2008

In this contribution I will first enter upon Roman household furniture and espe- cially the preservation of wooden furniture and its specific use in everyday life. In the second part, as a case study, I will treat the sources we have at our disposal about Roman banquets (convivia) and the rooms in which they took place. The interior decoration and the furniture used will be discussed, as well as the etiquette that hadto be observed during dining and drinking.

Welcoming remarks 9:15-9:30 Dimitris LIAKOS Τhe study of woodcarving from the 11 th to the 16 th centuries in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean. A brief overview 1st SESSION-BΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΕ WOODWORK: CASE STUDIES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS Chair: Pagona PAPADOPOULOU 9.30-9.50 Nikolaos SIOMKOS The relief icon of St. George in Kiev revisited 9:50-10.10 Yiannis VARALIS Wooden artifacts with inlaid ivory and bone of the byzantine period 10.10-10.30 Ioannis SISIOU Late byzantine wooden artifacts from Kastoria 10.30-10.50 Varvara PAPADOPOULOU The byzantine wooden artifacts from Epiros 10.50-11.10 Μanuel CASTIÑEIRAS Byzantine wooden thrones and devices for icon display: some intriguing issues concerning the Kahn Madonna 11.10-11.30 Paschalis ANDROUDIS Late byzantine wooden doors from the Church of Panaghia Chrysafitissa and the Hermitage of Prodromos at Vassaras (Laconia, Peloponnese). A comparative case study 11.30-12.00 Questions-Discussion 12.00-12.10 Break 2nd SESSION-WOODWORK FROM THE LATIN WEST: NARRATIVES OF ORNAMENT AND INTERCULTURALISM Chair: Μanuel CASTIÑEIRAS 12.10-12.30 Lev Arie KAPITAIKIN Woodcarvers and Mosaicists: Ornament Synchronies between the Cappella Palatina and the Martorana in Palermo

Wood and Charcoal. Evidence for human and natural history. Saguntum Extra 13

This article discusses several timber structures, wooden objects and manufacturing waste recovered from settlements and specialist production sites during the Iron Age and the Roman period in northwest Iberia. These archaeobotanical remains were preserved directly by carbonization, waterlogging and occasionally mineralization, as well as indirectly by impressions on clay. The study of these artifacts and structures allows us to characterize forestry practice, technical process of woodworking (sequence of actions, techniques and gestures), household equipment and architecture.

Conference Presentation at the international HNA CONFERENCE GHENT 2018, 23 – 26 May

Significant amounts of wood materials have been uncovered in archaeological sites from the Roman Period in the Land of Israel. This work deals with wooden items that could be determined to be manufactured objects, or had traces of working on them. The catalogue of this study contains 532 objects, most of which were discovered in the Judaean Desert, the Negev or the Arava regions, where preservation conditions are better than in other areas of the Land of Israel. It is most likely that the same repertoire of items was used in other areas of the country, but did not survive.

SUPPLYING THE ROMAN EMPIRE LIMES XXV, 2024

Among the well-preserved wood finds from Weerdkampen (124-315 A.D.), a vicus located near the Limes at Valkenburg North-Holland, are two finds that really stand out: turned pieces of an oak and boxwood bed. Allthough the wood may be imported, the style of this furniture does not breathe ‘Rome’.

Evoking Roman architecture mostly brings to mind images of impressive temples and aqueducts, or luxurious villas. When technicians discuss about construction methods, they usually refer to the use of stone, bricks or concrete. They seldom talk about timber, especially about timber frameworks. One of the reasons for this omission is, surely, that this is a method whose material and bibliographic testimonies are almost nonexistent, and for that reason, we have rarely faced up to them. In the research that is being carried out we study the historical, technical, social and even the legal context where the Roman timber framing was developed, for understanding the complete situation. The conclusions of the works that we are invited to expound here are surprising. They highlight the relevance of such technique, with a reach that was at the moment completely unknown, but whose discovery opens new approaches for the knowledge of the Roman construction.

Antiquity, 2020