A Petrographic Study of the Anthropomorphic Stelae from the Megalithic Area of Saint‐Martin‐De‐Corléans (Aosta,Northern Italy)

The Megalithic Area of Saint‐Martin‐de‐Corléans (Aosta, northern Italy) consists of anthropomorphic stelae dated to the Copper Age and the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. They were carved in different lithologies of varying provenance according to two successive artistic styles, ‘ancient’ and ‘evolved’. A minero‐chemical and a petrographic investigation were carried out on 47 stelae and on reference samples collected from eight different outcrops, aiming to define the provenance of the stone materials. The variety of rocks used for the manufacture of the stelae reflects the geological complexity of the Aosta Valley. Most of the stelae examined were classified as foliated impure marbles, grey banded marbles (‘Bardiglio’), calcschists and metabasites belonging to the Combin Zone (Piedmont Nappe), which outcrops in close proximity to the Megalithic Area. Some stelae of the evolved group consisted of massive marbles with silicate‐bearing layers, attributed to the Sion–Courmayeur Zone. Similar stone materials were reported for the stelae of the same age found at the archaeological area of Petit Chasseur (Sion, Switzerland). This is archaeometric confirmation of the archaeological affinity between the stelae occurring at the two prehistoric sites, supporting the hypothesis of cultural exchanges over the Grand St Bernard Pass since the Early Copper Age.     

A zoomorphic sickle terminal from the Natufian site of Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan

Excavations at the Natufian site of Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan undertaken in 2014 led to the discovery of several new portable art pieces, including the representation of an ungulate mammal (RN 140226), probably intended as a gazelle, carved in the round from bone. The small object was extensively damaged by fire and had become separated at its neck from longer pieces of fragmented, burnt bone lying distally to it. This configuration and the style of the animal head leads us to interpret the piece as the decorated terminal of a bone sickle haft. The piece is unusual in that is it is one of the few figurative Natufian art pieces with incised geometric decoration added to its surface. Its finding extends the distribution of the ‘gazelle-headed’ sickle haft from Mount Carmel, where three well-known examples were unearthed in the early twentieth century, to the northern Jordan Valley. The piece adds to the limited repertoire of zoomorphically rendered Natufian artefacts associated with plant gathering and processing.     

Tewa Place Names for Early Habitation Sites in the Northern Rio Grande Valley,New Mexico

Place names have the potential to aid in the investigation of regional settlement histories because they reflect the importance of specific locations in the social or cultural memories of indigenous groups. Unique place names for ancient habitation sites such as villages or hamlets, i.e., those names for which there are no cognates in other languages, suggest that those ancient villages or hamlets still retain the names given to them by their original inhabitants. Here, we present Tewa place names for habitation sites identified archaeologically in the northern Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. The results of our study strongly suggest that the Tewa language was spoken in the northern Rio Grande Valley, specifically, within the southern Tewa Basin, as early as the Late Developmental period (a.d. 900–1200), thus challenging the currently well-accepted model postulating a Mesa Verde origin for the Tewa language and culture.     

Copper worlds: a historical archaeology of Abraham and Jakob Momma-Reenstierna and their industrial enterprise in the Torne River Valley,c. 1650–1680

This article analyses the industrial enterprise of the Dutch-born brothers Abraham and Jakob Momma-Reenstierna and their investments in Sápmi and the upper parts of the Torne River Valley, northern Sweden, during the second half of the seventeenth century. The aim is to explore the driving forces behind the industrial projects of the two brothers in a larger global and colonial context. With inspiration from recent critical studies on the simplifications, and Eurocentrism, in earlier understandings of the birth of modernity, we focus on the modernizing processes taking place in the upper part of the Torne River Valley as a meeting zone between local populations and landscapes and external capital. Metal extraction was booming in the seventeenth-century Sámi areas. Both the Danish-Norwegian and the Swedish Crowns invested heavily in the mining of silver, copper and iron. The scientific focus in archaeology and history has hitherto been very much on the state-governed projects, and limited interest has been directed towards the private enterprises. Moreover, there is also a need to study the roles of the local Finnish and Sámi populations, as well as the global connections, in these colonial industrial projects.     

From automation to Silicon Valley: the automation movement of the 1950s,Arnold Beckman,and William Shockley

Most studies mark the start of silicon electronics in Silicon Valley with William Shockley and Arnold Beckman’s creation of the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory. This study details how the automation movement of the 1950s shaped the careers of both Shockley and Beckman, and formed an indispensible context for their creation of Shockley Semiconductor. Shockley was engaged in automation from the early 1950s, promoting his vision of an ‘automatic trainable robot’ to revolutionize manufacturing. Beckman was deeply involved in automation in the mid-1950s, orienting his company to key technologies for the ‘automatic factory:’ instrumentation and computers. Beckman and Shockley’s entrepreneurial involvements with electronics and automation led them to create Shockley Semiconductor to pursue silicon transistors in 1955.     

The Indus Valley Tradition of Pakistan and western India

Over the last several decades new sets of information have provided a more detailed understanding of the rise and character of the Indus Civilization as well as its decline and decentralization. This article begins with a summary of the major historical developments in the archaeology of the Indus Valley Tradition and a definition of terms found in the literature. A general discussion of the environmental setting and certain preconditions for the rise of urban and state-level society is followed by a summary of the major aspects of the Harappan Phase of the Indus Valley Tradition. This summary includes discussions of settlement patterns, subsistence, architecture, trade and exchange, specialized crafts, language, religion, and social organization. The Localization Era or decentralization of the urban centers is also addressed.     

Geochemical and Petrographic Analysis of Late Bronze Age Cypriot Ceramics (White Slip I and II and Monochrome) from Tell Atchana/Alalakh (Hatay) in the Amuq Valley

White Slip ware, both White Slip I and II, and Monochrome ware are Middle to Late Bronze Age Cypriot pottery types found across a large area of the Eastern Mediterranean region. A vast quantity of these wares has also been uncovered in Tell Atchana/ancient Alalakh in Hatay in southern Anatolia. We analysed a total of 56 White Slip (n = 36) and Monochrome potsherds (n = 20) from Tell Atchana using XRF, ICP–MS and petrographic thin‐section methods. The main aim of the study was to explore the compositional characteristics of the wares and to determine whether they are local imitations of the Cypriot White Slip and Monochrome wares or represent Cypriot exports to this region. The analytical results proved that White Slip I and II were produced from raw clay of mafic and ultramafic source rocks exposed in the Troodos Massif, available in the Limassol area of southern Cyprus and traded to Tell Atchana. Examples of Monochrome ware excavated in Tell Atchana were also imported to the region, most probably from east/north‐east Cyprus. These results demonstrate a close trading connection between Tell Atchana/Alalakh and southern Cyprus during the Middle to Late Bronze Age.     

Khalsa: The Town with a ‘Golden Fountain’: The Rise and Fall of an Arab Town North of the Huleh Valley

This article deals with the history of a frontier Arab town—Khalsa—which was the centre of the Huleh Valley and the connection between Galilee, Southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights during the British Mandate in Palestine (1918–48). This article aims to explore the changes and transformations that occurred in the town and the Huleh Valley in general, and tries to show that, during that period, this remote and peripheral area underwent many social and economic changes. It also demonstrates that these changes not only occurred in the central areas in Palestine but also reached the northern parts. In addition, this article tells the ‘story’ of how this Arab town, which has not been addressed in earlier studies, grew rapidly, and why it collapsed quickly in the 1948 war. It examines what the role of its leader, Kamil Hussein, was and how his relationship with the Bedouin tribes and the Jewish settlements and leaders in the valley affected the results of the war. The story of Khalsa is, to some extent, a case study on the macro-level of what was happening in the Holy Land in the three decades of British rule.     

Competition and conflict in the Upper Belize River Valley: Insights from the ancient Maya minor center of Callar Creek,Belize

Political relationships typically entail competition and conflict. Within the ancient Maya world, the Upper Belize River Valley (UBRV) offers one example of an arena of intense political contestation, and recent investigations at the minor center of Callar Creek offer insights into this complex and occasionally antagonistic political landscape. During the Late and Terminal Classic periods (a.d. 600–900), for example, those living at the Callar Creek center appear to have affiliated themselves with the larger center of Buenavista, but not to have developed political ties with those in surrounding hinterland communities. Indeed, Callar Creek provides an example in which the political fortunes of a minor center and its surrounding hinterlands followed divergent paths. Furthermore, a termination event suggests that part of the Callar Creek center was purposefully destroyed by adversaries in the Terminal Classic period, and that discordant relationships in the UBRV at times turned violent.