Volume 7, Issue 1 September 2001

The Palace and Gardens of King more naturalistic character, like the Kasayapa at Sigiriya, Sri Lanka traditions of China and Japan. Of particular interest are the numerous garden pavilions During the late 5th century AD, Kasayapa, that stood along the central axis of the king of ancient Sri Lanka, commissioned his formal gardens, others that occupied special surveyors, architects, and gardeners to sites surrounded by moats, and the many design and construct a new luxurious seat small structures that perched on the for his government in a remote part of his numerous boulders in the upper gardens. island kingdom. The location was Sigiriya, The water gardens are the largest in the or ‘Lion Rock.’ world and will be traced through their many components: fountains, shallow reflection This site was briefly excavated by the pools, deeper bathing pools, and the cisterns British in the late 19th century as part of the and moats that were necessary to supply all Archaeological Survey of Ceylon and was these facilities. more recently excavated by the local department of antiquities in the 1950s. Dr. Robert L. Vann teaches in the School of Sigiriya is already famous in the history of Architecture at the University of Maryland. art as the location of one of the earliest His areas of specialty include the history of series of painted figures in South Asia. Greek and Roman architecture, ancient Kasayapa’s palace, located 600’ above the construction, and underwater archaeology. jungle canopy, is one of the earliest in Asia and the enormous figure of a lion, built against a sheer cliff on the north approach to the palace, coincides exactly with the accounts of ancient historians who described the path ascending to the summit as entering the mouth of the huge creature who gave the rock its name.

This lecture will present the results of several seasons of survey and excavation by a combined team including the University of Maryland in their attempts to uncover yet another unique aspect of Sigiriya - the water gardens. The organization includes landscapes of formal plan, very similar to the much later tradition of Mughul gardens of Iran and north India, as well as those of The ‘Lion Rock’ of Sigiriya

1 Letter From the President they occur: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ArchLab/AIA/ Greetings, and welcome back after what I hope was a productive but relaxing summer! The other major change is in the venue of I was able to enjoy my first Milwaukee AIA lectures on the UWM campus, which summer in several years, since the have been held for many years now in the Landscape of Ancestors in project Art History Department’s lecture hall in is currently in analysis rather than fieldwork Mitchell 195. This summer, the mode for a change. I finally have first-hand Anthropology Department moved into the knowledge of what kinds of things are newly renovated Sabin Hall, the last campus growing in our front flowerbed, and I had a building north of Mitchell on Downer chance to teach for the Irish Fest Summer Avenue. The main lecture hall there, Sabin School at UWM for the first time as well. I G90, should be better able to accommodate was also recently named co-director, with the occasionally SRO crowds we have had John Gleeson of UWM’s Ethnic Studies for some speakers. We will also be able to program, of the revitalized Center for Celtic hold the post-lecture reception on the second Studies at UWM. As the Center expands we floor in Anthropology Department space. In hope to bring speakers to campus that might order to minimize the confusion this change be persuaded to present lectures for the AIA will cause for some members, we will be Milwaukee Society. Check the Web site for holding the first two lectures of the fall information as it becomes available: season in Mitchell 195, and will announce http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ the new venue at those lectures. The fliers for the 2001-2002 lecture series will include There have been some major changes at a map identifying the location of Sabin Hall. both the local and national level for the AIA Subsequent lectures will be in Sabin G90 that I would like to share with old and new unless otherwise indicated. members alike. The less terrific news is that the membership increases have now gone Our line-up for this year covers a broad through, as you will have noticed if you sent range of geographic areas and time periods. in a renewal recently. While the increases The fall series begins with two speakers will probably not represent a major burden provided by the national office. The first for most members, we recognize that for lecturer was Kevin Crisman of Texas A&M some of you the change may cause University on Shipwrecks and difficulties. We urge you to stand by us as Archaeology in Portugal’s Azores Islands we work our way through the fiscal (Sunday September 30), followed by a talk complexities of the new millennium. The by Robert Lindley Vann of the University of AIA is facing tremendous challenges in an Maryland on the Palace and Gardens of increasingly competitive entertainment and King Kasayapa at Sigiriya (Sri Lanka) information environment, but with your (Tuesday October 30). The Milwaukee continued support and commitment to AIA Society is pleased to be able to bring you a programs we will continue to flourish for the December 2 lecture by Jennifer Tobin of the next century and beyond. Our own Professor University of Illinois-Chicago, who will be Jane Waldbaum will be taking the helm of presenting her research on the port site of the AIA soon, and the organization itself is Cilicia in Roman Turkey. The spring series in the process of reconsidering its role and also looks exciting, with one Kress lecturer mission. We will be keeping you informed from the national office, the possibility of a via the Web site of changes and initiatives as

2 second, and two Milwaukee Society lectures. In February the Milwaukee Society Milwaukee Society Officers has invited Ying Wang of UWM’s Art History Department to present a talk on her President: Bettina Arnold, UWM research into Shang China [email protected] (Sunday February 10). We are working on bringing Paul Bahn back to lecture in Vice President: Jane Peterson, Marquette March, since he will be in residence as an [email protected] AIA Kress lecturer and may be willing to add a Milwaukee talk to his schedule. If you Secretary/Treasurer: Alice Kehoe, UWM missed his over-flow crowd lecture on 3014 N. Shepard, Milwaukee, WI 53211 Upper Paleolithic art in December 1999, you’ll want to be sure to make it to this one! The Artifact Editors: In April, we will host the other 2001-2002 Jocelyn Boor, UWM, Kress lecturer, Claudio Bizzarri of the [email protected] Universita di Macerata (Italy), who will be Christine Hamlin presenting his research on an underground [email protected] Etruscan town in Umbria (Sunday April 2). Finally, we have invited UW-Madison’s Web Master: Jason Yaeger to present his research in the Thomas (Homer) Hruby, UWM Maya area on Sunday, May 5. Remember – [email protected] 50% or more of the lectures (three/four out Assistant Webster: of six/seven) we bring you every year are Seth Schneider, UWM directly funded by rebates from national [email protected] membership dues, so if you have been coming regularly to lectures, and look forward to coming to campus to hear From The Field professional archaeologists talk about their research, consider becoming a member. If 17 and Beyond you are already a member, be sure to take a Since 1999 this newsletter has reported on moment to renew your membership. We the excavation of Tumulus 17 in southwest need your support now more than ever! Germany, near the town of and the Heuneburg , and the I also would like to extend an invitation to long-term research project entitled all members to get more actively involved in “Landscape of Ancestors.” The project the Milwaukee society through attendance at combines archaeological excavation, which lectures, contributing refreshments to concentrates on early Iron Age (EIA) burial receptions, or attending the national meeting mounds, and ancient DNA (a-DNA) studies as a delegate, which will be held in of bone from burials found within tumuli. Philadelphia, PA from January 3-6 2002. If Recent a-DNA samples that have been you are interested in any of these activities, tested come from the Heuneburg hillfort, or have any questions, please feel free to burial mounds near the Heuneburg and a contact me at [email protected]. See you previously excavated mound near . September 30 at the first lecture of the 2001- Analysis of the cultural materials (ceramic, 2002 season! bronze, metal and organic remains) and the Bettina Arnold, President stratigraphic sequence of mound construction are underway at the University

3 of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archaeology Lab, for viewing via a scanning electron the Milwaukee Public Museum and the microscope. The light can pass through the Landesdenkmalamt Tübingen in Germany. samples to determine the material and weave of the fabric. Photos of the fabric fragments At the end of the 2000 field season Tumulus as seen through the microscope will be taken 17 had been completely excavated and five and sent to experts for analysis. Preliminary burials were uncovered. Radiocarbon dates microscopic observation of the fabric from the graves and the cultural materials suggests that at least one of the samples is found within them, including a bronze linen and another is a textile placed on an cauldron and a short sword from Grave 1 organic backing, which might be reeds or and fibulae in Grave 3, suggest that the grass. mound was used for approximately 150 years (600 B.C. to 450 B.C.). The dates Metal and ceramic artifacts from the five from the mound contradict the prevailing burials were sent to conservators at the view that the “Speckhau” mound group was Landesdenkmalamt in Tübingen for abandoned after the destruction of the restoration. The metal objects make up the mudbrick wall at the Heuneburg circa 550 highest percentage of grave goods and B.C. The relationship between Tumulus 17 include a bronze cauldron, fibulae, a and the Heuneburg is also important to the globular headed pin, a studded belt, “Landscape of Ancestors” project because it bracelets, an iron short sword, spears, and a is located approximately 3 km from dagger. Grave 3 contained an intact ceramic Tumulus 17. cup, which is the only complete vessel recovered from Tumulus 17. The metal Tumulus 17 contained a plethora of pottery objects will be x-rayed to determine their sherds, which comprise the bulk of the actual shape and size before complete cultural material from the mound. A large restoration takes place. Soil samples from number of sherds show evidence of the bronze cauldron and ceramic cup will secondary burning and might have come also be taken to determine if any organic from the pyre of the cremation burial found substances were in the graves with the in the central chamber. Even if the sherds individuals from Grave 1 and 3. Alcoholic are not from the pyre, they will still provide beverages like the 300 liters of mead found information about mortuary practices during in another famous EIA burial, Hochdorf, the EIA. Analysis of this material is may be identified. Stay tuned! currently underway as part of a Masters thesis project being conducted by the author. The second component of the “Landscape of Ancestors” project is the a-DNA analysis Organic material, including fabric being conducted by Dr. Frederika Kaestle of differentially preserved due to contact with Indiana State University. Extraction of metal in the mound, is also being studied. DNA was also conducted on archaeological The fabric fragments were taken to Head excavators, bone/tooth makers, and lab Conservator Christine Del Re of the assistants conducting the a-DNA research to Milwaukee Public Museum for restoration be sure that no contamination occurred to and mounting; graduate student Jamie Kelly the ancient samples. Two of the ancient is producing the mounts for four of the best- samples sequenced so far came from the preserved samples. The mounts will allow Heuneburg hillfort situated along the the fabric fragments to be placed on slides River near Hundersingen. A third

4 sample came from the Gießübel-Talhau AIA-Milwaukee Chapter web page mounds next to the Heuneburg. Two http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ArchLab/AIA/mi additional samples came from the lwsociety.html). Grafenbühl tumulus near the hillfort in Stuttgart. The results of the lab Many thanks are due to everyone who has tests at this point are incomplete and more been involved with the project thus far. testing is needed to obtain a better Funding and support has come from the understanding of the relationship between National Geographic Society, National these individuals. The preliminary tests Endowment for the Humanities, the suggest that there is a difference in the gene Landesdenkmalamt in Stuttgart, and the frequency between the modern and ancient University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee samples. Graduate School. The crews from the 1999 and 2000 field seasons made the excavation In September, Dr. Bettina Arnold (overall at Tumulus 17 possible, along with the help project director) of the University of received from German colleagues. Dr. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dr. Matthew Murray Frederika Kaestle and her associates in her (field project co-director) of Minnesota State lab are enlarging the picture of the genetic University-Mankato, and Seth Schneider of Iron Age world with their research. Finally, UWM will be traveling to Esslingen, thanks goes out for the support received Germany to present a paper at the European from the faculty, students, and friends in the Association of Archaeologists. In the Anthropology Department at UWM and summer of 2002, excavations at Tumulus 18 Milwaukee. will begin. This mound is situated across -- Seth A. Schneider the logging road from Tumulus 17 and is approximately the same size as Tumulus 17, which suggests it might have similar mound construction and ritual attributes. Tumulus 18 should be completed in 2002, and by that time it is hoped the genetic analysis will also be close to completion. There are plans to organize a session presenting project results, including analysis of cauldron contents and restoration of the metal objects in Tumulus 17 Graves 1, 3 and 4, at the SAA conference in 2003. Milwaukee will be hosting the meeting that year for the first time since the 1960’s, so be sure to check out the program when this show comes to town!

If you would like more information about the “Landscape of Ancestors” project please Textile fragment at 7X from Tumulus 17, visit Dr. Arnold’s web page: near Hundersingen, Germany http://www.uwm.edu/~barnold/arch/index.ht ml). To see copies of the write-ups for the Tumulus 17 excavation in 1999 and 2000 visit the online archive of The Artifact at the

5 winter. Visiting at this time a risky Trimborn Farm: Year Four proposition. Indeed, a week after we left The drought conditions this summer floods wrecked havoc around the capital city revealed the outlines of several possible of Phnom Penh. We were lucky; our trip structures, including the large building on benefited from cool winds and cloud cover the southern edge of the site. This building but little actual rain. appears to have three sections. Excavations continued in units placed on the northern A visit to ancient Angkor entails visits over outer foundations and on interior wall several days to a dozen or so architectural foundations. complexes. The early complexes are in the Roulos Group, dating to the 9th century, a The students in the week-long College For time when a powerful Khmer leader Kids program and from the half-week unified disparate states into a kingdom. The Walker Middle School session learned the wealth of the Khmers derived from their basics of archaeological fieldwork. They intermediate position between the were supervised by Geralyn Flick, Field superpowers of India and China. Angkor's Director and archaeology graduate students rise to empire status went hand-in-hand with from the Southeastern Archaeology Program the Indianization of their culture, in at UWM. particular the adoption of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. Most Khmer kings The foundations continue to emerge and were Hindu, followers of Vishnu, though provide information about building certain rulers leaned toward Buddhism. The techniques at this historic site. surviving architecture of ancient Angkor -- Jocelyn Boor consists almost exclusively of religious shrines and monastic schools–I never saw Special Report one palace or administrative building! The Angkor complexes are filled with fabulous reliefs of the Ramayana, the Hindu story Journey to Ancient Angkor recounting Rama's search for his abducted The upcoming October 30th lecture by wife Sita. Some of the most superb Robert Vann on Sri Lankan water gardens renditions are in the Banteay Sri complex, gives me an excuse to talk about my recent renowned for its extremely fine carving and sojourn in Thailand and Cambodia, lands remarkable preservation. rich in archaeological treasures. My first stop was Siem Reap, Cambodia, the modern One of my favorite mythological sculptures gateway to the Khmer kingdoms known as is the South Gate of Angkor Thom. The ancient Angkor (Khmer refers to Cambodian gateway, a high corbelled vault, is people speaking Khmer languages). Siem surmounted by four giant faces looking to Reap is a cow-town with desultory dirt roads the four directions. I was lucky enough to and an old-fashioned market, surrounded by see a caravan of elephants (carrying an astonishing collection of luxury hotels Japanese tourists) pass through the gate, festooned with giant recreations of Khmer evoking ancient royal processions. The art, nagas (serpent gods) and swaying approach to the gate is flanked by giant apsaras (female spirit dancers). We visited nagas, alluding to the Hindu story, The during the quiet rainy season so these Churning of the Sea of Milk. Each naga is deserted palaces were eerie reminders of the tugged by a dozen life-size gods, good ones hoards who descend upon Siem Reap in the

6 on one side of the road and bad ones on the other. What a spectacle! Within the Angkor Upcoming Lectures Thom complex is the Bayon, which houses an amazing set of reliefs depicting battles Wisconsin Archaeological Society and scenes of daily life. Ancient Angkor is All lectures are on Mondays at 8 p.m. nearly synonymous with the Angkor Wat complex. With its massive façade October 15, 2001 approached by a majestic causeway, Angkor “Regional Variation in the Southeastern Wat is straight out of a fairly tale, and Ceremonial Complex” - Dr. Alex Barker, apparently it was the setting of a recent Milwaukee Public Museum Hollywood fantasy film. Both Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are surrounded by November, 19, 2001 majestic moats, a standard feature of ancient Title TBA – Dr. Barbara Crass, UW- Khmer architecture. Perhaps our October Oshkosh lecture on Sri Lankan water gardens will shed light on them. December 17, 2001 “ on the Upper Danube: Tumulus 17 Speaking of Sri Lanka, it exerted substantial Revisited” – Dr. Bettina Arnold, UW- influence on the ancient kingdoms of Milwaukee Southeast Asia. Its particular form of Theravada Buddhism was adopted in Burma in the 11th century, spreading to Sukkothai, AIA Annual Meeting 2002 the ancient Thai capital, by the 12th century. Some Sukkothai temples are described as The 103rd Annual Meeting will be convened "Singhalese style," attesting to Ceylon's in Philadelphia from January 3-6, 2002. As considerable influence. Indeed, the adoption always, an exciting program of lectures, of Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism in colloquia, and workshops is being planned. Cambodia marked the incipient demise of Information will be posted on the AIA the Khmer empire in the late 13th century. website soon, and all members of the AIA in -- Andrea Stone good standing will receive an invitation and registration form in the mail. Check the AIA Member News website at: www.archaeological.org.

Diane Grubisha, a graduate student in Refreshment Help Requested Anthropology at UWM, received a five- month Council for American Overseas Our local lectures will continue to close with Research Centers (CAORC) Fellowship an informal reception – a wonderful through the American Center for Oriental opportunity to meet the speaker and ask Research (ACOR) to conduct archaeological more questions. Mary Kohli continues as research in Jordan. our refreshments coordinator, and would like your help in providing treats at one or Jocelyn Boor received her MS in more of the meetings. Please contact her at: Anthropology from UWM in May, and is [email protected] or phone 262-723- now the Program Coordinator at Trimborn 5569. A co-coordinator is needed – please Farm, Milwaukee County’s only historic contact either Bettina Arnold or Mary. park.

7 common traveler and the army. Here a Preview of Future AIA Lectures weary traveler or platoon could find a secure place to spend the night, collect food and water for the road ahead, and wash the The Site in the Sand Dunes: Survey travel-weary body. Although mansiones are of a Roman Mansio in Smooth described in ancient literature, none have Cilicia, Turkey been securely identified in the archaeological record. These remains are In 1986, while gathering sand for cement, a thus valuable for a better understanding of a local company began bulldozing a series of little known facility of the Roman world. large dunes that had collected on the seashore along the Bay of Iskenderun on the Dr. Jennifer Tobin is an Assistant Professor south coast of Turkey. The dunes, however, in the Department of Classics at the proved not to be the expected piles of sand University of Illinois, Chicago. She teaches but instead formed a shallow mantle over courses on Classical archaeology, the the remains of an ancient settlement whose monuments and institutions of Athens, existence had been unknown. Classical mythology, and the monuments and institutions of Rome. In 1994 and 1995 a survey of the ancient remains was conducted by a team from Bilkent University of Ankara. Its mission was to collect the small finds at the site and to document the architecture in order to better understand the site’s place in the history of the region. The bulldozing had exposed at least 20 buildings laid on a grid plan; among them were two baths, several granaries and cisterns, and an aqueduct system.

Study of the finds indicates that the remains date to the period of Roman occupation of the region, from the 1st century BC through the 7th century AD. Although the investigators suspected that the site was a small city or perhaps a port serving an island city (settlement types that abound in the Roman period), the nature of the architecture instead indicated that it served a more specific purpose. Located on the sea and along a major roadway, and consisting of structures designed to store commodities and refresh people, the site can be interpreted as a way-station, or mansio. Mansiones, roughly equivalent to our A Third-Century AD Roman Mansio modern motels or rest stops, served both the in Godmanchester, U.K.

8 AIA-Milwaukee Society 2001-2002 Lecture Schedule

FALL 2001 SPRING 2001

September 30 February 10 Shipwrecks and Archaeology in Portugal’s Silk, Status and Power in Shang China Azores Islands Dr. Ying Wang Dr. Kevin Crisman UW-Milwaukee Texas A&M University Sunday, 3 p.m., Sabin Hall G90 Sunday, 3 p.m., Mitchell Hall 195 March: topic and date to be announced October 30 Paul Bahn, Independent Researcher The Palace and Gardens if King Kasayapa at Sigiriyi (Sri Lanka) April 2 Dr. Robert L. Vann Underground Eturia: A Town in Umbria University of Maryland Dr. Claudio Bizzarri Tuesday, 8 p.m., Mitchell Hall 195 Universita di Macerata Tuesday, 8 p.m., location TBA December 2 The Site in the Sand Dunes: Survey of a May 5 Roman Mansio in Smooth Cilicia Making a Maya City-State: Linking the City Dr. Jennifer Tobin and the Countryside at Xunantunich, Belize University of Chicago-Illinois Dr. Jason Yaeger Sunday, 3 p.m., Sabin Hall G90 UW-Madison Sunday, 3 p.m., Sabin Hall G90

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Letters and Science Department of Art History P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201

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