Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age Research Articles

Harbour geoarchaeology of Lechaion (Corinth area, Greece) sheds new light on economics during the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age transition

Lechaion in Corinth, Greece, is the largest ancient port in Greece. Harbour geoarchaeological investigations, based on 14C-dated palaeoenvironmental archives taken from a well-studied inner basin (Basin 3) and a still unknown outer basin (Basin 4), revealed anthropogenic lead excesses starting from the 12th century BCE, associated with brown coal fragments, for the first time discovered in such an ancient archaeological context. Given that historical sources trace the foundation of the port back to the 7th century BCE, these results attest to protohistoric industrial use of the site and push back its chronology by over five centuries. The existence of such ancient port activity not only extends the chronological horizon for harbour activity in the Corinthian area, but also provides new insights for the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age (LBA/EIA) transition, including potential trading routes that may have transited through Lechaion, likely spanning across the Gulf of Corinth and possibly even beyond, to western Mediterranean urban centers.

Mining field "Dąbrówka-I". Neolithic Jurassic flint mine with vestigially preserved mine relief

Neolithic flint mines are well-studied in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. However their spatial structure and diachronic history is still poorly understood especially due to the poor preservation of the mine relief on the surface. The paper presents results of ALS data analyses conducted on the Dąbrówka-I site which is the first Prehistoric flint mine in the region that has been studied recently on the basis of the surface relief. LiDAR analyses combined with technological analyses of collected cores gave us grounds to identify two phases of flint mining at the site dated to Lengyel-Polgar cycle and Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age. The obtained results show the extent to which a multiproxy non-destructive approach may give ground for in depth studies of flint mines.

Refined chronology of prehistoric cultures and its implication for re-evaluating human-environment relations in the Hexi Corridor, northwest China

The reconstruction of high-resolution chronologies for prehistoric cultures is a prerequisite for understanding the history of human evolution and its relationship with environmental change, and is valuable for exploring the trajectory of transcontinental cultural exchanges in prehistoric time. The Hexi Corridor of northwest China was one of the earliest centers for long-distance culture exchange in the prehistoric world. The timing and sequence of cultural changes in this area remains poorly understood resulting from the lack of radiometric age control. This paper presents a refined radiocarbon (14C) chronology to resolve the timing of human occupation and cultural evolution in the Hexi Corridor. Radiocarbon dating of crop remains, which have an annual life cycle, has the advantage of eliminating problems such as the carbon stored in ‘old wood’. As a result, 14C dates from crop remains are used to test the validity of the 14C dates derived from charcoal, bone and plant remains. The resultant database of ages is modelled using the Bayesian approach. The updated chronology presented in this paper shows generally good agreement with the original dates used to constrain cultural evolution in the Hexi Corridor. However, the occupation of the corridor by the Shajing and Shanma Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age cultures appears to have taken place ~300 years later than previously thought. On the basis of comparing this updated chronology of cultural evolution with palaeoclimatic and historical records, it is proposed that the collapse of the Shajing and Shanma cultures occurred as a result of geopolitical impact rather than climate change.

Production of Late Bronze-Early Iron Age handmade pottery from Central Epirus (Prefecture of Ioannina), Greece

The present work represents the first archaeometric study of pottery from central Epirus (Prefecture of Ioannina). It is combining the macroscopic examination of a large ceramic body, and the petrographic analysis of 104 samples from Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age handmade pottery from Liatovouni in the Konitsa region, and Krya in the Ioannina Basin. For comparative reasons, 27 samples from a number of sites in the Ioannina Basin were also examined microscopically. The study provides new information regarding the potential provenance and technology of manufacture of ceramic vessels in the study region. Although local preferences in pottery recipes and their correlation to specific wares are apparent, ceramic production in the region is characterized by a shared knowledge of materials, processes and techniques, pointing to contacts not only with neighboring sites, but with areas further afield.

Geoarchaeology and paleoseismology blend to define the Fucino active normal fault slip history, central Italy

We first describe the late Holocene slip history of one of the major segments of the Fucino active normal fault, in central Italy, by combining geoarchaeological investigations with paleoseismological trenching. The Fucino fault system released a Mw 7 earthquake in 1915 (with many other events with decimetre and/or metre-size palaeoseismic slip events in the past), that is the strongest seismic shock occurred in this portion of the Italian territory over at least the past millennium. We dug trenches across the investigated tectonic structure; then, the sedimentary sequence and its relation with the exposed fault planes have been analysed “vertically”, as typically made in paleoseismological investigations, but also “horizontally”, by deepening the excavations “step-by-step” while digging, i.e. performing archaeological-type stratigraphic excavations. Such a procedure permitted the recognition of different displacement events of the fault, and the progressive surveying of different cultural levels, since the Neolithic Period, interposed with or cut into natural levels. The reconstruction of the interplay between human occupation of the site and the local geomorphic evolution – framed by the late Holocene climatic changes – permitted us to gain reliable chronological data for constraining the fault slip history in the last 5500 yr. Our analyses also confirmed that the investigated structure activated during the 1915 earthquake. Four previous displacement events were recognised: a first event, prior to the 1915 one, occurred slightly after the Roman Period (probably during the 5th–6th century AD); two preceding events occurred between the Late Neolithic and the Roman period, the older of the two during the late Neolithic, while the later during the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age. The oldest event predates the Neolithic Period. No evidence of a Late Middle Ages faulting event found by others researchers along another branch of the Fucino fault was found in our trenches. From a methodological viewpoint, the results of our study mark the effectiveness of adopting joint geoarchaeological/paleoseismological approach in terms of chronological constraints for active faulting studies in such contexts where long human occupation took place, where the natural and “human” events rhythmically interplay.

Excavations at Fin Cop, Derbyshire: An Iron Age Hillfort in Conflict?

A programme of archaeological investigation took place on Fin Cop hillfort, in the Derbyshire Peak District, during the summers of 2009 and 2010. In total fifty test-pits and eight trenches were excavated, revealing evidence for a Mesolithic quarry site, and sporadic evidence for Neolithic and Beaker period activity. An assemblage of Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age ceramics was recovered from the interior of the fort in association with rock-cut pits testifying to occupation of the hilltop prior to the construction of the hillfort rampart. The hillfort rampart construction took place in the period 435–390 cal. BC (68% probability) and was destroyed before its completion, probably by the mid-fourth century cal. BC, when large numbers of women and children were disposed of in the ditch together with the demolition material from the fort's wall. The defensive character of the monument and the evidence for a violent end to the site appear to indicate, on current evidence, that the fort was sacked.

The Prehistory of the Istanbul Region

Within the greater of Istanbul, well outside the historic precinct, chance finds and systematic excavtions are revealing the extent of this region's prehistory. The periods represented extend from the Palaeolithic, through Mesolithic Neolithic and Chalcolithic, and then to the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age (thirteenth to twelfth centuries BC) transition. Within central Istanbul proper building activities over the last century and in various locations, as well as general maintenance work by local councils, have brought to light a range of artefacts that provide clues to the occupation of this historically prominent region.

Research Priorities for Archaeometallurgy in Scotland

In 2003 the authors were invited to provide a Scottish dimension for a wider document surveying research agendas for archaeometallurgy in Britain (Bayley and Ponting forthcoming). In the event, the contribution was split into various sections of the overall report. However, we felt that an intact and updated version might be of value to the Scottish archaeological community, as this is a research area of considerable untapped potential. We should first outline our parameters. We have concentrated on the period from the earliest use of metals up to c. AD 1100, as this reflects our collective core interests. It was initially written as a short contribution covering key issues, and we have resisted the temptation to expand it substantially; it is intended as a summary of key research areas, strengths and gaps, not a set of guidelines (for which see Bayley et al. 2001) or a comprehensive review of current knowledge. It is also avowedly not a research agenda in the normal sense, i.e. a document constructed by committee with some variable degree of endorsement from the wider community. This is a perspective from curators in the National Museums Scotland who share an interest in archaeometallurgy and in seeing its more active pursuit. We expect and welcome differences of opinion, and hope it will serve to stimulate further research in this fascinating field. In some areas the research priorities for archaeometallurgy in Scotland reflect wider British issues, but there are also significant differences. For example, the presence of a distinctive Hiberno-Scottish axis in the early Bronze Age (EBA), a comparatively rich inventory of late Bronze Age/early Iron Age (LBA/EIA)

Bioarchaeological analysis of cultural transition in the southern Levant using dental nonmetric traits

To many Near Eastern archaeologists, the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age transition in the southern Levant indicates the emergence of a new ethnicity. The question remains, however, whether changes in the material culture are the result of an invasion of foreigners, or instead arose from shifting cultural and technical practices by indigenous peoples. This study utilized dental morphological traits to assess phenetic relationships between the Late Bronze Age site of Dothan (1500-1100 BC) and the Iron Age II site of Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir, 701 BC). Information on 30 dental crown and root traits was collected for 4,412 teeth, representing 392 individuals from Lachish and a minimum of 121 individuals from Dothan, using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System. Seventeen traits from Dothan and Lachish were compared with dentitions from a Byzantine Jerusalem monastery, Iron Age Italy, a Natufian group (early agrarians from the Levant), and a Middle Kingdom Egyptian site using C.A.B. Smith's mean measure of divergence statistic. The findings suggest that there are more similarities between Dothan and Lachish than either of them and other sites. This analysis indicates that the material culture changes were not the result of a foreign invasion. Rather, the Iron Age people of the southern Levant were related to their Bronze Age predecessors.

Reflections on the funerary world of upper Andalusia during the late bronze age-early iron age transition

Este trabajo ofrece algunas reflexiones sobre los origenes de las sepulturas de cremacion que comienzan a aparecer en el Sureste de la Peninsula Iberica en el comienzo del primer milenio a.C. Tras algunos siglos sin evidencias significativas, se detectan algunos enterramientos de inhumacion y cremacion, siendo este ultimo ritual el que se convertira en el exclusivo de las comunidades locales. Estas transformaciones ideologicas se consideran como un proceso interno relacionado con los contextos politicos y economicos de las poblaciones ibericas.

Late Bronze Age - Iron Age zebu cattle in Jordan?

The Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age tell Deir'Alla in Jordan was excavated by a Dutch excavation team. In layers belonging to the 15th, 13th and possibly 10th century BC three bifurcated spinous processes of the dorsal or thoracic vertebrae of humped-backed cattle were found, which indicate that humped-backed cattle were living in Palestine before the Persian Period.