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Kelly, Amanda
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Kelly, Amanda
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Kelly, Amanda
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- PublicationThe Roman Baths of Mylopotamos: a distribution study.The eparchy of Mylopotamos is home to a cluster of Roman baths including examples at Eleutherna, Stavromenos, Chamalevri, Alpha and Plaka Kalis. Furthermore, Roman baths have also been identified at Sybritos and Vizari located south of the modern boundaries of the province, but are best understood as part of this larger regional concentration. This article examines this notable concentration of Roman baths through an appraisal of their common heating system. This heating system is characterised by the application of clay spacer pins to the main architectural walls of the bathhouse. These spacer pins secure a parallel screen wall, composed of a series of large flat tiles, which creates a cavity allowing for the circulation of hot air generated in the hypocaust of the bath. This heating system, incorporating the use of spacer pins, is not exclusively restricted to the Mylopotamos region but represents the characteristic Roman bathhouse heating system of the island of Crete. In the wider empire, spacer pins have been found in baths in North Africa, Israel, Cyprus, Rhodes, and Asia Minor, but not elsewhere. The dense distribution of this heating system across Crete contrasts starkly with its apparent rarity on mainland Greece (where a preference for spacer tubes and tubuli / box tiles is demonstrable). Wider imperial distribution of spacer pins supports direct connections and influence between Crete and Asia Minor (particularly in Lycia), and to a lesser extent, North Africa. There are clear economic benefits to the use of spacer pins in bathhouse heating systems as they could be produced quickly, efficiently and economically on a large scale in Crete. Their production is confirmed in many of the major sites of production of amphorae on the island, being securely identified at Chersonisos, Tsoutsouros, Dermatos and Gortyna.This coupling of the manufacture of spacer pins with amphora production sites establishes their manufacture on an intense island-wide scale during the 2nd and 3rd century BC, which also corresponds to a period of extensive construction of public baths across the island. The grouping in Mylopotamos represents the densest inland bathhouse concentration on the island, and, since a public bath, no matter how small, was necessary for civic esteem in the Roman period, as it was in such visible terms that rival cities measured their status, their presence intimates that this inland area was particularly attractive for urban development. By the 3rd century AD these major sites had grown to such a size whereby they could generate small satellite settlements within their hinterlands (as possibly represented by the baths of Vizari and Alpha). This dynamic is a testimony to the success of the Roman urban pattern in Crete, which not only created urban structures but also transformed rural life, and establishes Eleutherna as one of the most dominant cities in Crete during the imperial period.
118 - PublicationOccide, verbera, ure! 'Kill him, Flog him, Burn him Alive!' (Seneca Epistles 7); The popularity, extent and duration of Roman Spectacula on CretePurpose-built amphitheatres, as an architectural type, have always been instantly recognisable as Roman. The amphitheatre represents an exclusively Roman architectural medium, serving as a vehicle for reinforcing Roman social order throughout provincial contexts and thereby affecting cultural transition.
216 - PublicationReview: F.K. Yegül Bathing in the Roman World (2010) Cambridge: Cambridge University PressIn his preface Fikret Yegül describes his book as a general, yet generous, review of bathing in the Roman world. His fnished product, however, exceeds all such stated parameters in terms of breadth of material, chronological span and sophistication of analysis. From the outset Y. launches into an energetic, informative, and clearly indulgent, social exploration of the habit of Roman bathing; a ritual which was, by nature, integrally harnessed to the architectural framework of the bathhouse.
300 - PublicationKouphonisi (Greece): a briefly vibrant Roman harbourage between Crete and AfricaThis paper explores the dynamics leading to the establishment of a relatively prosperous Roman settlement on the islet of Kouphonisi in Crete. The settlement was clearly comparatively wealthy, judging from the range of its public buildings (including a bathhouse, theatre, aqueducts and cistern complexes) and the opulent decor of its private residences. What conditions generated such favourable economic circumstances for the inhabitants of this tiny arid islet lying in the Libyan Sea three miles off the southeastern tip of Crete? The location of the islet, which today seems remote and far-removed, is appraised in the context of its seasonal sea currents and favourable winds which facilitated its navigational connectivity with Roman markets operating in the wider Mediterranean. Already in the Hellenistic period, the islet's strategic importance was keenly recognised by the competitive cities of eastern Crete who vied for its control. However, these serendipitous circumstances, and the site's sustainability, were short lived. The settlement's economic boom (born of its strategic position along the wider sailing routes of the Mediterranean) ended abruptly and permanently in the late 4th century AD. Finally, the paper examines the possible nature of the drastic forces which may have been responsible for the settlement's abandonment, thereby signalling the beginning of a process of desertification which persists today.
449 - PublicationDistributions of Cretan Aqueducts; a window onto RomanisationImages of the magnificent and solid Pont du Gard, the grandeur of the Segovian aqueduct juxtaposed against its modern urban setting, or the mirage-like aqueduct approaching Carthage are usually invoked when one thinks of a Roman aqueduct. Unfortunately, and somewhat surprisingly, the Roman aqueducts of Crete are rarely evoked in such terms, if ever evoked at all.
66 - PublicationGiuseppe Gerola's Strange Cretan BagniIn his seminal work I Monumenti Veneti Dell'Isola di Creta (parte IV Opere Idrauliche), Giuseppe Gerola supplied a two-page report on five structures he considered being possible bagni. La Rosa and Portale's more recent work on an Early Byzantine bath near the church of Aghios Pavlos, on the outskirts of the village of Aghios Ioannis, near Phaestos confirmed the existence of one of Gerola's bagni (which he had located «presso la chiesa di S. Paulo a S. Giovanni Priotissa»), thereby lending credence and weight to Gerola's overall report. On the basis of these findings I decided to locate, and photograph, the remaining structures mentioned by Gerola and was granted kind permission to do so through the auspices of the 13th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, conducting fieldwork in June 2013. While all four sites (which have not been cited by any scholar since Gerola) were recorded in the field and are presented here, the compact Early Byzantine bath at Aghios Giorgios Koulourida at Phournopharango proved to be of particular importance with standing elevations surviving in the field to a height of 2m.
127 - PublicationFinal Report: Archaeological Excavations at Grange 2, M3 Clonee North of Kells motorway schemeThis is a final report of an archaeological excavation at Grange 2 which was located on the route of the M3 Navan–Kells & Kells Bypass (Archaeological Services Contract 4) of the M3 Clonee–North of Kells Motorway Scheme, County Meath. The excavation was carried out by Dr. Amanda Kelly of Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd on behalf of Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority. The work was carried out under Ministerial Direction No. A029/006 and National Monuments Service (NMS) Excavation Registration No. E3124 which were received from the DoEHLG in consultation with the National Museum of Ireland. The fieldwork took place between 16 June 2006 – 14 July 2006. A total area of 805m2 was opened around Grange 2 to reveal the archaeological features that were identified at the site during archaeological testing under licence 04E0925. This site is closely linked with the adjacent site of Grange 3 (Kelly 2010a) and together they create a picture of continuous activity from the middle Bronze Age through to the early medieval period (Figure 7). The excavated remains from this site and the other sites in Grange indicate that this area was the focus of activity over a prolonged period and it is probable that the place held some significance that resulted in it being revisited repeatedly.
371 - PublicationRoman Bathhouses on Crete as Indicators of Cultural Transition: The Dynamics of Roman InfluenceThe grafting of Roman mores onto local identities is a complex issue and gaps in the archaeological record u ltimately result in misleading and biased deductions. The wide variety of models for Roman integration unde rscores gradations of responsiveness and exposes subtle undulations of Romanization throughout the Empire whereby Roman presence can resonate with almost unconscious societal change, establishing patterns of minimal influence.
485 - PublicationReview: J. Knight 'South Wales, From the Romans to the Normans; Christianity, Literacy and Lordship' (2013) Gloucestershire: Amberley PublishingJeremy Knight’s book is an impressive exercise in efficacious brevity tracing the challenging historic narrative of south Wales from the mid-third century A.D. through to the Anglo-Norman period. The sheer wealth of evidence presented and the impressive range of disciplines considered inform this wonderfully rich account of the region’s development. The study draws on material from the fields of archaeology (both artefact and landscape), history (availing of epigraphic and manuscript material) and the onomastic, toponymic and hagiographic traditions.
91 - PublicationFinal Report: Archaeological Excavations at Grange 5, M3 Clonee North of Kells Motorway SchemeThis is a final report of an archaeological excavation at Grange 5 which was located on the route of the M3 Navan–Kells & Kells Bypass (Archaeological Services Contract 4) of the M3 Clonee–North of Kells Motorway Scheme, County Meath. The excavation was carried out by Amanda Kelly of Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd on behalf of Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority. The work was carried out under Ministerial Direction No. A029/003 and National Monuments Service (NMS) Excavation Registration No. E3121 which were received from the DoEHLG in consultation with the National Museum of Ireland. The fieldwork took place between 16 – 27 November 2006. A total area of 850m2 was opened around Grange 5 to reveal the archaeological features that were identified at the site during archaeological testing under licence 04E0925. Five pits, two possible postholes and two curvilinear ditches were identified at Grange 5. One of the pits was dated to the early Bronze Age but appeared to be in isolation. Two of the pits had charcoal rich fills with scorched/burnt bases and contained large quantities of charred plant remains including barley, oat and rye. A date in the Iron Age/early medieval period was established for one of these features and these have been interpreted as cereal-drying pits/features. The two curvilinear ditches were undated but respected the features outlined above
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