Late Bronze Age Early Iron Age

Despite its ubiquity in historical and mythological narratives, the ancient region of southern Phokis in central Greece has been approached primarily as a backdrop for more prominent neighbors (e.g. Delphi, Boiotia), whose roles have been codified in extant histories. Archaeological research has been likewise limited, with the result that southern Phokis has remained largely untouched and unintegrated into the larger narratives of each of the major periods of antiquity. Recent work by the Southern Phokis Regional Project (SPRP) in the Desfina Plain is correcting this lacuna. SPRP is blending the strongest attributes of several disciplinary approaches (e.g. classics, archaeochemistry, digital humanities) to produce a comprehensive transdisciplinary study of the natural and cultural landscape of the region, thereby illuminating the important role of southern Phokis during some of the richest epochs of human history.<br> Our 2018 study of Desfina's natural and cultural enviro...

The Neo-Assyrian Kingdom and the Urartian Kingdom were two important Near Eastern states in the Middle Iron Age (ninth to sixth centuries BC) that steered political developments and considerably transformed the lives of populations within their territories. This article aims to explore the origins of Urartian–Assyrian relations: the processes and ways through which Mesopotamian and Assyrian influences reached the eastern Anatolian highlands. The populations who founded the Urartian Kingdom lived mostly as semi-nomadic tribes in eastern Anatolia and surrounding areas during the Early Iron Age (thirteenth to ninth centuries BC). It is impossible to explain the emergence of the Urartian Kingdom in the Van region towards the mid-ninth century BC—which quickly became a powerful rival of its contemporaries—as a natural development of local culture. The main question at this stage is how and from where Assyrian influences were transmitted to the tribes who founded the Urartian Kingdom. Our...

The Excel-Sheet contains information (location of the site, chronological position, type of site, archaeological culture, literature, photographies and drawings, analysis made, results of the analysis, etc.) about the samples taken in the Volkswagen Fond Project no. 90 216 "Early mounted nomads and their vessels Ceramic analysis project aimed at supporting the reconstruction of socio-economic conditions in mobile populations north of the Black Sea between 1100 and 600 BC". The project itself focuses on contacts and interactions between groups with different material culture remains in two vegetation zones to the north of the Black Sea.The investigation takes a complex archaeometric approach to characterise the pottery of communities that lived in the forest steppe zone and steppe zone to the north of the Black Sea between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers between 1100 and 600 BC. By using an multidisciplinary approach to study the material culture of these communities with m...

Las excavaciones realizadas entre 2002 y 2004 en El Morredón, yacimiento del Bronce Final y la Primera Edad del Hierro situado en el valle del Huecha, Zaragoza, han permitido la revisión del yacimiento y el estudio de sus materiales inéditos mediante nuevas técnicas y metodologías. El repertorio metálico del yacimiento se identifica con un conjunto de ámbito doméstico, mayoritariamente realizado en bronce, de reducida tipología, en el que predominan los objetos de adorno seguidos de armas y útiles de trabajo. Con el objetivo de conocer la composición de estos materiales se han realizado análisis mediante fluorescencia de rayos X –XRF–. Se ha documentado la presencia de dos aleaciones distintas: bronce binario de Cu-Sn y ternario, Cu-Sn-Pb. Esta composición apunta posibles conexiones con el Bajo Ebro y, a su vez, con la Meseta Sur, Levante o Andalucía, mientras la tipología de algunas piezas parece vinculada a la tradición del Bronce Atlántico o Centroeuropeo. La producción metalúrgi...

The study of silver, which was an important mean of currency in the Southern Levant during the Bronze and Iron Age periods (~1950–586 BCE), revealed an unusual phenomenon. Silver hoards from a specific, yet rather long timespan, ~1200–950 BCE, contained mostly silver alloyed with copper. This alloying phenomenon is considered here for the first time, also with respect to previous attempts to provenance the silver using lead isotopes. Eight hoards were studied, from which 86 items were subjected to chemical and isotopic analysis. This is, by far, the largest dataset of sampled silver from this timespan in the Near East. Results show the alloys, despite their silvery sheen, contained high percentages of Cu, reaching up to 80% of the alloy. The Ag–Cu alloys retained a silvery tint using two methods, either by using an enriched silver surface to conceal a copper core, or by adding arsenic and antimony to the alloy. For the question of provenance, we applied a mixing model which simulate...

En este trabajo presentamos los resultados de la intervencion en una de las necropolis del complejo arqueologico protohistorico del Cascarujo (Alcaniz, Teruel). Exponemos una descripcion razonada de las estructuras y de su estratigrafia para contribuir al debate sobre la arquitectura tumular del Bajo Aragon. El analisis del tumulo principal (E-1) y de sus estructuras anejas (E-2 y E-3) muestra una elaborada planificacion arquitectonica que se ha podido documentar a partir del registro pormenorizado de su compleja secuencia constructiva.

The Excel-Sheet contains information (location of the site, chronological position, type of site, archaeological culture, literature, photographies and drawings, analysis made, results of the analysis, etc.) about the samples taken in the Volkswagen Fond Project no. 90 216 "Early mounted nomads and their vessels Ceramic analysis project aimed at supporting the reconstruction of socio-economic conditions in mobile populations north of the Black Sea between 1100 and 600 BC". The project itself focuses on contacts and interactions between groups with different material culture remains in two vegetation zones to the north of the Black Sea.The investigation takes a complex archaeometric approach to characterise the pottery of communities that lived in the forest steppe zone and steppe zone to the north of the Black Sea between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers between 1100 and 600 BC. By using an multidisciplinary approach to study the material culture of these communities with m...

Abstract The present work represents the first archaeometric study of pottery from central Epirus (Prefecture of Ioannina). It is combining the macroscopic examination of a large ceramic body, and the petrographic analysis of 104 samples from Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age handmade pottery from Liatovouni in the Konitsa region, and Krya in the Ioannina Basin. For comparative reasons, 27 samples from a number of sites in the Ioannina Basin were also examined microscopically. The study provides new information regarding the potential provenance and technology of manufacture of ceramic vessels in the study region. Although local preferences in pottery recipes and their correlation to specific wares are apparent, ceramic production in the region is characterized by a shared knowledge of materials, processes and techniques, pointing to contacts not only with neighboring sites, but with areas further afield.

After the amateur discovery of a hoard of bronze ornaments (a kidney bracelet and two hollow ankle rings) in 2014 in a forest near Gdynia (Pomerania, northern Poland), the place was subjected to excavation. It turned out that in the nearest context of the bronzes (which had been found arranged one on top of the other in a narrow pit reaching 60 cm in depth) there was a cluster of stones, some of which could have been arranged intentionally in order to mark the place of the deposit. Next to this alleged stone circle there was a deep hearth used to heat stones, and for burning amber as incense. Remains of amber were preserved in the form of lumps and probably also as a deposit on the walls of some vessels. Some of the features of the examined complex may indicate a non-profane nature of the deposit: the presence of the stone structure, traces of burning amber, the location of the deposition spot in a not very habitable flattening of a narrow valley, as well as the chemical composition...

La fouille d’archeologie preventive du gisement du Clos de Roque de 2011, a Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume dans le Var, a permis de mettre au jour sur une emprise de 11200 m2 des vestiges pre et protohistoriques. Ces dernieres annees, de nombreuses fouilles ont ete realisees dans la partie meridionale du bassin de Saint-Maximin et l’operation du Clos de Roque appartient a cette dynamique. Elle a apporte une documentation variee qui permet d’envisager de completer et de complexifier les resultats obtenus pour cette micro zone geographique. Les occupations diachroniques mises au jour illustrent ainsi des continuites et des differences dans la gestion de l’espace des groupes successifs de population, dans leur mode d’implantation et d’exploitation de cette partie du bassin de la premiere moitie du Ve millenaire avant notre ere jusqu’au debut du premier âge du Fer. Ces decouvertes s’inserent egalement dans un contexte plus large en documentant des temps de « transitions » de la prehistoi...

Excavations at Cliffs End Farm undertaken in 2004/5 uncovered a dense area of archaeological remains including Bronze Age barrows and enclosures, a large prehistoric mortuary feature, and a small early 6th to late 7th century Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery. An extraordinary series of human and animal remains were recovered from the Late Bronze Age–Middle Iron Age mortuary feature, revealing a wealth of evidence for mortuary rites including exposure, excarnation and curation. The site seems to have been largely abandoned in the later Iron Age and very little Romano-British activity was identified. In the early 6th century a small inhumation cemetery was established. Very little human bone survived within the 21 graves, where the burial environment differed from that within the prehistoric mortuary feature, but grave goods indicate ‘females’ and ‘males’ were buried here. Richly furnished graves included that of a ‘female’ buried with a necklace, a pair of brooches and a purse, as wel...

The possibility of radiocarbon dating on cremated bones stimulated a systematic 14C dating project investigating the chronology of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age urnfield cemeteries in Belgium. The growing amount of 14C dates on these cremated remains led to new insights into the chronology, development, and disappearance of the urnfield phenomenon. Consequently, ideas about cultural and historical processes need to be modified. Also, the internal chronology of the cemeteries is much more complex than previously thought, stimulating the need for techniques to analyze and visualize the internal development of an individual burial site. The application of centrographic methods like the mean center, standard distance circle, and standard deviational ellipse illustrates the possibilities for analyzing the internal chronology of the cemeteries based on the available 14C dates.

Hitherto archaeologists interpreting face-urns have focused ontheir symbolic aspects. However, the aim of this paper is to examinePomeranian face-urns from a perspective emphasizing artefacts assuch, not what artefacts symbolise but rather what artefacts were forthe prehistoric societies. However, my research does not stand in oppositionto the existing approaches. They should rather be complementary.Only by taking into account both a symbolic perspective andthe approach offered in this paper – what I shall call a thingness perspective– can archaeology take a step closer to grasping the complexityof the face-urns phenomenon. The paper begins with a discussionof Martin Heidegger’s thinking about the differences between thingand object. Then I will try to correlate Heidegger’s reasoning withthe Levy-Bruhlian concept of dualite et bi-presense, using a film, TheMask (1994) directed by Chuck Russell, to illustrate Heidegger’s andLevy-Bruhl’s thinking about things. Then using some thoughts fromarchaeology of the body I will investigate similarities between the humanbody and face-urns. The paper will conclude with an attempt todraw some aspects of the cultural biography of face-urns.

During rescue excavations in 2010, a spectacular Early Iron Age find was discovered in the little village of Otzing near Deggendorf in Lower Bavaria, close to the Danube. The excavation, directed by district archaeologist Karl Schmotz, revealed one of the most spectacular burials of the Early Iron Age from Bavaria. Besides some Neolithic settlement pits and two other badly preserved Early Iron Age burials, a circular ditch with a diameter of 18.5 m surrounding a rectangular burial chamber of about 13 m2 came to light. A large set of ceramic vessels and animal bones was unearthed in its eastern part. The set consists of more than 20 vessels of different types and one cup of sheet bronze. The latter already indicated an outstanding ensemble, since bronze vessels are very rare grave goods in the Early Hallstatt period in Bavaria and beyond. Surprisingly, in the middle part of the chamber, where the actual burial was expected, a wooden artefact decorated with a huge amount of bronze stu...

The study of silver, which was an important mean of currency in the Southern Levant during the Bronze and Iron Age periods (~1950–586 BCE), revealed an unusual phenomenon. Silver hoards from a specific, yet rather long timespan, ~1200–950 BCE, contained mostly silver alloyed with copper. This alloying phenomenon is considered here for the first time, also with respect to previous attempts to provenance the silver using lead isotopes. Eight hoards were studied, from which 86 items were subjected to chemical and isotopic analysis. This is, by far, the largest dataset of sampled silver from this timespan in the Near East. Results show the alloys, despite their silvery sheen, contained high percentages of Cu, reaching up to 80% of the alloy. The Ag–Cu alloys retained a silvery tint using two methods, either by using an enriched silver surface to conceal a copper core, or by adding arsenic and antimony to the alloy. For the question of provenance, we applied a mixing model which simulate...

Aquest treball pretén comparar les dinàmiques funeràries a l’àrea central del litoral i prelitoral català (comarques del Vallès Occidental, Vallès Oriental, Maresme, Barcelonès i Baix Llobregat, totes elles a la província de Barcelona) entre el bronze final i l’ibèric ple. Realitzem una anàlisi diacrònica de les necròpolis d’incineració, tot centrant-nos en aspectes com els seus contextos territorials, la seva organització interna, les característiques estructurals de les tombes i la natura dels dipòsits, amb l’objectiu de reconèixer quins canvis i quines continuïtats varen experimentar aquestes societats al llarg del temps. The aim of this research is to compare the funerary behavior dynamics in the central area of the Catalan littoral and its surroundings (Vallès Occidental, Vallès Oriental, Maresme, Barcelonès and Baix Llobregat regions -all of them located in the province of Barcelona-) between the Late Bronze Age and the Iberian period. We practice a diachronic analysis of the incineration cemeteries, focusing our attention on some topics such as their territorial contexts, inner organization and the burial structure characteristics. The object is to break through the changes and continuities that were experienced by these societies over time.

... Premiers résultats », Cahiers archéologiques de Picardie, n° 3, Amiens, p. 57-80, 21 fig ... RAP -n° spécial 22, 2005, Marc Talon, La fosse 190 du Parc Scientifique de La Croix-Saint-Ouen ... et la chronologie du second Âge du Fer, Revue archéologique de Picardie, n° 3/4, Amiens, p ...

... la France dans le contexte européen occidental : nouvelles découvertes et propositions de périodisation, actes de la table ronde tenue dans le cadre du 125ème Congrès national des sociétés historiques et scientifiques, Lille, 2000, Pré- et Protohistoire, CTHS-APRAB, (2005). ...

This volume brings together a series of papers reflecting a number of lectures given at the Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) in 2010-2012 in the frame of a seminar entitled La naissance des cites cretoises. Eight Cretan sites (Axos, Phaistos, Prinias, Karphi, Dreros, Azoria, Praisos, and Itanos), recently excavated or re-excavated, are considered in their regional and historical context in order to explore the origin and early development of the Greek city-state on the island.

It is truism to say that for an archaeologist the question of chronology is particularly important. In relation to Tarnobrzeg Lusatian Culture, this topic was frequently raised, which in the case of its early and late stages gave satisfactory results. There are numerous determinants of these phases, and they can also be divided into smaller periodical stages. The dynamics of change is well understood. However,p hase II is far more problematic. Basically, it is represented by one type of vessel. In addition, the 150–200 year phase is very compact in terms of inventory and it is almost impossible to identify older or younger materials. The problem of its decline also needs to be emphasized, where when treated through the prism of the San River style as it usually is, it should be prolonged to HaD. The author, using the correspondence board, tries to indicate materials which can be related to the older and younger episode of the second phase of Tarnobrzeg Lusatian Culture.

ABSTRACT The temporal and spatial distribution of metal production remains from Hazor was used in this study to sketch the development of metalworking (bronze, iron and silver) at this important site. The remains attest to a long sequence of metalworking at Hazor, from the Middle Bronze Age through to the Iron Age, and significantly highlight the transition from bronze to iron production and the mode of bronze production after the transition had been completed.