Melvadius

This article from Archaeologuy magazine 'Dig Deeper' section provides a good overview of why Dura-Europos is so important to Roman archaeology seems to have been missed during the forum upgrade:

Thanks for picking this story up again Maty, I've just realised that it is one of those we lost between early and late August due to the problems encountered during the Forum upgrade. I must check back with my sources and see if there are any more we should repost

The BBC report that apparently the helmet sold for

I have come back to this story as I recently indirectly heard a report from one of the excavators confirming that none of the archaeologists involved in this excavation started the 'gladiatrix' rumour. In fact during the excavation apparently they initially though they were simply dealing with a male body it was only after they had fully excavated the body that someone raised the possibility, because of the bone morphology, they were actually dealing with an unusually muscular female burial. There was a follow-up article in the Hereford Times about the excavation which was much more interested in the range of finds from this roadside suburb and associated with the burial rather than the BBCs wild speculation about why she was so well developed.

Actually I think that, although interesting in itself, it is a totally unrelated article. From what I can find on the web it appears that it is a team from Technische Universit

Now I don't mind a bit of speculation about how a 2,000 year old coin could end up buried just below the modern ground surface in America but this item in the Salem News seems to have gone for the totally illogical as the best option following failure of initial research looking at it possibly coming from a modern coin collection. The owner of the spot where the coin was found commented as follows: I woudl have suggested an alternative theory that it could represent the 'lost' proceeds of a robbery which possibly went unreported or at least was not 'honestly' reported for whatever reasons by the owner. Does anyone wish to add their contributions about possible origins for this coin?

Spiegel Online International report on what, if correct, is a truly stunning advance regarding the extent of Ptolemy's knowledge of Germania. The report is based on six years of research and crucially the discovery of a parchment copy at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul which is apparently now the oldest version of Ptolemy's work ever discovered. This new discovery apparently predates the Vatican's copy from around AD 1300, which is traditionally cited as the oldest known copy of Ptolomey's original. N.B. the article notes that a reproduction of this version is due to be published next year

The results of some potentially interesting research into Roman glass production has been published by Planet Earth online.

Gaius Octavius was directly responsible for me being here having seduced me away from my old site by asking questions there and then tranferring our answers. After I followed him over I did keep in intermittent contact via UNRVs messaging service but didn't find out about the extent of his illness until after the event. Gaius/ Tom was and is sadly missed by all who came in contact with him.

If you have remembered the inscriptions at all accurately then the translation makes sense: SPQR equates to Senatus Populusque Romanus - The Senate and Roman People Imp Nerv Traian - Emperor Nerva Trajan cos - Consul with VII possibly indicating this object dates towards the end of his lifetime as he was apparently made consul for the sixth time in 112 AD and died in 117 AD. N.b. I am not sure that Trajan was ever formally declared consul for a seventh time but someone else may be able to confirm that point. I do also wonder at how small this object is if, as you indicate, it is a cube only 7cm/ approx 3 inches across. The small size and possibly polished surface would seem to argue for it being intended for an internal 'domestic' setting or use rather than being part of a monumental structure for public display.

The classic reference (although only in passing) is from Cassius Dio 60.21 which Bill Thayers' Lacus Curtius site cites regarding the invasion of Britain: I suspect the elephants were only included effectively as a 'status' symbol intended to overawe the britons they came in contact with rather than for 'real' use in the line of battle although their very presence may have unsettled any British mounted or chariot forces. As has already been pointed out elephants can be difficult to control and if enraged or paniced can cause more of a problem for their own side than the enemy.

I can't say that I have come across any similar inscribed stones but if coins are anything to go by I suspect the wording may have included some or all of the following: MARCUS ULPIUS NERVA TRAJANUS CRINITUS COS III (alternatively possibly either COS IIII or COS V) PP). The 'CON' or more commonly 'COS' designation indicates the number of times he had been elected or as Emperor declared himself consul, I believe that Tajan's final tally was five times. Pure speculation but I suppose it is possible that if the cube was marble and I am correct about the wording then it may originally have been used as a plinth or base for a small bust or statue of the Emperor. If so there may have been some indication on the cube face above the inscription of where the bust or statue had been attached.

Hope you have a good one

I would add a further caution to accepting Diogenes Laertius at face value. Every text I have read mentioning him raises concerns about his uncritical acceptance of 'facts' without seeking corroboration or even providing any information on who or what his sources were. Given the fact that he is the only source for many if not most of the 'philosophers lives' and secondary information he mentions this makes his writings doubly suspect and I would include this snippet about the Druids in that. Don't forget that at best he was writing 150-200 years (although some authorities suggest he could even be a 4th or 5th century author) after the main surving group of Druids were apparently wiped out in the attack on Anglesey let alone the earlier Galatians.

Maty, this is exactly why I have my doubts about the legendary plant. There are not many places I can visit if I want to see the Loch Ness monster or consult the Oracle of Delphi. (The Oracle, at least, had a great influence over several societies for centuries. Does this make it any more real?) <SNIP> guy also known as gaius guy also known as gaius (and Maty), To address one of the issues you have with silphium having a 'unique' habitat I can't remember precise details but quite a few years back there was much discussion about a long lived plant which only grew and flowered in a single island habitat which had gone years without flowering so was in danger of dying out. After a lot of research it was realised that it relied for its pollination on something which could fly up to where it flowered which had an extremely long tongue but had apparently become extinct after the island was found. I don't know if it was a bird or a moth but the point is that this provides evidence of how in a fragile/ unique habitat the loss of one species can have a disasterous effect for another. Another example where I do have details is the case of the range of hummingbirds found on Trinidad and Tobago following reported in the Ecological Society of America journal. Talking about how different bird competed for limited nectar sourtces they found that one species left Tobago totally for a three month period due to competition from other birds for its favoured food source, the rtelvant extract follows:

Heritage Key reports on the discovery of the first Mithraeum found in the west of France.

This took a bit longer than I expected to research so please accept my apologies for being a bit late: Although promised for a couple of years Kamash

Photographs are already used to complement plans and section drawings but are not a replacement for these which are the primary record providing precise measurements for the relationships of the different 'contexts' found on a site. Probably not if you want to keep your teeth As we have already said it may provide a useful adjunct to the primary archaeological recording tools but we need convincing that it is a viable replacement for all the necessary elements of the 'primary' record.

A good point but Pliny was writing in the early 1st century AD and most of Andrew Darby's references predated Pliny by several centuries - admittedly Darby suggests that in this case Theophrastus (@310BC)was probably Pliny's main source. It is interesting that most seem to have written as if silphium was a well known and presumably expensive plant with every inclination that it had medicinal rather than primarily culinary uses. You queried why so many 'conflicting' claims were made for the attributes of the plant and have probably already given the answer. The plant always seems to have been confined to one particular area and most of the writers were writing in a period where 'scientific' enquiry was in its infancy. Some may have simply accepted folklore while others are apaprently citing their experience of how the plant was (or had been) used. However the argument will probably always be circular as we do not and cannot know which was which since the plant itself now seems to have become extinct and all that is left is the later inferior substitute. [slightly edited 28/9/10]

Sorry I missed this article when you first posted it, it looks like you made some significant discoveries with the possibility based on the GPR results of more to come. It is nice to see a site you've worked on appear in the press.

The article seemed to indicate they took photographs then downloaded them twice a day onto a server where someone then converted the photographs using idraw into a digitised image which could be loaded back onto the ipads. I agree with Klingan that it may be interesting to try this system out in the field BUT my concerns remain; stemming from experience that whenever I have had to draw a long section drawing I take regular measurements as I move along the section so I can capture every layer (context) and its relationship with the other layers. If I am uncertain about a relationship I can get closer or further from the area in question if necessary or even ask a second opinion before committing to paper. I don't see how the same level of accuracy can be generated from what effectively seems to be based on a single photographic image, especially if you are working on a fast moving dig and/or within confined trenches where: i ) you cannot get back far enough for a panoramic shot/ vierw and even if you can there will be some degree of distortion in the final image ii ) there is a degree of risk that photographs will get corrupted/ lost during the transfer or notes on the layers garbled when they are compared with the downladed image - possibly long after work has continued on removing material from the section. iii ) a different person will be drawing the plan hours or even days after the event when the original excavator may not be available to provide back ground information. If something isn't recorded accurately then it doesn't exist in the archaeological record and its relationship/ context is lost for ever. Now admitedly with pen and paper there is always some risk of images being smudged when written down/ drawn especially if it is raining heavily but you know at the point it has happened and generally if the weather is that bad everyone is going to down tools until it clears so usually you will have another 'bite' at getting the image down on paper. Overall on the surface it may save time in some circumstances while making comparative material available to everyone connected to the system also potentiall has its advantages. However there seems to be a higher degree of risk for total data loss by separating out the stages when plans and section drawings are created than through traditional recording methods. I remain to be convinced.

There have been some interesting points made already most notably the link to food writer Andrew Darby

Glad you like them its a part of the world I would like to go back and visit again some time as there was a lot we didn't get to see while we were there.

A few years back I went on a specially aranged archaeological tour of Tunisia with a now sadly defunct specialist local tour company who were closely tied into the Tunisian tourist board and local venues. One of the archaeological highlights was a visit to a site which was then currently being excavated at Leptiminus (Lamta) to the east of Sousse - not to be confused with Lepti Manga in Lybia which I have yet to visit. A major issue with the site was the fact that it was in an area which had been used for small farms and housing for years but as it was close to the sea it was also under pressure from major building projects such as hotels and associated entertainment venues. The area we saw under excavation included the shattered remains of a bath house as well as a large group of buildings which originally formed part of a collegia or trade guild. I have now posted some images from the Leptiminus excavations on my gallery which includes some images showing mosaics whioch had been prepared for removal from such site.

Not having used the iPad I can't say how accurate its GPS is for archaeological surveying rather than finding out where you are in relation to where you want to be. However as far as arcaheological surveying is concerned it isn't just the GPS requiremnt it is also a matter of integrating very accurate angle and height information as well. I would need to see the iPad results in direct comparison to results generated by traditional surveying methods before I would be convinced that it provides the same level of information.