Bronze Research Articles

Imperial Gaze in the Historiography of Amarna Politics

The discovery of the Amarna letters in 1887 and their subsequent translation made it possible for ancient Near Eastern specialists of the time to shed new light on the sociopolitical conditions of Syria-Palestine during the Late Bronze Age. In reviewing the scholarly literature of the period and following decades, we may see that the situations of internal conflict described in the letters allowed researchers to draw a general picture of ancient indigenous political communities that was undoubtedly aligned with the imperial perceptions of non-European peoples current during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This article explores the conceptions and descriptions that several scholars expressed about Amarnian Syro-Palestinian or Canaanite societies from the discovery of the letters up to the 1970s. The analysis also seeks to contextualize the covert imperial gaze expressed by these scholars as well as their more overt orientalism within the geopolitical situations in the Middle East at the time. Finally, the article assesses a turning point, instigated by Mario Liverani, in the interpretation of Amarna politics and its relationship with the fading imperialist gaze in the historiography of the region since the 1980s.

Review of Exploring Writing Systems and Practices in the Bronze Age Aegean

Exploring Writing Systems and Practices in the Bronze Age Aegean. By Philippa M. Steele. Contexts of and Relations Between Early Writing Systems, vol. 7. Oxbow Books, 2024. Pp. xxi + 169, illus. $80.

Animals for the Deceased: Zooarchaeological Analysis of the Bronze Age in the Castillejo del Bonete Site (Terrinches, Ciudad Real, Spain).

The 2978 faunal bone remains recovered from the Bronze Age levels at the Castillejo del Bonete site between 2005 and 2019 were analyzed in this study. In the main structure (Great Tumulus 1, Tumulus 2, and Tomb 5), the faunal bone remains were identified and interpreted as offerings in a funerary context. In Enclosure 4, a large building possibly dedicated to the celebration of wakes and rituals-including the eating of food and drinking-in honor of the deceased, the anthropic modifications on the bone surfaces indicate their possible consumption. The cave is constituted by four galleries with inhumations (in Galleries 2, 3, and 4) and pithoi (in Gallery 4). Wild and domestic animals were identified in the cavity, and the caprine (likely sheep) is the best represented taxa in the entire cave. The almost complete skeletal representation; the predominance of fetal, neonate, and juvenile individuals; the absence of anthropic modifications related to consumption, in addition to the bone industry made of caprine bones (such as an eye idol and anthropomorphic artefacts), suggest that caprines were used as offerings to the deceased that accompany them. Postdepositional taphonomic alterations, the animals not having been found in anatomical connection, and the refits of the bones between different stratigraphical units indicate the repeated use of the cave during the Bronze Age.

The Lower Indus Routes’ Network and the Twin Bronze Age Settlements of Taloor Ji Bhit and Garho Bhiro in Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan

Archaeological research over the past 100 years, beginning in the 1920s, has shaped the chronological account of the cultural history of the Indus Valley Civilisation. In this connection, this paper attempts to explore the Bronze Age twin sites of Taloor Ji Bhit and Garho Bhiro located at the western margins of the Thar Desert in District Khairpur, Sindh province of Pakistan. Here, we aim to understand the position of these sites in the cultural profile from the ceramic data, found scattered on the mounds’ surfaces, and to trace out the connectivity of ancient land routes in the lower Indus zone. Presenting the paper accordingly, this work introduces the readership to the Indus Valley Civilisation and the particulars of the mentioned sites at the very opening, followed by locale, previous studies and methodology, and further continued by a focussed descriptive study of Taloor Ji Bhit and Garho Bhiro describing the sites’ surface comparable findings. Moreover, a discussion opens a discourse related to both sites with reference to the southern Lower Indus Routes’ Network, leading towards the conclusion of the study. Therefore, this work adds to our understanding about the role of these sites in the routes’ network around the lower margins of the Indus, facilitating trade, and social and cultural connectivity.

How Deep in Time and Far in Space: Multiproxy Geophysical, Coring and Geochemical Prospection of an (Not Only) Iron Age Village (Ebro Valley, Navarre)

ABSTRACTThe archaeological research carried out at Irulegi, a hilltop site on the namesake mountain (Aranguren Valley, Navarre, Spain), has revealed one of the most important examples of fortified protohistoric settlements in the western Pyrenees, characterized by its long evolution and the exceptional preservation of its remains. This site has been systematically explored using a range of methods, both geophysical and direct, including GPR, ERT and magnetic prospection, geoarchaeological coring, chemostratigraphic analysis and verification test pits, which have finally indicated the most suitable areas for excavations. The surveys carried out suggest that the settlement was initially established for defensive purposes and to exert control over the surrounding territory during the Middle to Late Bronze Age, approximately between the 15th and 11th centuries bc. The site remained occupied throughout the Iron Age until the first third of the 1st century bc, when it was abandoned following an assault by Roman forces in the context of the Sertorian Wars. The continuity of the archaeological record observed in the direct prospection, coupled with the remarkable quality and preservation of the architectural and archaeological evidence observed in the geophysical survey, outlines Irulegi as a key site for understanding the socioeconomic development of protohistoric populations in this region and could also offer insights applicable to other fortified Iron Age settlements in this or other regions of southwestern Europe.

Holocene vegetation dynamics and sedimentation processes in a small depression on a Pleistocene plain – a multi-proxy approach for the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of a Neolithic settlement area near Leipzig, Saxony

Abstract. Since 2010, excavations by the Saxonian Archaeological Heritage Office have been conducted on a Pleistocene plain in northwest Saxony during the course of an open-cast lignite mining project. The area lies between the valleys of the Weiße Elster and the Pleiße in the Leipzig lowlands. An important multi-cultural site was discovered near the village of Kieritzsch, where archaeological remains from the early Neolithic up to the early Bronze Age were excavated. They are located in and around a former pond that was subsequently filled with organic-rich deposits. Various geo-archaeological investigations were carried out, complemented by radiocarbon dating to support and contextualize the archaeological results. In particular, archaeobotanical analyses (pollen and macro-remains) were carried out in order to reconstruct the landscape development of the depression and its surroundings. Thus, it was possible to reconstruct the Neolithic vegetation and land use history in a central German Altsiedellandschaft using a near-site pollen profile for the first time. The widespread pine forests were partially cleared for arable farming during the Linear Pottery culture period. From the Stroked Pottery culture period, there is significantly less archaeological evidence, while the palynological data account for sparse mixed-oak forests diversified by anthropogenic use. During the middle and late Neolithic, the number of settlement traces declines once more, even though the sedimentological record and the near-site pollen spectra show intensive land use. The woodlands in the vicinity of the pond continue to decrease, and Cerealia pollen is consistently present. After the Neolithic, the investigated profile shows a hiatus that comprises more than 3000 years. In the early medieval era deposition resumes, together with substantial deforestation and a general increase in human impact.

Cemento-Osseous Dysplasia in a Female Bronze Age Skeleton (North Caucasus)

PurposeThe earliest known case of cemento-osseous dysplasia could be detected in a Bronze Age skeleton, dating back 4500 years ago in the region of the North Caucasus. Although the soft tissue was missing, sufficient diagnosis could be achieved by using different methods that prove the existence of fibro-osseous processes already in prehistory. Skeletal remains provide a direct view of such changes which cannot be obtained from a living patient without compromising.MethodsA skeleton of a 30-40-year-old female individual from the burial mound of Budyonnovsk 10 (including 19 individuals) in Southern Russia was investigated using macroscopic, radiographic, and microscopic methods.ResultsIn the mandible, destruction of the labial wall of the alveoli 32 and 31 is already visible macroscopically. At the base of the lesion, the original bone is replaced by fine porous bone including small dense particles: plain radiography and computed tomography evidence localized processes to the periapical areas of all lower incisors. The lesions are mainly radiolucent, only the particles in alveolus 32 have a radiopaque appearance. Microscopy shows woven bone as filling of the lesions and additional hypocellular materials in alveolus 32, which can best be explained as cementum-like structures.ConclusionsThe lesion´s location in the periapical areas of the lower incisors, the woven bone, and cementum-like structures fit the diagnosis of periapical cemento-osseous dysplasia. The presence of a second individual with focal cemento-osseous dysplasia in this burial mound is an interesting co-occurrence that requires further genetic analysis.LimitationsThe diagnosis is solely based on the skeletal remains, soft tissue components are missing.Suggestions for Further ResearchGenetic analyses are planned to detect the underlying mutation for the two individuals.

‘Out-of-time’ Objects: Commemorating and Forgetting Traditions through Bronze Age Metalwork in Southern Britain

‘Out-of-time’ Objects: Commemorating and Forgetting Traditions through Bronze Age Metalwork in Southern Britain

Indecipherable Signs on the Rock

Abstract A noteworthy aspect of South Caucasian Protohistoric archaeology is the presence of limited archaeological evidence concerning a series of engraved and painted signs associated with funerary contexts. These signs cannot be categorized strictly as decorations nor as true forms of proto writing. Given the paucity of research on this topic, this paper compiles the primary evidence of engravings and paintings from the Middle and Late Bronze Age periods, for which the term ‘enigmatic’ is proposed due to the current inability to provide definitive interpretations. It is suggested that these engravings and paintings may have functioned as communication systems, potentially prefiguring the writing forms of subsequent periods.

Two Competing Religious Traditions Underlying the Façade-Type Architectural Models from Ancient Western Asia

This study clarifies the religious traditions underlying the façade-type clay architectural models unearthed from ancient Western Asia by analyzing their iconography apropos each period. The façade-type models considered in this study are one-storied, with a distinct façade, one large opening, and the cella crafted in the niche, three-dimensional, or jar style. The analysis reveals (a) the distribution areas of the most common niche style shifted from the third millennium BC Mesopotamia, through the Middle and Late Bronze Ages and the early Iron Age Levant area, to the Iron Age IIB–C Phoenician areas; (b) the jar style is known only from the second millennium BC Levant and eventually merged with the niche style; and (c) the three-dimensional style is found sporadically. The earlier examples have either a male or a female figure inside the gate, although some have neither. The Levantine examples are without figural representations or with a bird, lions, and female figurines. It may be concluded that two competing religious traditions continued for three millennia, wherein the models with a male figure or without figures represent the tradition of the sovereign god originated in Sumer, whereas those with female figures and decorative motifs reflect the Inana-Ištar cult.

MINOAN AND THE MACHINES: COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES TO THE DECIPHERMENT OF LINEAR A

In this paper, we review some of the significant literature surrounding the computational decipherment of Linear A, an undeciphered writing system from Bronze Age Crete (Aegean Sea), ‘hiding’ the so-called (unknown) Minoan language. Specifically, we summarize the methodology and results of two machine learning-based techniques that might be applicable to the study of Linear A, the first relying on modeling language decipherment as a minimum cost-flow problem and the second on comparing phonetic values across languages by using a generative framework. Additionally, we evaluate the effectiveness and limitations of these techniques and compare their efficacy and relevance to the decipherment of Linear A. We also review a consonantal cluster-based approach (a cryptanalytic ‘brute force attack’) and a feature-based similarity method, both of which run parallel to these machine learning techniques, and briefly discuss the advantages and shortcomings of the latter in comparison to the former. The aim of this paper is to provide our readers with a synthetic, but precise outline of new computational approaches for the decipherment of Linear A and to encourage further studies and research on this topic.

Excavations at the Xiangranggounan site reveal changes in dwellings during the Late Bronze Age on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract Xiangranggounan is an intensively occupied settlement associated with the Kayue culture on the north-eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Excavations in 2022 and 2023 revealed five house types with clear stratigraphic relationships that help to expand current understanding of the evolution of prehistoric settlement patterns in harsh plateau environments.

Rethinking late prehistoric Mediterranean Africa: architecture, farming and materiality at Kach Kouch, Morocco

The European shores of the Mediterranean are characterised by well-known sociocultural and economic dynamics during the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (2200–550 BC), but our understanding of the African shores is comparatively vague. Here, the authors present results from excavations at Kach Kouch, Morocco, revealing an occupation phase from 2200–2000 cal BC, followed by a stable settlement from c. 1300–600 BC characterised by wattle and daub architecture, a farming economy, distinctive cultural practices and extensive connections. Kach Kouch underscores the agency of local communities, challenging the notion of north-western Africa as terra nullius prior to Phoenician arrival.

Bronze Age to Early Iron Age Water Harvesting and Management in the Ancient Oasis of Salūt (Bisya, Sultanate of Oman)

Bronze Age to Early Iron Age Water Harvesting and Management in the Ancient Oasis of Salūt (Bisya, Sultanate of Oman)

Predicting ancient city sites using GEE coupled with geographic element features and temporal spectral features: a case study of the Neolithic and Bronze Age of the Jianghan region, China

In the Yangtze River Basin, the birthplace of civilization in China, it is necessary to further discover and investigate ancient remains. The archaeological site prediction model is important for discovering and investigating archaeological sites. In this paper, we focused on the ancient city sites of the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the Jianghan region located along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, annotated the specific locations and extents of 33 ancient city sites using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform, and proposed a machine learning-based ancient city site prediction model that couples geographic element features and temporal spectral features. The results indicated that the ancient city sites were recognizable in different geographic elements and were separable in Sentinel-2 multispectral bands and spectral indices. The coupled time series spectral features could improve the ability of the model to recognize the regions with ancient city sites. Ultimately, the percentage of pixels with a high probability of prediction (greater than 0.57) within the extent of the ancient city sites reached 80.0% and enabled to obtain high probability regions for the distribution of the ancient city site. The proposed model can be used to predict the potential geographic locations of ancient city sites and identify key areas for future archaeological field survey work.

Tilbage til kilderne

Returning to the sourcesA Bronze Age depositional tradition rediscovered Interest in the use of metal detectors has grown markedly in recent years, and one consequence of this is reflected in the increasing number of records of Bronze Age depositions. At both Moesgaard ­Museum and Østfyns Museer, metal-­detector finds have prompted the undertaking of archaeological excavations, which have demonstrated that the objects were depo­sited at springs. Conventionally, nuances in the specific relationship between Bronze Age depo­sitions and landscape at the deposition locality have often been concealed by the generic terms employed for these depositions, i.e. field/bog finds. There are records of offerings at springs all across Europe and throughout most of prehistory. But these finds associated with water flowing out of the ground, which may even have dried up in modern times, are difficult to recognise without an archaeo­logical excavation. Such investigations have only rarely been conducted because most Bronze Age depositions have been found accidentally, during agricultural cultivation, peat digging etc.As part of a KFU (Kulturministeriets Forskningsfond)-financed research project, based on the results of excavations, topographical maps and examinations of old records in the archaeological literature and in museum archives, we are nevertheless able to conclude that depositions at springs constitute a previously under-­illuminated element of the Bronze Age wetland finds group. More than a century ago, the famous well offering at Budsene was published and the original article mentions other finds from springs at Kirke Søby and Roskilde (figs. 1-3), but spring offerings are only rarely mentioned subsequently in the literature. This article presents 30 examples of finds from the Danish Bronze Age that, based on archival information and topography, are considered to derive from springs (figs. 4-7, tab. 1).The period IV sword found by a metal detectorist in 2012 at Stærkær near the river Gudenåen prompted an archaeo­logical excavation conducted by Moesgaard Museum. Although it was not possible to relate the sword to a specific layer, the Stærkær excavation is a rare example of a documented, direct link between the deposited object and a spring-fed pond on the edge of a hill (figs. 8-14). An even closer link between a deposition and a spring has been demonstrated at Hedegyden, near Nyborg, where Østfyns Museer undertook an excavation of an ornament deposition found by metal detectorists, which is dated to period V of the Bronze Age. The Hedegyden find is a multi-type deposition, consisting of three hanging vessels, a belt ornament and three lumps of metal. Remains of a wooden lid or container in one of the hanging vessels, as well as fragments of bark and wood, had also been deposited. Water still flowed at the site, and pale-yellow sand, together with pollen and NPP (non pollen)-­analysis, supported the spring interpretation. The NPP-analysis indicated the presence of bee hairs, which suggests that honey or beeswax were included in the deposition. The sequence of the deposition can be placed in a ‘chaîne opératoire’ (figs. 15-18).In addition to the relatively detailed insight into the offering act itself, depositions at springs make a valuable and more general contribution to improving our understanding of the use by Bronze Age communities of the landscape outside settle­ments and fields.

Mikroudgravning

Micro-excavationA method for documenting a micro-stratigraphy This article describes a method for harvesting, recording and systemising data from a heavily degraded and compressed body of block-lifted archaeological remains. The thickness of these remains was a maximum 3 cm, and identification was only possible with the aid of a micro­scope. An unorthodox way of implementing Harris matrices is demonstrated, by which the archaeological remains can reveal a picture of a more than 3000-year-old burial ritual.The article first describes the archaeo­logical context of the Kongsted burial mound, the latest of the iconic Danish Bronze Age mounds containing well-­preserved oak-log coffins to be investigated, and the first since 1935. Figure 1 shows how the block was lifted within the oak-log coffin and figure 3 combines the geo-referenced sword with the skeletal parts. In figure 2, the sword is seen exposed in the block in the conservation laboratory.The article describes in detail the special conditions for the preservation of organic materials prevailing in a Bronze Age burial mound with a preserved iron pan. For example, for protein-based materials such as hair (fig. 7), fur (fig. 6), woollen textile fibres (fig. 12), skin fibres (fig. 8) and the seldom surviving horn, which constitutes the hilt of the sword (fig. 14). It is then explained how the corroding bronze sword has created special preservative conditions for organic materials such as the mineralised hair from fur (fig. 9).Furthermore, the article describes how the organic remains were extracted from the block and how they were identified under the microscope and with reference to the relevant literature. Features that are characteristic of bone (fig. 10) and skin (fig. 8) were detected at x100 magnification and hair at x200 magnification (fig. 7).Archaeologically interesting details were also identified, such as the preserved oak sheath for the sword (fig. 15) and even its fur lining (fig. 16). Textile made a coarse, plainly woven z-spun type woollen thread was detected as being widespread in the vicinity of the sword (figs. 11-12), while a construction detail of the cloth, a curved edge, was also visible (fig. 13).The block was defined by macroscopically obvious remains, namely the lid and bottom of the coffin, the skeletal parts and the bronze sword. The heavily degraded, compact fill was preserved between these clear horizons. Multiple samples were taken from the fill, the materials identified and their relation to each other noted on several plan drawings of the various hori­zons. The material identifications were illustrated by short Harris matrices, which were then combined with the horizons of the block to form a ‘cloud of matrices’, indicating the overall micro-stratigraphy of the contents of the grave (fig. 4).Tentative suggestions about the nature of the burial ritual are made and illustrated (fig. 5). Finally, the potential for employing this method for harvesting and recording data from a degraded micro-­stratigraphy is outlined.

A Multi-Proxy Investigation of the Anthropogenic Landscape Near the Early Bronze Age Building VII at Al-Khashbah, Oman

The Early Bronze Age in southeastern Arabia is characterized by a significant shift in the archaeological record that coincides with the regional deterioration of climatic conditions associated with the end of the Holocene Humid Period. This study presents evidence for human modification of the local landscape around Building VII, a large circular structure at Al-Khashbah, Oman dating to the late third millennium BC. Through multiproxy analyses combining archaeological, geophysical, geomorphological, pedological and malacological, geochemical, palynological, and archaeobotanical datasets, we found evidence for the excavation of sediments at the foot of Building VII during the Umm an-Nar period. This excavation was subsequently filled by sediment presenting evidence for soil development, increased organic carbon, salt enrichment, microcharcoal, and snails. We suggest that both the excavation and subsequent aggradation may be related to gardening activities, though archaeobotanical and palynological analyses did not yield sufficient preserved material for local vegetation reconstruction. Nevertheless, our results contribute valuable insights into local human-environmental interactions and show that investigations beyond the visible archaeology of the monumental buildings of Early Bronze Age Oman can record a wide range of human activities and land modification near these important sites. These results have the potential to provide information on the resilience and adaptation to climate aridification by Umm an-Nar period peoples in central Oman and landscape modification during this period of economic transformation, increasing sedentarization, and growing social differentiation.

Waste Management and Waste Disposal Detected by Combination of Analytical Methods: Late Bronze Age Březnice Settlement Site (South Bohemia)

ABSTRACTWaste disposal processes and landfill management are crucial subjects in the field of settlement archaeology. Our study is focused on understanding the processes that are connected to the formation of the infills of settlement features and the recycling of the building materials (daub and wood) and waste management. These research questions are addressed through the analysis of plant macroremains, charcoals, phytoliths, starch, micromorphology, phosphates and magnetic susceptibility. The results show the waste character of feature infills, which reflect the economy of the individual households. The composition of the archaeobotanical assemblages is not influenced by the type of feature, and similarities in the plant spectra often emerge in the features located close to each other. The charcoal and dendrochronological analyses suggest that part of the building's oak timber was recycled and later used as fuelwood. The presence of uncharred remains of vegetative and generative parts in wastes was detected by phytolith and starch analyses and the presence of meat and dung of livestock by animal protein analyses. Anomalies in soil phosphate indicate differing amounts of organic matter in individual features. Magnetic susceptibility measurements showed that each feature infill was formed in a one‐time event. The sedimentological analysis demonstrated that the infills of different types of features were similar, but only the infill of Late and Final Bronze Age cultures' specific trench‐like features was compacted. All proxies combined suggest that prior deposition of waste in sunken features first accumulated elsewhere and became mixed/homogenized.

A genomic history of the North Pontic Region from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.

The North Pontic Region was the meeting point of the farmers of Old Europe and the foragers and pastoralists of the Eurasian steppe1,2, and the source of migrations deep into Europe3-5. Here we report genome-wide data from 81 prehistoric North Pontic individuals to understand the genetic makeup of its people. North Pontic foragers had ancestry from Balkan and Eastern hunter-gatherers6 as well as European farmers and, occasionally, Caucasus hunter-gatherers. During the Eneolithic period, a wave of migrants from the Caucasus-Lower Volga area7 bypassed local foragers to mix in equal parts with Trypillian farmers, forming the people of the Usatove culture around 4500 BCE. A temporally overlapping wave of migrants from the Caucasus-Lower Volga blended with foragers instead of farmers to form Serednii Stih people7. The third wave was the Yamna-descendants of the Serednii Stih who formed by mixture around 4000 BCE and expanded during the Early Bronze Age (3300 BCE). The temporal gap between Serednii Stih and the Yamna is bridged by a genetically Yamna individual from Mykhailivka, Ukraine (3635-3383 BCE), a site of archaeological continuity across the Eneolithic-Bronze Age transition and a likely epicentre of Yamna formation. Each of these three waves of migration propagated distinctive ancestries while also incorporating outsiders, a flexible strategy that may explain the success of the peoples of the North Pontic in spreading their genes and culture across Eurasia3-5,8-10.