Carnelian

Establishing the correct reading of a hitherto misunderstood inscription, (re-)published in A. George, Mesopotamian Incantations and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection (CUSAS 32; Bethesda 2016). The carnelian gemstone bearing the text turns out to have functioned as an amulet to prevent a curse from materializing.

Profound cultural changes occurred in the later 3rd millennium BC in many parts of the Aegean during the transition from the Early Bronze Age II to III (EBA II to III). These are for example observable in the drastic changes in architectural and pottery styles. This contribution deals with some examples of archaeological indicators for long-distance contacts between the Aegean and the east (Asia Minor and even beyond) during the Early Bronze Age. Relevant archaeological material for textile manufacture, adornment, seal and weight use, and silver production will be discussed. It is argued that trade and the potential physical presence of foreign merchants had a decisive impact on the “emergence of civilisation” during the EBA II. The long distance exchange was most likely driven by the eastern demand for silver and an Aegean desire for rare commodities, like specific “semi-precious“ beads and woolen textiles. A considerable disruption of this exchange pattern is witnessed by the beginning of the EBA III in the Aegean. It brought the development towards a more complex socio-economic organisation in many parts of the Aegean to a temporary end, with the notable exception of Crete. In the light of the recent suggestions of an earlier beginning of the EBA III in the Aegean, it seems difficult to reconcile this disruption with a potential climatic change around 2200 BC

Trade between Upper Myanmar, Northeast India and Southern China has long been an active source of cultural interchange. A number of ethnographic studies were compiled in the 19-20 century although more recent scholarship has been minimal. In an effort to fill th this gap, the author briefly joined a team of Nagaland, Japanese scholars carrying out a long-term assessment of archaeological and ethnographic carnelian use in Nagaland, during a survey visit to relevant prehistoric and early Buddhist sites in Myanmar in December 2015. This Introductory Note focuses on the Myanmar evidence, summarising carnelian usage in relationship to shifting patterns of interchange with Nagaland and other areas of South Asia and Yunnan. The summary concludes that within Myanmar localised extraction of small-scale deposits and trade may be the context within which carnelian bead use endured within Tibeto-Burman groups of Upper Myanmar in the first millennium CE transition from prehistoric to Buddhist eras and continues on a small scale today. However, more archaeological data is needed on the Myanmar side to explore links between ethnographic similarities in bead use in both countries and excavation of carnelian ornaments in mortuary contexts of the late first millennium BCE and the early centuries CE (Sarma and Hazarika, 2014; Pautreau et al., 2007).

Au cours de la Néolithisation au Proche-Orient, les bouleversements majeurs survenus au niveau de l’organisation socio-économique des communautés humaines (sédentarisation, agriculture et élevage) se sont accompagnés de changements dans le domaine techno-symbolique. Le présent travail a permis de caractériser l’une des principales manifestations matérielles dans ce domaine, les ornements personnels, à travers l’étude des éléments de parure de six sites syriens couvrant la période entre le 12e et le 6e millénaire avant J.-C. Dans une démarche méthodologique visant à traiter la grande diversité des objets archéologiques, du coquillage à la turquoise en passant par l’os et l’argile, plusieurs protocoles d’identification des matériaux, de classification morpho-typologique et d’analyse tracéologique ont été élaborés.
L’analyse des objets de parure selon cette approche intégrative a permis de mettre en évidence l’évolution des formes recherchées et des matériaux utilisés depuis le Natoufien final jusqu’au PPNB récent, mais aussi des développements et des innovations techniques concernant notamment le traitement des roches dures comme la cornaline. Grâce à l’étude des contextes archéologiques et à la reconstitution de certaines parures, les fonctions de ces objets chez les premières sociétés néolithiques ont pu être en partie identifiées. Ainsi, durant le PPNA, les parures pouvaient marquer une appartenance identitaire, parallèlement à des parures « rituelles » qui pourraient être liées à la sphère symbolique propre à cette période. A partir du PPNB moyen les parures sont aussi associées à la mort et à des pratiques funéraires particulières. Les hypothèses proposées par cette thèse ouvrent des perspectives de recherche qui pourront être explorées en élargissant le corpus aux régions adjacentes (Anatolie, Jordanie, etc.) et à des périodes plus récentes.

For a long time, the beginnings of human occupation in the North-West-Arabian oasis of Tayma remained unknown. Recently found flint arrowheads suggest that the occupation started as early as the Late Neolithic period. In Chalcolithic / Early Bronze Age periods Tayma flourished as a carnelian bead production centre and numerous dumps of bead workshops and flint drills are spread all over the oasis.

Tokat Museum Silver Rings
Abstract Rings have been used by men and women with functional purposes such as ornaments, seal, indicating nobility and rank, engagement, charm, key rings, and carrying poison. The sections of rings can be in various forms such as semi-circular, square thin band as they can be worn on fingers as well as toes. In addition to plain circular rings, rings with bezel were used as well. The forms of rings have changed over time and new forms have emerged. Silver rings in Tokat Museum are considered as catalog study in this article. Although all nine rings are stoned, the stones of two rings are missing. Four of the rings have cornelian, two have glass, and one has silver stone. Cornelian stones are engraved with negative descriptions and monogram. Descriptions and monogram are the most popular applications of Rome and Late Rome period. Rings have a wide time range between 1st century B.C. and  5th century A.D. Silver rings evaluated within the context of this study are particularly important for providing data in terms of social and economical status of daily life standards, and culture of individuals of the Rome and Late Rome Period. Considering that all the pieces in the museum are brought from Tokat and its surroundings, the analysis of this group will reveal important information on the important settlement in the Ancient Era in terms of the region’s socio-economical cultural position and its relations with neighboring cities and the way of living of individuals in that area. Within this scope, the cataloging of silver rings from Rome Period in Tokat Museum will provide important information, will be used in comparing other artifacts found in archeological studies and will provide a resource for future research studies.


ÖZET: Yüzükler, kadınlar ve erkekler tarafından süs eşyası, mühür, asalet, rütbe belirtme, nişan, tılsım, nazarlık, anahtar yüzükler ve zehir taşıma gibi işlevsel amaçlarla kullanılmışlardır. El bazen de ayak parmaklarına takılan yüzük halkalarının kesiti yarım daire, kare ince bant gibi farklı biçimlerde olabilmektedir. Düz halka yüzüklerin dışında, kaşlı yüzükler de kullanılmıştır. Yüzük formları zamanla değişerek yeni formlar ortaya çıkmıştır. Tokat Arkeoloji Müzesi'nde yer alan gümüş yüzükler bu makalede katalog çalışması olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Toplam dokuz adet olan yüzüklerin tamamı taşlı olmasına rağmen iki yüzüğün taşları noksandır. Yüzüklerden dört tanesi akik, iki tanesi cam, bir tanesi gümüş taşa sahiptir. Akik taşlar üzerine negatif betimler ve monogram kazınmıştır. Betimler ve monogram Roma ve Geç Roma döneminim sevilen uygulamaları olarak dikkat çekmektedir. Yüzükler MS 1. yüzyıldan MS 5. yüzyıla kadar geniş bir zaman aralığına sahiptir. Çalışma kapsamında değerlendirilen gümüş yüzükler, özellikle Roma ve Geç Roma Dönemi insanının sosyal ve ekonomik durumu, günlük yaşam standartları ve kültürü hakkında vereceği veriler açısından oldukça önemlidir. Müzedeki eserlerin tamamının Tokat ve çevresinden geldiği düşünüldüğünde, bu gurubun analizi Antik Çağ'da önemli bir yerleşim olan bölgenin sosyo-ekonomik kültürel konumu ve çevresindeki şehirler ile olan ilişkileri ve orada yaşayan insanların günlük yaşam şekli üzerine önemli veriler sağlayacaktır. Bu anlamda Tokat Müzesi'ndeki Roma Dönemi gümüş yüzüklerin kataloglanması sonucunda, arkeolojik araştırmalarda bulunulan diğer eserlerin analojisinde kullanılarak ileride yapılacak çalışmalara referans oluşturacaktır.

This paper presents a case of funerary re-utilisation of the Dolmen de Palacio III megalithic monument (Almadén de la Plata, Sevilla) by the Early Iron Age communities of the Sierra Norte de Sevilla region. This case is first discussed as evidence of the strong durability of religious traditions among the local populations as opposed to the dynamics of orientalising influences to which Andalusian indigenous communities are exposed since the IXth century cal BC. Secondly, this case is interpreted from the viewpoint of the powerful permanence through time of megalithic monuments as material expressions of the religious memory

The Jebel al-Ma'taradh and its surroundings contain exceptional deposits of lithic raw materials, including flint and chert, but especially chalcedony, agate, car-nelian, and chrysoprase. These deposits were intensively exploited during the Neolithic, and some of the artefacts produced entered the trade network that included settlements on the coast and inland, sometimes as far as 300 km. During earlier periods, probably as early as the Pleistocene, only flint was used. Between the sixth and the fourth millennia, carnelian and agate were exploited to make beads, which are found in the necropolises and settlements of the UAE. K E Y W O R D S carnelian, chalcedony, Neolithic, Oman peninsula, ornament

The 10 entries for the catalogue concern grave goods from burial contexts from the well known Hellenistic cemetery of Veroia. Veroia is one of the most important cities of the Macedonian kingdom, first mentioned by Thucydides in 432 BC. The city reached the peak of its glory and prosperity in the Hellenistic era, during the reign of the Antigonid dynasty, the ruling house of ancient Macedonia from 306 to 168 BC.
The entries concern terracotta protomes-busts of a female goddess of the end of the 4th century BC, a gold diadem with embossed palmette, a pair of lion's head hoop gold earrings, a pair of gold earrings with lynx head finials of carved cornelian, a gold necklace and ring, as well as terracotta figurines, like those depicting the goddess Aphrodite as Kourotrophos and a terracotta group with Aphrodite and Adonis of the Hellenistic period.

Abstract: A relatively recently known occurrence of silica mineralization from the region of village Devintzi, Kardzhali district, is studied. It outcrops in linear zones and concentric formations, which in their central parts are generally made of carbonate materials, and to the periphery – from colorful striped SiO2-phases including carnelian. SiO2-phases are represented mainly by chalcedony and in minor quantity by quartz, tridymite, quartzine and opal. Three morphological types of chalcedony are established – spherulitic, fine granular and radial fibrous chalcedony. Tridymite and celadonite are defined using XRD.

A large embankment slope with domed shape, in the western part of the studied occurence, is surmised to be with man-made origin, related to the ancient episodic extraction of raw agate suitable for making jewelry and especially glyptics.


Резюме: Изследвано е сравнително отскоро известно проявление на силикатна минерализация от района на с. Девинци, Кърджалийско. То се разкрива във вид на линейни зони и гнезда с пъстроцветени опали и жили, които в централните части обикновено са изградени от карбонатен материал, а към периферията – от разноцветни ивичести SiO2 – фази в т.ч. карнеол. SiO2-фази са представени основно от халцедон и в подчинено количество – от кварц, тридимит, кварцин и опал. Отделени са три морфоложки типа халцедон – халцедонови сферолити, микрозърнест халцедон и параболично влакнест халцедон. Рентгеноструктурно са установени тридимит и селадонит.

В западната си част проявлението представлява голям склонов насип с куполовидна форма, за който се допуска, че е възможен техногенен произход, свързан с воден в древността епизодичен добив на ахатова суровина, годна за изработване на ювелирни изделия от тип глиптика.

The article is dedicated to the study of trade relations of Volga Bolgaria with the Oriental countries and Rus on the basis of a study, description, classification and cataloguing of various adornments made of carnelian, amber, jet, crystal, chalcedony (including agate and onyx), lapis lazuli, mother-of-pearl from the pre-Mongol monuments of Volga Bolgaria, and clarification of their dating. The paper considers 333 items with an easily identifiable shape (with no consideration of the fragments) from the collections of the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Museum of Archaeology of the Republic of Tatarstan, Bilyar state Historical and Archaeological and Natural Museum-Reserve, the State Historical Museum and others. This study is the first generalizing work on the typology of beads from monuments dating back to the pre-Mongol period.

The article highlights classification of the beads and pendants from carnelian, amber, gagat, crystal, chalcedony, lapis lazuli stored in the exposition of the Bilyar Museum. Bilyar fortress is considered a reference monument of the pre-Mongol Volga Bulgaria. 64 decorations were studied. The scheme proposed by A.V.Artsihovsky were used for description and classification of the decorations. The author describes decorations, gives the analogies from the other medieval settlements, traces the trade routes and specifies the towns, where the beads and their preparations came from. Decorations made of ornamental stones were mainly spread from Central Asia or through Central Asia. Carnelian and amber decorations were widespread. The availability of amber raw materials on the Bilyar fortified settlement testifies about the local production of amber artifacts. Also, the presence of defective carnelian beads, tells about the local refinement of this category of goods.

En los últimos años el número de elementos de adorno en cornalina documentados en yacimientos del Bronce Final y de la Edad del Hierro en el Sur de Portugal ha aumentado de forma sustancial, y hoy en día se conocen más de cinco decenas de cuentas y colgantes realizados en este material. Se presenta una primera síntesis sobre dichos elementos, con el objetivo de discutir su tipología, cronología y distribución, pero también su eventual origen, que cabría buscar en el Mediterráneo Oriental.

In the past few years there has been a significant increase in the number of carnelian adornments documented in Late Bronze Age and Iron Age sites of southern Portugal, with more than fifty beads and pendants made from this material being currently known. We present a first synthesis regarding these pieces, which aims to discuss their typology, chronology and distribution, but also their possible origin, which is most likely to be found in the Eastern Mediterranean.