American Journal of Archaeology

The reconstruction of Pompeii’s water-supply system is currently the focus of much debate. This debate is fueled by complicated and growing archaeological evidence for the water system within the town as well as three different proposed configurations of Pompeii’s aqueduct. The new synthesis of archaeological evidence presented here reveals three successive phases of piped distribution. The first, Augustan phase was altered considerably in a second phase to keep it operating, albeit with reduced supply, in the town’s last decades. At the time of the eruption of Somma-Vesuvius in 79 C.E., a wholly new, third phase was under construction. A new interpretation of the archaeological remains around Ponte Tirone shows that the water that supplied Pompeii’s distribution system came from either the Aqua Augusta or Somma-Vesuvius, but probably not from the Abella aqueduct. In addition, there is evidence in Ponte Tirone for a minimum ground uplift of approximately 30 cm on the flanks of the volcano prior to the eruption and greater deflation afterward. This uplift reduced and then stopped water supply to towns around the Bay of Naples, but whether it affected Pompeii remains unclear. This analysis further develops a new method of reconstructing past vertical ground movements via their impact on shallow-gradient, gravity-powered water systems.

The north side of the uncanonical Temple of Athena Polias at Athens, conventionally called the Erechtheion, included a small paved court with banks of steps on the east and on the north against the Acropolis wall. The details of construction indicate that both the marble paving and the steps were built as part of the Erechtheion. This small, secluded North Court is a likely venue for the solemn ceremonies of the Plynteria and the Kallynteria, in which the ancient olive-wood statue of Athena Polias was taken out of the temple, bathed, and adorned. The unroofed, tightly integrated North Court reinforces the status of the Erechtheion as an innovative architectural composition.

The 2014 edition of the “Archaeology in Jordan” newsletter presents short reports on selected archaeological projects conducted during 2012 and 2013 in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Reports are generally organized geographically, starting with the eastern panhandle and then moving from north to south.

Adams, M.J., I. Finkelstein, and D. Ussishkin, The Great Temple of Early Bronze I Megiddo: 285–305

Andrews, M.M., A Domus in the Subura of Rome from the Republic Through Late Antiquity: 61–90

Archaeological Institute of America, Awards Presented at the 115th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America: 359–65

Becker. See Mogetta and Becker.

Blackwell, N.G., Making the Lion Gate Relief at Mycenae: Tool Marks and Foreign Influence: 451–88

Bridgford. See Molloy et al.

Buxton, B.A., A New Reading of the Belvedere Altar: 91–111

Cadogan, G., Patronage and Prehistory: Recent Publications on the Bronze Age Aegean and Cyprus: 189–95

Carter. See Molloy et al.

Corbett, G.J., D.R. Keller, B.A. Porter, and C.A. Tuttle, Archaeology in Jordan, 2012 and 2013 Seasons: 627–76

Cosmopoulos, M.B., Cult, Continuity, and Social Memory: Mycenaean Eleusis and the Transition to the Early Iron Age: 401–27

Day. See Molloy et al.

Dillon, S., A Letter from the Editor-in-Chief: 1–2

Finkelstein. See Adams et al.

Gaignerot-Driessen, F., Goddesses Refusing to Appear? Reconsidering the Late Minoan III Figures with Upraised Arms: 489–520

Gürtekin-Demir, R.G., Phrygian Aspects of Lydian Painted Pottery from Sardis: 223–39

Harrell, K., The Fallen and Their Swords: A New Explanation for the Rise of the Shaft Graves: 3–17

Hayden. See Molloy et al.

Isaakidou. See Molloy et al.

Keller. See Corbett et al.

Khatchadourian, L., Empire in the Everyday: A Preliminary Report on the 2008–2011 Excavations at Tsaghkahovit, Armenia: 137–69

Kiernan, P., The Bronze Mice of Apollo Smintheus: 601–26

Klontza-Jaklova. See Molloy et al.

Kotzamani. See Molloy et al.

Larsson. See Molloy et al.

Leon. See Smith and Leon.

Luley, B.P., Cooking, Class, and Colonial Transformations in Roman Mediterranean France: 33–60

Maran, J., and A. Van de Moortel, A Horse-Bridle Piece with Carpatho-Danubian Connections from Late Helladic I Mitrou and the Emergence of a Warlike Elite in Greece During the Shaft Grave Period: 529–48

Martinez-Sève, L., The Spatial Organization of Ai Khanoum, a Greek City in Afghanistan: 267–83

Milić. See Molloy et al.

Mogetta, M., and J.A. Becker, Archaeological Research at Gabii, Italy: The Gabii Project Excavations, 2009–2011: 171–88

Molloy, B., J. Day, S. Bridgford, V. Isaakidou, E. Nodarou, G. Kotzamani, M. Milić, T. Carter, P. Westlake, V. Klontza-Jaklova, E. Larsson, and B.J. Hayden, Life and Death of a Bronze Age House: Excavation of Early Minoan I Levels at Priniatikos Pyrgos: 307–58

Nodarou. See Molloy et al.

Oakley, J.H., Greek Children: Three New Iconographic Studies: 677–81

Öğüş, E., Columnar Sarcophagi from Aphrodisias: Elite Emulation in the Greek East: 113–36

Pantou, P.A., An Architectural Perspective on Social Change and Ideology in Early Mycenaean Greece: 369–400

Pope, S., and P. Schultz, The Chryselephantine Doors of the Parthenon: 19–31

Porter. See Corbett et al.

Privitera, S., Long-Term Grain Storage and Political Economy in Bronze Age Crete: Contextualizing Ayia Triada’s Silo Complexes: 429–49

Schultz. See Pope and Schultz.

Scopacasa, R., Gender and Ritual in Ancient Italy: A Quantitative Approach to Grave Goods and Skeletal Data in Pre-Roman Samnium: 241–66

Smith, A.T., and J.F. Leon, Divination and Sovereignty: The Late Bronze Age Shrines at Gegharot, Armenia: 549–63

Stone, D.L., Africa in the Roman Empire: Connectivity, the Economy, and Artificial Port Structures: 565–600

Tuttle. See Corbett et al.

Ussishkin. See Adams et al.

Van de Moortel. See Maran and Van de Moortel.

Vavouranakis, G., Funerary Pithoi in Bronze Age Crete: Their Introduction and Significance at the Threshold of Minoan Palatial Society: 197–222

Westlake. See Molloy et al.

Younger, J.G., Two Recent Books on Ancient Scripts: 521–25

Online Only

Supplementary Content

Andrews, M.M., Image Gallery: A Domus in the Subura of Rome from the Republic Through Late Antiquity

Blackwell, N.G., Image Gallery: Making the Lion Gate Relief at Mycenae: Tool Marks and Foreign Influence

Corbett, G.J., D.R. Keller, B.A. Porter, and C.A. Tuttle, Image Gallery: Archaeology in Jordan, 2012 and 2013 Seasons

Cosmopoulos, M.B., Image Gallery: Cult, Continuity, and Social Memory: Mycenaean Eleusis and the Transition to the Early Iron Age

Mogetta, M., and J.A. Becker, Image Gallery: Archaeological Research at Gabii, Italy: The Gabii Project Excavations, 2009–2011

Molloy, B., J. Day, S. Bridgford, V. Isaakidou, E. Nodarou, G. Kotzamani, M. Milić, T. Carter, P. Westlake, V. Klontza-Jaklova, E. Larsson, and B.J. Hayden, Appendix: Life and Death of a Bronze Age House: Excavation of Early Minoan I Levels at Priniatikos Pyrgos

Book Reviews

Ahrens, A., Rev. of Killebrew and Lehmann, eds., The Philistines and Other “Sea Peoples” in Text and Archaeology

Allen, S.E., Rev. of Sampson, ed., The Cave of the Cyclops: Mesolithic and Neolithic Networks in the Northern Aegean, Greece. Vol. 2, Bone Tool Industries, Dietary Resources and the Paleoenvironment, and Archaeometrical Studies

Bell, S., Rev. of Koch and Baratte, eds., Akten des Symposiums “Sarkophage der Römischen Kaiserzeit: Produktion in den Zentren–Kopien in den Provinzen”/“Les sarcophages romains: Centres et périphéries,” Paris, 2.–5. November 2005

Bell, S., Rev. of Mander, Portraits of Children on Roman Funerary Monuments

Blackwell, N.G., Rev. of Kassianidou and Papasavvas, eds., Eastern Mediterranean Metallurgy and Metalwork in the Second Millennium BC: A Conference in Honour of James D. Muhly, Nicosia, 10th–11th October 2009

Bonney, E.M., Rev. of Abramiuk, The Foundations of Cognitive Archaeology

Bowes, K., Rev. of Attema and Schörner, eds., Comparative Issues in the Archaeology of the Roman Rural Landscape: Site Classification Between Survey, Excavation and Historical Categories

Boyes, P., Rev. of Aubet, Commerce and Colonization in the Ancient Near East

Burke, A.A., Rev. of Seger, Gezer VII: The Middle Bronze and Later Fortifications in Fields II, IV, and VIII

Caraher, W., Rev. of Lapadula, The Chora of Metaponto 4: The Late Roman Farmhouse at San Biagio

Cherry, J.F., Rev. of Ratté and De Staebler, eds., The Aphrodisias Regional Survey

Chovanec, Z., Rev. of Matisoo-Smith and Horsburgh, DNA for Archaeologists

Christie, N., Rev. of Jacobs, Aesthetic Maintenance of Civic Space: The “Classical” City from the 4th to the 7th c. AD

Cline, E.H., Rev. of Abt, American Egyptologist: The Life of James Henry Breasted and the Creation of His Oriental Institute

Cunningham-Bryant, A., Rev. of Török, Hellenizing Art in Ancient Nubia 300 B.C.–AD 250 and Its Egyptian Models: A Study in “Acculturation”

Draycott, C.M., Rev. of Dusinberre, Empire, Authority, and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia

Emberling, G., Rev. of Harmanşah, Cities and the Shaping of Memory in the Ancient Near East

Emerson, T.E., Rev. of Olsen, Shanks, Webmoor, and Witmore, Archaeology: The Discipline of Things

Fagan, G.G., Rev. of Lucore and Trümper, eds., Greek Baths and Bathing Culture: New Discoveries and Approaches

Foss, P.W., Rev. of Ellis, ed., The Making of Pompeii: Studies in the History and Urban Development of an Ancient Town

Galanakis, Y., Rev. of Privitera, Principi, Pelasgi e pescatori: L’Attica nella Tarda Età del bronzo

Gessert, G.S., Rev. of Bocherens, ed., Nani in Festa: Iconografia, religion e politica a Ostia durante il secondo triumvirato

Gilmour, G., Rev. of Master, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology. 2 vols.

Gordon, J.M., Rev. of Fujii, Imperial Cult and Imperial Representation in Roman Cyprus

Graells i Fabregat, R., Rev. of Aldrete, Bartell, and Aldrete, Reconstructing Ancient Linen Body Armor: Unraveling the Linothorax Mystery

Hadji, A., Rev. of Knapp, The Archaeology of Cyprus: From Earliest Prehistory Through the Bronze Age

Hirschfeld, N., Rev. of Steele, Syllabic Writing on Cyprus and Its Context

Höflmayer, F., Rev. of Iamoni, The Late MBA and LBA Pottery Horizons at Qatna: Innovation and Conservation in the Ceramic Tradition of a Regional Capital and the Implications for Second Millennium Syrian Chronology

Höflmayer, F., Rev. of Martin, Egyptian-Type Pottery in the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant

Höflmayer, F., Rev. of Peltenburg, ed., Associated Regional Chronologies for the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus

Hritz, C., Rev. of Stronach and Mousavi, eds., Ancient Iran from the Air

Hrychuk Kontokosta, A., Rev. of Anderson, Jr., Roman Architecture in Provence

Ivleva, T., Rev. of Hemelrijk and Woolf, eds., Women and the Roman City in the Latin West

Ivleva, T., Rev. of Kristensen and Poulsen, eds., Ateliers and Artisans in Roman Art and Archaeology

Jacobs, I., Rev. of Dally and Ratté, eds., Archaeology and the Cities of Asia Minor in Late Antiquity

Kamlah, J., Rev. of Dever, The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel: Where Archaeology and the Bible Intersect

Kelder, J.M., Rev. of Steel, Materiality and Consumption in the Bronze Age Mediterranean

Kellum, B., Rev. of Trimble, Women and Visual Replication in Roman Imperial Art and Culture

Kiernan, P., Rev. of Madigan, The Ceremonial Sculptures of the Roman Gods

Klein, N.L., Rev. of Verdan, Le sanctuaire d’Apollon Daphnéphoros à l’époque géométrique. 2 vols.

Kleiner, F.S., Rev. of Zanker and Ewald (Slater, trans.), Living with Myths: The Imagery of Roman Sarcophagi

Kosso, C., Rev. of Alberti and Sabatini, eds., Exchange Networks and Local Transformations: Interaction and Local Change in Europe and the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age

Kuniholm, P.I., Rev. of Çilingiroğlu and Sagona, eds., Anatolian Iron Ages 7: Proceedings of the Seventh Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium Held at Edirne, 19–24 April 2010

Langford, J., Rev. of Manders, Coining Images of Power: Patterns in the Representation of Roman Emperors on Imperial Coinage, A.D. 193–284

Lantzas, K., Rev. of Nakassis, Individuals and Society in Mycenaean Pylos

Lomas, K., Rev. of Laurence, Esmonde-Cleary, and Sears, The City in the Roman West, c.250 BC–c.AD 250

Lynch, K.M., Rev. of Pala, Acropoli di Atene: Un microcosmo della produzione e distribuzione della ceramica attica

McDowell-Loudan, E.E., Rev. of Lazrus and Barker, eds., All the King’s Horses: Essays on the Impact of Looting and the Illicit Antiquities Trade on Our Knowledge of the Past

Moore, M.B., Rev. of Saripanidi, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. Greece 13. Thessaloniki: Aristotle University, Cast Museum

Moore, M.B., Rev. of Serbeti, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. Greece 12. Athens, National Museum 6: Attic Black-Figure and Six’s Technique Lekythoi

Müller, M., Rev. of Yasur-Landau, Ebeling, and Mazow, eds., Household Archaeology in Ancient Israel and Beyond

Mylonopoulos, J., Rev. of Mitsopoulos-Leon, Das Heiligtum der Artemis Hemera in Lousoi: Kleinfunde aus den Grabungen 1986–2000

O’Donoghue, E., Rev. of Bellelli, ed., Le origini degli Etruschi: Storia, archeologia, antropologia

Papadopoulos, J.K., Rev. of Valavanis (Doumas, trans.), The Acropolis Through Its Museum: Wandering Among the Monuments of the Sacred Rock and the Great Achievements

Richard, J., Rev. of Robinson, Histories of Peirene: A Corinthian Fountain in Three Millennia

Rogers, A., Rev. of Mithen, Thirst: Water and Power in the Ancient World

Rohl, D.J., Rev. of Christie and Augenti, eds., Vrbes extinctae: Archaeologies of Abandoned Classical Towns

Ruscillo, D., Rev. of Russell, Social Zooarchaeology: Humans and Animals in Prehistory

Sarris, A., Rev. of Schmidt, Earth Resistance for Archaeologists

Saunders, D., Rev. of Mommsen, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. Germany 94. Berlin 14: Attisch schwarzfigurige Amphoren

Scotton, P.D., Rev. of Dubbini, Dei nello spazio degli uomini: I culti dell’agora e la costruzione di Corinto arcaica

Shipley, L., Rev. of Cascino, Di Giuseppe, and Patterson, eds., Veii, the Historical Topography of the Ancient City: A Restudy of John Ward-Perkins’s Survey

Slane, K. Warner, Rev. of McKenzie-Clark, Vesuvian Sigillata at Pompeii

Stewart, A., Rev. of Smith, The Marble Reliefs from the Julio-Claudian Sebasteion

Stewart, S.M., Rev. of Lawall and Lund, eds., Pottery in the Archaeological Record: Greece and Beyond. Acts of the International Colloquium Held at the Danish and Canadian Institutes in Athens, June 20–22, 2008

Stoddart, S., Rev. of Attema, Burgers, and van Leusen, Regional Pathways to Complexity: Settlement and Land-Use Dynamics in Early Italy from the Bronze Age to the Republican Period

Stronk, J.P., Rev. of Dodson, Afterglow of Empire: Egypt from the Fall of the New Kingdom to the Saite Renaissance

Sumi, G.S., Rev. of Spalinger and Armstrong, eds., Rituals of Triumph in the Mediterranean World

Swan, G. Middleton, Rev. of Belozerskaya, Medusa’s Gaze: The Extraordinary Journey of the Tazza Farnese

Tuck, A., Rev. of Turfa, ed., The Etruscan World

Viitanen, E.-M., Rev. of Anguissola, ed., Privata Luxuria: Towards an Archaeology of Intimacy. Pompeii and Beyond. International Workshop Center for Advanced Studies, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (24–25 March 2011)

Voyatzis, M.E., Rev. of Papapostolou, Early Thermos: New Excavations 1992–2003

Walsh, J. St. P., Rev. of Thomasen, Rathje, and Bøggild Johannsen, eds., Vessels and Variety: New Aspects of Ancient Pottery

Weiberg, E., Rev. of Banks, Lerna, A Preclassical Site in the Argolid. Vol. 6, The Settlement and Architecture of Lerna IV

Willekes, C., Rev. of O’Daniel Cantrell, The Horsemen of Israel: Horses and Chariotry in Monarchic Israel (Ninth–Eighth Centuries B.C.E.)

Yasur-Landau, A., Rev. of Wachsmann, The Gurob Ship-Cart Model and Its Mediterranean Context

Books Received

January 2014

April 2014

July 2014

October 2014

Reviewed Works

Göttliche Kinder: Ikonographische Unter-suchung zu den Darstellungskonzeptionen von Gott und Kind bzw. Gott und Mensch in der griechischen Kunst, by Michaela Stark (Potsdammer altertumswissenschaftliche Beiträge 39). Pp. 358, b&w pls. 32. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2012. €64. ISBN 978-3-515-10139-4 (paper).

Dazugehören: Kinder in Kulten und Festen von Oikos und Phratrie. Bildanalysen zu attischen Sozialisationsstufen des 6. bis 4. Jahrunderts v. Chr., by Martina Seifert. Pp. 398, b&w pls. 42. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2011. €64. ISBN 978-3-515-09642-3 (paper).

Childhood in Ancient Athens: Iconography and Social History, by Lesley A. Beaumont (Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies). Pp. xvi + 303, figs. 111. Routledge, New York 2012. $130. ISBN 978-0-415-24874-7 (cloth).

Hellenistic-Roman bronze mouse statuettes have traditionally been connected to the god Apollo Smintheus, who appears in the opening scenes of the Iliad and who was venerated in Asia Minor. A careful examination of their findspots and the dating of the statuettes show that this association is erroneous. In fact, the mouse statuettes were attached to bronze oil lamps, candelabra, lampstands, and other pieces of furniture. They refer directly to the common problem of mice gnawing at wicks and drinking lamp oil, a nuisance that is documented in various ancient texts. Mice were a popular motif that not only created a trompe l’oeil effect but also invoked Hellenistic and Roman literary and artistic traditions of an inverted world in which mice undertook human activities that were out of proportion to their small size.

The relationship between connectivity and economic activity is a subject of current debate in Mediterranean archaeology, and recent scholarship has shown the significance of this topic for North African studies. This article approaches the issue through a body of evidence that has hitherto been overlooked: artificial port structures, such as jetties, quays, enclosures, and breakwaters. I identify 29 definite, and 16 possible, structures between Cyrenaica and Mauretania Tingitana dating between the fourth century B.C.E. and the sixth century C.E. I demonstrate that the archaeological evidence for these structures is a more reliable source of information than the ancient literary evidence and discuss how the picture drawn from the latter has misled earlier scholars. I argue that wharf length is the best measure of the size of port structures, and I use that concept to outline the role that individual ports and broader regions played in Mediterranean commerce. By relating artificial port structures to the major production centers of exported goods, I enhance the picture of the North African economy both before and during the Roman empire.

The advent of the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500–1250 B.C.E.) on the Tsaghkahovit Plain in central Armenia witnessed the establishment of a series of hilltop fortresses following a 900-year hiatus in regional occupation. These new settlements testify to the emergence of a South Caucasian political tradition founded on the regularization of radical inequality, centralizing practices of economic redistribution, and new institutions of rule. However, the discovery of three shrines and associated assemblages at Gegharot, one of the primary fortress sites, also suggests that divinatory practices were critical to the emergent principles of regional sovereignty. In this article, we present the evidence for esoteric rituals—particularly osteomancy, lithomancy, and aleuromancy—within the shrines at Gegharot, situating them within the available comparanda from the Caucasus and adjacent Near East. We further examine how divination—a technique for mitigating risks posed by unsettled presents and uncertain futures—provided a key source of power vital to sovereignty.

In this article, a horse-bridle toggle from a final Late Helladic I context in elite Building H at Mitrou is identified on the basis of its form and decoration as an object with close ties to the Carpatho-Danubian zone. In a stage of reworking the toggle was provided with serrated edges, which suggests an association with the introduction of the light horse-drawn chariot. This find helps reconstruct a long-distance trade route from the Carpatho-Danubian zone via the Euboean Gulf to southern Greece. Influences went both ways, with northern elite cultures playing a decisive role in the construction of a new ideology of power by Greece’s emerging elite.

This article considers the stoneworking techniques and implements that were employed in the production of the Lion Gate relief at Mycenae, as deduced from tool marks preserved on the sculpture. Examination of these traces has revealed previously undetected details while highlighting the indispensable roles of tubular drills and saws—especially a large pendulum saw and a smaller convex blade—in the manufacturing process. A new illustration of the relief depicts the location of all discernible tool marks and other minute features, most of which are hidden to the on-ground viewer. The analytical conclusions from this investigation substantially advance our understanding of the monument’s construction. The date of the relief and sequence of its production, as well as unexpected evidence for repair during the Bronze Age, are now clear. Moreover, evaluation of the extant tool marks suggests that the relief’s composition should be reconstructed as heraldic lions turning their now-missing heads backward. Finally, this article argues that specific stonecutting methods evident on the relief have strong parallels in central Anatolia, so the prospect of Hittite and Mycenaean interaction, particularly on a technological level, is appraised.