Etan Ayalon : The Assemblage of Bone and Ivory Artifacts from Caesarea Maritima, Israel, 1^st – 13^th Centuries CE, BAR International Series 1457. Oxford 2005, 396 pages, 61 figures with 577 drawn objects, 15 plates, 3 photographs (ISBN 1 84171 895 5)

In 1999, the “Bare Bones, Ancient Artifacts from Animal Bones” exhibition was presented by the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was the first time that bone artefacts from the Roman period and later in Israel were presented in such detail. A PhD resulted from this exhibition that has recently been published in the BAR international series concerning the bone and ivory artifacts found in Caeserea Maritima, located on the Israeli coast between modern Netanya and the ancient tell site of Tel Dor. The city was founded by the Phoenicians and inhabited successively by the Romans, Byzantines, Moslems and Crusaders. Finally, it was conquered and completely destroyed by the Mameluk leader Bibars. Since the mid-19th century, various excavations have been organized by international expeditions.Thus, a multifaceted collection of about 3900 bone and ivory artifacts dating from the AD 1st to the 13th centuries

emerged.

These objects have been subdivided into different type classes such as handles, utensils,weapon parts, weaving and dress objects, writing implements, boxes, hinges, body grooming objects, jewelry, musical instruments, gaming pieces and religious/art objects. Nearly 25 % of all objects comprise production waste. Local production of bone and even ivory artifacts in the city was quite important during most of its existence. Many well known Roman object types came to light in Caesarea and Etan Ayalon lists a huge number of parallels from the whole of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, some Roman types are missing or nearly not represented from his inventory. These include amulets, hinges, spoons, gaming pieces or combs.

Does this mean there are regional, cultural or social differences between the northwestern and eastern provinces ? The same question has to be asked concerning the use of various raw materials. For example, only one piece of fallow deer (Dama dama) antler has been found in Caesarea although this animal is quite often represented amongst the food remains. Altogether it has to be said that Etan Ayalon’s volume will be of great importance for everybody who is interested in bone and ivory artifacts, especially in the Late Antique and medieval period. And last but not least, we can promise European readers that they will be surprised by the exotic beauty of the Byzantine and the Arab period objects.

Site conçu par Lorenz Baumer et François Queyrel et réalisé par Lorenz Baumer, 2006/7