Late Chalcolithic Research Articles

A history of olive and grape cultivation in Southwest Asia using charcoal and seed remains.

Evaluating archaeobotanical data from over 3.9 million seeds and 124,300 charcoal fragments across 330 archaeological site phases in Southwest Asia, we reconstruct the history of olive and grape cultivation spanning a period of 6,000 years. Combining charcoal and seed data enables investigation into both the production and consumption of olive and grape. The earliest indication for olive and grape cultivation appears in the southern Levant around ca. 5000 BC and 4th millennium BC respectively, although cultivation may have been practiced prior to these dates. Olive and grape cultivation in Southwest Asia was regionally concentrated within the Levant until 600 BC, although there were periodic pushes to the East. Several indications for climate influencing the history of olive and grape cultivation were found, as well as a correlation between periods of high population density and high proportions of olive and grape remains in archaeological sites. While temporal uncertainty prevents a detailed understanding of the causal mechanisms behind these correlations, we suggest that long distance trade in olives, grapes and their associated products was integral to the economic, social, and demographic trajectories of the region.

Bronze age paleosols in the steppe area of the southern Cis-Urals in solving the problems of paleopedology and archaeology (a case-study of the Tashla IV site in the Orenburg region)

The aim of the study. To study the Bronze Age paleosols (Yamnaya and Srubnaya cultures), perform paleoclimatic reconstructions and comparison with previously studied synchronous paleosols in the Cis-Urals steppe. Location and time of the study. The studied site is located in the Orenburg region in the steppe area of the Southern Cis-Urals. In July 2019 and 2021 together with researchers from the archaeological laboratory of the Orenburg Pedagogical University, rescue excavations were carried out at the Tashla IV kurgan cemetery, located near the Tashla village. Kurgans 1 (Yamnaya culture) and 2 (Srubnaya culture) were studied. Methods. A comprehensive morphogenetic analysis of the soils buried beneath the kurgans and surface soils of the studied site was carried out; the soils were described in detail and classified in the field. Soil samples were analyzed for particle size distribution, loss of ignition, pH of the water extraction, content of organic and carbonate carbon, exchangeable bases and magnetic susceptibility. To carry out the paleoclimatic reconstructions, the chronosequence and comparative geographic methods were used. Results. It was established that the studied soils were buried under the kurgans at the beginning of the development of both cultures, when the stages of climatic aridization were close to their ending or ended in the first half of the 4th millennium BC (Yamnaya culture) and at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC (Srubnaya culture). The climatic aridization during the Early stage of the Srubnaya culture was more significant than in the Early (Repinsky) stage of the Yamnaya culture, and this conclusion was made for the first time for the studied region. Conclusions. The studied soils properties could be grouped according to the characteristic times of their response to changes in external conditions: magnetic susceptibility, associated with microbiological activity, refers to rapidly changing properties, i.e. in the first decades, whereas changes in other studied properties require from several decades to hundreds of years. Comparison of the Srubnaya paleosol buried under kurgan 2 in the studied site with other soils of the same culture in the region made it possible to place it more accurately on the time scale, attributing to the very beginning of the 18th century BC, and additionally to characterize in detail the climate change within the time span of the Srubnaya culture of the Cis-Urals steppe.

Early Neolithic red-painted pottery from the Prandocin site, southern Poland. Indirect transfer in a technological context

The paper presents the results of specialized research on a small collection of artefacts of the Linear Pottery Culture in southern Poland. Among the 27 pottery fragments discovered at the Prandocin Site 1, a few painted fragments were identified. Such kind of painting style directly relates to the Želiezovce group of this culture in western Slovakia. Painted vessels are rarely found in the context of the Linear Pottery Culture in Lesser Poland (Małopolska), which is why special attention was given to raw material and technological studies of the ceramics. The study aimed to answer the question of whether the painted vessel was produced locally or if it representsevidence of direct migration of people, objects, or ideas from the areas of present-day western Slovakia at the turn of the 6th and 5th millennium BC.

Identification of Ceramic Traditions on the Prehistoric Mines of Gavà (Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract In recent years, studies focused on Chaîne Opératoire reconstruction of pottery vessels have shown important developments and provided new data related to vessel production and the complexities acquired by prehistoric societies. This research focuses on the pottery vessels discovered at the Mines Prehistóriques de Gavà (Barcelona, Spain), which constitute the earliest evidence of a mining center for variscite during the 4th millennium BC. The main objective of this study is to determine the technological procedures employed in the production of these potteries by identifying the Chaînes Opératoires and establishing their relationship to the site’s context, which is linked to extensive exchanges within the European network. Through a meticulous analysis and comparison of the morpho-typological and technological characteristics of the vessels, we aim to identify different production methods. The findings of this study, along with their reconstruction in techno-stylistic trees, contribute to a deeper understanding and explanation of the variability and technological complexity found in these pottery vessels. This work exposes a novel approach to studying the pottery vessels in Iberian Peninsula by involving the application of archaeometric techniques such as direct macroscopic and microscopic observation traces (using naked eyes; microscopic Dino – Lite), as well as chemical analyses such as petrographically and X-ray diffraction enabling the identification of key mineral components within the clay.

Early Neolithic settlers on the border of the loess of Eastern Poland: new data from the Nałęczów Plateau

This article is an interim presentation of the colonisation of the loess upland border of the western Lublin Regionby LBK societies. The main point of reference are materials discovered in Bogucin (Nałęczów Plateau) in 2011,which are currently the only homogenous Early Neolithic collection from this region. The results of the research indicate that the LBK settlement on the loess borderland started at least at the end of the 6th millennium BC, in the classical stage of the Music-Note phase (NII). It clearly intensified during its latest part (NIII), which was linked with the adaptation of the early-Želiezovce ornamentation style. The obtained data confirms the existence of at least two settlement micro-regions in the discussed period. They dynamically developed through intense and far-reaching interregional contacts and exchange of goods (especially flints and flint artefacts). The initial territories of the LBK societies inhabiting the analysed loess borderland were most probably the areas of the northern foreland of the Sandomierz Upland.

THE AMRI CHALCOLITHIC PHASE IN SINDH (PAKISTAN): WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW

The problem of the origin of the Indus Civilisation has attracted attention of many colleagues working on the archaeology of the Indian Subcontinent and the Indus Valley in particular. What is the role played by the cultural processes preceding the origin and spread of one of the most important Bronze Age civilisations of the ancient world? This paper examines some aspects of the Amri Phase, which flourished in Sindh during the 4th millennium BC. Our knowledge in this area is very poor. It relies almost exclusively on the ceramic assemblages retrieved during excavations carried out in the type site in the 1960s. Research currently underway in Lower Sindh has led to the discovery of more sites relevant for this problem. Many of them are located close to the ancient Arabian Sea coastline or on limestone terraces which used to be islands in the Chalcolithic times. They consist of shell middens, whose surface has yielded characteristic Amri Culture knapped stone assemblages. PEŁNA TREŚĆ ARTYKUŁU C

FROM THE WEST TO THE EAST. ON THE TRANSCARPATHIAN CIRCULATION OF THE LITHIC RAW MATERIALS DURING THE LINEAR POTTERY CULTURE (LBK) DEVELOPMENT

The article is devoted to the issue of far-reaching, Transcarpathian distribution and exchange of various flint raw materials and obsidian during the development of Linear Pottery Culture (LBK). The currently-available source data suggest clear differences between the oldest (Pre Music-Note) and the younger (Music-Note and Želiezovce) developmental phases of this culture in terms of directions and range, as well as the form and degree of distribution intensity of particular raw materials. This applies in equal measure to the raw materials of high technological importance – distributed in large quantities in the forms of concretions, pre-cores, or prepared cores – and to blades, flakes or tools, constituting only a minor quantitative supplement to the mainstream Transcarpathian distribution of raw materials, much less important in this respect and represented within particular inventories by very few specimens. Particularly significant differences are visible at the younger developmental stage of the LBK. They are closely related to the much broader context of cultural phenomena and changes that took place in the areas on the northern side of the Carpathians at the turn of the 6th and 5th millennia BC as a direct reflection of the intensity of interregional contacts, both at the intra and intercultural level.

Ucuteni-Vădastra Type Dagger from Site 26 at Strzyżów (S-E Poland) Attests to the Intercultural Landscape of the Eneolithic Eastern Carpathians

In the mid-1990s, a copper dagger of the Cucuteni-Vădastra type was found in the Lublin-Volhynian culture cemetery at Strzyżów, south-eastern Poland. The dagger was customized as a pendant and deposited in an inhumation burial that contained the remains of an adult male and over ten other grave offerings dating to the 2nd quarter of the 4th millennium BC. This paper presents the results of archaeological and metallographic examinations of the dagger from Strzyżów and relates them to a wider cultural context of the region. The results of our study show that the dagger has no signs of use-wear, and furthermore indicate that the metal used for its production is fahlore copper which could have been sourced from the Slovak Ore Mountains. The two other Cucuteni-Vădastra type daggers that were discovered in the vicinity of Strzyżów mark the Western Volhynian Upland as a distinct cluster of the Cucuteni-Vădastra dagger industry in Europe. Furthermore, the daggers from Poland evidence a close relationship between the Lublin-Volhynian culture and the Cucuteni-Tripillia complex and attest to the intercultural landscape of the Eastern Carpathians region during the Eneolithic

Technological transformation of the bone at the Eneolithic tell settlement of Vitănești, southern Romania (Gumelnița B1 level)

This paper discusses the technological exploitation of bone at the tell settlement of Vitanesti (southern Romania). A total of 307 artefacts from the Gumelnita B1 level were analysed for this study, which can be assigned to four product and sub-product categories (waste, blanks, preforms, finished pieces). At the level of determined bones, the most numerous are those belonging to large species, both domestic and wild mammals. We also note the use of bones belonging to species rarely found in the Eneolithic bone industry (Bos primigenius, Equus ferus, Canis familiaris) in the Lower Danube. At the typological level, bevelled tools predominate, along with pointed tools and projectile points. A varied range of other typological categories includes spatulas, abraded astragalus, spindle whorls, burins, needles, and figurines, among others. The large quantity of preforms proves that the production of the assemblage was carried out in situ. It is an interesting assemblage which proves that the bone pieces were involved in various activities within the Vitanesti community that lived at the end of the 5th millennium BC, from the processing of hides or vegetable fibres to hunting. This assemblage could serve as a reference for future studies, as there are not many comparable assemblages for the same period in Southern Romania.

Новые данные по радиоуглеродной хронологии неолитических комплексов Виловатовской стоянки

Introduction. The article presents some latest absolute dates for Neolithic pottery from the Vilovatoye site, the latter being characterized by a most impressive pottery collection from the Middle and Late Neolithic across the forest-steppe Volga River basin. Goals. The work shall introduce a series of radiocarbon dates for Neolithic patterns of the Vilovatoye site. To facilitate this, the paper shall describe the vessels that yielded such radiocarbon dates, analyze and interpret the absolute values, compare the latter to those of the Middle Volga culture. Materials and methods. In 2018–2019, shards from a total of fourteen Neolithic vessels excavated in the site of Vilovatoye were selected. Four of them were decorated with pricks of different shapes, one bore pricks combined with blackened lines, and nine vessels had comb stamps. Radiocarbon dating by liquid scintillation was conducted at the Radiocarbon Laboratory of Herzen University. Results. The pricked vessels of the Vilovatoye site dated from the third quarter of the 6th millennium BC to the second quarter of the 5th millennium BC. These results tend to well correlate with dates yielded by pricked pottery of the Middle Volga culture. The shards of the vessel decorated with pricks and blackened lines were dated to the first half of 5th millennium BC. The absolute dates for the comb-imprinted pottery cluster within a vast interval — from the last quarter of the 6th millennium BC to the third quarter of the 5th millennium BC. So, the latter dates also well correlate with available radiocarbon values for comb-ornamented pottery of both the Vilovatoye site and the Middle Volga culture. Conclusions. The newly obtained radiocarbon values shall significantly add to the set of dates for the Middle Volga culture. Those are evidence that the traditions of pricked and comb-stamped pottery somewhat co-existed — on the Vilovatoye site in particular, and within the Middle Volga culture at large.

Chert exploitation and production in Sardinia during the Neolithic

This research deals with the modes of chert exploitation in Sardinia during the Neolithic, combining information on major chert sources identified across the island with the technological analysis on several stratigraphic reliable series. It focuses on the changes in raw material selection and on the evolution of technological behaviours between the 6th and the 4th millennium BCE. The data collected in this work allowed us either to shed a light on the role this lithic resource played in the production systems of Neolithic communities in Sardinia, and to catch differences in the modes of procurement, depending on the chronology and location of the sites. During the Early Neolithic, lithic raw material circulation in Sardinia did not occur through organized networks, but it seems to have relied on the high mobility of the local groups. It is only at the end of the 5th millennium BCE that well-organized exchange circuits started operating. These involved mainly obsidian and this raw material apparently consolidated in time, due to the role carried out by San Ciriaco and Ozieri Middle to Late Neolithic cultures in the control and development of the Monte Arci obsidian supply. Chert was never involved in these networks and was mainly exploited locally and opportunistically. However, from the end of the Neolithic, some outcrop in the Oligo-Miocene basin of Perfugas was exploited on a supra-local scale and for a relatively short period.

Complexes with flat-bottomed pottery from the early 7th millennium BC settlements of the Mergen archaeological microdistrict (the Lower Ishim River basin)

Complexes with flat-bottomed pottery from the early 7th millennium BC settlements of the Mergen archaeological microdistrict (the Lower Ishim River basin)

The Chaîne Opératoire Approach for Interpreting Personal Ornament Production: Marble Beads in Copper Age Tuscany (Italy)

Abstract This article discusses the chaîne opératoire concept in prehistoric archaeology, traditionally employed for the study of lithic industries and ceramic production, and focuses on personal ornament manufacture. This category of non-functional objects has been analysed with the operational sequence approach in the framework of a research project aimed at the techno-functional study of prehistoric marble artefacts. Throughout an experimental approach, the study presents the actions and choices made by the artisans to produce marble beads and tries to understand the role and social-cultural meaning that these items had for the Copper Age communities in Tuscany. Finally, our study proved that the beginning of the use of the Apuan marble can be traced back to the sixth millennium BC, and it was connected with the production of personal ornaments, reaching its peak during the Copper Age.

Early metallurgy of Ukraine of the Late 5th – 4th Millennia BC: a Synthesis

Early metallurgy of Ukraine of the Late 5th – 4th Millennia BC: a Synthesis

The First Monumental Burials in the 5th Millennium BC: Unresolved Questions About the Emergence of the ‘Passy Phenomenon’

The First Monumental Burials in the 5th Millennium BC: Unresolved Questions About the Emergence of the ‘Passy Phenomenon’

A large fifth-millennium BC cemetery in the subarctic north of the Baltic Sea?

The European far north is an improbable location for a large prehistoric hunter-gatherer cemetery. Tainiaro, 80km south of the Arctic Circle, was first excavated four decades ago but the unpublished findings and their potential significance have evaded wider recognition. Despite the absence of skeletal evidence, dozens of fifth-millennium BC pits have been tentatively interpreted as burials. Here, the authors present the first analytical and comparative overview of the site. Many of the pits are consistent in form with those used for inhumation at contemporaneous sites suggesting that Tainiaro is one of the largest Stone Age cemeteries in northern Europe and raising questions about the cultural and subsistence practices of prehistoric societies in the subarctic.

Villaggi, fortezze, ‘città’: vivere in Armenia e dintorni nell’Età del Bronzo e del Ferro

This article aims to provide a general overview of settlement patterns in Armenia and neighbouring areas from the Early Bronze Age to Early Hellenistic times. The southern Caucasus presents unique features. For those approaching the subject for the first time, this paper aims to summarise the primary evidence for the development and transformation of the human landscape. Starting from the 4th millennium BC, it is possible to trace the outlines of a general process of sedentarisation of communities on the highlands, which took different forms and characteristics. Mobile villages dominated the Bronze Age settlement structure. By the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the highlands were characterised by a general development of fortified settlements, generally referred to as ‘cyclopean fortresses’, which will also be one of the main features of the later Kingdom of Urartu. Following the two centuries of Achaemenid rule, with its elusive settlement pattern, the last centuries of the 1st millennium saw the spread of Greek culture following the conquests of Alexander the Great and his successors. With the creation of large urban sites based on Hellenistic models, the concept and structure of the Mediterranean city spread across Armenia and adjacent areas.

Villaggi, fortezze, ‘città’: vivere in Armenia e dintorni nell’Età del Bronzo e del Ferro

This article aims to provide a general overview of settlement patterns in Armenia and neighbouring areas from the Early Bronze Age to Early Hellenistic times. The southern Caucasus presents unique features. For those approaching the subject for the first time, this paper aims to summarise the primary evidence for the development and transformation of the human landscape. Starting from the 4th millennium BC, it is possible to trace the outlines of a general process of sedentarisation of communities on the highlands, which took different forms and characteristics. Mobile villages dominated the Bronze Age settlement structure. By the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the highlands were characterised by a general development of fortified settlements, generally referred to as ‘cyclopean fortresses’, which will also be one of the main features of the later Kingdom of Urartu. Following the two centuries of Achaemenid rule, with its elusive settlement pattern, the last centuries of the 1st millennium saw the spread of Greek culture following the conquests of Alexander the Great and his successors. With the creation of large urban sites based on Hellenistic models, the concept and structure of the Mediterranean city spread across Armenia and adjacent areas.

Pointed bone tools from the Hamangia culture on the Lower Danube: Manufacture and function

This study focuses on the pointed bone tools from the Hamangia culture (Chalcolithic period, late 6th millennium BC - early 5th millennium BC), obtained from the long bones of caprines by quadri-partition with double grooving. The pointed bone tool assemblage from the Hamangia settlement at Cheia-Vatra Satului (Romania) was selected as a case study for analysing technological manufacturing sequences of these specific typological tools. Our study was two-fold: 1. identifying the sequence of the procedures in the chaîne opératoire from the original bone to the finished pointed tool; 2. determining the functionality of these tools (as multipurpose items or designed for a single activity only). For the purposes of this research, we focused on the diagnostic pieces such as preforms, blanks, and manufacturing waste, rather than the finished pieces, in an attempt to reconstruct the entire sequence of the manufacturing procedures, to visualize their transformation from the bone to the finished object. This experimental approach resulted in detailed records of the raw material used, the time necessary for each type of procedure, the tools used, and the results obtained during each operation. Next, the experimental tools were tested in various scenarios, such as hide perforation, bone breaking, shell perforation, wood processing, vegetable fiber production, etc. The active ends of these items were then observed, with variables such as frequency and distribution of polish, micro-topography, pattern of functional striations, presence of microfractures, and use-wear areas. The observations made on the archaeological specimens were compared to those on the experimental replicas in order to test the hypotheses regarding the ways the pointed tools were manufactured and used by the prehistoric communities.

The Making of The Early Bronze Age in Anatolia

Abstract In Anatolian archaeology, as it is the case in the neighbouring regions of the Near East and Aegean, the Bronze Age is considered in three consecutive stages, however, defined not in accordance with metallurgical achievements, but on changing modalities in social and economic structures. Before the beginning of the Early Bronze Age there were fully established farming communities across almost all of Anatolia, though subsisting mainly on family-level farming with no indication of complex social structuring. Likewise, during the final stages of the Late Chalcolithic there was a notable decrease in population, particularly in Central and Western Anatolia. In this respect, the south-eastern parts of Anatolia differ considerably from the rest of the peninsula, developing a complex socio-economic model in connection with the bordering regions of Syro-Mesopotamia. This pattern changed by incoming migration from the north, with subsequent dense population patterns in the eastern and western parts of the peninsula. Following the reorganization and consolidation of this system, the Early Bronze Age is characterized by urbanisation, institutionalized long-distance trade, intensification and revolutionized agricultural and weaving practices. The urban model that developed in Anatolia differs considerably from those of the Near East both in size and in organization. The Middle Bronze Age is marked by state formations, which by the Late Bronze Age developed into empires with their own foreign policies. Concerning the role of metals, copper and lead were used since the Neolithic and arsenic bronze by the Late Chalcolithic. The Bronze Age may be viewed as a time of mass production and development of complex technologies in casting, alloying and forming.