Second Millennium BC Research Articles

Ceramics of the Ulakhan-Segelennyakh Culture, Early Bronze Age, Yakutia

The principal diagnostic feature of the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC) Ulakhan-Segelennyakh culture of southern, southwestern, and western Yakutia, which was first described by the present author, is pottery decorated with punched nodes in combination with dentate impressions and stamp imprints. This type of pottery differs from Ust-Mil pottery and resembles both ancestral Ymyiakhtakh ceramics and ceramics made by immigrants. The Ulakhan-Segelennyakh culture did not spread across all Yakutia, but occupied vast taiga regions in the basins of the Aldan, Olekma, Vilyui, and Middle Lena. Most immigrants were descendants of the Glazkovo people, and entered Yakutia along the upper reaches of these rivers.

“Horse-Headed” Staffs and the Cult of the Horse Head in Northwestern Asia in the 2nd Millennium Bc

This article analyzes the semantics of staffs with the sculptural representations of horse heads. Such staffs were discovered in the steppe and forest-steppe Ob-Irtysh region; they date back to the beginning or the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. Stylistically early and later objects are identified. The study provides some parallels with Siberian ethnographic data and the mythology of the Indo-European peoples. The Indo-Aryan semantic content of the Vedic mythological tradition is used for interpreting the meaning of the staffs. The article suggests that the semantic range of the “horse-headed” stone staffs and the Seima-Turbino pommel belongs to the worldview of the carriers of the Indo- Aryan dialects.

The Bronze Age Rock Art of Malye Arbaty

The present article introduces the results of new studies into earlier images at the Malye Arbaty rock art site located in the Western Sayan Mountains, on the southwestern periphery of the Minusinsk Basin. The red-painted images are dated to the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Two stylistic groups have been distinguished one of which includes figures comparable with early Okunev images located in the steppe part of the Minusinsk Basin, while the second comprises petroglyphs resembling the Dzhoy style of the mountain taiga zone. The Malye Arbaty style appears to have originated from early Okunev art under the influence of other non-Okunev traditions of the southern Minusinsk Basin.

Grave Circle B at Mycenae in the Context of Links Between the Eastern Mediterranean and Scandinavia in the Bronze Age

Artifacts from royal burial graves Gamma and Omicron of grave circle B at Mycenae attest to cultural ties between the Eastern Mediterranean elite and that of the Scandinavian Early Bronze Age (mid- and late 2nd millennium BC). The appearance of the running spiral motif and representations of ships with rams in Scandinavia coincide with the beginning of the Mycenaean civilization. These facts, along with the finds of Baltic amber only in the royal burials at Mycenae but not in Crete, suggest that a principal role in the introduction of these cultural elements in Scandinavia during the Scandinavian Bronze Age (periods I–III according to Montelius) was played by the Mycenaean elite.

Face images in Lower Angara rock art

The Lower Angara rock art database includes relatively complete information on 42 petroglyphic sites with 155 representations of anthropomorphic faces. The classification of these images and their chronology, assessed on various grounds, suggests that they are roughly contemporaneous and are associated with Okunev art of the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (3rd – 2nd millennia BC). Having originated in the Stone Age, the tradition of depicting anthropomorphic faces was practiced by the taiga tribes of the Lower Angara until recent centuries.

A contribution to the study of the Eastern Links of the Bronze Age culture of the Northern Middle Volga

The fact that Bronze Age tribes of the Middle Volga supported eastern (Trans-Uralian) cultural links is evidenced by materials from the Yurino burial ground associated with the Seima-Turbino tradition, and by pottery with rolls and serpentine patterns from the Chirki settlements. Likewise, arsenic copper, of which artifacts from the Pepkino and Abashevo burials of the Abashevo culture are made, comes from the Tash-Kazgan mines in the Trans-Ural region. Eastern affinities are also documented by Seima-type arrowheads belonging to Abashevo warriors buried at Pepkino and Algashi mound 12. These artifacts resemble those from the Krotovo burial grounds on the Irtysh (Inberen X, Chernoozerye IV and VI). These contacts clearly date to the Middle Bronze Age (early 2nd millennium BC).

Crucibles from Palaikastro, East Crete: insights into metallurgical technology in the Aegean Late Bronze Age

The recovery of two groups of crucibles from the Neopalatial and Postpalatial phases of the Bronze Age settlement at Palaikastro on Crete permits the investigation not only into how their fabric was made up, how they were used and what materials they were producing, but also to what extent these matters had changed in the two intervening centuries in the third quarter of the 2nd millennium BC. Though the same resources were tapped by both sets of artisans, different preferences and prevailing habits can be discerned. The Neopalatial set shows a bias towards one non-calcareous clay source, for phyllite inclusions and animal hair tempering; the Postpalatial for a range of clays subjected to a uniform preparation with the addition of sand and vegetal temper. Both preferred to include their fuel within the crucible charge, which was thus heated from the inside, but the Neopalatial craftsmen arguably also used an external heat source. The ability of the Neopalatial artisans to access tin may be reflected in its higher presence then, as opposed to the leaded bronzes visible later.

Plant Remains and AMS: Dating Climate Change in the Aeolian Islands (Northeastern Sicily) During the 2nd Millennium BC

Archaeological plant remains, used to establish a reliable chronology by radiocarbon dating, are used here to investigate trends in past rainfall intensity. The stable carbon isotope ratio in botanic remains depends on environmental conditions during the plant's life. By comparing the δ13C and 14C of selected plant specimens from 3 protohistoric sites in the Aeolian Archipelago, it is possible to identify short-term changes in the rainfall intensity during the 2nd millennium BC. The climate signals inferred from carbon isotope analyses are compared to pollen data for the region and are found to be consistent with changes in vegetal cover. Finally, the climate signals are integrated with the history of the Aeolian communities and the resilience of settlers is evaluated.

Aksum and the Northern Horn of Africa

Rich and varied sources are now available for reconstructing the past in Africa’s northern Horn. Results of archaeological investigation are supplemented from inscriptions, coinage, and from accounts by Graeco-Roman historians and visitors (including Byzantine ambassadors), while historical linguistics and studies of oral tradition (some of which was later recorded in writing by Ethiopians themselves) are also informative. Until the mid-20th century, most of the knowledge that was readily available came from sources that focused on external connections; this bias has often also prevailed more recently, but a more local emphasis now sees cultural development in the northern Horn as an essentially indigenous process in which adaptations to diverse external influences were constantly made. This continuity is apparent in several areas. The region’s subsistence economy has long been based on domestic plants and animals that include varieties first domesticated in the Near East and North Africa as well as others that originated in the northern Horn itself. The dates of their local adoption are not yet known, but it is probable that some of these species have been exploited since at least the 2nd millennium BC. It is against this backdrop that may now be viewed the appearance, around the 8th century BC, of societies whose elite sections followed fashions displaying strong affinities with those known in neighbouring areas, most notably in southern Arabia. Among these elements were the first stone inscriptions yet recognised in the Horn of Africa, figurative sculptures and dressed-stone architecture, as well as religious paraphernalia. It is noteworthy, however, that many aspects of the domestic architecture, pottery and other non-elite artefacts continued stylistic and technological traditions that had been established in the region long previously. These conclusions are confirmed by detailed study of the relatively small number of stone inscriptions that have been recovered. Although the script was one that is known to have developed in southern Arabia during earlier times, with few exceptions the Semitic language shows local differences from that employed on the other side of the Red Sea. These observations have led to a re-interpretation that emphasises the indigenous element in the majority population of the northern Horn during the last millennium BC, while noting that – as has often been the case in many regions both before and since – the elite sought to reinforce their position by emphasising exotic foreign accoutrements. This dichotomy, however, was short-lived; the distinctiveness of the elite diminished and greater cultural uniformity seems to have prevailed by about the 6th century. The word DMT, otherwise unknown, occurs in unvocalised inscriptions of this period; it has been interpreted as the name of a unitary kingdom at this time, but doubt has recently been cast on the existence of such a polity. The last half-millennium BC is poorly understood. It is only for the restricted area where the future capital of Aksum subsequently arose that details of archaeological research have yet been published, and epigraphic evidence also is tantalisingly sparse. Excavations directed by Rodolfo Fattovich Archaeology International No. 15, 2011-2012, 29-32 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/ai.1502

The Chronology of Tell El-Daba: A Crucial Meeting Point of 14C Dating, Archaeology, and Egyptology in the 2nd Millennium BC

Radiocarbon dating at the Tell el-Daba site in the Nile Delta has created an enigma for many years. Despite great efforts, the difference of about 120 yr between the chronology based on 14C dates and the one based on archaeological evidence linked to the Egyptian historical chronology has not been solved. In order to foster open discussions on this discrepancy, we present here the results of 40 14C accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements on short-lived plant material assigned to 14 different phases of the Tell el-Daba excavation, spanning 600 yr (about 2000–1400 BC). On the one hand, the recently established agreement between 14C dates and dynastic Egypt (Bronk Ramsey et al. 2010) makes it unlikely that the problem lies in the 14C dates and/or the Egyptian historical chronology. On the other hand, the extensive archaeological evidence from Tell el-Daba linked to many different cultures in the eastern Mediterranean and to the Egyptian historical chronology provides strong evidence for an absolute chronology shifted by about 120 yr with respect to the 14C dates.

A Highland Perspective on the Archaeology and Settlement History of Sumatra

The first systematic archaeological research in the Highlands of Jambi in West Sumatra was pursued by a joint German-Indonesian project from 2002 to 2008. The project was attracted by the impressive megalithic remains which are known since the early 20th century. Different areas of this important cultural region were surveyed and six archaeological sites excavated in order to provide a comprehensive account of the settlement history of this region. With this multi-local and diachronic approach in mind it was possible to document developments in the settlement pattern and material culture from an early Neolithic phase in the mid of the 2nd millennium BC to modern times. Reconstructing the history of this particular highland region by means of archaeological data and additional ethnohistoric sources was not the only objective. Another purpose was to set it in relation to socioeconomic and political developments in the history of the lowlands. The results and conclusions of this highland perspective on the archaeology and history of Sumatra are summarised in this article.

O-pi e-de-i: on round building as an archetypical form of sacred space in the Aegean

The archaeological record supports the general proposition that the simplest form of architecture, the round building type, variously persisted throughout the Aegean prehistory. This paper makes a case for the identification of round building as a distinct genre of sacred space in the Aegean Bronze Age, Mycenaean Crete in particular, combining evidence from architecture, iconography and the scripts. Certain archetypical features are thus delineated. It is argued that the historical understanding of the emerging LBA state requires a study of the architecture prior to the 2nd millennium BC as much as other relevant evidence issuing from the latest Aegean strata.

The Origins of the Bronze Age of Southeast Asia

White and Hamilton (J World Prehist 22: 357–97, 2009) have proposed a model for the origin of the Southeast Asian Bronze Age founded on seven AMS radiocarbon determinations from the Northeast Thai site of Ban Chiang, which would date the initial Bronze Age there to about 2000 BC. Since this date is too early for the derivation of a bronze industry from the documented exchange that linked Southeast Asia with Chinese states during the 2nd millennium BC, they have identified the Seima-Turbino 3rd millennium BC forest-steppe technology of the area between the Urals and the Altai as the source of the Southeast Asian Bronze Age. We challenge this model by presenting a new chronological framework for Ban Chiang, which supports our model that the knowledge of bronze metallurgy reached Southeast Asia only in the late 2nd millennium BC, through contact with the states of the Yellow and Yangtze valleys.

Bystry Kulyogan-38 –Bronze Age Fortified Dwelling In The Surgut Ob Area

In 2000, archaeologists from Yekaterinburg and Surgut excavated the preserved portion (380 sq. m) of the Bronze Age fortifi ed settlement situated on the Bystry Kulyogan River, right bank of the Ob River, 35 km west of Surgut. The settlement was initially estimated to be approximately 650 sq. m in size. An isolated dwelling was located on a small sandy promontory. It was protected by an arcuate moat and probably by a palisade along the perimeter. The dwelling is rectangular in plan and resembles a tall truncated pyramid with rounded angles. It is characterized by a frame-pole construction with vertical load bearing posts, inclined log and pole walls, and fl at or very low gable roof similar to those encountered among traditional Khanty surface dwellings or above grave structures. Walls were fi xed by sandy mounds along the outer perimeter. The largest portion of the dwelling was occupied by a rectangular pit with vertical walls 0.4–0.9 m high sheeted with half-beams or half-section timber. Plank beds were located along the walls. The elevated shelf between the pit and walls was used to store kitchen utensils, tools, and provisions. The Bronze Age assemblage includes 33 stone artifacts and 1640 fragments of at least 25 Kulyogan type vessels. Vessels are jar-like with fl at bottom, decorated with comb and pit patterns. The site is preliminarily dated to the fi rst half or the fi rst third of the 2nd millennium BC.

An assessment of morphological criteria for discriminating sheep and goat mandibles on a large prehistoric archaeological assemblage (Kerma, Sudan)

This paper presents an assessment of all known dental and mandibular morphological criteria for differentiating sheep ( Ovis aries) and goats ( Capra hircus) using for the first time an archaeological sample of complete caprine skeletons (90 sheep and 13 goats) from burials at Kerma (Sudan, 3rd and 2nd millennia BC). The species determinations were assessed using cranial and post-cranial morphological criteria. Consequently, the reliability (percentage of correct determination) and efficiency (complementary percentage of intermediate scores i.e. neither sheep nor goat) of 38 individual dental criteria could be fully assessed using a prehistoric homogeneous domesticate population. We demonstrate that, for this sample, individual criteria for lacteal teeth are more reliable for sheep (sheep: 95 ± 3%) than the adult premolars (85 ± 5%) and molars (sheep: 88 ± 2%), whereas for goats premolar criteria were more reliable (83 ± 12%). For efficiency, lacteal dental criteria are better (goat: 97 ± 5%; sheep: 95 ± 3%) than those for premolar (goat: 85 ± 10%; sheep: 79 ± 5%) and molar (goat: 82 ± 6%; sheep: 83 ± 2). We also demonstrated that most isolated teeth can be determined with less than 10% error. However, on average, within specific age classes (0–1 year, 1–4 years and more than 4 years), isolated teeth increased in reliability and decreased in efficiency. The average reliability of the criteria for complete mandibles for each age class for goats and sheep was 100%, when the efficiency was 67, 40 and 50% for goats and over 90% for sheep. This is due to the effect of age on the efficiency of isolated criteria and the poor performance of specific criteria mainly those P3, M1 and M2. We conclude that separate species kill-off profiles are possible. The effect of age on dental criteria would not significantly change the interpretation for specific subsistence strategies focused on one particularly species.

Late 2nd Millennium BC Feasting at an Ancient Ceremonial Centre in Jordan

Mortuary remains at Tall al- 'Umayri and its hinterland, from the Early Bronze Age IB onwards, include ceremonial architecture and portable artefacts spanning the Bronze and Iron Ages. A large, dense collection of animal bone fragments associated with LB/Iron Age feasting provides evidence of a participatory, seasonal event involving a large group of people and animals. Assessment of the tell and hinterland together provides evidence of a sacred zone around a perennial water source at the base of 'Umayri, where people brought their herds periodically to engage in social and ceremonial events at temple/shrines under the protection of the ancestors.

The archekas celt and the issue of the seima-turbino period in the kuznetsk basin and in the achinsk-mariinsk forest-steppe

This study focuses on the typological, cultural and chronological attribution of the Seima-Turbino bronzes, which were found in the Kuznetsk Basin and the Achinsk-Mariinsk forest-steppe. The authors provide a general review of pseudotextile ceramics, which were widespread in the early 2nd millennium BC in the area spreading from the Tom River to the Tobol River. It is suggested that this cultural association of the Kuznetsk Basin is related to the Seima-Turbino antiquities. The dating of the Krokhalevka pseudo-textile ceramics to the end of the 3rd millennium BC – the fi rst quarter of the 2nd millennium BC is substantiated. It is argued that the defi nition of the “Samus-Seima” period is incorrect and does not correspond to modern scholarship.

Social organization and change in the Indus Civilization; phytolith analysis of crop processing aims at Masudpur VII

The Indus Civilization (3rd to 2nd millennium BC) has been understood primarily through the study of its cities. However, the majority of the population lived in rural villages whose material remains have not been the focus of archaeological research. There has been no consensus on the nature of the social organization of the Indus Civilization, and the focus on urban sites and elite artefacts has meant that there has been little investigation into urban–rural interactions or the impact of urbanization on rural hinterlands. Food production, particularly that of staple crops, is one of the key links between a city and the villages that surround it. This paper uses phytolith analysis, a method of identifying plants and their constituent components using microscopic plant silica, to explore if the development of the cities affected the daily practice of crop processing and exchange in the Indus Civilization. This helps to ascertain whether city-centralized models of social organization can be applied to all aspects of rural–urban interactions. Using samples from Early and Mature Harappan periods at the village site of Masudpur VII in Haryana, India, the aims of crop processing, the crop assemblage and the local environmental conditions have been explored. This study concludes that contrary to the assumed city-focused models, the aims of the processing, composition of the crop assemblage and the local environmental conditions at Masudpur VII were not altered by the development of the city of Rakhigarhi in close proximity to it. This paper demonstrates that an understanding of ancient civilizations cannot be accurately drawn from the study of only their most conspicuous sites, especially when most of the people lived in the rural hinterlands.

Zoroastrians in Iran: What Future in the Homeland?

Zoroastrianism, a religion which arose among Iranian peoples some 3,000 years ago, was the religion of the majority of Iranians prior to the Arab conquests of the mid-7th century. Since that time, a steady process of to Islam has left a small Zoroastrian minority of 20,000 or less in Iran today. While community leaders are making efforts to keep the religion alive, factors such as emigration, intermarriage, and low birth rates now put the very survival of this ancient faith into question, not just throughout the global diaspora but within the land of its birth. Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest living faiths. Tracing back most likely to sometime in the 2nd millennium BCE,1 it became the national religion of many Iranian peoples and was the state religion of the Sasanian Empire from the 3rd century CE until the Arab conquest in the 640s. During the subsequent centuries, most Iranians converted to Islam, and a small group of Zoroastrians emigrated to India where they established the Parsi (Persian) community.2 In Iran, numbers have now dwindled to less than 20,000, at least according to official figures,3 although since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 there has been much speculation about the extent of re-conversion to Zoroastrianism by Iranian Muslims disaffected by the country's present Islamic regime. The causes of the Zoroastrian community's decline in Iran date back to the Arab conquests and have been compounded by some contemporary issues. In historical terms, there have been various explanations as to why a majority of Iranians abandoned their traditional faith in favor of Islam, especially since the long-popular conversion by the sword theory has now been largely discredited. Indeed, the evidence is rather that at least during the first century or so, the Arabs were actually mostly reluctant to allow non-Arabs into their prospering community,4 requiring them to acquire an Arab sponsor [mawla] through whom they could obtain a kind of honorary Arab tribal identity.5 That so many non-Arabs chose to do so can be taken as evidence that membership in this community was very attractive, and encompassed temporal as well as spiritual advantages. Another factor often cited is the dependence of the Zoroastrian priesthood on state support, which was lost to them with the fall of the Sasanians. Later, with the increasing application of the then-nascent norms of Islamic law from the 'Abbasid period onwards, legal issues such as family inheritances accruing entirely to individuals converting to Islam, the stipulation that children of mixed marriages be raised as Muslims, and the prohibition against proselytization by non-Muslims, as well as social issues such as localized persecution of non-Muslims by members of the Muslim majority, were all factors leading numerous Iranian Zoroastrians to embrace an Islamic identity. Contrary to some common perceptions, the Islamization of Iran was not instantaneous but rather took place over several centuries. Nevertheless, in urban areas an estimated 80% of the population had become Muslim by the 10th century.6 Over the subsequent centuries the rural communities followed, although their case is more difficult to document. What is clear is that the contexts in which Zoroastrianism survived in Iran were largely rural, especially in the villages around the cities of Yazd and Kerman.7 This reality persisted well into the 20th century. By the 19th century the living conditions of Iran's Zoroastrians had deteriorated to such an extent that the Parsis, who had begun to prosper in British India, began to send financial aid and lobby Iran's government on behalf of their co-religionists. It was through such pressure that the Qajar monarch Naser al-din Shah repealed the jizya (a tax on non-Muslim subjects) on Zoroastrians in 1882. Parsis, meanwhile, built schools and medical clinics for Zoroastrians in Iran.8 The 20th century saw additional helpful trends, such as the Iranian nationalism of Pahlavi ruler Reza Shah (r. …

Urban Development in Central Transcaucasia in Anatolian Context: New Data

AbstractThe settlement and necropolis of Grakliani Hill are located in Central Transcaucasia, Georgia. Excavations of the settlement on the eastern slope and the necropolis on the south-western part of the hill demonstrated that the site had been occupied between the Chalcolithic and the Late Hellenistic periods. The most interesting remains of buildings belong to 2nd and 1st millennium BC. Several sanctuaries of this period were excavated. A monumental altar was discovered in the eastern part of the settlement. The altar was located in the north-western corner of a building. On its eastern side there was an ash pit with a platform along the northern wall. The platform was used for placing offerings, including a South Mesopotamian seal. An architectural complex of the following period (450-350 B.C) was discovered in the western part of the lower terrace. It consisted of three main rooms and three store-rooms. Burials of various periods were discovered in the western part of the hill’s southern slope. The earliest one is a pit-burial dating to the Early Bronze Age, the latest one belongs to the 2nd century BC. After analyses of the finds several directions of cultural and commercial links were identified: Colchis, Persia, Phoenicia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor.