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Review
Author(s): Elizabeth P. Baughan
Review by: Elizabeth P. Baughan
Source: Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 29, No. 1/2 (Spring, 2002 - Summer, 2004), pp. 225-
228
Published by: Maney Publishing
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pendix on figures, concentrated in Anatolia in the seventh
and sixth millennia B.C., with legs in an anatomically im-
possible, bent-upwardpose. Garfinkelargues plausibly that
this was an artisticconvention to represent"dynamicdance
postures" [p. 295].
Most archaeologists will find this book intriguing be-
cause of the ideas it generates for new ways to investigate
prehistoric ceremonies or festivals. While there has been
considerable interest in Neolithic ideology and in the func-
tions of ceremony (e.g., Cauvin 1994; Kuijt 1996; Rollef-
son 2000), no previous study has done so much to explore
one of the principal activities that the Neolithic cult most
likely involved. Garfinkel'sbook will not only be of inter-
est to archaeologists but contributes to the fields of art his-
tory and dance history, which, like archaeology, have pre-
viously neglected the evidence for dance in the Neolithic
and Chalcolithic periods.
Cauvin,Jacques
1994 AaissancedesDivinites,Naissancede l'lgriculture.La Revolu-
tiondesSymboles au Neolithique.Paris:CNRS.
Hodder, Ian
1990 The Domesticationof Europe.Structureand Contingencyin
NeolithicSocieties.Oxford:Basil Blackwell.
Kuijt,Ian
1996 "NegotiatingEqualitythrough Ritual:A Considerationof
Late Natufian and Pre-PotteryNeolithic A Period Mortu-
ary Practices,"Journal of Anthropological
Archaeology15:
313-336.
Renfrew,Colin
1985 TheArchaeologyof Cult. The Sanctuaryat Phylakopi.Lon-
don: BritishSchool of Archaeologyat Athens.
Rollefson, GaryO.
2000 "Ritualand Social Structureat Neolithic 'Ain Ghazal,"in
Ian Kuijt,ed., Life in NeolithicFarmingCommunities.New
York:KluwerAcademic/PlenumPublishers,165-190.
Aspects of Empire in Achaemenid Sardis
ELSPETHR. M. DUSINBERRE. XV+ 325 pages, 103 black
and white photographs and line drawings, 5 appen-
dices, references, index. New York: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 2003. $90.00 cloth. ISBN 0-521-81071-X.
Reviewed by Elizabeth P. Baughan, Department of
Classics, University of California, Berkeley, 7233
Dwinelle Hall 2520, Berkeley, CA 94720-2520.
In this revised and expanded publication of her 1997
doctoral dissertation, Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre
explores
the complex social landscape of Sardis in the era of
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Journal of FieldArchaeology/Vol.29, 2002-2004 225
Achaemenid Persianrule (ca. 550-330 B.C.). The effects of
Achaemenid administration in western Anatolia have only
recently begun to be examined with a sensitivity to the sub-
tleties of "Persianisms"and other cultural signifiers in the
polyethnic societies of Persian-periodAsia Minor. Dusin-
berre'swork both draws on and contributes to this grow-
ing field of inquiry. The transformation of Sardis, the cap-
ital of the Lydian empire, into the administrative center of
a Persian satrapy provides a case study for examining
Achaemenid impact on different aspects of life in a western
satrapalcity, as seen through the historical and archaeolog-
ical records. As Dusinberre admits, only a small part of the
city has been excavated, and only a fraction of the excavat-
ed remains and finds belong to this period. In the new the-
oretical framework of the study of Achaemenid Anatolia,
however, even small amounts of evidence can carry great
significance-the polyethnic composition of the elite class
under Achaemenid rule "may limit the appearance of
specifically and recognizably 'Iranian' material in the ar-
chaeological record;" at the same time, increased social
stratification and other changes not obviously inspired by
"Iranian"elements may reflect "the external control of the
Achaemenid hegemony over an area"[p. 10].
Dusinberre first situates Sardis geographically within
the Achaemenid empire by vividly narrating an imaginary
westbound traveler'sapproach to Sardis along the "Royal
Road" from the Persian heartland. This colorful account
serves to embed her discussion of Sardis in a Persian per-
spective instead of the Hellenocentric view from which it
is often examined. She next outlines the history of Sardis
in the Achaemenid period based on written sources from
Greece and the Near East. Balancing Greek narrative ac-
counts of the exploits of the satrapsare Persian administra-
tive texts that mention Sardis or Sardians.The satrapalfo-
cus of the Greek written sources contrasts with the nature
of the archaeologicalevidence to which the rest of the book
is devoted-no satrapal palace, archives, or inscriptions
have yet been uncovered at Sardis.The following six chap-
ters focus on individual aspects of the archaeologicalrecord
of Sardis in the era of Persian rule: architecture,sculpture,
inscriptions, graves, sealstones, and ceramics. These chap-
ters are supplemented with five detailed appendices cata-
loguing the different types of material evidence dealt with
in the text.
In Chapter 3, "The Urban Structure of Achaemenid
Sardis: Monuments and Meaning," Dusinberre must rely
heavily on written sources for illuminating the Persian
characterof the city, since specific Persianisms are rare in
the preserved architecturalrecord. In fact, the availableev-
idence displays a striking amount of continuity from the
Lydian era. The city was re-fortified under Achaemenid
226 BookReviews
rule, but the layout and construction of the city wall, at
least where it has been excavated,generally follow its colos-
sal Lydian predecessor. The same can be said for the few
traces of residential buildings that have been assigned to
this period. The satrapalpalace probably appropriated the
earlier Lydian royal residence, not yet located archaeologi-
cally. Dusinberre draws on written accounts recording sev-
eral different "rings" of fortification walls culminating in
the city's acropolis to reconstruct an eastern hierarchy of
defensibility, expressing social stratification within the im-
perial city. There is no reason to suspect that this aspect of
the layout of Sardis did not also stem from the Lydian era,
however, since Lydian monarchs had prior eastern connec-
tions, as stressed elsewhere in the book. Paradeisoi,or for-
mal gardens for the enjoyment of the satrapalcourt and the
king when he visited, are attested at Sardis only in histori-
cal accounts. Dusinberre suggests, however, that Persian-
period renovations of a fountainhouse in the areaof the Ly-
dian gold refinery,which apparentlywent out of use in the
Achaemenid era, may have been connected with the main-
tenance of such gardens. More compelling reflections of
Persian presence are found in the few sacred monuments
that can be dated to the Achaemenid period. Dusinberre
presents evidence for the possible conversion of a Lydian
altar of Kybele to a Zoroastrian fire altar some time in the
Persian period. Here continuity of cult location is accom-
panied by transformation of religious practice. She finds
further evidence for religious syncretism in the hybrid form
of the so-called "LydianAltar,"built in the 5th century near
the later Temple of Artemis-its basic plan has local and
Ionian parallels but its stepped podium may carryPersian
connotations. No temples built prior to the Hellenistic pe-
riod have yet been located at Sardis, but a sculpted model
of a peripteral shrine of Kybele (carved ca. 540-530 B.c.)
may give some idea as to what the archaicTemple of Ky-
bele, destroyed in 499 according to historical accounts,
looked like. Dusinberre connects the superimposed bands
of figural decoration that decorate the cella walls on the
model with similar friezes on Near Eastern monuments
like the Ishtar Gate at Babylon. At the same time, she
stresses that since the model may reflect a temple built by
the last Lydian monarch, Croesus, prior to the Persiancon-
quest, its eastern features may indicate "the openness of
the
Lydians to eastern ideas and traditions even before the
ar-
rival of the Persians in the area"[p. 105].
Chapter 4, "The Urban Structure of Achaemenid
Sardis: Sculpture and Society,"begins with an overview of
what
sculpture in the Persianempire as a way of imagining
we might expect the ornament of Achaemenid
sculptural
Sardis to look like. This useful survey demonstrates how
"central Achaemenid iconography and ideas were re-
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worked in local styles and sometimes placed in new con-
texts on local structures"[p. 86], but it sets up an expecta-
tion that similar iconographic elements will be found at
Sardis. Dusinberre's analysis of the handful of sculptures
from Sardis that have been dated stylisticallyto the Persian
period is thus framed within a decidedly Persian context,
though few have eastern affinities. Most numerous are fu-
nerary reliefs showing reclining banquets. These display
western stylistic traits and find their closest parallelsin oth-
er areas of western Anatolia, and, as Dusinberre admits,
"no royal Persian reliefs have yet been discovered with
scenes of reclining people banqueting" [p. 95]. Neverthe-
less, she identifies the theme as eastern in origin and con-
nects these monuments closely with her argument, in a lat-
er chapter, that Persiansintroduced the custom of burying
the dead on couches, or klinai. Dusinberre acknowledges
that Lydian grave assemblages dated before the Persian
conquest attest to the pre-existence of some concept of the
funerary banquet in Lydia, but maintains that "the associ-
ation of reclining banqueting with mortuary treatment is
apparently a phenomenon of the Achaemenid period" [p.
95]. As will be argued in more detail below, however, Dus-
inberre'sidentification of burial couches and reclined ban-
queting as Iranian additions to Lydian customs is not se-
cure. Also speculative is Dusinberre's discussion of the few
examples of freestanding human statuary from Sardis that
can be assigned to the era of Persian rule. Chance discov-
eries outside their original contexts, these four fragmentary
works (all local versions of "Greek" figure types) surely
represent only an arbitrarysampling of Sardis' sculptural
record in this period, yet from them Dusinberre constructs
an argument on gender roles in Achaemenid Sardis. She
explains the "preponderance of draped female figures
among free-standing statues" in her data set (three out of
the four examples) as an expression of ideas relating to the
domestication of Sardian women, "clothed, as culturally
conceived beings" [p. 100]. Also devoid of any apparent
Achaemenid elements are reliefs depicting Kybele,Artemis,
and unidentified female figures, carvedin local adaptations
of "Greek"styles. Lion statues, too, may say more about
Lydian continuity than Achaemenid ideology. Dusinberre
outlines the significance of the lion as a royal and cultic
in the Persian
symbol in pre-Achaemenid Lydia as well as
in the
empire. She concludes that "the sculptures of Sardis
Achaemenid period show a fusion of multiple influences to
create an eclectic new manner of expression in Achaemenid
collected
Lydia" [pp. 109-110]. Indeed, the sculptures
here constitute an eclectic group, but Dusinberre's asser-
reflect eastern themes and
tion that "many of the subjects
she
ideas" [p. 112] is not supported by the evidence pre-
sents.

More insight into the eclectic nature of Sardian culture
and society in the Achaemenid era is provided by inscrip-
tions from Sardis that can be dated to the Persian period.
These are catalogued in one of the appendices and sum-
marized in Chapter 5, "Inscriptions:Sardiansin their Own
Words."Iranian as well as Lydian personal names are at-
tested, and gods are referred to by Greek or Lydian titles.
Formulaic funeraryinscriptions remain consistent from the
Lydian era through the Persianperiod, and in one case the
formula is translated into Aramaic on a bilingual inscrip-
tion that apparently commemorates the grave of a Lydian
individual. Most of the other inscriptions catalogued here
are in Lydian, but a few are in Greek, including one that
records the dedication of a statue to Zeus by an Iranianof-
ficial in the satrapal administration. Another individual
who was apparentlyof Iranian origin served as a priest of
Artemis and/or the Lydian version of Apollo and set up
two decrees in Lydian.
Dusinberre's discussion of funerary customs and grave
assemblages in Chapter 6, "MortuaryEvidence: Dead and
Living Societies,' provides a useful model for examining
hybridity in mortuary treatment. Three types of burial are
common at Sardis during the Achaemenid era: interments
in built chambers covered by earthen tumuli, burials in
rock-cut chamber tombs, and sarcophagus burials. Dusin-
berre makes the important point that wealth does not seem
to have been a determining factor in the choice among
these options, since the offerings in these graves, when pre-
served, are often very similar.She also stresses the impossi-
bility of gleaning ethnicity from tomb structures or grave
offerings at Sardis--ethnicity was apparently"not a differ-
ence that was important to the living society to make clear
in mortuary treatment. Rather, grave inclusions suggest
the presence of a cosmopolitan, polyethnic elite at Sardis:
an elite that was devising a new symbolic language of per-
sonal ornamentation and funerary inclusion to symbolize
membership in and adherence to the new standards and
ways of the wealthy and those of high status in
Achaemenid-period Lydia"[pp. 138-139]. Funerarystruc-
tures and assemblages thus served to express socially con-
structed identities that, while a product of the polyethnic
composition of Sardian society, had no direct correlation
with the ethnicity of the buried persons. This is one of the
most important points made in the book, with broad the-
oretical applications.
Dusinberre's explanation of tumuli and rock-cut tombs
as signifiers of "Lydian" and "Persian"social
identity re-
spectively (whether or not reflections of Lydian and Per-
sian ethnicity), however, is too strictly demarcated.The tu-
muli certainly emulate the massive burial mounds of the
Lydian dynasty, but while many of the rock-cut chamber
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JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.
29, 2002-2004 227
tombs of the Sardis necropolis appear to belong to the
Achaemenid era, the series began prior to the Persian con-
quest, as Dusinberre herself admits [p. 132]. Moreover, the
basic form of the Sardian rock-cut tombs bears no resem-
blance to those of the Persiankings at Naqsh-i Rustam near
Persepolis. Dusinberre also overreaches by suggesting that
freestanding stelai set up at tomb entrances were meant to
approximate the sculpted facades like those decorating
rock-cut tombs in the Persian heartland, but which would
have been impossible to achieve in the soft conglomerate
bedrock of the Sardis necropolis. These stelai in fact have
many close parallelsin East Greece and elsewhere in west-
ern Asia Minor and no apparentAchaemenid features.
Another major aspect of Dusinberre's analysis of mor-
tuary evidence is, I believe, even more problematic-name-
ly, her assertion that funerarycouches (klinai) represent an
Achaemenid addition to local Lydian burial customs, per-
haps related to Mazdaism. Dusinberre argues that since all
securely dated Lydian tombs with couches belong to the
Persian period, the custom of burial on a kline must have
been introduced by Persians. This burial type, she main-
tains, amended a pre-existing concept of funerarybanquet-
ing to reflect new dining habits and to elevate the corpse
above the ground, in (partial) accordance with Zoroastri-
an beliefs. In support of this argument, she points to liter-
ary testimonia recording the presence of a couch in the
Tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae.To be sure, many Anatolian
tombs with klinai have striking Achaemenid features (e.g.,
Karaburun,Mellink 1972), and the prominence of the im-
age of the reclining banqueter on so-called "Graeco-Per-
sian" stelai also indicates that klinai played an important
role in funeraryideology in Achaemenid Anatolia. As I am
arguing in my dissertation on Anatolian funary klinai,
however, the custom of kline-burialis firmly rooted in ear-
lier traditions of funerary banqueting and bed-burial in
central and western Anatolia. In contrast, Iranian prece-
dents are lacking, as are parallels within the Achaemenid
empire outside Asia Minor. Also lacking, as Dusinberre ad-
mits, is any evidence for the reclining banquet in Persia
proper. Banqueting on a kline was, however, celebrated by
East Greek poets and closely associated with Lydian luxu-
ry well before the Persian conquest of Sardis. Cyrus' couch
may well have been the only funerary kline in the Persian
heartland, and its presence likely reflected the king's famil-
iaritywith Anatolian burialtraditions. So while Dusinberre
concludes that the presence of klinai in both tumulus
chambers and rock-cut tombs marks the impact of
Achaemenid burial practices within the range of local Ly-
dian funerarytraditions, they may in fact signal just the
op-
posite-the strength of local Lydian traditions in this same
hybrid cultural environment.
228 BookReviews
Dusinberre's most significant contributions lie in the
last two analytical chapters, earlierversions of which were
published previously (Dusinberre 1997, 1999). Chapter 7,
"Personal Signifiers: Sealstones, uses a cylinder seal from
a tomb at Sardis that has an overtly Achaemenid imperial
subject carved in local "Graeco-Persian"style as a spring-
board for discussing the significance of sealstones in status
identification in the satrapal capital and, more broadly
speaking, the relationship between style and identity. Eclec-
ticism and variety once again characterizethe Sardian evi-
dence, but comparisons with sealings from Persepolis en-
able greater understanding of the nuances of iconography
and style. Dusinberre's discussion of style as a signifier of
identity will be of interest to a wide range of scholars. Her
analysis also makes some headway in refining and clarify-
ing the stylistic group commonly, though misleadingly
dubbed Graeco-Persian,as not merely "apoor compromise
between Greek and Achaemenid" styles but rather "as a
newly composed and socially symbolic art of empire,
demonstrating the network of artistic and sociopolitical
connections that united the Persian, and Persianizing,
elite" [p. 171]. Chapter 8, "Achaemenid Bowls: Ceramic
Assemblages and the Non-elite," explores how the ceramic
record of Sardis changes in the era of Persian rule and how
these changes may reflect the popularity of new modes of
dining and drinking, even among the local population.
Flatter-bottomed cooking pots and thinner, more heavily
fired "breadtrays"seem to indicate new cooking methods,
and a general shift in tablewares from stemmed dishes to
bowls with inverted rims, a shape apparentlyIranianin ori-
gin, may also reflect new dining habits. The most marked
changes, however, occur in the realm of drinking vessels,
with the Lydian skyphos replaced by the "Achaemenid
bowl" (a shallow, handleless cup with everted rim) as the
most common shape. Dusinberre sees the use of these ves-
sels, locally manufactured and standardized ceramic ver-
sions of Achaemenid metalware shapes, as an indication of
"emulation of the elite by the non-elite" [p. 192] and, ulti-
mately, another means of "signaling social identity" in the
polyethnic satrapalcapital [p. 193].
In a final chapter, "Conclusion: Imperialism and
Achaemenid Sardis,"Dusinberre compares the conclusions
drawn in the preceding analyses on the impact of
Achaemenid imperial administration and ideology at
Sardis with forms of acculturation noted in provinces of
the Roman empire. This discussion serves to situate her
work within the larger field of empire studies, but in effect
con-
presents the Roman material as a justification for the
clusions drawn here which could just as well stand on their
own.
Extensive references, explanatory footnotes, a detailed
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index, and an up-to-date bibliography make this book a
valuable resource for anyone studying Achaemenid Anato-
lia. It is amply illustratedwith photographs, line drawings,
plans, and maps, and the five detailed appendices provide
a firm basis of archaeologicaldata. A consistent numbering
system for the catalogued material would have enhanced
the integration of these appendices with the text, and some
explanation of the numbering systems used for the tombs
and ceramic finds would benefit readers unfamiliar with
the Sardis recording system.
Overall, this book brings together a diverse arrayof ev-
idence and makes a significant contribution to the growing
field of Achaemenid Anatolian studies, with an insightful
and progressive theoretical approach. But while the title
suggests that the work will focus on manifestations of Per-
sian presence and Achaemenid imperial ideology at Sardis
in the era of Persian rule, the book as a whole presents ev-
idence for what Sardis was like in the Persian period,
whether or not this evidence is particularly"Achaemenid"
in character.What emerges is a vivid picture of eclecticism
in many different aspects of Sardian life and culture. Dus-
inberre sheds new light on the strength of Achaemenid el-
ements in the vocabulary of local elite status signification,
but at the same time underscores the persistence of Lydian
traditions in this hybrid cultural environment. The real sig-
nificance of Dusinberre's work thus lies not in her illumi-
nation of "aspectsof empire" in a satrapalcapital but rather
in her explication of how multiple factors-both local and
Persian-figure in the construction of identity in the poly-
ethnic elite society of Achaemenid Sardis.
Dusinberre,Elspeth R. M.
1997 "ImperialStyle and ConstructedIdentity: a 'Graeco-Per-
sian'CylinderSealfrom Sardis'Ars Orientalis27: 99-129.
1999 "SatrapalSardis: Achaemenid Bowls in an Achaemenid
Capital"AmericanJournalofArchaeology 103: 73-102.
Mellink, Machteld J.
1972 "Excavationsat Karatas-Semayiik and Elmall,Lycia,1971,"
AmericanJournalofArchaeology 76: 257-269.
Archaeology of Formative Ecuador
J. SCOTTRAYMOND AND RICHARD L. BURGER, editors.
567 pages, 172 figures, 25 tables, 4 appendices, bibli-
Dumbarton Oaks
ography, index. Washington, D.C.:
Research Library and Collection, 2003. $30.00 cloth.
ISBN 0-88402-292-7.
Reviewed by Tamara L. Bray, Department of Anthro-
MI 48202.
pology, Wayne State University, Detroit,
vol-
Archaeologyof FormativeEcuadoris a well-rounded