Ancient Technology (Archaeology)

Nel “Palazzo delle asce di rame” della città del Bronzo Antico IIIB (2500-2300 a.C.) di Khirbet al-Batrawy sono stati rinvenuti tre dischi superiori di tornio da vasaio, una delle maggiori innovazioni tecnologiche del IV-III millennio a.C. Questa scoperta ha portato ad una riconsiderazione dello strumento in tutti i contesti noti del Bronzo Antico palestinese al fine di indagarne i risvolti socio-economici all’interno della società sud-levantina del periodo.

Keywords: potter’s wheel/tournette; Khirbet al-Batrawy; Southern Levant; Early Bronze Age; ceramic manufacturing production

""It has long been known that areas such as Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Essex were intensely exploited for salt in the Iron Age and Romano-British periods. Previous research has tended to focus on the eastern coast of Britain, with less attention being paid to other potential salt-producing areas. 

In previous studies in southern Britain, much emphasis has been placed on the distribution of salt and the ‘equipment’ used to produce and potentially transport salt - briquetage. Much less attention has been paid to the production process. 

This research project directly addresses this imbalance, by placing the emphasis on to the study of the production sites, and by creating and analysing a new dataset to contextualise sites using a holistic perspective.  The analysis of salt-production sites has redefined the archaeological terminology for salt production, and has critically evaluated how these sites have been incorporated into the archaeological record. 

The re-categorisation of the archaeological remains on a site by site basis has enabled the formation of a comprehensive dataset for the first time.  This has enabled a regional and chronological comparison of salt-production in southern Britain to be undertaken.

The  analysis has shown that despite problems of incorrect perceptions of salt production practices, inconsistent  recording and categorisation, and severe site damage by human and natural forces, it is possible, to inject concepts of ‘agency’ and ‘identity’ into these sites by exploring evidence of technological choice and use of space.

It was possible to identify distinctive ‘working areas’ containing features (hearths and brine tanks) where the main stages of salt-production were carried out.

New ‘Modes of Salt-Production’ have been created in order to compare different methods of organisation and ‘site management’ across time and space.  These modes enable a new approach about salt-production to be made set in the wider context of supply networks and specific consumer markets.   

This research has shown that there were significant regional and chronological variations in salt-production; with three main areas of activity identified in Somerset, Dorset and Kent.  The most significant chronological change was the substantial increase in salt-production during the 1st century A.D. followed by its decline in the 2nd century A.D in Kent and Dorset.  However, this was not the case in Somerset, where the dominant period of salt-production occurred between the 2nd and 4th centuries A.D. 

The identification of regional trends in the scale and organisation of production, as well as the rich diversity of sites, shows that producers adapted  to changes in the supply and consumption of salt over time.  Considerably more salt would have been required to supply the growing population in the 1st century A.D and this encouraged the creation of many new production sites.  However, the diversity in site character suggests that there was little tight control of coastal salt-production sites at that time.  It is argued that instead, focus was placed upon the exploitation of salt from inland brine springs in Cheshire and Worcestershire.  This is evidenced in the organisation, technology and creation of military supply bases close to these sites.

Instead, it is argued that the Roman invasion formalised and expanded existing supply networks from coastal salt-production sites, in addition to creating new inland networks.  This resulted in the creation of more formal ‘production and/or distribution centres.  It is also probable that the emergence of uniform salt-production sites in Somerset in the later Roman period, reflects that this area had become predominant for the supply of salt to major ‘consumer sites such as legionary fortresses and the larger towns.
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SUMMARY: Chapter 8, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers what typically survives, what constitutes an "artifact", interpreting usage, obtaining materials (e.g., quarrying; mining), transporting materials, installing materials, manufacturing items, identifying function, experimental archaeology, etc., regarding stone, bone, antler, shell, leather, wood, plant, metal, faience, glass, and other materials and diverse artifacts.  In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record.  UPDATED May 2023.

La moissonneuse gallo-romaine, appelée vallus chez Pline XVIII, 296 et vehiculum chez Palladius VII, 2, a de tout temps intéressé les historiens, interpellé les agronomes et fasciné le grand public, en particulier lorsque l'on a découvert le relief de Buzenol en 1958. La machine, il est vrai, est unique en son genre à travers les pratiques agricoles occidentales, de l'Antiquité au XIX e siècle. En effet, de tout temps et partout jusqu'au début du XX e siècle, on moissonne à la faucille, à la sape ou à la faux, à l'exception de la Gaule romaine septentrionale où les épis d'épeautre se fauchent avec une barre de coupe montée sur roues, propulsée de l'arrière par un animal, asinien ou bovidé. Idée de génie ? Peut-être. Invention étonnante, assurément. Mais au fil des siècles, si l'idée et le principe sont à l'origine des moissonneuses modernes mises au point vers 1800-1850, son efficacité agricole dans l'Antiquité sera parfois contestée, en particulier au milieu du XX e siècle, par un courant historiographique appelé "primitivisme" qui refuse globalement toute capacité technologique à l'Antiquité et fait volontiers du vallus une cible privilégiée. Aujourd'hui, après vingt ans de recherches pluridisciplinaires et d'expérimentations sur le terrain, le débat est (momentanément ?) clos à l'avantage du vallus, efficace pour la moisson des céréales vêtues, en particulier l'épeautre et l'amidonnier, ou, à tout le moins, à conditions analogues, nettement plus rapide que la faux et la faucille, sans plus de gaspillage et avec moins d'effort. Le présent essai parcourt deux mille ans d'histoire et d'historiographie de cette machine iconique, histoire tantôt glorieuse, tantôt chaotique, au fil de mouvements épistémologiques ou idéologiques dont le vallus fut, quelque part, une redoutable pierre de touche.

Un traité anonyme du IVe siècle p.C., le De rebus bellicis, décrit, parmi d’autres nouveautés en matière d’ingénierie militaire, une liburne automotrice. Il s’agit d’un navire de guerre à roues à aubes, dont l’énergie motrice est fournie par des manèges d’animaux. Aucune autre source littéraire ancienne, aucune source archéologique ou iconographique ne témoigne de l’existence de ce système qui a souvent laissé les chercheurs bien dubitatifs. Un des premiers éditeurs modernes du De rebus bellicis, R. Schneider, en 1908, écrit : « Die Liburna ist geradezu verrückt », c’est-à-dire « La liburne est carrément insensée », et, plus récemment, en 1989, A. Giardina considère que si le char à faux, décrit aussi par l’anonyme, aux chapitres 12 à 14, fut d’abord une réalité sur les champs de bataille et ensuite un mythe de l’ingénierie militaire, le navire à roues actionnées par des bœufs fut exactement le contraire : né comme une machine fantastique (« macchina fantastica »), il ne trouva une application réelle qu’avec l’invention de la vapeur. Même un spécialiste des techniques dans l’Antiquité comme J.G. Landels doute que le système ait pu réellement fonctionner. Le propos de cette communication est de montrer que la liburne automotrice décrite dans le De rebus bellicis peut être restituée virtuellement à partir du texte confronté aux connaissances techniques du IVe siècle p.C., que le modèle virtuel fonctionne et qu’il aurait donc pu y avoir des applications pratiques de ce système dès l’Antiquité. L’enjeu est important pour l’histoire des techniques car, si l’hypothèse est exacte, la première propulsion d’un navire par des roues à aubes ne devrait pas être attribuée à Denis Papin à la fin du XVIIe siècle avec un moteur à vapeur (ou à Robert Fulton au début du XIXe siècle pour des modèles opérationnels), mais elle serait à remonter d’au moins treize siècles avec un moteur animal. Nous nous pencherons d’abord sur le texte lui-même, sa fiabilité, les dessins des manuscrits. Nous verrons ensuite, dans l’histoire des techniques, les indices qui permettent d’accréditer l’existence du système. Nous terminerons par une présentation de la restitution virtuelle du système et de son analyse technique.

"This is the second volume of two books dedicated to the Iron Age Economy of the Celtic people in the north of Spain.
This books contain archaeological, ethnoarchaeological and ethnohistorical information about the economy of this peoples in the Iron Age. In this second book with special attention to the food processing and storage, craftsmanship, the economic territory (SCA), settlement and social order in the last millennium b. C.
Was published in 2005 in Toxosoutos Editors (Coruña, Spain). Spanish and Galician edition is avaiable. Pags. 431."

SUMMARY: Lecture-3 continues examining the Neolithic period in Anatolia, including trends, with a major focus on Chatal Huyuk, including trade, shrines, burials, clothing, and other aspects of this site (in PART-2), plus a brief summary of the Neolithic in Syria-Palestine, a summary of the parts 1-2 lectures, and selected sources.  This lecture is designed mainly as an educational resource for college students (i.e., normally posted only on my institution's course website), the public (e.g., people auditing my course), and interested colleagues from other disciplines (to whom I provide copies privately).  I am posting it here, both as a broader access, educational tool, and especially to promote the study of this region and its past societies.  For further knowledge about this region and period, I refer interested parties to the textbooks and other sources from which the materials were extracted (see syllabus), and/or the bibliographies in these works and my online resource guides (see other files in my academia folders).  The lecture summarizes the pertinent materials in the course textbook(s), adding in other data, and furnishing numerous images to clarify information encountered within the textbook(s).  Some generic imagery (usually indicated as such) is posted to aid in transmitting various concepts visually, and/or when a specific image remains not located (temporarily).  I update and revise such lectures each time, with such elective courses normally being taught once every two years.  I try to cover the most current, mainstream views, and usually place summary notes at the end of each lecture alongside some of the key sources used for compiling the ppt.  Over time, each lecture is improved, errors rectified, and additional data placed within the lecture.  These ppt. lectures take many hours to compile, but they have proved useful to many of my more serious students and I hope they can be of benefit to others as well.  My apologies for any errors I may have made, and my liberal usage of educational imagery from professional sources and vetted internet sources (new slides, sources, and formatting, Sept., 2020).

Explanations for the use of pots as practical domestic tools permeate the literature of technological adoption and change. While many arguments focus on the economic merits of pots, few have attempted to trace the conditions that promote or deter the adoption of pottery. This is especially true for the use of pottery by mobile peoples. We adapt an established model of technological investment to draw attention to three key variables affecting pottery adoption: manufacturing time, utility, and use time. We use the logic of this model to examine how social and environmental contexts, specifically residential mobility in marginal environments, impacts use of and investment in ceramic technology. We further illustrate how the model can be used to reveal seasonal patterns of behavior from the spatial distribution of pottery discarded by mobile foragers and herders.

ABSTRACT: The following 58 questions follow the documentary (no.6),  PBS: The Lost Gardens of Babylon (60 minutes) (2014; 60 min.). The question sheet aids in furnishing a summary of the documentary's coverage and sequence of specific topics. A very good documentary detailing Stephanie Dalley's theory about the later traditions concerning the "(Hanging) Gardens of Babylon " as reflecting an actual origin and location in King Sennecherib's garden at Nineveh, over 100 years earlier (ca. early 7th century BCE) and at a site much further to the north (i.e., at Sennecherib's palace at Nineveh, in Assyria, versus in Nebuchadnezzar II's palace at Babylon). WEB LINK: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/the-lost-gardens-of-babylon-watch-the-full-episode/1203/.  The documentary introduces some of the traditions and evidence concerning the location and date of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and proceeds to Dalley's research and theories for equating it with an earlier garden built by Sennacherib beside his palace at Nineveh: This earlier garden is attested from diverse evidence in the British Museum (e.g., a cuneiform prism; palace wall panels), publications on earlier excavations at Nineveh, recent visits to and assessments of key sites in Iraq (e.g., Khinis; Jerwan; Nineveh), plus consultation with other specialists (e.g., Dr. Jason Ur: using Corona satellite imagery analysis and landscape interpretation). A very enjoyable documentary showing features and issues in both Ancient and modern Iraq.

The source of Egypt's copper supply during the Third Intermediate Period (1070-664 BCE) is largely unknown. Here we present new data from chemical (elemental) and lead isotope (LI) analysis of royal Egyptian artifacts of the 21st Dynasty (ca. 1010 BCE)-a period which until now was represented in the LI record only by a single artifact. Our finds identify the source of the copper in the Arabah region providing a basis for our historical reconstruction of the copper exchange network in the southern Levant at the turn of the first millennium BCE. We also analyzed two objects from the 24th and 25th Dynasties (8th c. BCE), which revealed a marked change in Egyptian copper metallurgy in both the composition (from Cu with traces of Sn to leaded copper with traces of As) and the supply chain (the Arabah ores are excluded). As the sampling involved museum artifacts, we performed X-ray imaging as a means to avoid sampling of any later metallic modifications and ensure the correct sampling process.

This conference was the first occasion on which a collection of papers was presented relating to the then new evidence for Bronze Age copper mining in Britain.
The publication has 22 papers recording the discovery and early work at the Great Orme, excavations and fieldwork at Parys Mountain, Nantyreira, Copa Hill, Mount Gabriel (Ireland) and at the Mitterberg (Austria). There are 4 papers on stone mining tools, 4 papers on firesetting techniques and experiments and other papers on radio-carbon dating, palaeoecological work, copper smelting and on general observations on early mining in Wales.

Situla Benvenuti: tecnologia, restauro e riproduzioni sperimentali. Note tecnologiche La situla è formata da due lamine bronzee, congiunte verticalmente da ventisei ribattini che saldano i margini sovrapposti per 11 mm; la spalla e il collo sono modellati su tassetto. Una terza lamina costituiva il fondo con piede svasato: ne restano solo pochi frammenti molto corrosi che permettono comunque una ricostruzione grafica. Questa parte inferiore veniva sagomata su tassetto partendo da un disco piano fino ad ottenere una scodella, fissata poi saldamente alle pareti della situla, espandendo con un martello l'apposita modanatura. I ribattini, a sezione circolare, erano preparati con la capocchia posta all'esterno, mentre all'interno veniva martellato il moncone sporgente, fino a farlo aderire perfettamente alla lamina. Essi sono regolarmente distanziati per non sovrapporsi alla decorazione. Dopo l'imbutitura sono stati inseriti altri quattro ribattini: due sulla spalla e due, a sezione quadrangolare, all'estremità inferiore, funzionali all'assemblaggio del fondo. Le lamine presentano spessori che variano da mm 0,4, sul corpo e nel fondo, a mm 0,25 sulla spalla e a mm 0,3 sull'orlo. Questa difformità deriva dalla lavorazione della situla su tassetto, che lascia varie tracce di martellatura all'interno; in particolare si notano tacche verticali sotto la terza fascia decorata fino al fondo e solchi a raggiera sulla superficie sottostante la spalla. La decorazione comprende motivi eseguiti sia a cesello profilatore sia a sbalzo: il solco lasciato dal cesello è privo di discontinuità anche lungo le curve.

This is a study of the water-raising wheels of western Syria from the aspects of sources, terminology, typology, origin, history, technology and architecture, and gives a survey of these installations, discussing their present state of conservation. By making use of historical, architectural and iconographical material, the study shows that Syrian water-wheels constitutes a particular type of water-architecture, which successfully combines the functional with the aesthetic and displays sophisticated forms of construction. These devices are visually impressive, present a variety of shapes and are of great historical, environmental and iconographical importance, being of extraordinarily accurate and detailed design. An attempt is made to present evidence of their ancient origin, and to gain an understanding of how their design evolved over time, the reasons for their significance and uniqueness, and for their great concentration in Syria.

Comentarios e interpretaciones sobre las concepciones antiguas en México acerca de las aguas marinas y sus conexiones con el mundo subterráneo. Especialmente se comentan las implicaciones de estas creencias con la producción tradicional de sal en varias regiones de México.

This study of five of the major emerald mining localities within the Sikait-Zubara region of Egypt’s Eastern Desert investigates the potential for provenancing emeralds both from specific countries and from specific ancient Egyptian mines. The gemmological examination of several samples from Sikait-Zubara and elsewhere indicates that much of the geochemical variation in world emeralds is mirrored within single grains of emerald tailings; there are, however, two sources of emerald that can be distinguished from those of Egypt: the Urals and Colombia. These observations provide the potential for investigations of the world emerald market during the time of operation of the Egyptian mines and also the detection of forgeries manufactured from New World emeralds. The analyses also contribute to the general debate concerning the validity of archaeological provenancing, suggesting firstly that analysis must study variation within single grains as well as between grains sampled from different regions, and secondly that purely geochemical definitions of ‘sources’ or ‘provenances’ do not necessarily provide ready-made solutions to archaeological problems concerning the spatial movement of raw materials and artefacts.

Along with other technical short studies about ancient jewelry provided by this book, this paper aims to explain how the ancients were able to produce small granules of nearly identical diameter and then to fix such tiny granules on a metallic support, without damaging it or flooding the granules in too thick a flow. To solve what has been called a mystery, several techniques are discussed, including the most likely one: chrysokolla.