Bronze Age Settlement Research Articles

Состав сплава металлических предметов из раскопок поселения позднего бронзового века Багай 1 в Северо-Западном Крыму

The Late Bronze Age settlement Bagai 1 is located on the left bank of the Bagai ravine, which flows into one of the largest lakes in the Crimea, Sasyk-Sivash, near the city of Yevpatoria. In the northern part of the settlement, excavations were carried out by the expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in connection with the construction of the Yevpatoria branch of the Tavrida highway. The article examines the results of X-ray fluorescence analysis of the alloy composition of metal finds from the excavations. It turned out that all studied items of the Late Bronze Age were made of tin bronze, in which the corresponding ligature is from 2 to 20 %. The only exception is a miniature chisel, in which there is no tin, and in addition to copper, more than 8 % of iron was found. Other prescription components (arsenic, antimony, lead) are also found in several items, but in very small concentrations (up to 2 %). The use of tin bronze in items of the Late Bronze Age is a distinctive feature of the Central European tradition and allows us to attribute the alloys of the items studied to the Carpatho-Transylvanian metallurgical province.

Cereals from the Late Bronze Age Fortified Settlement of Tállya-Óvár

This paper aims to present new archaeobotanical data from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Tállya-Óvár in the North Hungarian Mountains. Upon investigating the area around a bronze hoard found earlier, the floor of a building was unearthed, and 16 archaeobotanical samples were taken. The interpretation of the botanical finds was difficult due to a low to medium density of remains and the judgement sampling method. This paper focuses mainly on cereal remains, attempting to interpret them by comparing them with the record of contemporary sites in Hungary and placing them in a broader European context. The samples from Tállya-Óvár were dominated by spelt, barley, and millet. In general, the archaeobotanical assemblage fits the hypotheses concerning Late Bronze Age agriculture. These results are important because no archaeobotanical data have yet been published from high-altitude fortified settlements in the North Hungarian Mountains.

Special Ceramic Figurines from the Late Bronze Age Settlement of Baks-Temetőpart

A planned excavation was conducted at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Baks-Temetőpart (Csongrád–Csanád County, Hungary) in 2007 by Gábor V. Szabó with archaeologists and students of the Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Archaeological Sciences (Budapest). A previously known but unexcavated, rather large, and intensive settlement was researched during the short campaign. More than 4,000 ceramic objects were discovered in different pits, with 71 special ceramic objects among them. This article evaluates these anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, wagon- and wheel models, sun discs, and miniature vessels that can give us some insight into the beliefs and ways of artistic expression of the classical Gáva pottery style community of Baks-Temetőpart.

Clay seals-pintaderas from Sarvantepe settlement

The settlement of Sarvantepe, belonging to the Late Bronze – Early Iron period (the second half of the II – the beginning of the I millennium BC), is located on the territory of the village of Chaily of the Gazakh district in the western part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The site is very rich in terms of archaeological materials and reflects the material culture of the region in the marked period. Numerous clay seals found on the settlement are of the greatest interest. So far, 40 similar artifacts have been identified at the settlement. They have different shapes and are not repeated by the patterned element. Such seals are characteristic of the settlements of the Late Bronze Age – Early Iron period of the Ganja-Gazakh zone. The specific purposes of using these seals are not fully specified. Some experts believe that these seals were used to decorate fabrics, to apply ornaments to ceramics and bread during baking. According to a number of researchers, similar seals found in Saritepe, Baba Dervish, Yastitepe, Garabulaq, Sari Reme, Poilu II, Toyretepe and Mingechevir were used to seal water dams and dams in small farms. Most of the Sarvantepe clay seals were made of gray clay, they were well baked. The ornament of most of them was applied by the method of cutting. A swastika-shaped image of a very mixed appearance is made on the working side of the seal.

Borys Shramko — a Researcher of Wide Chronological Range (to the 100th Anniversary of his Birth)

Borys Andriiovych Shramko (1921 — 2012) is known as a researcher of the Early Iron Age, and first of all of the largest settlement in Europe of that time — the Bilsk hillfort. However, in reality, the scholar also carried out the study of monuments from other periods. Chronologically, the earliest in his research were the monuments of the Stone Age. B. A. Shramko discovered and examined about 20 sites of this period (two Palaeolithic, one Mesolithic and 14 Neolithic) in the course of archaeological exploration. In the research legacy of the Kharkiv researcher, the Eneolithic era is represented by excavations of burial mounds of the Yamna culture near Parkhomivka and Lyptsi villages. To this period is dedicated Shramko’s article about the emergence of arable farming in the south of Eastern Europe. The researcher also discovered a significant number (143) of Bronze Age settlements and carried out excavations at some of them (the villages of Pisky Radkivski, Liubivka, etc.). Excavations were also made at burial mounds (Krasna Mohyla, Bezimenna Mohyla, etc.) and flat burials (Velyka Danylivka) of that time. B. A. Shramko also paid attention to the sites of the Late Roman times. The scholar discovered about 50 settlements (some of them were reseached) and excavated a cremation burial ground of the Cherniakhiv culture near Pavlukivka village. The inlet burial of the Kyiv culture, investigated on a hill near the village of Duvanky, belongs to the same period. The researcher paid considerable attention to the study of medieval sites among which the Donetsk hillfort held a special place. The monuments of the Ukrainian Cossacks era (the 18th century fortresses remains on the Berek River banks) also came into the field of vision of B. A. Shramko.

“The Sacrificial Ram”: Golden Statue in the History of Art

The paper deals with a gold human figure, carrying a ram on its shoulders, kept at the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan (Fig. 1-2). This statue, a rare, small example of plastic art, was taken from a destroyed grave in the south-east of Azerbaijan, in the territory of Lerik district, and was handed over to the Museum of History in 2012. Although the analogies of the statue, distinguished by its uniqueness, have not been found in the South Caucasus up to date, there is no doubt that such figures existed in the ancient art history of the Near and Central East. Also similar images depicted on numerous metal and pottery items, especially demonstrate prototypes of Mannaean, Assyrian and Urartian art of the 9th – 8th century BC. At the same time, this statue with the image of a man carrying a ram on his shoulders can be considered as a traditional continuation of the ritual rite of “sacrificial ram” in the South Caucasus. Because, the discovery of a great number of ram figures in the territory of Azerbaijan in the ancient Eneolithic-Early Bronze Age settlements (Исмаилзаде, 2008, с. 106) and even the use of tombstones with ram images in burial customs in the later antique, early and advanced Middle Ages (Kərimov, 2006, s. 79–81) should be considered as solid facts proving that “sheep-rams” were a sacred symbol in the district for thousands of years. The main goal of the paper is to comprehensively involve this rare find in scientific research and conduct analogies to determine its period.

:Ausgrabungen in der frühbronzezeitlichen Siedlung im Heraion von Samos 1966

:<i>Ausgrabungen in der frühbronzezeitlichen Siedlung im Heraion von Samos 1966</i>

Head for the Hills: Nucleated Hilltop Settlement in the Irish Bronze Age

In Bronze Age Ireland, the settlement record almost exclusively comprises individual, isolated farmsteads dotted throughout the island (Ginn in Emania, 21: 47–58, 2013; Ginn, Mapping society: Settlement structures in Later Bronze Age Ireland, Archaeopress, 2016). Recent studies have shown that these are incredibly homogeneous, with the nearly 700 excavated examples showing no signs of significant variation in terms of size or density and little in the way of high-status material culture. This conflicts with other evidence from this period, which points to an elite culture inferred from extensive long-distance trading, the manufacture of high-status goods and the construction of massive communal monuments such as hillforts. The latter comprise some of Europe’s largest and most impressive monuments and are often recognised as regional centres of power and authority. Until recently, these monuments have received little attention in Ireland and have rarely been integrated into the broader study of Irish Bronze Age settlement patterns. Indeed, it is at hillforts, which might be regarded as the permanent settlement of an elite and a central space for a disparate community, that we should find larger structures and more nuanced evidence for settlement hierarchies if they exist. This paper aims to collate the settlement evidence within Irish hillforts and other unenclosed upland settlements, integrating this within the broader narrative of the contemporary settlement pattern. It is argued that a clear hierarchy of settlement is apparent at some of the densely settled Irish hillforts, and that these formed central spaces for a disparate community where architecture formed the main arena for the display of status and group identity.

Early Bronze Age artefacts from hard animal materials found in the south Moravia region

The presented article focuses on Early Bronze Age artefacts made from hard animal materials found in the south Moravia region. This topic tends to be neglected in the literature, as these artefacts are not as numerous as ceramics or bronze objects. However, their study can bring important knowledge. Open rural settlements of the Early Bronze Age are compared. Two sites are dated to the Únětice culture, the third to the Věteřov group. Processed assemblages are the largest known collections of artefacts from the period in south Moravia. The main aim of the thesis is a detailed analysis of the assemblages, which consist mainly of objects assembled from bones and antlers; the use of other raw materials is rare. The article compares the production of artefacts between the earlier Únětice and later Věteřov phases. It briefly addresses the find circumstances and contexts of individual artefacts. The analytical part includes an osteological determination of raw materials used for the production of artefacts. It focuses on a morphological and typological description of objects based on new descriptive standards in an effort to revise previously used subjective terms such as awl. The third part of the analysis is devoted to a study of use-wear marks created in the production and use of individual artefacts or their archaeologisation. The discussion addresses the possibilities of interpreting and identifying the function of individual objects on the basis of the above analyses.

Same same, or very different? Comparing grindstones from Late/Final Bronze Age settlements and a mining/ore beneficiation site in the Southern Alps

Archaeological excavations often uncover macrolithic tools such as grinding implements. They appear in settlements, at workshop sites and close to mines. By comparing implements found in mines and beneficiation sites directly with similar ones found at settlement sites, mining archaeology has a lot to gain. Domestic production and mining have, however, traditionally been considered separate spheres. This is largely responsible for the fact that tools from the two spheres of prehistoric life have so far only very rarely been compared with each other. Using a marginalised group of tools from three sites in the Southern Alps as a basis, I examine the characteristics and traces of Late Bronze Age grinding tool production to explore whether knowledge might have been transferred between different spheres of life during the aforementioned period.

The ritual context of pottery deposits from the Late Bronze Age settlement at Wrocław Widawa in southwestern Poland

In this paper, I survey archaeological evidence for deliberate deposits mostly containing ceramic vessels but also stones and animal bones. They were discovered at a Late Bronze Age settlement, dated to the 9th-8th centuries, situated in the northern part of the contemporary city of Wrocław in southwestern Poland. Their stratigraphical contexts indicate that their deposition took place at the very end of the use of the site, i.e. after the accumulation of the thick occupational layers. Based on the fine preservation of the vessels and their distribution, I argue that they are remains of practices performed in a common settlement area, resulting in the deposition of used ceramics. I also refer to a broad concept of the notion of ‘pottery deposits’ and compare the presented evidence with similar finds from other sites with a similar chronology.

Hollow Ways near Tanais

Abstract Two ancient roads have been revealed with the help of remote sensing data near Tanais, ancient Greek city in Southern Russia. These roads belong to the class of hollow ways which are often found in the vicinities of Greek settlements in the Northern Black Sea region. Very alike hollow ways were discovered in space photographs around the Bronze Age settlements in Upper Mesopotamia. It is assumed that the mechanisms for the formation of such roads both in the Northern Black Sea region and in Upper Mesopotamia are similar. The development of hollow ways is mainly associated with certain environmental conditions and a special economic model.

Digging Up Jericho: Past, Present and Future

Digging Up Jericho: Past, Present and Future

Consequences of Lake Expansion and Disappearance for the Complex of Bronze and Iron Age Settlements at Bruszczewo (Western Poland, Central Europe)

ABSTRACT The archaeological microregion in Bruszczewo located along the middle course of the Samica River, was inhabited during the Bronze and Iron Ages by Únětice and Lusatian Urnfields culture people. Earlier literature emphasised that the valley floor was an extensive lake during the Bronze Age. Our research aimed to reconstruct the Bronze and Early Iron Age development of the lake and its transition into peatland. Using environmental archaeology methods, we marked the significant turning points in the lakes history. During the Early Bronze Age, a deep eutrophic lake was present on the valley floor, which supported the defensive nature of the nearby Únětice culture settlement. Around ca. 1880–1690 cal. BC, the lake underwent transgression, forcing people to create a fascine in the shoreline zone of the settlement. Terrestrialization of the lake began ca. 790–540 cal. BC with a gradual overgrowing that ended around the threshold of the eras. When compared to the results from other sites, it seems that these turning points were probably instigated by local triggers rather than global climatic events.

Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age settlements and agro-pastoral developments in the Oslo Fjord area, southeastern Norway

The transition to the Late Neolithic (c. 2350 BCE) is characterised by large-scale cultural and economic changes across southern Norway, connected to the spread of a cultural package with an unprecedented homogeneity, consisting of the introduction of the two-aisled houses, farming and several new technologies. Although material components belonging to this cultural package spread fast in southern Norway, the Oslo Fjord area included, there has been a lack of (two-aisled) houses and clear evidence of the breakthrough of farming in this area.&#x0D; In this article, we aim to create a proxy for better understanding the agricultural developments and the trajectories of the early farm-based settlements in the aftermath of the LN revolution. This is done through studying the settlement material from three selected case areas around the Oslo Fjord, alongside a larger body of radiocarbon-dated buildings, cereals and cultivation layers. Our results show a delay in the onset of crop farming compared to the establishment houses in the region, which also contrasts the more abrupt changes in the material culture around 2350 BCE. This demonstrate the likelihood of a more gradual and adaptive farming development in this particular area of southern Norway.

PREHISTORIC BRONZE AGE RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY AT POLITIKO-TROULLIA, CYPRUS

ABSTRACTPolitiko-Troullia has generated the largest radiocarbon (14C) dataset from a Prehistoric Bronze Age settlement on Cyprus. We present Bayesian modeling of 25 calibrated AMS ages, which contributes to an emerging multi-site 14C chronology for Cyprus covering most of the Prehistoric Bronze Age. Our analysis places the six stratified phases of occupation at Troullia between about 2050 and 1850 cal BCE, in contrast to a longer estimated occupation inferred from pottery analysis. We provide a rare 14C determination for the transition from Prehistoric Bronze Age 1 to 2 just after 2000 cal BCE, associated with a major architectural dislocation at Politiko-Troullia in response to local landscape erosion, possibly due to increased regional precipitation. We present a regional 14C model for Prehistoric Bronze Age Cyprus combining the chronology for Politiko-Troullia with modeled 14C ages from Sotira Kaminoudhia and Marki Alonia, which is bolstered by individual ages from five other settlements on Cyprus. Through the Prehistoric Bronze Age, agrarian villages on Cyprus developed the foundations for the emergence of urbanized settlement and society during the ensuing Protohistoric Bronze Age. Politiko-Troullia, in conjunction with other key settlements on Cyprus, provides a significant independent contribution to increasingly robust Bronze Age 14C chronologies in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Prehistoric settlement at Ribnica near Brežice (south-east Slovenia)

The archaeological site of Ribnica near Brežice has been known to the general public since the mid-1950s as the location of the Roman roadside station Romula. Between 2001 and 2004, extensive archaeological excavations took place on the site because of the planned construction of the Ljubljana – Obrežje highway; among other things, it proved that this location was attractive not only to the Romans, but also to settlers in prehistory, the Middle Ages, and modern times. The earliest archaeological remains at Ribnica date to the Eneolithic period, followed by the Bronze Age settlement and a few pits from the La Tène period. Among the prehistoric finds, those from the Bronze Age are the most numerous, while those from the Eneolithic and the La Tène period appear only sporadically. Although two decades have passed since the excavations at Ribnica, the research results have not been published yet. In this paper, we provide an overview of the prehistoric remains discovered in Ribnica near Brežice.

АРХЕОЗООЛОГИЯ БРОНЗОВОГО ВЕКА ЮЖНОГО УРАЛА: СТАБИЛЬНОСТЬ И ИЗМЕНЕНИЯ СКОТОВОДСТВА

The article is devoted to a discussion of the main results of archaeozoological studies of materials from settlements of different periods of the Bronze Age in the Southern Urals (the Sintashta and Alakul cultures) and new methodological approaches to the study of animal bones from archaeological sites. The basis of the life support system of the inhabitants of the settlements throughout the Bronze Age was the breeding of livestock. The main parameters of animal husbandry were relatively stable and did not undergo evolution from the Sintashta to Alakul periods of the Bronze Age. Modern archaeozoological studies have made it possible to fix the specific manner of fragmentation of bones, the alleged working exploitation of cattle and stall keeping of livestock, as well as to reveal the evolution of these processes during the Bronze Age. Drawing upon the results of the study of modern animal husbandry made it possible to identify osteophagy of ungulates, to assess the possibility of a settled model of pastoralism and typical pathologies of livestock for materials from the Bronze Age. The article proposes the use of bones with traces of exposure by ungulates as a reliable marker of the location of livestock in the Bronze Age settlements. The most important changes in animal husbandry include a slight decrease in the size of cattle, a change in the system of bone fragmentation, as well as the alleged termination of the tradition of working use of bulls/oxen in the Alakul time. The analysis of indirect markers and the results of the study of modern animal husbandry allow the reconstruction of a sedentary type of cattle breeding in the Bronze Age of the Southern Urals, in which herds of domestic ungulates graze all year round near settlements.

The Middle Bronze Age site of Berstett Langenberg (Lower Rhine), cross-referenced approaches

Abstract. Excavated in 2018 as part of the western bypass of Strasbourg, the Berstett Langenberg site of nearly two hectares (site no. 5.6 of the project) has revealed occupations dating from the Late Neolithic to the Final La Tène period. The Bronze Age occupation is characterised by 43 features spread over almost the entire area, while the 31 Middle Bronze Age features include ten pits, storage pits (11), two possible excavated buildings, three slits and five windfalls. No buildings were found, but areas devoid of features surrounded by pits suggest the location of buildings, as do the remains of cob (earth and wood architecture). The large quantity of ceramic remains uncovered (160 vessels), as well as several radiocarbon dates have made it possible to better characterise the typochronology of the ensembles for the Bronze D and the transition from Bronze D to Bronze D. Biogeochemical analysis of the inner walls of ten vessels has revealed animal fats, as well as traces of vegetable oil (Brassicaceae) or resin (Pinaceae). In addition to the large quantity of pottery, which makes the site a reference point, other objects unearthed (lithics, fauna) provide supplementary information as to the late Middle Bronze Age settlement for which little is known in eastern France.

A Red Lustrous Wheel-Made Spindle Bottle with an Egyptian Hieroglyphic Inscription in the Egypt Centre, Swansea University, Wales

A Red Lustrous Wheel-made Ware, a ceramic product from the second half of the second millennium BC, has turned up in Late Bronze Age settlements and cemeteries in Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Cyprus, with occasional specimens also found in the Aegean. Its places of origin and manufacture have not yet been conclusively determined, though they were almost certainly located around the north-eastern corner of the Mediterranean, with Cilicia being the most favoured candidate. The commonest type is the spindle bottle, of which a specimen in the Egypt Centre of Swansea University in Wales, exceptionally, has an Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription down one side of the body. The bottle has no provenance, but circumstantial evidence favours a findspot in Egypt, probably a tomb. Disappointingly, the inscription tells us nothing about the place the vessel was made at or its contents but indicates that the text was added much later than the bottle’s production.