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.     

秦陵7号坑铜水禽彩绘保护及分析

K0007号陪葬坑出土了一批青铜水禽,在其中发现了少量残存的彩绘。本文从铜禽彩绘的保护、清理、彩绘颜料分析和彩绘施彩工艺分析等方面对铜水禽彩绘进行了分析研究。     

寿县西圈发现的墓葬

寿春城遗址西部清理的3座墓葬,从建造规模及随葬的铜饰件、车马器、铜剑来看,均为中型墓葬,年代可能为春秋晚期,该墓地很可能是历史上的蔡国故地。     

A resampling approach to gender relations: the Rebešovice cemetery

Early Bronze Age society in Central Europe is often depicted as a society dominated by males. It is suggested that archaeological evidence is not always in agreement with this view. This study reports the analysis of mortuary variability at the Early Bronze cemetery Rebešovice in Moravia (Czech Republic) that uses computer-intensive resampling techniques. The results indicate that there are only minor differences in the mortuary treatment of females and males. There is neither a qualitative restriction of body treatment and objects buried with males, nor a quantitative emphasis on burials of males. In fact, burials of females are equipped with a higher number of bronze artifacts. Funerals of females were at least as significant social events as the funerals of males. We argue that the model of a male dominated community that used this cemetery is unwarranted. These findings do not refute the existence of gender-specific activities and roles that may be valued differently, but instead suggest that both females and males had access to resources from which they could draw power.     

Interactions between silicate and salt melts in LBA glassmaking

A series of glassmaking experiments have been done to explore the influence, if any, of the presence of alkali chlorides in a typical soda-lime-silica glass batch on the final composition of the glass. The experiments have shown that concentrations of chlorides up to the limit of solubility of chlorine in the melt are actively contributing alkali ions to the glass-forming process, and that at higher chloride concentrations in the batch a separate salt melt forms, known as galle. At equilibrium conditions, the alkali ratio in the galle is different from the initial alkali ratio in the batch and differs from the ratio in the co-existing silicate melt. Significantly, there is full exchange of alkali ions between the two melt systems and the addition of pure potassium chloride to a batch containing pure sodium carbonate (=soda ash) results in the formation of a mixed alkali glass and a mixed alkali galle, with complementary alkali ratios. The alkali earth elements (i.e. calcium and magnesium), in contrast, are not taking part in these ion exchange reactions, and seem not to be affected by chlorides present in the batch. These findings are particularly relevant when comparing analyses of different plant ashes with archaeological glasses; the alkali ion ratios between ash and glass are only likely to be similar when no galle is forming together with the glass melt; in the presence of more than a few weight percent of chlorides in the batch, it is likely that the alkali ratio in the glass will be increasingly shifted away from the total alkali ratio in the batch as the chlorine content increases. While the argument is developed specifically for Late Bronze Age halophytic plant ash glasses, the results are likely to be valid in principle also for any other glasses based on halogen-rich batches and containing more than one alkali metal.     

Historical context and chronology of Bronze Age land enclosure on Dartmoor,UK

The upland of Dartmoor, southwest England, is one of the flagship prehistoric landscapes within Britain owing to the excellent survival of extensive prehistoric coaxial field systems. Archaeological surveys and rescue excavations during the 1970s and 1980s did much to further the understanding of this landscape; however, much remains to be explored, in particular the chronology of enclosure, the nature of the pre-enclosure landscape and the relationship between Bronze Age communities and their environment. Reconsideration of this landscape is important, given the place it holds in our understanding of subdivision of the landscape across northwest Europe during prehistory. This paper presents new palaeoecological data recovered as part of an integrated archaeological and palaeoecological project on northeast Dartmoor. The sequences detailed here include the first dated Neolithic period palaeoenvironmental data from within the prehistoric enclosed land on the moor, providing a longer-term context for enclosure. Neolithic groups are implicated in the first establishment of heathland in the study area at around 3630–3370 cal BC. During the early Bronze Age, reestablishment of hazel scrub in the study area implies reduced use of the upland, although it is not clear whether this is local or indicative of the wider landscape. A combination of pollen and fungal spore data indicates a substantial shift to species-rich grassland with grazing animals at c.1480 cal BC in a phase that lasted 400 years. The later Bronze Age and early Iron Age are characterised by low intensity use of the upland. These data provide new chronological data for land cover change on Dartmoor and whilst they broadly confirm existing models of upland land use in later prehistory, their proximity to the standing archaeology affords a more nuanced interpretation of local change.     

“Mycenaean” political domination of Knossos following the Late Minoan IB destructions on Crete: negative evidence from strontium isotope ratio analysis (Sr/Sr)

Strontium isotope ratio analysis of human dental enamel and bone is applied to investigate a highly debated question of population movement and cultural discontinuity in Prehistoric Aegean Archaeology. The Late Minoan IB (ca. 1490/1470 BC) destructions on Crete are succeeded by cultural upheaval. The novel cultural features that appear at Knossos (Crete) in this period have forerunners in the Mainland. In Cretan context, the Linear B writing system, the funerary architecture and burial practices of the Mainland style are interpreted as evidence of an actual “Mycenaean” long-term settlement and political domination of Knossos. Human skeletal material from tombs that are associated with non-locals from the Mainland based upon the material culture is analysed to measure ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr. The results of the analysis show that all the examined individuals from the Knossos tombs were born locally.     

Aegean Prehistory as World Archaeology: Recent Trends in the Archaeology of Bronze Age Greece

This article surveys archaeological work of the last decade on the Greek Bronze Age, part of the broader discipline known as Aegean prehistory. Naturally, the literature is vast, so I focus on a set of topics that may be of general interest to non-Aegeanists: chronology, regional studies, the emergence and organization of archaic states, ritual and religion, and archaeological science. Greek Bronze Age archaeology rarely appears in the comparative archaeological literature; accordingly, in this article I place this work in the context of world archaeology, arguing for a reconsideration of the potential of Aegean archaeology to provide enlightening comparative material.     

邾国故城一件青铜带钩的保护及其错金技术特征

2018年山东省邹城市邾国故城西岗墓地一号战国墓出土了一件锈蚀严重的带钩,为了全面了解其材质特征和保存状况,对其进行了X光探伤、X射线荧光光谱分析(XRF)、X射线衍射分析(XRD)和扫描电镜—能谱仪分析(SEM-EDS)。结果显示这是一件较为罕见的错金嵌绿松石青铜带钩。为了揭示其艺术价值和科学价值,在科技检测基础上开展了保护工作。在保护过程中,通过对带钩和金丝形貌特征的显微观察可知,金丝的横截面形态既有倒三角形也有倒梯形,而且较宽的金丝是由单根细金丝折弯盘绕而成。这些独特的错金技术特征在以往公开发表的资料中尚未见报道,说明古代错金技术存在多种具体实现方式,这为错金银工艺研究提供了新的珍贵资料。     

青海民和县寺沟峡岩画调查简报

2019年,丝绸之路南亚廊道调查队在青海省民和县寺沟峡内发现了4幅6组个体102个岩画,并对岩画进行了详细的调查、测绘和数字化扫描。从整个岩面的制作技法来看,有直接磨刻法和敲凿法。岩画主要以抽象图案为主,有少量人像、持物人物、鸟等具象形象。其形象与新石器晚期至青铜时代彩陶图案纹饰相似度较高,与中原地区岩画有着密切关系,为研究官亭盆地早期文化提供了新的突破口。