More RAC 2014 info

Further to Hilary's post, let me share details of another Pompeii-related session planned for the next Roman Archaeology Conference (thank you for sending the info, Valentino Gasparini!):

An Archaeology of Gesture: Performing Rituals, Sharing Emotions
Session organiser: Valentino Gasparini

World is experienced both through worldly and bodily expressions. Emotions are embodied, deeply rooted in the corporeal and sensual experience, and directly communicated through gestures and vocalisations.
This session aims to reconstruct with a transdisciplinary approach the materiality of gestures in the Roman world. Thanks to the study of the archaeological record, it is possible to identify the "techniques of the body", through which emotions are perceived, enacted, shared and communicated. Objects are not merely neutral things, but a channel which allows us to detect the agency behind the gesture and (even through the repetition and intensification of an act, i.e. ritual) its use of media in order to interact with the socially structured environment and networks it belongs to.

Speakers - chosen among the international specialists - are challenged to test this paradigm on the field of Pompeii, focusing on the material culture concerning sanctuaries, domestic religious practices and funerary rituals.

Friday, Room G15, Henley Business School
2.00 Enacting rituals in sanctuaries, houses and burials. Prolegomena for an archaeology of gesture, Valentino Gasparini
2.30 Cultic objects from an extra-moenia sanctuary in Pompeii, Mario Grimaldi
3.00 Changes of ownership in the Pompeian houses: archaeological evidence, Marco Giglio
3.30 Tea
4.00 A Mould Lamp with Lampadodromia from Pompeii, Luigi Pedroni
4.30 The Tomb of Obellius Firmus and the Necropolis of Porta Nola at Pompeii, Llorenç Alapont Martin
5.00 Acting the life in the death. The Necropolis of Porta di Nocera as theatre of Pompeian society, Marianna Castiglione
 
Enacting Rituals in Sanctuaries, Houses and Burials: Prolegomena for an Archaeology of Gesture
Valentino Gasparini (Universität Erfurt, Germany)
The paper aims to introduce the panel from a methodological perspective, analysing - through the archaeological record - the materiality of gestures and their power in communicating emotions, during religious practices both in primary and secondary spaces (sanctuaries, houses and burials). A specific attention will be devoted to the ‘biography’ of artefacts in rituals. Objects carry multiple and transferable meanings, embedded within very specific contexts and consequently varying according to different times and different cultures. Because of their social interaction, artefacts exhibit agency (as actants or inter-agents) and influence primary actors (the intentional beings), who encode physical things with significance which allows them to express complex ideas. Through objects, actors enact and make effective agency in their social milieu: ‘agents are and do not merely use the artefacts which connect them to social others’.

Cultic Objects from an Extra-Moenia Sanctuary in Pompeii
Mario Grimaldi (Università di Napoli Suor Orsola Benincasa, Italy)
The complex of the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus is one of the most remarkable examples in the architectural landscape of Pompeii. Before the occupation of the private, were built impressive works of levelling through waste that led to recovery of large quantities of pre-Roman ceramic material. From the garden of the House of the Golden Bracelet, bordered to the north, comes the cycle of metopes pottery dating from the third- to second-century BC originally belonged to a sacred building and then reused as building material. These findings can be put into connection with each other through the finds from the drain in the garden of the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus. The whole band was so affected by the probable presence of a sacred area, devastated and destroyed at the end of the scond- first half of the first-century BC.

Changes of Ownership in the Pompeian Houses: The Archaeological Evidence
Marco Giglio (Università di Napoli L’Orientale, Italy)
The text aims to analyze, through the study of the archaeological data, the problem of ownership and change of ownerships in the houses of Pompeii. The study of private buildings has often highlighted changes in the spatial organization of the domus, which may have modified their plan, expanded or reduced in size through acquisitions or disposals of rooms from other buildings, showing a very high mobility. These changes have always been interpreted as the result of a change in ownership or a change in the social status of the owner. These phenomena are apparently only conceivable on the basis of the archaeological data in our possession. The paper, through some cases emerging from recent excavations in some Pompeian domus, intends to focus on a few elements that can be considered archaeological markers of domestic rituals to be connected with changes in ownership.

A Mould Lamp with Lampadodromia from Pompeii
Luigi Pedroni (Independent Scholar, Italy)
During the excavations conducted by the University of Innsbruck in the House of Popidius Priscus in Pompeii (VII 2, 20) a pottery lamp mould has been recovered in a late Augustan context with potter’s signature: Q. Cupidcenius. Its discovery allows us to clarify some doubts about its reading and the interpretation of the scene, which the few known positive specimens were not able to solve. The scene shows an uncertain female figure on horseback, with torch, and in the act of adoratio, accompanied by a smaller male one. The identification of the characters and the eventual ritual performed are very doubtful. Since a lampadodromia is represented, it is possible to suggest the identification of the female protagonist with Bendis (Selene). More difficult is to understand the reasons behind such a particular iconographical composition and its choice in Julio-Claudian Pompeii.

The Tomb of Obellius Firmus and the Necropolis of Porta Nola at PompeiiLlorenç Alapont Martin (Universitat de València, Spain), Luigi Pedroni (Independent Scholar, Italy)
The research project focused its attention on the small necropolis outside Porta Nola in Pompeii. We will discuss the results, still preliminary, of the study of Obellius Firmus’ tomb, consisting in a rectangular enclosure around the burial place, and, in particular, of the decorated bone fragments found within attributed to his funeral bed. We will present also the anthropologic investigation conducted also with modern technologies on the casts of fugitives discovered in 1975 near the necropolis outside Porta Nola, and still totally unknown. In particular, in the last campaign, besides the direct examination of the bones visible through the plaster, a survey with laser scanner and X-Ray examination were conducted.

Acting the Life in the Death: The Necropolis of Porta di Nocera as Theatre of Pompeian SocietyMarianna Castiglione (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Italy)
Tombs, like houses, are strictly related to people, both to the deceased and the alive, and inform on their characters, some of them not always easily perceivable.
The paper, through the exam of different data collected in the Necropolis of Porta di Nocera - one of the most important at Pompeii - , aims to evaluate verbal, gestural and material aspects of this context, which testify ritual and religious practices associated with burials, but also features of life, intimacy and emotions of each person, even deeply connected to the social mobility in the ancient city.
Inscriptions, objects, clothing and posture are all “media”, that give us information not only about the owners of the funerary monuments and their socially normative patterns of behaviour, but also about the social and economic dynamics of the whole population.

Vendita promozionale delle pubblicazioni del Centre Jean Bérard

Dal 6 al 20 novembre 2013

Il Centre Jean Bérard propone una vendita promozionale delle sue pubblicazioni.

Libri che riguardano Pompei: 

Les "bourgeoisies"’ municipales italiennes aux IIe et Ier siècles av. J.-C. Actes du Coll. Internat. du CNRS n. 609 (Naples 1981). 1983, 468 p., 41 pl. 26,80€ anziché 67,00 €  (-60%)

ALBORE LIVADIE Cl. (éd.), Tremblements de terre, éruptions volcaniques et vie des hommes dans la Campanie antique. 1986, 233 p., 99 pl. 12,40€ anziché 31,00 € (-60%)

Le ravitaillement en blé de Rome et des centres urbains des débuts de la République jusqu’au Haut Empire. Actes du Coll. Internat. (Naples 1991) Naples-Rome, 1994, 336 p., 78 fig., 1 dépl. (Co-éd. avec EFR).16,40€ anziché 41,00 € (-60%)

Les élites municipales de l’Italie péninsulaire des Gracques à Néron. Actes du Coll. Internat. (Clermont-Ferrand 1991) (M. Cébeillac-Gervasoni éd.). Naples-Rome, 1996, 295 p., 51 fig., 3 dépl. (co-éd. avec EFR) 14,40€ anziché 36,00 € (-60%)

Les céramiques communes de Campanie et de Narbonnaise (Ier s. av. J.-C.-IIe s. ap. J.-C.): la vaisselle de cuisine et de table. Actes des Journées d’étude (Naples 1994). 1996, 486 p., 284 fig., 1 dépl. Actes des Journées d’étude (Naples 1994). 1996, 486 p., 284 fig., 1 dépl. 19,60€ anziché 49,00 € (-60%)

La Villa San Marco a Stabia (éd. A. Barbet, P. Miniero). Napoli-Roma-Pompei, 2000; 1 vol. Testo + 2 vol. ill., 412 p., 24 pl. coul., 758 fig. (co-éd. avec EFR et Soprint. Archeol. Pompei)
41,20€ anziché 103,00 € (-60%)

L'alun de Méditerranée. Actes du colloque international (Naples 2003). (éd. Ph. Borgard, J.-P. Brun et M. Picon), 2005, 356 p. 135. fig. (co-ed. avec le Centre Camille Jullian)
16,00€ anziché 40,00 € (-60%)

Les céramiques communes antiques d'Italie et de Narbonnaise: structures de production, typologies et contextes inédits, IIe s. av. J.-C. IIIe s. apr. J.-C.. Actes de la table ronde de Naples, organisée les 2 et 3 novembre 2006 par l'ARC et le Centre Jean Bérard (dir. M. Pasqualini). 2009, 724 p., fig.   24,00€ anziché 60,00 € (-60%)

BOTTE E., Salaisons et sauces de poissons en Italie du Sud et en Sicile durant l'Antiquité. 2009, 229 p., 4 pl., fig. (Archéologie de l'artisanat antique, 1) 15,00€ anziché 30,00 € (-50%)

Artisanats antiques d'Italie et de Gaule : mélanges offerts à Maria Francesca Buonaiuto. (éd. J.-P. Brun) 2009, 316 p., ill. (Archéologie de l'artisanat antique, 2)  20,00€ anziché 40,00 € (-50%)

CULLIN-MINGAUD M., La vannerie dans l'Antiquité romaine. 2010, 298 p., ill. (Archéologie de l'artisanat antique, 3)  25,00€ anziché 50,00 € (-50%)

Purpureae vestes III. Textiles y tintes en la ciudad antigua. (éd. C. Alfaro, J.-P. Brun, Ph. Borgard, R. Pierobon Benoit ) 2011, 286 p., ill. (co-éd. avec Universitat de València) (Archéologie de l'artisanat antique, 4) 15,00€ anziché 30,00 € (-50%)

Les savoirs professionnels des gens de métier: études sur le monde du travail dans les sociétés urbaines de l’empire romain. (dir. N. Monteix et N. Tran) 2011, 172 p., ill. (Archéologie de l'artisanat antique, 5) 15,00€ anziché 30,00 € (-50%)

LAFORGE M.-O., La religion privée à Pompéi. 2009, 245 p., ill. 
15,00€ anziché 30,00 € (-50%)

GRELL CH., Herculanum et Pompéi dans les récits des voyageurs français du XVIIIe siècle. 1982, 230 p. 
7,50€ anziché 15,00 € (-50%)

BROSSES CH. de, Lettres familières. Ed. crit. et notes (sur les mss. revus et corrigés par l’auteur) par L. Cagiano de Azevedo et G. Cafasso. 1991, 3 vol. XII-1447 p., 11 fig. 23,10€ anziché 77,00 € (-70%)

BURLOT D., Fabriquer l'antique : les contrefaçons de peinture murale antique au XVIIIe siècle. 2012, 347 p, ill. en noir et en coul. 25,50€ anziché 30,00 € (-15%)

 Catalogo completo
I libri precedentemente ordinati via mail [berard at unina.it], tramite invio del buono d’ordine, possono essere ritirati presso il Centre Jean Bérard,

via F. Crispi, 86 Napoli, dal 6 al 20 novembre 2013 (dalle 10 alle 13 e dalle 15 alle 16 :30).

Il pagamento sarà effettuato in loco in contanti.

· I libri ordinati possono essere inviati per posta.
In questo caso, si precisa che:
Si accetteranno solo gli ordini che ci saranno pervenuti tramite mail dal 6 al 20 novembre 2013.
Vi invieremo una fattura pro forma, che dovrà essere regolata durante il periodo promozionale.
I libri saranno spediti in seguito all’avvenuto pagamento. Spedizione e spese bancarie saranno a vostro carico.

Steven Ellis' review of Andrew Wallace-Hadrill's Herculaneum book

Steven Ellis' thoughtful, thorough and above all genuinely engaging and enthusiastic review of Andrew Wallace-Hadrill's book Herculaneum: Past and Future.

Published in AJA.
Free PDF available to download here
http://www.ajaonline.org/online-review-book/1684

In the Shadow of Vesuvius - RAC/TRAC March 2014

At the next RAC/TRAC conference there will be an all day session on (Saturday 29th March) on recent research on what was happening in the region in the centuries before the eruption.  The speakers will be Robyn Veal, Ferdinando de Simone, Michael Anderson, Steven Ellis, Antonella Coralini, Nicolas Monteix, Gary Foster, Richard Hobbs, David Griffiths, Ria Berg, Katie Huntley and Anna Anguissola.

The session abstract is as follows. 

This one day session will bring together people working on a range of international projects in the cities of Pompeii and Ercolano and the surrounding countryside. The focus will be on the new information emerging from excavation of the pre-eruption layers, and explore what lead up to the cities and sites that everyone thinks they know. It will start with two papers exploring the hinterland resources.  These will serve too as an introduction to the area under discussion.  It will then move on to four papers exploring the changing townscapes of the two cities, and will show how the well-known landscape of houses, bars and bakeries was a relatively recent phenomenon.  A century before visitors would have encountered industrial installations bordering even main roads into the centre.  The afternoon will be start with three papers exploring changing consumption patterns and contacts.  These will set the sites within the wider Mediterranean world, and show the development of the consumer society that is so familiar to us from exhibitions such as that in the British Museum during the summer of 2013.  The day will conclude with three papers exploring aspects of life in AD 79 as demonstrated by the eruption level.  These will both sum up the day and look forward to the workshop.

I have posted the full abstracts of all the papers at http://independent.academia.edu/HilaryCool/Talks
and no doubt they will soon be on the conference web site itself. That is http://www.reading.ac.uk/archaeology/Conferences/RAC2014/

Award for Herculaneum research - Borsa per ricerca su Ercolano

The Herculaneum Centre (www.herculaneumcentre.org), thanks to the generous support of the Friends of Herculaneum Society (www.herculaneum.ox.ac.uk), is once again able to offer an award for research to be carried out on a subject related to Herculaneum in 2013-2014. The award of 1,000 is intended to support travel to and time spent at the archaeological site of Herculaneum, Italy, and is open to students registered on a post-graduate university programme. Deadline 31st October 2013. 

For further information and to apply click on the following link:

Il Centro Herculaneum (www.herculaneumcentre.org) grazie al generoso contributo della Friends of Herculaneum Society (www.herculaneum.ox.ac.uk ) offre nuovamente, dopo il successo degli ultimi anni, una borsa di studio per una ricerca inerente al sito archeologico di Herculaneum da svolgersi nel corso del 2013-2014.  La borsa di 1,000 sterline è pensata per coprire le spese di viaggio e di alloggio per il tempo trascorso agli Scavi di Ercolano ed è aperta a studenti di programmi universitari post-laurea.  Scadenza 31 ottobre 2013

Per ulteriori informazioni e per il modulo di domanda cliccare sul seguente link:

Out now: Journal of Roman Archaeology 2013

JRA 2013 is out now and contains the following Pompeii-related material:

M. Flohr The textile economy of Pompeii 53

N. Monteix The apple of discord: fleece-washing in Pompeii’s textile economy. A response to M. Flohr 79

and, as reviews,

S. J. R. Ellis, The shops and workshops of Herculaneum

A. Wallace-Hadrill, Trying to define and identify the Roman "middle classes"

T. A. J. McGinn, Sorting out prostitution in Pompeii: the material remains, terminology and the legal sources

Y. Perrin, L'écrit au quotidien dans le monde romain

For more information, see http://www.journalofromanarch.com/index.html