Ancient civilizations often developed near major rivers, like in Egypt and Mesopotamia. In Central Asia, the Murghab alluvial fan in southern Turkmenistan was central to the emergence of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), also known as the Oxus Civilization, during the third and second millennia BCE. The local alluvial fan was central for the productive agriculture at the basis of the region's urban centers and the wealth that accumulated in these societies.

This volume expl...

Social inequality is a subject of contemporary concerns. Life capabilities and the access to resources vary significantly in rich and poor countries, between elites and others. Furthermore, inequalities based on bio-anthropological and non-bio-anthropological causes are almost universal. Accordingly, inequality was also inherent in past societies and archaeologists have continually examined and interpreted social inequalities in sources such as burial grounds.

This book continues such analyse...

There is a cluster of Early Iron Age (800-500 BC) elite burials in the Low Countries in which bronze vessels, weaponry, horse-gear and wagons were interred as grave goods. Mostly imports from Central Europe, these objects are found brought together in varying configurations in cremation burials generally known as chieftains' graves or princely burials. In terms of grave goods they resemble the Fürstengräber of the Hallstatt Culture of Central Europe, with famous Dutch and Belgian examples b...

Dit boek vertelt niet veel over de opgraving (die in barre weersomstandigheden en onder tijdsdruk werd uitgevoerd) maar over de resten van de vroegere huizen, hun bewoners en vooral over wat die bewoners achterlieten aan voorwerpen. Wijnglazen, hondenbotten, pijpenkoppen, knikkers, een middeleeuws pelgrimsinsigne uit Aken en aardewerk uit het Engeland van de Industriële Revolutie komen langs. Bij sommige van die voorwerpen zul je je eerst afvragen, wat ze kunnen bijdragen aan onze kennis van...

Face to face. The people behind mummy portraits (Ben van den Bercken, Olaf Kaper, eds) accompanies the first exhibition on Ancient Egyptian mummy portraits in the Netherlands.

Who were the people portrayed? How were they depicted and why? Who were they seen by? And: how do we think about self-presentation and being remembered in an age of selfies and fluid identities? In this lushly illustrated book, readers not only get to know the people portrayed, but also the makers, relatives, collectors...

Fossiele eiken, veen- of bostoponiemen, Romeinse houtskoolmeilers, wildforstersgoederen, kogelpotten, relieken en bescherming van het landschap: in De logica van het landschap geven 31 artikelen samen een beeld van het brede werkterrein van de archeologie en landschapsgeschiedenis. De auteurs zijn archeologen of onderzoekers uit aanpalende vakgebieden. Ze schrijven over de archeologie van Oost-Nederland en Limburg, over bossen en bosgeschiedenis, veengebieden en zandlandschappen, maar ook ove...

This book is a tribute to the remarkable achievements of Peter M.M.G. Akkermans in the archaeology of West Asia. A focus on previously overlooked periods and regions has been the hallmark of his work. Instead of investigating the traditional key transitions and core regions that have been central to the archaeology of West Asia, Peter always aimed to shed light on the ‘in-between’ periods and regions, often dismissed as being ‘marginal’ (in his words ‘marginal to whom or what?’). ...

This study considers the detailed archaeological and documentary records of Cyprus and Ugarit (Syria) to gain new insights into the long-term relations between two of the best known, well-connected polities in the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean.

I engage with concepts such as maritime space and spheres of interaction, merchants and mercantilism, actors and agents. Some background on both Ugarit and Cyprus is presented, followed by examination of the common material features of both (e....

This collection of papers was compiled in celebration of the remarkable academic career of Professor Wil Roebroeks, who has established himself as one of Europe’s leading figures in Palaeolithic archaeology over the past three decades and founded the Human origins research group at Leiden University. The volume features a diverse array of chapters contributed by close colleagues, as well as former and current students, providing a thorough overview of the flourishing field of Palaeolithic a...