Seen on various lists but I think Tony Keen may have mentioned this one to me personally as well:

Swords, Sorcery, Sandals and Space: The Fantastika and the Classical World. A Science Fiction Foundation Conference

29 June – 1 July 2013

At The Foresight Centre, University of Liverpool

Guests of Honour/Plenary Speakers: Edith Hall, Nick Lowe, and Catherynne M. Valente

Website:

http://www.sf-foundation.org/events/index.html

Call for papers

The culture of the Classical world continues to shape that of the modern West. Those studying the Fantastika (science fiction, fantasy and horror) know that it has its roots in the literature of the Graeco-Roman world (Homer’s Odyssey, Lucian’s True History). At the same time, scholars of Classical Reception are increasingly investigating all aspects of popular culture, and have begun looking at science fiction. However, scholars of the one are not often enough in contact with scholars of the other. This conference aims to bridge the divide, and provide a forum in which SF and Classical Reception scholars can meet and exchange ideas.

We invite proposals for papers (20 minutes plus discussion) or themed panels of three or four papers from a wide range of disciplines (including Science Fiction, Classical Reception and Literature), from academics, students, fans, and anyone else interested, on any aspect of the interaction between the Classical world of Greece and Rome and science fiction, fantasy and horror. We are looking for papers on Classical elements in modern (post-1800) examples of the Fantastika, and on science fictional or fantastic elements in Classical literature. We are particularly interested in papers addressing literary science fiction or fantasy, where we feel investigations of the interaction with the ancient world are relatively rare. But we also welcome papers on film, television, radio, comics, games, or fan culture.

Please send proposals to conferences AT sf-foundation.org, to arrive by 30 September 2012. Paper proposals should be no more than 300 words. Themed panels should also include an introduction to the panel, of no more than 300 words. Please include the name of the author/panel convener, and contact details.

Swords, Sorcery, Sandals and Space is organised by the Science Fiction Foundation, with the co- operation of the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool.

I thought we had blogged this before and bewailed the lack of a photo of the mosaic … if so, I can’t find it in my pre-coffee haze. Whatever the case, Focus-Fen has an interview with Dimitar Yankov on the mosaic:

Focus: Mr Yankov, the mosaic you discovered – what had it been part of, what building?

Dimitar Yankov: We are still in the field of hypothesis here, but on the basis of the image on the mosaic’s insignia we can speak about a private building or a temple to Dionysius. It is still to be interpreted, though. The insignia is still not fully uncovered, but what has been uncovered by now speaks of a scene connected to a procession by the retinue of Dionysus – one of the most worshiped Thracian deities. What we have so far seen from it is a figure of a satyr and two dancing maenads behind it. The image is really elegant and the figures on the insignia are well-preserved. This is only hypothetically a Dionysus temple, since we do not know what temples in the actual cities looked like back at the time. The information on a Dionysus temple in the Rhodope Mountains which both media and scholars have been mentioning a lot lately is one thing, but we have no idea what city temples looked like. What we have is preliminary data which leads us to thinking the building might have been a temple.

Focus: What century do you think that the mosaic originates from?

Dimitar Yankov: It dates from 3rd century, i.e. it is Roman and coincides with the time of the prosperity of Augusta Traiana.

Focus: What are the predominant techniques of workmanship of the mosaic?

Dimitar Yankov: It is made from small stone cubes with the opus tessellatum technique, but glass smalt has also been used for the finer parts of the figures – the chaplets of the two dancing maenads are tied with such glass cubes, which have a shiny colour, along the hands and the girdles of the chiton of the two dancing maenads are also tied with such smalt cubes. The mosaic is multi-coloured and more than 5 shades of red have been used, around 5-6 shades of blue-grey, as the red varies from pale pink to dark cerise. There is a certain vivacity of the figures of the dancers, a vivacity which springs from the figure of the satyr, who is leading the parade of these maenads, as well. We also have to point that the mosaic is very clear – there are no figures of animals, which are usually accompanying this plot – the retinue of Dionysus.

Focus: Have any such mosaics been discovered in the past?

Dimitar Yankov: This is the first mosaic of this type, not only in Bulgaria, but on the entire territory of the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. There is no exact analogue to this mosaic, and I am convinced that this is the only one discovered so far. It is the first of its kind in Bulgaria – that is 100% certain. The mosaic is a wonderful masterpiece of the Roman mosaic art in our lands.

Focus: What is the meaning of the mosaic and do you have any hopes that when you continue the excavations you will find something as valuable, or even more valuable than it?

Dimitar Yankov: The remaining part of the emblem of the mosaic must have Dionysus on it, as this is a compulsory figure in the retinue, and there will probably be one more figure from the emblem of the mosaic. This is at least what our expectations are. I am now sure whether we will manage to excavate this part of the mosaic, which is to the north. We have an issue with the adjacent land, where the owners have investment plans – it is difficult to dig as the mound is too big. For now I cannot say whether we will be able to discover the remaining part of the emblem of the mosaic. I hope that we will be able to. In the next 3 or 4 days things will be much clearer.

Focus: Where will the mosaic be stored after its restoration and will it be accessible to the general public?

Dimitar Yankov: The mosaic will be disassembled first. It needs conservation, as it cannot be left like this during the winter. After the conservation and restoration, which will be more a certain fortification of the mosaic with a new basis, it will be exhibited in the new museum building. We have such opportunities, and we are even considering exhibiting it in one of the halls of our current museum. The conservation and restoration process, however will cost a lot of money, and I hope that after the local elections the municipality will manage to find sufficient amount of money for that, and I also hope that local representatives of the business will contribute with donations.
I would like to add that the mosaic is unique not only for the history of our city, but also for the art history on Bulgarian lands in general and in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. There will probably be many discussions about the character of the building, as we are unable to make a thorough research of the complex in which the mosaic was included. This however could be done by next generations.

• via: Archaeologist Dimitar Yankov: The newly-discovered mosaic of Augusta Traiana (Focus-Fen

Here’s a small photo — hmmm … maybe it’s not so small after all —  that accompanies the original article; a larger one is available at the original site:

Dr Greene is the new Roman Archaeology prof at Western … from the Western News:

Elizabeth Greene has spent the best part of the last decade in the hills of northern England playing in the dirt. And she can’t think of a better way to earn a living.

“It’s just cool and fun digging in the dirt. It’s the best,” says Western’s new professor in Roman archaeology (Department of Classical Studies). “I can make mud patties in the summer when I’m bored.”

While likened as the female Indiana Jones, don’t be fooled by Greene’s easygoing demeanor. Beneath, the Boston-born Greene exudes a genuine excitement in unearthing key evidence surrounding the notion families were an important part of the social structure of military settlements in the Roman west.

Located in the hills of Northumberland, Great Britain – between the modern cities of Newcastle and Carlisle – Greene has been supervising excavations at Vindolanda, which lies just south of Hadrian’s Wall. The site, situated on the original Roman frontier line of the Stanegate Road, dates to the last quarter of the first century AD.

Hadrian’s Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain begun in AD 122, during the rule of Emperor Hadrian. It was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain; the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.

Countless excavated objects tell a remarkable story of a place generations of soldiers and their families called home. More than 4,000 pairs of leather shoes, many belonging to women and children, along with Roman writing tablets outlining these family relationships, have been located.

“There was a Roman military fort, and then right next to it was the settlement that was just outside of it. That was all encompassing the Roman military community,” says Greene, who earned her PhD from the University of North Carolina before coming to Western.

Thanks to anaerobic preservation on the site (meaning no oxygen gets into the soil and, therefore, no bacteria grows) little breakdown has occurred. What’s left are with tonnes of whole bone, leather, textiles and wood products.

Greene’s dissertation, Women and families in auxiliary military communities of the Roman West in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, argues families were an important part of the social structure of military settlements in the Roman west, not only later in the second and third centuries – as is the current understanding – but from the earliest periods of military occupation.

“Evidence of women and children in the earliest period of occupation, right when the Roman military is conquering and settling a new provincial region, suggests that despite popular belief women and children were travelling with military; living in temporary settlements right from the beginning to the end,” she says.

The movement of soldiers and their families by way of Roman military service is an interesting lens onto cultural change in the Roman Empire. Greene’s research, combining archaeological evidence, documentary and literary sources, illuminates the social history of the Roman world and the lives of ordinary people in Rome, Italy and the provinces.

After supervising excavations at Vindolanda for the past decade, Greene will now co-direct the Vindolanda Field School. Beginning next year, the field school runs for five weeks during the summer with a set program of daily excavation and weekly field trips.

“It’s cutting edge,” Greene says. “It’s a site with the opportunity to handle some pretty unique archeological material. The thing with archeology is you never know what’s around the next shovel.”

She admits the feeling the first time she found a leather shoe was “so incredible you can’t even believe it.” She looks forward to being a part of her student’s exciting discoveries.

The field school will explore a different area of the site, one previously unexcavated. “We think we have out there some very early forts, and hoping to find footwear in those instances as well,” she says.

While sharing a passion for teaching and research, Greene admits the love of learning – in particular her love of archeology – keeps here motivated.

“You learn at your maximum potential when you admit to yourself that you don’t know everything,” she says.

• via: Uncovering family ties across the ages (Western News)

Things that caught my eye last evening:

• Women banned from the Olympic Games! – Katherine Roberts October 6, 2011 Katherine Roberts
• Alexandria (by Lindsey Davis) (audio book) October 6, 2011  (Juliette)
• Get Sparked by the Humanities October 6, 2011 April DeConick
• Ex Symes Pieces at Auction October 6, 2011 Dorothy King
• Tatiana Warsher and the Codex Topographicus Pompeianus October 6, 2011 acxsecb@nottingham.ac.uk (Sera Baker)
• Constructing Latin Sentences 3 October 6, 2011 admin
• Levin-Richardson on Graffiti in Pompeii’s ‘Purpose-Built’ Brothel October 6, 2011  (Francesca Tronchin)
• Who Said It? October 6, 2011 (N.S. Gill)
• Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey, with muezzin (by… October 6, 2011 
• Christie’s results October 6, 2011 David Gill
• 5th Roman Bioarchaeology Carnival October 6, 2011 Kristina Killgrove

From Focus-Fen:

Police in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki have seized “priceless” antiquities of “major archaeological value”, arresting two suspects, officials said late on Thursday.
Officers recovered more than 70 items dating to the late 6th century BC, include four helmets, gold funerary masks, a glass perfume vial, clay idols, metal vessels, pieces of a gold diadem and an iron sword decorated with gold leaf, culture ministry officials said.
No details were given on their provenance, but such items usually accompanied the burials of ancient Greek aristocrats or royalty.
The finds were taken to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens on Thursday for inspection by Prime Minister George Papandreou, who called the operation a “great success.”
“We have an ongoing project to protect our cultural heritage and reclaim lost treasures,” said Citizen’s Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis.

‘Priceless’ antiquities seized from smugglers in Greece (Focus-Fen)

… starting to think that Thessaloniki might be a hub for smuggling in Greece …