Second Millennium BC Research Articles

Using a multi-proxy approach to locate the elusive Phoenician/Persian anchorage of Tel Akko (Israel)

Previous geoarchaeological research on the Akko coastal plain have contributed to the understanding of the ancient coastal interface and added evidence as to the location/shift of the ancient anchorages dating from the Middle Bronze Age (beginning of the 2nd Millennium BC) to the Early Hellenistic period (mid of the 2nd century BC) of the ancient site of Tel Akko. The present research provides new insights into the environmental changes and likely anchorage sites along the western edge of Tel Akko in the 1st Millennium BC (Iron Age II and III, periods associated with the Phoenician mariners and Persian army incursion). Our approach for locating the anchorage is based on a detailed investigation of subsurface sediments combining sedimentological and faunal analysis and radiocarbon dating of cores as well as identification of ceramic sherds found in the cores, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys. Paleoenvironmental changes are compared and contrasted with the results of the archaeological investigations on the tell and in its vicinity. Our new data demonstrates that the Phoenician/Persian maritime interface of Tel Akko was mainly oriented toward the southwestern area of the tell where a natural anchorage was likely to have been located. At that time, the water depth in this area was ca. 2m, allowing for the anchorage of seagoing vessels. Increasing sediment deposition lead to the deterioration of direct, and eventual loss of access, to the sea. These conditions initiated the abandonment of the tell in the Early Hellenistic period as well as the westward shift to habitation on the peninsula, now the ‘Old city of Akko’, the Crusaders' Saint Jean d’Acre.

Phytomorphic carnelian pendants in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of the Iberian Peninsula: origin, distribution, and significance

First highlighted as possible markers for early, 2nd millennium BCE contacts between the Iberian Peninsula and the Eastern Mediterranean, phytomorphic carnelian pendants have become a significant part of the discussion on that subject. However, a number of new finds which have taken place in recent years have transformed the available image regarding both the geographic distribution and the chronological setting of these pieces. An updated overview is presented here, which suggests they should now preferably be considered as part of the array of prestige goods introduced in the Far West by Phoenician trade between the later stages of the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age

Raw material choices and material characterization of the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC pottery from the Petit‐Chasseur necropolis: Insights into the megalith‐erecting society of the Upper Rhône Valley, Switzerland

AbstractOwing to its well‐preserved and long‐lasting archaeological record, the necropolis of Petit‐Chasseur in the Upper Rhône Valley (3100–1600 BC) showcases the economic, social, and ideological changes of 3rd and 2nd millennium BC Europe excellently. An in‐depth investigation of pottery artifacts was carried out using multiple spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. Nine types of ceramic fabrics were identified based on the variety of temper and natural inclusions; however, the mineralogy and phase chemistry of the ceramic matrix showed the paste to be primarily illitic or muscovitic, irrespective of the inclusion type. Muscovitic clays were likely procured from the fluvioglacial, glaciolacustrine, colluvial, and till sediment abundantly available at higher altitudes of the Upper Rhône Valley, whereas illitic clays were acquired from pedogenized loess horizons or the Rhône River alluvium. Different raw material choices and paste preparation practices suggest distinct ceramic traditions that likely existed in the valley during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. This, along with the hypothesized provenance of the raw material, is likely in favor of various prehistoric communities gathering at the megalithic necropolis from close and distant parts of the valley using the Petit‐Chasseur site as a place of assembly.

Social Practice and the Exchange of Metals and Metallurgical Knowledge in 2nd Millennium Central Asia

The current article discusses the Bronze Age metal evidence in Central Asia based on a vast study of metals of Kazakh origin in order to better understand what Chernykh once called the West-Asian-Metallurgical Province (WAMP). Based on typological studies it became obvious that typologies do not sufficiently help to understand the distribution patterns of Bronze Age metals in regard to their social nor their economic background. The authors therefore propose an anthropological and theoretical approach that allows the exploration of the practice of exchange within steppe communities based on provenance studies of metals using elemental and Pb-isotope data. These data have been analysed within a research project carried out with Kazakhstan partners between 2004 and 2014. For the first time, a selection of data are presented that support some of the general interpretations of exchange modes between the Petrovka Early Bronze Age and the Late Bronze Age. Especially during the second millennium, it seems that the exchange pattern of metals had changed from single high valued items to a larger scale trade, which included metal transport as well. It is suggested that although the practice of exchange modes between the steppe communities change to larger scale metal exchange during the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC, most of the social background still remained similar in comparison to the earlier periods.

Identification of microstructure and chemical composition of a silver object from Shahrak-e Firouzeh, Nishapur, Iran (~2nd millennium BC)

Nishapur is a historical city in the ancient Khorasan region, located in the northeast of Iran. Due to its location on the Silk Road, Nishapur enjoyed great economic prosperity and as a result contains many archaeological sites from prehistoric to post-Islamic periods. Shahrak-e Firouzeh is one such site, dating back to 2nd millennium BC, containing numerous metallic objects and metallurgic remains from silver refining by cupellation. This study investigates the manufacture of a unique silver lidded dish decorated with bas-relief mythological designs. Different techniques, including SEM-EDS, micro-PIXE, and Metallography were used to characterize the dish. Results obtained by micro-PIXE and SEM-EDS reveal the use of an intentional silver alloy containing about 92 wt.% silver and about 3.80 wt.% copper. Date also suggested the use of an advanced silver extraction process to obtain high purity silver. The presence of elements such as calcium were associated with exposure to the burial environment and the extraction process. Metallographic examination revealed that this extremely thin object was decorated with complex bas-relief designs which had been produced by cold working, and annealing based upon the presence of twin straight lines on some parts of the surface and the changing gradation in tiny grains and twin uneven lines on the raised parts.

THE BEGINNING OF THE IRON AGE AT ARSLANTEPE: A14C PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACTThe Iron Age chronology at Arslantepe is the result of the interpretation of Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions and archaeological data coming from the site and its surrounding region. A new round of investigations of the Iron Age levels has been conducted at the site over the last 10 years. Preliminary results allowed the combination of the archaeological sequence with the historical events that extended from the collapse of the Late Bronze Age empires to the formation and development of the new Iron Age kingdoms. The integration into this picture of a new set of radiocarbon (14C) dates is aimed at establishing a more solid local chronology. High precision14C dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and its correlation with archaeobotanical analysis and stratigraphic data are presented here with the purpose of improving our knowledge of the site’s history and to build a reliable absolute chronology of the Iron Age. The results show that the earliest level of the sequence dates to ca. the mid-13th century BC, implying that the site started developing a new set of relationships with the Levant already before the breakdown of the Hittite empire, entailing important historical implications for the Syro-Anatolian region at the end of the 2nd millennium BC.

Copper production and supra-regional exchange networks – Cu-matte smelting in the Balkans between 2000 and 1500 BC

The Balkan Peninsula played a crucial role for the introduction of metallurgy during the Copper Age and numerous archaeometallurgical examinations have delivered highly interesting insights on this topic. However, there is a lack of systematic analytical research on copper ore smelting and metal exchange for the later Bronze Age. In this paper we focus on the first archaeometallurgical results of slags from the sites Ružana, Trnjane and Čoka Njica, Eastern Serbia, complimented by the discussion of XRF and lead isotope analyses carried out on 28 copper-based artefacts. Importantly, radiocarbon dating from these sites points to copper production already being undertaken at the end of the Early Bronze Age (19th–18th centuries BC), more than 500 years earlier than previously assumed. This enables us to investigate the flow of metal during the 1st half of the 2nd millennium BC. The analyses of the metallurgical slags indicate a copper matte smelting process in small open pit furnaces and the use of local sulfidic copper ore sources. The fact that these intensive smelting activities in Eastern Serbia can be paralleled with the early production hotspots in central Europe e.g. on the Hochkönig (Mitterberg mining areas) sheds new light on the development of copper based metallurgy in Europe. At the same time, the evidence from Eastern Serbia shows that this area was a source of raw material for copper and bronze alloys providing a regional and supra-regional perspective. Furthermore, our analyses revealed the remarkable result, that by the start of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1700 BC) copper from the Northern Italian mining areas in the Trentino region also reached the western and central Balkans.

Early alphabetic writing in the ancient Near East: the ‘missing link’ from Tel Lachish

The origin of alphabetic script lies in second-millennium BC Bronze Age Levantine societies. A chronological gap, however, divides the earliest evidence from the Sinai and Egypt—dated to the nineteenth century BC—and from the thirteenth-century BC corpus in Palestine. Here, the authors report a newly discovered Late Bronze Age alphabetic inscription from Tel Lachish, Israel. Dating to the fifteenth century BC, this inscription is currently the oldest securely dated alphabetic inscription from the Southern Levant, and may therefore be regarded as the ‘missing link’. The proliferation of early alphabetic writing in the Southern Levant should be considered a product of Levantine-Egyptian interaction during the mid second millennium BC, rather than of later Egyptian domination.

ОСВОЕНИЕ ОЛЕНЕВОДСТВА В ЭПИЧЕСКИХ И МИРОВОЗЗРЕНЧЕСКИХ ТРАДИЦИЯХ ЭВЕНКОВ

В междисциплинарном исследовании, основанном на эпических традициях эвенков, рассматривается проблема проникновения домашнего оленеводства в культурный комплекс северных тунгусов. Для решения задачи исследования используются методологические основы эпического историзма, подкрепляемые мировоззренческими традициями эвенков, а также результатами исследований по археологии и этнографии. До настоящего времени наиболее распространенная гипотеза о возникновении домашнего оленеводства складывалась из предположений В. А. Туголукова, Г. М. Василевич, Е. Н. Широкогоровой, согласно которым северные тунгусы приручили оленя в первых вв. н. э. Вместе с тем, фольклорные традиции эвенков свидетельствуют о более раннем историческом времени доместификации оленя предками современных эвенков и эвенов. В эпосе эвенков распространены два сюжета о приручении оленя. Согласно первому, оленя приручает первопредок-женщина. Второй, наиболее распространенный сюжет, свидетельствует о вхождении оленеводства в культурный комплекс эвенков в тесной связи с этногенетическими контактами к востоку от Байкала. Мифология и мировоззренческие традиции указывают на взаимосвязь культа оленеводства с культом медведя-предка, а также сохраняют культурные параллели с неолитическими традициями древних тунгусов-глазковцев. Содержание мировоззренческих и шаманских традиций эвенков также свидетельствуют о культурной взаимосвязи с содержанием писаниц Приамурья, которые по мнению А. П. Окладникова и А. И. Мазина, являются воплощением мировоззренческих традиций прямых предков современных эвенков-орочонов. В результате исследования, выдвигается предположение о том, что эпические, мифологические, ритуальные и этнографические традиции эвенков сопоставимы с результатами археологических исследований и свидетельствуют о высокой вероятности возникновения эвенкийского оленеводства в Приамурье во II тыс. до н. э. Работа представляет интерес для специалистов по фольклору, истории и этнографии, в круг научных интересов которых входят традиции устного народного творчества и история тунгусо-маньчжурских народов.

Inscriptions on the Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessels “Bi Qi You” (Late Shang Period)

This is a commented translation into Russian of three inscriptions on the ancient Chinese bronze vessels from the late Shang-Yin period (end of the 2nd millennium BC). The inscriptions found on bronze vessels constitute a special kind of sources for the ancient history of China. These epigraphic documents provide important, otherwise unrecorded data on life in the archaic society. Contrary to the texts of classical works, the nature of the ancient Chinese bronze inscriptions is ritualistic. They were not intended to be “read” but served as a tool of sacred communication with the world of dead ancestors. In fact, their “readers” were otherworldly forces. The correct understanding of these bronze inscriptions requires a specialist commentary. The publisher includes the inscriptions on the late Shang-Yin ritual vessels into a wide historical and cultural context. It is hoped this context will facilitate the understanding of the inherent meaning of the inscriptions. The comments will outline the range of problems associated with the interpretation of this type of sources from the late Shang-Yin period.

Human-woodland interactions during the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite periods in northeastern Tigray, Ethiopia: insights from the wood charcoal analyses from Mezber and Ona Adi

The Tigray region in Ethiopia witnessed the rise and fall of the Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite communities between the mid 2nd millennium BCE and the late 1st millennium CE. Despite the importance of these entities in recent African prehistory, the issue of how they interacted with their surrounding environment has only been addressed very recently. Here, we present the first systematic anthracological analysis from the region. Wood charcoal samples from two archaeological sites were analysed, the Pre-Aksumite rural site of Mezber (ca. 1600 BCE-1 CE) and Ona Adi (ca. 600 BCE-700 CE), an urban centre occupied continuously from the Late Pre-Aksumite period to the fall of the Aksumite kingdom. A total of 2,708 charcoal fragments from 25 samples and nine archaeological phases were analysed and 19 plant taxa associated with at least three different vegetation types were identified. The results demonstrate rather stable environmental conditions at a local level, with no major or abrupt environmental changes. They also evidence a process of landscape degradation as a result of human activity during the early to mid 1st millennium BCE, as well as a subsequent recovery that occurred gradually during the next ca. 1,500 years. Finally, differences in firewood use were identified in relation to the rural or urban nature of each settlement, showing an evolution in wood selection, management and strategies of use which indicates that both Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite peoples had a significant degree of resilience and adaptive capacity.

Life and death of four individuals in the destruction of the Late Bronze Age city of Azekah, Israel

AbstractIn this article, we discuss the skeletal remains of four individuals discovered trapped below destruction debris of Building T2/627 at the site of Tel Azekah, Israel, dating to the late 12th Century BCE. Osteological analysis shows that these individuals suffered from anemia and other systemic illness during their lives. Patterns of musculoskeletal stress markers show that they were likely highly active; in the context of artifacts recovered from the building, we suggest that specific activities included grinding grain and carrying heavy objects. Heat damage to the remains shows that the bodies were extensively burned. The archaeological and osteological evidence suggest that a high temperature fire fueled by flammable goods stored in the building caused the building to collapse on top of these individuals, preserving their burnt remains in situ. Together, these lines of evidence enhance our understanding of these individuals' ways of life and manners of death against the backdrop of the “crisis years” of the Late Bronze Age Collapse during the end of the 2nd Millennium BCE.

The earliest herders of East Asia: Examining Afanasievo entry to Central Mongolia

The Afanasievo world reportedly overlaps the borders of five nations including two countries of East Asia: Mongolia and China. Across these several regions, the first appearance of domestic herd animals (sheep, goat, cattle) and the initial practice of copper and bronze metallurgy are associated with Afanasievo communities. Since mobile pastoralism has long been a significant part of the Mongolian cultural tradition the question of when, where, and how Afanasievo groups entered Mongolia is of extreme interest to archaeologists. Over the past 50 years several important sites have been reported and analyzed but these are still little known among Western scholars. In this study we provide a brief overview of Afanasievo archaeology, its peripheries, and its recent analytical breakthroughs and then develop a unique perspective on the Afanasievo world from its farthest eastern edge in central Mongolia. We assess the different roles of migration and diffusion in the process of herd animal introduction and present two current hypotheses explaining the intensification of pastoralism in this region during the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC. We argue that the impact of Afanasievo entry into East Asia was a transformative process but must be understood in the context of significant innovations made by East Asian indigenous communities, eventually leading to a unique form of eastern steppe pastoralism in Mongolia.

Agricultural practices at Bronze Age Kaymakçı, western Anatolia

Archaeobotanical analysis at Kaymakçı, a second-millennium BCE site in western Turkey, gives the first evidence for Bronze Age agricultural practices in central western Anatolia, and represents one of a very few contemporary datasets for western Anatolia as a whole. Inhabitants of the site adopted a diversified agricultural system, with major crops including barley, free-threshing wheat, bitter vetch, chickpea, and grape. Spatial analysis of crop taxa suggests differential distribution of wheat and chickpea across the site, while initial results of diachronic analysis indicate a narrowing of wheat agriculture over time. The archaeobotanical assemblage of Kaymakçı is compared to those of contemporary sites throughout the Aegean and Anatolia, where it represents an intermediate position, an apparent hybrid of Aegean and Anatolian agricultural practices. This study provides a valuable new perspective on agriculture of the Late Bronze Age in a particularly understudied region of the eastern Mediterranean.

Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel).

In the context of a broad study aimed at examining dyeing technologies in the Timna textiles collection, three samples of prestigious fibers dyed with murex sea snail were identified. Our identification is based on the presence of 6-monobromoindigotin and 6,6-dibromoindigotin components (detected using HPLC analysis), which is considered unequivocal evidence for the use of murex-derived purple dyestuff. Furthermore, by comparing the analytical results with those obtained in a series of controlled dyeing experiments we were able to shed more light on the specific species used in the dyeing process and glean insights into the ancient dyeing technology. The samples originated from excavations at the extensive Iron Age copper smelting site of “Slaves’ Hill” (Site 34), which is tightly dated by radiocarbon to the late 11th–early 10th centuries BCE. While evidence for the important role of purple dyes in the ancient Mediterranean goes back to the Middle Bronze Age (early 2nd millennium BCE), finds of dyed textiles are extremely rare, and those from Timna are the oldest currently known in the Southern Levant. In conjunction with other observations of the very high quality of the Timna textiles, this provides an exceptional opportunity to address questions related to social stratification and organization of the nomadic society operating the mines (early Edom), the “fashion” of elite in the region during the early Iron Age, trade connections, technological capabilities, and more.

Western Mareotis lake(s) during the Late Holocene (4th century BCE–8th century CE): diachronic evolution in the western margin of the Nile Delta and evidence for the digging of a canal complex during the early Roman period

Abstract. Lake Mareotis (modern Mariut), located near the Mediterranean coast of Egypt west of the Nile Delta, is bordered by ancient sites dating from the New Kingdom (end of the 2nd millennium BCE) to the Medieval period (8th century CE), the most famous one being Alexandria. In its western part (wadi Mariut), several sites are equipped with harbour structures, but they also have structures contemporaneous with them that are not compatible with the lake level required for the operation of the harbour. Between the 1990s and 2010, several sedimentological studies tried to solve this paradox without completely succeeding. To go further, this study is based on the reassessment of geoarchaeological data and on the analysis of early scholars' accounts (1800–1945), maps (1807–1958) and satellite photographs (Corona). It allows us to reconstruct the extension of the lake(s) at different periods in wadi Mariut. During the 1st millennium BCE, the Mariut lagoon experienced a drawdown in its western part, and several distinct lakes formed, followed by building operations in some emerged areas during the Hellenistic period (332–30 BCE). During the early Roman period (30 BCE–284 CE), the digging of several canals in the 2nd century CE to connect the sites of the wadi Mariut to the eastern part of the Mariut basin reconfigured the lake(s).

Операционная цепь горного дела в бронзовом веке: орудия Новотемирского рудника (Южное Зауралье)

The paper is devoted to the problem of the development level and organization models of mining within the Eurasian metallurgical province of the Late Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC. The main research aim is to determine the chain of technological processes taking place at the Novotemirsky ancient mine in the Southern Trans-Urals. The sources of raw materials, traces of use, and functional identification of stone (n=58) and bone tools (n=1) were determined using traceological, petrographic, X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray diffraction analysis. All tools were divided into three groups depending on their use: mining (a casting mould for a pick), ore crushing (hammers, small hammers), supporting devices (“bases”, counterweights for lifting ore). The absence of mining and processing (grinding pestles, grinding stones) and metal-working (blacksmith hammers) tools at the Novotemirsky mine indicates a narrow range of technical operations associated only with direct mining of copper ore and ore-preparing (crushing large blocks). It is assumed that there is a partial specialization of mining, which consists in the formation of temporary miners’ collectives, who are seasonally involved in these operations. Keywords: stone tools, ancient mine, Late Bronze Age, Southern Trans-Urals, Alakul culture, traceological analysis, X-ray fluorescence analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis

After ‘InBetween’: Disentangling cultural contacts across Nubia during the 2nd millennium BC

After ‘InBetween’: Disentangling cultural contacts across Nubia during the 2nd millennium BC

Большепанюшево-1 — новое поселение позднебронзового века в Алейской степи (подъемные сборы керамики 2020 года)

The article publishes materials of the settlement, opened in the vicinity of the village of Bolshepanyushevo in 2020. The archaeological monument is located on the floodplain of the river. Alei, overlapping with a thick layer of river sediments. The most representative collection of finds from collections of fragments of vessels, which were divided into several groups: ceramics of the Irmen and Sargarin-Alekseevsk culture (including the hybrid Irmen-Sargarin), as well as ceramics of the Early Iron Age and uncertain cultural affiliation. The bulk of the material is dated to the final period of the Bronze Age (end of the 2nd millennium BC). Currently, it is an immune organism to the Alei River.

The “Proto-Mandala” of Daschly-3: How to Embody the Idea of the World Lord in Architectural Form

Buchard Brentjes describes a unique find of the Soviet-Afghan team of archaeologists during their expedition to Northern Afghanistan — an impressive in size structure which resembled a mandala in shape. It is surprising that the discovered structure was almost three thousand years older than the Tibetan mandalas known at the time. Brentjes notes that structures with similar unusual architecture were also found in southern Uzbekistan — the settlement of ancient farmers of the 2nd–1st millennium BC, namely Sappalitepa. Brentjes focuses his paper to the question what the purpose of such exceptional structures of the Bronze Age in Central Asia was. For this purpose, the author examines the original meaning of mandalas in Tibetan religious life and confirms that the mandalas built in Tibet of sand were created exclusively for cults and not for a protective function. Mandalas were used once and destroyed after performing rituals dedicated to the Lama and the Buddha. Therefore, mandalas cannot be found in archaeological excavations. Drawing on the writings of Tucci [1972], Olschak, and Wangyal [1972], Brentjes concludes that the Lamaist mandala is a mythical representation of the world with its ruler, i.e., Lama at the moment of “coronation”. The transition of the ruler in the centre who must protect the moving world from decaying forces. And the square is an image of the world to be protected. Brentjes describes in the article similar forms of structures and objects in different countries: ancient China, Iran, on the Hindustan peninsula, depicting, according to the author, a mystical picture of the world. The author concludes that it does not make a breakthrough difference to speculate about the common basis of mandalas, square or round cities as symbols of the world, palaces, and mausoleums with a square layout and domed halls. But the discovery of the “mandalas” of Sappalitepa and Daschly-3, as well as the round-square city, allows us to make assumptions the structures were made in the later Bactrian period of the 2nd millennium BC and continued to exist in the Eurasian steppe and India, as well as in China.