Trade and Power in Ancient Egypt: Middle Egypt in the Late Third/Early Second Millennium BC

Middle Egypt provides a unique insight into the organization of power, politics, economy, and culture at the turn of the third millennium BC. The apparently easy integration of this region into the reunified monarchy of king Mentuhotep II (2055–2004 BC) was possible because the interests and the local lineages of potentates were preserved. Trade and access and/or control of international exchange networks were important sources of wealth and power then. And Middle Egypt appears as a crossroads of diverse populations, as a hub of political and economic power, as a crucial node of exchanges through the Nile Valley, and as a power center whose rulers provided support to the monarchy in exchange of local autonomy and considerable political influence at the Court. In the new conditions of early second millennium, potentates from Middle Egypt succeeded in occupying a unique advantageous position, not matched elsewhere in Egypt, because of the concentration of wealth, trade routes, new technologies, political power, and autonomy in the territories they ruled.     

The Handle Wagging the Cup. Formal Aspects of Alcohol Consumption in the Transfer of Ideology: Anatolia and the Aegean Towards the End of the Third Millennium BC

Fermented drinks have been socially and economically important since their advent, not only because they are functionally significant in preserving calories, but also as value‐added foodstuffs incorporated into symbolically important ceremonies and feasts to increase the social value of an individual or a group's status. Towards the end of the third millennium BC, just as wine was becoming an important commodity, the manifestation of this emphasis on the communal consumption of alcoholic beverages can be observed in the material culture of Anatolia and the Aegean with the so‐called ‘west Anatolian drinking set’ consisting of drinking cups with characteristically oversized handles and beak‐spouted pitchers. Against the backdrop of the socio‐economic reasons for the distribution of this particular drinking set over a wide geographical area, the focus of this article is on their impact upon the prevailing local pottery traditions and the local adaptation of these vessels into the traditional repertoire where the importance of the oversized handles is recognized.     

Brittany and the Atlantic Rim in the Later First Millennium BC

Recent work on the Iron Age of Brittany, in particular on the ceramics and the decorated stone stelae, has emphasized the distinctive nature of Armorican culture while demonstrating links with Continental Europe. We argue that it is possible to recognize changing axes of communication between the Atlantic faµade and more easterly areas first along the Loire, later along the Seine and finally, as the result of Greek exploration, along the Garonne. These changes are considered against the background of the developing socio-economic systems of west central and Mediterranean Europe.     

Breaking the Bond: Investigating The Neolithic Expansion in Asia Minor in the Seventh Millennium BC

In the early seventh millennium BC an expansion of the Neolithic economy and sedentism took place in Asia Minor. This occurred nearly two millennia after the emergence of Neolithic societies in southern central Anatolia, which raises the question of how this expansion occurred, and why it came about at this particular moment. This paper considers various elements that might have played a role in this expansion episode, such as climate change, demography, and agricultural and social changes.     

Parchment Production in the First Millennium BC at Seglamen, Northern Ethiopia

Traditional Ethiopian and European processes of parchment manufacture and their associated tools are described and compared with artefacts recovered from an important pre-Aksumite site at Seglamen, in the highlands of northern Ethiopia. Many close similarities of tools used at Seglamen in both the earlier and later phases of the pre-Aksumite, from about 800 BC, to implements used by present-day Ethiopian scribes attest to the systematic production of parchment at Seglamen and to cultural continuity over a period of almost three millennia.     

Lines of Landscape Organization: Skovbjerg Moraine (Denmark) in the First Millennium BC

This paper presents a comparative landscape perspective on the Late Bronze Age landscape boundaries in southern Britain, obtained from Skovbjerg Moraine, Denmark. Using Delaunay triangulation as well as classic distribution analyses, it demonstrates that some forms of landscape division articulated already established use‐patterns, while others intercepted the central lines of movement and conflicted with previous ways of organizing the landscape. This pattern is interpreted as a new form of large‐scale landholding in which livestock played a dominant role and boundaries were used to confiscate land in the zones bordering suitable pastures. This situation shows obvious parallels with southern Britain centuries earlier. The paper discusses how the study of these physical boundaries provides new insights into the organization of pre‐Roman landscapes, not only demonstrating a continuing engagement with landscape lines, but also pointing to new concurrent and potentially competing social and economic strategies.     

Malkata and Lisht Glassmaking Technologies: Towards a Specific Link between Second Millennium BC

Elemental analyses have been conducted on 61 coloured opaque glasses from the Malkata and Lisht New Kingdom glass factories. The presence of tin in several of the blue glasses suggests that a bronze casting byproduct or corrosion product was the source of the copper colorant for these glasses. A positive correlation between the lead and antimony concentrations of the yellow and green opaque glasses, plus a consistent excess of lead oxide in these glasses, suggests the use of antimony‐rich cupellation litharge as the source for the Pb₂Sb₂O₇ , colorant in these glasses. The metallurgical byproducts used to colour the Malkata and Lisht glasses provide an explicit mechanism for Peltenburg's theory of interaction between second millennium BC glassmakers and contemporary metalworkers.     

The Colonization of the Russian Barents Sea Coast (Mid-19th to Early 20th Century): Two Approaches to the Economic Development of the Area

This article deals with the early colonization of the Russian Barents Sea Coast (the so-called Murman Coast) in the middle of the 19th and early 20th century. It focuses mainly on the household economy and economic adaptation in the area by groups of Finnish, Russian, Karelian, Norwegian and Sami colonists. The opening up of the new territory by the colonists resulted partly in the employment of traditional methods of using natural resources and partly in the culture of these groups being transformed. Based on this, two different patterns of using natural resources were singled out within the ethnic groups that settled on the Murman Coast (western and eastern). These patterns were more suited to the new living conditions in each of the respective areas, and became the basis for different trends in the economic development of the Murman Coast.     

Bronze Age Textiles from the North Caucasus: New Evidence of Fourth Millennium BC Fibres and Fabrics

Summary.   Textiles from the North Caucasus Majkop culture (3700–3200 cal BC) site of Novosvobodnaya were selected for a programme of examination. Wool, flax and cotton-like plant-fibre threads were identified. This is the oldest example of wool so far identified in the archaeological record. Weaving techniques employed in making the textiles included the use of tablets or discs, and a simple frame. In addition, two dyeing techniques using tannin dyes have been determined.     

TL and IRSL dating of Jiahu relics and sediments: clue of 7th millennium BC civilization in central China

Thermoluminescence (TL) dating of pottery and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating of sediments from early Neolithic layers at the Jiahu site, Henan Province, east-central China, have been achieved. The pottery TL ages range from 6800 (±450) to 8900 (±640) years and the sediment IRSL ages from 6750 (±760) to 8860 (±870) years confirming former ¹⁴C data. Both TL and IRSL ages agree well with each other. They reinforce the very early existence of a fully developed Neolithic civilization in central China, starting already in the first half of the 7th millennium BC and lasting about 2100 years. From these layers finds of bone flutes and Chinese characters have already been reported [X. Li, G. Harbottle, J. Zhang, C. Wang, The earliest writing? Sign use in the seventh millennium BC at Jiahu, Henan Province, China, Antiquity 77 (2003) 31–44; J. Zhang, G. Harbottle, C. Wang, Z. Kong, Oldest playable musical instruments found at Jiahu early Neolithic site in China, Nature 401 (1999) 366–368.] The Jiahu pottery of the 7th millennium BC belongs to the earliest in China and elsewhere.     

Lighting practices in early Greece (from the end of the Mycenaean world to the 7th century BC

Reconsideration of the materials of lighting from a number of Early Greek sites leads to a review of the long-standing scholarly argument about an abrupt break in the use of typologically distinctive lamps in the period between the 11th and early 7th centuries BC. According to this, there is a marked absence of easily identifiable lamp-types, after the elaborate stone and clay Minoan and Mycenean series. Drawing on a combined approach to both its literary and archaeological aspects, I shall attempt to re-assess the truth of this 'traditionally' negative argument. In particular, certain pottery series, such as bowls, kothons and similar categories of plain pots with wide geographical distribution and popularity from the Mycenaean to Historical times (mainly until the 3rd century BC) will be reviewed and suggested as possible sources of light. In addition, I shall suggest — with the aid of a simple experiment — other simple ways of lighting a lamp by means directly available from nature.     

Attempting to Identify Activities in the Past: Preliminary Investigations of the Third Millennium BC Population at Tell Abraq

This paper reviews attempts by osteologists to identify activities in the past through examination of particular alterations to skeletal remains. Following an outline of the history of interest in occupational pathology, the physiology of bone is briefly summarised in order better to understand the potential of investigating occupation in the past. A history of archaeological research and interpretations in this field is then provided, followed by a discussion of a particular case study in which the human skeletal remains and material culture from the site of Tell Abraq were examined by the author in an attempt to identify bone alterations which may be attributed to certain activities.