New Books by AIA Members

List and brief description of recent and forthcoming books authored by the AIA membership.

The Bronze Age Begins: The Ceramics Revolution of Early Minoan I and the New Forms of Wealth that Transformed Prehistoric Society
by Philip P. Betancourt
This book focuses on economic and social changes, particularly during the opening phase of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. New developments in ceramics that reached Crete at the end of the Neolithic period greatly contributed to the creation of economic, technological, social, and religious advancements we call the Early Bronze Age. The arguments are two-fold: a detailed explanation of the ceramics we call Early Minoan I and the differences that set it apart from its predecessors, and an explanation of how these new and highly superior containers changed the storage, transport, and accumulation of a new form of wealth consisting primarily of processed agricultural and animal products like wine, olive oil, and various foods preserved in wine, vinegar, honey, and other liquids. The increased stability and security provided by an improved ability to store food from one year to the next would have a profound effect on the society.
INSTAP Academic Press (February 2009)
Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age
by Daniel J. Pullen, ed.
The contributions to this volume were originally delivered at the Spring 2007 Langford Conference entitled “Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age,” held at the Florida State University in Tallahassee 22–24 February 2007. Papers were circulated in advance, and a response prepared by James Wright. Subsequently the papers and the response were revised for publication. 1. Introduction: Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age (Daniel J. Pullen) 2. Beyond the Peer: Social Interaction and Political Evolution in the Bronze Age Aegean (William A. Parkinson) 3. Spirit of Place: Minoan Houses as Major Actors (Jan Driessen) 4. Making Elites: Political Economy and Elite Culture(s) in Middle Minoan Crete (Ilse Schoep) 5. From the Kinship Economy to the Palatial Economy: The Argolid in the Second Millennium BC (Sofia Voutsaki) 6. Political Economies in Ritual: A Comparative Study of the Rise of the State in Pre- and Protopalatial Knossos and Phaistos (Joanne M. A. Murphy) 7. Reevaluating Staple and Wealth Finance at Mycenaean Pylos (Dimitri Nakassis) 8. Seafaring in the Bronze Age Aegean: Evidence and Speculation (Cheryl A. Ward) 9. Between and Beyond: Political Economy in Non-palatial Mycenaean Worlds (Thomas F. Tartaron) 10. Citadel and Sett lement: A Developing Economy at Mycenae, the Case of Petsas House 184 (Kim Shelton) 11. Living from Pots? Ceramic Perspectives on the Economies of Prepalatial Crete (Peter M. Day, Maria Relaki, and Simona Todaro) 12. Wedging Clay: Combining Competing Models of Mycenaean Pott ery Industries (Michael L. Galaty) 13. Political Economies in the Aegean Bronze Age: A Response (James C. Wright)
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK (May 2010)
Mochlos IIB: Period IV. The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Pottery
by R. Angus K. Smith
Excavations carried out at two Late Minoan III sites at Mochlos in eastern Crete yielded a pottery assemblage from 31 tombs and 11 houses, which are cataloged, discussed, and illustrated together with petrographic analyses. The cemetery remains mirror the settlement remains, and the conclusions discuss how the two sites reflect each other. Rarely in Crete are a settlement and its cemetery both preserved, and it is extremely fortunate to be able to document both in a series of scientific excavation reports (Mochlos vols. IIA–IIC).
INSTAP Academic Press (April 2010)
Graeco-Roman Slave Markets - Fact or Fiction?
by Monika Trümper
This book critically examines the existence and identification of purpose-built slave markets in the Graeco-Roman world from a cross-cultural perspective. It investigates whether certain ancient monuments were designed specifically for use as slave markets and whether they required special equipment and safety precautions, allowing them to be clearly distinguished from other nonspecific commercial buildings and marketplaces of the Graeco-Roman world. First, selected parallels, namely slave markets in Istanbul, Marrakesh, Cairo, Havana, Charleston, and New Orleans, are analyzed in order to: assess the possible range of locations for the sale of slaves in slave-holding cultures better known than their ancient equivalents; answer the question of whether any of these cultures constructed clearly identifiable purpose-built slave markets on a regular basis, that is, whether the slave market was ever a firmly established building type; evaluate what can be gained from such a cross-cultural approach to the study of ancient slave markets. This is followed by a brief discussion of ancient written sources on slave markets, focusing on what the texts reveal about the existence, design, and requirements of ancient slave markets. A major part of this book is dedicated to a critical reexamination of all eight ancient buildings that have been identified as slave markets so far: Delos, so-called Agora of the Italians; Pompeii, Building of Eumachia; Rome, Crypta Balbi; Ostia, Tempio Rotondo; Herculaneum, so-called Basilica; Leptis Magna, so-called Chalcidicum/Building of Iddibal Cadapha Aemilius; Ephesus, so-called Sarapeum; Magnesia-on-Maeander, so-called Prytaneion. The conclusion includes a short comparison of modern and alleged ancient slave markets and finally answers the question of whether, to date, ancient slave markets are an archaeological fact or fiction.
Oxbow Books (December 2009)