Early Bronze Research Articles

Identifying the stone toolkit of Copper Age and Bronze Age metallurgists: A new contribution from use-wear and XRF analysis carried out on experimental tests

Use-wear analysis of stone tools involved in metallurgical processes is a recent field of research within functional analysis. In order to consolidate the methodological framework of such research, experiments were carried out on the production of copper and bronze objects. Several production steps were tested, on the basis of archaeological questions relating to sites dated from the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC in north-west Europe. The crushing of copper ore was tested in order to compare use-wear traces created by three different actions: breaking block, fragmenting into small pieces and grinding into powder. In addition, various parts of a test group of copper and tin bronze axeheads and daggers were shaped by hammering: this hammering involved deburring and regularization of the sides of the axeheads and daggers, as well as thinning out the cutting edges immediately after casting or at a later stage. Finally, the sides and edges of the copper and bronze axeheads were abraded and polished. The combination of use-wear and XRF analysis of the tools involved in this series of experiments consolidates the methodological background of the functional analysis of stone tools. They allow better differentiation of wear traces resulting from the processing of ores within the broader spectrum of hard mineral materials. They also raise questions about the preservation of metal residues on the surface of stone tools depending on the different activities carried out. Finally, the distinction between copper and bronze objects is also discussed. Examples of the analysis of various metallurgists’ stone tools from the Early Bronze in north-west Europe support the demonstration.

Objects in an Archaeology and Nature Museum: An Investigation in the Context of Museum Education

The general purpose of this research is to examine the objects in the Güzelyurt Archeology and Nature Museum in the context of museum education. Answers to the following questions were sought: which archeological objects are in this museum in line with this general purpose? Can these objects be used in museum education activities in line with the learning outcomes of the lessons taught in the primary school level of the basic education program? In order to collect the data of the research, document analysis method was used. First the learning outcomes of 8 courses in the basic education program were examined. Then, the archaeological objects in the Güzelyurt Archeology and Nature Museum were classified and evaluated according to their characteristics and ages. It is envisaged that 82 archaeological objects belonging to the Neolithic, Ceramic Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Late Bronze, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman Ages can be used within the scope of museum education.

Tilbes, Surtepe and Tilvez Mounds: An Approach about the Early Bronze Ia-Ib phases, north of Birecik-Carchemish subregion (Southeastern Turkey)

The Early Bronze (EB) I culture in the Turkish Middle Euphrates is of particular importance to our Tilbes Project. Such an archaeological period was discovered in three of the archaeological sites under our supervision. We have been able to differentiate two different moments in the character of the occupation during this Early Bronze Age I, Phases Ia and Ib. The EB Ia phase is characterized by a large urbanization and extensive settlement of the places of Surtepe Höyük, Tilvez/Meteler Höyük and Tilbes Höyük. However, the EB Ib phase, which seems to have continued in at least two of the places, Surtepe and Tilbes Höyük, does not present large remains of monumental architecture and does show an increase in funerary remains in both places. Tilbes Höyük also had, during EB Ia-b, a building with ritual-religious characteristics, built in the same place that was later occupied by BA II and BA III sanctuaries in sector E4a-E8-E3. This area of Birecik is included in the ceramic province of the Late Reserved Slip Ware and indicates a change of orientation of Tilbes and Surtepe towards the Northern Levant, the region of the future kingdom of Ebla, as opposed to the route of the Euphrates, dominant during the Late Chalcolithic.

Модифицированные черепа эпохи ранней и средней бронзы с территории Кавказа и Ближнего Востока

The author focuses on generalization of finds of artificially deformed skulls from the area of South Caucasus and Near East as well as on characterization of types of head shaping spread among the population of the studied region and Eurasia. The finds of modified skulls of the Early — Middle Bronze Ages are not so numerous. Among archaeological sites, the following ones were identified as having the traces of head shaped skulls: Uzun Rama, Kudurlu (Azerbaijan); Yupsy cave, Abkhazia (Georgia); Velikent, Manas-Dagestan (Russian Federation); Karatash, Resuloglu, Hayaz Höyük (Turkey); Vounous (Cyprus); Shahri Sohta (Iran). On the territory of South Caucasus fronto-occipital type of artificial deformation combined with a mild low variant of circular head shaping type prevailed. The skulls from Uzun Rama, Velikent, Karatash (some exemplars), Resuloglu, Hayaz Höyük and Vounous show some similarity by the types of artificial modification. Probably, in case of Uzun Rama and Velikent we are dealing with the influence of traditions from the Near East, while in case of Yupsy cave, Manas, Kudurlu — the source of innovation was influenced by steppe tribes of the Catacomb culture. Population of Karatash, Resuloglu and Hayaz Höyük inherited the tradition of changing head form from Chalcolithic times. The same can be observed for Cyprus, where artificially deformed skulls existed in the Neolithic period. In case of Shahri Sohta it is difficult in present days to define how this custom and its followers transitioned in the South-East Iran during the Early Bronze.

A ceramic kiln of the Early Bronze Age from Tel Lod in the southern Levant: Microarchaeological analyses and technological significance

A two-storey updraft ceramic kiln of mudbrick and clay, dated by associated ceramic finds to the Early Bronze (EB) IB period, and by radiocarbon dating to the end of the 4th millennium BC, has been found adjacent to a large, possibly public structure at Tel Lod. Mineralogical analysis based on Infrared spectroscopy demonstrates that temperatures between 700 and 800 °C were achieved in this installation, and thin sections analysis show that the mudbricks of the walls were intentionally enriched with quartz, a mineral known for its refractory properties. In contrast to open firing or pit kilns known from earlier periods, updraft kilns facilitate better control of the firing process and a more efficient use of fuel, allowing better mass production of durable ceramics of lighter weight that could be more easily transported in larger amounts over longer distances. Proto-Metallic Ware that was found at the site, also associated with the EB IB period, shows variable ranges of temperatures between 500 and 800 °C, indicating that such ceramics could also have been made in this installation. This is one of the earliest examples of this technology in the southern Levant and is observed to coincide with the beginnings of the first urbanization in this region, expressing a growing need for efficient mass production of well-fired ceramics for a market economy.

Beyond urbanization, regional settlement pattern in south-eastern Levant during the Early Bronze Age

In the southern Levant, urbanization is the prevailing model used when interpreting the settlement history and material culture changes observed during the Early Bronze (EB) II–III periods. Several scholars question the dominance of this interpretative model. They point out differences between settlement organization and site morphology data, and the situation depicted by the traditional urban model. Beyond this monolithic narrative, other models are appearing. Models that highlight the large spectrum of settlement variability and regional networks, and express doubts about social hierarchy and intensive production. In these approaches, grounded on facts rather than theoretical a priori, the development of sub-regional analyses is needed, with a broader chronological scope not limited by the pace of urbanization. The existence of several well-preserved sites in south-eastern Syria allows a relatively accurate picture of the different settlements, mainly occupied by communities of mobile pastoralists, to be drawn. The image that emerges from the diachronic presentation of several of these sites is specific to the region: here the traditional architectural elements of urban societies are used differently, in a context where rurality and nomadism prevail, and where the border with the urban world is difficult to establish. Moreover, no evolutionary continuity is perceptible. Even when the characteristics of the sub-region are taken into account, the observations made necessitate the reformulation of the over-generalizing model of southern Levantine urbanization.

The role of highland regions in interregional connectivity: Upper Galilee in the Early Bronze Age

The Early Bronze Age I–II transition in the southern Levant (c. 3000 BCE) is attested by significant changes in the organization of settlement systems, and economic modes of production and distribution. This study examined settlement patterns in the mountainous Upper Galilee and adjacent regions during the Early Bronze (EB) I–II. The regional settlement history was studied using a systematic survey of archaeological sites, as well as an analysis of all available archaeological data from previous surveys and salvage excavations. This study demonstrates that, despite the complexity of surveying multi-period mountainous sites, a systematic survey can contribute to reconstructing individual site histories and the region’s history as a whole. In the Early Bronze Age, the Mountainous Upper Galilee, usually considered peripheral to the large, newly-established urban centres of the lowlands, played a significant role that has previously been overlooked. In addition, this study offers an integrative highland–lowland model for the changing settlement landscapes at this transition.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes identify nuanced dietary changes from the Bronze and Iron Ages on the Great Hungarian Plain

The Great Hungarian Plain (GHP) served as a geographic funnel for population mobility throughout prehistory. Genomic and isotopic research demonstrates non-linear genetic turnover and technological shifts between the Copper and Iron Ages of the GHP, which influenced the dietary strategies of numerous cultures that intermixed and overlapped through time. Given the complexities of these prehistoric cultural and demographic processes, this study aims to identify and elucidate diachronic and culture-specific dietary signatures. We report on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from 74 individuals from nineteen sites in the GHP dating to a ~ 3000-year time span between the Early Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The samples broadly indicate a terrestrial C3 diet with nuanced differences amongst populations and through time, suggesting exogenous influences that manifested in subsistence strategies. Slightly elevated δ15N values for Bronze Age samples imply higher reliance on protein than in the Iron Age. Interestingly, the Füzesabony have carbon values typical of C4 vegetation indicating millet consumption, or that of a grain with comparable δ13C ratios, which corroborates evidence from outside the GHP for its early cultivation during the Middle Bronze Age. Finally, our results also suggest locally diverse subsistence economies for GHP Scythians.

Archaeobotanical Study of Tell Khamîs (Syria)

Tell Khamîs, an archaeological site of the Syrian region of Upper Jazeera, is 3 km east of the Euphrates and 31 km from Yarâblûs (ancient Karkemiš); archaeological excavations determined seven different levels (Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Aramaic, Assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, and Islamic). This study aims to identify plant remains recovered during the excavation of the site and to place them within the chronology of Tell Khamîs and in the context of the archaeobotanical evidence for the Upper Euphrates. A total of 88 sediment samples were collected, and seeds, recovered via flotation, were identified using optical and SEM microscopy. A total of 20,606 whole remains and 37,646 fragments belonging to 92 taxa and 35 plant families were identified. Seed lists were compared with those from other sites, and the results were analyzed using multivariate techniques. Barley is particularly noteworthy for the number of remains; this species was found in 49 different samples, notably, in a silo of about 4 m3 in volume. Middle Bronze Age and Assyrian levels are the richest in remains; the site presents a maximum of documented activity in the Middle Bronze Age period, and the most interesting taxa from a paleoenvironmental and cultural point of view are represented by one or a few seeds.

Феномен высокорослости афанасьевцев Алтая и Хангая: влияние среды или восточно-европейское наследие?

From the end of the 4th millennium BC, a new proto-Caucasian population that characterized the Afanasyevo culture spread in the interior regions of Asia. This contrasted with the intermediate Mongoloid-Caucasoid anthropological appearance of the local Asian populations. The Afanasyevo bearers from Altai and Khangai are distinguished by the largest body stature among the ancient human groups of Eurasia. The craniological and osteometrical differences of the Afanasyevo populations are likely related with the adaptation of the migrant people to the harsh bio-climatic conditions of the mountainous regions of the Southern Siberia and Central Asia, which resulted in greater increase of the head and body size. A statistical comparison of the Afanasyevo craniological series and the Eneolithic ancestral groups (more than 150 crania), Early and Early Middle Bronze Age (about 520 crania) from the south of Eastern Europe allowed to discover a complex of traits that distinguish the Yamnaya population from the previous Eneolithic groups. The Afanasyevo bearers from the low-mountain regions of Altai, the Minusinsk Basin and Khangai mountain are most similar to the Yamnaya people of the forest-steppe and steppe regions of the Volga and Urals, which thus determines the origins of the Afanasyevo population. The craniological series of the Afanasyevo population from the Altai highlands are morphologically combined with the Eneolithic Eastern European groups (Sredny Stog and Repin cultures, Berezhnovka type), which suggests that their descendants could contribute towards the formation of the Afanasyevo population.

The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700–1000 BCE

The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700–1000 BCE

Handles of Early Iron Age Cauldrons from Southwestern Siberia

Handles of Early Iron Age bronze cauldrons from southwestern Siberia are described with reference to their ritual meaning. Typological features, such as knobs, arcuate, or square shape, are relevant for dating. Two chronological groups are established: the Tagar (second half of the 1st millennium BC) and Xiongnu-Xianbei (late 1st millennium BC to early 1st millennium AD). The interpretation of handles depends on the context. At settlements (Turunovka-4) and in certain hoards (First Dzhirim) of the Late Bronze Age, they can belong to foundry scrap. However, handles occur in long-term ritual sites such as Aidashenskaya Cave, suggesting a different interpretation. Indeed, at Eastern European forest-steppe sites of the Xiongnu era, handles of cauldrons had been intentionally buried, most often near water sources, where the summer camps of nomadic herders were situated. A similar situation is observed in southwestern Siberia, from the Baraba forest-steppe to the Middle Yenisei valley.

METAL KNIVES OF THE BRONZE AGE FROM THE VICINITY OF KAMYANA MOHYLA (WESTERN AZOV SEA REGION)

Metal (copper and bronze) knives is one of the most striking categories of artefacts in the materials of the Black Sea cultures of the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age. In addition to introducing new archaeological evidences to scientific community, the paper aims to analyze the place of a representative series of knives (8 items) from the vicinity of Kamyana Mohyla (Zaporizhzhya region) in the cultural and chronological coordinate system of the southern part of Eastern Europe Bronze Age. Three knives came from the Yamna culture burials. The one with an oval blade of the Zarechnoe type (kurgan 1, burial 8) is similar to those used on the vast area from the North-Western Black Sea region to the North Caucasus. Knives from Novopilipovka (kurgan 6, burial 5) and Semenovka (kurgan 2, burial 1) introduce some local features and were probably produced by the local metalworking center. Four other knives are related to the Catacomb culture. The one with a sub-triangular blade and an accented handle from Zarechnoe (kurgan 7, burial 1) belongs to the artefacts that occure rarely during the Catacomb time, but was common for the Yamnaya culture in Crimea and in the Dnieper region. Other types of artefacts do not meet the analogies in Yamnaya culture burials. Knives with a leaf-shaped short blade and maximum widening in their upper part (Zarechnoe, kurgan 17, burial 4) are usually attributed to the Catacomb culture of the Seversky Donets basin and to the east of the Don river. Knives of the Kamyana Mohyla 5 type with a leaf-shaped blade and a long handle are also usually found at the Catacomb sites of the Seversky Donets basin. Knives of the Sekiz 3 type with a long handle and a short sub-rhombic blade originated in the Catacomb culture and the final Novotitorovka group. They are localized in the eastern regions (the Don basin, the Lower Volga, and the North Caucasus). A knife from the Terpinnya site is associated with the monuments of the second period of the Berezhno-Mayevskaya Srubnaya culture and is similar to the finds coming from the archaeological sites in the steppe Dnieper region and Azov Sea region in the second half of the second millennium BC. The large number of metal knives found in the studied area during the Bronze Age, which originate both from burials and settlements was probably related to the use of Kamyana Mohyla Hill as a ritual place.

Ernis (Ünseli) Settlement Complex on the northern shore of Lake Van: From the Early Bronze (Kura-Araxes) to the Late Iron Age (Achaemenid)

Makalede, Van Gölü’nün kuzey kıyısında yer alan Ernis (Ünseli) yerleşim kompleksinde yaptığımız yüzey araştırması ve daha önceden yapılmış çalışmaların sonuçları birlikte değerlendirilmiştir. Yerleşimde ilk çalışma Birinci Dünya Savaşı sırasında N. J. Marr tarafından yapılan Evditepe Mezarlığı (Varşak Tepe-Ernis) kazısıdır. K. ve S. Lake 1938 yılında alana kısa bir ziyaret gerçekleştirmiştir. 1962-1964 yılları arasında A. Erzen ve E. Bilgiç tarafından Evditepe ve Alacahan (Ernis) mezarlıklarında kazı yapılmıştır. Ch. Burney 1956 yılındaki yüzey araştırması sırasında Aşağı Keçikıran istasyonunu incelemiştir. Son olarak alanda V. Sevin ve tarafımızdan sistemli bir yüzey araştırması yapılmıştır (1997, 2002-2008). Ernis yerleşim kompleksi Orta Tunç Çağı’ndaki kesinti dışında, Erken Tunç Çağ’ından (Kura-Aras) Geç Demir Çağ’ına (Akhaimenid) değin uzanan bir süreç içindeki yerleşimleri kapsar. Bunlar, Evditepe Kura-Aras yerleşimi; Evditepe ve Alacahan Erken Demir Çağ (pre-Urartu) kaleleri ve mezarlıkları; Yukarı Keçikıran Urartu kült yapısı ve yol istasyonu (?), ve Aşağı Keçikıran Geç Demir Çağ (Akhaimenid) istasyonu’dur.

FUNERAL RITE AS A SOURCE OF STUDYING IDEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS OF THE POPULATION OF DAGESTAN OF THE ERA OF THE MIDDLE BRONZE

The article is devoted to the study of burial rites of the Middle Bronze Age - the most important source for the study of the ideological ideas of the population of Dagestan. The funeral rite is an important ethnographic feature and a conservative element of archaeological culture. Along with the inventory, it is considered a reliable base for identifying the characteristics of a culture, its chronology and boundaries. The aim of this work is to study the burial rite of the population of Dagestan of the Middle Bronze Age based on the analysis of burial monuments, the study of which allows us to identify various religious ideas and rituals of the cult character of the local population. Fundamental shifts in the development of the culture of Dagestan at the turn of the Early and Middle Bronze Age led to the cultural transformation of the region and caused changes in the ideological perceptions of the local population, which was reflected in the funeral rites. This led to an increase in ethnic diversity, mobility of the population, the spread of the burial rite, cromlechs around burial structures, the appearance of burials in log cabins and with carts, the use of ocher, pebble, tree and reed bedding in the funeral rite, etc. All these facts testify to the great diversity of the funeral rite.These events are associated with the significant influence of the steppe tribes on the culture and ideological ideas of local tribes. A comprehensive study of burial structures and rituals of the population of Dagestan in the Middle Bronze Age made it possible to highlight many problems associated with ideological ideas and social organization of society, ethnocultural contacts of the local population with neighboring tribes. The study of the materials of burial monuments made it possible to form an idea of ​​the spiritual culture of the population of the region under consideration: to reveal that the population of Dagestan in the Middle Bronze Age had complex and varied beliefs, among which ideas about the "soul", "afterlife", magical, protective techniques, cults of animals, nature and other cosmological representations, etc.

Случайные находки артефактов из Чарышского района Алтайского края

The paper is devoted to the generalization and characterization of random finds from the territory of the Charyshsky district of the Altai Territory. The summary includes both previously published items and new artifacts, information about which was received by the authors during the archaeological research of the Ust-Teplaya burial ground in 2020. The collection of artifacts published for the first time consists of three items. This is a double-headed iron psalium with sculptural design of the tips in the form of the heads of mythical birds with an elongated beak, a horn double-headed psalium and a bronze knife with a ring pommel. These items supplement the body of random finds from the area under consideration, which includes items already published in the scientific literature, such as stone drilled axes belonging to the Afanasyevo culture of the Eneolithic era of the 31st — 27th centuries BC, stone mace pommel and bronze dagger of the early and Middle Bronze period of the 22nd — 15th centuries BC and bronze bits of the Early Scythian time of the 8th — 6th centuries BC. The paper also presents the results of X-ray fluorescence analysis of a metal knife and bit, which showed that the objects were cast from a copper-tin alloy. The analyzed artifacts, random finds from the territory of the Charyshsky district of the Altai Territory, reflect various historical and cultural stages of the development of the population of Northern Altai. The artifacts add to the collection of archaeological sources on the ancient history of the region, from the Eneolithic to the early Middle Ages inclusively. Keywords: random finds, artifacts, psalia, bits, knife and dagger, mace pommel, stone axes, Eneolithic, Afanasiev culture, Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Early Scythian time, Pazyryk culture, Early Middle Ages

КЕРАМИКА ПОСЕЛЕНИЯ ПЕСТРЯКОВО ОЗЕРО (ЮГ ЗАПАДНОЙ СИБИРИ)

The article is devoted to the publication of finds of fragments of ceramic dishes discovered at the settlement of Pestryakovo Lake (Zavyalovsky district of Altai Territory). A group of ceramics which belongs to the early Iron Age and the Middle Ages, is pointed out. Single fragments find analogies in the materials of the sites of the Early and Late Bronze Age. The ceramic collection of the Pestryakovo Lake settlement includes groups of ceramics that belong to the Neolithic or Eneolithic. These are fragments of vessels ornamented with prints of a “string”, pricks, imprints of a short comb stamp, a dingle-dingle stamping. Linear-pricked and receding-pricked ceramics are quite informative. On the outer and inner surfaces, as well as in the fractures, traces of burnt-out organic matter (animal hair) are recorded. Such ceramics are widely represented in the south of Western Siberia and are associated with various settlement and burial complexes from the Ob to the Irtysh and various cultural formations of the Neolithic and Eneolithic. Keywords: settlement, ceramics, ornamentation technique, comparative typological analysis, neolithic, eneolithic

Innovations in the Ancient Communication Network

The focus of the present study is on the role of innovation in the communication network of earliest Bronze Age population of Eurasia steppes, when trans-continental global World-System was created. Certain innovations of that period were distributed in the territory of continental steppes and thus formated the historical development of the local clans and the Bronze Age societies. Along with logistics (import and exchange of goods) which is material evidence of allocated archaeological cultures (AC); there was a spread of ‘transcultural’ innovations - new technologies, ideas, images, signs, their combinations and codes, and mythology, expressed in certain cultural, pictorial, funeral, megalithic traditions, rituals, the carriers of which were individual mobile clans of cattle breeders. These ‘transcultural’ innovations and traditions can be considered indicators or markers of the unique identity of a society or clan. Such ‘transcultural’, traditional, irrational features in the steppe AC are probably closest to the ethnic basis of ancient societies.

Danish Bronze Age antler axes – depositions in time and space

AbstractAntler axes are normally associated with the Mesolithic, but they also turn up again later, in the Bronze Age, where they are typically found as single depositions in streams, rivers, bogs and other wetland areas. This article provides a comprehensive account of Denmark’s Bronze Age antler axes together with a series of new 14C dates, which show that this axe type was a consistent presence in both the Early and Late Bronze Age. It concludes with landscape-related case studies examining depositional practices in different parts of Denmark. Attention is focussed here on a comparison of the depositions of antler axes, 14C dates and the landscape – also in relation to the general country-wide distribution pattern. The analyses show that long periods often elapsed between the individual depositions of antler axes within the same areas and that these artefacts are generally strongly associated with watercourses and wetland areas related to watercourses and river valleys, both in the Early and Late Bronze Age. This picture is consistent with that for the rest of Europe, where antler axes are typically associated with running water.

There and back again: A zooarchaeological perspective on Early and Middle Bronze Age urbanism in the southern Levant

Multiple arguments for or against the presence of ‘urban’ settlements in the Early Bronze Age of the southern Levant have identified the need to compare these settlements against their rural hinterlands through multiple lines of evidence. This meta-analysis of zooarchaeological data from the region compares and identifies patterns of animal production, provisioning and consumption between the supposed “urban” and rural sites of the southern Levant from the Early Bronze (EB) against the (more widely recognised urban) Middle Bronze (MB) Ages. It also identifies distinct and regionally specific patterns in animal production and consumption that can be detected between urban and rural sites of the southern Levant. The taxonomic and age profiles from EB Ia and Ib sites do not demonstrate any urban versus rural differentiation patterning, even though fortifications appear in the EB Ib. Beginning in the EB II and clearly visible in the EB III, there is differentiation between rural and urban sites in the taxonomic and age proportions. Differentiation is repeated in the MB II. The clear differentiation between “urban” and rural zooarchaeological assemblages from the EB II-III and MB suggest that rural sites are provisioning the larger fortified settlements. This pattern indicates that these sites are indeed urban in nature, and these societies are organized at the state-level. From the EB II onwards, there is a clear bias in the large centres towards the consumption of cattle and of subadult sheep and goats with a corresponding bias in smaller rural sites towards the consumption of adult sheep and goats and a reduced presence of cattle. After the emergence of this differential pattern, it disappears with the decline in social complexity at the end of the Early Bronze Age, only to come ‘back again’ with the re-emergence of urban settlement systems in the Middle Bronze Age.