First Congress of the Balkan Geophysical Society,Athens, Greece,
23-27 September 1996
The first Congress of the Balkan Geophysical Society
was the result of the efforts of the Geophysical Unions of the Balkan states
to establish a platform of communication and co-operation among the various
institutions that are involved in the area of geophysical research in the
wider Balkan region. The organizing committee was drawn from members of
the Hellenic Geophysical Union, which hosted the Congress at Zappeion Conference
Centre. The forum attracted a large number of scientists from all over
the world with main research interests in the area of the Balkans. About
25 companies were also present in the exhibition halls of the conference
centre. Among the variety of subjects, archaeological prospection was one
of the areas that attracted the interest of the participants, capturing
the status of research in this particular field of geophysical surveying.
The presentations included: Drahor, M. G., ìA Large Scale Geophysical Prospection
on the Acemhoyuk and Magnetic Research on the Amphorae Workshop Sites at
the Sinop Region-Turkeyî; Ercan, E., Baysal, H. & Yildiz, H., ìArchaeogeophysical
Investigations at Egmir Hellenistic Tomb; Denizli, Turkeyî; Ercan, A.,
Temizsoy, I. & Kaya, V., ìArchaeogeophysical Investigations of Kulhoyuk
Ancient Settlement Hill (Hittite and Hattie Periods), in Anatolia, Turkiyeî;
Georgiev, M., Stoev, D., Velkovski, K. & Georgieva, K., ìProspecting
of a Prehistoric Settlement Using Geophysical Methodsî; Kavaja, V., Nacuci,
I., Drini, F., Reci, H. & Vincani, F., ìSome Results of Geophysical
Prospecting in Archaeological Sites of Butrinti and Apolloniaî; Kovacheva,
M., ìGeomagnetic Palaeosecular Variations and Archaeologyî; Sarris, A.,
Tsokas, Gr., Vargemezis, G., Sideris, G, Tokmakidis, C., Avxhiu, R., ìGeophysical
Surveying and Photogrammetry at the Acropolis of Bouthrotos, S. Albaniaî;
Sayin, N., ìDetermination of Archaeological Sites in Menekse Gatagi Region
by Geophysical Methodsî; Spatharas, V., Jordanova, N. & Karloukovski,
V., ìMagnetic Anisotropy Studies on Greek Pottery and Bricksî; Tonkov,
N. H., ìGeophysical Prospecting of Thracian Funeral Tumuli in ìThe Valley
of Kingsî; Tsokas, Gr., Sarris, A., Tsourlos, P., Papazachos, C. &
Giannopoulos, A., ìAlarge Geophysical Survey in Makrygialos (Pieria), Greeceî;
Tsokas, Gr., Savvaidis, A. S., Stabolidis, A., Liritzis, Y. & Apostolou,
M. ìThe Location and Mapping of Ancient Ruins on the Castle of Lefkas (Greece)
by Resistivity and GPR Methodsî; Vafidis, A., Sarris, A., Oikonomou, N.
& Kalpaxis, A., ìGeophysical Survey in the Archaeological Site of Itanos,
Lasithi, Greeceî.
Third Symposium on Archaeometry of the G.S.A.,Athens, Greece, 6-10
November 1996 ;
The Greek Society for Archaeometry (G.S.A.) hold
its 3rd Symposium on Archaeometry in Athens, Greece. The organizing committee
was drawn from the Archaeometry Laboratory of the N.R.C.P.S. ìDemokritusî,
Ministry of Culture, Technical Educational Institute, Institute of Archaeology
of Crete and Thetis Hellas, Ltd. The oral presentations and posters covered
a wide range of subjects attracting more than 180 participants from 10
countries.
The conference included a session on the Dating
of Organic and Inorganic Materials covering the areas of Radiocarbon
Dating, Optical Dating and Thermoluminance. The involvement of physical
sciences in the study of the caves ìKalamakiaî Areopolis in Mani and Theopetra
in Thessaly, the prehistoric settlement of Archontiko in Giannitsa, the
port of Nestor and the wider area of Diros in Laconia was discussed in
the session entitled Paleoenvironment and Geoarchaeology. The first
day of the Symposium concluded with a session on Geophysical Prospection
that reflected the most current research in the Greek territory, including
the underwater survey in Eliki and Pylos, geoelectric tomography in Europos,
GPR surveys in Cyprus and Santorini and soil resistance and magnetic surveys
in Epanomi, Makrygialos and Panakton.
Characterization-Technology and Provenance Studies
was the main topic of the second day of the symposium. The 20 oral presentations
of this session were focused on the ancient marble quarries, the study
of glass materials, the archaeometric analysis of pottery and the technology
of wall paintings. The papers in the session reflected the results of the
analysis of finds from the wider Mediterranean region, including Aegean,
Balkans and Cyprus. A number of techniques (XRF, petrographic analysis,
X-ray Tube Imaging, Neutron activation, 3-D imaging, atomic absorption,
SEM, a.o.) used in the characterization and provenance studies was also
presented in the discussion of the corresponding studies. The oral presentations
in the session on Organic Residues Studies discussed the origin
of Iron Age amber artifacts from Bulgaria, the implication of paleo-odontologic
and trace mineral analysis in paleodiet, the usage of bone aminoacids,
the experimental carbonization of vineyard products and the importance
of conservation of organic residues. Archaeometallurgy was also one of
the topics that attracted a large number of participants. In the session
entitled Ancient Metals participants addressed a variety of topics
such as ancient quarries, silver vessels, post-Byzantine metallic threads,
coins, plasters, etc.
The thematic session of the conference was devoted to the Technology
and Trade of Lithic Materials and Metals in the Eastern Mediterranean during
Prehistory. The six presentations of the session covered an overview
of the provenance and trade of obsidian in Aegean, the exchange obsidian
models in Neolithic Thessaly, the raw materials used for the production
of polished lithic tools from Thrace, the chipped stone provenance from
Neolithic sites in Northern Greece, the acquisition and distribution of
copper and tin on mainland Greece in LBA and the Bronze Age woodworking
industry. The final day of the symposium was concluded with a session on
the Mathematical and Statistic Methods. In this session, talks addressed
specific topics such as the application of Markov Chain Monte Carlo methodologies
to archaeological classification problems, the qualitative analysis of
scenes on classical Attic gravestones, the Mycenean mathematics and the
ancient social accounting.
The poster session hosted 33 posters covering
the whole range of topics discussed in the oral sessions. In the closing
remarks of the symposium a few issues were stressed including the need
of controlled conditions in geophysical prospection surveys, the cultural
implications in the study of the production and exchange models and the
future of mathematical and statistical methods in archaeological research.
The symposium was concluded with a lecture at the Italian Archaeological
School of Athens by prof. F. Lombardi and Dr. M. Vidale on ìThe casting
cores of Large Bronze Statues: New evidence and research perspectivesî.
The abstracts of the symposium have been already
published with the support of the journal ìArchaiologia & Technesî
and the proceedings of the symposium are expected to be published in 1997.
Other Symposia
International Workshop ìElectric, Magnetic and Electromagnetic
Methods Applied to Cultural Heritageî, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 1997. Organizing
Secretariat: Centro Italiano Congressi cic sud, tel. 0039-80-5043737, fax.
0039-80-5043736, e-mail:cicsud@pangeanet.it.
Scientific Secretariat: Antonella Argentero, tel. 0039-6-90625274, fax.
0039-6-90672373, e-mail:argent@mlib.cnr.it
A WEB site on the Archaeology of Malta.
A new WEB site (http://www.tourism.org.mt/specials/archaeology)
has been established featuring the archaeology in Malta, while Archaeology
magazineís July/August issue focuses on the islandís cultural heritage.
The archaeological content of the site has been written by Anthony Bonnano,
Professor of Archaeology and Head of the Department of Classics and Archaeology
at the University of Malta. Visitors to the WEB site will find information
on the megalithic temples, Phoenician influence, Roman times, and even
the latest discoveries and archaeological campaigns.
Geometrics Acquires Blackhawk Geosciences
Blackhawk Geosciences, a geophysical service provider,
was acquired by Geometrics, manufacturer of geophysical instruments. Address:
395 Java Drive, PO Box 3497, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. Tel 408-734-4616; fax
408-745-6131.
About the Associate Editor
Dr. A. Sarris received his Ph.D. in Physics/Geophysics
at the University of Nebraska Lincoln (1992). He has been involved in archaeological
prospection and remote sensing for 10 years, working in the U.S.,
Greece, Cyprus and Albania on more than 30 projects. He is currently a
researcher at the Laboratory of Geophysical Satellite Remote Sensing at
the Institute of Mediterranean Studies, Foundation of Research & Technology.
He teaches Space Science and Satellite Remote Sensing at the National Airforce
Academy and has been a lecturer at the European Division of the University
of Maryland. Dr. A. Sarris is a member of the Society of Greek Physicists,
the Society of Greek Geophysicists, the European Geophysical Society and
the Geological Society of America.