Melvadius

I think I posted this link to an abstract fo a paper on Science Direct a few months back but in case I haven't recent research seems to indicate that some evidence can still be found of the DNA of amphorae contents even after centuries underwater:

The 'official' Aurora website seems to be long on what they do, where they go and the headline finds but suprisingly light on information about what was actualy learnt from their discoveries.

The '>programme run by the AIRC is intended for either graduates or undergraduates available for six weeks wishing to undertake excavation and investigatory work at one or other of a couple of the more exciting locations to dig in Italy:

Although there are more modern works which may now disagree with some aspects of this explanation as a start you may find this article from A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) by William Smith, LLD on the cursus publicus of interest.

It may not be precisely what you are looking for but have you found this image of the Roman Gods family tree?

I can see that I'm going to have to catch up with this film sometime but 'IVth Cohort of Gauls' sounds more like how an auxilliary unit might be named than a cohort from a legion.

I've found that regarding telescopes there are a few basic issues: 1. either you live somewhere with so much light pollution they are basically useless or you don't. 2. There are many and various telescopes to suit all pockets but the really good ones tend to be really expensive. 3. Really expensive telescopes tend to be really heavy and/or immobile so need somewhere fixed to be used from. On the other hand we bought one of my young nieces a good, even though fairly basic, telescope for less than

Hope that you have a great day today Oh Sage of the north

Like I say I may be feeling a bit cynical at present but there have been numerous reports regarding archaeological work in that part of the world being driven by an overtly political/ religious agenda. Particularly but not exclusively in the occupied West Bank. So hearing about very expensive equipment and scientific input being available efectively 24 hours a day on one project all be it on the coast near Tel Aviv makes me somewhat suspicious of what lies behind it.

Now if you wish a Scottish-English translation you could do worse than hunt out Stanley Baxter's Parliamo Glasgow sketches on YouTube. Here's an article from a few years back on the subject and an associated video which may still work.

Following its discovery the Hallaton Cavalry Helmet has had nine years of conservation work and as this BBC article announces is finally going onto permanent display at Harborough Museum, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, from 28 January alongside other finds from the site. More on the Hallaton Treasure can be read here I posted a related article a few months back on the site but to keep things together there is also an interesting report on the conservation of the helmet dating from Dec 2010 here.

There is a linked thread discussing a newspaper article on this topic here.

How nice it is for an archaeological site to have large sums of money lying around ready to throw at a problem. I may be a bit cynical but possibly this advance is more to do with where the excavation is, local politics and who's stumping up the cash than actual research 'needs'. Most archaeolgical excavations have to make do with some basic facilities on site and then begging, borrowing or stealing lab time afterwards - if extremely lucky they may find a research fellow able to provide expert knowledge by return post.

Congratulations seem due all round She looks lovely - I hope the confinment went well.

Not from work I can't I'll have to try again tonight from home.

I wouldn't know what the Youtube video sounds like since it is copyright so blocked in the UK. Regarding the mutability of accents I think it is fairly general that the strength of peoples accents varies both with use and the size of the local community. It is a very rare individual who on returning to their home area or being in close association with their home accent don't find themselves slipping into their old speech patterns. Conversely if you are in another area your accent has to become softer, even if only marginally, so you can be understood by those around you. You may know someone who seems to have a strong accent but if they went back home you may be suprised by how much deeper it became even years after they left home.

Sorry folks the Guardian link will not display correctly since it includes a certain 4 letter word which I now suspect that the forum software does not allow to appear here or be included in links. The link is as follows: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/jan/04/*or*-roman-brothel-tokens-erotic-art If you put back, given the subject, the obvious missing letters shown as * in the above you should be able to find it.

IOL is carrying this article on the discovery of what is believed to be an extremely rare (first found in Britain) Roman brothel token.

Cinzia, You may have some or most of this already from the site you linked to but you may find the dedicated Comitatus cavalry research pages of interest and may give a slightly different emphasis.

There has just been a generally very good TV programme 'A History of Ancient Britain Special: Orkney's Stone Age Temple' on BBC about the site which for anyone in Britian you have six days left when it can still be watched on BBC iplayer here. Current Archaeology also ran this extensive report from CA 241, on the discoveries at the site.

Hope you have a great day today even if any party you have may get confused with one for Hogmanay instead

Pen and Sword are currently advertising it for pre-order at

Well although no expert a few years back I did do some Roman re-enacting and before that some combat, although in a different period, I used a similar shield to the Roman format under discussion. I can't say that I had any problems with using my shield to punch during combat as the horizontal bar means that your hand naturally slides inside the boss and you can then raise or lower the shield, rotate it or punch with it without any real difficulty. It was actually much more manouvedrable than a medieval shield which was strapped to my forearm as you could only rotate that from the elbow although possibly not as easy to drop from yuor grip during extreme combat. The 'standard' early Principate rectangular legionary shield does have a couple of slight advantages; being easier to rest on the ground during rest stops or hang from your shoulder on a carrying strap during long route marches.

Hope that you have had a good one

Feanor, Welcome to the site. You have asked an interesting question. Basically the evidence is in three parts: Archaeologically the evidence comes from almost unique finds like the shield at Dura-Europas . This shield is precisely datable to the 3rd century AD when the site was captured and then abandoned and survived more or less intact in desert conditions. It is supported by finds of metal fixtures and fittings from shields elsewhere in the Empire like shield bosses which apart from scraps of wood or parts of leather covers tend to be the only bits of shields which normally survive. Evidence from monumental sculpture like the analysis of Trajan's column on the STOA site provide evidence of how the shields were carried on the march, used in combat and even stacked when not in use. Finally there is now several decades of evidence from re-enactors all over Europe and even in America and Australia that it is possible to use the shields as they appear to have been intended with relative ease.