Early Bronze Age Site Research Articles

Stable isotope and proteomic insights into Bronze age human dietary life history at Köhne Shahar, Northwest Iran

Interest in subsistence strategies practiced by the Kura-Araxes communities in Southern Caucasus and the highlands of the Near East has a long history, yet direct studies of paleodiet at the scale of the individual are few. We apply serial sampling of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in 17 teeth representing 11 comingled individuals at the Kura-Araxes early Bronze Age site Köhne Shahar (KSH) in northwestern Iran. Proteomic analyses of dental enamel show seven females and four males. Isotopic results indicate an agro-pastoral diet with little or no C4 millet. Individual isotopic biographies reveal a dietary life history that includes weaning between 1.5 and 3.7 years of age (average = 2.4 years), followed by a stable early childhood diet with little intra-individual variation through age 10 years. Isotopic shifts around 12–14 years of age suggest a change in diet that may correspond to marriage and the establishment of new household units focused more on plant foods. Gradual isotopic shifts between 14 and 20 years may represent such households developing livestock herds and increasing meat consumption. Stability in diet across this transition is consistent with village endogamy. Sex-linked differences in the age of weaning and childhood δ15N values hint at differences in learning and enculturation practices. Males and about half of females were weaned earlier but had access to greater amounts of meat, suggesting they were more involved in animal husbandry and/or production of animal products (e.g., cheese, yoghurt) outside the house. By contrast, the other half of females were weaned later in childhood, but ate significantly more plant foods, suggesting they were more involved in tending gardens and producing crafts and/or plant-based foods within the house, where they had greater access to breastmilk.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of various organism remains from the early Bronze Age sites in Xinjiang, China

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of various organism remains from the early Bronze Age sites in Xinjiang, China

Kinship practices at the early bronze age site of Leubingen in Central Germany

With the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe ~ 2200 BC, a regional and supra-regional hierarchical social organization emerged with few individuals in positions of power (chiefs), set apart by rich graves with extensive burial constructions. However, the social organization and stratification within the majority of people, who represent the non-elite, remain unclear. Here, we present genome-wide data of 46 individuals from the Early Bronze Age burial ground of Leubingen in today’s Germany, integrating archaeological, genetic and strontium isotope data to gain new insights into Early Bronze Age societies. We were able to reconstruct five pedigrees which constitute the members of close biological kinship groups (parents and their offspring), and also identify individuals who are not related to individuals buried at the site. Based on combined lines of evidence, we observe that the kinship structure of the burial community was predominantly patrilineal/virilocal involving female exogamy. Further, we detect a difference in the amount of grave goods among the individuals buried at Leubingen based on genetic sex, age at death and locality but see no difference in the types of grave goods.

Zoomorphic imagery and social process during the Early Bronze Age

Through the agency of animals, we think about our identity, landscape and society, and therefore animal imagery holds a special place in approaches to human thought. Through a study of the zoomorphic figurine assemblage recorded at the Early Bronze Age site of Koçumbeli-Ankara, we argue that the zoomorphic figurines of this time period were produced through a meaningful linking of particular images and raw materials to particular use contexts. For example, the ambiguously sexed zoomorphic figurines of clay are usually found within the settlement contexts, whereas the rest of the zoomorphic imagery, in the form of elaborately decorated and often male-sexed metal statues and standards, are found in ‘elite’ burials located in cemeteries. This occurs on the background of an emergent form of ritual control, which was negotiated through the separation of cemetery and settlement. In these contexts, the authority of the past was invoked via ancestral imagery through the careful employment of new raw materials, such as metals, that equally became agential in the separation of age, gender and class-based differences within society, at the eve of the centralization process in Anatolia.

Twelve years of the ‘Arabian Seashores’ project: How the extensive investigation of coastal Oman changed the paradigm of the Arabian Neolithic

AbstractFor over a decade, the French mission ‘Archaeology of the Arabian Seashores’ has been exploring the evolution of the Omani coastline, from hunter–gatherers to the rise of complex societies during the crucial passages from the culmination of the Pleistocene to the Early Bronze Age, passing through the Neolithic. The team extensively surveyed the land spreading from the eastern head of Arabia, Ra's al‐Hadd and Ra's al‐Jinz, to the last villages of Dhofar, including Masirah Island and the Hallaniyyat archipelago, covering 1000 km. Most Final Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age sites were tested or excavated. A multidisciplinary approach that involves the joint work of archaeologists and geologists was chosen to include the contribution of environmental factors to modifying the equilibriums between the natural environment and human communities through the study of climatic and eustatic fluctuations. The project provided a substantive perspective on the evolution of maritime communities between 10,000 and 2000 bce. Moreover, an interdisciplinary and multiscalar approach for describing and analysing the change in the material culture of this region made it possible to transcend the traditional typology and examine the role of human communities’ interaction.

Testing osteometric species determination on zooarchaeological dolphin remains from Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age sites in Ash-Sharqiyyah, Sultanate of Oman

Different Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age sites located in the Ras al-Hadd cape and Ras al-Jinz Bay area (Ash-Sharqiyyah South Governorate, Sultanate of Oman) have provided thousands of zooarchaeological dolphin remains suggesting a strong reliance on the exploitation of these animals. Dolphins are hard to identify to the species level due to a highly comparable interspecies osteological morphology as well as a general lack of extensive osteological reference collections. As a result, such remains are frequently identified as “dolphin”, without any further species identification being undertaken. In this study, we assess whether an osteometric method for distinguishing the nine dolphin species that are present in Omani waters can be used to identify the zooarchaeological specimens. Zooarchaeology by Mass-Spectrometry (ZooMS) was also undertaken on a subset of the specimens but proved ineffective due to the poor preservation of the material in an arid climate. This evidence strengthens the need for effective species identification methods based on traditional zooarchaeological methods. This research is based on our ongoing analysis of the thousands of dolphin remains from the Omani zooarchaeological assemblages.

Recent investigations on the Early Bronze Age sites in the Marmarik River Valley as part of the Kotayk Survey Project

Since 2013 an Armenian - Italian archaeological mission has been working in the Kotayk Province in Armenia with multiple purposes. One of these is the systematic investigation of the valley of the River Marmarik, the main tributary of the River Hrazdan, which is the main watercourse in the Central Armenia. The Marmarik valley is an area of great interest, both for its geographical characteristics and for the archaeological remains that have been found there over the years. In fact the area is characterised by the presence of gold, and some of the most important ores in Armenia, including iron and copper. This contribution presents and discusses the archaeological evidence relating to the first protohistoric phase, the Early Bronze Age, in the River Marmarik valley.

First evidence for the forging of gold in an Early Bronze Age Site of Central Europe (2200–1800 BCE)

Evidence of gold processing in the fortified site of Bruszczewo (Poland) is the first testimony of the production of gold artefacts in a domestic Early Bronze Age site of Central Europe. This paper highlights the potential of macrolithic tool ensembles as a key element for the recognition of metallurgical work processes. Moreover, it presents an optimised methodological approach to tackle the application of stone tools in metallurgical production, based on technological characterisation, use-wear analysis, portable X-ray fluorescence, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Finally, the absence of gold sources in Central Europe raises the question about the origin of the metal, constituting an especially striking issue, as gold was a raw material of restricted access. As Bruszczewo was one of the few enclosed Early Bronze Age sites north of the Central European Mountain Range, the patterning of metal processing (including gold) sheds light on the mode of the production of metal artefacts, apparently restricted to central sites of power, which controlled the communication trails.

Миски эпохи ранней бронзы Приморского Дагестана (вопросы типологии, декора, хронологии)

The article is devoted to the ceramic bowls study being one of the most exemplary earthenware categories presented in rather large numbers on the Early Bronze Age sites of Dagestan coastal area. The main goal of the study is to develop a typology of the bowls from the settlements (Gheme-tyube I, II, Kabaz-kutan I, II, Torpakh-kala, Ullu-Achi) and the burial grounds (Velikent I, catacomb 8, Velikent II, catacomb 1, Velikent III, catacomb 1, Karabudakhkent II, Kayakent VI) of the region as well as to examine the decor and chronology. According to the shape of the corpus, two main types of bowls are distinguished: type I – bowls in the form of an inverted truncated cone with straight or slightly oval sides at the top; type II – bowls with rounded sides and a slightly everted rim. Type I bowls in the shape of a rim are divided into four subtypes (A, B, C, D). Type II bowls do not have clear varieties. For each type and subtype of the bowls, analogies and parallels are given not only from the regions adjacent to Dagestan, but also from other areas (Eastern and Central Anatolia, Northwestern Iran, etc.), where the Kuro-Arak culture are also widespread. The article identifies common and rare types and subtypes of bowls based on typological analysis and statistical calculations. The paper also deals with the decoration of the bowls which is an episodic phenomenon for them (mortise ornament along the inner edge of the bowl, indented decor). An attempt was made to study the chronology of the bowls, the allocation of early and later types and subtypes on the basis of the monuments’ dating, stratigraphic observations and a series of radiocarbon dating.

SOCIETY IN TRANSITION: CULTURAL CHANGE IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE CEMETERY AT NIŽNÁ MYŠL’A IN THE LIGHT OF ABSOLUTE CHRONOLOGY

ABSTRACTThe article presents the results of research on the absolute chronology of the Nižná Myšľa cemetery. Due to its scale and location in a key region of the Carpathian Basin, it should be considered one of the most important Early Bronze Age sites in Central Europe. Many years of archaeological research have so far failed to provide adequate data on absolute chronology. This text presents the results of statistical and spatial analyses on a series of newly acquired 14C dates. They allowed us to present a model of the spatial and chronological development of the funerary space and to capture the stage of significant cultural change associated with the adoption of a new raw material—bronze.

Characterization of ceramic from the Early Bronze Age Xinzhai site, Henan Province, China, by using a multi-analytical approach

This study investigates ceramic production at the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2050–1640 BCE) site of Xinzhai, in central China. The excavation of this settlement produced rich and well-contextualized archaeological material that depicts the Longshan-Erlitou Culture’s development stage. A total of sixty ceramic samples, representative of the various pottery categories and chronological horizons evidenced at this site, and five geological samples gathered around the Xinzhai site were chosen to conduct this analysis. By combining chemical compositional analysis (XRF), spectroscopy analysis (FTIR), and mineral identification (XRD), we were able to define the geochemical signature and mineral characteristics of these ceramics. Ceramic bodies' chemical and mineral composition indicate that raw materials were carefully selected. The firing temperatures of ceramics are between 750 and 950 °C.

A large-scale environmental strontium isotope baseline map of Portugal for archaeological and paleoecological provenance studies

Strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) provide valuable information to help reconstruct past mobility. For the analysis of archaeological tooth enamel to provide a direct assessment of mobility, a comparison to the baseline 87Sr/86Sr in a region is required. In this study, a large-scale 87Sr/86Sr baseline of Portugal is created based on 151 paired plant and soil leachate samples combined with previously published data (20 additional plant and 33 additional soil leachate sites). Spatial patterns of 87Sr/86Sr are evident, following Portugal's geology and terrain, with higher 87Sr/86Sr in the granite dominated north and further inland. Influences from sea spray are observed along the coastal regions of the country. The bioavailable strontium range for Portugal is 0.70575–0.73487, and paired plant-soil leachate site measurements show a strong positive relationship. Empirical Bayesian Kriging (EBK) alongside mean 87Sr/86Sr per geological unit are used to provide predictive surfaces for bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr. We find that the addition of archaeological site-specific measurements is required in archaeological mobility studies to ensure local-scale 87Sr/86Sr variation is captured, illustrated in this study using the Late Middle Neolithic to Early Bronze Age site of Perdigões. The bioavailable strontium isoscape for Portugal provides a baseline map for future archaeological and palaeoecological studies in this region and contributes to the global efforts to map strontium isotope variability.

Macroscopic Chop Mark Identification on Archaeological Bone: An Experimental Study of Chipped Stone, Ground Stone, Copper, and Bronze Axe Heads on Bone

This paper presents a new macroscopic method for identifying chop marks on archaeological faunal assemblages and highlights the major differences in the morphology of chop marks created by stone and metal axes. The method provides macroscopic criteria that aid in the identification of both complete and incomplete chop mark types as well as the raw material of the axe. Experiments with modern stone (chipped and ground) and metal (copper and bronze) axes found that the degree of fragmentation within a chop mark is related to both the width and sharpness of the axe and can be classed on a scale from 1–5 using a variety of criteria. The experiments demonstrate that sharp chipped stone axes are fragile (often break upon impact) and do not create clean and well-defined chop marks. Ground stone axes are more durable but tend to create very fragmented chop marks without a clean cut (sheared) surface. Unalloyed copper metal axes can create sheared chopped surfaces; however, the relatively soft metal creates more crushing at the point of entry than bronze axes. In contrast, bronze axes are durable and create chop marks with exceptionally low rates of fragmentation resulting in a clean-cut sheared surface that extends into the bone for more than 3 mm. The method is applied to the faunal assemblage from the Early Bronze Age site of Göltepe, Turkey to determine whether the chop marks on bones were made by stone or metal axes at this early metal processing settlement. The results suggest that many of the chop marks were made by metal implements (e.g., axes). Hence, this method provides another means to monitor the adoption rates of new raw materials at a time when both metal and stone axes coexisted.

The Ceramic Context of a “Jiroft” Style Chlorite Vessel

The modern looting of a Bronze Age grave located at the site of Mahtoutabad (near Konar Sandal South, Jiroft) has, for the first time, revealed a range of ceramic materials that accompanied the carved chlorite artefacts of the Halil Rud or Jiroft style. In this paper we present and examine an assemblage of recovered finds including a carved chlorite shard and their archaeological context followed by a discussion specifically related to the original funerary deposit. Finally, by conducting a cross-comparative survey between the recovered objects and those from other Early Bronze age sites of the region, we provide a possible, preliminary chronology for the looted grave of Mahtoutabad.

Evaluating manufacture marks on ground stone objects as a new proxy for the spread of metal technology in the southern Levant

In the southern Levant, metal technology was first represented by exotic and prestige items during the Chalcolithic. Later, in the Early Bronze Age, metal implements were gradually adopted for domestic tasks. Since metal tools are rare in the archaeological record, the spread of metal technology can be traced through proxy measures, such as butchering marks on faunal remains. This study tests whether the marks made by metal and stone implements on a soft-stone medium can be distinguished from one another. It further examines a sample of manufacture marks on soft-stone artifacts from the Early Bronze Age site of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel in order to determine whether metal technology had been integrated into the manufacture of ground stone objects. The results indicate that manufacturing marks on soft-stone objects can indeed be used as a proxy for tracking the spread of metallurgy, but also that metal implements had not been utilized in the manufacture of ground stone objects at EB III Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath.

Initial insights into ceramic production and exchange at the early Bronze Age citadel at Shimao, Shaanxi, China

Over the last decade, excavations at the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age site of Shimao in northern Shaanxi Province have transformed our understanding of the archaeology of early China. What was previously seen as an area that was peripheral to the development of early dynastic centers in northern China is now being heralded by some scholars as a precursor of Chinese civilization. However, despite incredible finds of large-scale stone architecture, bronze working, thousands of jade artifacts, and elaborate stone carvings, our overall understanding of the economic and political organization of the inhabitants of Shimao is still very limited. In this study we examine the most common artifact class at the site, pottery, using petrographic analysis, in order to explore production methods as well as potential production organization and exchange. As our results demonstrate, most of the pottery used at Shimao was likely produced locally, potentially by multiple production groups at or near the site, but the ceramics were not particularly standardized in regard to paste recipes. These results likely reflect that ceramic production was not tightly controlled or formalized, but instead took place in local households or workshops, much like ceramic production in many other parts of northern China at the time.

A non-Egyptian «Egyptian» stone vessel from Ras Al Jinz RJ-2, Sultanate of Oman: Critical review of an entrenched hypothesis

This short communication aims to re-discuss the proposed provenance of a reworked stone vessel fragment from the Early Bronze Age site Ras Al Jinz RJ-2 along the coast of central Oman. In the original publication (Cleuziou and Tosi, 2000), it was linked with Egypt thus becoming the first and sole known connection between the Umm an-Nar communities of south-eastern Arabia and late Old Kingdom's Egypt. However, a reappraisal of the mineralogical texture of the stone used to manufacture the object seems to confidently exclude an Egyptian origin. Other possible sources are therefore discussed.

Economy and status of Neolithic to Early Bronze age sites in the Southern Caucasus during the 6th‐3rd mill. BCE: The evidence from ground stone tools

In the Southern Caucasus, the evolution of the Neolithic to Bronze age (6th-3rd millenia BCE) economies is often investigated through the prism of adaptation to constrasted landscapes and environments (arid plain, high moutains, subtropical western coasts) and strategies of natural resource exploitation. This overview of the main technological and functional characteristics of ground stone tools from about 20 sites in the Kura Valley (Georgia, Azerbaijan) contributes to the discussion surrounding these questions. After an overview of the evolution of the grinding equipment and stone tool manufacture within a long term perspective, from the Late Neoliothic to the Early Bronze Age, several issues are adressed. The composition of the macrolithic toolkit is a key issue when discussing the importance of agriculture versus pastoralism in the economy of these populations, which evolved in different regional and environmental contexts. Its management also contributes to our understanding of the degree of sedentarity versus mobility of the populations. Finally, we discuss how the technical evolution of the macrolithic toolkit reflects the principal global changes occurring during this long period of time (neolithisation, emergence of metallurgy, and the mining phenomenon) and their cultural meaning. Our initial results underline the significance of some implements as cultural markers, and also contribute to defining the common cultural background and regional specificities within the South Caucasus region.

A non-Egyptian «Egyptian» stone vessel from Ras Al-Jinz RJ-2, Sultanate of Oman: Critical review of an entrenched hypothesis

Abstract This short communication aims to re-discuss the proposed provenance of a reworked stone vessel fragment from the Early Bronze Age site Ras Al Jinz RJ-2 along the coast of central Oman. In the original publication ( Cleuziou and Tosi, 2000 ), it was linked with Egypt thus becoming the first and sole known connection between the Umm an-Nar communities of south-eastern Arabia and late Old Kingdom's Egypt. However, a reappraisal of the mineralogical texture of the stone used to manufacture the object seems to confidently exclude an Egyptian origin. Other possible sources are therefore discussed.

The Early Bronze Age dendrochronology of Sovjan (Albania): A first tree-ring sequence of the 24th – 22nd c. BC for the southwestern Balkans

The archaeological site of Sovjan is situated on the edge of the Korçë Basin, southeastern Albania. Its remarkably long and well investigated stratigraphic sequence, spanning from the Neolithic till the Iron Age, makes it an important type- and reference-site for the whole region. At different periods of prehistory it was located on the shores of the former Lake Maliq that once filled the Korçë Basin, but was definitely drained in the 1940′s. These permanent wetland conditions on the site allowed for a high degree of preservation of organic material, especially wood. Based on the current knowledge, level 8 of Sovjan contains the best-preserved wooden material of all the Early Bronze Age sites in the Balkans. Through the combination of dendrochronology and Bayesian modelling, i.e. wiggle-matching, a floating 269-years long tree-ring chronology was constructed, with an absolute end-date range falling between 2158 and 2142 cal BC (2σ). It was possible to establish that the dwellings and the trackway associated with the last occupation phase of level 8 are contemporaneous. Additionally, with the help of the new dendrochronological data and based on previously published charcoal dates, the absolute chronology of the subsequent level 7 is being narrowed-down to a range from the mid-22nd to mid-20th c. cal BC (2σ). The Early Bronze Age layers of the archaeological site of Sovjan, which are particularly pertinent for the 3rd millennium chronology of the southwestern Balkans, can now be dated with high precision for the first time and hence offer a major chronological reference point in the region.