Reconstructing two buildings and architectural decorations on the Bronze Age Tell of Borsodivánka-Nagyhalom (Northeastern Hungary)

Analysis of 183 human skeletons representing the Copper Age in northeastern Hungary indicates slightly less morbidity and mortality than found in previous studies of later Bronze Age and Iron Age samples from the same area. Mean adult age at death was 33.4 years for males and 32.9 years for females. Life table reconstruction revealed a life expectancy at birth of about 28 years, and at age 15 of about 17 years. Frequencies of dental hypoplasia (<1%) and carious lesions (2.3%) were relatively low. Comparisons of the Copper Age data reported here with previously published studies of later Bronze Age and Iron Age samples from the same area revealed little or no change in life expectancy at age 15, long bone diaphyseal circumference, estimated living stature, frequencies of dental hypoplasia, alveolar abscesses, tooth loss, adult porotic hyperostosis or trauma. Temporal increases were detected in life expectancy at birth, dental caries frequency, cribra orbitalia, subadult periosteal lesions and vertebral osteoarthritis. The study is part of a larger effort to examine long‐term temporal changes in skeletal samples from that region. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This multiproxy work presents the archeozoological analysis of fish and microvertebrate remains from the Middle Bronze Age tell site of Borsodivánka (Borsod Plain, North-eastern Hungary). The fish faunal assemblage provides valuable data on the choice of exploited consumption patterns, taphonomy, and aquatic paleoenvironmental conditions at the site during the Bronze Age. Only freshwater taxa are present in the assemblage, for example, northern pike (Esox lucius); cyprinids: roach (Rutilus rutilus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), common chub (Squalius cephalus) and common nase (Chondrostoma nasus); and percids: European perch (Perca fluviatilis) and pikeperch (Sander lucioperca). Herpetofaunal and micromammal remains are also part of this study, improving our knowledge of the site’s freshwater ecosystem. The grass snake (Natrix cf. natrix) and the European pond terrapin (Emys orbicularis), typical of aquatic ecosystems, are associated with the Aesculapian ratsnake (Zamenis longissimus), more typical of forest, shrubland, and grassland. The presence of amphibians such as toads (Bufo/Bufotes sp.) and frogs (Rana sp.) complete the herpetofaunal list. The microvertebrates also support a mature fluvial system, as represented by taxa like the European water vole (Arvicola amphibius). Other micromammals are present, such as the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), the group of the common/field vole (Microtus arvalis/agrestis), the European mole (Talpa europaea), and the house mouse (Mus musculus). All of them are common in forests, shrubland, and grassland. However, the commensal house mouse is more commonly associated with anthropogenic areas. In conclusion, Borsodivánka is characterized by a diverse landscape mosaic, displayed by the co-existence of a well-developed forest and a freshwater inland ecosystem with agricultural land in the wider area. Finally, the Tisza River and its flood plain represented the main water source close to the site, distinguished by the dominance of fish species from deep and slow-flowing waters.

of PhD thesis submitted in 2020 to the Archaeology Doctoral Programme, Doctoral School of History, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest under the supervision of Gábor V. Szabó.

Grave Matters: Mediating Corporeal Objects and Subjects through Mortuary Practices

Three seasons of archaeological fieldwork were carried out in 1998–2000 by Cornwall Archaeological Un within the Imerys Stannon China Clay Works, Bodmin Moor. The first two seasons involved the excavation of an Early Bronze Age cairn group and Middle Bronze Age and Middle Iron Age settlement activity. The third season on the Northern Downs involved the evaluation a number of cairns, field systems, and palaeoenvironmental sites.The cairn group consisted of three earlier Bronze Age ring-cairns and two ‘tailed’ cairns. One ring-cairn continued to be used as a ceremonial monument in the Middle Bronze Age and was reused during the Iron Age as a dwelling. An artefact assemblage including Bronze and Iron Age pottery and stonework was recovered. Two prehistoric beads one of faience, the other of amber, were also found.Ten Bronze Age radiocarbon determinations spanning 2490–1120 cal BC and two Iron Age determinations (370–40 cal BC) were obtained from three of the cairns. Two pollen columns on the Northern Downs were also dated. Significantly, a series of eight determinations was obtained from a single column, which provided environmental information from the Mesolithic through to the early medieval period. The radiocarbon dating showed that impact on the vegetation of the Down commenced during the Neolithic, with larger-scale clearance during the Bronze Age. Widespread open grassland was established by the Middle Bronze Age.It is suggested here that use of space within the cairn group was structured and that the cairns formed a monument complex which was part of a wider landscape cosmology, involving groupings of particular monument types and the referencing of rocky outcrops and tors.The investigations on Stannon Down were important as an opportunity to study an Early Bronze Age ceremonial landscape and reconsider how later Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age peoples on Bodmin Moor might have engaged with and interpreted the materiality of earlier prehistoric monuments.

Systematic investigations of Bronze Age settlements in different regions of western Eurasia have provided new insights into settlement structures, land use, and past mobile lifestyles. In this paper, we examine the single-layered site of Ksizovo-1 in the Upper Don basin, located in a microregion of the Eastern European forest-steppe. We integrate archaeological, bioarchaeological, and molecular investigations to evaluate if the Middle Bronze Age settlement was a short-lived seasonal site inhabited by a community of mobile pastoralists with distinct land use and economic strategies. Combining the results of the excavations and radiocarbon dating, as well as archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, isotopic, phytolith and organic residue analyses, allows for a more holistic understanding of the character of this site and its environmental and economic contexts. While various features and artefacts were recovered, no remains of architecture or dwellings were found during the excavations, suggesting that the site may have functioned as a temporary camp. The bioarchaeological and molecular data indicate that the community relied primarily on pastoralism, keeping herd animals for meat (mainly cattle), with some reliance on wild animals (e.g., wild pig, bear, and elk), and wild plant resources (e.g., wild fruits and nuts), indicating the wider exploitation of the forest-steppe landscape surrounding the site.

Excavations have been carried out on the Bronze Age tell settlement at Borsodivánka-Marhajárás-Nagyhalom since 2015. During the 2022 campaign, part of a burnt-down building was unearthed. The architectural remains, preserved by fire, let us observe and record details that allowed a partial reconstruction of the one-time house’s internal structure and wall decorations. Based on the available data, the building unearthed at Borsodivánka has currently no analogies in the Bronze Age of the Carpathian Basin.

Potential and limitations of LiDAR altimetry in archaeological survey. Copper Age and Bronze Age settlements in southern Iberia

Preface Towards new models (Harry Fokkens and Stijn Arnoldussen) Bronze Age settlement sites in the Low Countires: An overview (Stijn Arnoldussen and Harry Fokkens) Bronze Age houses and barrows in the Low Countries (Quentin Bourgeois and David Fontijn) Bronze Age settlements in Drenthe (Piet Kooi) Bronze Age occupation on coversand ridges of the Looerenk near Zutphen (Jeroen Bouwmeester) The Middle Bronze Age farmstead from Rhede (North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany) (Stephan Deiters) Rhenen-Remmerden revisited: some comments regarding site structure and the visibility of Bronze Age house plans (Leon G L van Hoof and Lucas Meurkens) Living at Eigenblok. A Bronze Age settlement in the Dutch river area (Peter Jongste) The Bronze Age cultural landscape at Zijderveld (Sebastiaan Knippenberg) Bronze Age settlements in Tiel-Medel (Janneke B Hielkema and Tom Hamburg) The Bronze Age cultural landscape of De Bogen (Bernard Meijlink) Marking while taking land into use: some indications for long-term traditions within the Oer-IJ estuarine region (Linda L Therkon) The Early Bronze Age farmstead of Noordwijk (Henk M van der Velde) Bronze Age neighbours: occupation of three parallel coversand ridges near Breda (Ria Berkvens) The living and the dead: A Bronze Age barrow and farmyard from Weelde (Rica Annaert) List of contributors

Several years of excavations at the site of Virje–Volarski Breg/Sušine uncovered the remains of a settlement from the Late Bronze and Late Iron Ages. The finds of a bronze pin and potsherds from the Late Bronze Age enabled the dating of the settlement to the early and late phases of the Urnfield culture, with the settlement at Volarski Breg being older than the one at Sušine. The excavations revealed parts of La Tène settlement infrastructure, which indicated that it was a prominent lowland settlement from the Middle and Late La Tène. They included the exceptional discovery of a pit with the remains of a loom. Both for the organization of the La Tène culture settlement and for its pottery finds, there are parallels in the known settlements from the middle Drava valley and the neighbouring areas of north-eastern Slovenia and south-western Hungary. These settlements are considered to have a rural character and to be the result of the life needs of small agricultural communities integrated in the landscape. The explored parts of the infrastructure of these settlements show that they were organized around single households. The intensive habitation of the middle Drava valley in the Late Bronze and Late Iron Ages is not at all surprising, since the area was crossed by an important communication route between the south-eastern Alpine region and the Danube region.

On aborde ici la question de la domestication des plantes et des animaux au moment du passage du Mesolithique au Neolithique ancien au Moyen Orient L'A pose la question de l'expansion ou pas de l'habitat naturel des cereales et par consequence, s'il y a expansion, la question se pose alors des traces economiques et sociales reperables archeologiquement. Est-ce le manque de nourriture, la famine, qui a favorise le developpement de la culture intensive ?

As part of a project to examine health trends in northeastern Hungary, 171 individuals originating from two Iron Age sites were examined. The analysis produced data comparable with those previously published from the Bronze Age in the same area. Comparison suggests slight temporal increases in most indicators of morbidity. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

As part of a project to examine health trends in northeastern Hungary, 171 individuals originating from two Iron Age sites were examined. The analysis produced data comparable with those previously published from the Bronze Age in the same area. Comparison suggests slight temporal increases in most indicators of morbidity. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Archaeo-geophysical survey of Bronze and Iron Age fortress landscapes of the South Caucasus

During recent archaeological excavations in the alpine valley of Montafon, western Austria, a Bronze and early Iron Age settlement cluster located at about 1,000 m a.s.l. was excavated. The human impact on the woodland resulting from these prehistoric settlement activities has been evaluated by the analysis of charred plant macro remains from cultural layers from a hilltop settlement site and two other close-by settlements, all of them encompassing the Early and Middle Bronze Age (19th to 15th century cal. b.c.) and early Iron Age (6th/5th century cal. b.c.). Charred seeds and fruits have provided information on the supply of foodstuff while charcoal (anthracological) analyses of firewood have revealed the use of wood and consequently the changes in local woods. The latter analyses suggest that the spruce-fir woodland (Piceeto-Abietetum) was gradually cleared from the Early Bronze Age. During the Middle Bronze Age large amounts of Pinus sylvestris (pine), Betula (birch), Corylus avellana (hazel) and Sorbus (rowan) with some Picea abies (spruce) characterized the woods, and early succession stages indicate clearings. These anthracological studies are corroborated by pollen studies disclosing clearings in the woods since the Early Bronze Age, which gradually expanded during the Middle Bronze Age. Furthermore, several charcoals from a Middle Bronze Age hearth seem to be of the same age, and the pattern of their annual growth-rings suggests the pollarding of broadleaved trees.