Late Early Bronze Age Research Articles

Biomolecular evidence for changing millet reliance in Late Bronze Age central Germany

The Bronze Age of Central Europe was a period of major social, economic, political and ideological change. The arrival of millet is often seen as part of wider Bronze Age connectivity, yet understanding of the subsistence regimes underpinning this dynamic period remains poor for this region, in large part due to a dominance of cremation funerary rites, which hinder biomolecular studies. Here, we apply stable isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating and archaeobotanical analysis to two Late Bronze Age (LBA) sites, Esperstedt and Kuckenburg, in central Germany, where human remains were inhumed rather than cremated. We find that people buried at these sites did not consume millet before the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) (ca. 1600 BCE). However, by the early LBA (ca. 1300–1050 BCE) people consumed millet, often in substantial quantities. This consumption appears to have subsequently diminished or ceased around 1050–800 BCE, despite charred millet grains still being found in the archaeological deposits from this period. The arrival of millet in this region, followed by a surge in consumption spanning two centuries, indicates a complex interplay of cultural and economic factors, as well as a potential use of millet to buffer changes in aridity in a region increasingly prone to crop failure in the face of climate change today.

Discoid loom weights on Cyprus: new insights into textile tools and practical knowledge from the Aegean

Discoid loom weights are a distinctive type of weaving tool widely found at Bronze Age sites across the Aegean region. The identification of these artefacts in the Cypriot record sheds new light on the contacts between the island and the Aegean at the dawn of the Late Bronze Age. This paper aims to analyse the earliest examples of Cypriot discoid loom weights, retrieved from early Late Bronze Age contexts at Kalopsidha and Enkomi. The study focuses on their function and implications concerning the adoption of new weaving tools and likely practices within a period of profound social and economic transformations on the island. While transfers of technologies and practices to Cyprus are largely hypothesized for the various changes reflected in the material culture of this period, the transmission dynamics remain largely unknown. Therefore, discoid loom weights provide us with a new perspective from which to examine the mechanisms of the spread of tools and practical knowledge to the island during this crucial period.

TOWARDS A RADIOCARBON-BASED CHRONOLOGY OF URBAN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE EARLY TO MID-SECOND MILLENNIUM BC: INITIAL RESULTS FROM KURD QABURSTAN

ABSTRACTRadiocarbon (14C) data for 2nd millennium BC urban sites in northern Mesopotamia have been lacking until recently. This article presents a preliminary dataset and Bayesian model addressing the Middle and early Late Bronze Age (Old Babylonian and pre/early Mittani) strata of Kurd Qaburstan—one of the largest archaeological sites on the Erbil plain of Iraqi Kurdistan. The results place the large, densely occupied and fortified Middle Bronze Age city in the first part of the 18th century BC, an outcome consistent with the site’s tentative identification as ancient Qabra. A long occupation gap (up to two centuries) probably ensued, before a smaller town confined to the high mound and part of the northeastern lower town resumed in the late 16th and early 15th centuries BC, possibly before this region became part of the Late Bronze Age kingdom of Mittani.

Defining cultural traditions in the Early Bronze Age Aegean: Characterizing obsidian consumption at Early Cycladic Kastri (Syros, Greece)

While the obsidian sources of the Aegean formed an important focus for the first Eurasian characterization studies, there have been far fewer subsequent sourcing projects in this region compared to the neighbouring regions of the West/Central Mediterranean and Anatolia. The work that has been done suggests that there were significant differences in the use of the region’s two major sources, Sta Nychia and Dhemenegaki on Melos. This paper contributes to Aegean sourcing studies, and understanding of Melian obsidian exploitation over the long-term, via a characterization study of 149 artefacts from the late Early Bronze Age II (mid third millennium cal. BC) fortified site of Kastri on the Cycladic island of Syros, Greece. Methodologically, this involved integrating elemental data generated by pXRF, with the artefacts’ techno-typological, and scalar attributes, to detail the population’s traditions of consumption. The results indicate an exclusive on-site use of Melian obsidian to make pressure blades albeit with a clear preference for raw materials from the Sta Nychia source, and only a minority fashioned from Dhemenegaki products. When these data are contextualised, it appears that the Kastri community’s raw material choices formed part of a wider Cycladic and Cretan cultural tradition, yet differ from those practiced by western Anatolian populations, despite the significant ideational and material flow from the latter region to the Cyclades at this time. Ultimately, this paper not only reconfirms prior claims to the distinct exploitation histories of the Sta Nychia and Dhemenegaki sources, but also employs characterization studies as a means of mapping common crafting traditions (raw material, technical and morphological choices) that were both informed by and came to define a particular social group’s very way of being.

14С Data of Post-Catacomb Sites in the Volga Region and the Volga-Urals in the Context of Regional Radiocarbon Chronology

Issues of radiocarbon chronology of Post-Catacomb cultural communities of the Volga region and Volga-Urals are considered in the article. They are represented by sites of the Volga-Don Babino culture and the Volga-Ural cultural group, which went through two completely synchronous stages in their development. The 14C data analysis makes it possible to date the Post-Catacomb antiquities in these regions within the 22nd –20th centuries BC. Comparison of the radiocarbon dates of the Volga-Don Babino culture and the Volga-Ural cultural group with the dates of the Middle Don Catacomb culture of the Middle Bronze Age and chariot cultural communities of the early Late Bronze Age shows that the Post-Catacomb sites followed the Catacomb ones and preceded the Pokrovka, Potapovka, and Sintashta antiquities.

:Ausgrabungen in der frühbronzezeitlichen Siedlung im Heraion von Samos 1966

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Cranial trephination and infectious disease in the Eastern Mediterranean: The evidence from two elite brothers from Late Bronze Megiddo, Israel.

Here we present the paleopathological profiles of two young adult males, identified as brothers through ancient DNA analysis, who were buried together beneath the floor of an elite early Late Bronze Age I (ca. 1550-1450 BC) domestic structure at the urban center of Megiddo (modern Israel). Both individuals displayed uncommon morphological variants related to developmental conditions, and each exhibited extensive bone remodeling consistent with chronic infectious disease. Additionally, one brother had a healed fracture of the nose, as well as a large square piece of bone cut from the frontal bone (cranial trephination). We consider the potential etiologies for the appearance of the skeletal anomalies and lesions. Based on the bioarchaeological context, we propose that a shared epigenetic landscape predisposed the brothers to acquiring an infectious disease and their elite status privileged them enough to endure it. We then contextualize these potential illnesses and disorders with the trephination procedure. The infrequency of trephination in the region indicates that only selected individuals could access such a procedure, and the severity of the pathological lesions suggests the procedure was possibly intended as curative to deteriorating health. Ultimately, both brothers were buried with the same rites as others in their community, thus demonstrating their continued integration in society even after death.

Digitally constructing a late Early Bronze Age roof. Observations and conclusions

While computer aided design (CAD) technology has been used in archaeology since the early 1980s, the advent of free, open-source 3D modeling software such as Blender is quickly moving the application of 3D modeling in archaeology from a narrow specialization to a common tool for examining a wide range of basic research questions. In this case study, Blender is used to create two models for the construction of a multi-roomed house at the late Early Bronze Age (EBA) city of Titriş Höyük (c. 2300-2100 BC). The models focus on the challenges posed by roofing a large mudbrick structure with a mud roof supported by wooden elements. One house excavated at the site in the 1990s, was chosen for modeling since its location at the corner of two ancient streets, its location adjacent to a terrace wall, and its contiguity with an adjacent house provided a complex problem for ancient builders. Considerations of material, labor, and time costs (architectural energetics) needed to provide a viable model, and new observations have added nuance to our understanding of EBA construction processes. In particular, the case-study provided here illustrates the value of an iterative problem-solving methodology that forces the researcher to consider in detail the decisions made by ancient builders in constructing complex domestic houses. This article shows that 3D modeling software is an appropriate and feasible solution to moving archaeological analysis of ancient architecture beyond the traditional presentation of plan and section views and enables the researcher to evaluate design processes used in antiquity.

Burials of the Late Middle and Early Late Bronze Age Burial Mound No. 1 of the Gudermess Burial Mounds No. 1

The article is devoted to the burials of the late Middle and early Late Bronze Age burial mound No. 1 of the Gudermes Burial Mounds No. 1, excavated in 2017. Burials in the mound belong to three cultural and chronological groups. The earliest is burial No. 18 of the late stage of the Maikop culture. The main group is the entrance burials of the early stage of the Middle Bronze Age. The burials of the late Middle and early Late Bronze Age considered in the article are let into the eastern and southern sectors of the mound, sometimes with the disassembly of the shell stones. They are committed in a strongly crouched position. In the inventory of late burials, as well as in the funeral rite, there are features characteristic of burials of the early stage of the Middle Bronze Age belonging to the North Caucasian culture, and for the inventory of monuments of the Kayakent-Khorochoy culture of Eastern Chechnya and Dagestan. Sporadically, they also penetrate into the territory of Eastern Chechnya and Northern Dagestan. The newcomer North Caucasian population played a significant role in the ethno-cultural processes on the territory of the North-Eastern Caucasus, but later in the second quarter of the II millennium BC. differences between individual population groups disappear as a result of assimilation of alien tribes by local ones. gradually, signs of a new Kayakent-Khorochoy culture are beginning to mature, as evidenced by the funeral rite and inventory of the monument under consideration.

Преемственность и новации в металлокомплексах конца средней – начала поздней бронзы юга Восточной Европы

The paper represents an analysis of metal complexes of the Late Middle – Early Late Bronze Age of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe within the framework of the three-stage periodization. In the system of radiocarbon dating, this period covers 2300/2200 –1800/1700 cal BC and a number of the Post-Catacomb, the Post-Corded ware, the Chariot and the Srubnaya cultures. The source base of the study is the metal objects of the burial complexes. The most variable widespread numerous and chronologically significant categories of objects in the alterability of which new trends in shaping (fashion) are clearly traced (bladed tools, temple rings, string of beads, bracelets) were subjected to a detailed comparative morphological analysis. The analysis is carried out at the levels “territory – chronology – culture” in the context of data for metal production standards of the previous and subsequent periods. The author comes to conclusion that the metal complex of Post-Catacomb cultures is based on the traditions of the Middle Bronze Age with innovations of the Central European origin, mainly in the west, in the Babino cultural circle, and of the Caucasian origin, mainly in the southeast, in the Lola cultural circle. Metal inventory appearance in the chariot cultures was determined by innovations that spread from the north and east, while maintaining a number of archaic stereotypes of the Caucasian-steppe. At the early stage of the Srubnaya culture, metalworking continues this path of development taking into account actual trends of forming.

A Middle Bronze Age Assemblage of Bone Inlays from Lachish: Typological, Technological, and Functional Aspects

Decorated bone inlays are among the fossiles directeurs of Middle Bronze (MB) Age II and early Late Bronze Age assemblages, having been documented since the beginning of archaeological research in the Levant. During the Fourth Expedition to Lachish, an assemblage of 49 decorated bone inlays restored from ca. 200 fragments was found in the rooms of a late MB II monumental building. The inlays were apparently used to decorate wooden boxes. Although such inlays are usually recovered from mortuary contexts, here they were found among daily objects, indicating that the building played an administrative role. In this paper the typological, technological, and functional aspects of the inlays are examined. We reconstruct the use of these objects and discuss the social context in which they were produced and used, providing an additional perspective on such objects and their role in both life and death during the late MB II. Our technological approach included microscopic examination of the inlays, which provided new information on the variability of craft traditions, suggestive of a decentralized production mode.

Strategies of survival? Change, continuity and the adaptive cycle across the middle to early late bronze age at Tell el-Dabˁa, Egypt

Ancient Egypt is considered as one of the world’s longest enduring civilisations, yet few studies have explored its history for insights on community resilience in response to institutional and social change. Instead of focussing on the collapse of the central Egyptian administration, this paper centres its analysis on a ‘community’ in the northeast of Egypt at ancient Avaris, modern Tell el-Dabˁa. Using resilience theory as metaphor, it provides an overview of developments at the site, observing periods of relative stability punctuated by those of accelerated change. It addresses how different social groups transformed in light of social and political developments by (re-)negotiating cultural elements as well as their local, regional, and supra-regional ties, and whether and how these may be interpreted as short- and long-term strategies of ‘survival’.

Times are changing: A new chronology for Holocene volcanic events and hydro-sedimentary history recorded in the Sarliève marsh (central France)

This paper presents the first well-dated palaeoenvironmental study from the Sarliève marsh, a unique sedimentary record in the Limagne plain of central France, where all previous studies suffered from unreliable chronologies. We developed an accurate radiocarbon-based age-depth model and performed high-resolution multi-proxy sedimentological and geochemical analysis on a new sediment core from the heart of the sedimentary basin, improving the chronology and Holocene palaeoenvironmental interpretations. We found six potential (crypto)tephra fallouts (c. 9750, 8500, 7500, 7400, 6300, and 5800 cal yr BP) that enrich the Holocene tephrostratigraphy in Limagne, five of which were not previously documented in the sediments of the marsh. We also detected, for the first time, an array of volcanic phenomena such as degassing episodes (c. 6950 and 6050 cal yr BP), ash leaching phases (10250–9750, 8500–7400, and 5800–5100 cal yr BP), and earthquakes (c. 6800, 6600, 6050, 6100, and 1600 cal yr BP), suggesting a hitherto unsuspected period of high volcanic activity in the area between 7500 and 5800 cal yr BP. This increased activity appears to have caused a massive forcing of hydrosedimentary dynamics in the catchment in the Middle Holocene, by supplying significant volumes of fine volcanic ash to the palustrine basin, and thereby questioning the current Holocene morpho-sedimentary narrative for Limagne. The basin became a permanent freshwater lake after the Mid-Holocene climatic shift, and detrital influxes likely due to anthropogenic soil erosion appeared c. 5500 cal yr BP and grew steadily after 5000 cal yr BP, with a marked lull between 3600 and 3000 cal yr BP, perhaps because of a phase of settlement abandonments during the middle and early-late Bronze age. A series of lacustrine low-stands (c. 4750–4600, 3750–3600, 3350–3200 and 2950–2800 cal yr BP) that correlate strongly with western alpine lake records do not seem to have caused significant changes in the anthropogenic impact on soils modifying the sedimentary supply. Our results suggest that this lake could have been artificially drained c. 2550 cal yr BP, several centuries earlier than previously estimated, allowing us to hypothesize that Early Iron age societies already had substantial capacity to modify the hydraulic environment. Hydromorphic conditions developed thereafter, including complex short-lived marshy phases in late Roman times.

The investigation and provenance of glass vessel fragments attributed to the Tomb of Amenhotep II, KV35, Valley of the Kings

AbstractFour polychrome glass fragments, excavated from tomb KV35 in the Valley of the Kings, attributed to Amenhotep II, were analysed to further investigate the composition and provenance of early Late Bronze Age (LBA) glasses. An additional fragment, EA64163, cited by the British Museum as being stylistically analogous to the fragments from KV35, although with a findspot simply recorded as ‘Thebes’, was also analysed. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) analysis was used to analyse multiple colours on the fragments to determine the major element composition, the colouring strategies and to establish provenance using trace element analysis. The resulting data obtained were compared with four polychrome fragments of standard LBA Egyptian composition, excavated from the palace of Amenhotep III at Malkata, previously analysed by scanning electron microscopy with wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (SEM‐WDS). Analysis showed that the glasses excavated from KV35 are standard LBA glass of Egyptian composition and were most likely produced in Egypt during the 18th Dynasty. The fragment EA64163 is a low magnesia, low potash glass comparable with Iron Age composition and therefore should be reconsidered as a later glass. The analysis of glasses excavated from a reliable, early Egyptian context supports the proposition that glass technology for multiple colours was established in Egypt at least as early as 1400 bce.

Assessing the human-animal relationship at Villaggio delle Macine (Latium, Central Italy): A zooarchaeological approach to Bronze Age Italian lakeside settlements

This article presents four unpublished zooarchaeological assemblages, including two newly investigated ones, from the surface deposit of a lakeside settlement in Central Italy; the Villaggio delle Macine (VDM), dates from the late Early Bronze Age to the Middle Bronze Age (1900–1600 BCE). The potential significance of the differences and/or similarities between these four assemblages was evaluated through contingency table statistical tests.These data complement and enrich the previously known zooarchaeological studies from the site and are contextualised with further interdisciplinary analysis (e.g., palynology and palaeobotany), to assess the human-animal relationship at VDM. All in all, this overview highlights the relevance and uniqueness of this site, in line with the richness and variety of its archaeological remains.Furthermore, the zooarchaeological framework of VDM is compared to coeval lakeside settlements in Northern Italy and rare open-air settlements in Central Italy: this comparison, statistically tested by Correspondence Analysis, allows for the identification of trends in species variety, percentage of occurrence and subsistence strategies. The results of this work confirm that VDM’s faunal assemblage stands out for its particular predominance of red deer over domestic mammals. Such a unique feature in the Italian Bronze Age panorama of settlements, possibly related to a combination of hunting and defensive subsistence strategies, seems to find parallels in the central Mediterranean region with only a few other Protohistoric sites, mainly lakeside settlements.

PAINTED POTTERY WEST OF THE KIZILIRMAK: NOTES ON CHRONOLOGY AND SUPRA-REGIONAL CONTACTS AT THE TURN OF THE 3RD TO THE 2ND MILLENNIUM BC

This article presents dark (black/black-brown) and bichrome (black/black-brown and red) painted pottery appearing west of the Kizilirmak in the late Early Bronze Age and during the transition to the Middle Bronze Age. The pottery originated from the excavations at Karaoglan Hoyuk, Polatli Hoyuk, Gordion, Kulhoyuk, and Cayyolu Hoyuk. The dark-painted pottery might be connected to the Intermediate ware and emerged at the mentioned sites at the end of the Early Bronze Age and during the transition to the Middle Bronze Age. Two groups ( Cayyolu Bichrome Ware A and B = CBW A and B ) which differ in their motifs (simple lines and hatched bands) have been distinguished in the bichrome-painted pottery. Both bichrome groups are local phenomena and appear at about the same time as the black/black-brown-painted ceramics. A supra-regional comparison of CBW A and B with other ceramic groups is difficult, but a comparison with Alisar III-pottery might be possible.

Review and New Evidence on the Molluscan Purple Pigment Used in the Early Late Bronze Age Aegean Wall Paintings

The production and use of the pigment extracted from the murex molluscs is discussed here in association with the purple textile dyeing industry in the Prehistoric Aegean. “True” purple has been identified in a number of archaeological finds dating from the early Late Bronze Age, found in old and recent excavations at three different but contemporary sites: Akrotiri and Raos on Thera, and Trianda on Rhodes. The chemical composition of the shellfish purple pigment either found in lump form or applied on wall paintings is discussed in relation to the archaeological context of several examined finds and with reference to Pliny’s purpurissum. The results of a comprehensive methodology combining new data obtained with molecular spectroscopies (microRaman and FTIR) and already reported data obtained with high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector (HPLC–DAD) applied to samples of the murex purple finds are discussed in comparison to published data relating to few other instances of analytically proven murex purple pigment found in the Aegean over the timespan of its documented exploitation.

The lion, the weapon and the warlord: historical evaluation of the early Late Bronze Age Aegean iconography

This paper historically examines the depictions of warriors, lion hunters and figures of power and authority dated to the early phases of the Late Bronze Age Aegean. We argue that the depictions of warriors and lion hunters reflect warrior hierarchies of the early Late Bronze Age Aegean. Moreover, we define different types of figures of power and authority and argue that two different and parallel elite iconographies depicting such figures were developed during the Neopalatial period on Crete. We suggest that the antagonism between the two elite groups identifying with two parallel elite iconographies is directly visible in some of the combat scenes. We believe that the two iconographies were also used in the self-representation of different Neopalatial elite groups to negotiate their positions in society. However, we suggest that a new iconographic repertoire emerged from the new social reality with the beginning of the Final Palatial period. Later in the paper we turn to the Greek Mainland to compare warrior hierarchies depicted in representations of combat and lion hunt to the warrior hierarchies attested in the burial record. In our view, originally Cretan themes were actively consumed in the context of the Greek Mainland and used to create new elite identities.

ARACHNE'S WEB: WOMEN, WEAVING AND NETWORKS OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE BRONZE AGE SOUTHERN AEGEAN

The appearance of loom weights at a number of southern Aegean sites in the Middle and early Late Bronze Age is indicative of the adoption of a new weaving technology: the use of the warp-weighted loom. The specific type of loom weight (discoid) recovered is a Cretan form, and this evidence of Cretan influence is also seen in a wider range of material culture features at these settlements during this period. Weaving is a complex skill and learning requires contact between novice and expert practitioner over an extended period of time; the introduction of a new weaving technology therefore raises the question of how the necessary technical knowledge and know-how was transferred from one individual or community to another. The archaeological indicators of this new technological practice, the loom weights themselves, are objects that very rarely travel, except with their owners; the presence of loom weights manufactured from non-local ceramic fabrics at some of the southern Aegean sites can therefore provide a window into the patterns of mobility through which the new technology is likely to have spread. Both in the Bronze Age and subsequent Archaic and Classical periods, weaving was closely associated with women. Loom weights thus constitute archaeological markers for the craftswomen who used them. This paper explores the insight they can offer into female networks of teaching, learning and craft practice in the second millenniumbc.

Zooarchaeological evidence of functional and social differentiation in northern Italy between the Neolithic and Bronze ages

Many sites dating from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age have been investigated in northern Italy and have provided important zooarchaeological data. These sites are mostly settlements, but also places of worship and necropoli. While there are few zooarchaeological studies for the north-western part of Italy, the north-east and the Po Valley have been better investigated. Particularly important are the pile-dwellings and the Terramare sites of the Po Valley as they have a long chronological span, the animal bone assemblages are large and, therefore, highly statistically reliable, and have been excavated relatively recently. There is evidence of functional and social differentiation in the Bronze Age which coincided with the evolution of more complex societies. The most common type of functional differentiation began when human communities started to settle and is visible in the zooarchaeological record. Until the end of the Copper Age, animal bone assemblages are characterized by the presence of both domestic animals and a relatively important proportion of wild animals. In the early Bronze Age, domestic animals dominated, if not entirely, the assemblages, and a growing interest in secondary products is evident. From the Middle Bronze Age, the foundation of semi-permanent settlements multiplied in the Alpine area, in the internal areas (secondary valleys and areas far from the main watercourses) and at medium-high altitudes. This was coupled with the seasonal occupation of sites at a high altitude, used for the practice of vertical transhumance (alpine pasture). This phenomenon implies the existence of a settlement hierarchy and, therefore, of forms of social stratification within the framework of the settlement system. Unfortunately, the few zooarchaeological studies of sites located in the Emilia Apennines do not currently allow us to confirm the existence of such links between the mountain sites and those on the plain. Nevertheless, other evidence, such as the introduction of the horse, which is attested from the late Early Bronze Age onwards, can be interpreted as proof of social differentiation; the horse was, in fact, considered a status symbol of the emerging warrior elite.Very few animal burials, dated to the period studied, show the link between animal species (such as dog, cattle, deer) and cultural practices, although a number of examples of such a relationship are provided by the terramare necropoli. In conclusion, in light of current knowledge, it seems that zooarchaeology cannot confirm the existence of important forms of social stratification. This does not mean that they cannot necessarily be postulated: the complex use of territory and the evidently communal nature of funerary and cult ceremonies (which often involved animals) that characterize the Bronze Age make it difficult to exclude the existence of such stratification.