Millennium AD Research Articles

The development of crop production in the northern Horn of Africa: a review of the archaeobotanical evidence

ABSTRACT This article presents a synthesis of the hypotheses and evidence for plant domestication and the origins of agriculture in the northern Horn of Africa. To date, available archaeological data point to an introduction of agricultural practices to Ethiopia during the late Holocene, c. 1600 BC, influenced by adjacent areas including eastern Sudan, Egypt and southern Arabia. The archaeobotanical record shows that farming in the northern highlands was based on the cultivation of barley, linseed and lentils, combined with the exploitation of local wild grasses from the Panicoideae and Chloridoideae sub-families. This indicates that local populations also played a role in the development of productive activities in the region, a process that might have been in place before the arrival of the southwest Asian agricultural package. After the first millennium BC, amidst an increase in sedentary settlements in the region, new domesticated crops appeared in the archaeological record. These include exogenous crops such as emmer wheat, but also indigenous plants such as t’ef and noog, which were locally domesticated likely throughout the Pre-Aksumite period. With the rise of the Aksumite Kingdom, c. 50 BC – AD 700, the agricultural package again expanded to include of a wide range of pulses, geophytes and other economic crops. Macrobotanical remains of sorghum and finger millet also appear for the first time during this period, although this contrasts with the microbotanical record of the region, which points to an earlier presence. In the southern highlands and southwest Ethiopia, evidence of Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew (Ethiopian potato or Oromo potato) has been identified by the late first millennium BC, pointing towards an earlier domestication than previously considered. Similarly, enset and coffee remains have been documented during the early first millennium AD. Altogether, new studies are needed to confirm some of these hypotheses, as archaeobotanical studies in the northern Horn are still limited. The combination of macrobotanical and microbotanical data, along with ethnoarchaeological and experimental research programs and linguistic studies, will be of critical importance for refining our current understanding of the processes associated with plant domestication and the introduction of crop production in the region.

Agriculture along the upper part of the Middle Zarafshan River during the first millennium AD: A multi-site archaeobotanical analysis.

The Zarafshan River runs from the mountains of Tajikistan and terminates in the sands of the Kyzyl-Kum Desert in Uzbekistan; it served as a communication route and homeland for the Sogdians. The Sogdians are historically depicted as merchants existing from the end of the first millennium BC through the first millennium AD. While recent research has provided the first glimpse into cultivation, commerce, communication, and consumption in the Lower Zarafshan, the agricultural heartland of the Middle Zarafshan Basin has remained unstudied. This paper presents the results of archaeobotanical investigations conducted at five ancient urban sites/areas spanning the fifth to the twelfth centuries AD: Kainar (Penjikent citadel), Penjikent (shahristan), Sanjar-Shah, Kuk-Tosh (pre-Mongol Penjikent), and Afrasiab. Collectively, these data show that cereals, legumes, oil/fiber crops, fruits, and nuts were cultivated on the fertile Zarafshan floodplains. In this paper, we discuss evidence for the diversification of the agricultural assemblage over time, including the introduction of new staple crops and fruits into an already complex cultivation system. In addition, we contrast our data with previously published results from sites along the course of the Zarafshan to determine whether there is a dietary difference between pre-and post-Islamic conquest periods at settlements located along the river.

Recently discovered early medieval grave from Serbin

An early medieval burial was found in Serbin (Krasnodar Krai, Slaviansk-na-Kubani District, Russia) in 2023. The grave contained a battle knife, analogies to which are known not only from Eastern Europe but also Inner Asia and Southern Siberia, emphasizing the vivid connections maintained throughout the Eurasian steppe in the second half of the first millennium AD. Grave 2023/3 of Serbin could be dated to the second half or last third of the 7th century AD.

Tacheometric Survey and 3D-Model Building of Fortification Objects in the South of Western Siberia

Purpose. The most objective planigraphy of the earthen fortifications is one of the initial conditions for the reliability of the description of these objects and the subsequent analysis of their defensive capabilities. One of the most common devices for the instrumental surveys in modern archaeological research is a total station. The purpose of the tacheometric survey was to build 3D-models of the earthern fortifications of various types (cape settlements – Chultukov Log-9, ostrogs and redoubts (Umrevinsky, Salt Turn). The work at these objects included two stages – an instrumental survey of the monument and subsequent processing of the survey results with the 3D-models buildings and objects indication.Results. The tacheometric survey was carried out in various landscape zones (the Altai mountains, the northern forest-steppe of the Upper Ob, the steppe zone of the Middle Irtysh) within the river valleys of the Katun, Ob and Irtysh. The wide chronological framework of the sites (the Chultukov Log-9 settlement, the Umrevinsky ostrog, the Salt Turn redoubt) corresponds to the period from the beginning of the 1st millennium AD up to the first quarter of the 18th century and provide an opportunity for the most objective assessment of the tacheometric survey results.Conclusions. The result of the work was the building of the 3D-models of various earthen fortification objects (hillforts, ostrogs, redoubts). Both previously untraceable defensive structures (ditch), and the characteristics of the fenced areas of these structures, previously recorded in written sources, have been identified.

Morphology of the bronze objects from the Pinchuga-6 burial ground

The article is concerned with bronze objects of the end of the Early Iron Age from the fully excavated burial ground of Pinchuga-6 in the Lower Angara River region. The cemetery is dated to the 3rd–4th centuries BC. All burials were made following the rite of burial on the side. Three categories of copper alloy products have been distinguished: belt set parts, jewelry, and cult castings. The components of the belt sets include flat openwork buckles, hoops and bird-shaped overlays. Flat openwork buck-les have no analogues in the neighbouring territories. They appeared on the basis of the circle of post-Hunnic cultures of South-ern Siberia and were used in the Angara taiga until the mid-1st millennium AD. One belt hoop with volutes and an openwork patch is of a typical Tashtyk Culture appearance. At the end of the Early Iron Age, bird-headed belt plates were used across a vast territory that stretched from the Ural Mountains in the west to the banks of the Yenisei and Angara Rivers in the east. The jewelry includes tubular cast and spiral beads, stripes and pendants. The majority of items are multi-functional — they could be worn different ways. All of them were widespread in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, and they do not have a clear cultural and chronological reference. At Pinchuga-6, various objects of cult casting were found, including ornitho-, zoo- and ichthyomor-phic images, and disks with a circular ornament. These items have similarities among the Ishim and Kholmogory collections, materials from the Aidashinskaya cave, and Tomsk and Ust-Abinsk burial grounds. Pinchuga-6 is currently the farthest north-eastern site where such objects have been found. The grave goods of the cemetery contain items of different cultural attribution made of copper-based alloys. In this single complex in the Angara River region, objects from Western Siberia, Khakass-Minusinsk depression, and, possibly, of local origin have been found. XRF analysis of the items has been carried out. Lead-tin and tin bronze prevail, although being in approximately equal quantities, individual objects are made of copper, a small amount of arsenic is traced in two buckles, one ornithomorphic image is cast from an alloy with a significant amount of silver. The clo-sest in this feature, as well as in the amount of tin and lead in the alloys, are the products of the Tomsk burial ground.

Marija Gimbutas and the Ethnic Origin of the Baltic Nation

Birutė Marija Alseikaitė-Gimbutienė (English Marija Gimbutas), is one of the most prominent and well-known archaeologists of the 20th century, pioneer of archaeomythology, creator of new theories in archaeology. In her scientific research, she paid a great attention to the ethnic origins and development of nations.This article analyzes the Theory of Baltic Ethnic Origins formulated by Gimbutas. The solution to this important scientific problem involves two main research stages. The first stage is formulation of the Theory of Indo-European homeland, named the Kurgans Theory. The second stage is formulation of the Theory of the origins of Balts. According to Gimbutas, a few cultural systems participated in the formation of the Balts: the indoeuropeans and substrat culture, that is Indo-Europeanized people of Central Europe. The Indo-Europeans migrated from their homeland, located in the steppe zone north of the Black and Caspian seas, in three waves between 4400/4200 and 3000/2800 BC, ultimately reaching Europe and Indo-Europeanizing it.A secondary Indo-European Homeland was formed in Central Europe, from which the Indo-European culture spread to the Baltic region and other European regions.The last, third wave of newcomers, from around 3000–2800 BC, had the greatest influence on the southeastern and eastern Baltic region and the surrounding territories. During several centuries of assimilation between local inhabitants and newcomers, around 2500–2000 BC, in the territory between the Vistula River in the west and the Volga and Oka rivers in the east, several cultural groups of Proto-Balts were formed. During further ethnocultural processes, around 2000 BC. the Baltic ethnos was formed. In the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. and in the first part of the 1st millennium AD the Balts inhabited a huge area in the North Eastern part of Europe.

Effect of Using the Constructivist Teaching Method on Creative Thinking and Entrepreneurship

Background: The process of entrepreneurship and creativity are the main current principles in human life at the beginning of the third millennium AD; therefore, it is considered one of the most important goals of educational organizations. Preparing students to enter society effectively will not be provided unless creativity is cultivated among them. Therefore, the present study was conducted to use the effect of the constructivist teaching method on students’ creative thinking and entrepreneurship.
 Methods: In this interventional study, 40 female students in sixth grade were selected by available sampling and randomly divided into two groups of 20 (20 in the intervention group and 20 in the control group). Then, the intervention group was given the necessary training for 5 one-hour sessions. The investigated variables were collected from demographic questionnaires, Abedi’s creativity, and Lumpkin and Dess’s tendency to entrepreneurship through pre-test and post-test. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 25) and descriptive statistical methods of covariance test.
 Results: In terms of parents’ education level and household income, no difference was observed between the two groups (P > 0.05). The average score of creative thinking in the intervention group increased from 67.55 before the intervention to 75.75 after the intervention; however, in the control group, the average score decreased from 20.68 in the pre-test to 55.61 in the post-test. Additionally, the average score of entrepreneurial tendency in the intervention group increased from 43.75 before the intervention to 54.50 after the intervention; however, in the control group, the average score increased from 40.10 to 42.50.
 Conclusions: The constructivist teaching method plays a significant role in the learning approach. In addition, the use of this method can be effective in increasing the tendency to entrepreneurship. Considering the importance of entrepreneurship, teaching constructivist courses in universities and schools is appropriate.

Iron Age Activity beside the River Dee, Cairngorms

In June 2019, a charcoal-rich pit was identified in an eroding riverbank during a walk-over survey along the River Dee, in the Mar Lodge Estate, Cairngorm Mountains, as part of a wider Mesolithic research project in the area led by researchers from University College Dublin. Subsequent radiocarbon dating of pine charcoal revealed that the pit was used in the earlier first millennium AD, providing the first archaeological evidence for Iron Age activity in this area of the Cairngorm mountains. No artefacts were uncovered, but the archaeobotanical assemblage from the pit provides evidence for the nature of fuel procurement strategies in this area in the Iron Age. The results highlight the difficulty of identifying early prehistoric archaeological activity in mountain environments and the potential for the survival of further later prehistoric evidence in this area of Mar Lodge.

Landscapes of Memory and Power: The Archaeology of a Forgotten Kingdom in Ethiopia

Unlike their northern counterparts, the kingdoms of southern Ethiopia have received little attention by archaeologists. Their relatively late emergence and absence of literacy may explain this lack of interest. However, they have much to offer to better understand the history not only of the Horn but also of the precolonial African state more generally. In this paper, the polities that developed in the southern Ethiopian highlands during the second millennium AD are briefly described and then one of them is explored in more detail: the kingdom of Anfillo. An archaeological and historical overview of the polity is provided based on two seasons of fieldwork. It is argued that in Anfillo, as in other southern Ethiopian polities, a fortified landscape materialized at the same time a persistent situation of conflict and the collective memory of the ruling classes, which used it as a mnemonic device to tell history and legitimize social divisions.

Ancient Koguryŏ’s heritage around Ji’an: past and current interpretations

ABSTRACT The Kingdom of Koguryŏ was one of the so-called Three Kingdoms of Korea in the 1st millennium AD. According to the Samguk Sagi (Historical Records of the Three States), it was founded on what is now North Korea and northeastern China. Not only are the archaeological remains a cultural asset that should not be underestimated, they are powerful enough to be claimed for political purposes today. Overland connections from the Chinese mainland east to Japan and Korea are long recognised. These empires were extremely rich and powerful at the time of the Tang (617/18–907 AD) – Nara in Japan, as well as Koguryŏ, Silla and Paekche on the Korean Peninsula. This paper considers the impressive remains of the Koguryŏ culture, not least in China’s Jilin Province along the North Korean border and explores the historical and archaeological legacy and power of the Koguryŏ Empire.

Restless skies at the turn of the first Millennium AD. Climate fluctuations, astronomic phenomena and socio-political turbulences in 10th and 11th century Byzantium and Japan in comparative perspective

Around the turn of the first Millennium AD, both in Christian polities such as the Byzantine Empire as well as in regions with Buddhist communities such as in Heian Japan, expectations of an end of times emerged. Although based on different religious and independent chronological interpretations, they gained attraction at the same time due to the parallel observation and interpretation of the same astronomical phenomena (such as sightings of Halley´s comet in 989 AD) or of simultaneous climate anomalies, which can partly be connected with the Oort Solar Minimum of the 11th century. This paper explores and compares the interplay between natural phenomena, religious and political unrest, apocalyptic interpretations and individual decision-making for Byzantium and Japan on the basis of historical and natural scientific evidence.

Late prehistoric and early historic chronology of Myanmar: a four-millennia sequence from Halin

Myanmar is located within an important geographic corridor of prehistoric demographic and technological exchange, yet relatively few archaeological sites have been securely dated. Here, the authors present a new radiocarbon chronology for Halin, a UNESCO-listed complex in the north-central Sagaing Division of Myanmar, which contributes to the generation of nuanced regional chronologies and to improving the temporal resolution of Southeast Asia more generally. Discussion of 94 radiocarbon determinates, together with site stratigraphy and pottery traditions, provides a chronological sequence from the early third millennium BC to the early second millennium AD. Corroboration of the beginning of this sequence would place Halin as the oldest currently dated Neolithic site in Mainland Southeast Asia and would provide support for the two-layer model of Neolithic migration.

Lobed Ware in the Far East from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages

The study focuses on the origin and survival of the so-called lobed ware in the Far East. The term refers to vessels decorated with shallow vertical grooves, less often with deep, wide dents, either on the most convex part of the body or on the entire surface. Some vessels are covered with groups of vertical carved lines or burnished, less often painted bands imitating lobulation. Such ceramics are especially frequent at sites of the Jurchen era (7th–13th centuries) in the Amur basin. They are also found in Primorye, northeastern China, and in adjacent territories. The study of various sources shows that the lobed ware was made on the Lower Amur as early as the Neolithic (5th to late 2nd millennia BC), with the earliest samples relating to the Kondon culture. Typical lobed ceramics were also made by people of the Malyshevo and Voznesenovskoye cultures. It is hypothesized that the Jurchen-Bohai pottery, including the lobed ware, was directly influenced by Korean traditions of the first two or three quarters of the 1st millennium AD. Given the distinctness of the tradition, its reminiscences in the Amur region can be traced back to the Neolithic.

Common Kyushu-Ryukyuan substratum in maritime vocabulary: A preliminary analysis

This paper constitutes a preliminary linguistic test of the hypothesis which postulates that shared Kyushu-Ryukyuan lexicon related to maritime knowledge provides evidence for a Kyushu-Ryukyuan subgrouping within the Japonic cladogram. The paper introduces Kyushu-Ryukyuan cognates and potential shared lexical innovations in seafaring vocabulary, cardinal directions and navigation, and marine fauna, all of which suggest a shared Kyushu-Ryukyuan navigation culture, as well as common maritime subsistence and lifestyle patterns. The case is reinforced by several promising cases of common morphological features between Kyushu and Ryukyuan. The overall conclusion is that the compared linguistic data does support the Kyushu-Ryukyuan clade. Finally, we identify a mismatch between lexical and morphological evidence concerning lower-unit classification of the South Japonic node. We observe that while shared innovative vocabulary allows to postulate Proto-Satsugū-Ryukyuan within Kyushu-Ryukyuan as the most direct mainland ancestor of Ryukyuan languages – the predecessor pre-Proto-Ryukyuan language that was still spoken in Kyushu in the first millennium AD – shared grammatical features do not suggest any particular subdivision of Kyushu-Ryukyuan.

Social organizations and political institutions: why China and Europe diverged

AbstractThis paper discusses the historical and social origins of the bifurcation in the political institutions of China and Western Europe. An important factor, recognized in the literature, is that China centralized state institutions very early on, while Europe remained politically fragmented for much longer. These initial differences, however, were amplified by the different social organizations (clans in China, corporate structures in Europe) that spread in these two societies at the turn of the first millennium AD. State institutions interacted with these organizations, and were shaped and influenced by this interaction. The paper discusses the many ways in which corporate organizations contributed to the emergence of representative institutions and gave prominence to the Rule of Law in the early stages of state formation in Europe, and how specific features of lineage organizations contributed to the consolidation of the Imperial regime in China.

The burials of the kurgan 2 of the Menovnoe VII burial ground (Eastern Kazakhstan)

Emerged in the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD, the nomadic confederation of the Kipchaks up until the beginning of the 13th c. dominated the Eurasian steppes, which became known from the 11th c. as Desht-i Qipchaq or Kipchak steppe. The oecumene occupied by the Kipchak tribes covered, according to the experts, vast areas from the Irtysh River to Ural Mountains, but there is no consensus amongst researchers as to where the formation of the Kipchak traditions, which were part of the Ki-mek Khanate, was taking place. Kipchak sites of the 11th–12th cc. in the steppe zone are very few, but they are considered, as a rule, in the context of the transformation of the earlier traditions of the Oghuz, whereas the medieval burials of the Mongolian period, studied in the steppe zone of Kazakhstan, are considered apriori as Kipchak’s. The materials obtained during the study of the Menovnoe VII burial ground reveal peculiar features, both in the elements of the funeral rites, as well as in specific com-ponents of the material culture, allowing one to consider this site as a funerary monument built by a group of the early Kipchak population who lived in the pre-Mongol period in the territory of Eastern Kazakhstan. The burial ground of Menovnoe VII is lo-cated 1.5 km east-southeast of the village of Menovnoe of the Tavrichesky District of the Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast. Within the burial platform, 24 mortuary structures have been recorded: 5 Early Medieval kurgans and 19 stone heaps of the Late Middle Ages period. The article concerns the kurgan 2, which had a diameter of 8 m at a height of 0.25 m. The mound was spanning over an oval fence measuring 7.1×6.5 m. Two pits were examined within the fence: one, located in the centre, con-tained a paired burial of a man and a woman; the second, located by the south wall of the fence, contained a paired burial of horses. The deceased were accompanied by a broadsword, iron arrowheads, an iron cauldron, bone buckles, iron knives, and remains of a saddle. The specifics of the funeral rites and the analysis of the material obtained during the study make is possible attributing the burial of the kurgan 2 of the Menovnoe VII burial ground to the Kipchak cultural tradition developing within the final stage of the early Turkic era, which allows it to be dated to the 11th — beginning of the 12th c. CE.

Gold-foil figures and human skulls in the royal hall at Aska, Hagebyhöga, Östergötland

During the mid-first millennium AD, centres of royal power with large halls emerged across southern Scandinavia. No evidence for such sites, however, was known from Östergötland in south-east Sweden. Here, the authors present results from fieldwork at Aska near Vadstena, identifying the principal manor of a petty royal lineage occupied between c. AD 650 and 1000. Excavations have revealed a 50m-long hall raised on a 3.5m-high platform and the largest known assemblage of small gold-foil figures from the first-millennium kingdom of Östergötland. Aska represents a ‘second-generation ruler’ site, similar in form and date to Old Uppsala, Borre, Old Lejre and Tissø, revealing Östergötland as an integral part of the political geography of early medieval Scandinavia.

«Сарматские» элементы в вооружении черняховской культуры? (Некоторые дискуссионные вопросы в изучении оружия позднеримского времени и начала эпохи переселения народов в Восточной Европе)

The paper deals with issues related to the spread of weapons of “nomadic” origin among population of the Сhernyakhov culture. The features of the funeral rite of this community have been considered. Burials with weapons are absolutely not characteristic of the Wielbark culture foundation. The majority of the cremations can be attributed to the Przeworsk element, especially those with ritual damage to weapons. In the burials of the Chernyakhov culture, according to the burial rite, the following finds are known: swords, “cut-out blades”, spears, darts, arrows, bow parts, axes, umbo, fragments of chain mail and helmets. Usually, the finds are single in the burial. The burial grounds with catacomb burials in Budzhak, burials in pits with a southern orientation of the head, individual burials in catacombs along the border of the forest-steppe and steppe zones on the left bank of the Dnieper, accompanied by Chernyakhiv imports, can be considered Sarmatian. A number of burials with weapons made in pits with a northern orientation of the head are possibly associated with the Late Scythian tradition. The swords in the inhumations known to us belong to the Eastern European tradition, i.e. they do not contain a metal pommel of type 3 according to A.M. Khazanov. Distinguishing between locally produced type 2 swords and Roman Germanic swords requires additional extensive research. In the two burials on the territory of Romania, the remains of plates were found, possibly related to the plate helmets well known among the Sarmatians. Apparently, the so-called “blades with cutouts” can be attributed to ritual weapons. Simultaneously, in the zone of the Przeworsk culture and on the Sarmatian monuments, “sword-shaped” spearheads appear. On the territory of the Chernyakhov culture, they are recorded in the zone bordering the steppe, but so far only in the form of random finds. Both types of weapons are possibly associated with the cult of the sword known among the nomadic Scythian-Sarmatian population. At the same time, the designs and decor of spearheads in some cases are possibly related to Roman ceremonial spearheads. Judging by the available archaeological data, the development of weapons among the forest-steppe tribes of Eastern Europe in the first half of the 1st millennium AD was largely associated with Central European and the Roman Empire influence, and to a lesser extent, with the steppe nomadic population, which begins to play an important role closer to the end of the Chernyakhov culture. But the presence of various nomadic groups and the influence of their traditions on the military environment are undoubted.

Chicumbane Connections: Lower Limpopo Valley During the First Millennium AD

The discussion of the transition to farming in southern Africa and the formation of Early Iron Age society, referred to in Mozambican archaeology as the Early Farming Communities (EFC), is complicated by the lack of surveys in key areas of intensive contacts. This article presents the results of excavations at the EFC site Chicumbane in the eastern lower Limpopo Valley, dated 500–800 AD. The variation of ceramic styles in terms of decoration and shape suggests predominantly interior influences (Gokomere and Zhizo facies), but there are also decoration elements similar to what is found on the coast. A wide variety of ceramic technologies were used in terms of clay sources, temper, and ways of building the pot. Here, we reconstruct possible social interactions based on these differences. Together with the other artifact categories, such as slag, metal, and shell beads, the results show some aspects of regional interactions among Early Farming Communities. The combined ceramic analyses suggest a mix of traditions by female potters who, through marriage, moved between regions, bringing new ways of decorating, tempering, and building pots.

The Roman to medieval landscape transformation at Aardenburg (southern The Netherlands) based on palynology and diatom analysis

The region of Bruges (Flanders, Belgium) was an economic and cultural centre during the Late Middle Ages because it was connected to the North Sea via a large tidal inlet called the Zwin, along which smaller towns developed. One of these towns was Aardenburg (Zeeland, The Netherlands), which developed from a Roman castellum to become one of the important medieval towns in the hinterland of Bruges. Unfortunately, archaeological, historical and (palaeo)environmental data about the Roman to medieval evolution of the Zwin area are scarce. However, the continuous occupation of Aardenburg during the first millennium AD and its location on a Pleistocene sand ridge bordering the coastal plain provide a unique opportunity to investigate the natural dynamics of the coastal evolution and the interplay with the human impact that shaped the Zwin region before its heyday. The variable character of the depositional environments on the dynamic coastal plain makes local environmental studies essential for understanding larger patterns, which were previously reduced to a simplistic outdated model over the entire region. Palynological and diatom assemblages of two sequences in Aardenburg allow the reconstruction of the terrestrial and aquatic palaeoenvironments from the Middle Holocene to the high Middle Ages. The results reveal landscape evolution in relation to woodlands, peat bogs, coastal environments and human presence, consistent with previous regional landscape evolution. A distinct increase in marine influence during the Roman and early medieval periods, when human activities played a significant role, was followed by an increase in inland indicators from the high medieval period onwards. This evolution is in accordance with the expansion of the town and the reclamation of the coastal landscape as it evolved to become a cultural centre in the Late Middle Ages.