SLAVES IN BRONZE AGE SOUTHERN SCANDINAVIA?

The article proposes that unfree labour was an integral part of Bronze Age society. The presence of the unfree (thralls or even slaves) in prehistoric societies has rarely been discussed and never in the light of archaeological evidence. The article is based on empirical material from 333 fully excavated house remains from 120 sites in the Viborg area in northwest Jutland, Denmark. Based on the reconstructed size of these longhouses, the location of fireplaces, entrances and the subdivision of space, it is suggested that farmsteads, in general, had two, often clearly separated habitation units. In the Early Bronze Age, a longhouse was usually subdivided into two parts, and during the Late Bronze Age, this subdivision manifested in the construction of two longhouses. After a thorough analysis of the archaeological record, it is suggested that the owner of the land had occupied one habitation unit, while the other was reserved for the unfree.     

Mobility in Central European Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age: tibial cross-sectional geometry

An absence of settlement features during the Central European Corded Ware period (Late Eneolithic, 2900–2300 BC) has been interpreted as a reflection of mobile pastoral subsistence. Recent analyses of the Late Eneolithic archeological context reveal that the Late Eneolithic exhibit evidence of sedentary agricultural activities similar to the Early Bronze Age. Since the archeological analyses are not clear cut, we tested mobility pattern differences between the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age using biomechanical analysis of the tibial midshaft cross-sections. The total sample of the 130 tibiae representing five archaeological cultures was used. The results of the tibial midshaft geometry do not support the hypothesis about different mobility in the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. This conclusion is supported by nonsignificant differences between the Corded Ware females and the Early Bronze Age females. Higher absolute values for the Corded Ware males should be explained either by stochastic variation or by differing amounts of physical demands despite a generally similar pattern of subsistence of the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. One of the Early Bronze Age samples, the Wieselburger group, is an exception because the individuals show both reduced overall size and bending resistance of the tibial parameters not only in comparison with the Late Eneolithic but also to the rest of the Early Bronze Age. The results suggest that the behavioral processes which affected the tibial midshaft biology operated during the Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age as a mosaic across time and between/within cultures.     

THE OLIVE IN THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN: THE EVIDENCE FOR DOMESTICATION IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE

Summary. In 1972 Colin Renfrew suggested that the rise of Mycenaean civilization may have been made possible by the development of a polycultural triad of wheat, vine and olive in the Early Bronze Age. A careful examination of the botanical and archaeological evidence for the domestication of the olive lends little support to this aspect of the thesis. The palynological evidence from various points in Greece is inconclusive, but for most areas it would seem to suggest that the intensive cultivation of olive began in the Late Bronze Age or even later.
No conclusive archaeological evidence for processing or storage of olive oil exists for any period in the Bronze Age. The question of when olive domestication took place must remain unanswered until more data are available from Early and Middle Bronze Age contexts and more conclusive botanical data have been collected.     

CHEMICAL AND LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSES OF GREEK LATE NEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE METALS

Results of a combined archaeological and analytical project of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age copper, bronze and lead artefacts from four distinct areas of mainland Greece are presented. The aim of the study is to understand better the stages of technological development of each region, their possible ore sources and also to assess any external contribution to or internal evolution of their metallurgy. Interesting results which could challenge the established view of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age metallurgy in the Greek mainland are presented.     

THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN LATE BRONZE AGE GLASS TRADE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE PANAZTEPE FINDS

The Late Bronze Age is a period during which intensive transactions occurred in the Mediterranean and Near East. The glass trade became a real industry, exhibiting the innovations of the period from around the region. The glass finds of the Late Bronze Age consisted of valuable gifts exchanged between the elite classes of Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Aegean. The objective of this study is to reconstruct Late Bronze Age glass trade systems in the light of archaeological data recovered from Panaztepe, located in the Izmir region of west Anatolia. The glass finds at Panaztepe are represented by examples such as necklace spacers, relief beads, and spherical and circular beads recovered from the two burial grounds. While the interior chronologies of the tombs have not been completely distinguished, it is thought that most of these finds were used during the Late Helladic III A–B periods.     

METALWORKING TECHNIQUES ON THE EURASIAN STEPPES IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE: TECHNICAL ANALYSES OF THE BORODINO TREASURE SPEARHEADS

The Late Bronze Age is a period characterized by chariots and riders, spearheads, bows and battle axes. Such are the assemblages of grave goods attributed to the Seima‐Turbino, Timber‐grave, Abashevo, Sintashta, Pokrovsk and other cultures of the Eurasian forest‐steppe and steppe belt. Although hoard deposits are comparatively rare in this context, this category of finds has also provided some extraordinary examples of metalwork. This paper reports on the analysis of three such artefacts, namely the gold‐ornamented silver‐alloy spearheads from the ‘treasure’ recovered near Borodino in Ukraine at the beginning of the twentieth century. The high‐ resolution technological study of these items presented here includes experimental research to produce similar decorative patterns and a comparison of the resulting traces and imprints with the original archaeological artefacts. The results help to identify use‐wear traces and reveal new information about casting and crafting techniques, tool sets and individual technical styles. Although the spearheads share some basic decorative features such as a gold plate attached to the silver, variations in the tools used and the technical repertoire – chasing, punching, and cutting – suggest that the spearheads were decorated by different hands. The study inevitably leaves many questions about the ‘life history’ for these objects unanswered, but takes the first steps towards a more complete understanding of this remarkable assemblage.     

Identifying stone tools used in mining,smelting, and casting in Middle Bronze Age Cyprus

Abstract

Metallurgical production sites are often difficult to identify in the archaeological record because ore beneficiation and slag processing in the past involved the use of ground stone tools that were similar to those used in other contexts to prepare cereals and foods. Analysis of the ground stone assemblage from a Middle Bronze Age copper mining and production site at Ambelikou Aletri in Cyprus provided an opportunity to distinguish industrial and domestic ground stone tools and to identify the types of tools used in different stages of metal production. A comparison of tool morphologies, raw materials, and wear and breakage patterns from Ambelikou Aletri with those from contemporary domestic contexts, suggests that distinctions in the nature and structure of industrial and domestic tool kits do exist and those distinctions have an important role to play in identifying mining, smelting, and casting sites in the future.     

Chronology during the Bronze Age in the archaeological site Tell Qubr Abu al-‘Atiq, Syria

Archaeosediments are deposits with a direct or indirect anthropogenic component. They provide useful information about past human activities and interaction with the environment. When other materials, such as pottery, are present in archaeosediment layers, the combination of TL ages from pottery and OSL ages from sediments can provide complete data about the occupation and evolution of an archaeological setting. In Mesopotamia, tells are mounds formed by the debris of human occupation and the accumulation of muddy sediments mainly due to the decomposition of mud bricks in ancient towns. Many other materials such as pottery fragments, bones and charcoal can be found in the sediment layers. The combination of OSL, TL and radiocarbon ages can be very useful in the case of the Bronze Age Period in Syria, allowing the occupation sequence of such archaeological sites to be reconstructed. Tell Qubr Abu al-’Atiq, is located on the left bank of the Middle Euphrates River (Syria). The archaeological artefacts found in the sediment layers (pottery) collected during excavations in two areas of the site, indicated the occupation of the tell during the Early and Late Bronze Age by typological pottery classification. The radiocarbon ages of charcoal indicate that human occupation fits the archaeological hypothesis, providing an older and maximum occupation period between 2800 and 2300 BC and a younger period between 1400 and 900 BC. OSL dating of sediments shows ages younger than charcoal, while TL ages of pottery are generally older than sediment and charcoal ages. This can be explained as the different materials correspond to different events. The charcoal and pottery correspond to occupation periods, while sediments correspond to the further destruction of the site.     

Environmental Archaeology of Prehistoric NW Crete

Abstract

The occurrence of Central European tree-types no longer growing on Crete indicates that Neolithic and Bronze Age climates were moister than at present. Of equal significance is the appearance of large quantities of olive pollen in Late Neolithic levels, suggesting the practice of olive cultivation. Early Bronze Age levels show a disappearance of some Central European tree pollen and an increase in Mediterranean tree types, suggesting that the climate became somewhat drier. The pollen findings are used along with other environmental and archaeological data to reconstruct landscapes for the Neolithic and Bronze Age of NW Crete.     

Bronze and Iron Age Amber Artifacts in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina

Abstract

The question as to whether or not Yugoslavia played a role in the Bronze Age amber trade to Greece has traditionally been answered negatively because of the scarcity of amber finds in that country. Amber finds that have come to light as a result of more intensive exploration after World War II have been thought to be of local origin by some Yugoslav scholars. Spectroscopic analysis of 35 archaeological amber artifacts from the Yugoslav provinces of Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina of the Bronze and Iron Age shows 31 of them to be of imported Baltic amber. The finds are discussed in their archaeological and geographic contexts as a first step towards re-assessing the place of the Eastern Adriatic area in the southward movement of amber.     

Metalworking and Recycling in Late Bronze Age Cyprus – the Evidence from Kition

Excavations at the sacred precinct of the Late Bronze Age city of Kition uncovered the remains of metalworking workshops which were clearly associated with the temples. The results of the excavation as well as a number of specialist reports of the archaeometallurgical finds have already been published. Since their publication, however, archaeological research has progressed and new evidence has come to light regarding the Late Bronze Age in general and metalworking in particular. The object of this paper is to present the finds from these workshops and reconsider some of the issues that their discovery has raised. The results of the previous studies of the archaeometallurgical studies are critically assessed and the evidence reinterpreted based on what is available today. One of the issues addressed is that of metal recycling during the Late Bronze Age. This communication was presented at a research workshop organized by the Israel Science Foundation and the University of Haifa on 'Recycling, Hoarding and Trade in Bronze, 13th–11th centuries BCE' (Haifa 26–28 April, 1998). The first part of the paper was written by Karageorghis, the second part by Kassianidou.     

HEROIC TIME: MONUMENTS AND THE PAST IN MESSENIA, SOUTHWEST GREECE

The archaeological structure of a landscape in terms of the history of settlement and burial in a particular locale through time, together with the construction, development and importance of the monuments placed within it, has become a feature of recent landscape archaeology in the study of Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain. The present paper introduces some of these themes into the study of the Messenia, southwest Greece, approaching two main problems. First, how the location chosen for the Late Bronze Age Palace of Nestor related to earlier patterns of habitation of the Middle Helladic period (an issue hitherto ignored by previous 'period-specific'studies) and, secondly, the later relevance of the Bronze Age landscape in the Iron Age when issues such as the 'Past'and 'History'came to be of great significance in Messenia.     

CALCAREOUS MICROFOSSILS IN BRONZE AGE AEGEAN CERAMICS: ILLUMINATING TECHNOLOGY AND PROVENANCE*

The calcareous skeletal remains of various microscopic organisms such as foraminifera and ostracods are a striking feature of thin sections of many archaeological ceramics from the Aegean Bronze Age. While the presence of these calcareous microfossils in pottery has been noted for some time, attempts to utilize them to further the aims of ceramic compositional analysis have been few in number. In the following paper, we take a first detailed look at the occurrence and utility of calcareous microfossils in archaeological ceramics. By presenting selected case studies from the Bronze Age of Crete, we demonstrate the potential of calcareous microfossils, especially the extremely small ‘nannofossils’ and the highly contextual geological information that they contain, in terms of the characterization and grouping of ceramics, the determination of their provenance and the reconstruction of ancient technology.     

Modelling of hydrology and potential population levels at Bronze Age Jawa,Northern Jordan: a Monte Carlo approach to cope with uncertainty

An annual water balance model for Wadi Rajil, in Northern Jordan, is used to simulate the ancient water supply system for the Early Bronze Age site of Jawa. The model includes: water delivery from the catchment; local pond storage; and water demand for people, animals and irrigation. A Monte Carlo approach is used to incorporate the uncertainty associated with a range of factors including rainfall, evaporation, water losses and use. The stochastic simulation provides estimates of potential population levels sustainable by the water supply system. Historical precipitation estimates from a Global Circulation Model, with uncertainty bounds, are used to reconstruct the climate at Jawa in the Early Bronze Age (EBA). Model results indicate that the population levels in the predicted wetter conditions during parts of the EBA could have risen to ∼6000 and may have been higher in wet years. However, palaeoclimatic proxies also suggest prolonged droughts in the EBA; and during these periods the water management system was unable to provide adequate supply for a population of 6000. The utility of Monte Carlo based hydrological modelling as a tool within archaeological science is discussed.     

FARMERS,HERDERS OR TRADESMEN? ANALYSING SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF THE MIDDLE AND LATE BRONZE AGE ON THE SARFIROUZABAD PLAIN,KERMANSHAH, WESTERN IRAN

The highland plains of western Iran have been investigated with varying intensity. The Sarfirouzabad Plain located in the south of Kermanshah province, although visited perfunctorily, has not previously been studied systematically, despite attractive ecological and environmental conditions. In 2009, a team from Tehran University conducted a systematic and intensive field survey in the region to identify Bronze Age settlements and to assess their location in relation to ecological, environmental and cultural factors that may have impacted their distribution on the plain. The surveyed area was walked in transects at 20‐metre intervals and resulted in the identification of 332 archaeological sites from different cultural periods, which added much to the limited knowledge about the history of this region. Twenty‐four of these settlement sites belong to the Middle and Late Bronze Age horizons. This study uses GIS to map the distribution of archaeological materials and construct spatial models to determine the significance of the distribution patterns of the Bronze Age sites.     

THE FIRST LAKE-DWELLERS OF LITHUANIA: LATE BRONZE AGE PILE SETTLEMENTS ON LAKE LUOKESAS

Summary.   Lake Luokesas in Lithuania has become the centre of attention in northern European wetland archaeological research after the discovery of two Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pile dwellings. Their unique location, chronology and building techniques have the potential to revolutionise our understanding of important aspects of wetland communities in later prehistoric Europe.     

THE LATE BRONZE AGE HOARD FROM CLOS DE LA BLANCHE PIERRE, ST LAWRENCE, JERSEY, CHANNEL ISLES.

Summary. The Late Bronze Age hoard from Clos de la Blanche Pierre, St Lawrence, Jersey was found in 1976. The hoard was found in a pot and the broken objects consisted of weapons, axes, tools, ornaments and casting debris dated to Bronze Final II (10th century B. C.) and represents the only material of this type to be found in the Channel Islands so far. The objects are directly comparable to those of the Saint Brieuc des Iffs industry in Brittany and the Wilburton Complex in England as well as being related to other industries in the Atlantic west. The detailed metal analyses of the objects confirm their affinity to industries in North-western France.     

How was Bell Beaker economy related to Corded Ware and Early Bronze Age lifestyles? Archaeological,botanical and palynological evidence from the Hegau,Western Lake Constance region

Abstract

The Europe wide spread of what has been called the Bell Beaker phenomenon remains an enigma of European prehistory. While most of the recent research stresses the ideological aspects of using Bell Beaker material culture, here we take a regional and economical perspective. We look for the chronological relationships and the economic choices of the Bell Beaker phase and of its closest neighbours in time and space: the Late Neolithic Corded Ware and the Early Bronze Age. We focus on the regional archaeological settlement history and present the hitherto richest European Bell Beaker-associated collection of palaeobotanical macro-remains, together with our high-resolution palynological work on annually laminated lake sediments. These different lines of evidence are tied together by an absolute chronology derived from new radiocarbon accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) dates (now more than 200) and from the dendrodates from the World Heritage wet preserved pile dwellings. We show the preceding Late Neolithic, the actual Bell Beaker, and the following Early Bronze age economies each relying on different agricultural strategies that focus on distinct parts of the landscape. There is no link obvious between Late Neolithic and Bell Beaker, but there is between Bell Beaker and Early Bronze Age. Related to different modes of production, differences in ideology become visible in food preferences as well as in other parts of the material culture. We conclude that the Bell Beaker economy represents a re-orientation of the mode of production focusing on single, rather small farmsteads which often do not leave a distinct signal in the archaeological record.     

Prehistoric activity and environment on the North York Moors

A synoptic view and interpretation of archaeological material from the mesolithic to the end of the Iron Age is provided, and this is viewed in the context of available palaeoenvironmental information. The evidence of various settlement forms suggests that mesolithic folk occupied the region for a long period, but their environmental impact appears to have been low although not negligible. In neolithic times a probably higher population density was capable of more thorough changes of vegetation but the total permanent alteration of ecosystems is thought to be small. Evidence for settlement is entirely inferential. By contrast, the Bronze and Iron Ages were periods of considerable clearance of forest and subsequent ecological changes like the leaching of soils increased, and traces of settlement are plentiful. New data on Iron Age settlements shows a downward movement of settlement sites and some Celtic fields are noted, though they are sparse compared with other uplands in Great Britain. A number of unanswered questions are posed, mostly about the nature of the settlement pattern in mesolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age times. No complete synthesis of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data is yet possible at this scale but certain parts of the moors have a high potential for reconstructing prehistoric geography.