Late Chalcolithic Research Articles

The emergence of monumental architecture in Atlantic Europe: a fortified fifth-millennium BC enclosure in western France

AbstractThe earliest monumentality in Western Europe is associated with megalithic structures, but where did the builders of these monuments live? Here, the authors focus on west-central France, one of the earliest centres of megalithic building in Atlantic Europe, commencing in the mid fifth millennium BC. They report on an enclosure at Le Peu (Charente), dated to the Middle Neolithic (c. 4400 BC), and defined by a ditch with two ‘crab claw’ entrances and a double timber palisade flanked by two timber structures—possibly defensive bastions. Inside, timber buildings—currently the earliest known in the region—were possibly home to the builders of the nearby Tusson long mounds.

The Soils of Early Farmers and Their Neighbors in the Southern Buh Catchment (Ukraine): Micromorphology and Archaeological Context

The problems regarding hunter-gatherer/early farmer interactions are quite an important topic in southeast European archaeology. According to the available data, the two economic subsistence systems have coexisted for some 2000 years during the 6th–4th millennia cal BC (Telegin 1985; Lillie et al., 2001). In some areas, hunter-gatherer and early farmer sites are located just a few kilometers apart. The Southern Buh River valley has yielded evidence of Linear Pottery culture, early Trypillia and Trypillia B1 Neolithic settlements as well as hunter-gatherer sites with pottery attributable to the so-called sub-Neolithic or para-Neolithic (Haskevych et al., 2019; Kiosak et al., 2021). Trial-trenches have been opened within some of these sites, which have been radiocarbon-dated from Bern University laboratory (LARA). Soil samples for micromorphological analysis have been collected from these sites to interpret their paleogenetic formation. The soil development is attested since, at least, the beginning of the 5th mill BC, followed by the developed of chernozem soils, which was interrupted by an erosional episode in the end of 5th millennium BC. The available data show that the soils of early farmers arable as are the present day ones. The early farmers were able to exploit relatively heavy soils to cultivate wheat and barley as early as 5250–5050 cal BC. In contrast, the sites of ceramic hunter-gatherers were often located on the soils which formed under wet conditions along seasonally flooded riverbanks, which were almost unsuitable for agricultural practices.

First evidence for cattle traction in Middle Neolithic Ireland: A pivotal element for resource exploitation.

The power harnessed by cattle traction was undeniably a valuable asset to Neolithic communities. However, data are still lacking on the timing, purposes, and intensity of exploitation of draught animals. This paper sheds new light on a region of Europe-Neolithic Ireland-for which our knowledge is particularly restricted as evidence from both Ireland and Britain in this period has been so far patchy and inconclusive. Using a suite of methods and refined criteria for traction identification, we present new and robust data on a large faunal assemblage from Kilshane, Co. Dublin that strongly support cattle traction in the middle 4th millennium BC in Ireland. Bone pathology data combined with osteometric analysis highlight specialised husbandry practices, producing large males, possibly oxen, for the purpose of cattle traction. This new technology has important implications for early agriculture in the region since it provides a key support for more extensive land management practices as well as for megalithic construction, which increased considerably in scale during this period. We argue that access to draught animals and the exploitation of associated resources were at the heart of wider changes that took place in Neolithic Ireland in the second half of the 4th millennium BC.

Sclerochronological and geochemical study of the carpet shell Ruditapes decussatus in archaeological contexts: A potential tool for season of collection and coastal paleo-temperature

Specimens of the carpet shell Ruditapes decussatus from the Mesolithic shell midden (6th millennium BC) of Beg-an-Dorchenn (Brittany, France) were studied in order to assess their period of collection as well as provide some insight on Paleo-temperature reconstructions. Cross sectioned shells display very clear growth structures allowing an assessment of a growth rhythm of 2 increments per lunar day. From this temporal framework, daily growth increments and winter annual growth breaks were characterized. Our results show the R. decussatus shells were typically collected in the early spring period. Chemical analyses of shell carbonates were also performed to assess a preliminary range of potential sea temperature data from oxygen isotopes values (δ18Oshell). δ18Oshell shows seasonal variations but do not record the whole seasonal temperature range as R. decussatus have a growth break during winter. However, results show predicted SSTs within the range of expected values. Thus, R. decussatus is particularly suited for paleo-environmental reconstructions at high temporal resolution such as seasonal timescales. Additional sclerochronological and chemical research on additional carpet shells and also other mollusk species from Beg-an-Dorchenn or other Mesolithic shell middens along the European Atlantic coast should be considered. Such studies will contribute to the understanding of the seasonal occupation patterns of the last hunter-gatherers of the European Atlantic coast as well as the climate variability at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition.

Use of cinnabar in funerary practices in the Central Pyrenees. Analysis of pigments on bones from the prehistoric burial of the Cueva de la Sierra cave in Campodarbe (Huesca, Spain)

The appearance of red pigments in prehistoric burial sites is frequent. In the study presented herein, the composition and provenance of the pigment sprinkled in a burial dated between the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic periods in the Cueva de la Sierra, in Campodarbe (Huesca, Spain), were characterized through X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and sulfur (δ34S) isotope analysis. The chemical composition of the pigment used in the burial could be unequivocally established as cinnabar, and the S isotope signature pointed to an origin in the ores of the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula, ca. 500 km far from the burial site, suggesting an alternative provenance to the Almadén outcrop, the main cinnabar source in the Iberian Peninsula. The presence of cinnabar in the Ebro valley, on the southern slope of the Central Pyrenees, forces us to rethink the complex processes of interaction between communities that populated the north of the Iberian Peninsula during the final moments of the 4th millennium BC.

Coastal changes and human occupation in the eastern part of Thessaloniki Bay: Geoarchaeological investigations of Toumba Gona

AbstractThe Holocene marine transgression in the Aegean Sea area has significantly impacted prehistoric societies. Toumba Gona is a tell site located at the mouth of the Anthemous River, east of Thessaloniki Bay. According to earlier research, the site should be dated at most to the late stage of the Early Bronze Age. Geoarchaeological research by means of electrical resistivity tomography, vibra‐coring, sedimentological analysis, and radiocarbon dating shows, however, that the direct proximity of the site witnessed the maximum marine transgression around 3000–2500 BC and the human habitation phase before the 3rd millennium BC, before the transgression. The coastline began to recede due to the delta progradation, which resulted in the formation of extensive marshes to the south of the Toumba. The increased fluvial activity since the end of the 4th millennium BC is relatable with the progradation of the Anthemous River's bay head delta. Human occupation was recorded before and after the marine transgression thus suggesting human persistence in the coastline environment.

A numbers game: analyzing pottery usage patterns of 4th millennium BCE sites in the southern Levant

Excavations of 4th millennium BCE sites conducted in the past two decades have provided a significant amount of quantitative data regarding the use of pottery. This accumulated data provides an opportunity to engage in a comparative analysis between sites of different regions in the southern Levant, as well as of the different periods comprising the 4th millennium, including the Late Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age IA, Early Bronze Age IB and Early Bronze Age II. The aim of the current study is to utilize quantitative data to detect general trends in the usage patterns of pottery vessels. The study was based on a division into three general categories: serving, cooking and storage vessels. The results show that each period had its own specific usage pattern or patterns, and that during the Late Chalcolithic and the late EBA IB these patterns were similar throughout the southern Levant. The results of this study are also used to explore some of the associated socio-political implications.

From the Delta to the Delta: Natural Conditions and Settlers on the Main Nile in the Fifth Millennium BC. Part III

Neolithic in the Nile Valley in the 5th millennium BC was spread from the Sudanese Gezira to Central Egypt in the form of year-round settlements and seasonal camps of hunter-gatherers mastering the cattle breeding. Some researchers argued that it was a kind of cultural community, but this rather contradicts the known archaeological facts, which also do not confirm the theory of mass migration of the Neolithic tribes of the Sahara to the Nile in that era because of climate drying. Generally, “a convincing Neolithisation model” for this macroregion is still an actual problem of the Egyptian-Sudanese archeology. In the north, in Upper Egypt with the main concentration closer to Asiut, there are sites of the early Neolithic cultures of Tasa and Badari (the former is also considered as the initial stage of the latter) which preferred plateaus, wadis and edges of the adjacent “deserts” to the river floodplain; nevertheless, some scholars claimed the “Tasians” already to have been farmers growing cereals, although the available archaeological data allow us to speak at best about the beginnings of agriculture in the sparsely populated Tasian-Badarian Egypt. In the south, close to the confluence of the White and Blue Nile from the Gezira to the Sixth cataract, the culture of Khartoum Neolithic dominated, replacing Early Khartoum (Khartoum Mesolithic), from which it differed economically by the transition to cattle breeding; any traces of agriculture in its area, as well as in the early sites of the Saharan-Sudanese Neolithic, are absent. Khartoum Neolithic apparently experienced some drying of its containing landscape in the second half of the 5th millennium BC, and this could hardly be favored by the warm and moist climate at the peak of the Atlantic thermal optimum of the Holocene; most likely, there was a change in the hydrology and hydrography of the river network in the area of concentration of this culture, associated with the stabilization of the “meandering” estuary channel of the Blue Nile in its current position.

ХРОНОЛОГИЯ НЕОЛИТА НИЖНЕГО ПРИИШИМЬЯ (ПО ДАННЫМ МЕРГЕНСКОГО АМР)

In the last decade, the Mergen archaeological microdistrict has become a base for the study of the Neolithic of the Lower Ishim region. Systematic studies of key settlements (Mergen 3, 5–8) were carried out, 42 radiocarbon dates were obtained. It is established that the process of formation of the Neolithic in the region is associated with the appearance (no later than the first quarter of the 7th millennium BC) of the carriers of the tradition of making flat-bottomed ceramic vessels, on the basis of which the early Boborykino culture is formed. By the end of the 7th millennium BC, in the Ishim Valley, representatives of the Koshkino culture of the Trans-Urals appear, and the tradition of making vessels with relief bands, which has some similarities with the Satygin and Mulymya complexes of the mountainous Trans-Urals and the Kondinsky lowland. The coexistence of these groups of the population and the early Boborykino was recorded, in the morphology and ornamentation of the vessels of which the characteristic features of the “classical” Late Neolithic were clearly manifested. At the middle stage of the Neolithic (the second quarter of the 5th millennium BC), the Kozlov population appeared in the Lower Ishim region and, probably, a little later (the third quarter of the 5th millennium BC) bearers of the tradition of making dishes similar to the Sosnovoostrovskaya culture of the Middle Tobol region. Stable ties were revealed during this period, at least for the former, with the southern neighbors (the Makhanjar culture of Turgay). The presented chronological sections illustrate the continuity of the Lower Ishim region and Trans-Urals (Southern, Middle, possibly mountain forest), as well as the steppe territories in the south, in cultural and genetic processes during the 7th–5th millennium BC.

РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ РАСКОПОК ГРУНТОВОГО МОГИЛЬНИКА И СЕЛИЩА МАКСИМОВКА I В 2022 ГОДУ

This work is devoted to the results of excavations of the subterranean burial ground and the settlement of Maksimovka I, located in the Samara River basin, and presents the results of excavations at the site in 2022. During this season of fieldwork, two burials dating back to the 14th century AD and one destroyed burial from the Late Chalcolithic were studied. Medieval burials contained bones stretched out on the back, oriented towards the west and southwest, without grave goods. The Eneolithic burial contained the remains of a skeleton positioned semi-sedentaryand oriented to the northeast, without grave goods. A large pit is also attributed to the Copper-Stone Age. Three pits date back to the second half of the 20th century. During this field season, the southeastern part of the Eneolithic structure No. 2 was further explored. The cultural layer of the settlement was poorly saturated with archaeological material. The upper part of the monument has been damaged as a result of modern economic activities. The cultural layer contained ceramics from the Elshan culture, pinned and combed pottery from the Middle Volga Neolithic culture, fragments of Late Chalcolithic vessels with collared edges, finds from the Bronze Age and the 19th – early 20th centuries AD. A compact arrangement of Eneolithic pottery is observed in one section within the studied area. Stone tools were also collected at the site, consisting of a dart tip, scrapers, cores, plates, abrasives and waste from their production. As a result of excavations of the subterranean burial ground and the settlement of Maksimovka I, complexes of different cultures and times were obtained, including materials from the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, and Middle Ages.

Southern connections. Metamorphosis of a particular type of anthropomorphic vessels in the area of the Cucuteni civilization

The paper presents four fragmentary anthropomorphic vessels discovered ca. 60 years ago on the territory of Botoșani County, at Cervicești – La Morișcă (Mihai Eminescu commune) and Drăgușeni – Ostrov (Drăgușeni commune), left unpublished in the collections of the Botoșani County Museum. Starting from the presentation of these artefacts and integrating similar discoveries from the Gumelnița, Stoicani‑Aldeni and Cucuteni cultural areas, the work analyses the metamorphoses of a particular type of anthropomorphic vessel in the area of the Cucuteni civilization. More precisely, the paper follows typologically the transformation of the base of the vessels from the anthropomorphic silhouette naturalistically figured, with the anatomical profile correctly rendered, with the soles and feet clearly indicated, to the intermediate rhomboidal sole and then to the ovoid or circular base. Confirming the hypothesis of Gumelnița influences penetrating the Cucuteni environment, the analysis of the new materials and the typological connections illustrate and highlight the role of a transmission vector and intermediary between the North and the South that the Stoicani‑Aldeni cultural environment played for contemporary or immediately subsequent Eneolithic communities during the second half of the 5th millennium BC.

ХРОНОЛОГИЯ ПАМЯТНИКОВ НЕОЛИТА И ЭНЕОЛИТА ЛЕСОСТЕПНОГО ЗАУРАЛЬЯ

To date, more than 50 sites with Neolithic layers have been explored in the forest-steppe Trans-Urals. Of these, at least 20 were excavated at different times and in different areas. The sites presented in this study are located from the eastern slope of the Southern Trans-Urals up to the confluence of the Miass River with the Iset River (Tashkovo I). At the moment, 58 radiocarbon dates are available for 13 sites. The dates are not evenly distributed among the sites. It is quite difficult to consider the relative chronology of the Neolithic sites of the forest-steppe Trans-Urals, since not all sites have radiocarbon dating, there are practically no dates obtained by the AMS-method, and most dating sites have a very large confidence interval. For the first time, the Neolithic population of the Kozlovskaya tradition appeared in the forest-steppe of the Trans-Urals at the beginning of the 6th millennium BC at the Tashkovo I settlement. The late Neolithic complexes of the Poludenskaya and Boborykino traditions appear in the second half of the 6th millennium BC and occupy most of the 5th millennium BC. In the Eneolithic of the forest-steppe Trans-Urals, almost throughout the middle of the 5th to the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC almost all existing cultural traditions continued to coexist. It should be noted that the earliest tradition in the Eneolithic of the region was the tradition of ornamentation with a comb stamp with simple (linear) and geometric patterns.

At a moment before the Corded ware: comb ware from the south-eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland in the late 4th millennium BC

At a moment before the Corded ware: comb ware from the south-eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland in the late 4th millennium BC

Tell el-Murra (Northeastern Nile Delta Survey): Research in 2018 and 2022

Work in the 2018 and 2022 archaeological seasons at the site of Tell el-Murra, located in the northeastern Nile Delta, continued in two areas: the settlement (Trench T5), and the cemetery (Trench S3). The research yielded valuable information on the appearance and function of the settlement, whose origins date back to the 4th millennium BC. It undoubtedly flourished during the Early Dynastic period and in the beginning of the Old Kingdom. This is evidenced by numerous remains of utility and storage buildings, in which a large number of fragments of ceramic vessels, as well as stone and flint objects for grain processing and breadmaking have been discovered. An integral part of the settlement was the cemetery, where the deceased were buried in simple pits and cavity graves, as well as in more elaborate built-up structures.

НОВЫЕ ДАННЫЕ О ХРОНОЛОГИИ УКРЕПЛЕННЫХ ПОСЕЛЕНИЙ ОХОТНИКОВ, РЫБОЛОВОВ И СОБИРАТЕЛЕЙ ТАЕЖНОЙ ЗОНЫ ЗАПАДНОЙ СИБИРИ

The taiga zone of Western Siberia is an area with a long history of fortification construction. The number of known sites and their prototypes is more than 1 000, most of them belong to the Early Iron Age and the Middle Ages, but the first fortifications are dated to the Neolithic period and appear in the region at the turn of 7th–6th millennium BC. The study of their functions is a complex task, which can be solved, among other things, on the basis of statistical methods, which application is impossible without a reliable chronology. Unfortunately, the number of radiocarbon dates for the sites in the taiga zone of Western Siberia is extremely small. To create a reliable base for radiocarbon dating of the Surgut Priobie sites, associated with various types of defensive structures, we collected samples of coal and carbon deposit on pottery. Samples were collected both from museum collections and in the course of fieldwork. The main study site was the Barsova Gora tract, which sites form the basis for the study of cultural processes and the chronology of the Middle Taiga subzone of Western Siberia. As a result, a series of 66 radiocarbon AMS dates from 18 fortified and unfortified settlements from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages was obtained. Analysis of the series showed that about 10 % of the dates are invalid, which is due to both selection errors and complex stratigraphy, as well as to problems of the method, including the reservoir effect. Many sites were dated for the first time. In addition, 6 dates were obtained for the bones and soft tissues of modern fish.

The Jars from Tomb U-j – a Further Petrographic and Contextual Reassessment

The petrographic investigations of imported vessels from Abydos, published a few years ago in “Egypt and the Levant,” 4 confirmed their origin from different regions of the Levant. In addition to vessels from Early Dynastic royal tombs and from Cemetery B, the samples also included five jars from Predynastic Cemetery U, especially from Tomb U-j. For the latter, such an origin had already become apparent from the archaeological point of view, as well as from NAA and XRF analyses when the material was first published 20 years ago. However, the interpretation of the results of petrographic investigations at the time neglected this option. The new series of samples from Abydos has since been supplemented by 13 additional vessels from U-j and other Cemetery U tombs. The analysis presented below leaves no doubt as to the Levantine origin of the jars and shows that an evaluation of analytical results based on a limited database can easily lead to misinterpretation, which has long hindered the archaeological discussion concerning the significance of these finds. In the case of the U-j jars, this is regrettable as this thus far unique finding is not only important for the understanding of the connections to the Levant from an Egyptian point of view, but also sheds light on the socio-economic developments in different regions of the Levant in the late 4th millennium BCE.

Tell al-Sour Late Neolithic (Homs region 6000–5500 bc)

Abstract – Tell al-Sour (the second largest tell after Tell El-Mishrefe/Qatna) is in the Homs Region (Middle Syria). It was excavated by the author between 1984 and 1986. The following paper presents the study only of Strata B2 (found in site Area P). In Trench I/Sounding 1 parts of an architectural structure and its related pottery assemblage were unearthed. Following the study and comparison with parallels from elsewhere in Syria and adjacent regions of the northern Levant and Mesopotamia, the finds from Tell al-Sour can be dated to the first half of the sixth millennium bc.

On the Kura-Araxes expansion

Towards the end of the 4th millennium BC Kura-Araxes culture of Transcaucasia (Early Transcaucasian culture) was terminated and later replaced by heterogeneous Kura-Araxes II. The settlements ceased to exist, in some cases due to destruction and/or conflagration. In archaeological literature had been expressed different views in regard to the termination of the Kura-Araxes I which mostly concern its possible causes. The study of this problem in the context of contemporary Near Eastern and Egyptian history and the so-called 5.2 k. BC climate event as well, the end of the Kura-Araxes I and the appearance of its different artifacts in Eastern Asia Minor, Lake Urmiya basin, and Syria-Palestine shows that, probably, this event was the result of global changes in the environment. The article is an attempt to suggest some remarks concerning the motives of the Kura-Araxes expansion, based upon the current understanding of this culture.

Homo mobilis: Some observations on the characteristics of the Kura-Araxes cultural complex

The terms ‘enclosed nomadism’ and ‘dimorphic structure’ which are used to describe the relationship between the Near Eastern mobile pastoralists living in the same habitat and sedentary agricultural communities, are fully applicable also for the description of the socio-cultural landscape of the second half of the 4th millennium BC in Armenia. Archaeological data accumulated year by year provide an opportunity to consider in more detail the relationship between the agricultural and specialized mobile pastoral groups in the region. From this point of view, important data are provided by the settlement of Godedzor, which represents the final stage of the Chalcolithic period, as well as by the clusters with materials of the early stage of the Kura-Araxes cultural complex (Talin, Avan, Tsaghkalanj), which are not associated with settlements.

The Dawn of Metallurgy at Chalcolithic Arslantepe: Metal Finds and Other Metallurgical Remains from Level VII

This paper deals with archaeometallurgical remains from period VII (Late Chalcolithic 3-4, 3900-3400 BC) of the settlement of Arslantepe (Malatya, Turkey). It aims at compiling early metallurgy (metallurgical artefacts, slags) by means of interdisciplinary scientific analysis. In contrast to later periods, the metallurgy of the Late Chalcolithic has as yet only been investigated to a limited degree. Trace elements and lead isotope analysis of metal artefacts and slags allowed for a reconstruction of provenances of raw materials in order to deal with trade networks. Lead and copper slags were analysed for texture and phase content to reconstruct metallurgical operations. Late Chalcolithic activities from Arslantepe level VII are compared with the metallurgy of the previous level, VIII, as well as of later periods (levels VI A, VI B). Various metal groups could be identified at Arslantepe VII, most notably copper, arsenic copper and arsenic-nickel copper. The slag samples show the smelting and processing of copper and lead within the settlement, while the lead slags may also indicate the extraction of silver. The differing compositions indicate the use of differentraw material sources, which is also supported by the lead isotope analysis data.