Delphoi, one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, is closed. Officially the reason is rock-slides that make the area of the stadium dangerous. The famous Castalia source has also been kept closed for the past 15 years for the same reasons.
The problem has always existed on the site and re-appears after every heavy rainfall. However, apart for some interventions that have been made on three points, there is no money even for mapping the situation and even less for a complete study that will finally solve the problem that in the past has even damaged the seats of the stadium. Apart for the official excuse, however, there is also an "unofficial" reason for keeping the site closed: "Lack of personnel" as the guardians admit...
The Archaeological museum of Herakleion on Crete, one of the most important museums, has also been closed for the past 3 years, leaving its approximately 246,000 annual visitors...out in the cold! There is no funding to complete its restoration, as 2,5 million Euros are already owed to the contractor. There is not even a budget calculated for the reopening of the exhibition, so that is could be incorporated in the EU support framework; at the same time an antagonism amongst the archaeologists chosen to set up the exhibition and the local Ephorate of Antiquities, does not help matters...
The result is that "the first European Civilisation" - the Minoan Civilisation - will be represented by just 400 exhibits - in a "temporary" exhibition in a structure that was originally destined to be a garage!
Sounio, the third most visited archaeological site of Attica (153.300 visitors in 2008) is also one of the most abandoned because of lack of funding.
If one of the thousands of visitors trips, he will easily fall from the cliff, as the barriers are inadequate. There are no toilets, and visitors daily form long queues to use those of the restaurant that functions on the site.
"The image that the site gives is disappointing", declared recently the Head of the 2nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classic Antiquities, Ioanna Drakotou, speaking to the Central Archaeological Council.
As its sea access remains unguarded during the night, it is not impossible that during some nights it is home to Black Magic rituals, as indicated by "Strange remains" that turn up. The fortifications, which in antiquity had made Sounio one of the most important strongholds in Attica, are collapsing and are held up by metal posts, as the 100.000 Euros necessary for their restoration have yet to be found...And of course few are those who understand what the site looked like or what its importance was in antiquity. Not because of lack of excavations. And neither because the temple of Poseidon steal the show. But because the totallity of the site has not been beautified and organised so that visitors will comprehend that Sounio was a fortified settlement and not just an isolated sanctuary at the edge of Attica.
Not only sites that have no funding, but also some that have received funding face problems: An example is the Lyceum of Aristotle, a site that remains closed for the past 13 years, although it is one of the most important of Athens.
The study has been made, but the 4,5 million Euros granded by the Organism of Prediction of Football Games (OPAP) last April, seem too much to the Ministry for a roofing project - in the midst of an economic crisis (there are those who claim that the cost should be readjusted to 6 million).
So, in order to economise, instead of covering the remains of the Philosophical School created by Aristotle, the teacher of Alexander the Great, in 355 B.C. with a modern arched roof - a project that one the relative tender - "a different solution will be sought for the roofing, which will cost 1,8 million Euros", according to the General Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Lina Mendoni. And what about the Roofing Project that was never finished? In a large part it has already been paid for! Wasted money, as the special roofing was adjusted to the needs of this specific site and cannot be used elsewhere!
Source: Ta NEA, 31.03.2010
Translation/Adaptation: ArchaeologyMatters
See also: Greek heritage crumbles
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Greek heritage crumbles
HELENA SMITH - Mar 12 2010 14:45
It was the world's first university, where Plato taught, Aristotle studied and philosophy was born. But today it is hard to believe this is one of the Greek capital's ancient treasures -- Plato's Academy is so overlooked it is not even signposted.
"We haven't managed to save the €7 000 such a sign would require," said Nikoletta Divari Valakou, the archaeologist in charge. "And that's because of the economic problems."
The crisis that has gripped Greece, rocked markets and rattled Europe's single currency is now enveloping the country's cultural heritage.
The seat of learning, founded on property the philosopher inherited in 387BC, is not alone. This year antiquities beneath the Acropolis stood under tangled weeds, testimony to the overstretched culture ministry's inability to clean and prune.
Nationwide, some of Greece's greatest glories -- museums, castles and antiquities -- have been closed to the public, from Kastellorizo in the east to Pella, Alexander's birthplace, in the north. Like the desolate tourist shops alongside them, the ancient sites are devoid of holidaymakers, symbolic of the recession engulfing the nation.
"Where will the ministry find the money to complete rescue work on the monuments and sites that are in danger?" asked the Vima newspaper.
The scale of the crisis has not been lost on the governing socialists elected to run Europe's weakest economy after five years of scandal-plagued conservative rule. Unlike his predecessors, the new culture minister, Pavlos Geroulanos, a friend of Prime Minister George Papandreou, readily acknowledges that although it is by far the nation's most significant resource the sector remains painfully underfunded.
"Culture and tourism represent more than 20% of GDP, a huge chunk of the economy," he said. "We're the first to admit that for far too long culture has been marginalised, that not enough money has been dedicated to it, that we keep our ancient monuments away from the public and close them down."
Few areas embody the fiscal mismanagement that has blighted Greece in recent years as much as culture and tourism. With the exception of the New Acropolis Museum, the capital's biggest cultural success, the domain has all too often been treated as the fiefdom of politicians dispensing favours.
Highlighting the tawdry tales of corruption and incompetence at the culture ministry, a senior official in charge of finances and close friend of the former prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, leapt from the balcony at his home after being linked to wrongdoing.
"We have found funds going to the wrong places in terms of financing new creativity, sports teams, promotion and communication projects," said Geroulanos. "You hear of a shadowy organisation that suddenly got €200 000 and has nothing to show for it ... or permits given for bribes."
The minister, who studied public administration at Harvard and is seen as an architect of the "revolution" the socialists would like to bring to Greece, estimates that at least 60% of his time is now spent "clearing the air of the toxic waste of corruption and bad practice. What we are doing is combating waste and corruption and funnelling saved funds in the direction of necessary healthy projects that are an investment for the future."
But this year, as the cash-strapped government struggles under EU orders to pare the €300-billion public debt and deficit, Geroulanos's €710-million budget has been cut by 10%. The sector has lost out on EU funds, crucial for restoring and renovating monuments.
"Greek culture has lost out because the previous government didn't bother to design an [EU-funded] culture programme," he said. "We are now trying to redirect funds from other ministries."
Morale is also a problem. In the Plaka district below the Acropolis, custodians of wonders dating back to classical times -- including many renowned archaeologists and conservationists -- toil in graffiti-covered buildings in conditions that any other EU capital would consider intolerable.
"There's simply no money," said an archaeologist with more than 30 years' experience. "The lamp in my office blew the other day and I know that unless I pay to mend it, it'll never be fixed.
"I earn €1500 a month and with the cuts the government has announced my salary will drop to around €1300, so I've decided to do nothing because I can't afford it. If it goes on like this, sites will close."
The decline mirrors the descent into chaos of Athens's historic centre, when roads named after Euripides, Sophocles and other ancients were turned into no-go areas, casualties of rising crime, prostitution and drug-running that have gradually killed off businesses.
Geroulanos vows that economic recovery will begin in the capital, starting with Plato's Academy, which will soon be linked by a pathway, he says, to Athens's great cultural gems.
"If we can turn this experience into an opportunity to correct the wrongs of the past and start looking at the things we do in a different fashion, Greece can come out of this crisis much stronger." --
Source: © Guardian News & Media 12.03.2010
See also: Ta Nea, 31.03.2010
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
*Numismatic Books By Subject
GREEK COINS
ITALY AND SICILY
Tarentum
Arthur J. Evans, The "Horsemen" of Tarentum. A Contribution towards the numismatic History of Great Greece, London 1889. PDF Here.
Sicily
Gerorge Francis Hill, Coins of Ancient Sicily, Westminster 1903. PDF Here. Reginald Stuart Poole, Catalogue of Greek coins [in the British Museum]. Sicily, London 1876. PDF Here and Here.
BLACK SEA:
Vladimir F. Stolba, Lise Hannestad, Chronologies of the Black Sea Area in the Period 400-100 B.C., Aarhus 2006. PDF Here and Here.
MACEDONIA:
Barclay V. Head, Catalogue of Greek coins [in the British Museum]. Macedonia, London 1879. PDF Here.
Selene Psoma (Σελήνη Ψωμά), "Το Βασίλειο των Μακεδόνων πριν από τον Φίλιππο Β': Νομισματική και ιστορική προσέγγιση", Η ιστορική διαδρομή της νομισματικής μονάδας στην Ελλάδα, σ. 25-45 (PDF from HELIOS)
Tribal Coinages:
J.N. Svoronos, L'Hellénisme primitif de la Macédoine prouvé par la numismatique et l'or du Pangée, Athènes-Paris 1919 (Reprint: Chicago 1979). (PDF Forum Ancient Coins)
Kingdom of Macedonia
Doris Raymond, Macedonian Regal Coinage to 413 B.C., New York (ANS) 1953.
Alexander I
Selene Psoma, Monnaies de poids réduit d'Alexandre I et de Perdiccas II de Macedoine, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Numismatik 128 (1999), 273-282. Online Here.
Alexander III (The Great)
Carmen Arnold-Biucci, Alexander's Coins and Alexander's Image,
Karsten Dahmen, The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins, London 2007. Online Here.
Frank L. Holt, Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medaillons, Los Angeles 2003. Online Here.
Edward T. Newell, Reattribution of certain tetradrachms of Alexander the Great, New York 1912. PDF Here.
Edward T. Newell, The Dated Alexander Coinage of Sidon and Ake, New York 1916. PDF Here and Here.
Athens
Christophe Flamment, Le monnayage en argent d'Athènes, 2007.
Peloponnesus
Corinth
Oscar-E. Ravel, Les Poulains de Corinthe : Monographie de statères corinthiens, 2 vols, London 1936-1948 (Reprint: Chicago 1979).
Sicyon
Henry Phillips, Jr, Remarks Upon a Coin of Sicyon, Philadelphia 1882. PDF Here.
Elis
Percy Gardner, The Coins of Elis, London 1879. PDF Here.
Asia
Percy Gardner, The Gold Coinage of Asia before Alexander the Great, London 1908.
Egypt
Ptolemaic Kingdom
Dedicated Site: PtolamAE Project
Bibliography
J.N. Svoronos, Τα Νομίσματα του Κράτους των Πτολεμαίων (Ta Nomismata tou Kratous ton Ptolemaion = The Coins Of the State of the Ptolemies), 1904. For Online Book Click Here.
Syria
Seleucid Coinage
Edward Theodore Newell, The Seleucid Mint of Antioch, New York 1908. PDF Here.
Greek Federal Coinage
John Byrne Leicester Warren, An Essay on Greek Federal Coinage, London - Cambridge 1863. PDF Here and Here.
ITALY AND SICILY
Tarentum
Sicily
BLACK SEA:
Vladimir F. Stolba, Lise Hannestad, Chronologies of the Black Sea Area in the Period 400-100 B.C., Aarhus 2006. PDF Here and Here.
MACEDONIA:
Barclay V. Head, Catalogue of Greek coins [in the British Museum]. Macedonia, London 1879. PDF Here.
Selene Psoma (Σελήνη Ψωμά), "Το Βασίλειο των Μακεδόνων πριν από τον Φίλιππο Β': Νομισματική και ιστορική προσέγγιση", Η ιστορική διαδρομή της νομισματικής μονάδας στην Ελλάδα, σ. 25-45 (PDF from HELIOS)
Tribal Coinages:
J.N. Svoronos, L'Hellénisme primitif de la Macédoine prouvé par la numismatique et l'or du Pangée, Athènes-Paris 1919 (Reprint: Chicago 1979). (PDF Forum Ancient Coins)
Kingdom of Macedonia
Doris Raymond, Macedonian Regal Coinage to 413 B.C., New York (ANS) 1953.
Alexander I
Selene Psoma, Monnaies de poids réduit d'Alexandre I et de Perdiccas II de Macedoine, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Numismatik 128 (1999), 273-282. Online Here.
Alexander III (The Great)
Carmen Arnold-Biucci, Alexander's Coins and Alexander's Image,
Karsten Dahmen, The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins, London 2007. Online Here.
Frank L. Holt, Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medaillons, Los Angeles 2003. Online Here.
Edward T. Newell, Reattribution of certain tetradrachms of Alexander the Great, New York 1912. PDF Here.
Edward T. Newell, The Dated Alexander Coinage of Sidon and Ake, New York 1916. PDF Here and Here.
Athens
Christophe Flamment, Le monnayage en argent d'Athènes, 2007.
Peloponnesus
Corinth
Oscar-E. Ravel, Les Poulains de Corinthe : Monographie de statères corinthiens, 2 vols, London 1936-1948 (Reprint: Chicago 1979).
Sicyon
Henry Phillips, Jr, Remarks Upon a Coin of Sicyon, Philadelphia 1882. PDF Here.
Elis
Percy Gardner, The Coins of Elis, London 1879. PDF Here.
Asia
Percy Gardner, The Gold Coinage of Asia before Alexander the Great, London 1908.
Egypt
Ptolemaic Kingdom
Dedicated Site: PtolamAE Project
Bibliography
J.N. Svoronos, Τα Νομίσματα του Κράτους των Πτολεμαίων (Ta Nomismata tou Kratous ton Ptolemaion = The Coins Of the State of the Ptolemies), 1904. For Online Book Click Here.
Syria
Seleucid Coinage
Edward Theodore Newell, The Seleucid Mint of Antioch, New York 1908. PDF Here.
Greek Federal Coinage
John Byrne Leicester Warren, An Essay on Greek Federal Coinage, London - Cambridge 1863. PDF Here and Here.
Greece: 6. Central Greece: a. Euboia: Sites and Monuments
An asterisk (*) marks original posts/original photographs.
A (T) notes a translation.
Eretria
A (T) notes a translation.
Eretria
(T) Eretria exhibition in Athens National Archaeological Museum
Image: Head Medusa (gorgoneion), from the House of Mosaics in Eretria (4th c. B.C.)
The history of ancient Eretria from its founding to late antiquity shall be presented through excavation finds, drawings, models and videos in the exhibition that opened 26 April at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. "Eretria: Looks at an ancient city" is the title of the exhibition and its aim is to give a lively and original image of the lives of the people living in it.
Seven Greek Museums and the Muzei Capitolini of Italy participate in the exhibition, which includes 437 objects.
It is organised in four sections. The first presents the early inhabitants of the city, the prime during the Geometric Period, commerce and external relations (Mende, Methone, Dikaia, Pithecuses, Kyme, Zancle),
and also the development of
alphabetic writing. The second section centres on matters of daily life, presenting public buildings but also luxurious private houses, the functions of the Agora, the stoas and the Gymnasia, but also private life.
A special section is comprised of worship in the sanctuaries of Eretria - the city god was Appolo Daphniforos (Laurelbearer)-, while the last section concerns matters of death and the afterlife, presenting necropolises, burials and offerings to the dead. Among them, golden crowns and other jewellery used to adorn the deceast before burial, weapons, exquisitely painted lekythoi and bronze mirrors.
The exhibition is co-organised by the Swiss Archaeological School which is excavating and studying the remains of ancient Eretria in Euboia. After its end, on the 25th August, the exhibition will be presented in the Ludwid Collection in Basel (from September 2010 to January 2011.
Source: To Vima
Translation: ArchaeologyMatters
See also:
Further Reading:
- Keith G. Walker, Archaic Eretria: A political and Social History from the Earliest times to 490 B.C., London 2004. Online Here.
The EyeLashes of an Ancient Mummy
A new exhibit in Santa Ana, Calif. called the "Secrets of the Silk Road: Mystery Mummies of China" features a rare, but stunning find a mummy with fully preserved eyelashes. Referred to as the Marlene Dietrich of the desert, the mummy was found in China's Tarim Basin.
Mummies are perhaps more known for their use in Egypt as a way to preserve the dead for the afterlife. However, the process of mummification is not limited to the deserts of Egypt. Ancient peoples spanning the globe practiced the ritual including the aboriginal guanches of the Canary Islands and Chinchorro mummies in South America. Many naturally formed mummies, including the Tarim Basin mummies, have also been found worldwide.
The museum exhibit boasts three mummies who were mummified naturally due to extreme cold. The main attraction, and most well preserved of the bunch is called the Beauty of Xaiohe, a woman who still has eyelashes and long reddish hair. She still bears a hat wrapped in cords with a feather stuck in it. The Beauty of Xaiohe is approximately 3,800 years old 1,800 years before the Silk Road came into existence.
There is also a child mummy swaddled in a textured purple-brown blanket who is called Baby Bluebonnet. The last mummy is that of a man named Yingpan Man, who was around 55 years of age upon death and experts speculate was a man of wealth. Yinpan Man wears extremely ornate and detailed clothing that is a mixture of European, Greek, Roman and Mediterranean design. He even came with an extra set of clothing, a white mask and gold on his forehead.
Along with the show-stopping mummies, the collection also features a series of clothing, coins, jewellery, an other items that were found at the burial sites. All of the items are in good condition and well preserved.
The exhibit will be at the Bowers until July 25. From there, it will travel to the Houston Museum of Natural Science and then to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Source: HULIQ
Lead "Burrito" Sarcophagus Found Near Rome
Lead "Burrito" Sarcophagus Found Near Rome
Ancient coffin may hold a gladiator or a Christian dignitary, experts say.
The lead "burrito" sarcophagus, as it was found in a tomb outside Rome.
Photograph courtesy Jeffrey Becker
Published March 29, 2010
A 1,700-year-old sarcophagus found in an abandoned city near Rome could contain the body of a gladiator or a Christian dignitary, say archaeologists who are preparing to examine the coffin in the lab.
Found in a cement-capped pit in the ancient metropolis of Gabii, the coffin is unusual because it's made of lead—only a few hundred such Roman burials are known.
Even odder, the 800 pounds (362 kilograms) of lead fold over the corpse like a burrito, said Roman archaeologist Jeffrey Becker. Most lead sarcophagi look like "old-fashioned cracker boxes," molded into a rectangular shape with a lid, he said.
The coffin, which has been in storage since last year, is about to be moved to the American Academy in Rome for further testing.
But uncovering details about the person inside the lead coffin will be tricky. For starters, the undisturbed tomb contained no grave goods, offering few clues about the owner. (See more temple and tomb pictures.)
What's more, x-ray and CT scans—the preferred methods of coffin analysis—cannot penetrate the thick lead, leaving researchers pondering other, potentially dangerous ways to examine the remains inside.
"It's exciting as well as frustrating, because there are no known matches in the record," said Becker, managing director of the University of Michigan's Gabii Project.
Unlocking the lead coffin's secrets could ultimately offer new insights into a powerful civilization that has lain forgotten for centuries, he said.
Roman Ally's Mysterious Decline
The newfound sarcophagus was the "most surprising" discovery made in 2009 during the largest ever archaeological dig in Gabii. Becker and colleague Nicola Terrenato received funding for the ongoing project from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)
Just 11 miles (18 kilometers) from Rome, Gabii was founded in the tenth century B.C., and it flourished for centuries alongside its growing neighbor, with which it shared a unique treaty of political friendship.
Walking through Gabii may have been a bit like a stroll through Rome, where the dense populace made the city crowded, noisy, and smoky in the daytime, and overall "unpleasant" to live in, Becker said.
However, by the second or third centuries A.D., Gabii had contracted dramatically, and by the ninth century it was no more.
The cause of the city's demise is unclear, but the "most obvious guess is that Rome's expanding power and territorial ambitions eventually eclipsed" Gabii, Becker said.
Lead Sarcophagus Holds "Somebody of Substance"
Mysteries about Gabii society make the newfound lead coffin especially intriguing.
Lead was a high-value metal at the time, so a full sarcophagus made out of the stuff "is a sure marker of somebody of some kind of substance," Becker said.
Past lead burials found throughout Europe have housed soldiers, elite members of the Christian church, and even female gladiators.
In fact, many lead coffins contain high-ranking women or adolescents instead of men, said Jenny Hall, a senior curator of Roman archaeology at the Museum of London, who was not involved in the new study.
However, the newfound sarcophagus' tentative age may make the gladiator scenario unlikely, said Bruce Hitchner, a visiting professor in classical archaeology at All Souls College at the U.K.'s University of Oxford.
The coffin dates back to the fourth or fifth centuries A.D., while the gladiator heyday was centuries earlier, said Hitchner, who was not part of the excavation team. (Related: "Ancient Gladiator Mosaic Found in Roman Villa.")
Coffin Had Unusual Downtown Location
What intrigues team leader Becker the most is the sarcophagus's placement—"smack dab" in the middle of a city block. A taboo against burying the dead inside city limits was deeply ingrained in the Roman religious mindset of the time, he said.
"I don't think it's, We're feeling lazy today, we're going to bury Uncle Joe in the tomato garden," Becker said. There may have been some major event that made people bury the body downtown—a possibility he intends to investigate during the next dig.
"As we seek to understand the life of the city, it's important for us to consider its end," Becker pointed out.
"To see someone who is at first glance a person of high social standing associated with later layers of the city ... opens a potentially new conversation about this urban twilight in central Italy."
Foot Bone Hints at "Extraordinary Preservation"
First, however, Becker's team hopes to find out more about the person inside the lead sarcophagus. The researchers' only hint so far is a small foot bone protruding through a hole in one end of the coffin.
Some lead burials have allowed for "extraordinary preservation" of human tissue and hair, Becker said, though the opening in the sarcophagus may mean that air has sped up decomposition of the body.
Still, early examinations reveal that the foot bone is "exceedingly" intact, Becker said: "Worst case, there's an exceptionally well-preserved human skeleton inside the wrapping."
Bones alone can tell scientists a lot about the person and his or her culture, said Bruno Frohlich, a forensic anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
"We put some kind of face to the bones—we make them alive in a way."
For instance, if the bones show evidence of diseases contracted long before death, that could mean the person survived an illness, and that Gabii society had the resources and knowledge to care for the sick, Frohlich said.
Lead Coffin too Dangerous to Open?
But Becker and his colleagues may not even get bones to work with, because the coffin may be too dangerous to open for both the living and the dead.
If the researchers decide to cut into the lead, cancer-causing lead dust could harm scientists, while exposure to bacteria could easily damage the corpse.
At the academy, a team will perform preliminary experiments on the sarcophagus, including an endoscopic exam that would feed a small fiber optic camera into the hole at the foot end.
If the experiments show that lead dust from cutting can be easily contained, the next step would be to find a "clean room"—similar to those NASA uses for experiments—in which to open the coffin, Becker said. (Related: "NASA 'Clean Rooms' Brimming With Bacteria.")
No matter who turns out to be inside the lead coffin, Becker is hopeful that the person wrapped in metal will turn out to be a window into history.
"To anybody with a passing interest in the human past, it's an exciting opportunity right there—to be able to say more about someone who lived and died at least 1,700 years ago.Source: National Geographic News
Bujang Valley yields ancient monument
Malaysian archaeologists have unearthed a 1,900 year old monument built with detailed geometrical precision possibly for sun worshipping by a lost civilisation of the Bujang Valley.
The discovery, by a team from the Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), was made within a three sq km area where fresh excavations are being made of the old Bujang Valley port settlement, now believed to have existed long before neighbouring empires like Sri Vijaya (700AD) and Majapahit (1200AD).
CGAR director, Assoc Prof Dr Mokhtar Saidin, told theSun his team was taken aback by the magnitude and significance of the find.
Made of clay bricks, the monument, which was built before 110AD, is bound to rewrite current understanding of the region's early history, as it points to an advanced culture pre-dating many Indianised kingdoms in Southeast Asia.
"I was doing geo-physical scanning on the surface of a mound when I detected something round-shaped underneath," Mokhtar recalled in an interview at the site.
"When we excavated, we were stunned at what we saw. We never thought that the technology and architecture here so far back in history was so exact.
"The precision suggests that the management system of the civilisation that lived here was very advanced," he added.
With its layers of perfect squares and circles, the "Sungai Batu Monument" labelled "SB1B" appears to be a sundial.
Mokhtar noted that it was built to point in the direction of Gunung Jerai (Kedah Peak), the highest mountain in northern Malaysia, where many Bujang valley artefacts, more recent in age, have been found over the last 40 years.
"The monument seems to have been a central focus of the ancient society, with the other structures that we have found here located peripherally around it," Mokhtar said.
The nine other structures already unearthed in Sungai Batu over the past year include two ancient jetties and two iron smelting workshops.
Although the monument's design is distinctive, it seems to suggest cosmological worship similar to what is seen in structures such as the Incan sun temple in Machu Picchu, Peru, the Mayan temples of central America, and Stonehenge in England, Mokhtar said.
Its age was recently determined through the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) technique conducted separately at the University of Washington, University of Oxford and Korea's Conservation Science Lab, he added.
Also found with the monument were various pottery placed ceremoniously around, and a Buddhist tablet with Pallava-Sanskrit inscriptions that are likely to have been made later in the 5th century AD, said Mokhtar.
CGAR is now working on excavating many other mounds in the area, believed to house more structures that may include burial grounds.
Information, Communications, and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Utama Rais Yatim had visited Sungai Batu on March 6 to announce that the archaeological zone would be conserved for research and tourism.
The Sun Daily
St Gallen sarcophagus dates back 1300 years
The sarcophagus found in the courtyard of St. Gallen’s famed monestery dates back to the 7th century.
The cantonal archaeologist is calling the find “sensational.”
He says the man would have been a contemporary of Gallus, the founder of the city of St. Gallen.
The 2.6 ton sarcophagus is now on display in the city’s historical Museum.
It was found last year when workmen were digging around to work on the monastery’s plumbing.
Mycenaean tombs discovered might be evidence of classless society E-mail
The team excavated the five tombs between 2006 and 2008, containing the skeletal remains of 21 individuals, including what appears to be an extended family made up of two men, one woman and two young children. Detailed analysis of the remains will be difficult to carry out as they are generally poorly preserved. The team have been advised by scientists that DNA analysis will not be possible, but it is hoped that analysis will reveal further information about the diet of the individuals.
The team also discovered pieces of obsidian and flint debris in the tombs, and believe that these tools would have been used to cut up bodies as part of 'secondary burial' procedures - a funerary practice that was not uncommon in the ancient world. Professor Angus Smith, of Brock University in Canada, is one of the directors of the excavation project. He explained:
"You bury somebody, then you wait for that person to decompose, then you go back into the tomb or grave and you collect the bones after all the flesh has decomposed".
Professor Smith suggested that there were practical reasons to bury bodies in this way, in that the bodies would take up less space. But there may also have been ritualistic reasons. In Tomb 4 the team found a small pit that contained the secondary burials of two adult men. Both of their skulls were "displayed at a higher level than the rest of the skeleton," said Professor Smith, suggesting that the men were "carefully placed in this pit".
The team were surprised to find a lack of burial goods in the tombs. The Mycenaean civilization is known for its rich elite burials, but the goods found at Ayia Sotira were modest. They included alabaster pots, bowls, jugs, faïence and glass beads, and a female Psi figurine (one of three styles typical of Mycenae). After water-sieving the remains, they also found stone micro beads that were no bigger than a millimetre in size. One tomb contained 462 of these beads stowed in a side-chamber, and are thought to be the remains of a necklace.
There were no findings of the gold or silver artefacts expected in an elite burial, although they did find fragments of a conical rhyton a two-hole vessel that can be used for libation rituals and is often associated with elite burials.
Professor Smith described the tomb complex as having a "distinctly different character to those around Mycenae. The wealthy and very wealthy tombs are missing".
One explanation could be that the elite tombs were looted, either in ancient times or more recently. When the team arrived at Ayia Sotira, they found 'probe holes' that had been dug into the ground by looters searching for airways.
Another possibility is that the elite tombs at Ayia Sotira just haven't been discovered yet.
A third possibility is that these people lived in a classless society that despite being close to a rich city, the people of this settlement, for whatever reason, had no elites.
"It does seem to be a community of agriculturalists who don't seem to have a clear leader or clear elite mixed in amongst them," said Professor Smith. "Were they governed by the palace at Mycenae which sort of oversaw them? Or were they removed enough that they had their own system of politics and government but one that didn't produce clear elites?"
Egalitarian societies are not unheard of in ancient times. The Iroquoian people of the Great Lakes region, and the peaceful Manchey of Cardal, Peru, are amongst some of civilization's early socialist societies.
Source: The Independent
Ancient false door unearthed at Karnak
Mansour Boraik, the head of the Egyptian excavation mission, said that the newly discovered door was reused during the Roman period: it was removed from the tomb of User and used in the wall of a Roman structure previously found by the mission.
A chapel of User was also found at Gebel el-Silsila, a mountain quarry site at Aswan in use from the 18th Dynasty to Greco-Roman times. This attests to vizier User's importance during Pharaoh Hatshepsut's reign, as well as to the importance of the post of vizier in ancient Egypt, especially during the 18th Dynasty. Mansour Boraik added that User is the uncle of the very well-known noble and official Rekhmire, who was King Tuthmosis III's vizier and one of the most well-known viziers of the 18th Dynasty.
Other notable officials that served this New Kingdom Dynasty were Ramose and the military chief Horemheb, who later came to Egypt's throne as the last king of the 18th Dynasty.
This announcement comes only weeks after the discovery of a colossal 18th Dynasty statue that depicts Thoth, the pharaonic deity of wisdom, as a baboon. The statue was discovered in four pieces in Luxor, where workers were reducing the ground water beneath Luxor in a bid to preserve the city's famous temples. Last month a 2.5m head of Amenhotep III - now assumed to be King Tut's grandfather - was unearthed in the Kom El-Hettan area of Luxor's West Bank. Dr Hawass said, "It is a masterpiece of highly artistic quality and shows a portrait of the king with very fine youthful sculptured features," adding there were still traces of red paint on the head.
Source: The Independent
Nero's Golden Palace ceiling collapses due to rain
Nero's Golden Palace ceiling collapses due to rain
A large section of the ceiling has collapsed at Roman Emperor Nero's famous 2000-year-old Golden Palace due to heavy winter rain.
Firefighters carried out a search of the area but there were no reports of any people being trapped or injured in the collapse
Nero's Domus Aurea or Golden Palace has had a troubled history and has been opened and closed several times over the last few decades as restorers and structural engineers struggle to keep the mighty complex from collapsing.
In 2005 the palace was shut after masonry fell from flaking walls and a high level of dangerous seepage was detected, it reopened a few months later only to close again a short while later for further work to make it completely safe.
Officials said that around 60 square metres (645 sq ft) of ceiling had collapsed and pictures taken above ground showed a huge hole in the ground with buckled metal fencing balancing precariously on the edge.
Firefighters carried out a search of the area but there were no reports of any people being trapped or injured in the collapse which follows months of unseasonably wet weather in Rome.
It was not immediately clear if the part of the ceiling that had collapsed was the same one that had fallen before.
Piero Melloni, a civil protection official who was at the scene, said: "It's obvious that the rain caused the collapse.
"It appears that a large part of the ceiling in the central vault has collapsed. We are working to make it safe and fire crews are checking to see if anyone is trapped but we don't think there is."
They were also joined from officials and archaeologists from the Italian Ministry of Culture who were also examining the area and Rome's centre right mayor Gianni Alemanno said: "I am very worried. I am keen to see what the archaeologists say."
The top of the Domus, which overlooks the Forum to one side and the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum to another, is covered with parks, trees and roads whose weight and polluting effect are a constant threat.
It was built after the great fire that destroyed Rome and historians believe that Nero allowed the fire to rage unchecked just so he could build his lavish palace.
After Nero's suicide in AD 68, the palace was stripped of its marble, jewels and ivory within a decade and it was later filled in and built over.
It was eventually rediscovered in the 15th Century after a local fell through the ground and into the remains of the structure.
Within days people were letting themselves down on ropes so they could admire the frescoes that remained among them artists Raphael and Michelangelo who carved their names on the walls.
Last September archaeologists have uncovered what is believed to be the famous rotating dining room of the Golden Palace a room which moved thanks to a complicated feat of Roman civil engineering that involved spheres underneath powered by canals of water.
Source: Telegraph
Greece and Turkey Boast Two of the World’s Top 2009 Archaeology Discoveries
Greece and Turkey Boast Two of the World’s Top 2009 Archaeology Discoveries
BalkanTravellers.com
30 March 2010 | Two archaeological sites, one in Crete and one in Istanbul, were included in the list of last year’s most exciting discoveries compiled by the Archaeology Magazine, a publication of the Archaeological Institute of America.
The discovery of the Iron Age necropolis of Orthi Petra at Eleutherna in Crete, which was featured among the year’s top 10 finds, shed light on the role of women in the so-called “Dark Ages” of Greece.
The remains of four females, aged between seven and 70, were excavated last summer in an eight-century BC tomb, whose floor was covered with thin strips of gold, once affixed to burial garments. The women were surrounded by bronze vessels and figurines, as well as jewellery made of gold, silver, glass, ivory, and semiprecious stones imported from Asia Minor, the Near East, and North Africa.
These and other artefacts discovered in the tomb suggested these women played an important role in Eleutherna's religious life, and the head of excavations, Nicholas Stampolidis of the University of Crete, believes the oldest one was a high priestess interred with her protégés.
Based on a shared dental trait, archaeologists discovered that all four women were related and further research is expected to confirm they were related to a dozen women unearthed nearby last year.
“This time period is erroneously called the Dark Ages,” Adelphi University forensic anthropologist Anagnostis Agelarakis said, cited by the publication. “The finds show that these women were aristocratic. Their social standing was superlative. I mean, the phiale alone--it must have been sent from a ‘prince’ of Mesopotamia! And their matrilineage was not ruptured for two centuries. I don't think it was dark at all.”
While the Eleutherna find was the only archaeological site on the Balkans listed among the world’s top 10 most exciting discoveries for 2009, another place in the region was also included as a significant discovery for the year.
This was the Lost City in Istanbul. Described as “too big to classify,” the site stretches over eight kilometres and includes several separate sites from various periods. With its main part being on the peninsula that juts out into the Küçükçekmece lagoon, now separated from the Sea of Marmara by a narrow strip of land, but there are also remains on the surrounding shores of the lagoon and in the lagoon itself.
Some of the sites identified so far are: two harbor installations and kilometers of seawall from the classical period; a harbor, with a long breakwater and a lighthouse, most likely from the fourth century BC; Hellenistic pottery and a second-century BC Corinthian column capital; a wide and well-paved Roman roadway that excavators believe is part of the imperial Via Egnatia; a necropolis and likely residential areas, as well as possible villa remains on the eastern shore of the lagoon.
In addition, finds similar to the artifacts discovered in the central Anatolian late Pre-Pottery Neolithic site, which began around 9500 BC were made. If they turn out to be from the same period, archaeologists say the site at Küçükçekmece could be one of the earliest farming communities settled by people moving from Anatolia into Europe.
As Küçükçekmece is located just 20 kilometres from downtown Istanbul on land that is currently being farmed, the publication suggests turning the area into an archaeological park.
The other top 10 archaeological discoveries for 2009, according to the publication included: the Lord of Úcupe in Peru; the First Domesticated Horses in Botai, Kazakhstan; the Early Irrigators in Tucson, Arizona; the Anglo-Saxon Hoard in Staffordshire, England; the Popol Vuh Relief in El Mirador, Guatemala; the World’s First Zoo in Hierakonpolis, Egypt; the Earliest Chemical Warfare in Dura-Europos, Syria; the Palace of Mithradates in Kuban, Russia; and the Rubaiyat Pot in Jerusalem, Israel.
Source: Balkantravellers
Staffordshire Hoard’s history closer to being unravelled
Hoard’s history closer to being unravelled
Sunday 28th March 2010, 11:10AM BST.
Archaeologists are one step closer to piecing together the history of the Staffordshire Hoard.
Teams have been carrying out further digs at the site where the £3.3 million treasure trove was discovered for the past week.
They hope the work, in a field on the Burntwood-Brownhills border, will help explain why the Anglo Saxon gold was left there.
Staffordshire county archaeologist Steve Dean has been leading the team, which will conclude its work over the next few days.He said he was now reasonably certain the hoard was a one-off, rather than evidence of an ancient settlement.
“We wanted to find if there was anything here that was associated with the hoard,” he told the Express & Star.
“It was very much in the topsoil and we had to get the material out of the ground as quickly as possible, so there was nothing conclusive we could draw from that.
“But we are now reasonably certain that the hoard is a hoard.
“If it’s associated with other features, we couldn’t seem to find them.
“We’ve now got to step back and look at the landscape and we will be looking to find a reason why the hoard is here.”
The work has also uncovered other artefacts – though nothing to match the scale of the 1,500 pieces uncovered by metal detecting enthusiast Terry Herbert last July.
“We’ve got some features that seem to be throwing up medieval pottery,” Mr Dean explained.
“And we’ve uncovered one item of potential significance, which has been sent off for analysis.
“It is possibly silver, but doesn’t seem to be associated with the hoard.
“What we were saying originally seems to have panned out – there was no gold found.”
It was announced on Tuesday that the hoard would be staying in the West Midlands, after the £3.3m purchase price was raised.
But more funds are needed to help with the interpretation of the finds.
Mr Dean said: “We have achieved all the objectives we set and this work will all feed into the interpretation of the hoard.
“The message is: we’re getting there.”
Source: Express & Star
Pyramid of Mystery Pharaoh Possibly Located
The long lost tomb of the 4,300 year old Egyptian pharaoh Userkare may have been located.
THE GIST:
- The second pharaoh of the 6th Dynasty, Userkare, has long been lost from history.
- New research points to a series of invisible lines in South Saqqara as the spot of Userkare's tomb.
- Userkare's tomb is the only missing piece in the grid.
The missing pyramid of an obscure Pharaoh that ruled Egypt some 4,300 years ago could lie at the intersection of a series of invisible lines in South Saqqara, according to new astronomical and topographical research.
Connecting the funerary complexes raised by the kings of the 6th Dynasty between 2,322 B.C. and 2,151 B.C., these lines would have governed the sacred space of the Saqqara area, in accordance with a number of criteria such as dynastic lineage, religion and astronomical alignment.
"We are talking of meridian and diagonal alignments, with pyramids raised at their intersections. The only missing piece in this sort of grid is the pyramid of Userkare," Giulio Magli, professor of archaeoastronomy at Milan's Polytechnic University, told Discovery News. His research will appear in the next issue of the journal Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry.
Known only from the king lists, Userkare was the second pharaoh of the 6th Dynasty and ruled briefly between Teti and Teti's son Pepi I. He took power after Teti was murdered, perhaps in a conspiracy he himself had maneuvered.
Little is known about this shadowy pharaoh.
"When Pepi I took control a few years later, Userkare disappeared from history. Finding his tomb might help understand those obscure years. The walls in his burial might also contain intact copies of the Pyramid Texts," Magli said, referring to the oldest known religious texts in the world that were carved on the walls and sarcophagi of the pyramids at Saqqara during the 5th and 6th Dynasties of the Old Kingdom.
Magli's hunt for the lost pharaoh evolved around previous studies on the pyramids of the Old Kingdom. Indeed, from the Step Pyramid of Djoser (second king of the 3rd Dynasty) to the now-collapsed pyramid of Unas (the last king of the 5th Dynasty), all these monuments appear to be connected by a pattern of diagonal invisible lines.
"Diagonal axes -- generally oriented northeast by southwest -- governed Giza, Abusir and the Saqqara central field. But we have a different pattern with some 6th dynasty kings: their funerary monuments in South Saqqara appear to have been planned according to meridian, north-south axes," Magli said.
According to this pattern, the pyramid top of Pepi I (third king of the 6th Dynasty) aligned with that of Userkaf (first king of the 5th Dynasty), while the pyramid apex of Merenre (fourth king of the 6th Dynasty) aligned with that of Unas (last king of the 5th Dynasty).
"It is difficult to think that this rigorous meridian structure is just a coincidence. However something does not match in this pattern: no pyramid aligned with the Step Pyramid of Djoser, by far the most important and revered pyramid at Saqqara,"Magli said.
The position was allegedly free, but the pharaohs choose different, sometime more complex sites. For example, Pepi II, the third king of the 6th Dynasty, moved further to the southwest, and aligned the top of his pyramid with that of 3rd Dynasty King Sekhemkhet.
"There could be a simple explanation: the position in meridian alignment with the Step Pyramid was not free at all, being occupied by Userkare's complex," Magli said.
He suggested that Userkare's tomb is located approximately in the middle of the line connecting Pepi I and Merenre's diagonals, in alignment with Djoser's pyramid.
According to Egyptologist Vassil Dobrev, at the French Institute of Archaeology in Cairo, the suggestion makes sense on the satellite map, but is difficult to see on the field. Dobrev believes Userkare's tomb lie on a different, north-south diagonal in South Saqqara which would chronologically link the 6th Dynasty kings.
Indeed, he is excavating a 15-hectare area in Tabbet al-Guesh, where he has found several graves of priests from the 6th Dynasty.
Since the presence of a necropolis is a strong hint to a pyramid nearby, Dobrev believes Userkare's lies just there.
"These priest come to this place to serve the cult of a dead King. We do not have the name of Userkare yet, because the priests speak systematically about the 'King, their God.' They obviously refer to the dead King, whom everybody knew the name," Dobrev told Discovery News.
According to Magli, the hidden structure may rather turn out to be a double-tomb complex.
"Apparently, a similar, 5th Dynasty double structure -- not a pyramid -- exists in Abusir. However, I'm confident Userkare's tomb will come to light in South Saqqara. Future excavations will solve the riddle," Magli said.
Source: Discovery News
Monday, 29 March 2010
Museum theft – Hundreds of artworks in Turkish museum stolen and replaced with fakes
March 26, 2010 – 15:50
Hundreds of artworks in Turkish museum stolen and replaced with fakes
Thomas Seibert, Foreign Correspondent
* Last Updated: March 26. 2010 12:12AM UAE / March 25. 2010 8:12PM
GMT
ISTANBUL // Inspectors in a state-run museum in Turkey’s capital
Ankara have raised the alarm after finding that hundreds of paintings
by Turkish masters have been replaced by copies or simply vanished
without a trace.
“The museum has been looted,” said Osman Altintas, an art professor
from Ankara’s Gazi University. He leads a team of experts sent by the
culture ministry to investigate how many original paintings in the
Ankara State Museum for Painting and Sculpture are actually still
there and how many have been replaced by copies.
Speaking to Turkish media earlier this month, Dr Altintas put the
number of vanished or copied paintings at about 400, or about 10 per
cent of the total number of paintings in the museum. He estimated that
the thefts may total 100 million lira (Dh238m). News reports this week
said a previous inspection in 1996 found that 313 paintings had been
missing even then.
To make matters worse, Dr Altintas found that storage conditions for
paintings in the museum were so poor that many works of art that were
still there had been damaged or destroyed. “It would have been better
if they had been stolen,” he said.
Government officials said that in some cases, state institutions had
helped themselves to precious works of art from the museum to adorn
offices and reception halls. Critics say the looting of the museum,
which went on for 30 years, is a sign of the country’s failure to
adequately protect its cultural heritage.
Ertugrul Gunay, the culture minister, is the man in the eye of the
storm. He promised to clear up the mess, but immediately had to admit
that his own ministry had taken eight paintings from the museum. They
were recently returned, as a good example to other ministries, as he
put it. “From now on, we will only give reproductions to state
institutions, not originals,” the minister said.
Public attention focused on the disappearance of 13 works of Hoca Ali
Riza (1858–1939), an artist renowned for his paintings and drawings of
Istanbul whose works can fetch prices of tens of thousands of dollars.
Omer Osman Gundogdu, the museum director, admitted that he did not
even know when the missing charcoal drawings were stolen and replaced
by copies. “It may have been five or 10 years ago,” he said.
Mr Gundogdu also said the museum’s system of surveillance cameras had
been out of order for a long time. The problem is exacerbated by the
fact that the museum’s storage and inventory system leaves much to be
desired. “Our depot is a little crowded,” the director said. Asked on
television about reports that inspectors had found five empty frames
in the museum, Mr Gundogdu said the pictures belonging to the frames
“may turn up somewhere”.
Omer Faruk Serifoglu, a writer who has edited a book about Hoca Ali
Riza, said that of the 441 works of the artist that had been given to
the state only 56 remained in official records. “It is unknown what
happened to the rest,” he told the Cumhuriyet newspaper.
The investigation in Ankara was triggered by the discovery of a case
of art robbery in a museum in the town of Usak, in the south-west of
the country, in 2006. There, thieves replaced a 2,000-year-old golden
brooch in the shape of a winged sea-horse with a copy. The theft went
unnoticed for months, and the original has not been found. Earlier
this year, the director of the museum was sentenced to 13 years in
prison for being behind the crime. He says he is innocent.
Following the incident in Usak, the culture ministry ordered
inspections in museums around the country. In the Ankara museum, an
official was fired because he was suspected of being involved in the
disappearance of three paintings, Mr Gunay told reporters. According
to news reports, the police are still searching for 31 works of art
that disappeared from the museum 13 years ago. “The museums are in the
hands of Allah,” one newspaper headline said.
Mr Gunay said paintings started to vanish from the Ankara museum after
the military coup of 1980. “Back then, paintings were handed out as
presents to high-ranking institutions” of the state, he said. A total
of 649 works of art from the museum ended up in the buildings of other
state institutions, according to the minister. So far, 121 paintings
have been returned.
The combination of a self-service mentality by state institutions,
theft, as well as bad surveillance and management, speaks volumes
about Turkey’s relationship with its own cultural heritage, critics
say. Last month, a local historian on the Datca peninsula in south-
western Turkey alerted the media, saying authorities there had failed
to protect the ruins of the ancient city of Knidos from art robbers.
He said that only two guards were watching over Knidos in the winter
months. Eight suspected robbers had been arrested within two weeks, he
said.
“The number of security personnel in our museums is low,” Tomur
Atagok, a professor at the Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul, told
the NTV news channel. She added that Turkish museums also lacked an
adequate number of art experts and an efficient system of record-
keeping. “If there are experts in a museum, they have to know what
kind of art works are in their own collection,” she said. “There have
to be records about where the originals go” when they leave the
museum.
tseibert@thenational.ae
Source: Museum Security Network
Looting of Byzantine artefacts from Cyprus: some information
On the estimated 15,000-20,000 icons and several dozen frescoes and mosaics that disappeared after the invasion:
ON the controversial figure Michel Van Rijn: He was an Art dealer who turned Police Informant against the Art Trafficking Circuit. As a lone crusader and Internet whistle-blower his sites attracted a lot of attention of those "in the know". His revelations made him some important enemies, who had enough pull to get his sites to disappear from Google listings (!) and finally they shut them down...
ON the controversial figure Michel Van Rijn: He was an Art dealer who turned Police Informant against the Art Trafficking Circuit. As a lone crusader and Internet whistle-blower his sites attracted a lot of attention of those "in the know". His revelations made him some important enemies, who had enough pull to get his sites to disappear from Google listings (!) and finally they shut them down...
*General Numismatic Books
GENERAL NUMISMATICS
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See also:
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John Yonge Akerman, An Introduction to the Study of Ancient and Modern Coins, London 1848. PDF Here.
Andrew Burnett, Coins. Interpreting the Past, Los Angeles 1991. Online Book Here.
Edward Cardwell, Lectures on the coinage of Greeks and Romans delivered in the University of Oxford, Oxford 1832. PDF Here and Here.
G. Cumont, A. de Witte (eds), Congrès International de Numismatique organisé et reuni à Bruxelles, Bruxelles 1891. PDF Here.
Philip Grierson, Numismatics, London-Oxford-New York 1975. PDF Here and Here.
George Francis Hill, Coins and Medals, London 1920. PDF Here.
George D. Mathews, The Coinages of the World: Ancient and Modern, New York 1876. PDF Here and Here.
John Pinkerton, An Essay on medals: or, An Introduction to the knowledge of ancient and modern coins and medals; especially those of Greece, Rome and Britain, Vol. 2, London 1808 (3). PDF Here.
M. Pinder und J. Friedlaender, Beiträge zur älteren münzkunde, Band 1., Heft 1-2, Berlin 1851. PDF Here.
W.C. Prime, Coins, medals, and seals: ancient and modern, New York 1861. PDF Here and Here. New York, 1864. PDF Here.
GREEK NUMISMATICS
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See also:
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GREEK NUMISMATICS
CELTIC NUMISMATICS
- Adolphe Duchalais, Description des Médailles Gauloises faisan Partie des Collections de la Bibliothèque Royale, Paris 1846. PDF Here and Here.
- Barclay Vincent Head, The Coinage of Lydia and Persia; from the earliest times to the fall of the Dynasty of the Achaemenidae, London 1877. PDF Here.
ROMAN NUMISMATICS
The Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC):
- Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. I: From 31 B.C. to A.D. 69, London 1984. PDF Here.
- C.H.V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II: Vespasian to Hadrian, London 1984. PDF Here.
- Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham,, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. III: Antoninus Pius to Commodus, London 1930. PDF Here.
- Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part I: Pertinax to Geta, London 1936. PDF Here.
- Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part II: Macrinus to Pupienus, London 1938. PDF Here.
- Harold Mattingly and Edward A. Sydenham, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IV, Part III: Gordian III - Uranius Antoninus, London 1949. PDF Here.
- Percy H. Webb, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. V, Part I:..., London ????. PDF Here.
- Percy H. Webb, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. V, Part II:..., London ????. PDF Here.
- C.H.V. Sutherland, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. VI: From Diocletian's Reform (A.D. 294) to the death of Maximinus (A.D. 313), London 1967. PDF Here.
- Patrick M. Bruun, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. VII: Constantine and Licinus (A.D. 313-337), London 1966. PDF Here.
- J.P.C. Kent, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. VIII: The Family of Constantine I (A.D. 337-364), London 1981. PDF Here.
- J.P.C. Kent, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. IX: Valentinian I - Theodosius I, London 1994. PDF Here.
- J.W.E. Pearce, The Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. X: The divided empire and the fall of the Western parts, London 1994. PDF Here.BYZANTINE NUMISMATICS
- John Yonge Akerman, Coins of the Romans relating to Britain, London 1844. PDF Here.
- Ernest Babelon, Description Historique et Chronologique des Monnaies de la Republisue Romaine vulgarement appelées Monnaies Consulaires, Tome 1, Paris-London 1885. PDF Here and Here and Here and Here.
- Ernest Babelon, Description Historique et Chronologique des Monnaies de la Republisue Romaine vulgarement appelées Monnaies Consulaires, Tome 2, Paris-London 1886. PDF Here.
- Henry Cohen, Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain, communement appelées Médailles Impériales, Tome 2, Paris 1859. PDF Here.
- Georges Depeyrot, La monnaie Romaine, Paris 2006.
- Philip Grierson, Byzantine Coinage, Washington D.C. 1999. PDF Here.
- Christopher Howgego, et al. (eds), Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces, Oxford 2005. PDF Here. (Pass: ebooksclub.org)
- Constantius Landus [Costanzo Lando], Selectiorum Numismatum, Praecipue Romanorum, Lugdunum Batavorum [Leiden] 1695. PDF Here.
- Theodor Mommsen, Über das römische münzwesen, Leipzig 1850. PDF Here.
- Theodor Mommsen, Geschichte des römischen Münzwesens, Berlin 1860. PDF Here.
- Theodor Mommsen, Histoire de la monnaies romaine. Traduit de l'allemand par le duc de Blacas, Tome 2, Paris 1870. PDF Here.
- Theodor Mommsen, Histoire de la monnaies romaine. Traduit de l'allemand par le duc de Blacas, Tome 4, Paris 1875. PDF Here.
- Robert Morris, The Twelve Ceasars (BC 48 to AD 96), La Grange, Kentucky, 1877. PDF Here.
- W.M. Sharp Ogden, The Roman Mint and Early Britain, London 1912. PDF Here.
John Lindsay, A View of the history and coinage of the Parthians, with descriptive catalogue and tables, illus. with a complete set of engravings of coins, a large number of the unpublished, London 1852. PDF Here and Here.
BYZANTINE NUMISMATICSJustin Sabatier, Description Générale des Monnaies Byzantines, Vol. 1, Paris-London 1862. PDF Here and Here.
Justin Sabatier, Description Générale des Monnaies Byzantines, Vol. 2, Paris-London 1862. PDF Here and Here.
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