Sunday 25 September 2011

Relations militaires, commerciales et culturelles dans les Balkans de l'époque classique à la période byzantine

Symposium International. Le Livre. La Roumanie. L'Europe.
Section 4C: Relations militaires, commerciales et culturelles dans les Balkans de l'époque classique à la période byzantine. Sinaia, 20-23 September 2011.

The International Symposium entitled "Le Livre. La Roumanie. L'Europe." that took place in the picturesque town of Sinaia has just ended.

It may be surprising that this would be mentioned on this site, if it were not for the Section 4C, which focused on "Military, commercial and cultural relations in the Balkans from the classical to the Byzantine period". Here a number of interesting papers by young and established academics were presented and ideas exchanged.

The full program can be found here:

http://simpozion2011.bibliotecametropolitana.ro/page-detail-fr.aspx?cId=86

accompanied by abstracts. Photos and videos are also available, and the acts will be ready in time for next year's congress!

Thursday 15 September 2011

Mycenean Cemetery reveals itself!




A Mycenaean cemetery of the 14th c. B.C. revealed itself after a heavy rainfall in the Peloponnese, 10 km NW of Leonidion, near the village of Vaskina (Βασκίνα). It contained five graves.

When the archaeologists of the 38th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities proceeded with an excavation of the site they found the five cist-shaped graves, in which more than one dead had been buried.

According to a declaration made by the head of the Ephorate, mrs Karapanagiotou, the locals discovered the outlines of the graves that had been uncovered by the rain and immediately informed the Archaeological service.

Ceramic banqueting vessels of the kind usually found in graves, stone weaving weights and a bronze pin were among the offerings that accompanied the dead.

However a cemetery signifies a settlement, which has yet to be discovered, but was obviously one of the many that flourished in the Peloponnese during the Mycenaean period.




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