Newsletter Fall/Winter 2013 September to December 2013

From the GIA director Prof. Daan Raemaekers This newsletter is a bit longer than the regular reader is used to due to the log interval. Luckily there is a lot of good news to bring: new appointments, finished PhD's and results from some of our research projects. GIA has been very busy this year demonstrating the quality of both our educational programme and its research. An inter-university commission assessing all Dutch programmes of archaeology has rated our programme as the best. We are very proud of this result, which is based on the combined effort of staff members and support staff. Just this month we received the news that the programme is labelled Topopleiding (Top Degree Programme), a label only assigned to seven other University of Groningen programmes. This year GIA also produced a Self-study report to describe and analyse our research efforts and policies in the period 2010-2012. It is concluded that this has been the most productive period ever. I conclude this introduction with sad news. In September our former lecturer Otto Harsema died. We remember his warm personality and hope his loved ones find strength to cope with this loss.

Staff Welcome to our new Staff members! Maaike Peters appointed Secretary within the GIA and Archaeology department Starting on September 1st, 2013, Maaike Peters has been appointed as secretary at the GIA and Archaeology department. She will be coordinating the Archaeology Education Program for the Bachelors, Masters, and Research Masters students. She is an alumna of the GIA and has a research background in Classical Archaeology. She has excavated on GIA projects in Halos (Greece), Crustumerium (Italy), and surveying in the Pontine region(Italy) as well as excavated on projects outside the institute in Romania, Tunisia, and the Netherlands. She previously worked at the RuG Faculty of Arts.

Annette M. Hansen appointed Secretary at the GIA Starting on October 1st, 2013, Annette Hansen has been appointed as secretary at the GIA. She will be updating the GIA website as well as editing

English articles and summaries within GIA publications such as Paleo-aktueel and Palaeohistoria. For a brief tour of the ‘new and improved’ GIA website, see the Interesting Links section. She has lived, studied and worked in 8 countries. She has excavated in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey (Tarsus and Çatalhöyük), England, and Jordan. She completed her Masters in Science in Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford in 2012. She currently works as an Archaeobotanical specialist representing the GIA in the Madaba Plains Project (http://www.madabaplains.org/) in Jordan.

Barbara Borgers appointed PostPost-Doc within the Minor Centers Project Starting on October 1st 2013, Barbara Borgers has been appointed as Post-Doc researcher within the NWO-funded Minor Centers Project. Barbara has (almost) obtained her PhD at the Free University of Brussels on a study of the pottery industries in the civitas tungrorum. Within the Minor Centers Project Barbara is responsible for petrographic analyses of survey ceramics from the Pontine region (central Italy) with the aim of reconstructing systems of production, distribution and consumption.

Menno Hoogland, Professor in Funerary Archa Archaeology and Archaeothanatology Archaeothanatology by special appointment Dr. Menno L.P. Hoogland (1954) has been appointed Professor in Funerary Archeology and Archaeothanatology by special appointment from 1 October 2013 for a period of five years. The new chair is funded by the Groninger Universiteits Fonds (GUF). His research focuses on the analysis of mortuary data and the integration of scientific methods of analysis with ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological research. His main aim is to reconstruct the position of the individual within society and to understand funerary ideologies and attitudes to death. In Groningen, he will be working closely with the members of the Greek Archaeology group, since mortuary studies occupy a central position in the research profile of the group.

PhDs Congratulations to our new Doctors! Doctors! Corien Wiersma from the Greek Archaeology research group defended her PhD on 17 October and was promoted. Corien has submitted a Post-Doc proposal to INSTAP, concerning a survey at the palatial settlement of Ayios Vasilios in Lakonia. Currently, she is working on the publication of the Middle Bronze Age settlement at Magoula Pavlína in Thessaly, and she is involved in the publication of the Bronze Age ceramics of the Zakynthos Archaeological Project survey: http://ich.uva.nl/research/researchprogrammes/content/archaeology/landscape-heritage-and-identity/zakynthos.html.

Izabel Devriendt from the Pre- and Proto-History of Northwest Europe research group defended her PhD on 14 November and was promoted. Currently Izabel Devriendt is working as a lithic expert (Archeo Lithics: http://www.archeolithics.com/) on several excavations in the Netherlands. One of the main projects is the analysis of the stone and flint artefacts of the Mesolithic-Neolithic site Well-Aijen (in cooperation with ADC ArcheoProjcten and BAAC).

Upcoming PhD Defenses Frigga Kruse will defend her PhD thesis :‘Frozen Assets. British mining, exploration, and geopolitics on Spitsbergen, 1904-53’ on December 19 at 9 AM. Her work focused on the driving forces behind the involvement of four British companies during the industrialisation of the polar no man’s land in the first half of the 20th century. In addition to extensive archival research, she carried out archaeological surveys of industrial remains at the Arctic frontier in two field seasons, during which she discovered that the archaeological landscape of mineral exploration in particular is poorly understood. On the day of the defence, there will also be a mini-symposium titled ‘Arctic mining: past practices and present parallels’, in the course of which Kruse will address the archaeological potential of Spitsbergen in more detail. Additional speakers will place her findings in the broader historical context and links them to current affairs. If you would like to attend the symposium, please contact Dr. Annette Scheepstra at the Arctic Centre (ext. 5826) or register on http://www.rug.nl/research/arctisch-centrum/arcticcentre/events/arctic-mining---past-practicespresent-parallels

Welcome to our new PhDs! Theun Varwijk from the Pre- and Proto-History of Northwest Europe research group recently started his PhD in which the Frisian terpen (dwelling mounds) play a central role: Terpenproject Terpzolenonderzoek Fryslân 2012-2016. For the purpose of this project, the remainder of a ‘dugaway terp’ (the so-called ‘terpzool’), known as Groot-Saxenoord close to Lollum (Fryslân), was excavated. The research is part of the PhD-study of the ‘Settlement development of Frisian terp sites from the Early Iron Age to the Late Middle Ages’. The aims of this study are to focus on the earliest occupation of the Frisian salt marsh and examine the settlement form and the subsequent development in relation to the environment and society. The project is financed by the province of Fryslân, the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân, the municipality of Littenseradiel, the University of Groningen, and the ‘Vereniging voor Terpenonderzoek’.

The excavation of the dug-away terp at Groot-Saxenoord in progress. In the course of 7 weeks 3500 m2 was excavated, close to one thousand features were documented and over one thousand finds were collected.

Marco Bakker Pre- and Proto-History of Northwest Europe research group recently started his PhD: The Frisian peat reclamations of the Late Iron Age and Roman Iron Age". His research is funded by the University Campus Fryslân (UCF) with support of the Wadden Academy. The aim of the project is to create a better understanding of the earliest Frisian peat reclamations that took place about 2000 years ago. We know part of the peatlands were settled during that period, but there is a lack of knowledge about what they actually did there, and when, and how. The research will include ananalysis of existing data and new fieldwork. This fieldwork will include archaeological excavations that are funded by the Province of Fryslân and Groningen University. The first of these took place this summer near the village of Warten (Fr.).

Publications Stay tuned for the latest volume of Paleo-aktueel! Number 24 is to be presented at the upcoming GIA dag

Research Ayios Vasilios one of the 10 most important current excavations according to the Shanghai Archaeology Forum The excavation in Ayios Vasilios, Laconia, Greece has been selected as one of the 10 most important excavations in the entire world, and the only one from Europe, by the Shanghai Archaeology Forum. The 2013 campaign has produced spectacular finds: the total of Linear B tablets has now reached more than 40. The fact that they are being found in a restricted area, nearby the large courtyard, indicates that we must be nearing the palatial archive. The excavations in the Northern Cemetery have also made very good progress: several new tombs have been located and excavated, among them a built tomb with at least 12 successive interments, and a large pit grave with a couple (a man and a woman) placed in contracted position and in a tight embrace. Samples have been taken for soil micro-morphological analysis both from inside tombs (the aim being to reconstruct episodes of use and re-use) and between the tomb (in order to reconstruct the external appearance and the sequence of use of tombs).

Survey around Ayios Vasilios planned for 201420142018 (caption: The Ayios Vasilios hill) A 5-year field-walking survey around the site of Ayios Vasilios is planned for 2014 onwards. The survey will be directed by Sofia Voutsaki and Adamantia Vasilogamvrou, while Corien Wiersma will act as Field Director. The aim of the survey is to place the Ayios Vasilios palatial complex in its urban and physical environment. Further the intention is to reconstruct the extent of occupation in Mycenaean and Byzantine times (the main two periods of habitation on the Ayios Vasilios hill), but also detect any shifts in occupation and, if possible, functional differentiation within the Lower Town. The field-walking survey will be accompanied by geophysical prospection and a geomorphological study of the entire Ayios Vasilios hill range. The project will be carried out under the auspices of the Netherlands Institute at Athens.

Bioarcharchaeological Research in Greece In September 2013, Olivia A. Jones began carrying out the skeletal analysis for her PhD in the Wiener Laboratory of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. This osteological analysis forms the basis of her research in exploring questions of secondary burial in Mycenaean mortuary traditions. She will be spending the next year working in the lab with possible summer fieldwork and various trips back to the GIA for events.

Groningen in Gordion Dr. Canan Cakirlar and her student, Mirjam Post (MA) of the GIA zooarchaeology team joined the University of Pennsylvania team at Gordion (Ankara, Turkey) this summer. This was just the start of what will hopefully become a long-lasting and productive collaboration on agrarian sustainability and cultural response to climate change. Gordion is a large Anatolian ‘höyük’; a settlement mound with a long and turbulant cultural history. Although Gordion’s settlement history spans from the Middle Bronze Age to the Medieval Period, the site is best known for the numerous large tumuli (burial mounds) that spot the hilly landscape surrounding it. Mirjam dedicated her summer to studying the food remains of the Roman legionnaires who originated from Germany. Preliminary results suggest that for the first time in Gordion’s settlement history, its inhabitants were focusing on pork, as opposed to the traditionally important sheep, goat and cattle. This indicates that the Romans were not acting like Gordioners when in Gordion. The bonus of such research stays is of course the opportunity to observe rural life –an invaluable source of information for anyone who studies the agrarian systems of the past. Small-scale sheep, goat and cattle herders roam up and down the gentle slopes in the area systematically, in precise daily movements. Mirjam is writing her MA on transhumant pastoralism in Iron Age Calabria. For more information on Gordion: http://sites.museum.upenn.edu/gordion/archaeology

Pigs don’t fly GIA’s zooarchaeologist Dr. Canan Çakırlar’s work on the Neolithic of western Anatolia contributed to ground-breaking aDNA research on the genetic relationship between the domesticated pigs of Europe and Southwest Asia. Results of the research showed that earliest domesticated pigs in Europe originated from a locally developed breed in western Anatolia (the region between the famous site of Hacilar dug by Mellaar in the 50s and the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea). The research shows that the local western Anatolian domestic pig was probably a mixture of Near Eastern pigs and local wild boar; although the possibility of independent local domestication cannot be ruled out entirely, especially in view of the presence of osteologically domestic pigs at the newly discovered Aceramic layers at the site of Ulucak near Izmir. The results have far-reaching implications for the mode and nature of neolithisations across Eurasia, as well as the successive development of farming in the regions in focus. More on the subject can be found in the papers by Ottoni et al. (http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/30/4/824) and Cakirlar (http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8743970).

The secret of the (dead) Drenthse whitewhite-tailed eagle revealed GIA’s faunal reference collection is world famous for the diversity of the species it houses. Still, there are some species even GIA is missing. That is why our zooarchaeology staff was ecstatic when our affiliate and graduate Dr. Dick Brinkhuis called in September to announce that he was contacted by a forest guard from Drenthe about a fallen white-tailed eagle (Halieetus albicilla). Archaeological records of white-tailed eagles are known from several sites along the palaeo-coasts of the country. However, these marvellous birds have been extinct in the Netherlands until recently when a few were reintroduced two years ago. Dutch white-tailed eagles are well monitored and ringed. The fact that the individual found in Drenthe was young and unringed led to the conclusion that it was not a member of the (small) Dutch population. But how did it die? Illegal hunting and poisoning of rare wild fauna continue to be a problem, even in Western Europe. Understanding the reasons behind animal deaths is crucial to setting the correct measures in conservation management. Could the carcass bear clues to the cause of death? Since GIA was interested in the skeleton of the animal and its value for zooarchaeological research, the carcass was immediately taken to the preparation lab in Zernike to get macerated. Preparation of the carcass showed no sign of injuries or bullet shots. The truth was revealed three-four months later, when the maceration process was over. Lisette de Vries observed an unhealed and infected fracture on the lower shinbone of the eagle, indicating that the injury had been causing it quite some pain for some time. Due to poor health, the young and inexperienced bird was probably unable to feed himself properly and died eventually. Lisette de Vries has already featured on the nature program Roeg on RTV Drenthe about the use of animal skeletons for archaeology, and she will now be interviewed by the same program about the use of animal skeletons for conservation management. http://www.rtvdrenthe.nl/roeg

Honors, Awards, and Prizes Sofia Voutsaki member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Netherlands Institute at Athens Sofia Voutsaki has been appointed member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Netherlands Institute at Athens as from October 2013.

Activities First Greek Archaeology Conference in Groningen: Conference on Explaining Social Change in Aegean Prehistory, 1616-17 October 2013 A very successful 2-day International Conference on Explaining Social Change in Aegean Prehistory has been organised at the occasion of Corien Wiersma’s PhD examination on 17 October 2013. Speakers and participants came from the Netherlands, Greece, Britain, USA, Sweden and Germany. The aim of the conference was to discuss cycles of growth and decline in Aegean prehistory by examining different types of data, such as house architecture and domestic assemblages, pottery, or mortuary practices. While the emphasis was on the Greek mainland, parallel or divergent trajectories in the Aegean islands and Crete were also discussed. A lot of time was dedicated to the discussion of different theories for the explanation of social change and the theoretical assumptions underlying them. The proceedings of the conference will be published.

Rural communities in a globalizing economy: new perspectives on the economic integration of Roman Italy. 2828-29 November 2013 As a part of GIA’s Minor Centers Project, Gijs Tol and Tymon de Haas organize a two-day conference entitled Rural communities in a globalizing economy: new perspectives on the economic integration of Roman Italy. Italy The conference will bring together scholars from different disciplines working on the economy of Roman Italy, with a strong (but not exclusive) focus on the economic backgrounds that led to the integration of rural economies in a Mediterranean-wide system. Inaugural Inaugural lecture: Sofia Voutsaki 26 November 2013 Sofia Voutsaki will be giving her inaugural lecture entitled “Archaeology of / in a changing society” on Tuesday 26 November, at 16.15.

Symposium Canadian Arctic 28 November 2013 The Centre for Canadian Studies is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Together with the Arctic Centre they are organising a joint symposium on the Canadian Arctic on 28 November, 2013. We will start the day at 9am with

keynote lectures by Maarten Loonen (Arctic Centre, RUG), David Sproule (Canada's Ambassador to Norway) and Gerlis Fugmann (Director, Association of Polar Early Career Scientists) at the Van Swinderenhuis (Oude Boteringestraat 19, Groningen). Please also consider attending the afternoon Interfaculty Session on Canadian Studies. This session will take place in Room A8 of the Academy Building (Broerstraat 5, Groningen) from 1-5pm.

More information:http://www.rug.nl/research/canada-studiecentrum/upcoming-events/25thanniversary-symposium

Photographed by Jouke Prop Polar bear symposium 30 November 2013 On November 30, the Willem Barenstz Polar Institute is organizing a polar bear symposium in conjunction with WWF. This public symposium will be held in Het Kasteel, Melkweg 1, Groningen. Registration via www.poolsymposium.nl

Photographed by Jouke Prop

The 18th Annual GiaGia-dag will be on Friday, 13 December 2013 from 9:00am until 16:30pm at Het Heerenhuis, Spilsluizen NZ 9, Groningen See the News page (http://www.rug.nl/research/groningen-institute-of-archaeology/news/gia-news) for an updated program.

Symposium Arctic Mining 19 December 2013 On December 19th, Frigga Kruse will defend her thesis: thesis: 'FROZEN ASSETS British mining, exploration, and geopolitics on Spitsbergen, 190453'. The defence starts at 9:00 in the aula at the Academic Building, Broerstraat 5 in Groningen. In the afternoon, there will be a mini-symposium: Arctic mining - past practices present parallels. More information: http://www.rug.nl/research/arctisch-centrum/arcticcentre/events/arctic-mining---pastpractices-present-parallels

Interesting Links

A brief tour of the ‘new and improved’ GIA website On our new Staff (http://www.rug.nl/research/groningen-institute-of-archaeology/about-theinstitute/staff/) page, you can look up the entire GIA staff, their email addresses and phone extensions all in one place. Each Research Group page (Prehistory Prehistory and Protohistory of Northwest Europe, Europe, Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology, Archaeology, Greek Archaeology, Archaeology and Arctic Archaeology) Archaeology has each of its members linked to their Academia.edu page. In addition, each PhD researcher and Postdoctoral Fellow has been linked to their personal project page: • • • •

http://www.rug.nl/research/groningen-institute-of-archaeology/Research/ResearchGroups/ http://www.rug.nl/research/groningen-institute-of-archaeology/Research/ResearchGroups/classical-and-mediterranean-archaeology http://www.rug.nl/research/groningen-institute-of-archaeology/research/researchgroups/greek-archaeology http://www.rug.nl/research/groningen-institute-of-archaeology/research/researchgroups/greek-archaeology

Our Major GIA Projects page features our interdisciplinary, multi-personnel grants as well as provides a link to each project’s website: http://www.rug.nl/research/groningen-institute-ofarchaeology/research/major-gia-projects. Check out the new and improved Zooarchaeology page: page http://www.rug.nl/research/groningeninstitute-of-archaeology/research/archeozoologie. Stay tuned for new updates to their database later in the year. Our News page (http://www.rug.nl/research/groningen-institute-of-archaeology/news/gia-news) has the latest events going on at the GIA. If you have a new “News item” to feature on the website, please download a form from the bottom of the page and submit it to the Web Editor, Annette M. Hansen, at [email protected]. Please include the content of the news item as well as a .jpeg image. If you have questions or comments about the website or you would like to feature something on the website, please contact Annette at [email protected].