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The Late Bronze Age Mycenaean palaces in southern and central Greece stood at the head of the earliest state system on the European continent. The authors, all leading scholars in Bronze Age research and often engaged in excavating the palace sites themselves, focus in their contributions on the most recent progress in pottery studies, in order to arrive at precise relative chronological dates of the destruction events. The investigated archaeological sites range from Crete in the south to the Peloponnese with the palaces of Pylos, Ayios Vasileios, Mycenae and Tiryns and further north to central Greece with the palace of Thebes, while contemporary sites on Cyprus and in Syria are taken into consideration as well. A precise chronology of those multilayered sites is a precondition for placing the administrative texts from the palace archives in a historical sequence as well as for writing the building history of the palaces themselves. Ultimately, this chronological sequence must also form the backbone of each theory seeking to explain the causes of the palace destructions and their final abandonment. The search for those historical causes is subject of this publication as well. The book contains primary data from the investigated sites – in many cases illustrating the relevant archaeological finds for the first time. It is the first comprehensive analysis of the topic and is based on the most recent archaeological excavation results.

During the NanoWeek 2022 and NanoCommons Final event (20-24 June 2022) in Limassol, Cyprus, SABYDOMA contributed this oral presentation from partner National Technical University of Athens (Philip Doganis and Haralambos Sarimveis), introducing SABYDOMA’s Safety-by-Process Control Concept.

This paper deals with the provenance of Mycenaean pottery found in the palace of Ayios Vasileios in Laconia. It focusses on painted and plain fine wares and reports the results of neutron activation analysis (NAA). The analyzed ceramics cover all of the habitation phases of the palace as well as the short, post-palatial use of the site, i. e. LH IIB to LH IIIC Early 1 (ca. 1450–1180 BCE). A large part of these fine ware pots represents a compositional pattern, which probably relates to local or regional production during the palatial periods LH IIIA and IIIB. Very similar patterns are known from other sites in the Eurotas valley as well as on the southeastern Laconian coast. The diachronic analysis shows that a reduction of paste variability towards the use of a more homogeneous clay recipe occurred after LH II, i. e. approximately contemporaneously with the establishment of the palace at Ayios Vasileios. Relatively few samples of the painted fine wares are imports and can be assigned to the wider region of Mycenae. Interestingly, these imports are restricted to the earlier phases up to LH IIB/IIIA1.

The present paper deals with the wheelbased manufacturing technology employed for the production of pottery in central Laconia and the Argolid during the Mycenaean palatial period (roughly 1450–1200 BCE). The main set of data comes from the combined macroscopic and X-Ray analyses on pottery discovered at the palace of Ayios Vasileios in Laconia. Additional material of Argive/NE Peloponnesian provenance was examined as well for comparative reasons. The latter comes from Tiryns and Tall Zirā‘a, Jordan. Although growing evidence suggests that wheelforming techniques can be more variable than one would have traditionally thought, very few studies have examined the use of the potter’s wheel during the Mycenaean period and the underlying craft behaviours. Our study suggests that the knowledge of this tool in the Argolid and central Laconia was not associated with the wheel-throwing technique but the so-called wheel-coiling, and was based on similar levels of expertise. However, we can also observe variations between these two regions, especially in the ways of mastering the rotary device within the forming process. The manufacture of the wheelmade pottery in Mycenaean Greece implies thus a complex technological phenomenon that involved different potting communities participating in the social and economic organization of palatial pottery production.

We present a compact polarimeter, which can perform sensitive measurements of optical rotation in vapor. The operation of the polarimeter is based on a Cavity Ring-Down scheme which employs two signal reversals, which increase sensitivity and reduce noise, allowing the realization of sensitive measurements in the presence of spurious birefringence. We describe the operation of the polarimeter, give the basic equations for the signal analysis and retrieval of optical rotation angle, and present measurements that demonstrate a sensitivity of ~80μdeg/pass.

An improved optical cavity-based polarimetry method is employed to measure the optical activity of lysozyme in water solution, in the concentration range of 0–2mg/ml. We employ a signal reversing technique, which gives the absolute optical rotation, without needing to remove the sample for a null measurement. We report an absolute sensitivity limit on the order of 0.1 mdeg, corresponding to a detection limit of

The ongoing excavations at Ayios Vasileios have revealed one of the most important Mycenaean palatial centres in the Peloponnese. The following study aims to establish the sequence of pottery phases of the site from the early Mycenaean period up to the conflagration that destroyed the palace at the end of the 14th or at the beginning of the 13th century BC. One of the main tasks has been the detailed analysis of well stratified material, which will clarify the development of the local pottery styles including evidence for continuity or discontinuity in the commonest pottery types and fabrics from the site. Based on the preliminary results from this study the developments and changes in the pottery tradition have been compared to those known from other centres in Laconia and beyond. An attempt has also been made to date the most important building horizons represented in the palace and to correlate them with those from the other known major sites of the region, the Menelaion in the north and Ayios Stephanos to the south.

Prehistoric human impacts on megafaunal populations have dramatically reshaped ecosystems worldwide. However, the effects of human exploitation on smaller species, such as anatids (ducks, geese, and swans) are less clear. In this study we apply ancient DNA and osteological approaches to reassess the history of Australasia's iconic black swans ( Cygnus atratus ) including the palaeo-behaviour of prehistoric populations. Our study shows that at the time of human colonization, New Zealand housed a genetically, morphologically, and potentially ecologically distinct swan lineage ( C. sumnerensis , Poūwa), divergent from modern (Australian) C. atratus . Morphological analyses indicate C. sumnerensis exhibited classic signs of the ‘island rule’ effect, being larger, and likely flight-reduced compared to C. atratus . Our research reveals sudden extinction and replacement events within this anatid species complex, coinciding with recent human colonization of New Zealand. This research highlights the role of anthropogenic processes in rapidly reshaping island ecosystems and raises new questions for avian conservation, ecosystem re-wilding, and de-extinction.

Prehistoric human impacts on megafaunal populations have dramatically reshaped ecosystems worldwide. However, the effects of human exploitation on smaller species, such as anatids (ducks, geese, and swans) are less clear. In this study we apply ancient DNA and osteological approaches to reassess the history of Australasia's iconic black swans (Cygnus atratus) including the palaeo-behaviour of prehistoric populations. Our study shows that at the time of human colonization, New Zealand housed a genetically, morphologically, and potentially ecologically distinct swan lineage (C. sumnerensis, Poūwa), divergent from modern (Australian) C. atratus. Morphological analyses indicate C. sumnerensis exhibited classic signs of the ‘island rule’ effect, being larger, and likely flight-reduced compared to C. atratus. Our research reveals sudden extinction and replacement events within this anatid species complex, coinciding with recent human colonization of New Zealand. This research highlights the role of anthropogenic processes in rapidly reshaping island ecosystems and raises new questions for avian conservation, ecosystem re-wilding, and de-extinction.

The colonization patterns of oceanic islands are often interpreted through transmarine dispersal. However, in islands with intense human activities and unclear geological history, this inference may be inappropriate. Cyprus is such an island, whose geotectonic evolution has not been clarified yet to the desired level for biogeographical reconstructions, leaving the questions of ‘how the Cypriote biota arrived’ and ‘does the dispersal have the formative role in patterns of its diversification’ unanswered. Here, we address these issues through a reconstruction of the evolutionary history of six herptiles (Ablepharus budaki, Ophisops elegans, Acanthodactylus schreiberi, Telescopus fallax, Pelophylax cf. bedriagae, and Hyla savignyi) by means of mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome b and 16S rRNA), applying a Bayesian phylogenetic, biogeographical, and chronophylogenetic analyses. The phylogeographical analyses show that the colonization history of those species in Cyprus started in the late Miocene and extended into the Pliocene and Pleistocene, with geodispersal, transmarine dispersal, and human-mediated dispersal having their share in shaping the diversification of Cypriote herptiles. The revealed patterns could be divided into three biogeographical categories: old colonizers that arrived in Cyprus during the late Miocene or early Pliocene either by a land bridge (geodispersal) which connected Cyprus with the mainland or by transmarine dispersal, younger colonizers that reached the island through transmarine dispersal from the Middle East, and new settlers that arrived through human-induced (voluntary or not) introductions. This work advances our knowledge of the biogeography of Cyprus and highlights the need to consider both geo- and transmarine dispersal when dealing with islands whose associations do not have a straightforward interpretation. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London

Transport jars from the Mycenaean citadel of Tiryns, a coastal centre in the Bronze Age, were analysed in a macroscopic and petrographic study. Over 400 vessels and vessel fragments, mostly Transport Stirrup Jars (TSJs) and Canaanite jars, were recorded; around a quarter of them were selected for analysis. The vessels derive from both the upper and lower citadel, with a few from the lower town. Their chronological span ranges from Late Helladic (LH) IIIB1 to LH IIIC Developed (ca 1300–1070 BC) but the bulk of the material dates to LH IIIB2 (ca 1200 BC), and comes from dumps derived from the final destruction of the palace. Several sources are suggested for the TSJs, some of which are inscribed with Linear B: Kythera, the eastern Aegean (perhaps Kos), Kontopigado-Alimos in Attica, Corinth and several other mainland sources, as yet unidentified. It is suggested that a large group of TSJs with shape and decoration derived from central Cretan types were produced in the vicinity of the Argive Plain. Two thirds of the TSJs, however, come from Crete. With the exception of one from the Vrokastro area of east Crete, these are evenly derived from the Chania plain and the western edge of the Mesara plain in central Crete, where the Minoan centres of Kommos, Phaistos and Ayia Triada are located. We discuss the implications of all this for our understanding of the economy and society of Crete after the destruction of the palace of Knossos, and for the relationship between Crete and the Mycenaean palatial centres in the Argolid.

Δέσποινας Δανίηλιδου: Ανασκαφές Μυκηνών. ΙΙ. Το ‘Εργαστήριο’ των Μυκηνών. Αθήναι: Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία 2008. 350 S. 206 Abb. 89 Taf. 4°(Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας . 258).

Während der Ausgrabungen des griechischen Antikendienst im Jahre 1999 in der Westtreppe von Tiryns wurde ein Schichtpaket freigelegt, das in einen zeitlichen Zusammenhang mit der endgültigen Zerstörung des Palastes am Ende des 13. Jh. v. Chr. gebracht wird. Die Bedeutung des Befundes unterstreicht u.a. die Tatsache, dass er aus der direkten Umgebung des Palastes in der Oberburg stammt, ein Bereich nämlich, der wegen der sehr frühen Ausgrabungen durch Schliemann nicht gut dokumentiert ist. Durch die Analyse der Stratigraphie und der reichlich vorkommenden bemalten Feinkeramik des neuen Befundes, die das Thema der vorliegenden Dissertation bilden, konnte nahegelegt werden, dass der Befund, der aus drei trennbaren Schichten besteht, auf Aufräumarbeiten im Palastbereich kurz nach der Zerstörung zurückzuführen ist. Die Keramik der tieferen Schichten konnte in die letzte Palastphase (SH III B2) datiert werden, während jene aus der höheren Schicht außer SH III B2-Keramik auch einige etwas jüngere keramische Typen enthielt, die sehr wahrscheinlich aus der Zeit der Aufräumarbeiten stammen, welche wohl vor der partiellen Wiederbenutzung des ehemaligen Palastgeländes und der Errichtung des Antenbaues (Bau T) stattgefunden haben. Zudem hat die Analyse der Keramik aus der tieferen Schicht ergeben, dass das hierin angetroffene Material Schutt eventuell eines einzigen Raumes aus dem Kernbereich des Palastes darstellen kann, in dem u.a. besondere Keramik wie figürlich bemalte Kratere und aus Kreta importierten Bügelkannen und Amphoren miteinander vergesellschaftet waren.

WOS: 000315120300012, The colonization patterns of oceanic islands are often interpreted through transmarine dispersal. However, in islands with intense human activities and unclear geological history, this inference may be inappropriate. Cyprus is such an island, whose geotectonic evolution has not been clarified yet to the desired level for biogeographical reconstructions, leaving the questions of how the Cypriote biota arrived' and does the dispersal have the formative role in patterns of its diversification' unanswered. Here, we address these issues through a reconstruction of the evolutionary history of six herptiles (Ablepharus budaki, Ophisops elegans, Acanthodactylus schreiberi, Telescopus fallax, Pelophylax cf. bedriagae, and Hyla savignyi) by means of mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome b and 16S rRNA), applying a Bayesian phylogenetic, biogeographical, and chronophylogenetic analyses. The phylogeographical analyses show that the colonization history of those species in Cyprus started in the late Miocene and extended into the Pliocene and Pleistocene, with geodispersal, transmarine dispersal, and human-mediated dispersal having their share in shaping the diversification of Cypriote herptiles. The revealed patterns could be divided into three biogeographical categories: old colonizers that arrived in Cyprus during the late Miocene or early Pliocene either by a land bridge (geodispersal) which connected Cyprus with the mainland or by transmarine dispersal, younger colonizers that reached the island through transmarine dispersal from the Middle East, and new settlers that arrived through human-induced (voluntary or not) introductions. This work advances our knowledge of the biogeography of Cyprus and highlights the need to consider both geo- and transmarine dispersal when dealing with islands whose associations do not have a straightforward interpretation.(c) 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 108, 619-635.

An improved optical cavity-based polarimetry method is employed to measure the optical activity of lysozyme in water solution, in the concentration range of 0–2 mg/ml. We employ a signal reversing technique, which gives the absolute optical rotation, without needing to remove the sample for a null measurement. We report an absolute sensitivity limit on the order of 0.1 mdeg, corresponding to a detection limit of

Es handelt sich um die Akten des Workshops „Synchronizing the Destructions of the Mycenaean Palaces“ an der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. In diesem Band wird die Datierung aller wichtigen mykenischen Palastkomplexe sowie die weiterer zeitgleicher Siedlungen in Griechenland und dem Nahen Osten diskutiert, womit die nötigen Voraussetzungen für alle Arten grundlegender historischer Studien zum mykenischen Griechenland in der Palastzeit geschaffen werden., These are the proceedings of the workshop “Synchronizing the Destructions of the Mycenaean Palaces” held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The contributions treat the chronologies of all important Mycenaean palatial complexes as well as of other coeval settlements in Greece and the Near East, thus providing the necessary preconditions for all kinds of fundamental historical studies on Mycenaean Greece during the palatial period.