1st Century BC Research Articles

Hyperostosis frontalis interna: A new perspective in burned individuals' analysis for determining age and sex from archeo‐anthropological and medicolegal contexts

AbstractHyperostosis frontalis interna (HFI) is a benign bone lesion, which is asymptomatic for the most part and is manifested by the accretion of bone on the endocranial surface of the frontal bone.This type of lesion has been discussed in a multitude of publications since the 19th century. Although a consensus has yet to be reached as to its etiology, it would seem generally accepted that hormones play a role, which would explain the high frequency of this disorder among older and postmenopausal women.The objective of this study is to demonstrate the benefit of HFI diagnosis for identifying individuals (estimating their age and determining their sex) in the archeo‐anthropological analysis of ancient cremation burial sites and in medicolegal investigations on burned human remains.Our sample consisted of 82 cremated individuals from the Roman Porta Nocera necropolis in Pompeii (1st century BC–1st century AD). After excluding juveniles under 15 years of age, as HFI primarily affects adult individuals, our sample was reduced to 71 individuals, and the prevalence of HFI was 15.5% (n = 11). A statistically significant difference is observed between women and men, and no individuals previously identified as male displayed HFI. Furthermore, 90.9% of the individuals displayed degenerative conditions in conjunction with HFI, showing a highly significant correlation of this lesion with signs of aging (chi‐square 9.365; p = 0.01). Finally, this disorder boosted diagnostic performance in respect of determining sex, increasing the number of biologically sexed individuals from 46.5% to 53.5%. Therefore, we propose that the HFI diagnosis offers genuine added value in the identification of burned human remains.

The “Seal of Rodogune” from Parthian Nisa

The name of Rodogune was not applied only to the well known statuette of Aphrodite Anadyomene from Parthian Nisa, but also to a seal impressed on a sealing from the Nisa Square House. Although the attribution of the seal, unlike that of the statuette, was not discussed in detail, the portrait depicted on it was recognized as that of the Arsacid princess. Actually, the head is not female, but male, and can in all likelihood be that of Apollo with a laurel wreath. The style of execution suggests a relatively late date for the seal, not before the end of the 1st century BC –1st century AD, and allows its impression to be included in the general group of sealings from the Square House of Nisa.

The Beginning of Iron Metallurgy in East Asia

This study focuses on the beginning of the Early Iron Age in the Far East. A revision of the published data indicates a lack of synchrony in the appearance of bronze artifacts in cultures of the Amur region and Primorye in the late 2nd to early 1st millennia BC. Iron and cast iron were widely distributed in the Urilsky and Yankovsky cultures. However, no such artifacts are known in contemporaneous cultures such as the Evoron, Siniy Gai, and Lidovka, which are attributed to the Bronze Age, whereas the earliest iron and cast iron artifacts of the Urilsky culture come from the western parts of the Amur basin. All known bronze artifacts of that culture were widely distributed during the Shang and Western Zhou stages, in Karasuk-type cultures of Southern Siberia and Central Asia of the late 2nd to early 1st millennia BC. In China, the earliest iron artifacts appeared between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, while in the provinces of eastern Liaoning and southwestern Jilin they appeared between the 4th and 1st centuries BC. Cast iron celts of the Yankovsky culture in Primorye, which in 1960s were dated to 1000–800 BC, are now believed to be no earlier than 400–200 BC, coinciding with the appearance of iron in Manchuria. It is concluded that in East Asia, iron and cast iron first appeared in the western Amur basin in 1100–900 BC.

Tenedos Nekropolisi’nden Cam Pendant

The male head-shaped glass pendant discussed in this study was found together with a terracotta statuette, a terracotta head (or a protome), and some knucklebones (astragali) in a pithos burial during rescue excavations in 1993 in the Tenedos necropolis. The rod-formed pendant has a beard, big eyes, a long nose, full lips, and a slightly protruding chin. Trails of opaque yellow, white, and turquoise glass were applied to the translucent dark blue body of the pendant. Such glass pendants are considered to be of Phoenician and/or Punic origin and are distributed throughout the Mediterranean basin, the northern coast of the Black Sea, and Eastern Europe. They range in date from the 7th century to the middle of the 1st century BC. The Tenedos glass pendant is compatible with M. Seefried’s “Type C” (male head with curly hair) and dated between the 5th century and 3rd century BC. It belongs to the C1 subgroup (head with curly hair and sleek beard) of this type. The head-shaped glass pendant is a rare find from the northeast region of the Aegean. In the context of the other finds from the tomb, notably the standing female figurine, the glass pendant can be said to belong to the first half of the 5th century BC. Moreover, this find indicates the contact between the Phoenician and/or Punic world and Tenedos in this period.

Khirbat Faris: Rural Settlement, Continuity and Change in Southern Jordan: The Nabataean to Modern Periods (1st century BC–20th century AD), by Alison McQuitty, Holly Parton and Andrew Petersen. and Ancient Landscapes of Zoara I: Surveys and Excavations at the Ghor as-Safi in Jordan, 1997–2018, by Konstantinos D. Politis.

Khirbat Faris: Rural Settlement, Continuity and Change in Southern Jordan: The Nabataean to Modern Periods (1st century BC–20th century AD), by Alison McQuitty, Holly Parton and Andrew Petersen. Archaeopress Archaeology, 2020. 428pp., with 60 tables and 271 figures. Pb. £50.00, ISBN-13: 9781789693898; ePDF £16.00. ISBN-13: 9781789693904. Ancient Landscapes of Zoara I: Surveys and Excavations at the Ghor as-Safi in Jordan, 1997–2018, by Konstantinos D. Politis. Routledge, 2021. 304 pp., with 399 B/W figures. Hb. $160.00, ISBN-13: 9780367622800; ePDF $48.95, ISBN-13: 9781003108696.

«ARROWS OF THUNDER» FROM CHORNIVKA HILLFORT OF THE 13th CENTURY

The paper is devoted to the analysis of specific artefacts, namely so-called «arrows of thunder», which were discovered during the archaeological research of the Chornivka hillfort of the 13th century. All these finds belong to previous historical epochs since the Bronze Age to the Slavic one. The oldest of the discovered objects belongs to the Bronze Age. This is a stone axe. In its central part somewhat asymmetrically from the sides a hole is drilled. In some places, the surface of the item is chipped and scratched which indicates its use as a working tool. Stone axes of this type belong to the Bronze Age and date back to the 2nd millennium BC. They appeared among the tribes of corded pottery cultures represented in the region by the Subcarpathian local variant. The next find is a Scythian bronze arrowhead with a hole made in the socket for hanging. Arrowheads of a similar type are found in Scythian antiquities and date to the 6th century BC. Three other archaic objects from the settlement belong to the personal costume adornment. These are bronze fibulae. The first of them is a fragmented Pomeranian fibula (Eggers II type) which correlates with the antiquities of the Pojaneşti-Lukashivka culture and dates approximately to the late 2nd — the first half of the 1st century BC. The second fibula is heavily profiled, with a support plate above the string and a shortened solid receiver. It belongs to the Almgren 69 type, dating back to the second half of the 1st — the early 2nd century AD and is probably connected with the sites of the Lipitsa culture. The last of the findings refers to the Danubian—Illyrian series of cast fibulae with pseudo-returned foot and human image on the back (group E according to A. Megurianu).

Знатный кангюец на охоте

The publication is devoted to the discovery, historical, cultural and artistic interpretation of unique artifacts of the art of carving on the horn dated by the time of the state of Kangju I in the 1st century BC — 2nd century AD. from South Kazakhstan. For the first time in the archeology of Kazakhstan, in the catacomb burial of the Kylyshzhar burial ground, two median horn overlays were found on the handle of the “M”-shaped reflexive bow with subjects of social and semantic-ritual content, made by highly artistic carving (engraving) on the horn. One of them reflects the hunting scene of a noble Kangju man. It depicts a rider-nomad of oriental appearance in the pose of a low-seated jockey on a horse-mare, who shoots from a bow, hunting argali driven by a long pursuit. The shooter has the regalia of power, is armed with a bow and its auxiliary attributes (reserve bow, solidly lit quiver with a set of combat arrows). Another plot shows a group of argali hunted by a ‘bear-lion’, a mythical polymorphic creature: the animals tend to elude this ‘beast’, which grabbed one individual in a throw and is readyto devour it. Both compositions are united by hunting into a single sacred action, in which a person (a horse rider with high authority in the society of nomads with a status close to a deity) and a mythical ‘bear-lion’ (also a deity) participate — as characters endowed with special social and religious functions — in the hunt for argali, the animals that embody the global deity farn (hvarnah) among the Iranian-speaking peoples of Central Asia and South Kazakhstan. The archaeological finds that accompany the these plates, as well as the chrono-indicators presented by similar historical and cultural content of the plots, the technique of making artifacts from horn, bone, allow us to determine the chronology of products within the 1st century BC — 2nd century AD.

Древнейшие погребения элиты обских угров (богатыри и шаманы кулайской эпохиСургутского и Нижнего Приобья)

Archaeologists of Sverdlovsk-Yekaterinburg and Tomsk in the taiga of the Surgut and Lower Ob’ River regions examined six burial objects of the 1st—4th centuries BC of Kulayka cultural and historical community with a large number of imported and local inventory. These include the graves of people located in different territories (a child, adults), the burial of ittarmadolls, which were posthumous dummies of warriors who died in a foreign land, as well as a hoard with metal regalia of the shaman’s vestments. This indicates the beginning of an active social-economic stratification in the society of the Ob’Ugrians and formation of the administrative, military, property and spiritual elite in it. The main reason for this was not the development of the producing economy, which was practically not present among the fishermen-hunters in the western regions of the taiga Ob’ region, but rather the integration of the north of Western Siberia in the system of the common Eurasian economy as a permanent supplier of furs, especially since the evolution of the northern (“fur”) branches of the Great Silk Road in the 1st century BC. At the same time, the first signs of social differentiation and the separation of the military class were traced here as early as the second half of the 1 st millennium BC. This is confirmed by the finds of bronze and iron weapons of the steppe (Scythian-Sarmatian) and taiga (Kulaika) forms at forest sanctuaries, the first single copper-bronze anthropomorphous images in helmets and “sun crowns”, as well as the proliferation of miniature fortresses with powerful bastion-tower fortifications, likely places of residence of the Ugric elite. The architecture of such “towns” was borrowed from the forest-steppe tribes of the Tobol-Irtysh River region, and those from the Saka of the Aral Sea region.

Погребение среднесарматской культуры курганного могильника Песчаный IV: результаты сравнительно-типологического, радиоуглеродного и изотопного исследований

The paper addresses the results of the study of a rich Middle Sarmatian female burial (end of the 1st century BC — first half of the 1st century AD) discovered in the Sal-Manych steppe, on the border between the Rostov Oblast and Kalmykia. The funerary rite and goods are typical for elite burials of the Middle Sarmatian culture (diagonal burial in a large rectangular pit with a recess, two cast bronze cauldrons, clothes with golden elements, imported fibulae, a gem). The authors have conducted the comparative and typological analysis of chronological indicators found among the grave goods, as well as radiocarbon dating, which allowed to narrow down the chronological interval for the burial. Study of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes ratio from the buried woman’s dental enamel and background samples from the studied region have showed that the Sarmatian woman buried in the Peschany IV barrow group was of local origin. The interdisciplinary approach allowed to reconstruct the life story of the buried woman and her grave goods.

Lead tablets and styli: daily writing in Iberia between the 5th and 1st centuries BC

Lead tablets and styli: daily writing in Iberia between the 5th and 1st centuries BC

The Pectoral from Kosika and the Origin of the Scenes of Animal Combat in Graeco-Scythian Goldwork

Abstract This article concerns a gold pectoral found in burial No. 1/1984 in Kosika in the Lower Volga area. The destroyed burial was dated by us to the third quarter of the 1st century BC. Based on visual examination of the pectoral in 2015, an attempt is made to re-establish its history: to determine when it was created – no later than the first half of the 5th century BC – and when it was repaired and re-worked at the end of the 5th century or during the first third of the 4th century BC and also to explain how this unique object of Scythian culture of the North Pontic area, insignia of royal power and one of the earliest works depicting scenes of animal combat, appearing at the very beginning of the Graeco-Scythian style in toreutics, found its way into a far later burial (at least 300 years after it had been re-worked), that of a representative of the highest Sarmatian élite.

نشأة اللغة العربية وتطورها فى التاريخ الإسلامي

Arabic is a language that contributes vocabulary to languages that exist in the world, the main reason is that this language is used in the holy book, namely al-Qur'an which has survived in its original language for more than 14 centuries. Arabic is one of the Samiyah language families, ascribed to the son of the Prophet Noah named Sam ibn Nuh, then Arabic moved to "Ya'rab ibn Qahthan" to Prophet Ibrahim who used Arabic so that Arabic developed to the land of the Hijaz, Nejed, and surroundings. As for the inscription about Baidah Arabic which is estimated to have lived in the 1st century BC, which uses three dialects, namely Tsyamudiyah, Syafwiyah, and Lihyaniyah. Meanwhile, Baqiyah Arabic was discovered after the 5th century AD, which is used by Arabs in literature, writing, and essay. The Arabic dialect of Bagiyah has two families, namely the western side of the Hijaz which uses the dialect of "Quraish", and the eastern side of Nejed is "Tamimiyah". These two dialects developed the Arabic Fusha language which became the language of the Qur'an and Hadith.

철제 농공구를 통해 본 다호리유적

This paper is a thesis that approaches the composition group of Dahori remains through iron agricultural tools. To this end, the temporality of the Dahori remains was first identified, the shaping and introduction process of iron agricultural tools was explained, and finally, the Dahori remains in East Asia were interpreted. In order to understand the temporality of the Dahori remains, the temporality of the Wiman Joseon and Wolseong-dong type and the temporality of the Pommel Fittings were reviewed, then the timing of the formation of the Dahori remains was identified. Afterwards, based on the change of earthenware, such as the pocket-shaped jar excavated from the Dahori site, each stage of the Dahori remains was established depending on the period of various associated remains and the arrangement of the tombs, and then the period was identified. As a result, the Dahori remains can be divided into four stages: Stage Ⅰ- the second half of the 2nd century BC, Stage Ⅱ- end of the 2nd century BC to the middle of the 1st century BC, Stage Ⅲ- mid to late 1st century BC, and Stage Ⅳ- after the 1st century AD. The distribution process of iron agricultural tools was inferred through the review of data from countries such as Chu State, Zhongshan State, Yan State and through the existence of private artisans and private merchants. It is judged that Anciet Joseon was in charge of the intermediate distribution of ironware and particularly that iron agricultural tools belonging to the Yeonguk were brought into Wiman Joseon by private management, and then spread again to the Jinbyeon-han groups in the Yeongnam region by Wiman Joseon. Considering the distribution process of remains and their recognition as tomb burials, the Dahori group identified a large number of foreign iron agricultural tools, but did not follow the notion of Zhongyuan, and built the tomb depending on the own conception of Anciet Joseon or the Korean Peninsula. In addition, the buried people of the Dahori remains took the lead in adopting iron agricultural tools and developed their own iron making technology.

Neapolis Nekropolü’nden Cam Eserler

13 glass artifacts, evaluated within the scope of this study, were found from a chamber tomb unearthed in 2010 in the necropolis area of the Neapolis Ancient City, located within the borders of Yazıkent Town, Bozdoğan District, in today's Aydın Province. Among the mentioned works, there are various examples such as bowls, unguentariums and glasses, most of them; Conical body, pear-shaped body, miniature spherical body, tube-shaped and candelabra (bell) body, which is divided into various sub-types, form the vessel called unguentarium. The earliest example among the Neapolis artifacts is the bowl produced by mold making, which is understood to belong to the Hellenistic Period. All of the artifacts, except the bowl, were made by using the free blowing technique, which is thought to have originated in Syria in the 1st century BC. The works evaluated in this context; They were grouped typologically and dated as a result of analogical evaluations made with known examples in ancient glass art. It is understood that among the artifacts produced in a wide range of dates from the middle of the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD, especially the unguentariums are associated with burial rituals.

The Iberian-Tartessian semi-syllabary: possible evolution from Lineal Megalithic/Paleolithic Scripts and the Mother Goddess Religion

Paleolithic/Neolithic (Megalithic) Lineal Scripts have been found in big or small rocks with or without megalithic context. Huelva (South West Spain) megalithic rocks presented engraved signs apparently contained in the Iberian-Tartessian semi-syllabary and this region is in the core of Tartessian civilization. Iberian-Tartessian scripts have been found in South West Algeria, Canary Islands and Iberia. The genesis of this type of writing may have more ancient roots than established (1st Century BC) as Strabo stated that it may be thousands of years older. The finding of the same Iberian-Tartessian signs within such a big geographic area supports that demic diffusion substitution either from East Mediterranean or Russian steppes is not found in Iberia according to physical anthropology traits and also genetic studies from different research groups from different countries: Iberians, North Africans and Canary Islanders are genetically close supporting prehistorical contacts also sustained by Sahara Desert rapid desiccation followed by people migration. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand Paleolithic /Neolithic-Megalithic Lineal rock inscriptions continuity in such a long period without a known language, considered identical or related to Iberian, or political unit unless Basque language, or similar one, was present in Paleolithic time, as suggested by some authors. Paleolithic Lineal scripts have also been found in Java (Indonesia) and South Africa. It is feasible that worldwide Mother Goddess religion which extended since Paleolithic to Neolithic/Megalithic times may be the one common certain and documented character available to blame of such a surprising unity and continuity of rock lineal engravings.

Раннесарматские погребения могильника Верхний Балыклей I из Заволжья

The paper introduces into scientific discourse the materials of the early Sarmatian burials from the Verkhniy Balykley I kurgan cemetery from the area of the Volgograd Trans-Volga region. This monument was studied in the course of the 1978–1979 expedition organized by the Volgograd State Pedagogical Institute under the leadership of A.S. Skripkin. Materials. The burial includes four mounds located compactly on the banks of the reservoir and one single mound setting far away in the steppe. Eighteen inlet burials of the early Sarmatian time were found in three Bronze Age kurgans. Some burials contained no burial inventory; others did include a variety of grave goods. The funeral rites present a wide range of grave structures: pits with side chambers, simple rectangular pits and catacombs. The southern body orientation of the buried individuals was dominating. In kurgans 5 and 6, a circular arrangement of graves is traced, which is typical for early Sarmatian mounds-cemeteries. Material analysis. An analysis of the grave goods indicates 3rd – 1st centuries BC is the time of construction of most burials in these kurgans, which does not contradict the funeral rite traditions and reveals a range of features characteristic of the nomads of that period. A military burial with a long sword and arrows is one of the most distinguished in its kind. Ceramic material is represented by various stucco forms of pots, an incense burner and a jug. Fragments of mirrors with rollers along the edge and beads were discovered in several burials. Several stone “miniature hammers”, typical for the South Ural grave materials of this period, is also an interesting find. Conclusions. In general, the studied monuments illustrate the burial traditions of the early Sarmatian population of the Ural-Volga steppes of the early Sarmatian time. The finds of pottery samples, previously unknown stone “miniature hammers” in the west of the Volga, allow us to conclude on the cultural proximity of the nomads who left the mounds near the village Verhniy Balykley with the South Ural nomads. Authors’ contribution. In this paper, Anatoly S. Skripkin prepared a descriptive part of the archaeological material; Vladimir I. Moiseev analyzed the funeral rite and the inventory. Mikhail V. Krivosheev drew and presented conclusions on the analysis of the material.

The Influence of Chinese Pottery on the Nabataean Pottery During the 1st Century BC and the 2nd Century AD

The ancient China's historic stages may be separated into some certain ages: Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Ironic Age. There were only broken stone tools in the Paleolithic age. The Paleolithic age witnessed stone tools and copper pottery during the excavations; major relics of the old Nabataean and Byzantine village of Aila were uncovered, which flourished from first century B.C. through the Earliest Muslim invasion. The remnants of the historic Nabataean and Byzantine town of Aila, which existed from the first century B.C. through the Early Muslim invasion, were discovered during the excavation. Chinese pottery played a big role in the economic industries all over the world. This trade was famous according to ancient Chinese families such as Yangshao and Cishan (Zhang et al., 2019, p. 112). During the first century BC and the 2nd century AD, Chinese commerce witnessed a strong export for Chinese ceramics to some majority of countries, particularly the Middle East (Miksic, 2009, p. 72). The types of pottery were exported to the Middle East. This is a product that is mostly exported from China. Finally, Chinese pottery is undoubtedly spread in some certain areas for many centuries BC. Some famous Chinese families such as Yangshaoand Longshan cultures started eliciting the soil and manufactured various shapes of pottery. Chinese pottery was transformed to Aqaba and then to Petra where the remains of Chinese pottery were founded. It is evidence of a certain kind of trade between China and Nabataean Arabs.

Бронзовый таз из погребения кургана № 1 группы «Богомольные пески I» в Нижнем Поволжье

The article dwells on the find of the bronze basin in the burial no. 5 of the kurgan no. 1 of the group “Bogomol’nye peski I” near the village of Nikolskoye, Enotaevsky District, Astrakhan Region. A belt-set of gold with turquoise inlays found in the region of the pelvic bones of a 40–45-year-old warrior, an iron dagger in a wooden scabbard with round-shaped iron overlays covered with gold foil and with turquoise inlays, and other finds allowed the author of the excavations to attribute the burial to the 1st–2nd centuries AD. It is obvious that the buried warrior belonged to the nomadic elite. A bronze basin, standing almost vertically, was leaning against the northern side of the grave-pit at its bottom. The analysis has shown that the basin belongs to a rare variant, till now unknown in Sarmatia. The closest parallel of its edge with a rim bent outwards and decorated with a band of Ionian kymation is a basin from the prince’s burial in Hoby on the island of Lolland in Denmark, usually dated in the first half of the 1st century AD. The peculiarities of the rosette design at the bottom of the basin associate it with a Tassinari S2300 type basin from Pompeii and some bronze paterae of the Eggers 154 / Nuber D type (Hagenow), which also indicates a probable dating no later than the first half or the middle of the 1st century AD. The basin demonstrates clear signs of deliberate damage. Not only the foot-ring and handles were lost, but the body itself was punched in several places in the form of wedge-shaped holes from the blows of a knife or dagger (?), which are very close in shape to the holes on the silver phalerae and the bowl of the Parthian circle of the second half of the 2nd – first half of the 1st century BC from the Trans-Volga region.

Theẓllof ancient Dadān: Ritual and documentary practice

AbstractIn and around the site of ancient Dadān (modern‐day al‐ʿUlā), located in the Northwest of the Arabian Peninsula, many inscriptions are found in the local North Arabian script variety called Dadanitic (6th–1st centuries BC). Many of the Dadanitic inscriptions mention theẓllceremony for the main local deity Ḏūġābat, both unique to Dadān. While theẓllinscriptions are the most common type of monumental inscriptions in the Dadanitic script, their function is still little understood. Previous interpretations of theẓllinscriptions have primarily relied on the etymology of the rootẓll, ‘to cover’ or ‘shade’ (compare Arabicẓulal‘shade’). This article takes a broader approach to the inscriptions and considers their formulaic structure, phrasing, the distribution of attested personal names in them, and the use of the root in other genres and corpora to arrive at a new interpretation of the ritual, suggesting that theẓllinscriptions are better understood as documenting land leases. In this context the root ẒLL should be understood as ‘to write, to put down in writing; to record’.

Archaeometric Study on Roman Painted Terracottas from the Sanctuary of Hercules in Alba Fucens (Abruzzo, Italy)

In a period spanning from the 7th to the 1st century BC, the exterior surfaces of civil and sacred buildings in Italy were mainly decorated with terracottas. The aim of this study is to determine the skills and technological level reached by ancient manufacturers of painted ceramics from the sanctuary of Hercules in the archaeological site of Alba Fucens (Abruzzo, Central Italy). A multi-analytical approach including X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD), µ-Raman and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) was applied to determine the mineralogical composition of terracotta samples and to identify the pigments decorating the ceramics. The studied terracottas were decorated using valuable pigments such as Egyptian blue as well as a palette of colors common in the Roman period from the 3rd to the 1st century BC. The mineralogical composition of the ceramics allows estimating a firing temperature lower than 800 °C. Finally, a local origin of raw materials is suggested by the presence of alluvial and lake deposits outcropping in the Fucino area.