DARK AND SHINY: THE DISCOVERY OF CHROMITE IN BRONZE AGE FAIENCE*

The Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 bc ) in the Near East was a period of cultural development, international trade and technological innovation, notably in metallurgy and silicate technology. As a spin‐off of the new glass technology, new colorants were also applied to faience glazes presumably to increase their aesthetic value. Here, we report on the presence of chromite minerals in the glaze of a faience vessel from Deir ‘Alla, Jordan, 1200 years earlier than reported so far. Importantly, chromite was not only used as a greyish pigment, but also as a nucleating agent for spherulitic crystallization of augite in the amorphous glaze. These synthetic augite formations give a unique, sparkly appearance to the faience vessel, apparently imitating a metallic look. The making of such an intricate glaze and its contemporary significance reflect not only the high level but also the appreciation of innovation in that region at that time.     

AN EARLY CELTIC POTTERY WORKSHOP IN NORTH WESTERN HUNGARY: SOME ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Summary. Excavations at the settlement site of Krautacker in the outskirts of Sopron (NW Hungary) have produced evidence of pottery manufacture from LT B to LT C. Three kilns of updraught type were discovered. Their technology is discussed. Stamp-decorated wheel-turned ware was produced throughout. The contexts and distribution of these vessels are considered.     

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.     

THE ROLE OF DAGGERS IN EARLY BRONZE AGE BRITAIN: THE EVIDENCE OF WEAR ANALYSIS

Summary. This paper examines the detailed condition of 55 Early Bronze Age daggers from central southern England. It appears that the more elaborate weapons had remained in circulation for a longer period than other examples.     

SOCIAL CHANGE AND METALWORKING IN THE EARLY IRON AGE: AN APPROACH FROM NORTH-WEST IBERIA

This paper analyses social transformations in the Early Iron Age based on a holistic and longue durée approach applied to the first fortified habitats in the Iberian north-west. Through a comprehensive review of two paradigmatic settlements of the EIA in the province of A Coruña (Galicia, north-west Iberia), Punta de Muros and A Graña, a comparison is drawn between the social and territorial dynamics of this period by means of an in-depth analysis of the main characteristics of both settlements. Accordingly, a greater level of social complexity during the phases of occupation of the settlement of Punta de Muros has been identified, in contrast to the resistance to change observed in A Graña. Based on these conclusions, the role of metalworking and its symbolic value in fostering and legitimizing these social and territorial transformations and in the development of Iron Age communities are analysed.     

GONE, BUT STILL RESPECTED: SOME EVIDENCE FOR IRON AGE HOUSE PLATFORMS IN LOWLAND ENGLAND

Summary. This paper considers the apparent absence of house or settlement platforms in Iron Age lowland England. It demands that lowland sites be interpreted using criteria derived from suitable (lowland) contexts. The dangers of using upland-derived explanatory models are illustrated with selected examples. The Cat's Water subsite, Fengate, Peterborough provides examples of probable house-platforms, protected from plough-damage by alluvium; these, in turn, are used to provide criteria to recognise similar features on poorly preserved sites. Comparisons are drawn with recently excavated sites in the Netherlands. The paper concludes with some general observations on the nature of once-wet sites and the dangers inherent in their interpretation.     

ANALCIME CRYSTALLIZATION AND COMPOSITIONAL PROFILES—COMPARING APPROACHES TO DETECT POST‐DEPOSITIONAL ALTERATIONS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTTERY*

The approaches of comparative studies and profile measurements, often used in order to detect post‐depositional alterations of ceramics, have been applied simultaneously to two sets of Roman pottery, both of which include altered individuals. As analytical techniques, Neutron Activation Analysis and X‐Ray Diffraction have been used. Both approaches lead to substantially different results. This shows that they detect different levels of alteration and should complement each other rather than being used exclusively. For the special process of a glassy phase decomposition followed by a crystallization of the Na‐zeolite analcime, the results suggest that it changes high‐fired calcareous pottery rapidly, and so fundamentally that the results of various archaeometric techniques can be severely disturbed.     

PERCEIVING COMMUNITIES: EXCHANGE, LANDSCAPES AND SOCIAL NETWORKS IN THE LATER IRON AGE OF WESTERN BRITAIN

Summary.   In recent years British Iron Age studies have focused on regionality whilst critiquing the hierarchical model of Iron Age society. Despite the success of these approaches there has been little detailed replacement of previous social models with an understanding of how Iron Age societies worked. Looking at the later Iron Age of western Britain this paper combines examination of the exchange of material culture alongside study of the landscape to explore the nature of Iron Age communities. It is argued that Iron Age societies in the region used material culture to construct and maintain social relationships, while using visual landscape references allowed groups to engage in larger perceived communities.     

WINE, OIL AND THE DIALECTICS OF POWER IN BRONZE AGE CRETE: A REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE

'Mediterranean polyculture'(the systematic exploitation of olives and vines in addition to cereals from the beginning of the Bronze Age) has been considered as one of the main factors which led to the development of palatial institutions in Bronze Age Crete and mainland Greece. This paper reviews all the available, direct archaeological evidence for olive and vine exploitation and oil and wine production and use from Bronze Age Crete (microbotanical, macrobotanical, artefactual, epigraphic), discussing at the same time their taphonomic, analytical and interpretative problems. It is suggested that, at present, there is no reliable direct archaeological evidence to substantiate the 'Mediterranean polyculture'model. More significantly, research on wine and oil, if disconnected from the discourse of subsistence and the cultural-evolutionary models such as that of subsistence-redistribution and viewed within the framework of the anthropology of consumption, can more fruitfully illuminate important issues related to the dialects of power such as establishment and legitimation of authority, exploitation of labour and factional competition.     

DNA FROM HUMAN ANCIENT BACTERIA: A NOVEL SOURCE OF GENETIC EVIDENCE FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL DENTAL CALCULUS

We report a molecular methodology to obtain and analyse ancient bacterial DNA from archaeological dental calculus. Recent and archaeological DNA samples, as old as 4000 bp , were successfully extracted and amplified with species‐specific PCR primers. We propose this approach in order to: detect the presence of specific bacterial species infecting past human populations; compare the composition of ancient oral microbiomes among human populations; and analyse the genetic variability and covariation of bacteria and human host populations. Genomic analysis of bacteria from dental calculus is a promising source of evidence for palaeopathological and micro‐evolutionary studies, focused either on micro‐organisms or their human hosts.     

EVALUATION OF BINDER/AGGREGATE RATIOS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL LIME MORTARS WITH CARBONATE AGGREGATE: A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF CHEMICAL,MECHANICAL AND MICROSCOPIC APPROACHES*

This paper reports on the comparative evaluation of traditional and innovative methods for the investigation of mortar technology. Preliminary results of various approaches to determining the mix proportions in lime mortars with carbonate aggregate are presented. Quantitative analysis was tested on ad hoc prepared mortars of known composition containing carbonate aggregates of different origin (travertine and Bath limestone). Wet chemical methods, manual disaggregation and Digital Image Analysis of thin sections and cross‐sections stained with Alizarin Red S were tested. The advantages and drawbacks of the different approaches are discussed, and applications to the analysis of archaeological mortars and plasters are highlighted.     

IRON AGE DIET AT GLASTONBURY LAKE VILLAGE: THE ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE FOR NEGLIGIBLE AQUATIC RESOURCE CONSUMPTION

Summary.   The British Iron Age site at Glastonbury Lake Village in Somerset is well known for the extensive and prolonged excavations, the comprehensive publications and the superb preservation of organic remains. The environmental material recovered has led to detailed discussion about the nature of the inhabitants' diet. In particular, the recovery of fish and bird bone has led to speculation about the consumption of foods from the wetlands. Previous carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis of British Iron Age skeletal material has failed to detect significant levels of aquatic resources in the diet during this period, even where sites are located directly on the coast or close to river systems. There is also very little archaeological evidence to suggest that fishing was a major subsistence strategy. The isotopic analysis of skeletal material from Glastonbury Lake Village was undertaken with the hypothesis that if aquatic resources were to be found at significant levels in the diet of a British Iron Age community, this was a site which might reveal it. The results suggest that such consumption is not visible isotopically and was negligible.     

THE HALLATON INGOT: SILVER IN IRON AGE BRITAIN

This article is a case study of the detailed contextual and scientific analysis of a single object, moving beyond a conventional object biography to consider flows of materials and shifts in meaning and value. The object is a simple triangular silver ingot from the Late Iron Age shrine site at Hallaton, Leicestershire, UK. Scientific analysis is used to uncover the biography of the ingot, and the raw materials from which it was created. The results suggest that the metal which eventually formed the ingot circulated through both Iron Age and Roman social networks, being reworked and transformed several times before it was deposited. Silver emerges as a material which mediated between the Mediterranean world and Iron Age communities in Britain, allowing translation and transmutation between different systems of value in conquest‐period Britain.     

PARALLELS and CONTRASTS IN the BRONZE AGE of the PELOPONNESE

Summary: The provinces of the north-east Peloponnese, Laconia, and Messenia are chosen for comparison, as likely to have been always the most significant in the Peloponnese. Differences in the observable patterns of site-distribution are pointed out, which seem to conflict with the models suggested in Bintliff 1977 and to suggest a degree of local variation. the histories of the three provinces through the Bronze Age, so far as they can be outlined, have features in common but can be shown to vary at several significant points, strengthening this suggestion.     

SECRETS OF THE DRAVA: BRONZE AGE METALWORK IN CONTINENTAL CROATIA

The article presents a group of Bronze Age artefacts recovered from the Drava river wetlands in continental Croatia, examining their typological and chronological markers, and assessing the technological characteristics of the material through spectrometric and use-wear analyses. We discuss the context of the finds, types of items retrieved and deposition locations, and how these fit into the patterns of European Bronze Age metal deposition practices. Compositional and metalwork use analyses indicate that most of the items were in use prior to their deposition and display solid metallurgical skill. Chronologically, typologically, compositionally, and conceptually, the items align with the depositional trends seen in the wider region and beyond.     

USING AND ABANDONING ROUNDHOUSES: A REINTERPRETATION OF THE EVIDENCE FROM LATE BRONZE AGE–EARLY IRON AGE SOUTHERN ENGLAND

Summary.   It has recently been demonstrated that a number of roundhouses of the early first millennium BC in southern England show a concentration of finds in the southern half of the building. It has thus been argued that this area was used for domestic activities such as food preparation, an idea which has formed the basis for discussion of later prehistoric 'cosmologies'. However, reconsideration of the evidence suggests that this finds patterning does not relate to the everyday use of the buildings, being more likely to derive from a particular set of house abandonment practices. Furthermore, evidence can be identified for the location of domestic activities within contemporary roundhouses that appears to contradict the established model.     

THE HIGHLANDS of ABOBOREIRA (NORTH-WEST PORTUGAL): ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS FROM MIDDLE/LATE NEOLITHIC to EARLY BRONZE AGE. EVIDENCE FROM CHARCOAL ANALYSIS

Summary: Charcoal analysis data from 15 megalithic monuments in the highlands of Serra da Aboboreira, north-west Portugal, are presented and discussed. the results, interpreted only in terms of presence/absence of taxa, give us important information concerning the vegetal cover of this area and the relationships with man, from the Middle/Late Neolithic until the Early Bronze Age.     

PITS, PRECONCEPTIONS and PROPITIATION IN the BRITISH IRON AGE

Summary: Large pits have long been known to be a characteristic of the British Iron Age. Originally they were thought to be habitations but since the 1930s they have been assumed to have served as grain silos. This paper reviews our changing conceptions and then considers a range of new data for special burials within the pits. A model is developed which sees the storage of seed grain in pits as a deliberate act designed to place the grain in the protection of the chthonic deities. the chronological and spatial implications of pit storage in Britain are briefly considered.