ABSTRACT
The thermoluminescence (TL) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of crystalline materials, first applied to calcites (limestone buildings), has been extended to carved megalithic monuments made of granites, basalt and sandstones derived from archaeological sites. Various criteria for potential dating included pulsed blue light stimulation, different preheating and solar simulator bleaching, while the regeneration and additive dose procedures were used for equivalent dose determination. The decay curves of signal loss follow a power law, n-p; for blue stimulation the signal loss of quartz and feldspar is better approached by an exponential law, 1-aln(n). 
Keywords: luminescence, dating, rocks, bleaching, dose

ABSTRACT
Recent analysis of preserved fauna from the 1952-58 excavations at Lerna stored in Argos and Stockholm allows us to reexamine the fauna published in 1969 by the late Prof. Nils-Gustaf Gejvall as the first of the Lerna final report volumes. The present detailed study combines the revised phasing, detailed context information, and fuller analysis of the preserved samples including butchery and burning data.
Keywords: Mammals, Marine shells, N.-G. Gejvall

ABSTRACT
The archaeological site in Via La Farina, Block P, in Messina, is unique in many ways, due also to the high quantity of samples of iron slag. The slag was examined to identify the production centres of such materials, and, after characterization, was compared to similar material, exclusively for product typology, from different archaeological sites in the province of Messina, situated in the Peloritani Mountains  (Messina city, S. Marco d'Alunzio, Milazzo, Francavilla di Sicilia, Novara di Sicilia as well as the archaeological site of Halaesa, near Tusa). Mineralogical characterization of the phases carried out by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Rietveld data elaboration, morphological study of slag findings and a semi-quantitative analysis by scanning electronic microscope (SEM+EDX) were performed. A chemical investigation was carried out by electron probe  micro analysis (EPMA), to determine major element,. Minor and trace elements were determined by LA-ICP-MS. All the examined slag is related to iron metallurgy, and, in the case of Via La Farina, there is firm archaeological evidence pinpointing to smelting activity.
Keywords: iron slag, Messina, archaeometallurgy, XRD, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS

ABSTRACT
In this article a previously proposed interpretation of Minoan ‘horns of consecration’ as a symbol of sun is reexamined. A clay model of ‘horns of consecration’ from the peak sanctuary of Petsophas, the results of astronomical research on Minoan peak sanctuaries, the idols of the so-called ‘Goddess with Upraised Arms” and a clay model of ‘horns of consecration’ from the Mycenaean cemetery of Tanagra are put forward as evidence for a possible adoption - or a parallel development under the influence of adjacent cultures - by the Minoans (and by the Mycenaeans, at least after 1400 B.C.) of religious notions related to the Egyptian symbols of the ‘mountain’ and the ‘horizon’, both connected with the Sun in Egyptian cosmology and religion.  It is concluded that the ‘horns of consecration’ may represent a practical device as well as an abstract symbol of the Sun, a symbol of catholic importance, which embraced many aspects of Minoan religious activities as represented on Minoan iconography.
KEYWORDS: Symbol of ‘mountain’, Symbol of ‘horizon’, peak sanctuaries, Goddess with Upraised Arms, bull, consecration, Minoan, Mycenaean.