Sovereignty,mobility, and political cartographies in Late Bronze Age southern Caucasia

This article draws on archaeological data from Late Bronze Age (LBA, ca. 1550–1150 BC) fortress, shrine, cemetery, and residential sites in Armenia to challenge long-held assumptions about the potential for mobile-pastoral groups to develop and sustain complex polities. The past two decades of research by Project ArAGATS (the Armenian–American collaboration for the Archaeology and Geography of Ancient Transcaucasian Societies) has demonstrated that LBA sovereignty emerged not through the sociopolitical coalescence of settled farming villages, but through the actions of hierarchically organized, mobile pastoralists. Post-processual archaeology helped focus discussions of ancient political life on the contingent nature of authority and the processes through which competing factions and stakeholders achieve political association. However, centuries of interpretive marginalization of nomadic peoples combined with deterministic notions regarding subsistence and settlement practices of mobile pastoralists have, until recently, hindered a broader anthropological consideration of the potential pathways to sovereignty available to more mobile societies. Drawing on a range of datasets from LBA fortresses, shrines, cemeteries, and ephemeral residential complexes, our study examines the essential factors contributing to the emergence and maintenance of complex polities among mobile pastoralists in the southern Caucasus, societies that were intimately associated—politically, economically, and ritually—with hill-top fortresses. This study of political association in LBA Armenia sheds light on the internal politics of nomadic communities and offers a unique opportunity to bring the South Caucasus into the comparitive study of ancient complex polities.     

广西民族博物馆馆藏十五面铜鼓合金成分及显微组织分析

为了解不同类型铜鼓合金成分及显微组织特征，使用扫描电镜、金相显微镜对广西民族博物馆馆藏15面铜鼓进行分析检测，并结合前人研究成果，讨论各类型铜鼓合金配比与铸造工艺特征。分析结果显示，石寨山型鼓为铜锡合金；北流型、冷水冲型与灵山型鼓为铜锡铅合金且铅锡含量较高，合金配比稳定；麻江型鼓锡含量均高，铅含量波动较大。显微组织观察显示，1面石寨山型鼓局部有滑移带及再结晶组织，2面麻江型鼓局部有滑移带，其余鼓全为铸态组织，α固溶体晶间分布(α+δ)共析体，皆有硫化物夹杂，多数存在数量不等的铅颗粒弥散或聚集分布，部分样品可见富铁相、氧化亚铜、自由铜颗粒。7面麻江型鼓均见较多缩松，位于样品截面中部。分析结果反映的不同类型铜鼓合金配比、夹杂物、铸造缺陷特征，可为铜鼓铸造技术研究提供基础资料。     

Dental evidence of biological affinity and environmental conditions in prehistoric Trentino (Italy) samples from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age

The use of teeth in anthropological analyses has always provided valuable information on the subsistence patterns of human communities, as well as the biological relationships among them. The present study analyses the permanent dentition of several diachronically continuing samples from the Trentino alpine region of Italy from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The study of both metric and non‐metric dental traits show a strong level of homogeneity from the earlier to the later samples, indicating little external biological influence from surrounding areas. However, the evidence of oral pathology and linear enamel hypoplasia highlights a trend of increase in defects, particularly between the Neolithic and the Copper Age. This has been ascribed to a shift towards more intense agricultural activities and pastoralism, that led to a change in diet and to an increased sedentism. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new Bronze Age shipwreck with ingots in the west of Antalya—preliminary results

Archaeological underwater investigations in the coast of Mersin and Antalya districts of the Turkish Mediterranean have been carried out with the permission of the Ministry of Culture of Turkish Republic since 1999. Many shipwrecks, sunken settlements, port structures, ancient harbour facilities and other archaeological remains have been documented and lodged in the national archive. The most important discovery within the scope of our study in 2018 has been revealed at the boundaries of the Ancient Lycia-Lukka Region in Kumluca at the west coast of Antalya. It is a pleasure for us to announce that a new Bronze Age shipwreck has been discovered in the same waters as the Gelidonia and Uluburun shipwrecks excavated by George Bass and Cemal Pulak. This new shipwreck could probably be dated to 16-15th Century BC, earlier than the Gelidonia and Uluburun ships. The main part of the shipwreck consists of at least 73 pillow-type ingots (copper?) and at least 4 bun (pita) type ingots (copper or tin?). Pillow-type ingots are compatible with Buchholz / Bass Type 1 ingots, which are usually dated to 16th-15th century BC and rarely to 14th century BC. Part of the shipwreck cargo continues under the sand and the remaining part of it, probably including its anchor, is also under natural camouflage. In order to avoid damaging the in situ position of the shipwreck, no samples have yet been taken. The different findings observed under the sand and the part forming the main cargo were untouched.     

A case of frontal sinusitis from the Bronze Age site of Can Filuà (Barcelona)

In this study, we present a case of frontal sinusitus with exocranial fistulization in a specimen from the Chalcolithic–Bronze Age period. This is a rare complication of sinusitis, exceptional in paleopathological literature. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Iron age chronology and biblical history rejoinders: The late bronze/iron age transition,Tel ʿEton and Lachish

ABSTRACT

In this article, I review three recent articles. In the first, Asscher and Boaretto (2018 Asscher, Y. , and Boaretto, E. , 2018. ‘Absolute time ranges in the plateau of the Late Bronze to Iron Age transition and the appearance of Bichrome pottery in Canaan, Southern Levant’, Radiocarbon 60, 1–25. doi: 10.1017/RDC.2017.96 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]. ‘Absolute time ranges in the plateau of the Late Bronze to Iron Age transition and the appearance of Bichrome pottery in Canaan, Southern Levant’, Radiocarbon 60, 1–25) suggest that the Late Bronze/Iron I transition occurred in neighboring sites a century and more apart. In the second, Faust and Sapir (2018. ‘The “Governor's Residency” at Tel ?Eton, the United Monarchy and the impact of the old-house effect on large-scale archaeological reconstructions’, Radiocarbon 60, 801–820.) date the construction of a solid building at Tel ?Eton to the tenth century bce and interpret this as validation for the historicity of the United Monarchy of ancient Israel. In the third, Garfinkel et al. (2019a Garfinkel, Y. , et al. , 2019a. ‘Lachish fortifications and state formation in the Biblical kingdom of Judah in light of radiometric datings’, Radiocarbon 61, 1–18. doi: 10.1017/RDC.2019.5 [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. ‘Lachish fortifications and state formation in the Biblical kingdom of Judah in light of radiometric datings’, Radiocarbon 61, 1–18) announce the discovery of a city-wall belonging to Level V at Lachish, and affiliate it with the building operations of King Rehoboam of Judah, described in 2 Chronicles. Scrutiny of the methods and facts dismisses all three theories.     

青铜器粉状锈空气传播过程新探

为研究青铜器粉状锈传播过程,本研究设计了专用实验箱并采用电化学方法模拟了青铜的腐蚀过程,并对青铜粉状锈的生长情况予以实时记录,进而应用电感耦合等离子体质谱、拉曼光谱和新亚铜灵-吸光度等方法对箱内气溶胶颗粒物进行检测。研究结果表明,箱内气溶胶铜离子含量明显高于常值,结合观察实验表明粉状锈生长是一个由内而外不断膨胀直到锈层破裂的过程,这个过程产生的气溶胶细颗粒物(氯化亚铜和碱式氯化铜)会在空气中悬浮、沉降造成传染现象。这一开创性的实验极大地丰富了国内对青铜粉状锈传播过程研究的成果,为粉状锈利用空气动力传播提供了依据,并为青铜锈蚀机理研究提供了新的思路。基于实验结果,本研究同时对青铜器保存和展示环境提出了相应的建议。