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Two metallurgical traditions coexisted in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant: the lost wax casting of polymetallic alloys and the pure copper technology. Details of their operational sequences are still unknown. To date, no production sites of lost wax casting technology have been found. Only the main steps of the pure copper technology can be reconstructed from the archaeological record. Therefore, an archaeological experiment was carried out to shed new light on both technologies. Concerning the pure copper technology, the experiment focussed on the draught technique and high-temperature behaviour of the crucible and furnace clays. Based on archaeological evidence, a furnace and crucibles were reconstructed with local clays used by ancient metallurgists. Instead of the commonly hypothesised blowpipes, bellows were used to produce the draught. The furnace was successfully operated with bellows and reached temperatures high enough to melt copper. Furthermore, the clays’ behaviour varied considerably due to high heat exposure, but they are suitable if used appropriately. Our experiment establishes this draught technique as a viable alternative to the commonly assumed blowpipes as well as the suitability of local clays.

This article offers a brief comparative view of the teaching of Amharic in the last decades at two major European universities: the Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” and the Universität Hamburg. The aim of this brief history is to highlight the severe consequences on the teaching of Amharic enforced by measures set in motion by the Bologna Process since 1999. This changed framework requires adequate strategies and counter-measures in order to safeguard the quality of education and the continuity of our research traditions. Aethiopica, Vol 22 (2019)

This paper reviews the methodological and practical issues relevant to the ways in which natural scientists, historians and archaeologists may collaborate in the study of past climatic changes in the Mediterranean basin. We begin by discussing the methodologies of these three disciplines in the context of the consilience debate, that is, attempts to unify different research methodologies that address similar problems. We demonstrate that there are a number of similarities in the fundamental methodology between history, archaeology, and the natural sciences that deal with the past (“palaeoenvironmental sciences”), due to their common interest in studying societal and environmental phenomena that no longer exist. The three research traditions, for instance, employ specific narrative structures as a means of communicating research results. We thus present and compare the narratives characteristic of each discipline; in order to engage in fruitful interdisciplinary exchange, we must first understand how each deals with the societal impacts of climatic change. In the second part of the paper, we focus our discussion on the four major practical issues that hinder communication between the three disciplines. These include terminological misunderstandings, problems relevant to project design, divergences in publication cultures, and differing views on the impact of research. Among other recommendations, we suggest that scholars from the three disciplines should aim to create a joint publication culture, which should also appeal to a wider public, both inside and outside of academia. International audience