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Although the Hellenistic period has become increasingly popular in research and teaching in recent years, the western Mediterranean is rarely considered part of the 'Hellenistic world'; instead the cities, peoples and kingdoms of the West are usually only discussed insofar as they relate to Rome. This book contends that the rift between the 'Greek East' and the 'Roman West' is more a product of the traditional separation of Roman and Greek history than a reflection of the Hellenistic-period Mediterranean, which was a strongly interconnected cultural and economic zone, with the rising Roman republic just one among many powers in the region, east and west. The contributors argue for a dynamic reading of the economy, politics and history of the central and western Mediterranean beyond Rome, and in doing so problematise the concepts of 'East', 'West' and 'Hellenistic' itself.

The discovery and the study of a rock-cut chamber tomb located in the Arco (Noto, Syracuse), allowed the elaboration of this paper whose main purpose was to contextualize and analyze the monument from an architectural and typological point of view. The tomb can be part of the archaic and late archaic Greek’s aristocratic sepulchral types, already attested in Sicily. These would refer to models borrowed from the indigenous world. A Greek inscription, placed above the access door of the burial chamber, is also interesting. The careful study of the inscription, within the topographic analysis of the site, made it possible to update the funerary panorama of the local communities of south-eastern Sicily, offered new data in order to better contextualize this area and allowed to furnish proof about relations between Greeks and indigenous people.

Research into the Iron Age of Anatolia has seldom paid sufficient attention to settlement patterns and the social organization of space. The Anabasis by Xenophon records the observations of a Greek outsider who travelled across eastern Anatolia and along the Black Sea coast in 400 bce, a time that was relatively early in the colonial process in this area. Xenophon's observations are used to establish a basic model for settlement in the Black Sea coastal region of Anatolia, which is then tested against the results of recent archaeological surveys and related research on the Sinop promontory. A fuller and richer model of indigenous Iron Age settlement and colonial engagement on the Sinop promontory is developed and considered in light of recent research on colonization in the western Mediterranean and northern Black Sea regions. Les études concernant l’âge du Fer en Anatolie ont rarement prêté suffisamment d'attention aux habitats et à l'organisation sociale de l'espace habité. L'Anabase de Xénophon contient le récit du périple d'un Grec en Anatolie orientale et le long de la côte de la Mer Noire en 400 av. J.-C., donc relativement tôt dans le processus de colonisation de cette région. On utilisera ses observations pour établir un modèle de base concernant l'habitat dans la zone côtière de la Mer Noire en Anatolie, que l'on comparera ensuite avec les résultats de prospections archéologiques récentes et de projets de recherche connexes sur la péninsule de Sinope. On proposera un modèle plus fourni des habitats de l’âge du Fer et des rapports entre colons et indigènes dans cette région, compte tenu des études récentes sur le phénomène de colonisation en Méditerranée occidentale et dans les régions septentrionales de la mer Noire. Translation by Madeleine Hummler Die Siedlungsstruktur und die räumliche Organisation der Gesellschaft haben oft ungenügend Beachtung in der Forschung der Eisenzeit in Anatolien gefunden. Xenophons Anabasis enthält die Beobachtungen eines griechischen Außenseiters, der um 400 v. Chr. in Ostanatolien und entlang der Küste des Schwarzen Meeres reiste, also relativ früh in der Kolonisierung der Gegend. Seine Beobachtungen dienen hier zum Aufbau eines Grundmodells der Besiedlung an der anatolischen Schwarzmeerküste, das dann mit den Ergebnissen von neueren archäologischen Prospektionen und damit verbundenen Forschungen auf der Halbinsel von Sinop verglichen wird. Es ergibt sich eine reichere Modellierung der einheimischen eisenzeitlichen Siedlungen und der Beziehungen zwischen Kolonisten und Kolonisierten in dieser Gegend, die man mit neueren Forschungen im westlichen Mittelmeerraum und in den nördlichen Schwarzmeerbereichen vergleichen kann. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Los grupos humanos que ocuparon el entorno del paleoestuario emporitano durante la Edad del Hierro han sido tradicionalmente marginalizados y convertidos en actores históricos pasivos. El énfasis en su papel como proveedores también ha llevado a que la investigación arqueológica se centre demasiado en sus cultivos y en la forma en que almacenaban los excedentes alimentarios. Combinando diferentes métodos de análisis arqueológico, una serie de actuaciones realizadas en extensas áreas de Muntanya Rodona, Vilanera y Les Corts han aportado nuevas evidencias que permiten dibujar una imagen más rica y compleja sobre las dinámicas que experimentaron los paisajes rurales situados en el entorno de Emporion a lo largo del I milenio a.C. Los datos obtenidos sugieren algunas hipótesis que, aunque son preliminares, permiten ir más allá de la visión excesivamente simplista centrada en los conceptos de chora y jerarquía territorial que, tradicionalmente, han configurado la percepción de los análisis de estos contextos. Este trabajo también analiza los procesos de transformación que tuvieron lugar en esta zona desde una perspectiva de larga duración, examinando así los cambios y pervivencias que influyeron en las estrategias de ocupación y explotación que implementaron diversos grupos humanos establecidos en esta zona.

This paper discusses the distribution of archaeobotanical remains of Olea europaea (olive) across space and through time in mainland Greece and the Aegean from Neolithic to Hellenistic times (7th millennium-1st century BC) in order to explore the history of olive use in the study area. Olive stones and olive charcoal retrieved from prehistoric and historic sites on mainland Greece and the islands offer the basis for a discussion of the context and processes involved in the introduction of olive cultivation to the study area. The olive was nearly absent for most of the Neolithic and only appears in the southern parts of mainland Greece and the islands towards the end of the period. From the Early Bronze Age onwards it becomes increasingly visible in the archaeobotanical record. A possible cause for the introduction and increased presence of the olive during the Bronze Age could have been for oil production for elite use and trade. From the Bronze Age palaces of the 2nd millennium BC to the Hellenistic kingdoms towards the end of the 1st millennium BC, the olive thrived and was introduced northwards to new terrain, more marginal for olive growing than the warm lands of southern Greece. This introduction of olives to the northern Aegean region could be attributed to Greek colonisation and the increase in later times to a gradually increasing need for olive oil, perhaps associated with the emergence of new lifestyles, such as training in gymnasia.

The archaeological excavations on ancient archaeological sites of North-western coast of the Black Sea have brought a great number of finds of black-gloss pottery. For pottery examples dated on the Archaic and Classical periods, these are mainly vessels manufactured in Athens. In contrast, artefacts from the Hellenistic period represent a wide spectrum of imports from various centres of production. At the current stage of research, many production centres have not yet been recognized. However the dynamically developing studies in this area allowed to recognised a several centres of production such as Pergamon, Knidos, Thasos workshops as well as the Asia Minor group. These groups of pottery were recognised among archaeological finds from the north-western Black Sea territory. Considering the black-gloss pottery from that region the appearance of the Campana ware is very interesting and suggests a wide range of long distance distribution of tableware in the Hellenistic period.

The Greek colonization of the Black Sea resulted in the creation of many new settlement points placed on the entire coastline of the sea basin. One of the aspects to be recognized, both when studying the beginnings of Greek colonization in the Black Sea and in relation to the later development of the Pontic poleis, are the palaeoenvironmental conditions. It is beyond discussion that certain aspects of the natural environment, such as the topography and coastal features, influenced the choice of colonization directions, the place where the colonies were established and the development of the settlement network supporting new poleis (chora). Recognition of the palaeoenvironmental features is also significant for studying contemporary archaeological sites, influencing their characteristics created by researchers excavating particular Greek centres. The reconstruction of the northern Black Sea paleoenvironment during the Greek colonization was determined by the hypothesis of sea level fluctuation, covering the entire Black Sea basin, as part of Phanagorian Regression and Nymphaeum Transgression. These processes were to reduce sea waters in the range from 2 to 15 m below the present level of the sea and then raise them again (ca 2-3 m). However, the new research and methodology proposed in the last decade undermine the validity of such a broad approach to paleo-natural phenomena, which allegedly covered the entire Black Sea coast. The results obtained for selected areas on the eastern and western parts of the northern coast of the Black Sea call into question the theory of Phanagorian Regression. The article aims to present the problem of the reconstruction of the natural environment features of the Lower Dniester area during the formation and development of the Greek colonies in this area in the light of new achievements in the reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental features of the northern Black Sea coast.

Se propone un estudio histórico de los filósofos presocráticos como seres sociales. Para ello se cruza la información de dos catálogos bien conocidos: Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker de H. Diels y W. Kranz (8ª edición de 1956) y el Inventory of Arcaic and Classical Poleis dirigido por M.H. Hansen y T.H. Nielsen (2004). Los 106 filósofos del primer catálogo proceden de 40 de las 1035 ciudades examinadas en el segundo. Esta constatación se une al examen de las noticias biográficas sobre los filósofos y de las características de las ciudades donde viven. El retrato robot de la “ciudad con filósofos” señala el predominio de las ciudades coloniales, con territorios mayores, relaciones exteriores estables y una vida institucional rica y relativamente bien conocida. Estos aspectos inciden en su mayor complejidad social de la que los filósofos son un indicio añadido. Destaca, además, cómo las ideas filosóficas se difunden en buena medida por las redes que unen metrópolis y colonias y la escasa y tardía presencia de filósofos en Grecia continental.

   This paper presents the preliminary results of the Archaeological Project at Abdera and Xanthi (APAX), a systematic regional survey applying intensive pedestrian sample collection conducted in Greek Thrace. This new archaeological programme has investigated different landscape settings in the Xanthi area. Different collection strategies were developed to adapt to the conditions of visibility presented by the areas under study. The preliminary results of this research have provided quantitative and qualitative spatial data on the distribution of ancient activities, particularly for the Archaic and Classical. Moreover, they allowed a useful assessment of two cultural groups that were active in the same region during most of the 1st millennium BC, namely Greek colonists and indigenous Thracians.