Bronze Age Archaeological Sites Research Articles

Melanoides tuberculata and Zootecus insularis gastropod shells provide a snapshot into past hydroclimatic conditions of arid environments: New perspectives from Oman

Shells of the aquatic gastropod Melanoides tuberculata and the terrestrial gastropod Zootecus insularis were analysed using high-resolution isotope sampling (up to 274 samples per shell) to assess their potential use as a proxy for hydroclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in drylands. A total of 169 snails (fossil and modern) were collected from 37 sites in Northern Oman and Dhofar, with each site selected for its specific geomorphological, archaeological or ecological context. This included fluvial terraces, playa environments, modern oasis gardens, irrigation channels and Neolithic (6000–3200 BCE) and Early Bronze Age (3200–2000 BCE) archaeological sites. The δ18O data obtained from these gastropods could be classified into eight different patterns, three for the aquatic snails (Type 1 A–C) and five for the terrestrial snails (Type 2 A–E), which were linked to the environmental context of their habitat. Furthermore, the use of the aquatic snails enabled us to distinguish between groundwater and surface water signals, whereas the terrestrial snails were employed to reconstruct changes in rainfall origin, humidity, evaporation, regular wet-dry cycles, and/or the presence of meteorological events such as cyclones. According to the results, gastropods can be used to elucidate the long-term, local evolution of rain-fed floodplain ecosystems in drylands and to identify the hydrological resources present in the vicinity of archaeological sites, particularly with regard to type (e.g., surface water vs groundwater).

Exploring Pottery Function and Cooking Practices in Bronze Age Sicily: The Results of High-resolution GC-MS of Organic Residues

ABSTRACT Despite the extended application of GC-MS for detecting organic residues from archaeological ceramics, the potential of gas chromatography – high-resolution and accuracy mass spectrometry (GC-HRAMS) has not yet been fully explored. This study conducted lipid residue analysis (using an Exactive Orbitrap GC-MS system) of dolia and jars from two Early and Middle Bronze Age (2200-1450 BC) archaeological sites in south-eastern Sicily, comparing chromatograms obtained by both GC-HRAMS and GC coupled to quadrupole, low-resolution MS (GC-LRMS). The archaeological question aimed at verifying the use of the selected vessels for cooking purposes and exploring hypotheses concerning their employment in different cooking methods (boiling or roasting) based on the analysis of morphological features and burning traces on the surfaces. The results showed clear advantages of using GC-HRAMS in targeted and untargeted approaches.

METSAMOR - AN ANCIENT CITY OF THE BRONZE AND IRON AGE ON THE TERRITORY OF ARMENIA

The article presents the results of many years of excavations of the citadel, urban quarters and necropolis of the Bronze and Iron Age (second half of the 4th - first half of the 1st mil BC) archaeological site of Metsamor, located in the Ararat Valley of Armenia. The artifacts of this multi-layer monument are of certain importance for comprehensive reconstructions of the military-political, socio-economic and ethno-cultural processes that took place in the territory of Asia Minor, the Levant, the Iranian Plateau and the Armenian Highlands, especially in the middle and end of the 2nd mil BC, and make it possible to talk about a well-organized transit trade in strategic raw materials (tin, gold, copper, iron) and everyday goods throughout the Ancient Near East during this period.

Morphometric characteristics of the bovine bones from the excavations of the Bronze Age site of Gonur-depe

Gonur-depe is a Bronze-Age archaeological site in Turkmenistan, the presumable center of Ancient Margi-ana (the Bactrian-Margiana archaeological complex), located in the South-Eastern Karakum. The proto-urban center was functioning from 2500 to 1500 BC. The basis of the economy of the ancient population was mixed farming, including irrigated agriculture and livestock. Cattle was used as the source of meat, milk, skins, as well as draft animals and in rituals. In terms of the number of bones from the excavations, cattle is inferior to small cattle. However, in terms of the meat production, the contributions of bovine cattle and small cattle to the diet of the inhabitants of Gonur-depe were commensurable. Bones of older individuals predominate amongst the animals slaughtered for meat. Bones of bovine cattle are found in all excavation trenches of the site in garbage layers and ritual structures. At the same time, information on the morphological features of the cattle has been extremely limited until recently. Therefore, this study was aimed at the analysis of the morphometric characteristics of the skeletal remains of cattle from the excavations of Gonur. These data give an idea of the size of the cattle bred by the ancient population. Complete skeletons are of particular interest for the morphological study. We have studied the skeletons from burial No. 3895 of Northern Gonur, tomb No. 12 of Gonur-21, and remains of a dismembered carcass from burial No. 3890. The first skeleton belongs to an adult bull, the second to a calf, and the dismem-bered carcass belongs to a young cow. The size of the bull, measured by the skeleton, is quite large. It reached a height of at least 136 cm. Comparison of the measurements of disparate cattle bones from Gonur and other sites of the Bronze Age shows that they are on average larger than those of cattle of the Late Bronze Age of Eastern Europe, close in size to the bones of cattle from the Trans-Urals, and slightly smaller than the Eneolithic cattle of Southern Turkmenistan. The sizes of the metapodia, talus bones and first phalanges were used to calculate the height at the withers by disparate bones. The average height at the withers of the cattle from Gonur, recon-structed on the basis of the measurements of the skeletons and scattered bones, was at least 120 cm for cows, at least 130 cm for bulls, and 132 cm or more for oxen. Therefore, the size of the cattle bred by the inhabitants of Gonur in arid conditions was not smaller, and in some cases even larger than that of cattle of some other cultures of the Late Bronze Age and differed insignificantly from the Eneolithic cattle of Southern Turkmenistan.

On the lunula stone pendants and their taiga counterparts

The paper provides brief information about crescent-shaped or moon-shaped stone pendants from the Bronze Age sites of Southern and Western Siberia. These artifacts belong to the category of rather rare finds. Across the vast territory from Cisbaikalia in the east to the Middle Irtysh Basin in the west only about 50 such items are known from the complexes of Glazkovo, Okunevo, Elunino, Odino, Krotovo, and Stepanovo archaeo-logical cultures. In most cases, lunula pendants originate from the burial complexes. Particular attention is paid to the items associated with the archaeological cultures of the taiga zone of Western Siberia (Kulyegan, Polymyat, and Vary-Khadyta). The context of 13 finds, their raw material and shape has been characterized in detail. The items of the forest series feature small dimensions: a length from 4.7–5 to 8.5 cm and a thickness from 0.17 to 0.45 cm. In comparison with the larger artefacts of the Glazkovo, Krotovo, and Odino Cultures, the taiga pendants look like their miniature imitations. Most of the items were found in the settlements. The Eneolithic — Early Bronze Age archaeological sites of the taiga Ob Basin, whose materials contain lunula pendants, belong to the 3rd — early 2nd mil. BC. This chronological range coincides with the presence of such artifacts in the forest-steppe zone. The peculiar stone pendants are interpreted as an attribute of a new symbolism in the cultures of the forest communi-ties, introduced by the Seima-Turbino groups of the population. Migrations of the Seima-Turbino populations along the Ob and Irtysh Rivers were accompanied by the mass distribution in the taiga zone of large fortified dwellings, new types of metal tools and weapons, advanced metal production technologies, and the widespread use of tin bronzes. They explain the similarity of the pottery materials and stone inventory of the taiga and the forest-steppe sites. The discovery of stone pendants in various forest zone regions, including its Arctic outskirts, allows one to interpret them as a characteristic Siberian symbolic attribute of the Palaeometal Period.

Sentinel-2 imagery analyses for archaeological site detection: an application to Late Bronze Age settlements in Serbian Banat, southern Carpathian Basin

Satellite remote sensing has become a valuable tool in archaeology, allowing the monitoring of existing and discovery of new sites, and to study their surroundings. In an attempt to identify unknown Late Bronze Age (LBA) archaeological sites in the Serbian Banat region (southern Carpathian Basin), remote sensing techniques for site detection were applied using Sentinel-2 data. A multi-temporal analysis was performed, and the spectral signatures of soil marks from five known LBA settlements were analysed to determine the best conditions for the identification of archaeological features. Several principal component analyses (PCA), band combinations and vegetation indices were calculated. The vegetation indices results from soil marks at known sites demonstrated the impact of settlement characteristics (compositions, subsurface anomalies) on vegetation growth. Applying this further to identify new sites from the satellite data, one hundred and two possible archaeological locations, ranging from only a few hectares to 100 ha, were identified in Banat and Bačka, to the east and west of the Tisza River. Of the sixty-one possible sites identified in Banat, a sample was visited and their chronology confirmed, proving once again the enormous capabilities of Sentinel-2 data analyses for site detection.

Inside Late Bronze Age Settlements in NE Romania: GIS-Based Surface Characterization of Ashmound Structures Using Airborne Laser Scanning and Aerial Photography Techniques

The identification and delineation, through aerial photography, of the archaeological structures that present temporal resolution, as well as their characterization based on high-resolution LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)-derived DEMs (Digital Elevation Models) are modern techniques widely used in the archaeological prospecting of various landscapes. In this study, we present an application of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and aerial photography (AP) techniques, used in order to compute geomorphometric indices specific to the ashmound structures of Late Bronze Age (LBA) archaeological sites that are visible on the soil surface. The necessity of determining the ashmounds’ geoarchaeological description stems from the fact that despite the majority of archaeologists weighing in on the subject, there is still no accepted explanation regarding their initial functionality. Thus, we believe that the GIS-based high-resolution characterization of 200 ashmound features identified in 21 Noua Culture (NC) archaeological sites will contribute to a better understanding of the ashmounds’ functionality and evolution in the heterogeneous landscape of the study area (NE Romania). Therefore, various shape indices, such as the area (A), perimeter (P), length (L), form factor (RF), circularity ratio (RC), and elongation ratio (RE) were computed for microlevel characterizations of the visible ashmounds’ structures. Additionally, LiDAR-derived DEMs with a 0.5 m resolution were used to generate more surface characteristics such as the slope (S) and hypsometric indices (HI). The outcomes indicate that the ashmounds have relatively diverse shapes (an RF range from 0.37 to 0.77; a RC range from 0.79 to 0.99; a RE range from 0.68 to 0.99), and the micro-relief slightly varies from positive to negative landforms (HI range from 0.34 to 0.61) depending on the erosion intensity (S range from 1.17° to 19.69°) and anthropogenic impact (e.g., current land use and agriculture type). Furthermore, each morphometric parameter is an indicator for surface processes, aiding in the identification of the geomorphologic and surface-erosion aspects that affect the archaeological remains, contributing to the assessment of the conservation status of the ashmound structures within the current landscape configuration. In this regard, this article presents and discusses the remote sensing (RS) techniques used, as well as the morphometric data obtained, exploring the implications of our findings for a better characterization of the NC in Romania.

New contributions to understand animal size fluctuations in the western mediterranean: The bronze age Balearic Islands

In this paper, measurements of 2.012 bone remains from four different domestic species (sheep, goats, cattle and pigs) originating from 33 Bronze Age archaeological sites from the Balearic Islands, mainland Iberia, southern France and Sardinia, and spanning about 2500 years (3700-700 cal. BCE) have been compared. The results show that a decrease in animal size occurred in the Balearic Islands during the Bronze Age. It was not a local phenomenon but rather was a general pattern that happened in different territories. Yet it was more marked on the islands. The evidence shows that the four analyzed species were not affected in the same way and it was a nonlinear phenomenon. Indeed, during the Late Bronze Age some archaeological sites from the Balearics had taller caprines compared with the other contemporaneous places, also on the continent. A multi-factor explanation for these fluctuations is proposed in this paper, showing that animal sizes generally decreased during late prehistory -especially cattle- and this process could reflect different factors such as a combination of limited feeding, increased human pressure and endogamy.

Zoomorphic clay figurines from the Early Bronze Age settlement of Harich

Harich is one of the Early Bronze Age archaeological sites of Armenia. The site is also known with its anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines dated to that period, the subject-matter of this article. These figurins that are now kept in the archaeological funds of the History Museum of Armenia could serve as an important group of artefacts that would help us to deepen our knowledge about the lifestyle and beliefs of the ancient population of that period.

The gut microbiome buffers dietary adaptation in Bronze Age domesticated dogs

SummaryIn an attempt to explore the role of the gut microbiome during recent canine evolutionary history, we sequenced the metagenome of 13 canine coprolites dated ca. 3,600–3,450 years ago from the Bronze Age archaeological site of Solarolo (Italy), which housed a complex farming community. The microbiome structure of Solarolo dogs revealed continuity with that of modern dogs, but it also shared some features with the wild wolf microbiome, as a kind of transitional state between them. The dietary niche, as also inferred from the microbiome composition, was omnivorous, with evidence of consumption of starchy agricultural foods. Of interest, the Solarolo dog microbiome was particularly enriched in sequences encoding alpha-amylases and complemented a low copy number of the host amylase gene. These findings suggest that Neolithic dogs could have responded to the transition to a starch-rich diet by expanding microbial functionalities devoted to starch catabolism, thus compensating for delayed host response.

Bronze Age Coprolites Unveil the Buffering Role of the Gut Microbiota in the Dietary Adaptation of Dogs to Domestication

Dog evolution has long been debated, particularly with regards to the origin of domestication and its effects on the genome, but little is known about the role of the gut microbiome during the recent canine evolutionary history. We sequenced the metagenome of 13 canine coprolites dated ca. 3,600-3,450 y ago from the Bronze Age archaeological site of Solarolo (Italy), which housed a complex farming community. The microbiome structure of Solarolo dogs revealed continuity with that of modern dogs, but it also shared some features with the wild wolf microbiome, as a kind of transitional state between them. The dietary niche, as also inferred from the microbiome composition, was omnivorous, with evidence of consumption of starchy agricultural foods. Interestingly, the microbiome from Solarolo dogs was particularly enriched in sequences encoding alpha-amylases and complemented a low copy number of the host amylase (AMY2B) gene. These findings suggest that Neolithic dogs could have responded to the transition to a starch-rich diet by expanding microbial functionalities devoted to starch catabolism. Such a microbiome adaptive mechanism would have compensated for delayed host response to the new primarily abundant plant food resources, available from companionship with Bronze Age agriculturalists.

Open canopy forests of the loess regions of southern Poland: A review based on wood charcoal assemblages from Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites

This review paper presents a comprehensive study of all available up to date anthracological assemblages recovered from 79 archaeological settlements of the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods from the loess regions of southern-Poland. The aim of the research is to reconstruct the character of the woodland developed in the loess belt (1) in the Atlantic phase, with a focus on the primeval forests, the successive cultural phases and their impact on local forests, and (2) in the Subatlantic phase, characterized by a late-migrating of trees such as hornbeam, beech and fir. For the Early Neolithic period, related with the first appearance of the stable and agrarian settlement, the research aims at testing the hypothesis about the existence of open oak-dominated forests in the Atlantic phase , with patches of steppe-like vegetation. The anthracological data indicate that indeed open canopy forests prevailed in the loess-mantled areas and this result has important implications for understanding the expansion of the first farmers into Central Europe, who settled mainly in loess belt zones. It is likely that open oakwoods played a significant role in the selection of the landscape suitable for settle down as well as was an indicator of rich soils developed on loess-substratum. Finally, the last-arriving trees in southern Poland, that are principal constituents of present-day forests communities, appeared in high shares in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, but became important forest components mostly in the Carpathian Foothills.

Bracelet from an Elunino burial at the Teleut Vzvoz-I site

The article studies a stone bead bracelet found in an Early Bronze Age burial of the Elunino archaeological culture during the excavation of the Teleut Vzvoz-I burial ground (heterogeneous in time) in the south of Western Siberia (Forest-Steppe Altai). According to a series of calibrated radiocarbon dates, the Elunino burial ground at the Teleut Vzvoz-I site was used in the 22nd–18th centuries BC. The artefact under study was found in double burial No. 16 of the indicated burial ground, on the wrist of an adult (gender is not established). The bracelet in-cludes 66 stone beads, as well as one stone base. This piece of jewellery is unique in terms of technique, as well as the sacral meaning embedded in it. The ornament found on the beads bears no analogies to those discovered in the well-known Bronze Age archaeological sites of Western and Eastern Siberia. The present publication con-siders the morphological and raw material characteristics of the bracelet, as well as the specifics of its production and use. In this study, trace analysis was performed, i.e. the analysis of macro- and micro-traces left on the sur-face of the item as a result of its production and subsequent use. All traces were examined using an MBS-10 stereoscopic microscope at a magnification of ×16–56. It was found that some of the beads in the bracelet were made of serpentinite. The nearest sources of this stone are at least 250–300 km away from Teleut Vzvoz-I. The beads are made by counter-drilling, drilling of blind holes, polishing and grinding. This find is unique due to orna-mental compositions found on several beads in the form of oblique notches on side faces. The extremely small size of the beads (average diameter of 3.3 mm; average thickness of 1.4 mm) makes the pattern invisible to the naked eye. Thus, it is concluded that the ornament had a sacred meaning, and the bracelet itself served as an amulet. Despite no finds of ornamented bracelets dating back to the Bronze Age in Western Siberia and adjacent territories, typologically the bracelet bears analogies to the antiquities of the Okunevo culture, the Yamna cultural and historical community, as well as in the materials of the Bronze Age archaeological site of Gonur Depe (Turk-menistan). The study of the bracelet demonstrates the relevance of performing trace analysis of such items from other archaeological sites.

Intestinal parasites at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Must Farm, in the fens of East Anglia, UK (9th century B.C.E.).

Little is known about the types of intestinal parasites that infected people living in prehistoric Britain. The Late Bronze Age archaeological site of Must Farm was a pile-dwelling settlement located in a wetland, consisting of stilted timber structures constructed over a slow-moving freshwater channel. At excavation, sediment samples were collected from occupation deposits around the timber structures. Fifteen coprolites were also hand-recovered from the occupation deposits; four were identified as human and seven as canine, using fecal lipid biomarkers. Digital light microscopy was used to identify preserved helminth eggs in the sediment and coprolites. Eggs of fish tapeworm (Diphyllobothrium latum and Diphyllobothrium dendriticum), Echinostoma sp., giant kidney worm (Dioctophyma renale), probable pig whipworm (Trichuris suis) and Capillaria sp. were found. This is the earliest evidence for fish tapeworm, Echinostoma worm, Capillaria worm and the giant kidney worm so far identified in Britain. It appears that the wetland environment of the settlement contributed to establishing parasite diversity and put the inhabitants at risk of infection by helminth species spread by eating raw fish, frogs or molluscs that flourish in freshwater aquatic environments, conversely the wetland may also have protected them from infection by certain geohelminths.

What’s that big thing on your head? Diagnosis of a large frontoparietal lesion on an Eastern Zhou skull from Henan, China

We carried out a differential diagnosis of a large frontoparietal lesion on a human skull from a Late Bronze Age archaeological site located on the Central Plain of China, dating to between 771 and 476 BC. The head of this individual was covered in cinnabar, a mercury-based pigment that later was used for medicinal purposes in China. The lesion was well-circumscribed and involved the outer and inner tables of the skull, slight diploë thickening, and coarsening of bone trabeculae with expansion of intertrabecular spaces. We show that the observed changes are most consistent with cavernous hemangioma of the skull, a benign vascular malformation that preferentially affects older adults. Hemangiomas are often neglected in the paleopathological literature because of their benign nature - they tend to be asymptomatic and do not affect quality of life to a significant degree. Nevertheless, they produce characteristic lesions that can be confused with several other conditions with unrelated etiologies, including congenital hemoglabinopathies, traumas, malignant or benign neoplasms, and Paget’s disease. We outline the diagnostic criteria that distinguish cavernous hemangioma from other conditions affecting the skull.

From influence to impact: The multifunctional land use in Mediterranean prehistory emerging from palynology of archaeological sites (8.0-2.8 ka BP)

Archaeobotany is used to discover details on local land uses in prehistoric settlements developed during the middle and beginning of late Holocene. Six archaeological sites from four countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey) have pollen and charcoal records showing clear signs of the agrarian systems that had developed in the Mediterranean basin during different cultural phases, from pre-Neolithic to Recent Bronze Age. A selected list of pollen taxa and sums, including cultivated trees, other woody species, crops and annual or perennial synanthropic plants are analysed for land use reconstructions. In general, cultivation has a lower image in palynology than forestry, and past land uses became visible when oakwoods were affected by human activities. On-site palynology allows us to recognise the first influence of humans even before it can be recognised in off-site sequences, and off-site sequences can allow us to determine the area of influence of a site. Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites show similar land use dynamics implying oak exploitation, causing local deforestation, and cultivation of cereal fields in the area or around the site. Although a substantial difference makes the Neolithic influence quite distant from the Bronze Age impact, mixed systems of land exploitation emerged everywhere. Multiple land use activities exist (multifunctional landscapes) at the same time within the area of influence of a site. Since the Neolithic, people have adopted a diffuse pattern of land use involving a combination of diverse activities, using trees–crops–domesticated animals. The most recurrent combination included wood exploitation, field cultivation and animal breeding. The lesson from the past is that the multifunctional land use, combining sylvo-pastoral and crop farming mixed systems, has been widely adopted for millennia, being more sustainable than the monoculture and a promising way to develop our economy.

Late Holocene palaeo-environmental reconstruction and human settlement in the eastern Po Plain (northern Italy)

A sedimentary sequence comprising a Late Bronze age archaeological site located in the alluvial plain between Bologna and Ferrara (Northern Italy) was studied from geochemical, pedological and palynological points of view. Sediment geochemistry (in particular, the high content of Cr) indicates the existence of a thin set of Po River deposits coeval to the Bronze Age site, lying among alluvial sediments delivered from the Apennine chain. The soil corresponding to this chronological interval is also characterised by anomalous content of phosphorous and chalcophile elements (mainly Cu and Zn) that are clearly related to anthropogenic activities. The results were critically discussed to reconstruct the geomorphological and regional palaeo-hydrographic settings to support the existence of an unknown buried Po River course active during the late Middle Bronze Age in the southern part of the alluvial plain. The 14C and pollen analyses corroborate this interpretation, also providing clues on the genesis of more superficial peaty horizons. On the whole, the results provide fresh insights on the occurrence of ancient human settlements in the southern Po River alluvial plain.

Жизнь вещи — сакральная и повседневная (исследование роли предметов в ритуалах и бытовом использовании на материалах археологических памятников бронзового века Южного Зауралья и Казахстана)

Жизнь вещи — сакральная и повседневная (исследование роли предметов в ритуалах и бытовом использовании на материалах археологических памятников бронзового века Южного Зауралья и Казахстана)

Radiocarbon dating and stable carbon isotopic analyses of Neolithic and Bronze Age staple crops in the lower Yellow River area and their paleodietary implications

AbstractThe stable carbon isotope ratio of archaeological human skeletons has been increasingly used to reconstruct paleodiet, which in turn may provide deep insight into the origin and spread of agriculture. However, little is known about the spatial and temporal variability of some staple crops in many areas of the world. Here, we present radiocarbon ages and stable carbon isotope data of charred millet and rice grains from 14 Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites in the lower Yellow River area, a region which has not been adequately considered. The mean δ13C value of prehistoric millet grains is −9.13‰, which is ca. 2‰ higher than that of modern millet grains. The mean δ13C value of prehistoric rice grains is −24.14‰, which is very close to that of modern rice grains. Our study not only provides updated information that facilitates a more precise reconstruction of human paleodiet based on δ13C analysis of skeletal remains, but also supports previous conclusions that C4 plants can be used as a reliable proxy for atmospheric carbon isotopic composition.

Newly Discovered Bronze Age Archaeological Sites on Qeshm Island, Iran

ABSTRACTArchaeological surveys of Qeshm Island conducted in 2006 and 2012 have identified a total of 191 archaeological sites dating from prehistoric to late Islamic times and provided new insights into the ancient settlement of the island. Among the identified sites, seven (three settlements and four cemeteries) can be attributed to the Bronze Age, representing the first archaeological sites from this period to have been identified on the Iranian islands of the Persian Gulf. Although only a preliminary reconstruction of the social and economic aspects of the third-millennium BC settlement of Qeshm Island is possible from these two seasons of survey, it appears that communities practised both agricultural production and the exploitation of marine resources. Material remains collected during surface survey indicate cultural, economic and technological connections between the Bronze Age inhabitants of Qeshm Island and neighbouring communities in south-eastern Iran and south-eastern Arabia.