Iron Age Period Research Articles

Barbara Bolognani. “Trends of Continuity and Change in the Phoenician Coroplastic Production during the Iron Age and Persian Period”

Barbara Bolognani. “Trends of Continuity and Change in the Phoenician Coroplastic Production during the Iron Age and Persian Period”

Aaron Brody. “ ‘For the wealth of the Sea Will Pass on to You’: Changes in Patterns of Trade from Southern Phoenicia to Northern Judah in the Late Iron Age and Persian Periods”

Aaron Brody. “ ‘For the wealth of the Sea Will Pass on to You’: Changes in Patterns of Trade from Southern Phoenicia to Northern Judah in the Late Iron Age and Persian Periods”

The Pentateuchal Dietary Proscription against Finless and Scaleless Aquatic Species in Light of Ancient Fish Remains

The origins and early history of the pentateuchal prohibition against eating finless and scaleless aquatic species (Lev 11:9–12; Deut 14:9–10) has yet to merit a detailed investigation. The present study is an initiatory attempt to attend to this lacuna by analysing 56 zooarchaeological assemblages of fish remains from 30 sites throughout the southern Levant from the Late Bronze Age through to the end of the Byzantine period (ca. 1550 BCE to 640 CE). A central conclusion of the study is that consumption of scaleless fish— especially catfish—was not uncommon at Judean sites throughout the Iron Age and Persian periods. Unlike the pentateuchal prohibitions against eating pork, the ban against finless and scaleless aquatic species apparently deviated from longstanding Judean dietary habits. The pentateuchal writers appear to have legislated this dietary restriction despite the lack of an old and widespread dietary tradition at its root. This conclusion should encourage us to rethink commonly held assumptions that other pentateuchal dietary proscriptions emerged out of earlier dietary ‘taboos’.

An Iron Age II Underground Winery from Khirbet el-Hammam

A system of pits recently discovered in Khirbet el-Hammam in northern Samaria apparently meets the accepted definition of “Gibeon pits”. These pits, used to store wine in the late Iron Age and early Persian period, are evidence of a developed local agriculture and of the site’s centrality. The location and identification of these pits in connection to other remains from Khirbet el-Hammam may shed new light on the size and centrality of the city during the Iron Age.

ХОЗЯЙСТВЕННЫЕ СТРУКТУРЫ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ ЭПОХИ ЭНЕОЛИТА ЗАУРАЛЬЯ (ПО МАТЕРИАЛАМ ТОРФЯНИКОВЫХ ПАМЯТНИКОВ)

The Trans-Ural region is located on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains within the boundaries of two physiographic countries – the Ural highlands and the West-Siberian plain, and crosses several natural and climatic zones. About 60 peat-bog sites of the Mesolithic – Early Iron Age period are known in this area. The Eneolithic periodization and chronology is based on a series of 14С dates (4000-2500 BC) obtained from various categories of sources and stratigraphic analysis data. During the Eneolithic period the Trans-Ural population had a mixed economy of the subsistence harvesting type with the core branches of the economy including domestic crafts, stone flaking, pottery, woodworking, bone and metal working, hunting, fishing, and harvesting.

Улуг-депе в эллинистический и парфянский периоды: новые открытия

This paper seeks to shed new light on the latest discovered Hellenistic and Parthian occupation period at Ulug-depe (South Turkmenistan). After its abandonment at the end of the Middle Iron Age period, the site was reoccupied during the late 1st millennium BC. Extended research led by the joint French-Turkmen Archaeological Expedition (MAFTur) has succeeded in unearthing this occupation in many places of the site and has studied a varied pottery assemblage.

Metsamor: report after the 2019 season

The 2019 season in Metsamor confirmed the functioning of the settlement in the Urartian period. House II, discovered during the fieldwork, is the first architectural structure built at the beginning of the Early Iron Age period which, after some possible rearrangements, retained control over the Aras valley during the Urartian kingdom. Pottery discovered there confirms that the already excavated part of the settlement was extensively used after the fall of Urartu. A pit grave dated to the 7th century BC yielded a late Urartian cylinder seal.

Strontium and Oxygen Isotope Analyses Reveal Late Cretaceous Shark Teeth in Iron Age Strata in the Southern Levant

Skeletal remains in archaeological strata are often assumed to be of similar ages. Here we show that combined Sr and O isotope analyses can serve as a powerful tool for assessing fish provenance and even for identifying fossil fish teeth in archaeological contexts. For this purpose, we established a reference Sr and O isotope dataset of extant fish teeth from major water bodies in the Southern Levant. Fossil shark teeth were identified within Iron Age cultural layers dating to 8–9th century BCE in the City of David, Jerusalem, although the reason for their presence remains unclear. Their enameloid 87Sr/86Sr and δ18OPO4 values [0.7075 ± 0.0001 (1 SD, n = 7) and 19.6 ± 0.9‰ (1 SD, n = 6), respectively], are both much lower than values typical for modern marine sharks from the Mediterranean Sea [0.7092 and 22.5–24.6‰ (n = 2), respectively]. The sharks’ 87Sr/86Sr are also lower than those of rain- and groundwater as well as the main soil types in central Israel (≥0.7079). This indicates that these fossil sharks incorporated Sr (87Sr/86Sr ≈ 0.7075) from a marine habitat with values typical for Late Cretaceous seawater. This scenario is in line with the low shark enameloid δ18OPO4 values reflecting tooth formation in the warm tropical seawater of the Tethys Ocean. Age estimates using 87Sr/86Sr stratigraphy place these fossil shark teeth at around 80-million-years-old. This was further supported by their taxonomy and the high dentine apatite crystallinity, low organic carbon, high U and Nd contents, characteristics that are typical for fossil specimens, and different from those of archaeological Gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) teeth from the same cultural layers and another Chalcolithic site (Gilat). Chalcolithic and Iron Age seabream enameloid has seawater-like 87Sr/86Sr of 0.7091 ± 0.0001 (1 SD, n = 6), as expected for modern marine fish. Fossil shark and archaeological Gilthead seabream teeth both preserve original, distinct enameloid 87Sr/86Sr and δ18OPO4 signatures reflecting their different aquatic habitats. Fifty percent of the analysed Gilthead seabream teeth derive from hypersaline seawater, indicating that these seabreams were exported from the hypersaline Bardawil Lagoon in Sinai (Egypt) to the Southern Levant since the Iron Age period and possibly even earlier.

Revisitando os Chões de Alpompé com técnicas de deteção remota: novas evidências sobre os sistemas defensivos Romano-Republicanos

O planalto dos Chões de Alpompé, em Santarém, foi, pelo menos desde os anos 50 do século XX, alvo de numerosos trabalhos de prospeção e até de campanhas de escavação e acompanhamento de obras agrícolas. Tais trabalhos proporcionaram a recolha de inúmeros materiais arqueológicos, muitos dos quais já publicados, que deixam antever uma relevante ocupação humana durante a Idade do Ferro e época Romano-Republicana. Todavia, a definição dos seus sistemas defensivos foi sempre difícil, situação que resulta em grande parte da densa cobertura florestal que o cobre. A recente disponibilidade, para esta zona do baixo Vale do Tejo, de dados de laser aéreo, bem como a sua combinação com fotografia aérea histórica, permitiu identificar e mapear novas estruturas arqueológicas que autorizam uma visão renovada sobre as estruturas do sítio. Esta leitura tem também em consideração os recentes dados obtidos nas intervenções arqueológicas de escavação e acompanhamento decorridas entre 2015 e 2018, que permitiram esclarecer algumas questões relevantes sobre estes sistemas defensivos.

Forging the trowel, hammering the Dacians: Marxism and Late Iron Age Archaeology in Romania (1948–1989)

The aim of this paper is to make a critical evaluation of the Romanian historiography from 1948–1989 which had as a subject of study the social history of the northern Balkan communities in the Late Iron Age period. The two years that I have chosen have both a symbolical and a chronological value. The year 1948 marks the beginning of an extensive and radical process of political, economic, social, and cultural changes, while the year 1989 symbolizes the fall of the Romanian “communist” regime. I propose a contextual analysis, which takes into account the evolution of the “communist” regime, as well as some key events that shaped the discourse. Through this evaluation, I want to intervene in the symbolic struggles that had as a final stake the Late Iron Age archaeology from Romania. Without claiming an objective analysis, I want to offer an alternative to the distorted portrayals which had existed so far. Although labelled as a “Communist” or “Marxist” historiography, it never strayed too far from the nationalist ideology, creating massive distortions along its way. In almost 50 years, the Romanian Late Iron Age historiography has gone from a formal and superficial application of Marxist theories, to a relative liberalization, and finally returned to an almost right‑wing discourse over the Dacian past. Moreover, I will show, in contrast to the classical post‑Communist view that the Late Iron Age archaeology in Romania was in touch, at least at some point, to the contemporary historiographical debates.

Debasement of silver throughout the Late Bronze – Iron Age transition in the Southern Levant: Analytical and cultural implications

The study of silver, which was an important mean of currency in the Southern Levant during the Bronze and Iron Age periods (~1950–586 BCE), revealed an unusual phenomenon. Silver hoards from a specific, yet rather long timespan, ~1200–950 BCE, contained mostly silver alloyed with copper. This alloying phenomenon is considered here for the first time, also with respect to previous attempts to provenance the silver using lead isotopes. Eight hoards were studied, from which 86 items were subjected to chemical and isotopic analysis. This is, by far, the largest dataset of sampled silver from this timespan in the Near East. Results show the alloys, despite their silvery sheen, contained high percentages of Cu, reaching up to 80% of the alloy. The Ag–Cu alloys retained a silvery tint using two methods, either by using an enriched silver surface to conceal a copper core, or by adding arsenic and antimony to the alloy. For the question of provenance, we applied a mixing model which simulates the contribution of up to three end members to the isotopic composition of the studied samples. The model demonstrates that for most samples, the more likely combination is that they are alloys of silver from Aegean-Anatolian ores, Pb-poor copper, and Pb-rich copper from local copper mines in the Arabah valley (Timna and Faynan). Another, previously suggested possibility, namely that a significant part of the silver originated from the West Mediterranean, cannot be validated analytically. Contextualizing these results, we suggest that the Bronze Age collapse around the Mediterranean led to the termination of silver supply from the Aegean to the Levant in the beginning of the 12th century BCE, causing a shortage of silver. The local administrations initiated sophisticated devaluation methods to compensate for the lack of silver – a suspected forgery. It is further suggested that following the Egyptian withdrawal from Canaan around the mid-12th century BCE, Cu–Ag alloying continued, with the use of copper from Faynan instead of Timna. The revival of long-distance silver trade is evident only in the Iron Age IIA (starting ~950 BCE), when silver was no longer alloyed with copper, and was imported from Anatolia and the West Mediterranean.

Palaeopathological investigations of cremated human remains - Methodological and comparative study on the example of traces of pathological conditions in the skull.

This paper presents results of palaeopathological investigations carried out on a total of 133 cremation burials from the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman Imperial Period from Germany, the Czech and the Slovak Republics and Turkey. With the fragments of the 118 skulls in total, the aim was to document, diagnose and examine pathological conditions as completely and extensively as possible. These were investigated macromorphologically and then further examined radiologically, scanning electron microscopically and light microscopically in order to create a methodological basis for the determination of the effects of cremation on pathological vestiges on the bones and the extent to which the intra vitam processes involved in the cremation remain detectable. The investigation provided a number of different diagnoses of different types of pathological processes in all areas of the skull. Thus, with the support of light microscopy, haemorrhagic or inflammatory changes on the internal or external lamina of the skull vault were detected, traces of inflammation in the paranasal sinuses, as well as, a whole spectrum of dental pathologies. In approximately every tenth skull from the investigated cremation burials, at least one or several pathological conditions was observed. It should be noted that these results cannot be compared with the frequencies and diagnostic possibilities in inhumations and such use would be methodologically unjustifiable. Nevertheless, supported by modern methods, it is a significant extension of the range of anthropological research on cremated human remains and the methodology in their examination.

Poolewe: The last Bronze Age hoard in Scotland?

ABSTRACT In 1877, a hoard of nine copper alloy objects was recovered from a peat bog at Poolewe, Scotland, including axeheads, rings and an ornament. For the first time since its discovery, this article publishes the hoard in its entirety, including an assessment of typological features, full illustration and metallurgical analysis. Components of the hoard are characteristic of the British Llyn Fawr/Earliest Iron Age period (800–600 BC) suggesting the date of deposition, which is confirmed by a radiocarbon date from the wooden haft of an axehead. However, set in the broader context of Scotland and Britain during this period, it is suggested that this hoard in fact represents the last vestiges of the Late Bronze Age hoarding practice in Scotland.

Karismatisk bergkrystall fra Ryfylkeheiane? Smykkestein som identitetsmarkør i yngre jernalder

In the 1960s and 1970s, large scale surveys related to hydro power developments in montane areas in Southwest Norway, recorded several rock crystals deposits and sites where crystals from these had been used both in the Stone Age and the Late Iron Age period. The Late Iron Age sites were interpreted as the first proof of locally produced rock crystal beads. In this article, I combine the production sites and rock crystal deposits to describe the operational chain of local bead production. This serves as the point of departure for a consideration of the value ascribed raw materials, local or regional vs. imported goods. I argue that symbolic aspects beyond economic value may have been the incentive for the local production, that is, qualities, such as rock crystals’ aesthetic, affective, or indeed charisma. Rock crystal beads from Late Iron Age graves in Rogaland are used as examples.

2500 years of charcoal production in the Low Countries: The chronology and typology of charcoal kilns and their relation with early iron production

The study of archaeological remains of charcoal kilns is a fast growing field of research. The history and evolution of different types of (pre)historical charcoal production features is still poorly understood however. Based on a large number of radiocarbon dated charcoal kilns from Belgium and the Netherlands, covering c. 2500 years, a typology and chronology of charcoal kilns is presented. The oldest charcoal production features date to the late Iron Age, though many of these dates seem to suffer from an old-wood effect and might actually date to the Early Roman period. Both Iron Age and Roman period charcoal production is done in rectangular pit kilns. During the Early Middle Ages, there is a shift to circular pit kilns which become the dominant kiln type during the High Middle Ages. From c.1300 CE onwards, charcoal is no longer produced in pit kilns, but a new kiln type, i.e. the mound kiln is used. The size of the charcoal (pit) kilns decreases from the Roman period till c. 1300 CE when, with the use of mound kilns the volume of produced charcoal dramatically increases. These changes in kiln size most likely reflect changes in both the organisation, scale and technology of iron production in the Low Countries.

Black carbon traces of human activities in stalagmites from Turkey

Speleothems are recognized as sensitive recorders of climatic fluctuations in the past and provide precisely dated and highly resolved environmental records. However, their potential as an archaeological archive is not fully acknowledged yet. Here we present several stalagmites containing soot and charcoal layers from various caves in Turkey and provide evidence that these black carbon layers are directly related to human activity. The archaeological artefacts found in Tabak and Kocain caves in SW Turkey support the linkage between soot and charcoal layers existence and human activity in the caves. For this study, we focus on stalagmites from Tabak and Kocain cave. To explore the age and nature of the soot and charcoal layers within stalagmites Ta-9, Ta-10 and Ko-1, Uranium series dating, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and thin section analyses were performed. The episodic soot and charcoal deposition in stalagmites Ta-9 and Ta-10 occurred between 7424 ± 225 yr BP and 6670 ± 218 yr BP while the soot and charcoal layers in stalagmite Ko-1 formed between 2830 ± 189 yr BP and 470 ± 56 yr BP. In combination with the archaeological inventory in Tabak Cave, the soot and charcoal layers within stalagmites Ta-9 and Ta-10 show that the cave was used repeatedly as a burial site during Chalcolithic period. In Kocain Cave was also used repeatedly between the Iron Age and Medieval Period, most likely for ritual activities and for providing animals with water from a small spring in the entrance to the cave. The soot and charcoal layers within stalagmites from Turkey prove that speleothems are also important as archaeological archives.

Early human impact on soils and hydro-sedimentary systems: Multi-proxy geoarchaeological analyses from La Narse de la Sauvetat (France)

We analysed the late-Holocene pedo-sedimentary archives of La Narse de la Sauvetat, a hydromorphic depression in the southern Limagne plain (central France), where chronologically accurate studies are scarce. The multi-proxy geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of two cores from different areas of the basin was carried out through sedimentological, geochemical, micromorphological and malacological investigations. Integration of these datasets supported by a robust radiocarbon-based chronology allowed discussion of socio-environmental interactions and anthropogenic impacts from Late Neolithic to Early Middle Ages. Until the Middle Bronze Age, there was no clear evidence of anthropogenic impact on soils and hydro-sedimentary dynamics of the catchment, but two peaks of high alluvial activity probably related to the 4.2 and 3.5 kyr. BP climate events were first recorded in Limagne. Significant anthropogenic impacts started in the Late Bronze Age with increased erosion of the surrounding volcanic slopes. However, a major threshold was reached c. 2600 cal BP with a sharp increase in the catchment erosion interpreted as resulting from strong anthropogenic environmental changes related to agricultural activities and drainage. This implies an anthropogenic forcing on soils and hydro-sedimentary systems much earlier than was usually considered in Limagne. These impacts then gradually increased during Late Iron Age and Roman periods, but environmental effects were certainly contained by progress in agricultural management. Late Antiquity environmental changes are consistent with regional trend to drainage deterioration in lowlands, but marked asynchrony in this landscape change suggests that societal factors implying differential land management were certainly predominant here.

Ett röjningsröseområde i Farstorp – odling, begravning och ritual

This paper problematises the categories grave and clearance cairn, based on source-material from Farstorp, Småland. A central point of departure for the analysis is landuse in a long-term perspective. Parts of a clearance-cairn site, comprising clearance-cairns, graves and constructions similar to graves although less well–built, were excavated. The latter were termed complex cairns. Exterior elements were kerbs and surface layers of fire-cracked stones. Interior features resembled cremation layers with fire-cracked stones. Inside and adjacent to these, burnt animal bones and other objects, including intact pots containing food, had been deposited. The main building material was clearance stones, plausibly from surrounding arable land. Features mainly date to Late Roman Iron Age and Migration Period. Fire-cracked stones and burnt animal bones are interpreted as waste from ritual meals, consumed during spring and autumn farm work. Depositions of grinding stones support the assumption that fertility of the land was an important ritual theme. Participants of these meals might be members of the household that held the land rights. A few human bones were deposited in each grave, possibly from deceased members of the owner family who might be expected to act in favour of their living descendants, to enhance fertility in general. Such deposits may also have demonstrated and consolidated land rights.

Mobility of cattle in the Iron Age and Roman Netherlands

87Sr/86Sr isotope analysis was performed on 45 cattle teeth, 5 sheep/goat teeth and 2 pig teeth from two archaeological sites in the Netherlands, dating to the Iron Age and Roman period. This makes it one of the largest strontium isotope projects focusing on animals from the Netherlands - to date. An integrated approach was taken, combining the strontium results with those from archaeology and zooarchaeology. Mobility of cattle in the Iron Age is demonstrated for five of the 23 analysed samples from the rural settlement of Houten-Castellum by strontium isotope analysis. Three animals travelled over considerable distances (over 150 km) to Houten and oxygen and carbon stable isotope values support a non-local origin for one of these animals. There is little evidence for incoming animals at this site during the Roman period with only one animal recording a non-local strontium isotope signature.In contrast, strontium isotopes indicate at least four different geographic origins for livestock in the Roman town ofHeerlen,with none of the cattle being local.The results highlight the differing behaviour in the two sites. Whereasfor a rural settlement like Houten, the Iron Age influx of animals might be explained by gift exchange, trade or cattle raids, it is likely that the flow of traded livestock during the Roman Period would go from rural settlement to towns and army camps. Heerlen represented the destination of animals derived from the surrounding areas to supply an active Roman town.

New Evidence on the Location and Nature of Iron Age, Persian and Early Hellenistic Period Jerusalem

The article presents finds unearthed during the renewed excavations at the Giv>ati Parking Lot in the ‘City of David’, Jerusalem. The finds, which date from the late Iron Age to the Persian and Early Hellenistic periods, testify to the importance of the western slope of the City of David ridge in the city’s urban development. When water was transferred from the Gihon Spring to the Siloam Pool the significance of the rugged eastern slope of the ridge was reduced. As a result, the western slope was adapted for public construction. After the 586 BCE destruction, the city was rebuilt along the summit of the ridge and on the northwestern slope.