Inferences from the human skeletal material of the Early Iron Age cemetery at Agios Dimitrios,Fthiotis, Central Greece

The Geometric cemetery of Agios Dimitrios (850–740 B.C.) yielded a human osteological sample, with an MNI of 51 and equal numbers of males and females and adults and subadults. This site is of significant archaeological importance, as it provides information on human health status, diet, and activity patterns as well as mortuary behavior for a little studied time period. The results, including a) stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data suggesting a C₃ low-protein plant diet, b) relatively high infant mortality, c) low stature estimates, d) significant prevalence of possible anemic conditions, and e) high dental infection and loss rates, all point to a rapidly increasing, stressed, and relatively malnourished population which did not exploit nearby marine resources, experienced suboptimal living conditions, and could not reach its biological potential. Furthermore, the study of this group provides evidence of equal burial treatment of all age and sex categories, no dietary differences in terms of sex and status, and no sex differentiation in pathological conditions.     

Ancient DNA analysis of desiccated wheat grains excavated from a Bronze Age cemetery in Xinjiang

Wheat has been one of the most important crop in Eurasia since the Neolithic period. Understanding the spread of wheat cultivation is crucial to understanding the spread of agriculture as a whole and the interactions between prehistoric populations across the Eurasian continent. However, the routes by which wheat cultivation spread eastwards have been poorly understood to date, due to the scarcity of plant remains recovered from archaeological sites. Desiccated wheat grains excavated from the Xiaohe cemetery in Xinjiang, and dated to the early Bronze Age, show excellent DNA preservation. Here we present an ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of wheat (Triticum sp.) grains excavated from Xiaohe and provide the first definitive evidence for bread wheat in China during the Bronze Age. The nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS1 and ITS2) and the intergenic spacer region (IGS) were amplified. The IGS region within the D genome of wheat has a 71 bp insertion that is absent from corresponding regions in the A and B genomes. The results showed that the Xiaohe wheat showed most sequence similarity to hexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), including the characteristic insertion into the D genome. The presence of bread wheat at the Xiaohe cemetery is discussed in relation to it having spread into Xinjiang by the Bronze Age, providing new insight into the origins of bread wheat in East Asia.     

Silk Road glass in Xinjiang,China: chemical compositional analysis and interpretation using a high-resolution portable XRF spectrometer

In this paper we explore the major, minor and some trace elements of sixty-five glass beads from eighteen oasis sites both north and south of the Taklamakan Desert, the ancient centre of the Silk Routes linking East and West; the samples date from the Warring States period (475–2211 BCE) to the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). Using a high-resolution portable XRF spectrometer, with special attention to issues of surface weathering and sample preparation, we obtained quantitative chemical compositional data that, when combined with archaeological context and the technology of bead manufacture, provide the basis for an understanding of both changes in glass type over time, and possible source areas for the Xinjiang glasses. While glass beads at the early sites (1st c. BCE to 4th c. CE) were coming primarily from Kushan-controlled territories in northern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with a small contribution from central China, most of the later glass (4th–10th c. CE) is similar to that produced in the Sasanian Empire at such sites as Veh Ardashir in central Iraq. These changes most likely reflect changing cultural and economic conditions in the Silk Road towns.     

汉唐丝绸之路文化内涵与现代新疆旅游业发展对策

道路交通的历史,是整个社会和人类文明发展进步的一个鲜明缩影,它从独特的角度反映了社会生产力的发展趋势。新疆地处祖国边陲,在漫长的历史发展过程中,各民族维护国家统一,反对民族分裂,共同创造了灿烂的文化,这些中道路交通发挥了令人瞩目的作用。历史的辉煌同样为今天旅游业的发展提供了有力的保证。     

宁夏固原早期丝绸之路遗址——回中宫、瓦亭驿、朝那古城、固原古城

宁夏固原为丝绸之路东段北道必经之地,境内丰厚的文化遗存,见证着曾经繁荣的丝路盛况。本文作者介绍了固原早期丝绸之路沿线遗址—回中宫、瓦亭驿、朝那古城、固原古城及其出土文物,旨在证明固原丝绸之路的重要性。     

浅析丝绸之路对新疆少数民族绘画色彩风格形成的影响

丝绸之路是游牧民族的迁徙之路,也是游牧民族和农耕民族的交流之路。它不仅改变了游牧民族的生活方式,而且丰富了新疆本土绘画,特别是对游牧民族绘画的发展,其影响是全方位的。本文从生存方式决定意识形态的角度,分析、探讨了丝绸之路上游牧文化和农耕文化的交融现象,及其形成的新疆少数民族绘画独特的用色风格。     

丝绸之路与新疆古代雕塑艺术

新疆古代雕塑形式多样、内容丰富,但相关研究却相对较少。本文主要对新疆的木雕、泥塑、铜铸、金器、鹿石、石人等艺术进行了全面分析与总结,展示了新疆古代雕塑艺术的全貌。     

Miliacin in palaeosols from an Early Iron Age in Ukraine reveal in situ cultivation of broomcorn millet

During the archaeobotanical investigation of Scythian–Sarmatian period (Early Iron Age), pits with crop processing waste, discovered in the floodplain of Donets River, eastern Ukraine, and charred remains of cereal grains, dominated by broomcorn millet, were recorded. The grains from the pits were radiocarbon dated to the fifth to first century BC. Those pits are distant from any known contemporaneous settlement. The apparent disconnection of these pits from any local settlement suggests that (1) millet was brought from other locations by mobile groups, or (2) millet was cultivated locally by populations whose settlements have left no discernible archaeological trace. The analysis of molecular biomarkers preserved in palaeosols that are stratigraphically connected to the pits revealed high levels of miliacin, a molecule that can be preserved in ancient soils and sediments, and that is consistent with broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum). High levels in miliacin in soils stratigraphically connected to the pits are interpreted as the result of a large biomass of P. miliaceum produced at time of soil formation. Our biogeochemical results applied to a palaeosol thus attest to the in situ cultivation of crops dominated by the broomcorn millet during the early Iron Age in the floodplain of Donets River. Biochemical examination of soils and palaeosols can thus provide useful information on past dynamics of land-use by ancient population, especially when settlements or macrobotanical remains are absent.     

中国古代和亲与丝绸之路的拓展

本文以新的视角,全面考察了中国古代和亲与丝绸之路的关系。认为,中原王朝与乌孙、鄯善、高昌、西突厥、宁远、于阗等政权的和亲以及辽与大食的联姻,拓展和巩固了传统的陆上丝绸之路;中原王朝与匈奴、柔然、突厥、回纥等政权的和亲,辽与西夏、阻卜、回鹘的和亲,蒙元与高昌、高丽的联姻,以及满蒙之间的联姻,极大地延伸和拓展了草原丝绸之路;中原王朝与吐谷浑、吐蕃等政权的和亲以及以拉萨为中心的吐蕃矛口亲圈,开辟或拓展了青藏高原丝绸之路。和亲对丝绸之路的拓展主要体现在如下几个方面：一是为丝绸之路创造了相对安定的边疆环境;二是和亲双方积极通商;三是和亲传播了养蚕缫丝技术,带动了西域植桑养蚕业的发展;四是和亲公主努力协调双方关系,不断清除丝绸之路上的障碍;五是和亲公主对丝绸之路的监督;六是少数民族首领对丝绸之路的保护;七是部分和亲公主从事商业活动;八是与和亲相关的使团络绎不绝,活跃了丝绸之路;九是中原王朝的大量赐物丰富了丝绸之路。     

Stable carbon isotope analysis of human tooth enamel from the Bronze Age cemetery of Ya'amoun in Northern Jordan

Seventy-five teeth from the Bronze Age cemetery of Ya'amoun were sampled for carbon isotope analysis. The sampled teeth represented the transitional period of the Middle/Late Bronze Age. The results showed that the components of the diet that are reflected in the carbon isotope data remained the same during this period with an average δ¹³C of about −11.87‰. This value reflects more C₃ plant consumption.     

Synchrotron radiation-based x-ray analysis of bronze artifacts from an Iron Age site in the Judean Hills

Seven bronze bangles from Tell en-Nasbeh, northern Judah, were investigated to understand the phase composition and manufacturing process of the artifacts, and possibly suggest a provenance for their origin. Synchrotron x-ray radiation diffraction (XRD) and fluorescence (XRF) were used in the analysis to avoid any destructive sampling and at the same time penetrate through the surface into the core metal. These techniques enabled us to determine that the bangles were not just tin bronze, but leaded tin bronze. Based on excavation reports, it is unlikely that the metal objects were manufactured locally at Tell en-Nasbeh; rather, preliminary XRD and XRF data point towards the neighboring region of Edom as their origin. Despite their political enmity during the Iron Age II, the data suggest that Judahite social demands for bronze may have fostered a strong economic relationship between these two polities.     

Characterization of dyes in ancient textiles from Yingpan,Xinjiang

In this paper we analyzed the natural dyes in well-preserved, ancient textiles from Yingpan, an important archaeological site on the Silk Road, using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass spectrometric detection. Dyes were removed from textile fibers using a soft extraction method (pyridine, water and oxalic acid). Two species of madder-type plants, Rubia tinctorum and Rubia cordifolia were identified as the dye sources in red and brown samples. We also were able to detect unusual flavonoid glycosides in yellow and green woolen yarns, although we have not been able to pinpoint with certainty a specific plant that may have been used to produce this dye(s). On the other hand, we found that yellow and green silk threads had been colored with protoberberine-type dyes, probably obtained from species of cork tree, Phellodendron spp., and/or other protoberberine producing plant. We propose that the textile dyes found at Yingpan reflect a merging of Eastern and Western practices and technologies during the 800-year period (206 BCE–618 CE) encompassing the early years of the Silk Road.     

Diet in the Iron Age cemetery population at Wetwang Slack,East Yorkshire,UK: carbon and nitrogen stable isotope evidence

This paper reports δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values for human and animal bone collagen from the middle Iron Age site at Wetwang Slack, East Yorkshire, UK. The data indicate a human diet which was high in animal protein, with no evidence for any significant marine food input. No differences were found between high-status vehicle (or ‘chariot’) burials and the rest of the population and no other status differentiations are visible according to burial rite, age or sex groupings, although the data obtained for the older males display an unusual trend. No dietary variation is seen between two site phases and no evidence for an early immigrant group is present. The range of isotope values for the adult human group as a whole is small, indicating that the diet is likely to have been consistent over time and across the population, although two individuals stand out as unusual amongst the 62 analysed.     

Resilient Social Actors in the Transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age on Cyprus

Journal of World Prehistory - Our understanding of the earliest Iron Age on Cyprus has long remained somewhat obscure. This is the result of both a relative lack of material evidence and the fact...     

Statistical Analysis of Spatial Distribution of Ceramics from Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Sites in Southwestern Siberia

Results of the statistical analysis of spatial distribution of ceramics at Chicha-1, Zavialovo-5, and Linevo-1 indicate ethnic heterogeneity and the presence of native and immigrant ceramic traditions within separate sites and even within single dwellings. The arrangement of pottery inside residence structures follows certain regularities. All residents, however, were apparently involved in the same manufacture.     

A Deposit of Early Medieval Iron Objects from Scraptoft,Leicestershire

Abstract

A DEPOSIT OF FIVE iron objects found at Scraptoft, near Leicester, is interesting for the range of activities represented: woodworking, cultivation, harvesting and warfare. The objects are described and their dating discussed together with possible reasons for their deposition. Hoards of early medieval tools and weapons are well known in Britain, but iron objects seem surprisingly common on what appear to be Anglo-Saxon rural sites. The possibilities of ritual deposition and of these hoards symbolically representing the Anglo-Saxon economy are also considered.     

A multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental investigation of the findspot of an Iron Age bog body from Oldcroghan,Co. Offaly,Ireland

In 2003, the remains of an Early Iron Age bog body, known as ‘Oldcroghan Man’, were recovered during the cutting of a drainage ditch in a bog in the Irish Midlands. Only some fingernails and a withe fragment remained undisturbed in situ in the drain face, providing the sole evidence for the original position of the body. A detailed reconstruction of the depositional context of the body has been undertaken through multi-proxy analyses of a peat monolith collected at the findspot. The palynological record shows that the surrounding area was the focus of intensive human activity during the Later Bronze Age, but was largely abandoned during the Bronze Age–Iron transition in the mid-first millennium BC. In the mid-4th century BC, a bog pool developed at the site, evidenced in the stratigraphic, plant macrofossil, testate amoebae and coleopteran records. Plant macrofossil and pollen analysis of peat samples associated with the fingernails suggests that the body was deposited in this pool most likely during the 3rd century BC. The absence of carrion beetle fauna points to complete submergence of the body within the pool. Deposition occurred shortly before or around the time that the surrounding area again became the focus of woodland clearance, as seen in the extended pollen record from the peat monolith. This period corresponds to the Early Iron Age in Ireland, during which renewed cultural connections with Britain and continental Europe can be seen in the archaeological record and widespread forest clearance is recorded in pollen records from across Ireland. The palaeoenvironmental results indicate, therefore, that the demise of Oldcroghan Man took place at a pivotal time of socio-economic and perhaps political change.