Cyprus-Forum.com

by **yialousa1971** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 11:30 pm

Complex history of the olive tree

Proc. R. Soc. B 7 April 2013 vol. 280 no. 1756
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2833

The complex history of the olive tree: from Late Quaternary diversification of Mediterranean lineages to primary domestication in the northern Levant

G. Besnard et al.

The location and timing of domestication of the olive tree, a key crop in Early Mediterranean societies, remain hotly debated. Here, we unravel the history of wild olives (oleasters), and then infer the primary origins of the domesticated olive. Phylogeography and Bayesian molecular dating analyses based on plastid genome profiling of 1263 oleasters and 534 cultivated genotypes reveal three main lineages of pre-Quaternary origin. Regional hotspots of plastid diversity, species distribution modelling and macrofossils support the existence of three long-term refugia; namely the Near East (including Cyprus), the Aegean area and the Strait of Gibraltar. These ancestral wild gene pools have provided the essential foundations for cultivated olive breeding. Comparison of the geographical pattern of plastid diversity between wild and cultivated olives indicates the cradle of first domestication in the northern Levant followed by dispersals across the Mediterranean basin in parallel with the expansion of civilizations and human exchanges in this part of the world.
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ ... 3.abstract

by **supporttheunderdog** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 11:37 am

Alice Kober: Unsung heroine who helped decode Linear B

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22782620

Linear B is an ancient European Bronze Age script, dating back 3,500 years. When a British architect finally cracked it in the 1950s, he was hailed as a genius - but he may never have succeeded had it not been for a woman on the other side of the Atlantic.

In 1952, a young British architect, Michael Ventris, did discover the meaning of Linear B.

Ventris was the very model of a solitary, tortured genius - so much so that the deciphering of Linear B has often been portrayed as his accomplishment alone. But some experts now argue that Ventris would never have been able to crack the code, had it not been for an American classicist, Alice Kober.

The palace at Knossos was excavated by British archaeologist Arthur Evans (above) in 1900 - it's bigger than Buckingham Palace. He discovered thousands of clay tablets inscribed with an unknown script - he called it The importance of her contribution has only come to light now that her archives - held at the University of Texas at Austin - have been catalogued.

"Alice Kober is the great unsung heroine of the Linear B decipherment," says Fox.

"She built the methodological bridge that Ventris triumphantly crossed.

Greek had been ruled out by scholars at the time. The predominant theory was that the script documented a form of Etruscan - an ancient civilisation of Italy - but there were more wacky theories too, including that it might be a type of Polynesian or Basque.

Linear B, it turned out, was - after all - a form of ancient Greek, which had been taken to Crete by invaders from the mainland.

The Greeks themselves did not develop an alphabet until centuries later, but at Knossos their language was written down for the first time, using an ancient script indigenous to the island.

Indeed there is also another - even older - Cretan writing system, some of which was also found at Knossos.

It's called Linear A.
But there's very little of it - too little to allow a decipherment.

So far.

by **yialousa1971** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 11:09 pm

Ancient City Revealed in Larnaca

A part of the city dated back to the 16th-Century B.C., located close to the international airport of Larnaca, was brought to light by the excavations of Gothenburg University of Sweden.

According to the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus the city was destroyed and abandoned without being inhabited again. So far only a small part of it has been excavated.

The excavations revealed ,among others, items such as pottery and bronze objects. Several pots imported from the eastern Mediterranean have been as well found.

Moreover, near the site a room which contained large vases full of Murex shells that were used as a source of purple dye,was also discovered.

According to the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, in antiquity copper was exported from the island in northwest Greece as well as the current Western Europe, the eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia and Egypt.

The high standard of living for Cypriots during Bronze Age was not only due to copper but also to exports of high quality Cypriot pottery and purple fabrics. Cypriots imported gold, silver, lead and artwork mainly from Greece, Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean. There is also evidence for import in Cyprus of salted fish from the Nile in Egypt.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/07 ... n-larnaca/

by **yialousa1971** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 11:57 pm

Europe’s Oldest Script In Messenia
Michael Cosmopoulos, Professor of Archaeology and Chair of Greek Studies, University of Missouri-St. Louis, returns to the historic village of Iklaina where with his excavation he brought to light, in the summer of 2010, the oldest written text of Europe on a tablet made of clay.

Iklaina is located in the municipal unit of Pylos, Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Important archaeological remains of the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600-1100 BC) period were discovered in Iknlaina through excavations and surface survey by the Athens Archaeological Society and the University of Missouri–St. Louis under Cosmopoulos’s direction.

The finds include an early Mycenaean palace, giant terrace walls, murals, an advanced drainage system, and a clay tablet from between 1450 and 1350 BC featuring an early example of Linear B writing. Other periods represented are the Late Classical and the Byzantine.

Currently, Cosmopoulos directs three major field projects in Greece: the Eleusis Archaeological Project, which studies the origins of ancient Greek mystery cults; the Iklaina Archaeological Project, which investigates the origins of federalism in ancient Greece; and the Oropos Survey Project, which explores the rural history of ancient Greek city-states.

For his research accomplishments he has been awarded the Canada Rh Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship and Research in the Humanities.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/07 ... -messenia/

by **GreekIslandGirl** » Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:12 am

Still love my 700 year old Olive tree in Polis.

by **yialousa1971** » Fri Aug 23, 2013 6:28 pm

Archaeology: largest Hellenistic mosaic found in Calabria

The 'room of dragons and dolphins'
23 July, 12:24

(ANSAmed) - MONASTERACE (REGGIO CALABRIA) - The largest and most articulated Hellenistic mosaic from Magna Grecia has been found in Monasterace Marina, ancient Kaulonia, in the southern Italian region of Calabria.

Last year mosaics depicting a dragon and dolphin were found here. The others found this year represent a small dolphin, a new dragon and a large dolphin fighting the dragon discovered last year.

The area has been called 'the room of dragons and doplhins' and the finding confirms the presence of one of the largest Hellenistic mosaics from Magna Grecia over a surface of about 30 square metres. The mosaic dates back between the end of the IV and the first decades of the III century BC. Archaeologist Francesco Cuteri is coordinating the work with the participation of Italian university students and students with the college of Bahia Blanca, Argentina, under the direction of Maria Teresa Iannelli, archaeological superintendent of Calabria (ANSAmed).
© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved

http://ansamed.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/ ... ?idPhoto=1

by **Get Real!** » Fri Aug 23, 2013 6:31 pm

Yeah, ancient mosaics are very nice aren’t they Yialoser?

“Crews Uncover Massive Roman Mosaic in Southern Turkey”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 083903.htm