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A short essay about the second largest of group imported container amphoras on the territory of the Golden Horde which was named in scientific literature «amphoras of SSS stamp group» is presented in the article. In materials from Eastern Europe this group was singled-out by I.V. Volkov. He tracked evolution of this group throughout the 12th – 13th centuries. The authors have made an overview of the opinions of different researchers about the place of their production. At the moment, at least four options have been proposed: Palestine, Cilicia (?), Thessaloniki, Western Georgia. An opinion was expressed that it was unlawful to single out this group of amphoras. All proposed hypotheses are based on indirect data and logical constructions based on different conditions. On the opinion of the authors of the article, the amphoras of the SSS stamp group came from the territory of Western Georgia during the period of flourishing of the centralized state in Georgia. An estimate of the number of finds and the geography of their distribution are given. Also most characteristic features of the vessels of this group are characterized. Considering that during the Golden Horde period, amphoras of the SSS stamp group arrived during a few decades in the middle of the third quarter of 13th century, their identification is very important for revealing of the earliest complexes on the settled settlements of the Golden Horde.

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The analysis was made upon a set of 27 pieces that had been discovered in the South Sector during the archaeological campaigns carried out between 2003 and 2020. In the study were included the pieces from the early Roman period. Therefore, the purpose of the present paper is to provide an overview of a group of previously unpublished Early Roman lamps. The occurrence of a unique lamp mark on the territory of Romanian Dobrudja is also reported. Given the circumstances that this category received little attention within the published materials, provide an important contribution to a future endeavour to gather all the available artifacts in a corpus dedicated to Histria’s lamps

This paper deals with representation of eye examination and eye disease prevention methods in philately. The work represents the primary methods used for eye disease diagnosis and demonstrates the role of stamps in raising awareness among people regarding basic medical knowledge. The article is supplied with illustrative material, explanatory descriptions and comments.

This study deals with description of the furnace structure, studied during archaeological work on the territory of the upper part of one of the oldest towns in Siberia – Tobolsk (founded in 1587). Stratigraphic surveys together with a numismatic collection allowed the authors to date the revealed heating structure to the second half of the XVIII century. It was established that the furnace was built at the bottom of the cellar; its base was a frame of scaffolds, on which the brickwork was made (the reuse of bricks from pulled down furnaces was recorded). The studied part of the furnace base has been preserved to a height of 1 m; the maximum studied dimensions are 170×160 cm. Based on the analysis of the masonry, the furnace found to be rectangular in shape. It was decorated with tiles. The authors believe that the studied furnace design is not typical for Tobolsk of the second half of the XVIII century. It was in the house of a wealthy citizen.

The preventive archaeological research carried out on the Medgidia Elenistic 1 site, by MINA Constanța, which took place between November 2022 and July 2023, brought to light a rich and beautiful ceramic material of all kinds, fromGetic and Scythian hand modeled pottery by - to luxury black-glazed Greek vessels, gray pottery and, of course, a rich batch of Greek amphorae and their fragments. In general terms, the discovered material falls chronologically between the IV and III BC.Among the amphoric material, the majority on the site, a special place is occupied by the amphoric stamps (67), coming from6 Greek producing centers, bothMediterranean - Thasos, Cnidos, Rhodes, and from the Pontic ones - Heraclea, Sinope, Chersones. Among the stamps from Medgidia, some specimens of unknown centers were also noticed, some present for the 􀌑rst time in the W-NW area of the Black Sea, as well as, we believe, a new Sinopean producer. Most of the stamps belong to the Sinopean amphoric production - 34, which represents 60% of the total of this lot. From a chronological point of view, the batch of stamps discovered on the Medgidia Elenistic 1 site falls between the 􀌑rst half of the century 4th and mid-century 3rd century Chr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the paper of Dagestan Arabic manuscripts and epistolary documents of the 19th — early 20th centuries, as an important aspect of source study. This work allows you to get an idea of the history of Russia’s cultural and economic ties with Dagestan and the countries of the East. In the course of the study, a comparative historical method was used. The authors analyzed the works of domestic and foreign experts on this issue, highlighted the main identification features of the paper of these written documents. The relevance of the ongoing research is due to the need for a comprehensive study of the writing material of the Arabographic monuments of Dagestan origin. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that the paper of these historical sources for the first time became the object of study in domestic source studies. It has been established that in the Dagestan manuscripts and epistolary documents of the 19th — early 20th centuries, the marked paper of Russian manufactories and factories is mainly represented. The article notes that for a full-fledged study of Dagestan Arabographic sources, it is necessary to use advanced digital technology and modern natural scientific developments. The study of historical sources paper is of great importance in the preservation and restoration of monuments of the written culture of the Dagestan peoples.

This study is dedicated to a special category within the archaeological material preserved in the collections of the National History Museum of Romania, terra sigillata from Feldioara. The analysis was made upon a set of 44 pieces that had been discovered during the archaeological campaigns carried out between 1987 and 1990. Following a stylistic analysis (for copies having decoration), in conjunction with typological analysis and the clay from which are manufactured items analyzed we found that imports come from two main centers producing terra sigillata: Lezoux and Rheinzabern. Therefore, the center from Lezoux represents the origin place of the largest part of terra sigillatta that was discovered at Feldioara. Workshops of Rheinzabern are also one of the main sources of terra sigillata at Feldioara.

Recently, structures, built on reclamation sites in the Eastern Black Sea region are quite remarkable. As one of them, Şenol Güneş Medical Park Arena Sport Complex, which is located in Akyazı town of Trabzon city, is one of the rare areas in Turkey. It is very important to monitor surface deformations on this type of unfamiliar and very expensive constructions for protecting human life and property and for taking necessary precautions in advance. Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI), based on the analysis of time series of multiple Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, is an invaluable geodetic tool to measure surface deformations. So, in this study, it is aimed to monitor the surface deformations on the reclamation site between the dates 20/12/2016–28/01/2020 by StaMPS (Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers)-PSI technique using 96 Sentinel-1 SAR images. For processing, integration of European Space Agency (ESA) SentiNel Application Platform (SNAP) and StaMPS programs are used. After processing, surface deformations are determined as annual velocities (millimeter(mm)/year(y)) of PS points in the reclamation area along the line-of-sight (LOS) direction between the values −9.7 mm/y and 3.9 mm/y with an average standard deviation of 0.7 mm/y. From the results, it is understood that the area demonstrates very heterogeneous deformations rates, which occur on both horizontal and vertical directions because of the diversity and being on the reclamation site of the structures.

Terracotta tiles are a characteristic objects of Russian culture in the 17th century. These terracotta tiles are intended for facing stoves. The article deals with tiles and stamps for making tiles found during the archaeological study of the historical part of Tsaryovokokshaysk. A stove faced with tiles was a luxury item for the upper strata of the population. That is why the findings of tiles are more interesting in the territory of a small town, where wealthy people made up a small percentage of the population. The technology of manufacturing tiles speaks in favor of the presence of local production. Stamps found on the territory of the town for applying a pattern on tiles also indicate the presence of such production in Tsaryovokokshaysk of the 17th century. Stamps are quite rare finds on the territory of Russia, and those ones found far from the centers of tile production are of even greater value. Tsaryovokokshaysk stamps have a more complicated and varied pattern than those found in other regions earlier. The revealed tiles were described and grouped according to the composition of the drawing. In 2021 there was found a tile that had been made using a stamp found in 2015. This fact also proves the presence of local production in the town during the 17th century. The production of tiles in Tsaryovokokshaysk ceased in the 18th century due to socio-economic reasons.

Floods are the most common sort of natural disaster that occurs when a body of water overflows and submerges on dry terrain. Several regions in Sidoarjo District, East Java such as Kedungbanteng and Banjarasri Village, have experienced floods with varying heights since 2018 due to heavy rainfall in the areas. According to the Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), rainfall intensity in these areas reach 100 mm/day. Furthermore, the physical environment in both areas shows land subsidence that causes a change in the flow pattern, which triggers its occurrence. This research incorporated different small baseline techniques of InSAR time series analysis and used GPS measurement to evaluate and monitor the land subsidence in both areas. The reseachers used Sentinel-1 SAR data both from ascending and descending for the period between 2017 and 2021. The results showed significant subsidence value by up to −200 mm/year both in Kedungbanteng and Banjarasri Village, and GPS observation also confirmed approximately −3.2 cm of subsidence value during 2 months of sampling observations. Using the neural network analysis, the reseachers predicted the time series displacement for one year and showed that a continuous trend of deformation still existed.

Monitoring and determining landslides in dam reservoirs is very crucial as it is one of the main factors of dam failures in the world. Coruh river basin is one of the most important river basin in the Northeast part of Turkey which accompanies five big dams. Although persistent scatterer InSAR (PSInSAR) method is a powerful remote sensing technique which can measure and monitor displacements of the Earth’s surface over time, its validation is a challenging issue because of the heterogeneous PS data. In this study, the efficiency of PSInSAR is investigated by proposing two different validation methods in order to see the consistency of the determined mean deformation velocities obtained with series of Sentinel-1A SAR-images. In the first method, 3D coordinates of reference points are projected to 1D displacement values in line of sight direction and then compared with the radar displacements of PS points. In the second method, new displacement values of PS points around reference points are identified from an interpolation map in order to be compared with the original displacements of reference points. In the end, it is showed that the displacements found by PSInSAR method are consistent with the reference points’ displacements measured in the study area. Finally, this work’s specific objectives are to present solutions to the challenging validation problem, to show the effectiveness of PSInSAR method and to describe the remaining challenges in PS analysis of landslide applications in dam areas.

Land surface deformation can severely damage socioeconomic living conditions around the world. This study aimed to identify the Shaziba landslide and further assess deformation activities in Enshi city. For this purpose, the sentinel-1 C-bands data acquired in ascending directions were processed with Sentinel Application Platform and Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers (StaMPS) software packages. Our results revealed the location of a landslide that occurred on 21 July 2020 in the Shaziba area, Enshi Prefecture. More interesting deformation results were found in Enshi city for the first time with a deformation range from −51.6 to 54.2 mm/year. We conducted a thorough observation of different urban infrastructures such as commercial and residential buildings, roads, bridges, and airports in Enshi city and along the Qingjiang River to evaluate land surface deformation. Observations revealed that there are a number of influencing factors contributing to disturbing the natural environment and resources in Enshi Prefecture. Of these influencing factors, intensive rainfall is a major cause as are the infiltration of rainfall into the subsurface Silurian strata together with the load of infrastructure in the study area. If this issue is not addressed it could lead to devastating geo-hazard disasters in the future. Scientific approaches to determine various causes of frequent geo-hazards in this region are of great significance for developing early warning systems for disasters and ensuring the safety of residents’ lives and property.

The article presents 23 Greek amphora stamps discovered in the last 10 years in the area of the ancient city of Callatis, during archaeological excavations conducted by one of the authors of this article. The artifacts come from six surveyed locations: the area of the flattened tumuli from Arsa, the Hagieni forest, the Castelul de Apă area, the western area of the Coloniști neighborhood (Mangalia), the former fish farm Limanu, and La Movile area. All the stamps are of Sinopean origin, covering the chronological framework between the 3rd decade of the 4th century BC and the 1st decade of the 2nd century BC. Most of the items in this lot are magistrates' stamps, while only two being potter΄s stamps. It should be noted that most of the stamps are dated in the 3rd century BC, which in general terms, reflects the period of maximum commercialization of liquid goods from Sinope (wine and olive oil) in the northwestern and western Pontic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article publishes a fragment of a stamped Roman mortarius, accidentally found during construction work in Kerch (antique Panticapaeum). Inspite of all the ordinariness of the stamp, this mark is a unique find for the European Bosporus. The recorded analogies of finds in Moesia and other parts of the Northern Black Sea region (Tyra, Olbia, Chersonessus) allow us to conclude, that mortarius is associated with the presence of Roman troops on the Bosporus in the late 2nd – early 3rd centuries AD.

Land subsidence problems have become increasingly prominent. Traditional monitoring methods, such as level measurements, have high costs and low efficiency. Permanent scatterer interferometric synthetic aperture radar (PS-InSAR) has several advantages for land subsidence monitoring based on technological innovations. Aimed at resolving the key problems associated with PS-InSAR technology, the accuracy of three external digital elevations models (DEMs, namely, SRTM, ASTER GDEM, and PleiadesDEM) was analysed and compared. We found that the introduction of ground control points can significantly improve the elevation accuracy of DEMs. Herein, we introduce the specific processing steps and selection of the key parameters for IN-SAR data using the StaMPS software. We discuss the differences between IN-SAR technology and levelling measurements as well as the influence that the different external DEMs have on IN-SAR data. Based on 36 scenes of TerraSAR-X images, we obtained results for land deformation monitoring in Taiyuan City using PS-InSAR technology, which provided satisfactory monitoring results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the five different Thule postal stamps which circulated from 1935 to 1936 between the trading post of Thule (which is the Danish name for the settlement of Uummannaq in Northwest Greenland, today Thule Air Base) and the Cape York post office in Copenhagen. The images on the stamps not only concentrate and visualize the complex colonial history between Greenland and Denmark. Instead, they also dynamize and preserve historical power relations by making them physically and visually tangible to this day. The stamps bear witness to infra-structures of cultural exchange, which were strongly controlled by the Danish side. They are often overlooked testimonies of everyday communication and mark colonial relations as ongoing and still powerful forces. What is more, the stamps provide their own agency as cultural-creating forces which sheds a new light to the history of Western modernization and its heritage.

A postage stamp is a piece of artwork which proficiently designed and printed and issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage. (Glossary of Terms, 2017). Stamp design is perhaps the most interesting part of the stamp. It is one of the main reasons why stamps have been collected through the ages. Stamps have a monetary value and are produced only by security printers under very strict control. So the production methods include prepress stage, must be difficult to duplicate in order to prevent counterfeiting. Counterfeiting of security documents such as postage stamps is becoming now more than ever a serious problem, due to the availability of high-quality and low-priced color photocopiers and desktop publishing systems, (Isaac Amidror, 2002). This study aims to use new decorative designs supported with an overt security feature called "Guilloché", and another semi covert one called "Microprinting", in order to add aesthetic appeal to The Egyptian universities temporary graduation certificate Stamps, and in the same time, to contribute in securing those stamps against counterfeiting. This will contribute automatically in reducing the risks of the negative impact of the use of counterfeit stamps on the Egyptian economy. After experimental work study, the results have shown that using these innovative designs is a very important issue, especially when we talk about protecting the Egyptian universities and the nation rights from scammers and therefore the national income, so it was very important to make these innovative designs to be hard to reproduce to achieve the research goals.

This study investigates the elevation changes for the island of Bhasan Char, located in the Bay of Bengal, which was selected for the relocation of around 100,000 refugees of the Rohingya minority which were forced to leave their homes in Myanmar. Eighty-nine Sentinel-1 products were analysed using persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) beginning August 2016 through September 2019, divided into three periods of one year to reduce the impact of temporal decorrelation. The findings indicate that the island is a recent landform which underlies naturally induced surface changes with velocities of up to ±20 mm per year. Additional displacement is probably caused by heavy construction loads since early 2018, although we found no statistical evidence for this. The main built-up area shows stable behaviour during the analysed period, but there are significant changes along the coasts and artificial embankments of the island, and within one separate settlement in the north. The moist surface conditions and strong monsoonal rains complicated the proper retrieval of stable trends, but the sum of findings supports the assumption that the island underlies strong morphologic dynamics which put the people to be relocated at additional risk. Its suitability for construction has to be investigated in further studies.

The authors present a small collection of Greek amphora stamps found during rescue excavations in ancient Callatis, on the territory of present Mangalia. The collection consists of 26 stamps, most of which are the stamps of Sinope – 8 specimens, 6 belong to the Thasian amphora production, 4 stamps belong to Akanthos, and Chersonesus, Rhodes and Paros are represented by one amphora stamp each. Five stamps were included in the group of uncertain. The chronological frames of this collection are from 330-340 BC to 250 BC. The fact that most of the stamps belong to the Sinope amphorae is proof of the influence of this Black Sea Greek center on trade with the Greek colonies of the North-Western Black Sea region and even with the local barbarian population. This is also confirmed by similar finds of stamps in such sites as Histria, Callatis, Albeşti, and Tyras. The collection, despite its small size, can be a good addition to earlier publications on the Callatis stamps, since these excavations took place on the territory of this ancient city.

Copyright of Tyragetia is the property of National Museum of History of Moldova 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.)

This paper examines five different Thule postal stamps which circulated from 1935 to 1936 between the trading post of Thule (the Danish name for the settlement of Uummannaq in Northwest Greenland, today Thule Air Base) and Copenhagen. The images on the stamps do not only concentrate on, and visualize, the complex colonial history between Greenland and Denmark - they also dynamize and preserve historical power relations by making them physically and visually tangible to this day. The stamps bear witness to infra-structures of cultural exchange, which were strongly controlled by the Danes. They are overlooked testimonies of everyday communication and mark colonial relations as ongoing and ever powerful forces. What is more, the stamps provide their own agency as cultural-creating entities and shed a new light on the history of Western modernization, polar heroic narrations, and their heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semiotics is the science of studying the sign systems and, in fact, an interpretive process for understanding the hidden truth behind the signs, mysteries, and signs and cultural symbols. In addition, semiotics tells us that structures can be meaningful. The sign system in the Islamic Republic of Iran is very important because of the creation of a new Shiite identity. The present study examines the process of transition from political symbols to social symbols in the stamps between 1979- 2001 as a cultural instrument of the Islamic Republic of Iran through a combination of content analysis and semiotics. The findings of this study indicate that the process of changing the emblems on stamps between 1979- 2001 indicates that the Islamic Republic of Iran's legitimacy has shifted from rulers to society and from political to social.

Semiotics is the science of studying the sign systems and, in fact, an interpretive process for understanding the hidden truth behind the signs, mysteries, and signs and cultural symbols. In addition, semiotics tells us that structures can be meaningful. The sign system in the Islamic Republic of Iran is very important because of the creation of a new Shiite identity. The present study examines the process of transition from political symbols to social symbols in the stamps between 1979- 2001 as a cultural instrument of the Islamic Republic of Iran through a combination of content analysis and semiotics. The findings of this study indicate that the process of changing the emblems on stamps between 1979- 2001 indicates that the Islamic Republic of Iran's legitimacy has shifted from rulers to society and from political to social.

Picture postcards with image captions help determine the precise message of photographs. In view of that, they are considered valuable and informative historical documents depicting many aspects of our rich past and culture. Postcards were developed through the last decades of the 19th century. This study is dedicated to real photo postcards. This type of postcards began to be produced from the early 1900s. Collecting postcard was an international hobby in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, resulting in the existence of a large number of valuable postcard collections around the world. Accordingly, this research aims to study the historical and technical background of postcards and photography and how they relate to each other; to use this information in the dating of an unknown hand-colored photo postcard. This study will provide non-professionals with simple guidelines that will help them date their collections, particularly in regions where professional help is not always available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the elevation changes for the island of Bhasan Char, located in the Bay of Bengal, which was selected for the relocation of around 100,000 refugees of the Rohingya minority which were forced to leave their homes in Myanmar. Eighty-nine Sentinel-1 products were analysed using persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) beginning August 2016 through September 2019, divided into three periods of one year to reduce the impact of temporal decorrelation. The findings indicate that the island is a recent landform which underlies naturally induced surface changes with velocities of up to ±20 mm per year. Additional displacement is probably caused by heavy construction loads since early 2018, although we found no statistical evidence for this. The main built-up area shows stable behaviour during the analysed period, but there are significant changes along the coasts and artificial embankments of the island, and within one separate settlement in the north. The moist surface conditions and strong monsoonal rains complicated the proper retrieval of stable trends, but the sum of findings supports the assumption that the island underlies strong morphologic dynamics which put the people to be relocated at additional risk. Its suitability for construction has to be investigated in further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie III, Historia Medieval is the property of Editorial UNED 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.)

Landslides are a major threat for population and urban areas. Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) is a powerful tool for identifying landslides and monitoring their evolution over long periods and has proven to be very useful especially in urban areas, where a sufficient number of PS can be generated. In this study, we applied PS interferometry to investigate the landslide affecting Santo Stefano d’Aveto (Liguria, NW Italy) by integrating classic interferometric techniques with cross-correlation analysis of PS time-series and with geological and geotechnical field information. We used open-source software and packages to process Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite for both ascending and descending orbits over the period 2015–2021 and calculate both the vertical motion and the E-W horizontal displacement. By computing the cross-correlation of the PS time-series, we identified three families of PS with a similarity greater than 0.70. The cross-correlation analysis allowed subdividing the landslide in different sectors, each of which is characterized by a specific type of movement. The geological meaning of this subdivision is still a matter of discussion but it is presumably driven by the geomorphological setting of the area and by the regional tectonics.

The stamps are concrete documents reflecting the civilizations, thoughts and lifestyles that Turks set up in the geographical regions extending from Central Asia to Anatolia and Europe. On this way, they are important evidences that contributed to our understanding of the arts, social, religious and cultural values of the early Turks. Each of these images on the surface of the rocks has a different language. The formal design of the stamps is a reflection of the lines, the stains, the points, the rhythm, the equilibrium, the shapes, the tone and the textural properties. Compositions were created by bringing together lacquer and line drawings in a certain order. We need to read the stamps to understand them, find the plastic items that make up the paintings and solve the language of the stamps in order to analyze stamps in terms of form and condent The formal resolutions of the stamps, the description of the paintings, the composition, the technique, the dimension, the period, the place characteristics they have, the cultural interaction has great prominence in terms of cultural language. Examples of stamps that bring the main theme of the work to life are in Europe and in many parts of Turkey as it is in Central Asia. In this study, horse and deer motifs from rock paintings in Ankara's Güdül district were examined and the place and importance of these motifs in Turkish culture was revealed.

Copyright of Tyragetia is the property of National Museum of History of Moldova 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.)

The wider Zagreb area is considered one of the few seismically active areas in the Republic of Croatia. During the period 1880−1906, moderate to strong seismic activity with three earthquakes magnitude M L ≥ 6 occurred on the NW-SE striking Kašina Fault and since then, the area has not experienced earthquakes exceeding magnitude M L = 5 . In order to estimate the ongoing interseismic strain accumulation along the fault, we analyze Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array L-band SAR (PALSAR) and Environmental Satellite (Envisat)-Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) datasets acquired over the period 2007−2010 and 2002−2010, respectively. The data were analyzed using small baseline interferometry (SBI) technique and indicate very slow surface deformations in the area, within ±3.5 mm/year, which are in a good agreement with previous geodetic studies. Interseismic strain accumulation analysis was conducted on two 14 km long segments of the Kašina Fault, seismically active in the South and stable in the North. The analysis indicates an ongoing interseismic strain accumulation of 2.3 mm/year on the Southern segment and no detectable strain accumulation on the Northern segment. Taking into consideration the lack of moderate to strong seismic activity in the past 113 years combined with the preliminary geodetic analysis from this study, we can conclude that the Southern segment of the Kašina Fault has the potential to generate earthquake magnitude M w < 6.

Persistent scatterers interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PS-InSAR) is capable of precise topography measurement up to sub-meter scale and monitoring subtle deformation up to mm/year scale for all the radar image pixels with stable radiometric characteristics. As a representative PS-InSAR method, the Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers (StaMPS) is widely used due to its high density of PS points for both rural and urban areas. However, when it comes to layover regions, which usually happen in urban areas, the StaMPS is limited locally. Moreover, the measurement points are greatly reduced due to the removal of adjacent PS pixels. In this paper, an improved StaMPS method, called IStaMPS, is proposed. The PS pixels are selected with high density by the improved PS selection strategy. Moreover, the topography information not provided in StaMPS can be accurately measured in IStaMPS. Based on the data acquired by TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X over the Terminal 3 E (T3 E) site of Beijing Capital International Airport and the Chaobai River of Beijing Shunyi District, a comparison between StaMPS-retrieved results and IStaMPS-retrieved ones was performed, which demonstrated that the density of PS points detected by IStaMPS is increased by about 1.8 and 1.6 times for these two areas respectively. Through comparisons of local statistical results of topography estimation and mean deformation rate, the improvement granted by the proposed IStaMPS was demonstrated for both urban areas with complex buildings or man-made targets and non-urban areas with natural targets. In terms of the spatiotemporal deformation variation, the northwest region of T3 E experienced an exceptional uplift during the period from June 2012 to August 2015, and the maximum uplift rate is approximately 4.2 mm per year.

Approximately four years ago, a workshop for antiquities forgery was discovered near the village of Lesh­nitsa, Lovech region. A significant number of bricks and flat roof-tiles (tegulae) (approximately 70 in number) was found all bearing the stamps of two legions from the territory of Lower Moesia Province (Moesia Inferior) – legio I Italica and legio XI Claudia. These legions were regular military and tactical units in the province until AD 376-378. After the Gothic War, important changes took place affecting the quantity, the composition and the structure of the military contingent along the Lower Danube. The legions’ intensive activities required huge amount of construction materials. Distinct or unclear stamps can be seen on some of the bricks and the tiles. They either mark the military unit only or the unit and the name of the producer or the person responsible for the production. The bricks and the tiles I examined were almost intact, but a large number had their corners broken. After a careful study of the “production”, it became evident that while one part of it was authentic, another part was is modern imitation. The differences were distinguished by following certain criteria. A thin or a thicker (not thicker than 5-6 mm) layer of mortar covered the authentic bricks. Imprints left by domestic animals were also visible. Undoubtedly, these bricks were ancient buildings’ remains. The authentic artifacts had cracks and abrasions and small parts were missing. The depth of the stamps varied, and some letters were difficult to distin­guish. In contrast, the modern imitations were well shaped in moulds; the metal stamps were of good quality, and there was no mortar on the bricks. However, the temperature of firing was close to the original, explaining the right colour of the bricks and the tiles imitations. The color was also determined by the clay resources in the region. In general, the colour of bricks and the roof-tiles varied between brown-red to pale-red. Many of them were marked by three lines of finger tracks, running diagonally over their upper surface. Most of the stamps belonged to Legio I Italica. The imprints, both positive and negative, differed in size as did the letters. Their depth differed as well, varying from 2 to 3 mm. The stamping was fast and the pressure on the unfired clay was not uniformed. The original stamps were made from wood. Some stamps were made form metal, but it is impossible to ascertain whether they were authentic or forgery. The stamps were not always placed in the center of the bricks or the roof-tiles. A small amount of the production was stamped as a rule. The stamps were rectangular, and some were in tabula ansata. It has to be pointed out that during the process of firing millimeters are lost form the bricks and the roof-tiles; the difference may reach 1-1.5 cm. These are the studied artifacts: • Round bricks for pilae of hypocaustum installation: d = 18.5 cm, thickness 8.5 cm; stamp – 13 х 3.2 cm; d = 19 cm, thickness 8.5 cm; stamp – 13 х 2 cm. • Square or almost square bricks for pilae of a hypocaust: 17.5 х 17.5 х 8 cm; almost all stamps listed below have the following sizes: 13 х 3 cm; 18 х 17.5 х 8 cm; 19 х 18 х 7.5; 19 х 18 х 8; 19 х 18 х 8; 19 х 18.5 х 8; 19 х 18.5 х 9.5; 19.5 х 19 х 8; • Square bricks: 26.5 х 26.5 х 5 cm; 26.5 х 26.5 х 5.5; 26.5 х 26.5 х 7.5; • Rectangular bricks (questionable origin): 27 х 13 х 4 cm, stamp – 14 х 2.6 cm; 27 х 13 х 4, stamp 14 х 2.7; • Bricks Lydion: 42.5 х 28.5 х 6.5 cm; stamp 12 х 2.7 cm. The text belongs to Legio I Italica; 42.5 х 28.5 х 7; stamp 12 х 2.8; 42.5 х 28 х 7; stamp 13 х 3/3.5 cm; • Bricks (Lydion – cuneati. The cuneati are bricks with square or more often rectangular shape. The thickness of both ends is differ­ent. They were mainly used for the construction of vaults. This is the first time such type of artifacts have been encountered. The vaults found at Ulpia Oescus (near the village of Gigen, Pleven region) were made from standard bricks, but the mortar which bound them served as cuneati. The sizes of the presented artifacts are as follows: 40 х 26 х h1 – 5, h2 – 7.5 cm (Fig. 8); 48 х 27 х h1 – 5, h2 – 8. The stamps are 13 х 4 cm large, and they are of a very high quality, undoubtedly made in a metallic mould. The bricks are considered authentic due to the mortar on their surface. In addition to stamps of the two military units, another type was also discovered – AL SOL – perhaps meaning AL(a) SOL(ensium)/AL(ae) SOL(ensium)? Such stamps were common in Dimum, Svishtov, Novae and Pliska. However, reliable information from 1st and 2nd century has not yet been found to confirm the exist­ence of this military unit. Did such unit exist in this period? Can we date these artifacts to the 3rd century? Was the stamp a private or a military marking? However, it has to be pointed out that in a later period, two cavalry units of limitanei are recorded in Notitia Dignitatum – XXXIX: “Sub dispositione viri spectabilis ducis Scythiae…Cuneus equitum Solensium, Capidava; XL: “Sub dispositione viri spectabilis ducis Moesiae Secunde … Cuneus equitum Solensium, Dimo”. Similarly, in the Late Antiquity, a lot of military units shared the names or part of the names of earlier period military units. The stamps should not be read in the Nominative case – LEG(io) I ITAL(ica); LEG(ionis) XI C(laudiae) P(iae) F(idelis), and not LEG(io) XI C(laudia) P(ia) F(idelis) but in the Genitive case. Thus, the proposed interpretation is LEG(ionis) I ITAL(icae) – (production) of Legio I Italica. In general, the stamps of Legio I Italica are dated back to the 2nd century, and those of Legio XI Claudia are dated back to the first quarter of the 2nd century. The question that arises is where the bricks and roof-tiles with stamps come from. The author suggests that they came from the region of Novae, situated near the modern town of Svishtov. A lot of similar production was found during the archaeological excavations at the legionary camp, the canabae, the vicus and neighbouring ter­ritory. Most of the production belonged to Legio I Italica, and only a small amount to Legio XI Claudia. Single artifacts bear the stamp of Alae Solensium. Although a part of the bricks and roof-tiles from the Lovech region are undoubtedly a forgery, it is beyond any doubt that they are imitations of authentic artifacts.

The authors present diverse unpublished inscriptions from Clunia, corresponding to the group of instrumenta domestica: imbrices, loom weights, sigillata, etc. Their knowledge can help us to better value the wealth they had this Hispano-Roman colony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract We present first full-resolution and large area Sentinel-1 multi-temporal InSAR analysis of the Tatra Mts. region within Slovakia as a case study on a feasibility of processing chain based on the Sentinels Application Platform (SNAP) and Stanford method for Persistent Scatterers (StaMPS). We utilize all Sentinel-1 data from three individual orbits, acquired from the beginning of the mission until the end of 2017. Study area was chosen to test the performance of our system over mountainous and sparsely urbanized land characteristic for strong atmospheric perturbations. Our results reveal several distinct areas of small-scale deformation phenomena, e.g. rockslides or land subsidence. InSAR displacement time series are validated via GNSS observations at the points of Slovakian permanent reference network. We conclude with the potential of proposed workflow for the future Slovakian nation-wide multi-temporal InSAR processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The present study comes in the context of tunnel excavation monitoring. To detect and explain the characteristics of ground displacements due to tunnel excavations, a PsInsar processing chain for Sentinel-1 images using S1TBX and StaMPS tools is set up. Then, it is applied to study surface displacements over the line b of Rennes city metro. This study exploits 20 Sentinel-1 images covering Rennes City, France, over a period of 2.5 years. Mean displacement velocity map and displacement time series show that the detected deformations are correlated in space and in time with the excavation works. Although we did not had the possibility to validate PsInsar results by ground truth data (levelling, GNSS), we demonstrate, through this blind experiment, that we can detect a dense PS cover, the feasibility of small displacement scale and rate monitoring using a small set of Sentinel -1 images. To improve these results, we forecast to use a bigger set of images and to compare the result to ground data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of the amphora material from the excavation of grave no. 2 of the Scythian burial mound no. 7 near the village of Crihana Veche in the Republic of Moldova. In the burial mound of the local aristocrat, which was twice robbed in ancient times, along with the remnants of ornaments, weapons, and other objects used in the funeral ceremony, fragments of Greek amphorae were found (both in the burial and in the grave goods), which belonged to only one Greek center of production – Thasos. More than 27 Thasian amphorae in which expensive wine was brought in, as well as other ritual funerary objects, indicate that the man buried there had a special position in the local hierarchy. Also important for research are five amphora stamps on the handles of the Thasian amphorae, which confirm the dating of amphora fragments and indicate the exact sequence of activity of two Thasian magistrates, which previously did not have a basis of support. This funerary complex is singular for the fact that only Thasian amphorae of the same type were found in the burial (usually Heraclean amphorae were put in Scythian burials), which indicates the uniqueness of this complex in the territory between the Prut and Dniester Rivers, and the north-west Black Sea region as a whole.

Статья посвящена исследованию тамговых знаков, обнаруженных на территории Баян-Ульгийского аймака Монголии. Исследуется происхождение и семантика тамговых знаков. На территории аймака было найдено более 50 изображений, которые относятся к бронзовому, железному и древнетюркскому периоду. В статье проведен сравнительный анализ, касающийся использования тамги, ритуалов почитания знака у монголов и казахов, а также исследовано происхождение наиболее распространенных тамг: солярной, дамар, аргали и янгир.