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TRAC 2005: Romanization in southern Epirus: A ceramic perspective, by Melissa Moore Morison
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Romanization in southern Epirus: A ceramic perspective
Melissa Moore Morison
Introduction In light of recent critiques of Romanization theory and the concomitant development of new interpretive models of Roman and native provincial interaction, it is useful to reconsider the ways in which archaeological data, particularly data recovered through field survey, articulate with new theoretical constructs. Whether the complex blend of Roman and non-Roman provincial interaction is most profitably conceptualized as Romanization, globalization, creolization, discrepant experience, or some combination of these models, surface survey remains a powerful research tool characterized by an ever-increasing methodological sophistication. However, the interpretive models applied to ceramic survey data have not necessarily developed apace with the field methodologies used to recover this material. This gap is unfortunate, because effective interpretation of ceramic artefacts is clearly essential to the understanding of processes of cultural interaction in the Mediterranean at the regional level of analysis that surveys provide. Pottery litters the Mediterranean landscape, blankets both site and off-site contexts and is the most common form of data recovered by most survey projects. Moreover, when the goal of survey is exploration of rural Roman landscapes (whether political, economic, or cognitive) and comparison of urban and rural responses to Rome, interpretation of ceramic evidence is a critical component of the analytical process – especially in regions where, as in many areas of the eastern Mediterranean, the architectural remains of small farmsteads and even small agricultural settlements are relatively poorly preserved.
The issue is especially relevant in areas of the eastern empire, such as Greece, that enjoyed lively and long-standing traditions of trade in ceramics from both east and west – alongside strong local traditions of ceramic production and exportation – well before incorporation into the Roman imperial system. What relationship can then be posited between changes in ceramic assemblages and 'Romanization' (broadly defined)? While it may be possible to attribute quite dramatic shifts in ceramic consumption in the West to relatively clear-cut patterns of production, trade, or negotiation of elite status, this approach seems to lack explanatory rigour when applied to the analysis of cultural interaction in the Greek East. How can ceramic data, especially the notoriously problematic material recovered through survey, be used to reconstruct the social, economic, and political imperatives that underlie patterns of consumption within the complex cultural (and ceramic) entrepôt that was Greece?
A Model for Ceramic Consumption This paper is concerned with preliminary explication of a theoretical model that addresses this issue and with presentation of a case study in which the model was applied to a corpus of pottery recovered through surface survey. This approach is predicated upon synthesis of two distinct anthropological constructs. It is argued that the analysis of ceramics as manifestations both of cuisine and technological agency (Dobres 2000) provides a profitable mechanism with which to address variability in regional processes of response to Rome.
Greco-Roman pottery is frequently presented as signifying seemingly discrete activities such as advertisement of elite affiliation, transport of foodstuffs, cooking, or dining behaviours, rather than as part of an integrated cultural system or as indicative of significant patterns of change in such a system. A useful alternative argument, however, is that ceramic artefacts represent and mediate the suite of socially embedded assumptions, decisions, and behaviours that comprise the larger system defined by the term 'cuisine'. According to this argument, ceramic artefacts (with the obvious exception of lamps, unguentaria, and the like) may be interpreted as physical manifestations of the choices made at every stage of the cuisine system, which itself functions as a connective node for other cultural constructs such as economy, social organization, and identity formation (Bats 1988; Moore 2000).
The cuisine system has been defined in anthropological terms as the complete set of activities, including manipulation of material culture, through which a self-defined cultural group satisfies its (self-determined) subsistence requirements. These activities comprise several cuisine 'phases' that include food production, distribution, preparation, consumption, and disposal. Each phase is composed of sub-phases and 'aspects' that articulate explicit links with other cultural systems (Goody 1982: 43-48). Table 1 illustrates the relationships between cuisine phases, sub-phases, and other aspects of the system.
Ceramic artefacts operate as representations of the technological sub-phases and aspects of cuisine phases as illustrated in Table 1. Standard functional categories already widely employed in analysis of Roman ceramics can be readily linked with appropriate sub-phases and technological aspects indicated in the Table. Transport amphorae represent the technology of distribution, for example, while mortaria represent preliminary preparation of food, ollae represent subsequent application of heat, and so on.
While the nature of individual archaeological assemblages, especially survey assemblages, may limit the extent to which the characterization of normative 'suites' of ceramic consumption can be achieved, the breakdown of ceramic assemblages into component cuisine phases facilitates inter-regional comparison as well as consideration of intra-regional diachronic variability in ceramic production and consumption. Regional responses to globalization processes within the Roman empire, for example, may be described in terms of interconnected, negotiated, cascading shifts in access to food resources, modifications to food distribution systems, change in cooking practices, and the like, as suggested by variable production, consumption, and discard of all classes of pottery. Moreover, changes in consumption of functional ceramic groups need not occur at the same rate or for the same reasons. Linkage of functional groups with technological sub-phases highlights and clarifies this variability of response.
In this way the anthropology of cuisine offers a robust interpretive mechanism with which to define and track specific patterns of change in each of these interlocking aspects of provincial life, explicitly connecting variability in both urban and rural production and selection of ceramics with processes of economic and social change. The cuisine model provides a well-defined framework within which to characterize change within and across ceramic assemblages and a powerful tool that links change in ceramic assemblages to change in related cultural systems. Ceramic data from both excavation and survey can then be used to consider some of the cultural consequences of Roman imperialism in both urban and rural contexts, and on both regional and site-specific levels (Moore 2000).
Table 1: Cuisine Phases and Sub-phases as defined by Goody (1982) Cuisine Phase Sub-phases Aspects Food Production Choice of plant and animal resources; organization of labour; use of productive resources (land, water); potential for surplus/famine Technology of production Food Distribution Allocation of food within the unit of production; gift exchange; market exchange; obligatory transfer; deliberate destruction Technology of storage; technology of transport; periodicity of distribution Food Preparation Preliminary preparation; application of heat or other agent of transformation; preparation for service Definition of preparation group; locus of preparation; technology of preparation Food Consumption Assembling of participants; distribution of prepared food; eating and drinking Periodicity of consumption; structure of the meal; ways of eating ('table manners'); technology of eating; definition of dining group; differentiation of cuisine within and between groups Disposal Initial disposal; recycling; long-term disposal Technology of disposal
When combined with analysis of local/regional ceramic production and distribution, the cuisine model facilitates identification and comparison of cultural choices represented by the shifting composition of cuisine/functional groups within ceramic assemblages. Diachronic variation in selection of local and imported tableware may result as much from differences in land use and potters' access to clay resources as from a desire to emulate 'elite' practice, for example; and cookware vessels may exhibit change in production technology for similar reasons. Such variation need not occur at the same rate even within a single region.
Complete analyses of ceramic consumption patterns are predicated as much on understanding of local production and distribution as on the movement of terra sigillata and transport amphorae. Discussions limited to imported wares alone fail to address a significant component of socio-economic response to Roman rule; see Dobres (2000) for important discussion of the relationships between technology, imperialism, and consumption. Analysis of ceramic technology with reference to the ceramic chaine opèratoire is now standard practice and provides important information about local economic resources and social organization. Moreover, unless care is taken to ensure collection, study, and understanding of local ceramic products, over-representation of highly visible and readily recognizable imports may significantly skew the results of field survey. See, most recently, Sanders (2004) for discussion of this issue with respect to survey in the eastern Mediterranean.
Case Study: Ceramic Evidence from southern Epirus The first explicit application of a cuisine model to the study of Roman ceramics was Bats' analysis of excavated Hellenistic and Roman assemblages from Olbia/Hyère (Bats 1988). Subsequently, Berlin used coarsewares from Hellenistic and Roman levels at Tel Anafa to reconstruct the cooking practices and, by extension, the ethnicity of the site's inhabitants (Berlin 1997). Neither Berlin nor Bats considered all aspects of the cuisine system and neither applied the full cuisine model to broader analyses of regional patterns beyond the level of a single site. However, both studies provide ample illustration of the explanatory potential of a cuisine-based approach.
It is useful at this point to consider a case study in which this approach was applied at a regional level. The study in question is based on analysis of Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Roman pottery recovered in the course of intensive surface survey in southern Epirus, Greece, by the Nikopolis Survey Project. The primary goal of this joint Greek-American project was the reconstruction of the southern Epirote landscape from Palaeolithic through early modern times. Of particular interest was the nature of land use in the Roman and Late Roman periods in general and, more specifically, the effect of Octavian's creation of Nikopolis (shortly after 31 B.C.) on the economy and social organization of the rural hinterland.
Fieldwork and study seasons were conducted in Epirus from 1991 through 1996 under the joint direction of James Wiseman (Department of Archaeology, Boston University), Angelika Douzougli and Constantinos Zachos (12th Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities), and Frankiska Kephallonitou (8th Ephoreia of Byzantine Antiquities). The first volume of the survey publication series, including discussion of survey and sampling strategy, regional geomorphology and remote sensing studies, is now available as are several brief overviews of the survey results (e.g., Wiseman 2001; Wiseman and Zachos 2003). The second volume in the series will include the complete results of the ceramic study discussed briefly here (Moore Morison forthcoming; see also Moore 2000 for preliminary results).
Epirus was, throughout most of its history, comprised of several distinct tribal areas, each of which enjoyed different forms of political organization and diverse relationships with southern Greece and Italy. The Nikopolis Project survey zone encompasses more than eight hundred square kilometres and is roughly consistent with the ancient boundaries of Cassopaia, one of the tribal sub-regions of pre-Roman Epirus. The survey zone also corresponds to the original territory of Nikopolis. This area extended from Nikopolis and the straits of Actium north along the Ionian seacoast to the mouth of the Acheron River, and east as far as the Louros River gorge. Moving east from Actium the survey zone included the northern coast of the Ambracian Gulf just into the modern nomos of Arta (ancient Ambracia), so that the Louros river delta was included but not the modern city of Arta itself (Fig. 1). Ambracia was not regarded in antiquity as a part of Cassopaia, nor was it part of the territory assigned to Nikopolis at its foundation.
Prior to the Nikopolitan synoecism Cassopaia was inhabited by a mixture of Epirotes and colonists from the Peloponnesian city of Elis. From the sixth century B.C. onward this diverse group was part of a complex web of shifting alliances with Macedonia and the inland Epirote tribes. In contrast, much of the northern coast of Epirus (e.g. Chaonia) was colonized by other Greek states such as Corinth and, in the first century B.C., by wealthy Roman equestrians known in the literary tradition as the Epirotici homines. Though the various Epirote tribes were loosely allied in earlier periods, they appear to have had different internal economic and political structures and different political relationships with Rome in the second and first centuries B.C. Thus, although Epirus was united during the reign of Trajan into a single province with an administrative seat at Nikopolis (a province subsequently divided, perhaps under Diocletian, into two separate entities known as Epirus Vetus and Epirus Nova) the temptation to view Epirus as a monolithic cultural entity with a simple or unified relationship with, and response to, Rome should be avoided.
Figure 1: Nikopolis Project Survey Zone.
The Nikopolis Project was designed, then, to address questions specific to Cassopaia rather than to Epirus as a whole. Following intensive geomorphologic study, a survey strategy was developed based upon sampling of significant environmental zones within the region, including coastal plains, inland valleys, mountain foothills and upland valleys. Fieldwork included both off-site and on-site survey with intensive coverage of areas ranging from small activity scatters to extensive settlements, including four small town sites identified as Archaic-era colonies of Elis (Tartaron 2003).
A total of approximately 250,000 representative ceramic artefacts, including objects not immediately recognized by the survey teams as diagnostic, were collected and analysed according to the cuisine model outlined above. In all, approximately ten thousand of these artefacts are considered in the discussion below. In 1997 and 1998 study was also made of unpublished ceramic material from well-stratified excavated sites within the survey region such as the Classical/Hellenistic town of Cassope, an early imperial farmstead/villa site at Strongyli, and a small area within the recent excavations at Nikopolis. The opportunity to study excavated ceramic comparanda made it possible to develop a good understanding of local ware traditions, an understanding that was crucial to the analysis of regional importation and production processes.
A petrographic study was conducted to characterize technological choices made in the production of the local wares in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Late Roman periods. In addition to characteristic imitations of imported terra sigillata, seven regional ware-groups were used for food preparation and service. Four of these regional wares (called A, B, C, and D) exhibit differences in firing colour but are essentially identical in mineralogy. The differences in firing colour exhibit no significant diachronic, spatial, or functional pattern. These wares were used throughout the Roman period for production of simple pitchers, jars, and cups. The remaining three Roman-era regional wares were used for food preparation vessels such as casseroles, stewpots, and mortaria. These wares are distinct in colour, texture, and mineralogy (Moore 2000: 106–126). It is also clear that each of these three wares had three distinct periods of use, as discussed below.
Table 2 presents the relative percentages of imported and regional artefacts for each of the periods under discussion here. For purposes of this paper, Roman 1 corresponds to the period from the Roman sack of Epirus in 167 B.C. to the battle of Actium in 31 B.C. The Roman 2 period extends from 31 B.C. through the early fourth century A.D., from Actium through the first wave of Slavic incursions into southern Epirus. The Roman 3 period includes the late fourth through early sixth centuries and is characterized by both economic and political prosperity in the immediate vicinity of Nikopolis despite repeated waves of Slavic and Visigoth invasion.
Table 2: Relative percentages of regional and imported wares by period and survey sub-regions Roman 1 Roman 2 Roman 3 % Regional Wares 91 73 24 % Regional, Acheron Valley % Regional, Ayios Thomas % Regional, Cheimadhio % Regional, Elean colonies % Regional, Grammeno % Regional, Michalitsi % Regional, Strongyli % Regional, Vathy % Regional, other 0 15 15 35 0 15 20 0 0 20 19 3 6 18 3 5 17 9 4 40 1 1 7 0 2 30 15 % Imported Wares 9 27 76 % Imported, Acheron Valley % Imported, Ayios Thomas % Imported, Cheimadhio % Imported, Elean Colonies % Imported, Grammeno % Imported, Michalitsi % Imported, Strongyli % Imported, Vathy % Imported, other 0 33 33 0 0 0 0 0 34 0 27 2 0 10 0 5 49 7 6 38 2 0 17 0 0 33 4
Table 2 also indicates the relative percentages of regional and imported wares in the various survey sub-regions defined below. It should be noted that these sub-regions vary considerably in size, environmental features and artefact density. Space does not permit detailed analysis here of the implications of these variables with respect to artefact interpretation, though Tartaron (2003) does provide discussion of these issues as they affected survey and sampling strategies.
Of concern here are broad patterns of ceramic consumption within the survey region. As suggested in Table 2 the consumption of regional and imported wares varied considerably both through time and across space. Consideration of variable patterning in specific functional cuisine groups, as outlined below, provides insight into economic and social mechanisms that may explain these variations.
Ceramic Consumption Patterns: Spatial Distribution of Functional Groups This section presents an overview of regional ceramic consumption patterns in the three periods of Roman/Cassopaian interaction noted above. For purposes of this brief paper, discussion of the role of ceramics in the food production and disposal phases has been omitted. The Latin literary tradition does suggest the use of certain ceramic vessels in these phases but in the context of the surface survey it was not possible to make definitive identifications of such vessels.
Figure 2 illustrates the survey areas mentioned in the discussion below. From (roughly) north to south, these include small farmsteads in the Acheron River valley; the Elean colonies at Kastri, Kastro Rizovouni, Palaiorophoros, and Kastro Rogon; a large farmstead in the upland hills of Cheimadhio; large farmsteads/villas at Grammeno and Strongyli; a large harbour installation at Ormos Vathy; and several sites along the centuriated extension of Nikopolis along the Ayios Thomas peninsula (Ayios Minas, Metamorphosis, etc.). Reference will also be made to an area of small farmsteads in the Michalitsi hills, which extend across an area from Nikopolis to just north of Kanali.
The Roman 1 period exhibits an intriguing mix of both continuities and discontinuities in the spatial patterning of the ceramic data when compared with that of earlier periods. For example, locally produced cooking-vessels, including lopades, mortaria, and basins of standard southern Greek types, have a Roman 1 distribution broadly comparable to that of Classicaland Hellenistic-era cooking-vessels. In all three periods, the material clusters at small settlements in the Michalitsi hills and at the Elean colonies of Rizovouni, Palaiorophoros, and Kastri. Additionally in the Roman 1, examples are found at the large farmsteads at Strongyli and Cheimadhio.
Campanian Dressel 1 amphorae are the only transport vessels represented in the Roman 1, and are only found at Cheimadhio and very small scatters on the Ionian coast. The survey recovered none of the Attic finewares typical at large excavated sites in the region such as Cassope and Ambracia. The presence of late imitation Thin-Walled wares at Grammeno and in small scatters on the Ayios Thomas peninsula, however, attests to settlement in these areas of the survey region as well.
Striking contrasts are evident in the spatial patterning of ceramic functional groups. The distribution of Italian-style tableware and imported Italian wine jars is limited to large farmsteads and areas near harbour installations. Most small inland settlements lack these imports but do exhibit evidence of continuity of occupation in the form of cooking vessels of standard Greek type (e.g., chytra and lopas). Local production of such cooking vessels was apparently not significantly disrupted between 167 and 31 B.C. Rather, the ceramic evidence suggests a rebound from the sack of 167 B.C. as opposed to total devastation and abandonment of the inland settlements.
Figure 2: Settlement within the survey region.
An emerging disparity between the lifestyle of the coast and larger farmsteads, as opposed to small inland farms and villages, is also apparent. As noted above, the Italian imports in harbourages and large villa-style holdings just inland from these harbours comprise a quite different ceramic assemblage than that recovered at smaller inland sites. It is tempting to suggest that this may pattern may attest to an influx of wealthy Roman landholders, as in the area farther north near Buthrotum in this period, but definitive archaeological evidence for this argument is lacking (pace Karatzeni 2001: 171).
After the establishment of Nikopolis through synoecism shortly after 31 B.C., a decline in settlement of the rural hinterland would not be unexpected. In fact, this prediction is not borne out by the survey data. By the late first century A.D. a renewal of settlement throughout the region is apparent. The spatial patterning of the three ceramic functional classes also exhibits an interesting degree of variation in the Roman 2 period.
Not surprisingly, Italian, Dalmatian, and North African transport amphorae were recovered in significant concentrations near the Nikopolis harbour installations and the associated settlement along the Ayios Thomas peninsula, south of Nikopolis itself. Smaller quantities of these vessels were dispersed at the large farmsteads nearby at Grammeno and Strongyli. While the commodities conveyed in these vessels could certainly have been transported inland in other containers, the transport amphorae recovered in this period are not found at the smaller inland sites also inhabited in this period.
Dining vessels exhibit a similar distribution pattern in the Roman 2 period. A limited number of Italian sigillata platters, and a larger quantity of regional imitations of Italian platters, characterize the first century A.D. Both imported sigillatas and regional imitations appear in excavated contexts at Strongyli and Nikopolis; the distribution of comparable vessels recovered through survey is limited to clusters near the harbours and large farmsteads in association with transport amphorae. Very small quantities of Eastern sigillata and African Red Slip appear between the second and early fourth centuries and exhibit the same distribution pattern. In no case have types been found that are without frequent parallel in other regions of Greece.
More surprising is a dramatic shift in the production and distribution of cooking vessels in the Roman 2 period. A few examples of Pompeian Red Ware were recovered at Strongyli and Grammeno, but the vast majority of cooking vessels datable to the three centuries following the Nikopolitan synoecism belong to a round-bottomed olla type common in southern Greece in this period – although the rim shape is somewhat unusual and finds closer parallels to shapes from sites in northern Epirus and Dalmatia. The local Cassopaian examples exhibit a notable degree of standardization of rim diameter and are produced in a clay body notably different from that of the earlier Classical- and Hellenistic-era cooking vessels. The latter essentially disappears at this point from both survey and excavated contexts.
Petrographic study of cooking vessels and regional clay resources suggests that the foundation of Nikopolis may have been accompanied by significant change in the nature of local coarseware production. Local potters began to use a new type of clay with a considerably more restricted regional distribution by the end of the first century A.D. Figures 3 and 4 are photomicrographs illustrating the differences in mineralogy and textural composition between the clay bodies of a Hellenistic lopas (Fig. 3) and a Roman 2 olla (Fig. 4). The Hellenistic vessel's clay body is characterized by small, somewhat rounded grains of plagioclase feldspar, quartz, and (rarely) chert, with some mica present as well. Figure 5 illustrates a type of clay found in abundance in the Michalitsi hills and many other parts of the survey region. This clay sample was fired in an oxidizing atmosphere to about 750° C and exhibits textural and mineralogical features comparable to those of the Hellenistic cooking vessel. In contrast, the Roman 2 cooking vessel is characterized by the presence of quite large, angular grains of chert, quartz, and feldspar, with very little mica. Figure 6 illustrates a clay type typical of the Ayios Thomas peninsula. This sample was fired in an oxidizing atmosphere to about 900° C and exhibits features comparable to those of the clay body of the Roman 2 cooking vessel.
It should be noted that the differences between the clay bodies are primarily textural rather than mineralogical and that the sample size of this pilot study was small (50 sherds and 28 clay samples). Combined with the changes in standardization, shape, and spatial distribution of the cooking vessels, however, these textural differences do suggest an important shift in production practice in this period, perhaps the result of reorganization of labour, land use or access to raw materials. Nevertheless, a reliance on local industry for production of these wares is still evident and there is little evidence outside Nikopolis itself for adoption of standard Italian cookware forms such as flat-bottomed baking pans.
Figure 3: Photomicrograph of Hellenistic cookware in thin-section, crossed polars
Figure 4: Photomicrograph of Roman 2 cookware in thin-section, crossed polars
Figure 5: Photograph of local clay sample in thin-section, crossed polars
The distribution of cooking vessels contrasts strongly with that of amphorae and tableware in the Roman 2 period. Transport amphorae, for example, were seen to cluster at the Nikopolis harbourage and the coastal extension of the city along the Ayios Thomas peninsula; no doubt these were meant to supply Nikopolis and the larger farmsteads. The new cookware, however, is present in significant quantities at the former Elean colonies, Michalitsi, the Acheron valley, and the large farmsteads and coastal settlements as well as the Nikopolis harbourage. This broader distribution suggests that the foundation of Nikopolis had little long-term effect on settlement of the countryside. Intensification of settlement occurred along the Nikopolis harbour installations, but the hinterland, at least in terms of settlement pattern, seems to have been largely unaffected. Many rural sites, indeed, exhibit what may be a continuity of settlement from the Hellenistic through the Late Roman periods. It should be noted that only a close attention to definition of typologies for local coarsewares has made this understanding of the settlement pattern possible.
Another shift in production method occurred between the third and fourth centuries A.D. A new technology was adopted in which cooking vessels were fired in a reducing rather than an oxidizing atmosphere. This practice resulted in a dark grey clay body, though the clays used are mineralogically comparable to those used in production of Roman 2 cookware. From the fourth through early sixth centuries A.D., moreover, the distribution of these vessels across the survey region was more restricted than the cookware distribution of earlier periods, suggesting a possible contraction of rural settlement in response to invasion. This pattern has also been noted by Karatzeni (2001: 171–172).
Transport amphorae and tableware datable to the same period (Roman 3) reflect the continued integration of the region in pan-Mediterranean trade networks despite the threat of barbarian incursion. Large quantities of African and spirally-grooved eastern Mediterranean amphorae were recovered by the survey. Predictably, these were distributed in more limited quantities near the inland villas and in far greater numbers in the coastal settlements near Nikopolis. A few examples of spirally-grooved amphorae also appear in association with cookware at small farmsteads along the Acheron valley.
Conclusion Some profitable conclusions can be drawn at this point regarding the social impact of the Roman conquest of southern Epirus and the subsequent political and economic integration of the area into the Roman imperial system. It is interesting to note that while the regions from which luxury food items and tableware were imported shifted over time, importation patterns from the late second century B.C. onward are generally in accordance with established patterns of trade throughout Greece, and do not reflect an unusual range of choices on the part of Epirote consumers. Rather, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that the geographical position of southern Epirus along east-west trade corridors guaranteed at least its urban population access to a trans-Mediterranean flow of luxury foodstuffs and dining vessels. The extent to which much of this material penetrated the hinterland beyond the large farmsteads established by the end of the first century B.C. was apparently rather limited, although settlement in these regions exhibits, at least as evidenced by local cookware products, a strong degree of continuity across several centuries.
Urban and rural response to Roman hegemony, as indicated by ceramic evidence for cooking and practice and the use of dining vessels thus appears to have been quite different. In the rural interior of the region, importation of luxury food items was minimal as was use of imported food service vessels such as Italian sigillata and African Red Slip, whereas the opposite pattern appears to apply in the more urbanized coastal area near Nikopolis and the large farmsteads located in the immediate hinterland. Regional ceramic production strategies do exhibit some significant change from the period of the Nikopolitan synoecism onwards, however.
Southern Epirus had maintained throughout its history a strong reliance on local ceramic production. Although a wide range of imported products was used, particularly in urban centres, the overall quantities of imported wares appear always to have been small in comparison with local products. On the other hand, many locally produced dining vessels were imitations of popular imported types – and imitation of at least some of these types, such as mould-made sigillatas, would have required potters either to learn new technologies or to make way for itinerant potters from other areas. Either way, the southern Epirote potters can be seen as a highly skilled and far-from-provincial group of craftsmen, particularly in light of the notable shift in production of cookwares.
Further examination of patterning in this body of data will provide more nuanced information regarding economic and social responses to the Roman presence in this region. Additional exploration of the evolution of land ownership, taxation, and other aspects of the southern Epirote economy will be necessary to fully contextualize the results of the ceramic study. Nevertheless, this general overview of a simple application of the cuisine model suggests that the study of survey pottery has significant interpretive potential.
Department of Classics, Grand Valley State University, Michigan
Acknowledgements The gracious support and assistance of the Greek Archaeological Service (12th Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and 8th Ephoreia of Byzantine Antiquities), the members of the Nikopolis Project team, the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, and the organizers of TRAC 2005 are gratefully acknowledged.


text:
"""Support for Sensirion SHT31 temperature and humidity sensor."""
from __future__ import annotations

from collections.abc import Callable
from dataclasses import dataclass
from datetime import timedelta
import logging
import math

from Adafruit_SHT31 import SHT31
import voluptuous as vol

from homeassistant.components.sensor import (
    PLATFORM_SCHEMA,
    SensorEntity,
    SensorEntityDescription,
)
from homeassistant.const import (
    CONF_MONITORED_CONDITIONS,
    CONF_NAME,
    DEVICE_CLASS_HUMIDITY,
    DEVICE_CLASS_TEMPERATURE,
    PERCENTAGE,
    TEMP_CELSIUS,
)
import homeassistant.helpers.config_validation as cv
from homeassistant.util import Throttle

_LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)

CONF_I2C_ADDRESS = "i2c_address"

DEFAULT_NAME = "SHT31"
DEFAULT_I2C_ADDRESS = 0x44

@dataclass
class SHT31RequiredKeysMixin:
    """Mixin for required keys."""

    value_fn: Callable[[SHTClient], float | None]

@dataclass
class SHT31SensorEntityDescription(SensorEntityDescription, SHT31RequiredKeysMixin):
    """Describes SHT31 sensor entity."""

SENSOR_TYPES = (
    SHT31SensorEntityDescription(
        key="temperature",
        name="Temperature",
        device_class=DEVICE_CLASS_TEMPERATURE,
        native_unit_of_measurement=TEMP_CELSIUS,
        value_fn=lambda sensor: sensor.temperature,
    ),
    SHT31SensorEntityDescription(
        key="humidity",
        name="Humidity",
        device_class=DEVICE_CLASS_HUMIDITY,
        native_unit_of_measurement=PERCENTAGE,
        value_fn=lambda sensor: (
            round(val)  # pylint: disable=undefined-variable
            if (val := sensor.humidity)
            else None
        ),
    ),
)
SENSOR_KEYS: list[str] = [desc.key for desc in SENSOR_TYPES]

MIN_TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES = timedelta(seconds=10)

PLATFORM_SCHEMA = PLATFORM_SCHEMA.extend(
    {
        vol.Optional(CONF_I2C_ADDRESS, default=DEFAULT_I2C_ADDRESS): vol.All(
            vol.Coerce(int), vol.Range(min=0x44, max=0x45)
        ),
        vol.Optional(CONF_MONITORED_CONDITIONS, default=SENSOR_KEYS): vol.All(
            cv.ensure_list, [vol.In(SENSOR_KEYS)]
        ),
        vol.Optional(CONF_NAME, default=DEFAULT_NAME): cv.string,
    }
)

def setup_platform(hass, config, add_entities, discovery_info=None):
    """Set up the sensor platform."""
    name = config[CONF_NAME]
    monitored_conditions = config[CONF_MONITORED_CONDITIONS]
    i2c_address = config[CONF_I2C_ADDRESS]
    sensor = SHT31(address=i2c_address)

    try:
        if sensor.read_status() is None:
            raise ValueError("CRC error while reading SHT31 status")
    except (OSError, ValueError):
        _LOGGER.error("SHT31 sensor not detected at address %s", hex(i2c_address))
        return
    sensor_client = SHTClient(sensor)

    entities = [
        SHTSensor(sensor_client, name, description)
        for description in SENSOR_TYPES
        if description.key in monitored_conditions
    ]

    add_entities(entities)

class SHTClient:
    """Get the latest data from the SHT sensor."""

    def __init__(self, adafruit_sht):
        """Initialize the sensor."""
        self.adafruit_sht = adafruit_sht
        self.temperature: float | None = None
        self.humidity: float | None = None

    @Throttle(MIN_TIME_BETWEEN_UPDATES)
    def update(self):
        """Get the latest data from the SHT sensor."""
        temperature, humidity = self.adafruit_sht.read_temperature_humidity()
        if math.isnan(temperature) or math.isnan(humidity):
            _LOGGER.warning("Bad sample from sensor SHT31")
            return
        self.temperature = temperature
        self.humidity = humidity

class SHTSensor(SensorEntity):
    """An abstract SHTSensor, can be either temperature or humidity."""

    entity_description: SHT31SensorEntityDescription

    def __init__(self, sensor, name, description: SHT31SensorEntityDescription):
        """Initialize the sensor."""
        self.entity_description = description
        self._sensor = sensor

        self._attr_name = f"{name} {description.name}"

    def update(self):
        """Fetch temperature and humidity from the sensor."""
        self._sensor.update()
        self._attr_native_value = self.entity_description.value_fn(self._sensor)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
News from Karabagh
Artsakh's presidential advisor, envoy resigns for enhanced political party activities
/Feb 21/ArmenPress.am/
YEREVAN – Shortly after Artsakh reported that President Bako Sahakyan has relieved his advisor and special envoy Arayik Harutyunyan from duties, the latter made a statement, noting that he has voluntarily resigned in order to get deeper involved in his political party activities. Harutyunyan, a former Prime Minister and State Minister of Artsakh, is the leader of the Free Fatherland (Azat Hayrenik) party.
"In order to avoid all kinds of speculations I would like to emphasize that my decision is not associated with any disagreement or problem with the President [Sahakyan]. Moreover, I am expressing my gratitude to President Sahakyan who gave me the chance in 2007 to serve our country and people for more than 11 years," he said on Facebook.
"I am happy that today a professional team is formed which is capable of ensuring the high indocators envisaged by the government's action plan", he added.
"On this occasion I would like to announce that the political force led by me will continue endorsing President Sahakyan's political course until the end of his tenure, for the sustainable and peaceful development of the Republic of Artsakh," he said.
Harutyunyan's Free Fatherland is the largest political party in Artsakh, currently holding majority of seats at the country's parliament.
OSCE assesses committment of Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to prepare their peoples for peace a positive signal
Feb 21/ArmenPress.am/
YEREVAN – The OSCE is committed to its mediation mission for the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict and hopes to see progress in the negotiation process in the format of Minsk Group Co-chairs, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger announced during the winter session of yhe OSCE PA.
'The commitment of the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan to prepare their populations for peace can be a very promising signal', ARMENPRESS reports Greminger as saying.
He emphasized the necessity of strengthening the role of the mediation missions of the OSCE in the settlement processes of different conflicts.
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs' format is the only mediation format engaged in Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process. The Co-chairs are Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America.
Azerbaijani MFA spokesperson speaks about possible Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting
ShareYEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Spokesperson of the foreign ministry of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva has announced about the preparation of the possible meeting between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. ARMENPRESS reports, citing Azerbaijani media, the Azerbaijani MFA spokesperson provided no details on the terms of the meeting. "Works continue in this direction", she said.
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs also emphasized in their January statement that measures will be taken for arranging a meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders.
Pashinyan and Aliyev have held 3 non-formal meetings so far. The 1st was in Dushanbe in September 2018 in the sidelines of the CIS summit. The 2nd took place in St. Petersburg in December 2018. This time the leaders met during the dinner organized in the framework of the informal meeting between leaders of CIS states following the EAEU regular sitting. Pashinyan-Aliyev 3rd meeting took place in January 2019 in Davos in the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Armenia PM to meet with Azerbaijan president, without agenda Armenia PM to meet with Azerbaijan president, without agenda
One of our government's priority tasks is increasing Karabakh's being a subject in the negotiation process [to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict].
The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, on Wednesday stated the aforesaid at his get-together in Tehran, with representatives of the Iranian Armenian community, according to Tert.am.
"We have to meet with the president of Azerbaijan; it will be a meeting without an agenda, but discussion of the negotiation format will be one of its important benchmarks," the PM said. "Unless we have reached agreement on the format, the contacts can't be considered official talks.
"[But] I speak on behalf of Armenia because I'm the prime minister of the Republic of Armenia. I don't speak on behalf of Artsakh because Artsakh has its own authorities. The Artsakh authorities should speak in the negotiation process on behalf of Artsakh. We must do everything so that Karabakh has a new level of being a subject in the negotiation process."
Pashinyan added that in case of any threat against Artsakh, the unity of Armenians will be doubled.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Gay magazine helps bring paedophile to justice
PinkNews Staff Writer October 26, 2007
A 22-year-old man has pleaded guilty at Swansea Crown Court to 15 counts of making indecent images of children and possessing 332 indecent photographs.
Daniel Byrne was arrested after his boyfriend became worried about his behaviour and contacted magazine Gay Times, now known as GT.
Staff at the publication told him to go to the police, who obtained a search warrant and went to the Heol-y-Graig, Clydach home of Byrne.
Sentencing him to a three-year community order and counselling sessions, Judge Keith Thomas said that people who view child pornography are "part of the industry of the sexual abuse of children which so many people are rightly appalled by."
The ordered him to pay £420 costs and sign the sex offenders register.
The South Wales Evening Post reports that Byrne's boyfriend had become worried when he saw images of child porn on his laptop.
He challenged Byrne, who deleted the images.
But some months later the boyfriend found that that he had been viewing more images, and wrote to Gay Times for advice.
They told him to report Byrne to the police.


Dr. Laura Hinson currently serves as a Social and Behavioral Scientist at ICRW, where she works to identify and reduce barriers to sexual and reproductive health for men, women, adolescents and other marginalized populations. She currently directs two large research and evaluations projects related to child marriage and family planning in Africa and Asia.
Besides her current research on technology-facilitated gender-based violence, Dr. Hinson's recent work has included conceptualizing and developing measures for reproductive empowerment and decision-making. Dr. Hinson has worked with multi-lateral institutions, foundations and international and local NGOS, including the World Bank, USAID and the Gates Foundation. Previously, she worked with the Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Advance Family Planning and FHI360.
Education: Dr. Hinson earned a PhD from the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and an MPH from the Department of Health Behavior (formally: Health Behavior and Health Education) at the University of North Carolina's Gilings School of Global Public Health.


Two interesting topics came up, and I couldn't decide which to explore. Should I choose timeliness or timelessness? 1. Two TV legends linked to '50s nostalgia died within the past week: Barbara Billingsley and Tom Bosley. 2. A new world record was set for the longest house cat.
Two interesting topics came up, and I couldn't decide which to explore. Should I choose timeliness or timelessness?
1. Two TV legends linked to '50s nostalgia died within the past week: Barbara Billingsley and Tom Bosley.
2. A new world record was set for the longest house cat.
I decided to write about the TV legends. What more can I?say about a 4-foot-long cat?
On the other hand, I could go on at length about Billingsley and Bosley.
When a celebrity dies, writers often use the opportunity to reflect on the star's contribution to entertainment.
While Bosley and Billingsley have passed on, June and Mr. C. will remain with us forever (or at least until the physical materials we use to document artistic works decay or become technologically inaccessible in the event mankind ceases to exist. Source:?"Life After People").
That aspect of television fascinates me. Viewers feel like they know people who don't really exist, even if they have never met the actual people responsible for bringing the non-living people to life.
Billingsley and Bosley were integral to the success of these sitcoms. They were catalysts but underappreciated. They usually had dialog that set up someone else's punchline.
You can't deny the impact of "Leave It To Beaver"?and "Happy?Days." They were similar in many ways.
Both shows center on life in the late '50s/early '60s.
"Happy?Days" seems slightly more realistic, in retrospect — expect for the shark-jumping and Mork-from-Orking. That stuff is as believable as a 48-inch-long feline.
"Happy Days" was set in Milwaukee; "Beaver" took place in the fictional Mayfield. Mayfield was pure television-land. Neighborhoods were peaceful, streets were clean and colors were glorious hues of gray.
Real communities named Mayfield do exist, in Kentucky,?Maryland, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, South Dakota, Washington and, oddly enough, Wisconsin, the location of the real Milwaukee used as a setting for the fake "Happy Days"?Milwaukee.
Hey, did you hear about that world-record 4-foot-long cat?


text:
Apple's TV Streaming Service Will Primarily Feature Third-Party Content at Launch: Bloomberg
by Christopher Baugh – Wed, March 13, 2019
Apple is reportedly planning to launch its upcoming TV service without much of its own original content, instead looking to Hollywood's most prominent content distributors for the time being.
Apple is expected to launch its subscription-based TV service when it takes to stage at its special event on March 25th. However, a recent report from Bloomberg states that while the initial plan was to launch the service with the majority of content being Apple's own in-house production, that move has now been delayed in favour of sourcing content from the most popular cable TV service providers.
In fact, according to the report, "the first slew of releases" from Apple itself won't hit the service until much later in 2019, as most of them are still in development. Presumably, the shows Apple has already released on Apple Music, such as Carpool Karaoke and Planet of the Apps, will be on the streaming service, but that isn't clear.
The Cupertino company is currently in talks with HBO owner AT&T, CBS, Starz, and Lionsgate Entertainment to bring their media libraries to its upcoming streaming service, Bloomberg is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the talks. At least some of those deals could be finalized by the end of this week, but they could still fall through if last-minute negotiations don't go well.
Unsurprisingly, Netflix and Hulu will not be a part of Apple's TV service, because they don't want Apple to control the user experience or have access to their viewing data. Apple would seemingly prefer to build a single portal through which users could access all their networks and services, but its direct competitors aren't game.
While the TV service will likely take center stage at the Steve Jobs Theater in two weeks, Apple is also expected to unveil its news subscription service at the event. iOS users will be able to subscribe to a bundle of magazines and newspapers through the Apple News app, which is being redesigned for the iOS 12.2 update.
Apple's push for increasing its revenue drawn from services has seen it increasingly strategize its latest launches around subscription models. The company is looking at services such as original video content streaming and news/magazine subscriptions to make money, following in Microsoft's steps, and foregoing its image of being a hardware-driven company in place of a media company.
Huawei Caught Using Stock Images to Promote Upcoming Smartphone's Camera — Again
Christopher Baugh
Wed, March 13, 2019


text:
Q: How can one deduce quadratic reciprocity from Hilbert reciprocity? Hilbert reciprocity says the following:
Define $(a,b)_p$ to be $1$ if there is a non-trivial solution in $\mathbb{Q}_p$ to $z^2=ax^2+by^2$, and $-1$ if there isn't. Then $\prod_p (a,b)_p =1$, where the product runs also over the infinite prime (and where $\mathbb{Q}_{\infty}$ is $\mathbb{R}$).
Quadratic reciprocity says:
Define $\left( \frac{p}{q}\right)$ to be $1$ if $p$ is a square in $\mathbb{F}_q$, and $-1$ otherwise. Then for every two different odd primes $p$ and $q$, $\left( \frac{p}{q}\right)\left( \frac{q}{p}\right)=(-1)^{\frac{(p-1)(q-1)}{4}}$.
I have heard that people think of Hilbert reciprocity as a generalization of quadratic reciprocity. How does one deduce it as a consequence?

A: Given the level of some of your other questions, I think you might enjoy going through the exercises in the back of Cassels and Fröhlich (which are excellent, having been written by Serre and Tate). Exercise 2.11 there is to prove quadratic reciprocity using Hilbert symbols and the product formula. However, they are building off of class field theory, so perhaps this isn't what you had in mind.
If you go this route, you will have to do some work in $\mathbf{Q}_2$ in order to establish
$$
(p, q)_2 = (-1)^{(p - 1)(q - 1)/4},
$$
but this is not so bad (because of Hensel's lemma), and is also done in Chapter III of Serre's A Course in Arithmetic.

A: This is from page 46 in Rational Quadratic Forms by J. W. S. Cassels. Let $p,q$ denote fixed (positive) odd primes with $p \neq q.$ Let $r$ run over all primes including $2,\infty,$ and simply take the product of all the $(p,q)_r$ and see what happens. The values I will be showing below are tabulated on page 43 for $r = 2$ and $r$  (positive) odd, while $r = \infty$ is on page 44. There are five cases:
For (positive) $r$ odd, $r \neq p,q$ we have  $(p,q)_r = 1.$
For $r = \infty,$   $(p,q)_\infty = 1.$
For $r = q,$   $(p,q)_q = (p | q).$
For $r = p,$   $(p,q)_p = (q | p).$
For $r = 2,$   $(p,q)_2 = (-1)^{(p-1)(q-1)/4}.$
That's it, you just need to confirm all five in your mind. The fact that the product of all five turns out to be 1 is, indeed, the statement that
$$   (p | q) (q | p)    = (-1)^{(p-1)(q-1)/4}.         $$

A: I happened to post on this (one hour before the question!) in another answer:
Conceptual Proof of Quadratic Reciprocity
The proof is quite easy.
For places $r$ different from $p, q, 2$, and $\infty$, the local Hilbert symbol is $+1$ because the quadratic form $x^2  -py^2 - qz^2$ has rank higher than 2.  More combinatorially, let $z=1$ and observe that the sets of values of $x^2$ and of $py^2$ have cardinality more than $|r|/2$ so that their sum has to cover all possibilities mod $r$.  Because the degree $2$ is less than $r$, Hensel lifting shows that an $r$-adic solution can be found from a mod $r$ solution.
The values of the local symbol at $p$ and $q$ are, by definition, the Legendre symbols.  (The existence of a solution mod $p$ or $q$ is the information recorded in a Legendre symbol, and Hensel lifting of the modular square roots to p-adic square roots can always be done for odd primes.)
The value of the the local symbol at $\infty$ is $+1$ because the form is not positive definite or negative definite.  Or write down a particular real solution such as $y=z=1, x = \sqrt{p+q}$.
This leaves the value of the local symbol at $2$. The condition for $py^2 + qz^2$ to be a square 2-adically is that it be a square mod $8$, i.e., congruent to $0,1$, or $4$, and a primitive nonzero solution has $y$ or $z$ odd.  Case analysis is not difficult:

*

*The symbol is +1 if $p$ or $q$ is $1 \mod 8$. If $p=1$ there is a solution with $y=1$ and $z=0$.

*The symbol is +1 if $p$ or $q$ is $5 \mod 8$. If $p=5$ there is a solution with $y=1$ and $z=2$.

*The symbol is -1 if $p$ and $q$ are both $-1 \mod 4$.  Both $y$ and $z$ must be even in this case.

This pattern of signs is the same as the $(-1)^{(p-1)(q-1)/4}$ in the quadratic reciprocity formula.
Finally, the product of all the local symbols is 1:
$$(1) (\frac{p}{q}) (\frac{q}{p}) (-1)^{(p-1)(q-1)/4} = 1$$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Creating a citation section in an access report I currently have a report that is broken out by:
Report Header (not used)
Page Header
Owner Header
Detail Section
Owner Footer
Page Footer
Report Footer (not used)
The detail section of the report lists out all of the products owned by a specific owner, data which is pulled from a table.
Some of these products have a special nuance to them that need to be documented. I have created a query that isolates all the products and their owners that fit this criteria.
How do I post the data from this query to the owner section of the report and make sure that this data references the products in the detail section of the report? - Akin to a citation table.


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Victory Mercury Trophies. This modern abstract trophy makes a very special award for its recipient to celebrate success.
Metallic silver finish, non gender specific, fluid design, high quality rosewood finish base. Available in 13.5" size.
Your text is added to a silver metal plate which is attached to the base of the trophy.
Approximate Base Dimensions - 3" wide x 1 3/8" tall.