Nami's Middle Bronze Age Suburb: The Coastal Settlement at Site 104–106

This study presents a late 19th to early 18th cent. BCE, MBIIA settlement in the immediate vicinity of Tel Nami on the Carmel Coast of Israel. Site 104–106 has been all but destroyed by modern agricultural activity as well as quarrying, but a large number of ceramics and small finds were salvaged during a 1985–6 survey of Tel Nami?'s hinterland as well as subsequent geoarchaeological research of the area. Little of the site remains, and the current study functionally amounts to a salvage project for an MBIIA coastal site, which was mentioned in an earlier survey. Geomorphology reveals how the sandstone kurkar ridges in this area of the coast governed the dynamic relationship between Tel Nami and its hinterland. Comparable ceramic chronology for Site 104–106 presented derives from Aphek-Antipatris, Megiddo, Kabri, Tel Ifshar, Tel Nami itself, and other MBIIA coastal sites of the Southern Levant. The ceramics include well-produced local wares as well as imports from coastal Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus confirmed by petrographic analyses. Finds suggest a small agro-industrial site in the immediate periphery of the coastal Tel Nami.     

Violence in the Central Iberian Peninsula during the Bronze Age: A Possible Prehistoric Homicide

One of the most interesting sites of the Bronze Age in the central area of the Iberian Peninsula is La Motilla del Azuer (Daimiel, Ciudad Real), dated between 2200 and 1350 bc . The main objective of this study was to investigate interpersonal violence in this site and to report an uncommon case of violent death. No traumatic injury was detected in any child, and men and women significantly differed in the frequency of traumas. More traumatisms were found in men from the earlier stages of occupation, including a young man with at least three blunt force traumas and 26 sharp force traumas. The archaeological findings and trauma patterns in the skeletons of the 65 individuals studied suggest a relatively intense level of exposure to violence for adult men in the earlier stages of occupation of this settlement. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Late Krotovo (Cherno-ozerye) Culture in the Irtysh Forest-steppe,Western Siberia

The study explores the origins and evolution of the Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) – a Middle Bronze Age culture in the Irtysh drainage. The Late Krotovo culture emerged in the late 3rd – early 2nd millennium BC in the Baraba forest-steppe as the final stage of the Krotovo culture proper. The people associated with the Late Krotovo were natives influenced, first indirectly and then directly, by the Andronovo (Fedorovka) tribes. The Andronovo impact is mirrored by the material culture, burial rites, decorative art, and paleogenetics. The outcome of the interaction constitutes a new archaeological phenomenon, represented by sites such as Cherno-Ozerye-1 and Tartas-1.     

Middle Bronze Age II Battleaxes from Rishon LeZion,Israel: Archaeology and Metallurgy

Thirteen bronze battleaxes from Middle Bronze Age II graves at Rishon LeZion, Israel were analysed by ED XRF at multiple surface locations in order to determine their metallurgical composition. Six of these were further subjected to neutron diffraction using an ENGIN‐X diffractometer in order to determine bulk phase composition. The results indicate that the previously established geographical and chronological variability in Sn–Cu (with occasional Pb) and As–Cu alloys found using the former method may be an artefact of preservation and conservation. In addition, the varying homogeneity determined by the latter reflects special treatment for improving on the metal cast.     

Pigment analysis in Bronze Age Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean painted plaster by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) was used in the examination of Bronze Age painted plaster samples from several sites in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. The elemental content of paint materials was determined in most cases leading to the identification of the pigment used in agreement with data from analyses of the same samples with other established techniques. The analyses demonstrate that a virtually non-destructive technique such as LIBS provides sufficient data for the elemental characterisation of painting materials while in parallel has the capability for routine, rapid analysis of archaeological objects enabling the quick characterisation or screening of different types of artefacts. This certainly shows an important way forward in technological studies of fragile and scarce archaeological material.     

The mineral wealth of ancient Arabia and its use I: Copper mining and smelting at Feinan and Timna – comparison and evaluation of techniques, production, and strategies

Near Eastern fieldwork in mining archaeology and archaeometallurgy began at Timna (Israel) in the 1960s and 1970s and continued in Feinan (Jordan) in the 1980s and 1990s. For the first time, Bronze Age copper mines were excavated and cleared and importance was given to the slag recovered. At both sites copper was produced for over 5000 years, from the Chalcolithic to the Mamluk periods. Although the broad outlines of technical development can be traced, much remains to be learned in future studies.     

关于“夜郎文化”的思考

本文通过对被认为属于"夜郎文化"的威宁中水、赫章可乐、普安铜鼓山等遗址和墓地的出土遗物的对比研究,指出过去所认定的"夜郎文化"实际上是包含了三种不同的青铜时代文化类型,由此得出的"夜郎文化"并非严格上的考古学文化,而仅是一个大杂烩。     

清代皇家雅曼达噶神坛丛考

“雅曼达噶”即大威德金刚,是藏传佛教重要的护法神。本文考证了乾隆时期所建的七处皇家“雅曼达噶坛”,分析了神坛的建筑特点与文物陈设状况,理清了这种重要的佛堂模式的特点。同时探讨了清富神坛与西藏寺庙的渊源及乾隆与藏传佛教的关系。藏传佛教中神灵众多。有一个庞大的神系。乾隆皇帝建七处雅曼达噶坛。说明了清宫廷对保护神大威德的特别崇拜,这种做法来自藏传佛教格鲁派的直接影响。由此种神坛之模式可见藏传佛教曾对清代宫廷的文化环境产生过深刻的影响。