Bronze Age Mounds Research Articles

«Старые» и новые венгерские погребения на левобережье Днестра

The article analyzes the materials obtained during the study of five Hungarian burials on the left bank of the Lower Dniester. Description of the of the barrow and the grave: Burial near the Butora village, which was sunk into an Early Bronze Age mound and contained a horse’s humerus and fragments of gold foil, was studied in 1978; it was previously published with erroneous cultural-chronological attribution or as uncertain. Two more graves were discovered in 1992 in Early Bronze Age mounds near the town of Slobodzeya. Until recently, archival documentation was considered lost, and anthropological materials and grave goods were not identified. А fragment of an iron steel was found in one of the burials. Bone plates for a bow, iron arrowheads, two iron knives (a long combat one and a short household one) were found in another burial. A Hungarian grave sunk in a Scythian mound was studied near Glinoe village, Slobodzeya district, in 2022, in the kurgan group “Sever”. A fire flint, an iron arrowhead, an awl and a knife, as well as gold foil and a horse’s humerus were found in the grave. A burial containing the humerus of small cattle and an iron arrowhead was excavated in 2023 in the Early Bronze Age mound situated at the “Kulak” cemetery near the Korotnoe village. Grave from the Butory cemetery, one of the burials near the town of Slobodzeya, as well as graves in the “Sever” group and from the “Kulak” cemetery were radiocarbon dated. Burial dating: Analogies to grave goods, as well as seven radiocarbon dates obtained in the Poznan, Kiev and Debrecen laboratories, allow us to date graves to the second half of the 9th – the first half of the 10th century. Final remarks: These burials, together with the Hungarian graves previously discovered in the North-Western Black Sea region, are archaeological sites left by the Hungarians east of the Carpathians immediately before finding their homeland.

Tales from Ginderup Mound in Thisted County, Denmark

The preservation of organic and human remains in Early Nordic Bronze Age mounds (1700 BCE -1100 BCE) permits new provenance work on this important period. Studies have shown that different mobility/non-mobility patterns were exercised by elite women during this time. To extend the database, we conducted strontium isotope analyses of the enamel from the second and third molars from the elite female grave from Ginderup in Thisted County, Denmark. Among other items, this grave included the textile remains of a possible corded skirt or fringed blanket. We complemented analyses of this woman’s enamel with strontium isotope analyses of the first molar from Grave B as well as osteological analysis of the individuals from Early Nordic Bronze Age Graves A, B and C.
 Our results revealed that the strontium isotope ratios obtained from the woman wearing a possible corded skirt yielded one local ratio (M2) and one non-local ratio (M3). The results from Grave B yielded a ratio which falls within the local baseline of present-day Denmark. Our results suggest that the Ginderup Woman was probably of local origin, but that she also was repeatedly mobile during her life. These data are further evidence for the Nordic Bronze Age’s complex socio-dynamics.

Unlocking building biographies during the Late Bronze Age in Central Macedonia: the case of the Thessaloniki Toumba mound settlement

The scope of the present paper is to scrutinise the evidence regarding settlement continuity, especially where continuous replication of the same buildings is involved, and to investigate how it was practiced in Late Bronze Age mound settlements in terms of building methods. Furthermore, we aim to investigate how building continuity or change related to people’s lives and the spatial organisation of their mundane activities and social practices which concerned their biological and social reproduction.

SURVEY, DRILL AND EXCAVATE. Complex geoarchaeological prospection of Bronze Age mounds as a key for understanding undermound architecture. A case study from Myluvannia, Western Ukraine

AbstractIn the area of Western Ukraine, some aspects of mound (barrow) chronology might be resolved by using non‐ or minimally invasive archaeological prospection. As the cemeteries usually comprise two temporal units—the Late Neolithic Corded Ware Culture (third millennium BC) and Middle Bronze Age Komarów culture (second millennium BC)—by referring to particular funerary rites Komarów culture and their magnetic reflection, they can be distinguished by means of magnetometry survey supported with verification drilling. Recognition of the internal structure of the cemeteries is essential when confronted with their vast occurrence in Western Ukraine and also the morphological similarity of mounds. However, due to the great diversity in known grave architecture of the Komarów culture, it is essential to stress that the methodological approach presented here applies only to the specific construction type of burnt wooden and clay structures, which rarely appear in Corded Ware Culture funerary practices. In addition to excavation, the applied methods provided preliminary information on the cultural affiliation and time of the construction of two mounds in Myluvannia in the pre‐excavation stage of research. In this light, it is therefore possible to assess the potential occurrence of Komarów culture mounds in other Western Ukrainian mound cemeteries.

KARABAKH-LAND OF ANCIENT UNIQUE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURES OF THE CAUCASUS

The ancient land of Azerbaijan, Karabakh, has gone through different stages from ancient times to modern times. Karabakh has a rich history, where the stages of primitive society, and the archaeological cultures of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages have been consistently represented since the creation of prehistoric man. Karabakh archaeology, one of the urgent issues of Azerbaijani archaeology, is very important in this regard. Karabakh, the land of unique archaeological cultures such as Guruchay, Leylatapa, Kur- Araz, Goycha- Uzerlik, and Khojaly- Gadabay, is distinguished by the richness of archaeological monuments. Azykh and Taghlar caves, Bronze Age mounds, Uzerliktepe, Yedditepe, Goytapa, grave monuments of Khojaly-Gadabay culture, Albanian period settlements, grave monuments, Albanian temples, Islamic period monuments replace each other chronologically. The study of historical, archaeological, and architectural monuments in the land of ancient archaeological cultures - Karabakh, is always relevant as a priority of science.

Eneolithic Bronze Age mound near the village of Katerynivka in the Middle Prisamarye

The purpose is to analyse the materials of the mound near Katerynivka in the Petropavlivsky raiion of the Dnipropetrovska oblast studied by the expedition of the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University in 2016. Research methods: descriptive, typological, chronological, comparative historical. Main results. The mound construction and 13 burial complexes of the Eneolithic – Bronze Age are analyzed. At the time of the excavations, the mound located on the edge of the high root cape of the Samara River was significantly damaged due to anthropogenic activity. There are difficult ritual actions in the main Eneolithic burial № 9. The tomb has stone mortgage and cromlech with diameter on the Nord-South direction equal 5.2 m. The skeleton of an adult is stretched out on his back, head to the South. The chalk sprinkling is fixed on the bottom. The miniature molded pot from the main Eneolithic tomb № 9 belongs to ceramics of the Zhyvotylivsky culture type. Tombs no. 2–8, 10, 13 belong to Yamna culture. Rectangular tombs are made with the use of wood in the floor. Plant litter and ocher is found in the bottom of the graves. The skeletons are bent at the back, oriented in the western semicircle (two cenotaphs). Two tombs are without skeletons. Concomitant equipment includes an egg-shaped pot and a flint chip. For some of the burials, backfilling was carried out mainly in the southern direction (to the edge of the cape), which necessitated the strengthening of the embankment in the form of a stone lining up to 3.5 m wide with small stones in this direction. Tomb no. 12 belong to the Catacomb culture. It is located in a tomb with a round entrance well and an oval chamber attached to it. The skeleton of a young man or a young woman lay twisted on the right side, head to the northeast. The remains of a lamellar bronze bracelet are on the ankle of the right leg. Log burials (no. 1, 11) are represented by skeletons bent on the right side in the northeast and northwest orientation. The ceramic is represented poorly. Conclusions. The ancient mound was built in the Eneolithic period. Other constructions represent different periods of the Bronze Age. Practical meaning: the published materials can be used in generalizing research of the problems of archeology of the Eneolithic – Bronze Age of Ukraine. Scientific novelty: cultural and chronological features of the mound near Katerynivka in the Petropavlivsky raiion in the Dnipropetrovska oblast are determined. Type of article: analytical.

SARMATIAN BURIALS EXCAVATED BY DMYTRO BEREZOVETS AT THE LOWER DNIEPER BASIN

During the campaigns of 1951 and 1953 Dmytro Berezovets excavated the Sarmatian graves near the Kut, Hrushivka and Marianske villages of Apostolovski district of Dnipropetrovsk region. These materials were published briefly, without typological and chronological definitions and analysis of the historical context, with illustrations of rather low quality. Moreover, there was some confusion and errors later made by some researchers, including the author, which have been replicated with each reference. Therefore, it is worthy to republish these materials from the standpoint of the current level of the Sarmatian studies in order to correct certain errors as well.
 Dmytro Berezovets has discovered the assemblages both of Early Sarmatian (Kut, Hrushivka, Maryanske, barrow 3, grave 4) and Middle Sarmatian Age (Marianske, barroow 5, graves 5—7; barrow 5, grave 6; barrow 6, grave 14) according to traditional chronology. All Sarmatian burials under study were the secondary graves in the Bronze Age mounds and Scythian ones. The skeletons lied supine, with their heads directed to Northern sector. Among the grave goods are the Roman and Sarmatiam pottery, simple bronze adornment, cornelian, jade and glass beads, bronze mirror, bone ritual spoon etc. The Early Sarmatian assemblages discovered by Dmytro Berezovets are dated to the late 2nd—1st century BC, the Middle Sarmatiam ones to the 1st—2nd centuries AD. The identical funeral rite of the graves of different date near Marianske once again confirms the validity of the periodization proposed by me in due time, according to which all the graves under study belong to different phases of the first period (phase A2 — Kut, Hrushivka, Marianske, barrow 3, grave 4; phase B — Marianske, barrow 3, graves 5—7; barrow 5, grave 6; barrow 6, grave 14).

Погребения периода Золотой Орды в волго-манычских степях

Goals. The article examines Golden Horde nomadic burials explored across the Volga-Manych steppe. Materials. The work analyzes materials from 90 burials dated to the 13th – 15th centuries AD. Results. The mentioned territory comprises three large geographical zones. The examined burials are located in different topographic areas but basically tend to cluster within Bronze Age mound groups. The study results in certain conclusions regarding the nomads’ ethnic history and their geographical distribution across the territory under consideration. So, the largest numbers of such monuments have been registered in the Ergeni Upland, in the Sarpa and Caspian Lowlands. The burials largely form groups, while single complexes are rare enough.

Жертвенные комплексы в курганах бронзового века (по материалам могильников Ергенинской возвышенности)

Introduction. The article examines sacrificial complexes within Bronze Age mounds of the Ergeni Upland. The archaeological culture represented by the investigated mounds is characterized by cattle sacrifice where a cow’s head and limbs symbolized a whole carcass of the sacrificial animal. A majority of the complexes contained fragmented or whole incense pots. The goal of the research is to analyze the sacrificial complexes and reveal key features of theirs essential for the reconstruction of Early and Middle Bronze Age cattle sacrifice rites. Results. The paper investigates materials from seven mound groups located in the Ergeni Upland. It concludes that mounds equipped with sacrificial altars constitute 15 % of the total number of mounds (17 of 112) and identifies somewhat basic features of such altars that tend to cluster in two groups: group one is characterized by the use of cattle bones only, and group two adds incense pots to such bones. The work attempts to attribute the presence of sacrificial altars to certain burial patterns within each mound. So, it reveals that sacrificial complexes are most frequently associated with burials of men. Special attention is paid to the presence of cattle skins placed into burials, according to participants of excavations, with animal heads and limbs. Indirect indicators of the presence of cattle skins were traced in two sacrificial altars only. The paper compares outcomes of the research of the Ergeni Upland’s sacrificial complexes to studies of similar structures within East Manych mounds, draws ethnographic and historical evidence related to such sacrificial practices that might have stemmed from the worship of the ox / cow as the primal forefather / foremother, protector of sentient beings, also tied to the fertility cult.

Bet Yeraḥ: The Early Bronze Age Mound, Vol. 2: Urban Structure and Material Culture, 1933–1986 Excavations, edited by Raphael Greenberg. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports 54. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 2014. vii + 308 pp., figures, maps, and tables. Paperback. $30.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsBet Yeraḥ: The Early Bronze Age Mound, Vol. 2: Urban Structure and Material Culture, 1933–1986 Excavations, edited by Raphael Greenberg. Israel Antiquities Authority Reports 54. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 2014. vii + 308 pp., figures, maps, and tables. Paperback. $30.Felix HöflmayerFelix HöflmayerAustrian Academy of Sciences, [email protected] Search for more articles by this author Austrian Academy of Sciences, [email protected] PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research Volume 378November 2017 A journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.378.0244 Views: 15Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in the Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research (1921-2021), which is continued by the Bulletin of the American Schools of Overseas Research (2022-present). Copyright 2017 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Природні умови проживання людини на основі вивчення похованих ґрунтів кургану епохи бронзи / The natural conditions of human's habitation according to studying of buried soils in the Bronze Age mound

Природні умови проживання людини на основі вивчення похованих ґрунтів кургану епохи бронзи / The natural conditions of human's habitation according to studying of buried soils in the Bronze Age mound

Природні умови проживання людини на основі вивчення похованих ґрунтів кургану епохи бронзи

Природні умови проживання людини на основі вивчення похованих ґрунтів кургану епохи бронзи

The identification of wood charcoals from an Early Bronze Age mound (Yenibademli) in western Turkey

Taxonomic identification on the basis of wood anatomy showed that 68.82% of wood charcoals from the Early Bronze Age Site at Yenibademli, on Gokceada Island (Imbros) in the Northern Aegean region of Turkey belong to the genus Quercus, 15.88% to Pinus, 13.51% to Phillyrea, 0.63% to Arbutus, 0.35% to Ulmus, and 0.23% to the Rosaceae family. The results revealed that the dominant tree genus was oak (Quercus sp.), 67.2% of which was deciduous oak, and the remaining 1.62% was evergreen oak. Quercus and Pinus as the most common two genera in the spectrum of taxa may have a link with oak and pine stands on Gokceada (Imbros) in the Early Bronze Age. Moreover, the evergreen Quercus (sec. Ilex) and the genus Phillyrea, which was third in the spectrum, suggest that maquis and open vegetation were also present in the Early Bronze Age on Gokceada.

Остатки рыб из раскопок кургана эпохи бронзы около с. Марьянское (Днепропетровская область, Украина)

Представлены результаты определения остатков рыб, обнаруженных в сосуде при раскопках одного из позднеямных погребений в кургане эпохи бронзы, расположенном в окрестностях с. Марьянское Апостоловского района Днепропетровской области. Установлено наличие 11 видов, относящихся к 9 родам 5 семейств 5 отрядов (Acipenseriformes, Cypriniformes, Siluriformes, Esociformes, Perciformes). Установлено, что карповые рыбы преобладают по количеству видов. Большинство костных остатков в сборах принадлежит судаку, сому и щуке, в то время как плотва, вырезуб и лещ идентифицированы по немногочисленным костям. Это может свидетельствовать о различной роли этих видов в рационе местного населения. Соотношение элементов скелета в сборах свидетельствует о разделке рыбы непосредственно на месте. Для 64 особей рыб по целым костям реконструированы длина тела и масса. Установлено, что все они были половозрелыми и, за исключением сома, щуки и судака, имели небольшие размеры. Учитывая особенности погребальной обрядности населения ямной культуры, кости рыб из курганного погребения около с. Марьянское можно рассматривать в качестве остатков напутственной еды.

Zoomorphic Figurines and Images from the Southern Levant

In broad terms, my area of interest is figurative imagery of the Bronze Age in the Middle East. However, for the final dissertation of my Masters degree from University College London (UCL), the study focus was directed towards a small collection of Early Bronze Age zoomorphic iconographic material in terracotta from the from Tel Bet Yerah in the Southern Levant. Early Bronze Age III decorative ram’s head applique. Tel Bet Yerah is a large 30-35 hectares Early Bronze Age mound on the shores...

"Fuera de la caja": explorando el potencial del modelado 3D a partir de antiguos archivos de imágenes

<p>3D reconstructions for research and conservation of archaeological sites and objects are becoming increasingly common as laser and photogrammetric techniques are now more readily accessible to non-specialists. Most of these imaging techniques have been applied to sites and/or objects that can be physically visited, handled, measured and studied in various ways. However, little or no attention has been paid to the potential of modern 3D modelling techniques for obtaining new quantitative and qualitative information from sites and objects which have been destroyed or are no longer accessible. This paper explores the potential of Structure from Motion (SfM) to provide fresh insight into the scientific exploitation of ancient image archives. Two case studies from Western France will be used to illustrate this: a series of photographs of one decorated orthostate from the Neolithic gallery grave of Kermorvan (Le Conquet, Finistère), dating from 1911-12, and a 12-minute video of the excavation of a Bronze Age mound in Kervingar (Ploudalmézeau, Finistère), dating from 1953.<br /><br /></p>

Taphonomic analysis of Bronze Age burials in Mongolian khirigsuurs

The role of the distinctive Mongolian Bronze Age mounds (khirigsuurs) has been debated for many years with authors divided over their funerary role. Interpretation of the presence or absence of human bone has been central to this debate. In this paper, we undertake a systematic analysis of human taphonomy at the Khövsgöl site to explain why mounds appear “empty”. In doing so we demonstrate a strong statistical relationship between the preservation of human bone and intrinsic circumstances related to the mound locations and the age of the deceased. In contrast, patterns of disarticulation are strongly correlated with human disturbance of graves post-mortem. We argue that statistical analysis of burials, recognising the continuity of potential preservation from nil to complete serves to explain the relative importance of taphonomic agents but allows for predictive analysis of where remains are most likely to be preserved. Such approaches are important in shifting studies of human taphonomy from a descriptive to analytical endeavour.

From collecting to cultivation: transitions to a production economy in the Near East

The selected articles in the current issue throw new light on our understanding of how Homo sapiens became caught in the agriculture trap in the Near East. They are the outcome of the session entitled ‘Origins of agriculture in the Near East’ held at the 15th IWGP conference in Wilhelmshaven 2010. The subject is constantly being revised as new information and more refined analyses become available, so these papers provide a state of the art in 2010/2011. Each major discovery adds complexity to what has become a multi-faceted puzzle with data being drawn from disciplines as wide apart as archaeology and genetics, plant biology and palaeo-climatology. In this issue papers concentrate on results obtained from charred plant remains and their interpretation. During the last half of the 20th century ground-breaking scholars like Hans Helbaek, Daniel Zohary, Maria Hopf, Willem van Zeist and Gordon Hillman made major contributions (Zohary and Hopf 1973; Helbaek 1959; Hillman 1984; Van Zeist and Bakker-Heeres 1982). Daniel Zohary combined genetics and information from living progenitors with Maria Hopf’s archaeobotanical knowledge to help explain the domestication of plants in the Near East. Willem van Zeist pioneered the identification and sampling of charred seeds from early Neolithic sites while Gordon Hillman developed interpretive tools for the subject. Their findings opened up avenues for hypothesizing as to how, when and why, in south west Asia, humans started systematically cultivating a selection of grain crops. In the 1980s and 1990s the puzzle appeared quite simple because it was composed of few elements and so scholars hypothesized using straightforward deterministic scenarios and models citing climate change, or population growth, or over-exploitation as possible factors which encouraged humans to adopt cultivation. Today the central elements of these hypotheses are still valid, but with hindsight simple hypotheses are no longer plausible given the archaeological and environmental diversity within the Fertile Crescent. This complex diversity is exemplified by the vast geographical area where transition sites are located, which spans different climate and vegetation zones. Thus, sites in the north of the Fertile Crescent are 1,000 km from those in the south and likewise in the east–west direction. Archaeological diversity is exemplified by the extended chronological range of transition sites. We can trace the use of wild cereals back to about 23,000 years ago when habitations consisted of simple brush huts to villages with sophisticated architecture associated with the earliest domesticated cereals 12,500 years later. The transition to a production based economy was acted out on a vast stage of multi-dimensional cultural developments. Archaeological and archaeobotanical discoveries represent only narrow windows providing unconnected fleeting glimpses of human subsistence economies. Gaps in the archaeological record may result from lack of survey work but also because early Neolithic sites are often buried beneath large Bronze Age mounds, for example at Tell el Kerkh, Motza, Tell Qaramel and Cheik Hassan. Others may be covered by post occupation alluvial sediments. G. Willcox (&) Archeorient, UMR 5133, CNRS Jales, 07460 St-Paul-le-Jeune, France e-mail: gwillcox@wanadoo.fr

Bet Yeraḥ: The Early Bronze Age Mound, Volume I: Excavation Reports, 1933–1986, IAA Reports, No. 30. Rafael Greenberg, Emanuel Eisenberg, Sarit Paz, and Yitzhak Paz.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsBet Yeraḥ: The Early Bronze Age Mound, Volume I: Excavation Reports, 1933–1986, IAA Reports, No. 30. Rafael Greenberg, Emanuel Eisenberg, Sarit Paz, and Yitzhak Paz.Alexander H. JoffeAlexander H. Joffe Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research Volume 357February 2010 A journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/BASOR27805163 Views: 6Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in the Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research (1921-2021), which is continued by the Bulletin of the American Schools of Overseas Research (2022-present). Copyright © 2010 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Characteristics of Soil Carbon Buried for 3300 Years in a Bronze Age Burial Mound

To elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the long‐term retention of soil C, soil samples were retrieved from a paleosolic A h1orizon (Mbur) buried underneath a Bronze Age mound and from waterlogged anaerobic (Man) and aerobic zones (Mae) within the mound. For comparison with a modern soil, samples were taken from the surrounding arable field (Ar). The soils were characterized by cross‐polarization magic angle spinning 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, and by CO2 production during incubation. At sampling, the Ar, Man, Mae, and Mbur soils contained 22.6, 17.9, 6.5, and 6.2 g C kg−1 soil, respectively. Compared with the Ar and Man soils, the Mbur and Mae soils were depleted in alkyl C, N‐alkyl C, and O‐alkyl C and enriched in aromatic and carboxylic groups. The content of PLFA in the mound soils was much lower than normally found for arable soils and the ability of the deprived biomass to decompose glucose was retarded and included a 2‐ to 3‐wk lag phase. The lability of C left under aerobic conditions for more than three millennia did not differ significantly from that of C in the contemporary Ar soil. Although the chemical nature of the C in the Ar and Man soils was similar, C that had resided under anaerobic conditions was less labile than C from the arable soil. We consider the persistence of C in the unwaterlogged parts of the burial mound to result from physical restrictions imposed on gas exchange and water availability, and thus restricted microbial activity, rather than from biochemical recalcitrance of the remaining C.