The decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun: Umm an-Nar ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain, c.2250–2000 BC

This article outlines some general aspects of the Magan and Dilmun trade and goes on to examine the Umm an-Nar pottery discovered in the tombs of the Early Dilmun burial mounds of Bahrain. These ceramics are of particular interest because they indirectly testify to Dilmun's contact with Magan in the late third millennium. In this article, thirty vessels of seven morphological types are singled out. By comparison with the material published from the Oman peninsula the Bahrain collection is tentatively dated to c. 2250–2000 BC. The location of the Umm an-Nar pottery within the distribution of burial mounds reveals that its import was strongly associated with the scattered mounds of Early Type. It is demonstrated that the frequency of Umm an-Nar pottery declined just as the ten compact cemeteries emerged c. 2050 BC. The observed patterns are seen as a response to the decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun.     

The decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun: Umm an-Nar ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain, c.2250–2000 BC

This article outlines some general aspects of the Magan and Dilmun trade and goes on to examine the Umm an-Nar pottery discovered in the tombs of the Early Dilmun burial mounds of Bahrain. These ceramics are of particular interest because they indirectly testify to Dilmun's contact with Magan in the late third millennium. In this article, thirty vessels of seven morphological types are singled out. By comparison with the material published from the Oman peninsula the Bahrain collection is tentatively dated to c. 2250–2000 BC. The location of the Umm an-Nar pottery within the distribution of burial mounds reveals that its import was strongly associated with the scattered mounds of Early Type. It is demonstrated that the frequency of Umm an-Nar pottery declined just as the ten compact cemeteries emerged c. 2050 BC. The observed patterns are seen as a response to the decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun.     

Molecular identification and characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in ancient Egyptian mummies

A considerable number of molecular studies have provided evidence for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB) DNA in ancient skeletal and mummified material. Moreover first studies on the differentiation of sub‐types of the MTB (M. tuberculosis, M. bovis, M. africanum, M. microti, M. canettii) have successfully been performed on ancient tissue samples. In our present study we extend previous analyses and investigate bone and soft tissue samples from 118 ancient Egyptian mummies and skeletons from the Pre‐ to Early Dynastic site of Abydos and different tomb complexes in Thebes West, which were built and used between the Middle and New Kingdom until the Late Period (c. 2050–500 BC). The samples were tested for the presence of MTB DNA and further identified by spoligotyping. Twenty‐six samples provided molecular evidence for the presence of ancient mycobacterial DNA by amplification of a 123 base pair fragment of the repetitive element IS6110. Out of the 26 positive samples, 12 provided a complete spoligotyping signature, which was compared to an international database. Ten further cases showed an incomplete, patchy hybridization pattern, while in four cases no spoligotyping signature could be obtained. Interestingly, they all show either a M. tuberculosis or M. africanum pattern, but none revealed a M. bovis specific pattern. In the material from a Middle Kingdom tomb (used exclusively between c. 2050–1650 BC) several samples revealed a M. africanum type specific spoligotyping signature, while samples from later periods provided patterns typical for M. tuberculosis. This study clearly shows that spoligotyping can be used for the characterization of members of the MTB in historic tissue samples. In addition, our results do not support the theory that M. tuberculosis originated from the M. bovis type. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early Dilmun and its rulers: new evidence of the burial mounds of the elite and the development of social complexity,c. 2200–1750 BC

This paper deals with the social organisation of early Dilmun in Bahrain based on evidence from the burial mound record. Complete aerial photography survey and mapping have documented the extensive mound fields of Bahrain in their entirety and revealed a new and rare type of burial mound encircled by an outer ring wall. From the spatial distribution and appearance of these ‘ring mounds’ it is argued that they cover the time span 2200–1750 BC. It is further argued that the ring mounds reflect the entombment of a prominent segment of early Dilmun society and thus testify to the presence of a social elite as early as the late third millennium BC. The paper offers evidence supporting the view that fundamental changes in the size of the ring wall and the encircled mound occurred over time, culminating in the colossal ‘royal’ mounds near Aali village. The increase in size of the special mounds and the exclusive appearance of the type in the Aali cemetery after the emergence of ten concentrated cemeteries around 2050 BC are correlated with the already available evidence of increasing social complexity in Dilmun. Three clusters of ring mounds in Aali are argued to reflect the appearance of one or more ruling lineages that were ultimately to found the colony on Failaka, Kuwait, and rule not only Bahrain but also the adjacent coast of Saudi Arabia.     

Radiocarbon chronology of Neolithic and Predynastic sites in Upper Egypt and the Delta

Critical evaluation, tree-ring calibration, and statistical analysis of 95 radiocarbon dates from neolithic and predynastic sites in Upper Egypt and the Delta provide the following average age estimates in calendrical years BC. Early Fayum Neolithicca 5200 to 4500 BC Early Merimda Neolithicca 4800 BC Late Merimda Neolithic ?4400 BC Late Fayum Neolithicca 4000 BC Late Badarian? (Hemamieh)ca 4400/4000 BC Early Nagada (Nagada)ca 3750 BC Hierakonpolis (Locs 11 & 29)ca 3550 BC Late Nagada (South Town)ca 3450 BC Other sites or periods are not adequately dated. In addition, further dates are needed to bolster thistentative framework.     

Rare animals at a Mississippian chiefly compound: the Irene Mound site (9CH1), Georgia,USA

ABSTRACT

The Irene Mound site (9CH1) was a Middle and Late Mississippian site (ca. AD 1150–1450) situated on a bluff overlooking the lower Savannah River, Georgia (USA), a few kilometers upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. The 2.4 ha site consisted of a sequence of superimposed layers referred to as temple mounds, as well as a burial mound, a rotunda, a few residences, and other structures. It is interpreted as the residence of a chiefly lineage. The presence of animals rare or absent in other precolonial coastal assemblages distinguishes the Irene assemblage from others along the coast. Some of the animals exhibit atypical, even dangerous, behavior, others have elaborate feathers or fine fur, and many are notable coastal fishers. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) specimens in the assemblage are dominated by portions from the body. Irene may provide a zooarchaeological standard for assessing evidence of site functions and status in other coastal assemblages.     

Molecular history of tuberculosis from ancient mummies and skeletons

The origin and evolution of the infectious disease tuberculosis (TB) and its pathogens is still not fully understood. An important effort for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of TB evolution lies within the investigation of skeletal and mummified material dating back several thousand of years. In this work, molecular data from mummified and skeletal material from different time periods of the Old World are compared, and the current status of ancient mycobacterial DNA analysis in ancient human remains is discussed, with particular reference to the genetic evolution of human TB. The molecular analysis of material from southern Germany (1400–1800 AD), Hungary (600–1700 AD) and Egypt (3500–500 BC) revealed high frequencies of TB in all time periods. In several individuals from ancient Egypt the mycobacterial DNA could be further characterised by spoligotyping. Thereby, evidence for ancestral M. tuberculosis strains was found in the pre‐ to early dynastic material from Abydos (3500–2650 BC), while typical M. africanum signatures were detected in the Middle Kingdom tomb in Thebes‐West (2050–1650 BC). Samples from the New Kingdom to Late Period tombs (1500–500 BC) were characterised as modern M. tuberculosis strains. In concordance with other studies on ancient skeletal and mummified samples, no evidence for the presence of M. bovis was found. These results contradict the theory that M. tuberculosis evolved from M. bovis during domestication, but supports the new scenario that M. tuberculosis probably derived from an ancestral progenitor strain. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mesopotamian ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain,c.2250–1750 BC

Among the ceramic vessels recovered from the burial mounds of Bahrain, a small percentage represents Mesopotamian imports or local emulations of such. In this paper two overall horizons are distinguished in these Mesopotamian ceramics. These are significant because both coincide with major stages in Mesopotamia’s interaction with the populations of the ‘Lower Sea’. The first import horizon is comprised of a vessel type found exclusively in the scattered mounds of Early Type which pre‐date the rise of the Dilmun ‘state’ proper. The distribution of these vessels outside their areas of production demonstrates how they circulated widely in a network elsewhere considered to reflect the orbit of Mesopotamia’s late third‐millennium ‘Magan trade’. Here it is consequently concluded that this particular type represents an important fossile directeur of the ‘Magan trade’ and pre‐Dilmun florescence. The vessels that make up the subsequent horizon of Mesopotamian imports are found exclusively in the compact mound cemeteries and thus coincide with the heyday of Dilmun. On these grounds it is argued that the two horizons are the product of, respectively, the Ur III network of ‘Magan trade’ and the contracted Isin‐Larsa network of ‘Dilmun trade’.     

Impulses of agro-pastoralism in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC on the south-western coastal rim of Norway

Abstract

A review of the available archaeological and palaeoecological evidence from the coastal heathlands of south-western Norway was compiled to reveal the processes of neolithisation proceeding from the Early Neolithic towards the generally accepted breakthrough in the Late Neolithic, 2500/2350 cal. BC. South-western Norway then became part of the Scandinavian, and thus the European, agricultural complex. Three phases of forest clearance are recorded — from 4000–3600 cal. BC, 2500–2200 cal. BC and 1900–1400 cal. BC. Deforestation was intentional and followed a regional pattern linked to the geology and topography of the land. In the first period (4000–2500 cal. BC), forage from broad-leaved trees was important, while cereal cultivation was scarcely recorded. Agro-Neolithic (here referring to agriculturally-related Neolithic) artefacts and eco-facts belonging to the Funnel Beaker and Battle Axe culture are rare, but pervasive. They must primarily be considered to be status indicators with a ritual function; the hunter-gatherer economy still dominated. The breakthrough in agro-pastoral production in the Late Neolithic was complex and the result of interactions between several variables, i.e. a) deforestation resulting from agriculture being practised for nearly 1500 years b) experience with small-scale agriculture through generations and c) intensified exchange systems with other South Scandinavian regions. From 2500/2350 cal. BC onwards, two distinct environmental courses are noticeable in all pollen diagrams from the study area, indicating expansion in pastoralism, either towards heath or towards grassland and permanent fields.     

Excavations at Huaca Herederos Chica,Moche Valley,Peru

Abstract

Detailed results of excavations from 1970 to 1973 at the site of Huaca Herederos Chica in the lower Moche Valley, Peru are presented. This now partially destroyed monumental site belongs to the Caballo Muerto Complex, a series of mound sites that span both the Initial Period (2100–1200 CAL B.C.) and the Early Horizon (1200–200 CAL B.C.). The existing mounds were constructed sequentially over a period of some 1000 years; some mounds, like Huaca Herederos Chica, are the result of the superposition of several phases of occupation and building over that long time period, each separated by phases of abandonment. The older remains, dating from the Initial Period, testify to the presence in this coastal region of Peru of architectural features such as small quadrilateral rooms with rounded corners and somewhat circular rooms reminiscent of similar features of the Kotosh Religious Tradition at the highland sites of La Galgada and Huaricoto as well as in the coastal Casma Valley. Huaca Herederos Chica was abandoned from 1200–400 CAL B.C. only to be reoccupied and rebuilt in the late Early Horizon (400–200 CAL B.C.). Architectural changes seen at the site and at the Caballo Muerto Complex as a whole probably reflect important social and political changes along much of the Peruvian north coast.     

The Chemical Environment in a Burial Mound Shortly after Construction—An Archaeological–Pedological Experiment

A number of burial mounds from the South Scandinavian Early Bronze Age have contained iron pan encapsulated, wet mound cores, in which organic material has been extraordinarily well preserved. Chemical analysis of iron pan formations in recently excavated burial mounds from Jutland, Denmark have demonstrated that the iron pans were formed by redox-processes, caused by anaerobic conditions in the core of the mound and possibly influenced or determined by the way the mound was constructed. In 1995 an experimental burial mound was erected at the Historical-Archaeological Research Centre at Lejre in Denmark. The purpose of the experiment was to test and elaborate the theories on the iron pan formation and the mound construction developed on the basis of the previous chemical analysis. Three years after construction the mound was excavated and the iron pan formation and the preservation of organic matter in an oaken log coffin were studied. Anaerobic conditions had developed in the mound core and the contents of the oaken log coffin were found to be well preserved. This paper describes the results of the experiment.     

DIGGING PITS AND MAKING PLACES AT UĞURLU DURING THE SIXTH MILLENNIUM BC

The site of U?urlu on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) is the earliest known Neolithic settlement within the Aegean Islands (c.6800–4500 cal. BC). In total, 37 pits, associated with a rich variety of artefacts as well as human and animal bones were excavated in the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic levels of the site (c.5900–4500 BC). The pits belonging to the early sixth millennium BC levels of U?urlu were small and located within the houses that seem to have gone through multiple episodes of house destruction and renovation rituals. During the late sixth millennium BC, this area became the focus of extensive pit‐digging activity, when large pits involving rich variety of artefacts were set within the courtyard of a special building (Building 4). Among the pits, a collective human burial pit (P188) incorporating the remains of 11 individuals and another pit (P52) involving a partial human skeleton were also found. From a comparative point of view, the construction techniques of these pits, their spatio‐temporal relations as well as their associated archaeological artefacts resemble the Anatolian and Near Eastern Neolithic practices of house destruction and renovation cycles, which are activities related to the ancestor cults of the region. We argue that all of these practices reflect public events during which social relations were negotiated through the agency of place. The differences observed during the sixth millennium BC at U?urlu reflect the changing concepts of place and society in the immediate aftermath of the Neolithic Process, when interactions with the Balkans as well as the Aegean intensified in this region.     

‘Parry’ fractures and female-directed interpersonal violence: Implications from the Late Archaic Period of west Tennessee

The recognition of a high frequency of ‘parry’ fractures in the females from the Late Archaic Period (2500–1000/500 BC ) west Tennessee site of Eva prompted a more thorough examination of female-directed interpersonal violence in prehistoric Tennessee sites. The study examined forearm fractures in eight (N = 308) Late Archaic Period hunter-gatherer sites and five (N = 501) Mississippian Period (c. AD 1200–1600) agriculturalist sites. On the basis of chi-square test results, there does not appear to be any gender bias in forearm fracture occurrence in the Archaic Period. The high frequency of female ‘parry’ fractures at Eva was an artefact of the ratio of females to males. More importantly, craniofacial trauma data do not support an aetiology that would explain mid-shaft forearm fractures as a result of interpersonal violence.     

Pits,mounds, and vernal ponds in a Tasmanian subalpine grassland

Falling trees commonly turbate soils in primary forest, creating characteristic edaphic patterns related to pit and mound topography. Vernal ponds with associated mounds were observed in mineral soils on a treeless plain in subalpine Tasmania, Australia. The hypothesis that paired ponds and mounds on the plain originated as pit and mound features in forests that were later destroyed by fire was tested by comparing the soils and landforms caused by recent tree falls in adjacent forest with those on the plain. The soil characteristics, orientations, and dimensions of the ponds and mounds were consistent with a tree fall origin, although rare secondary ponds on the tops of mounds may derive from the burrowing activities of the medium‐sized marsupial, Vombatus ursinus (common wombat). The characteristics of pond and mound soils suggested that most were hundreds to thousands of years old, with the ponds persisting because of differences in deflation, deposition, and organic matter formation between themselves and adjacent persistently dry land.     

The origin and construction of pre-Hispanic mounds in the Upper Delta of the Paraná River (Argentina)

Pre-Hispanic mounds, known as “cerritos,” “cerritos de indios,” or “aterros” across southeastern South America, are one of the most conspicuous and well-studied cultural manifestations in lowlands archaeology. Nevertheless, in the Upper Delta of the Paraná River, mounds are rarely studied, and even their anthropic origin is under debate. This could be related to the fact that anthropogenic mounds are located on a floodplain where other “mound-like” natural geoforms (generated by fluvial processes) are also present. In addition to this, the natural geoforms also contain evidence of Holocene human occupation (sherds, bones, charcoal, humans burials, etc.), which can lead to interpretive errors of their origin and formation. Thus, this project set out to determine the genesis and evolution of these mounds and also to identify the cultural occupation and transformation of natural landforms found in the area. In this article, natural and anthropogenic systems and processes were identified and characterized through the application of proxy record analysis (i.e., sediment composition, stratigraphy, micromorphology, silica bodies and chronological analysis) at the Los Tres Cerros archaeological locality in the Upper Delta of the Paraná River of Victoria County, Entre Ríos Province, Argentina. This analysis allowed for the recognition of natural anthropogenic interfaces, such as the “pre-mound” occupation as well as evidence of cultural activities such as mound construction, between 1,000 and 500 ¹⁴C years bp. These findings were integrated into current research on the variability of mound construction during the Late Holocene in the lowlands of South America.     

Hesitant hunters: a review of the introduction of agriculture in western Norway

Abstract

Evidence for the introduction of agriculture in western Norway is presented, using three categories of data: (1) palaeobotanical data, including pollen diagrams from lakes, bogs and archaeological sites, focusing on the presence of cereals, Plantago lanceolata L. and anthropogenic pollen indicators, and charred macro remains of cereals from archaeological sites; (2) osteological data, focusing on the occurrences of bones of cattle, sheep and goats in three rock-shelters, and the bone material from one open-air Neolithic site; (3) archaeological data, including artefacts indicating agricultural practices, distribution of residential settlement sites, and stray finds. The evidence for agricultural activity at the beginning of the fourth millennium BC (Early Neolithic, EN) is low, whereas the presence of both cereals and animal husbandry is indicated in the palaeobotanical material from the Middle Neolithic A (MNA, 3400–2600 cal. BC). The earliest record of domesticated animal bones is dated to the Middle Neolithic B (MNB, 2600–2200 cal. BC), while palynological and archaeological data also indicate an expansion in the area cultivated by early farmers. All data confirm the establishment of an agrarian society and animal husbandry in the Late Neolithic (LN, 2200–1700 cal. BC). It is concluded that agriculture was introduced into western Norway by the indigenous hunter-fisher populations. During this process, social and ideological factors played principal roles.     

The Myrick Park Mounds (47Lc10), an Effigy Mound Site in Western Wisconsin

The earliest documented excavation of an effigy mound group by a professional archaeologist occurred in 1883 when Frederic Ward Putnam and local acquaintances excavated portions of four mounds at the Myrick Park site (47Lc10) in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Putnam worked on one effigy (similar to the short-tailed turtle form) and three conical mounds. Theodore H. Lewis visited the site in 1885 and mapped one additional conical mound. We examined documentation and collections housed at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. Artifacts include a portion of a Madison Cord Impressed jar (a common Effigy Mound offering) and a trailed rim sherd similar to terminal Late Woodland types. Human remains represent a minimum of 23 individuals: 18 adults and 5 subadults. Dental and skeletal evidence indicates a relatively healthy population with low levels of nutritional deficiency, early life stress, and trauma, similar to other regional Late Woodland populations.     

Histories of deposition: creating chronologies for the Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age transition in Southern Britain

The Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age midden sites of Southern Britain are amongst the richest archaeological sites in the country. The organic accumulations contain substantial quantities of animal bone, decorated ceramics, metalwork and other objects; the often deep stratigraphy allows for changes in material culture and depositional practices, food production and consumption, and shifts in social identities, to be traced through time. The well-stratified assemblages also provide useful materials for dating the deposits. This has been problematic, however, as the majority of samples produce unhelpfully broad calibrated radiocarbon dates, due to the effects of the earlier Iron Age plateau in the calibration curve, which spans c. 800–400 BC. Interpretation has relied on current understandings of the associated pottery and metalwork, which placed most midden sites somewhere between the tenth and the seventh/mid-sixth centuries cal BC (c. 1000–600/550 cal BC), but the end-date of these traditions is particularly uncertain. This article addresses this issue by presenting the results of a new dating programme for East Chisenbury in Wiltshire, southern England. Twenty-eight radiocarbon determinations were obtained and combined with the site stratigraphy in a Bayesian chronological model. The results have transformed the chronology of the site, with the end of the occupation sequence being pulled forward some one-hundred years, to the mid-to-late fifth century cal BC. These new chronologies have significant implications for our understanding of the Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age transition and require a revision of the currently accepted chronology of post-Deverel Rimbury decorated wares in south-central England.