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Naturally occurring minerals or their synthetic analogues have been important as pigments used in artistic and cosmetic contexts in global antiquity. The analysis and identification of mineral pigments, though routine to the petrologist or mineralogist, also requires specialist knowledge of the archaeological contexts and available technologies and trade. This paper attempts to present an analytical approach to the study of mineral pigments in archaeology and also introduces the range of mineral pigments encountered in works of art and painted objects on archaeological sites and in museums. It attempts to cover the range of mineral and synthetic inorganic pigments used in global cultures from to the early Medieval period.

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Terraces are ubiquitous, in some ways defining, features of Mediterranean environments, yet their longer--term history and relationship to human populations and food economies are not well understood. This paper discusses a complete system of terraces across the small island of Antikythera, Greece. We bring together the evidence from archaeology, ethnography, archival history, botany and geoarchaeology, supported by direct dating of buried terrace soils, and consider terrace investment in relation to major episodes in the island's punctuated history of human activity. This broad--spectrum approach leads to a range of interesting insights on the spatial structure of terraces, on the degree of correlation between terrace construction and changing human population, and on the implications of terrace abandonment for vegetation and soils.

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The realization that the addition of volcaniclastic material to hydrated lime cements produced a concrete that was not only waterproof but would also set under water revolutionized the building programmes of the Roman Empire. The material became known as pulvis Puteolis (dust of Puteoli) from the Latin name for modern Pozzuoli on the Bay of Naples. Pozzuoli itself is the root of 'pozzolana', meaning any material (in most natural cases, volcanic in origin) that is capable of producing a hydraulic (waterproof) set when combined with lime cement. A reaction between quicklime (CaO) and volcanic ash promotes the growth of phases that, rather than reverting to calcium carbonate on curing, as in nonhydraulic cements, produce a hard, watertight material. Although volcanic materials were the aggregates of choice in the building projects of hnperial Rome, being locally derived, abundant and relatively easily quarried, their hydraulic properties were soon fully realized, perhaps as a result of observations of naturally calcite-cemented scoria and ash flows in sea water or from experimental building. Away from the Imperial centre, terrestrial architecture involving waterproofing (baths and cisterns) effectively used waste ceramic sherds as a substitute for volcanic ash. However, for marine and riparian architecture, volcanically derived pozzolanic cements were the preferred material of use.