Books by Elon Heymans
The Origins of Money in the Iron Age Mediterranean World, 2021
This book shows how money emerged and spread in the eastern Mediterranean, centuries before the i... more This book shows how money emerged and spread in the eastern Mediterranean, centuries before the invention of coinage. While the invention of coinage in Ancient Lydia around 630 BCE is widely regarded as one of the defining innovations of the ancient world, money itself was never invented. It gained critical weight in the Iron Age (ca. 1200 – 600 BCE) as a social and economic tool, most dominantly in the form of precious metal bullion. This book is the first study to comprehensively engage with the early history of money in the Iron Age Mediterranean, tracing its development in the Levant and the Aegean. Building on a detailed study of precious metal hoards, Elon D. Heymans deploys a wide range of sources, both textual and material, to rethink money's role and origins in the history of the eastern Mediterranean.
Color versions of select print images available on the Resources tab (or here: www.cambridge.org/heymans) or in the digital version on Cambridge Core (https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108975322).
Open Acces: available at https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.574
As one of the most enduring icons of economic life, money has been a common feature and central f... more As one of the most enduring icons of economic life, money has been a common feature and central focus in complex societies from Antiquity to the present. It gained weight as a key feature of Mediterranean economies in the course of the first millennium BCE, mostly in the form of coinage. But money is more than just coin, and its significance is more pervasive than just to the strict sphere of “the economy”.
In the ancient Mediterranean, money and its rise to prominence have b een p redominantly a ssociated w ith t he s tate. B ut c an money only emerge under state authority? This volume questions the assumed relation between the spread of early forms of money and the state and draws attention to different ways in which money as an innovation could be anchored and socially embedded.
Papers by Elon Heymans
The Origins of Money in the Iron Age Mediterranean World, 2021
Ancient Near East Today, 2022
Pharos: journal of the Netherlands Institute in Athens, 24, 2021
This article offers a very brief report on the 2015 survey campaign around Halos that formed the ... more This article offers a very brief report on the 2015 survey campaign around Halos that formed the conclusion of the revisit programme previously presented in this journal, followed by a somewhat longer preliminary presentation of the 2016 excavation season at Magoula Plataniotiki, which is also a continuation of previous work at the site reported in this journal. As in the past, the fieldwork was done by the universities of Groningen and Amsterdam and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Magnesia; in 2016, a delegation from the University of Alberta participated in the excavation as well. The survey season confirmed and refined results of the 2011-2013 campaigns. While the 2016 excavation season partly continued trenches opened in 2013, it also covered parts of the site that had not been explored yet. Three new trenches were laid out in areas where aerial photographs and geophysical research done in 2015 suggested the presence of features that could clarify the planning and chronology of the site. One of the new trenches explored the western edge of the site, which seems to be bordered by a pebble-paved street. This could not be dated yet. Another new trench indicates that the north-eastern part of the site, where geophysical research and aerial photographs show structures that do not follow the general orientation of streets and buildings further west, was abandoned in the Hellenistic period, while most other trenches indicate continuing habitation and other use. However, foundations of a large and possibly monumental structure encountered in an extension of one of the existing trenches indicate that even when shrinking, the Hellenistic settlement still contained impressive buildings. The intensive Classical and Hellenistic use of the site visible in all excavated areas does not seem have had a follow up, but in most trenches remains of later activities, apparently mainly related to reuse of materials, have been encountered.
Journal of Archaeological Numismatics, 2019
During early excavations on Cyprus, a small collection of cut and/or broken pieces of precious me... more During early excavations on Cyprus, a small collection of cut and/or broken pieces of precious metal-hackgold and hacksilber-was discovered in tomb 198 in Amathus, dating to the Iron Age. Initially interpreted as raw material for the production of jewellery, recent studies have compared the finds to hacksilber hoards from the southern Levant, providing ground for the suggestion that silver bullion was used as a form of money in Iron Age Cyprus. Challenging this notion, this article puts forward a new interpretation of the precious metal finds from Amathus t. 198, based on an analysis of the assemblage in comparison with contemporary hackgold/silber hoards outside Cyprus, and a reconstruction of its funerary context. It is argued that the Amathus material is not a utilitarian hoard, but that the objects were intentionally selected for deposition in the grave, thus serving as references to the foreign contacts and trade networks through which they were acquired.
Politics of Value: New Approaches to Early Money and the State, 2020
Available at https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.574
In ancient studies, money, and especially c... more Available at https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.574
In ancient studies, money, and especially coinage, has been predominantly associated with the state, in theoretical opposition to the market. In this paper, we argue that a strong focus on the state as a context for the appearance of early money may obscure our understanding of the range of different ways, in which money as an
innovation, could be anchored and socially embedded. This is illustrated by two case studies. In the Iron Age eastern Mediterranean, it was the collapse of state control and its effects on trade networks at the end of the LBA, rather than a process of state formation, that led to a proliferation of the use of (precious) metal as a means of exchange. In early Roman Italy, the adoption of coinage was not so much a result of
internal developments in the Roman state, but rather a way to facilitate interaction with others on the Italian peninsula.
ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΚΟ ΕΡΓΟ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΕΡΕΑΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ 5 (Βόλος, 26.02-01.03. 2015), 2020
This paper presents the preliminary results of the 2013 and 2014 trial excavations on the site of... more This paper presents the preliminary results of the 2013 and 2014 trial excavations on the site of Old Halos, on Magoula Plataniotiki, including a brief introduction to the site in general.
Following the excavation in the Hellenistic city and the intensive survey in the Sourpi and Almyros plains by our teams, we have set out to investigate the stratigraphy and preservation of archaeological remains at the site, located in the marshes east of the village of Almyros in what is today an industrial area on the southwestern coast of the Pagasitic gulf. With an elevation of seven meters above the sea level and a surface of less than 10 ha, this rather shallow magoula was located in antiquity on a beach ridge, surrounded by water. This site was supposedly the location of the urban and civic centre of the polis of Halos, as testified by historical sources and inscriptions.
Our efforts have focused on trial excavations and recording the site by means of aerial photography. Four test trenches have been set out.
In trenches 1, 2 and 4 Hellenistic layers started directly under the present surface. In fact, aerial images show the preservation of a regular urban grid stretching out over a large part of the site, and correlating with the remains of domestic architecture and tightly packed ceramic assemblages recorded in trenches 1, 2 and 4. In the better preserved areas intact floors and many complete but smashed, apparently in situ pots have been found, suggesting destruction by earthquake. At least part of the pottery seems to be slightly later than the destruction of the Hellenistic city, but it is as yet unclear when the site was reoccupied after the 346 destruction, which is not clearly visible in the trenches.
In trenches 1 and 2, below the Hellenistic upper layer, a relatively empty late Classical level covers a sequence of at least two destruction levels which seem chronologically very close, spanning the last decades of the 5th century and possibly the early 4th. The often rich and well-preserved finds point a domestic use of the area. All levels contain often well-preserved residual pottery (occasionally in surprisingly large quantities), which mostly seems to date to the 8th-7th centuries. It seems likely that the sequence of relatively short-lived habitation strata continues further below.
Whereas the finds in trenches 1, 2 and 4 all seem to belong to domestic structures, trench 3 is dominated by a single monumental wall, or rather façade, which seems to have supported a raised platform of some kind, probably facing a street. Apparently, the top of the tell was elevated by at least 1.5 meter through the building of this wall. Some material of the first half of the 5th century gives a post quem for the monumental wall, but a more precise date cannot be offered yet.
The sequence of five major destuction layers, of which four seem to be caused by earthquakes, in less than 200 years is an intriguing phenomenon, wish will receive some extra attention in the this presentation. Whereas this suggested frequency of earthquakes may not be surprising in a zone which is still highly active seismically, the apparent acceptance (and possibly lack of prevention) of this phenomenon and the continuous rebuilding it caused by the population is remarkable.
In 1906 Dutch archaeologist Vollgraff performed a small excavation at Magoúla Plataniótiki. He un... more In 1906 Dutch archaeologist Vollgraff performed a small excavation at Magoúla Plataniótiki. He unearthed Classical black-gloss ware and the foundations of a monumental building. The site was identified as Classical Halos and the temple as that of Zeus Laphystios. In 2013-2014 fieldwork was again undertaken at the site by teams of Groningen University, Amsterdam University and the 13th Ephorate at Vólos. This
poster discusses the literary, epigraphic and numismatic ources about Classical Halos and the reasons for identifying the Magoula Plataniotiki as its location. It further addresses the landscape in which the harbour town was located and escribes some preliminary results of the 2013-2014 campaigns in test trench 3.
Gifts, Goods and Money: Comparing currency and circulation systems in past societies, 2018
This article provides an overview of the development of palmette cups from ancient Tanagra. Also ... more This article provides an overview of the development of palmette cups from ancient Tanagra. Also known as floral cups, these formed the predominant type of decorated pottery in Boeotia and neighbouring areas during the Classical period. Production of these cups – which were decorated with simple floral motifs (mostly palmettes) in silhouette technique – peaked towards the end of the fifth and in the early fourth century bc. This study is based on a catalogue of 74 cups of unknown context in the apotheke of the Schimatari Museum, with reference to other material from excavations and collections, thus providing the most comprehensive body of palmette vases known from Tanagra or any other production centre. With a focus on vase shape and decoration, several groups or workshops are identified. The picture that is built up contributes to a better understanding of the diversity and development of this type of pottery, and offers an insight into the ceramic traditions of Boeotia in general.
Ανθεμωτές κύλικες από την Αρχαία Τανάγρα Το άρθρο αυτό αποτελεί μια επισκόπηση της εξέλιξης του διακοσμητικού θέματος των ανθεμίων σε κύλικες από την αρχαία Τανάγρα. Τα συγκεκριμένα αγγεία, επίσης γνωστά ως κύλικες με ϕυτική διακόσμηση, αποτελούν την κύρια κατηγορία διακοσμημένης κεραμικής κατά την κλασική περίοδο στη Βοιωτία και τις γειτονικές περιοχές. Η παραγωγή των αγγείων, που είναι διακοσμημένα με σκιαγραϕημένα απλά ϕυτικά μοτίβα (κυρίως ανθέμια), κορυϕώνεται προς το τέλος του 5ου και στις αρχές του 4ου αιώνα π.Χ. Η μελέτη βασίζεται σε έναν κατάλογο 74 κυλίκων, άγνωστης προέλευσης, που ϕυλάσσονται στις αποθήκες του Μουσείου Σχηματαρίου, παράλληλα με άλλα υλικά από ανασκαϕές και συλλογές. Με τον τρόπο αυτό συγκροτείται το πιο ολοκληρωμένο σύνολο ανθεμωτών αγγείων, γνωστά όχι μόνο από την Τανάγρα αλλά και οποιοδήποτε άλλο κέντρο παραγωγής. Με βάση κυρίως το σχήμα και τη διακόσμηση των αγγείων, αναγνωρίστηκαν διάϕορες ομάδες ή εργαστήρια. Η εικόνα που σχηματίζεται συμβάλλει στην καλύτερη κατανόηση της πολυμορϕίας και της εξέλιξης αυτού του τύπου κεραμικής, ενώ επίσης προσϕέρει πολύτιμες πληροϕορίες για τις κεραμικές παραδόσεις της Βοιωτίας.
The discovery of the bronze seated boxer during excavations in 1885 on the Quirinal in Rome count... more The discovery of the bronze seated boxer during excavations in 1885 on the Quirinal in Rome counts as one of the most spectacular finds in the archaeology of Rome. Initially described by R. Lanciani, it was long assumed that the statue was buried in late antiquity, together with the so-called Hellenistic prince, in order to protect it from danger. This article revisits the case of its discovery in detail, and demonstrates that the statue was in fact deposited during the 2 nd century CE to mark the construction of a large building. Subsequently, the case is compared to other examples of construction-related depositions of sculpture.*
Posters by Elon Heymans
This poster presents the preliminary results of the 2013-2014 fieldwork at Magoúla Plataniótiki, ... more This poster presents the preliminary results of the 2013-2014 fieldwork at Magoúla Plataniótiki, the site of Classical Halos (Thessaly, Greece).
Reviews by Elon Heymans
Conference Presentations by Elon Heymans
Uploads
Books by Elon Heymans
Color versions of select print images available on the Resources tab (or here: www.cambridge.org/heymans) or in the digital version on Cambridge Core (https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108975322).
In the ancient Mediterranean, money and its rise to prominence have b een p redominantly a ssociated w ith t he s tate. B ut c an money only emerge under state authority? This volume questions the assumed relation between the spread of early forms of money and the state and draws attention to different ways in which money as an innovation could be anchored and socially embedded.
Papers by Elon Heymans
In ancient studies, money, and especially coinage, has been predominantly associated with the state, in theoretical opposition to the market. In this paper, we argue that a strong focus on the state as a context for the appearance of early money may obscure our understanding of the range of different ways, in which money as an
innovation, could be anchored and socially embedded. This is illustrated by two case studies. In the Iron Age eastern Mediterranean, it was the collapse of state control and its effects on trade networks at the end of the LBA, rather than a process of state formation, that led to a proliferation of the use of (precious) metal as a means of exchange. In early Roman Italy, the adoption of coinage was not so much a result of
internal developments in the Roman state, but rather a way to facilitate interaction with others on the Italian peninsula.
Following the excavation in the Hellenistic city and the intensive survey in the Sourpi and Almyros plains by our teams, we have set out to investigate the stratigraphy and preservation of archaeological remains at the site, located in the marshes east of the village of Almyros in what is today an industrial area on the southwestern coast of the Pagasitic gulf. With an elevation of seven meters above the sea level and a surface of less than 10 ha, this rather shallow magoula was located in antiquity on a beach ridge, surrounded by water. This site was supposedly the location of the urban and civic centre of the polis of Halos, as testified by historical sources and inscriptions.
Our efforts have focused on trial excavations and recording the site by means of aerial photography. Four test trenches have been set out.
In trenches 1, 2 and 4 Hellenistic layers started directly under the present surface. In fact, aerial images show the preservation of a regular urban grid stretching out over a large part of the site, and correlating with the remains of domestic architecture and tightly packed ceramic assemblages recorded in trenches 1, 2 and 4. In the better preserved areas intact floors and many complete but smashed, apparently in situ pots have been found, suggesting destruction by earthquake. At least part of the pottery seems to be slightly later than the destruction of the Hellenistic city, but it is as yet unclear when the site was reoccupied after the 346 destruction, which is not clearly visible in the trenches.
In trenches 1 and 2, below the Hellenistic upper layer, a relatively empty late Classical level covers a sequence of at least two destruction levels which seem chronologically very close, spanning the last decades of the 5th century and possibly the early 4th. The often rich and well-preserved finds point a domestic use of the area. All levels contain often well-preserved residual pottery (occasionally in surprisingly large quantities), which mostly seems to date to the 8th-7th centuries. It seems likely that the sequence of relatively short-lived habitation strata continues further below.
Whereas the finds in trenches 1, 2 and 4 all seem to belong to domestic structures, trench 3 is dominated by a single monumental wall, or rather façade, which seems to have supported a raised platform of some kind, probably facing a street. Apparently, the top of the tell was elevated by at least 1.5 meter through the building of this wall. Some material of the first half of the 5th century gives a post quem for the monumental wall, but a more precise date cannot be offered yet.
The sequence of five major destuction layers, of which four seem to be caused by earthquakes, in less than 200 years is an intriguing phenomenon, wish will receive some extra attention in the this presentation. Whereas this suggested frequency of earthquakes may not be surprising in a zone which is still highly active seismically, the apparent acceptance (and possibly lack of prevention) of this phenomenon and the continuous rebuilding it caused by the population is remarkable.
poster discusses the literary, epigraphic and numismatic ources about Classical Halos and the reasons for identifying the Magoula Plataniotiki as its location. It further addresses the landscape in which the harbour town was located and escribes some preliminary results of the 2013-2014 campaigns in test trench 3.
http://www.archaeopress.com/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7B75FFD4AC-966D-406F-A3A7-CBE6F4CF613B%7D
Ανθεμωτές κύλικες από την Αρχαία Τανάγρα Το άρθρο αυτό αποτελεί μια επισκόπηση της εξέλιξης του διακοσμητικού θέματος των ανθεμίων σε κύλικες από την αρχαία Τανάγρα. Τα συγκεκριμένα αγγεία, επίσης γνωστά ως κύλικες με ϕυτική διακόσμηση, αποτελούν την κύρια κατηγορία διακοσμημένης κεραμικής κατά την κλασική περίοδο στη Βοιωτία και τις γειτονικές περιοχές. Η παραγωγή των αγγείων, που είναι διακοσμημένα με σκιαγραϕημένα απλά ϕυτικά μοτίβα (κυρίως ανθέμια), κορυϕώνεται προς το τέλος του 5ου και στις αρχές του 4ου αιώνα π.Χ. Η μελέτη βασίζεται σε έναν κατάλογο 74 κυλίκων, άγνωστης προέλευσης, που ϕυλάσσονται στις αποθήκες του Μουσείου Σχηματαρίου, παράλληλα με άλλα υλικά από ανασκαϕές και συλλογές. Με τον τρόπο αυτό συγκροτείται το πιο ολοκληρωμένο σύνολο ανθεμωτών αγγείων, γνωστά όχι μόνο από την Τανάγρα αλλά και οποιοδήποτε άλλο κέντρο παραγωγής. Με βάση κυρίως το σχήμα και τη διακόσμηση των αγγείων, αναγνωρίστηκαν διάϕορες ομάδες ή εργαστήρια. Η εικόνα που σχηματίζεται συμβάλλει στην καλύτερη κατανόηση της πολυμορϕίας και της εξέλιξης αυτού του τύπου κεραμικής, ενώ επίσης προσϕέρει πολύτιμες πληροϕορίες για τις κεραμικές παραδόσεις της Βοιωτίας.
Posters by Elon Heymans
Reviews by Elon Heymans
Conference Presentations by Elon Heymans
Color versions of select print images available on the Resources tab (or here: www.cambridge.org/heymans) or in the digital version on Cambridge Core (https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108975322).
In the ancient Mediterranean, money and its rise to prominence have b een p redominantly a ssociated w ith t he s tate. B ut c an money only emerge under state authority? This volume questions the assumed relation between the spread of early forms of money and the state and draws attention to different ways in which money as an innovation could be anchored and socially embedded.
In ancient studies, money, and especially coinage, has been predominantly associated with the state, in theoretical opposition to the market. In this paper, we argue that a strong focus on the state as a context for the appearance of early money may obscure our understanding of the range of different ways, in which money as an
innovation, could be anchored and socially embedded. This is illustrated by two case studies. In the Iron Age eastern Mediterranean, it was the collapse of state control and its effects on trade networks at the end of the LBA, rather than a process of state formation, that led to a proliferation of the use of (precious) metal as a means of exchange. In early Roman Italy, the adoption of coinage was not so much a result of
internal developments in the Roman state, but rather a way to facilitate interaction with others on the Italian peninsula.
Following the excavation in the Hellenistic city and the intensive survey in the Sourpi and Almyros plains by our teams, we have set out to investigate the stratigraphy and preservation of archaeological remains at the site, located in the marshes east of the village of Almyros in what is today an industrial area on the southwestern coast of the Pagasitic gulf. With an elevation of seven meters above the sea level and a surface of less than 10 ha, this rather shallow magoula was located in antiquity on a beach ridge, surrounded by water. This site was supposedly the location of the urban and civic centre of the polis of Halos, as testified by historical sources and inscriptions.
Our efforts have focused on trial excavations and recording the site by means of aerial photography. Four test trenches have been set out.
In trenches 1, 2 and 4 Hellenistic layers started directly under the present surface. In fact, aerial images show the preservation of a regular urban grid stretching out over a large part of the site, and correlating with the remains of domestic architecture and tightly packed ceramic assemblages recorded in trenches 1, 2 and 4. In the better preserved areas intact floors and many complete but smashed, apparently in situ pots have been found, suggesting destruction by earthquake. At least part of the pottery seems to be slightly later than the destruction of the Hellenistic city, but it is as yet unclear when the site was reoccupied after the 346 destruction, which is not clearly visible in the trenches.
In trenches 1 and 2, below the Hellenistic upper layer, a relatively empty late Classical level covers a sequence of at least two destruction levels which seem chronologically very close, spanning the last decades of the 5th century and possibly the early 4th. The often rich and well-preserved finds point a domestic use of the area. All levels contain often well-preserved residual pottery (occasionally in surprisingly large quantities), which mostly seems to date to the 8th-7th centuries. It seems likely that the sequence of relatively short-lived habitation strata continues further below.
Whereas the finds in trenches 1, 2 and 4 all seem to belong to domestic structures, trench 3 is dominated by a single monumental wall, or rather façade, which seems to have supported a raised platform of some kind, probably facing a street. Apparently, the top of the tell was elevated by at least 1.5 meter through the building of this wall. Some material of the first half of the 5th century gives a post quem for the monumental wall, but a more precise date cannot be offered yet.
The sequence of five major destuction layers, of which four seem to be caused by earthquakes, in less than 200 years is an intriguing phenomenon, wish will receive some extra attention in the this presentation. Whereas this suggested frequency of earthquakes may not be surprising in a zone which is still highly active seismically, the apparent acceptance (and possibly lack of prevention) of this phenomenon and the continuous rebuilding it caused by the population is remarkable.
poster discusses the literary, epigraphic and numismatic ources about Classical Halos and the reasons for identifying the Magoula Plataniotiki as its location. It further addresses the landscape in which the harbour town was located and escribes some preliminary results of the 2013-2014 campaigns in test trench 3.
http://www.archaeopress.com/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id=%7B75FFD4AC-966D-406F-A3A7-CBE6F4CF613B%7D
Ανθεμωτές κύλικες από την Αρχαία Τανάγρα Το άρθρο αυτό αποτελεί μια επισκόπηση της εξέλιξης του διακοσμητικού θέματος των ανθεμίων σε κύλικες από την αρχαία Τανάγρα. Τα συγκεκριμένα αγγεία, επίσης γνωστά ως κύλικες με ϕυτική διακόσμηση, αποτελούν την κύρια κατηγορία διακοσμημένης κεραμικής κατά την κλασική περίοδο στη Βοιωτία και τις γειτονικές περιοχές. Η παραγωγή των αγγείων, που είναι διακοσμημένα με σκιαγραϕημένα απλά ϕυτικά μοτίβα (κυρίως ανθέμια), κορυϕώνεται προς το τέλος του 5ου και στις αρχές του 4ου αιώνα π.Χ. Η μελέτη βασίζεται σε έναν κατάλογο 74 κυλίκων, άγνωστης προέλευσης, που ϕυλάσσονται στις αποθήκες του Μουσείου Σχηματαρίου, παράλληλα με άλλα υλικά από ανασκαϕές και συλλογές. Με τον τρόπο αυτό συγκροτείται το πιο ολοκληρωμένο σύνολο ανθεμωτών αγγείων, γνωστά όχι μόνο από την Τανάγρα αλλά και οποιοδήποτε άλλο κέντρο παραγωγής. Με βάση κυρίως το σχήμα και τη διακόσμηση των αγγείων, αναγνωρίστηκαν διάϕορες ομάδες ή εργαστήρια. Η εικόνα που σχηματίζεται συμβάλλει στην καλύτερη κατανόηση της πολυμορϕίας και της εξέλιξης αυτού του τύπου κεραμικής, ενώ επίσης προσϕέρει πολύτιμες πληροϕορίες για τις κεραμικές παραδόσεις της Βοιωτίας.