts and also looks at how they reflect Etruscan family relationships and funerary ceremonies.

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Copyright of Collegium Antropologicum is the property of Croatian Anthropological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)