Forty-three short papers, presented at the 5th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics held in Athens in 1999, reflect on recent archaeological and scientific developments in the anaysis of ceramics, with emphasis on pottery from the Aegean, Italy, Iberia and Central Europe.

Modern Trends in Physics Research MTPR-08 was the third of the International Conference series held biannually by the Physics Department in Faculty of Science of Cairo University.The objectives of the conference are to develop greater understanding of physics research and its applications to promote new industries; to innovate knowledge about recent breakthroughs in physics, both the fundamental and technological aspects; to implement of international cooperation in new trends in physics research and to improve the performance of the physics research facilities in Egypt. This proceeding highlights the latest results in the fields of astrophysics, atomic, molecular, condensed matter, lasers, nuclear and particle physics. The peer refereed papers collected in this volume, were written by international experts in these fields. The keynote lecture, ?Overview on the Era of the Exploration of the Planets and Planetary Systems,? delivered by Professor Jay M Pasachoff of Williams College ? Hopkins Observatory was featured in the proceedings. As 2008 was the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, which began the Space Age, this volume is a unique collection of keynote, plenary and invited presentations covering fields of astrophysics, atomic physics, condensed matter physics as well as nanotechnology, molecular physics and laser physics. This volume will serve as a useful reference for scientists in modern physics and technology of the 21st century.

This volume draws together topics and methodologies essential for the socio-cultural, mineralogical, and geochemical analysis of archaeological ceramic, one of the most complex and ubiquitous archaeomaterials in the archaeological record. It provides an invaluable resource for archaeologists, anthropologists, and archaeological materials scientists.

Modern Trends in Physics Research MTPR-08 was the third of the International Conference series held biannually by the Physics Department in Faculty of Science of Cairo University.The objectives of the conference are to develop greater understanding of physics research and its applications to promote new industries; to innovate knowledge about recent breakthroughs in physics, both the fundamental and technological aspects; to implement of international cooperation in new trends in physics research and to improve the performance of the physics research facilities in Egypt. This proceeding highlights the latest results in the fields of astrophysics, atomic, molecular, condensed matter, lasers, nuclear and particle physics. The peer refereed papers collected in this volume, were written by international experts in these fields. The keynote lecture, “Overview on the Era of the Exploration of the Planets and Planetary Systems,” delivered by Professor Jay M Pasachoff of Williams College — Hopkins Observatory was featured in the proceedings. As 2008 was the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, which began the Space Age, this volume is a unique collection of keynote, plenary and invited presentations covering fields of astrophysics, atomic physics, condensed matter physics as well as nanotechnology, molecular physics and laser physics. This volume will serve as a useful reference for scientists in modern physics and technology of the 21st century.

Daniel Albero Santacreu presents a wide overview of certain aspects of the pottery analysis and summarizes most of the methodological and theoretical information currently applied in archaeology in order to develop wide and deep analysis of ceramic pastes. The book provides an adequate framework for understanding the way pottery production is organised and clarifies the meaning and role of the pottery in archaeological and traditional societies. The goal of this book is to encourage reflection, especially by those researchers who face the analysis of ceramics for the first time, by providing a background for the generation of their own research and to formulate their own questions depending on their concerns and interests. The three-part structure of the book allows readers to move easily from the analysis of the reality and ceramic material culture to the world of the ideas and theories and to develop a dialogue between data and their interpretation. Daniel Albero Santacreu is a Lecturer Assistant in the University of the Balearic Islands, member of the Research Group Arqueo UIB and the Ceramic Petrology Group. He has carried out the analysis of ceramics from several prehistoric societies placed in the Western Mediterranean, as well as the study of handmade pottery from contemporary ethnic groups in Northeast Ghana.

This dissertation argues against the widespread belief among current scholars that Galilee experienced extensive Hellenization, rapid urbanization, and a socio-economic crisis in the first-century C.E. as a result of major socio-economic changes initiated by Herod the Great and his successors. My research indicates that earlier studies allowed the textual evidence to have an undue influence on the way that scholars interpret the archaeological evidence, and vice-versa. Unlike previous studies on Early Roman Galilee, the dissertation begins by attempting to interpret each source for the region individually and without recourse to other sources. After establishing what each source says on its own about Galilee, the dissertation analyzes the data as a whole and offers a reconstruction of Galilean society in the first-century C.E. that better reflects the available evidence. The major findings are that the region was politically stable until the Great Revolt of 66 C.E., that the region was much less Hellenized than some prominent scholars claim, that the urbanization process initiated by Herod Antipas had less of a negative immediate impact on Galilean society than modern scholars usually assume, and that Galilee was not experiencing any unusual or severe socio-economic problems prior to the revolt.

This volume examines materials produced with the use of fire and mostly by use of the kiln (metals, plasters, glass and glaze, aromatics). The technologies based on fire have been considered high-tech technologies and they have contributed to the evolution of man throughout history. Papers highlight technical innovations of the technician/artist/pyrotechnologist that lived in the Aegean (mainland Greece and the islands) during the Bronze Age, the Classical and the Byzantine periods.