EARLY BRONZE AGE TROJAN METAL SOURCES AND ANATOLIANS IN THE CYCLADES

Summary. New chemical analyses of EB II copper-alloy artefacts from Troy show that about seventy per cent are of high tin, low arsenic, bronze; the remaining Trojan objects are of arsenical copper but contain no more than 3 per cent of arsenic. Lead-isotope analyses suggest that at this time the Trojans made use of at least five different copper-ore deposits and that at least two of these were not in the immediate vicinity of Troy itself.
At this period tin bronze was unknown in the Early Helladic, Cycladic or Minoan cultures. Low-arsenic tin bronzes do however constitute sixty-nine per cent of the copper-alloy artefacts excavated at the fortified hilltop EC IIIA settlement at Kastri on Syros, but lead-isotope analyses show that the copper in these objects is derived from three different ore deposits which are different from those exploited by the early Cycladic peoples on Amorgos, Paros, Kythnos and Chalandriani on Syros. For Kastri the alloy types are closely similar to and the copper ore sources used are identical with those employed in Troy II; in addition there are good Anatolian parallels for some of the metal types occurring at Kastri. Taken together with evidence from the pottery, the architecture and the nature of the site it seems inescapable that Kastri was a short-lived settlement of Anatolians who lived, perhaps, in somewhat uneasy juxtaposition with their Cycladic neighbours. These Anatolians came most probably from Troy or the Troad since tin bronze was virtually unknown at this period elsewhere in Anatolia, and certainly not in Cilicia, except at the central Anatolian sites of Ahlatlibel, Alishar and Alaca Hüyük.     

EARLY BRONZE AGE METAL TRADE IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN. NEW COMPOSITIONAL AND LEAD ISOTOPE EVIDENCE FROM CYPRUS

Summary.   This paper presents the results of chemical and lead isotope analyses of 17 Early and Middle Bronze Age artefacts from Cyprus. These suggest that a number of objects are of non-Cypriot copper and lead to the identification of several as imports, a new explanation for some artefact types as ingots and a discussion of the nature of deposits at the key Cypriot site of Vasilia. This in turn allows a reconsideration of the role of Cyprus in an Aegean/eastern Mediterranean metals trade in the early years of the second half of the third millennium BC and of the development of metalworking on the island.     

ARCHAEOMETALLURGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF HELLENISTIC METAL OBJECTS: THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE BRONZE OBJECTS FROM RISHON LE‐ZION (ISRAEL)*

An archaeometallurgical analysis is presented of 14 bronze artefacts retrieved from an Early Hellenistic–period farmstead in controlled archaeological excavations at Rishon Le‐Zion, Israel, and dated to the first quarter of the third century bce according to coins and pottery vessels. The bronze assemblage includes a needle, pins, spatulas and fibulas. The aims of the research are to determine the composition, microstructure and manufacturing process of these artefacts, and to discover their place of production. This will provide a better understanding of Hellenistic technological abilities and material culture. The examination included optical microscopy, microhardness, SEM including EDS, and XRD. The results show that the collection consists of Cu–Sn binary alloys, with evidence for a controlled alloying process and the absence of recycling. Furthermore, the microstructure of the objects indicates that all artefacts were produced by a cold‐working process. Moreover, the manufacturing process of the rectangular cross‐section fibulas included sophisticated joining techniques of copper and iron.     

CULTURAL GROUPS FROM THE STEPPES OF EASTERN EUROPE IN THE ENEOLITHIC PERIOD AND EARLY BRONZE AGE

Summary. The later fourth and third millennia bc (= later fifth to earlier third millennium BC Cal) was an important period of change in eastern Europe, which saw the domestication and spread of the horse in the steppe area north of the Black Sea, and complex interactions between these livestock-raising groups and agricultural populations in south-east Europe. The correlation of cultural sequences between the Balkans and the Pontic steppes is crucial to an understanding of these developments. This article provides a basic cultural framework for the period.     

COPPER AND BRONZE DURING THE ENEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE: A METALLOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION OF AXES FROM THE NORTHALPINE REGION*

This paper presents the results of a metallographic examination of Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age axes from the Northalpine region of central Europe. During this period, different types of copper were in use: arsenical copper, Fahlerz copper and tin bronze. We examine if and to what extent the different properties of the metals used were known to prehistoric metalworkers and actively manipulated in the production of the axes. The development of methods of casting and smithing is discussed. Both aspects contribute to our understanding of the nature of prehistoric technological change. During the Early Bronze Age of the Northalpine region, different traditions of early metallurgy can be identified, which differ in their use of Fahlerz copper, their attitude towards tin alloying and the use made of tin bronze in the production of the axes. These traditions can only be adequately described by reference to both composition—that is, access to different types of copper as well as tin—and knowledge of the production techniques provided by metallographic data.     

ANALYSIS OF BONE FROM THE BRONZE AGE SITE BOVENKARSPEL-HET VALKJE,THE NETHERLANDS: A PRELIMINARY REPORT

Bones from a Bronze Age settlement in a low-lying area in The Netherlands were analysed for their content of strontium and certain other elements. Low strontium concentrations in the human bones indicate that part of the diet consisted of animal products. Milk and dairy products were probably also incorporated in the diet. This would have had a marked effect on the Sr/Ca ratio of the total diet and on the strontium content of human bones. Anomalous mean strontium concentrations for the animal species are tentatively explained in relation to the specific environment of the settlement. Different pasturing practices for cattle and sheep/goat respectively are possibly reflected by the strontium content of their bones.     

NEW DATA ON THE TECHNOLOGY OF FAIENCE PRODUCTION IN CENTRAL EUROPE IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE

New data on faience production technologies in central Europe come from an analysis of 12 faience beads from an Early Bronze Age cemetery in Poland. The beads were tested with the EPMA method. Altogether 65 measurements were made. In terms of morphology, the artifacts are all the same, but they differ in microstructure and chemical composition. For some a mixed alkali flux was used, for others soda-rich plant ashes. Even so, all of the beads seem to have been made from local raw materials in central Europe (soda-rich plant ashes could have come from plants growing near one of the mainland salt sources, which are frequent, for example, in south-eastern Poland).     

SOTIRA KAMINOUDHIA AND THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE IN CYPRUS

Summary. The Early Bronze Age (EBA) of Cyprus is a key phase of transformation in the prehistory of the island. Major developments are observed in the economic, social and artistic arenas, but owing to the lack of excavated settlements no firm chronology has ever existed for this period. Excavations in southern Cyprus at Sotira Kaminoudhia, a site with an assemblage belonging in broad terms to the Early Cypriot (EBA) Red Polished ceramic tradition, have helped to fill the lacuna. This paper presents the analyses of a series of radiocarbon determinations from well stratified organic samples in the settlement. These both confirm the EBA status of the site and provide the first firm absolute chronology for the Cypriot EBA. In addition, the new data from Sotira Kaminoudhia provide an opportunity to examine the beginning of this period on Cyprus — specifically the much debated issue of the so-called Philia Phase — both in chronological and socio-economic terms.     

THE ANATOLIAN TRADE NETWORK AND THE IZMIR REGION DURING THE EARLY BRONZE AGE

Summary.   The monumental Early Bronze Age settlement at Liman Tepe (Levels VI–IV) (predecessor of the classical site of Klazomenai), on the southern shore of the Gulf of Izmir, is a good indication of the emergence of settlements with centralised organisation on the west coast of Anatolia. Similar developments can also be followed in Troy at the northernmost limit of the western coastline, on the islands of the north and east Aegean, and at the inland site of Küllüoba in north-west Anatolia. Over a much wider geographical area, extending from south-eastern Anatolia via central and western Anatolia, the islands of the east Aegean, the Cyclades, and mainland Greece, a distinctive set of cultural features emerged at the end of Early Bronze Age II. An explanation of the cultural changes taking place along the west Anatolian coastline at this time should thus be sought in the perspective of this wider sphere. These features can be summarised as follows:

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  organised settlement structures indicating the presence of a central authority;

       
  
  

YUGOSLAVIAN TIN DEPOSITS AND THE EARLY BRONZE AGE INDUSTRIES OF THE AEGEAN REGION

Summary. This paper provides a synopsis of those tin sources available to prehistoric communities in Europe and the Near East. Moreover, it is designed to introduce to archaeologists the recent discovery of substantial cassiterite deposits in Yugoslavia, and to discuss their potential and possible exploitation by Early Bronze Age metallurgists in the area around the Aegean.     

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.