Late Bronze Age Settlement Research Articles

(C.) Morgan Isthmia. The Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary. (Excavation by the University of Chicago under the Auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. 8). Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1999. Pp. xviii + 526, 74 plates, 6 plans, 102 illustrations. 876619383. $100.

(C.) Morgan Isthmia. The Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary. (Excavation by the University of Chicago under the Auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. 8). Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1999. Pp. xviii + 526, 74 plates, 6 plans, 102 illustrations. 876619383. $100. - Volume 121

Isthmia: Excavations by the University of Chicago under the Auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Vol. 8, the Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary. By Catherine Morgan.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsIsthmia: Excavations by the University of Chicago under the Auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Vol. 8, the Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary. By Catherine Morgan.Nancy KleinNancy Klein Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Archaeology Volume 105, Number 1January 2001 The journal of the Archaeological Institute of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/507343 Copyright © 2001 by the Archaeological Institute of America. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Santorini: Luminescence dating of a volcanic province using quartz?

We have investigated the application of luminescence dating to the palaeosol underlying the Cape Riva ignimbrite from the volcanic island of Santorini (36.40°N, 25.40°E) in the Aegean Sea. The history of volcanism in this area is of intrinsic interest, and is also of importance to archaeology in the eastern Mediterranean — a flourishing late Bronze Age settlement was buried under the volcanic products of the Minoan Eruption (1640 BC). Volcanic provinces are notoriously difficult to date using luminescence techniques, because volcanic feldspars almost invariably show anomalous fading (which can lead to age underestimates of more than 50%). Quartz does not show anomalous fading, but unfortunately it is rare or non-existent in volcanic sediments, and so it is usually not considered as a potential chronometer. We have studied the luminescence characteristics of material extracted from the Cape Riva palaeosol, with good independent age control. All samples contain detectable quartz, but usually <0.01% of the bulk deposit; the quartz is identified primarily by the ability to sensitize the characteristic 110°C TL peak, and by the absence of significant regenerated response to intense infra-red illumination from an IR laser. It may be that this quartz is of aeolian origin, perhaps from North Africa or from local sources. If the former, quartz is only accumulated during the period of soil development. Blue-light (470 nm) stimulated luminescence signal levels are highly variable, and despite chemical and physical concentration, some aliquots show no significant natural luminescence or laboratory dose-response. The single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol has been used to estimate the equivalent dose in the remainder. Despite our identification of the luminescent material as quartz, all aliquots grossly underestimate the known age, by 90% on average.

The ‘imported’ stone vases at Akrotiri, Thera: a new approach to the material

In the Late Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri on Thera stone vessels were imported, mainly from Crete, in parallel with local production which was in full swing at this time, as testified by the number and variety of products, especially those of everyday domestic use, that covered fully the needs of a large settlement. One group of stone vessels, which is characterised by the innovative character either of the shape or the combination of type and raw material used, includes products that cannot be attributed to known centres of stone vessel manufacture, such as those of Crete, Egypt and the Syro-Palestinian region. The particular interest of this group lies in the fact that parameters such as the choice of the material, the typology and the flourishing stone industry, lead to a clear correlation of specific vessels with related local activity.

Isthmia VIII: The Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary

Isthmia VIII: The Late Bronze Age Settlement and Early Iron Age Sanctuary

A Late Bronze Age Landscape at South Hornchurch, Essex

A 2.5 ha open area excavation at South Hornchurch, Essex (London Borough of Havering) has revealed an extensive Late Bronze Age settlement on the Thames terrace gravels. The site is particularly significant because of the association of a circular ditched enclosure or ringwork with a contemporary field system, as well as clusters of enclosed and unenclosed circular structures. Two enclosures were formed by rings of pits or large post-holes. Placed pottery deposits and unurned cremation burials were found, mostly associated with structures and entranceways. Other finds include both plain and decorated Post Deverel-Rinibury pottery, burnt flint, spindle whorls, possible loomweights, perforated clay slabs, and a bivalve clay sword mould. The entire site was subsequently sealed by a buried colluvial ploughsoil which almost certainly represents the final phase of Late Bronze Age activity. The site's spatial structure, environmental context, and regional significance are discussed.

Late Bronze Age Settlement in Cyprus: Function and Relationship. Paul Åström and Ellen Herscher, eds.

<i>Late Bronze Age Settlement in Cyprus: Function and Relationship</i>. Paul Åström and Ellen Herscher, eds.

The Aegean Pottery at Megiddo: An Appraisal and Reanalysis

Approximately 87 whole or fragmentary Aegean vessels were found at the site of Megiddo (biblical Armageddon) during the excavations undertaken by the University of Chicago between 1925 and 1939. Virtually all of these imports are of Late Helladic IIIA or IIIB (14th-12th centuries B. C.) manufacture. Together they form an important corpus of imported material that is systematically studied and presented here for the first time as a unit. Computer-generated, intrasite, locational analysis demonstrates that each of the 51 whole or fragmentary Aegean vessels from Late Bronze Age settlement contexts (Strata VIII, VIIB, and VIIA) at the site came from one of three general locations: in or near Palace 2041; in the vicinity of the city gate; or in a cluster of residential buildings at the southern end of the site. Such a tight concentration contrasts sharply with the 25 whole or fragmentary Aegean vessels from funerary contexts which, with the exception of seven examples from Tomb 912, are widely distributed among 11 tombs on the southern slopes of the tell. Eleven additional vessels or fragments thereof lack sufficient documentation to be assigned to either group.

Bronze Age myths? Volcanic activity and human response in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic regions

A first rule of statistics is that the existence of a correlation does not itself prove a causal connection. This is the heart of the recurrent question in later European prehistory — whether in the Mediterranean or in the Atlantic northwest — about volcanic eruptions, their impact on climate, and then of the climatic impact on human populations. The burial under tephra of the Late Bronze Age settlement of Santorini is proof of a particular catastrophe: but is there the evidence to prove wider European calamity?

Umm el-Marra, a Bronze Age Urban Center in the Jabbul Plain, Western Syria

A team from the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Amsterdam has initiated a multistage program of excavation and regional analysis based at Tell Umm el-Marra in the Jabbul plain east of Aleppo. Archaeological and textual evidence from Ebla and elsewhere has demonstrated that the Aleppo region was an important center of early complex society in western Syria, and the joint project will focus on tracing its developmental trajectory. As the first stage of this project, excavations at Umm el-Marra, a major Bronze Age center of the Jabbul, were conducted in 1994 and 1995. Deposits from Roman and Hellenistic occupations were identified above an extensive Late Bronze Age settlement with evidence of a site-wide destruction in the early Late Bronze Age, while Middle Bronze Age remains indicated the apparent importance of the town in the period of the Yamḫad state.

The Earliest Record of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) in Northern Europe

Remains of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) recovered from a late Bronze Age (1200–800bc) settlement in central Sweden are described. The house sparrow is conspicuously rare in prehistoric Europe, and this record constitutes the earliest from the northern part. The find predates the introduction of domestic fowl (Gallus gallus) to Sweden, a species with which the house sparrow has been assumed to be spread simultaneously. Instead, it is here suggested that house sparrows most likely spread over Europe along with the horseEquus caballus.

Bancroft. The Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Settlements, Roman Villa and Temple-Mausoleum

Bancroft. The Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Settlements, Roman Villa and Temple-Mausoleum

Bronze-casting and organization of production at Kalnik-Igrišče (Croatia)

Recent excavations at the Late Bronze Age settlement site of Kalnik-Igrišče, northwestern Croatia, have brought to light evidence of small-scale bronze-casting. From that evidence, and the pattern of similar evidence from other sites in the southwestern part of the Middle Danubian Basin, conclusions can be drawn about circulation of metal and its control by an élite.

Radiocarbon Dates from Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Settlements at Hemmed, Højgård and Trappendal, Jutland, Denmark

Radiocarbon Dates from Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Settlements at Hemmed, Højgård and Trappendal, Jutland, Denmark

Una nueva perspectiva de la Edad del Bronce

Based on information from excavations in the Late Bronze Age settlement of Portecelo in the North-West of Spain it is suggested a new perspective about the Bronze Age and the Pebble Culture.

A Late Bronze Age Enclosure at Lofts Farm, Essex

A double-ditched sub-rectangular enclosure measuring c.42 by 48 m was excavated. It was shown to have been a Late Bronze Age settlement, with a single central roundhouse opposite the only entrance, and with a rectangular structure in one corner. The site produced a typical range of Late Bronze Age artefacts. The site is low-lying, and environmental data from the waterlogged fills of a well indicate an open landscape of damp grassland. These factors together with the absence of waste from the earliest stages of crop-cleaning among carbonized plant remains from the enclosure, point to a primarily pastoral economy.A few Neolithic features and artefacts were also found but these are not considered to represent permanent settlement.

Two Late Bronze Age Settlements on the Kennet Gravels: Excavations at Aldermaston Wharf and Knight's Farm, Burghfield, Berkshire

One of the major problems of British prehistory has been the contrast between the mass of Late Bronze Age metalwork and the rarity of contemporary settlements. The Berkshire river gravels are one area in which a high proportion of bronze objects is recorded in apparent isolation. With the increasing recognition of Late Bronze Age pottery, however, it has been possible to identify domestic finds of this period among the artefacts from gravel pits around Reading. Part of the gap in the settlement record has also been closed by the excavation of two sites on the Berkshire Downs, the earthwork enclosure at Rams Hill, and an open site at Beedon Manor Farm (Bradley and Ellison 1975; Richards in press). But it was not until 1974 that a Bronze Age settlement on the gravels could be examinedin situ, and since the formation of the Berkshire Archaeological Unit a series of five sites have been sampled or more extensively investigated. This paper is concerned with the two most extensive sites, those at Aldermaston Wharf and Knight's Farm, Burghfield, but will make cross reference to the other work where necessary, in particular to a more recently recorded site at Pingewood.It is now clear why this evidence was so difficult to find. The pottery is extremely friable and would not survive on the surface; and the gravel sites contain very few worked flints. The main features are small pits under 50 cm deep, and for this reason the sites cannot be detected from the air; and, even if they could be recognized, there would be nothing to distinguish them from Iron Age open sites, like those in the Upper Thames Basin.

Late Bronze Age Settlement on Itford Hill, Sussex

In the years between the two World Wars considerable research was done by Sussex archaeologists on the Late Bronze Age settlements of the South Downs (figs, 1 and 30). Several habitation sites were partly excavated, notably Park Brow near Worthing by Mr Garnet R. Wolseley in 1924, New Barn Down, Harrow Hill near Worthing by Dr E. Cecil Curwen in 1933, and Plumpton Plain, near Brighton, by Dr E. Cecil Curwen and Mr G. A. Holleyman in 1934, and an analysis of the pottery from these sites by Professor C. Hawkes has provided a typological and chronological basis for subsequent research.After World War II the authors, inspired by the work of Dr J. F. S. Stone on the Deverel-Rimbury Settlement on Thorny Down and of Dr G. Bersu at Little Woodbury, decided to strip completely a small group of earthworks of probable Late Bronze Age date on Itford Hill near Lewes. In the spring of 1949 the site, together with the adjacent linear earthwork and group of lynchets, was surveyed by Mr E. W. Holden and Mr G. A. Holleyman. Excavations were carried out for each of five seasons (1949–1953) by means of volunteers and with the financial backing of the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society.

A Late Bronze Age settlement at Apliki, Cyprus

The discovery of the site of ‘Karamallos’, near Apliki, was due to the late Mr. Carl Allen, one of the mining engineers of the Cyprus Mines Corporation. In 1938 the Corporation was engaged in opencast exploration of the South Hill of Apliki. In cutting into the hill they uncovered many fragments of large jars belonging to the Late Bronze Age. One or two whole vessels, together with some stone tools, were brought to the Cyprus Museum for identification.

A Late Bronze Age Settlement on Trewey Downs, Zennor, Cornwall

A Late Bronze Age Settlement on Trewey Downs, Zennor, Cornwall