Millennium BCE Research Articles

New research on crop diversity of the early farmers in southeastern Europe (ca. 6400 − 5700 bce)

Pelagonia is a mountain valley in North Macedonia that was densely occupied by early farming communities in the second half of the 7th and early 6th millennium bce. Archaeobotanical analysis is being done on material from three sites there, Vrbjanska Čuka, Veluška Tumba and Vlaho. This paper presents the results of archaeobotanical analyses of remains from Pelagonia, which represent some of the oldest directly dated remains of cereals and pulses in Europe, and discusses the results on crop diversity among Early Neolithic communities within the region. The crop spectrum was broad, with five cereal species and several varieties, two pulses and potentially two oil crops. The diversity is slightly narrower than the one found in southwestern Asia, Greece and Bulgaria as Cicer arietinum (chickpea), Lathyrus sativus (grass pea) and Vicia ervilia (bitter vetch) were not present or very rare, and Triticum aestivum/durum (naked wheat) was only found in small amounts, probably because the early farmers were adapting their choices of crops to the different climatic conditions in Pelagonia. On the micro-regional level we have observed that the diversity and importance of certain crops may vary in relation to the 8.2 ka bp climate cooling event, as well as due to local environmental or cultural factors, showing the need for finer scale analyses beyond the level of site or phase.

Animal exploitation in Southwestern Iberia at the end of the second millennium BCE: insights from the Late Bronze Age of Outeiro do Circo (Beja, Portugal)

The Late Bronze Age was an important phase in European Prehistory but our understanding of its regional dynamics is unequal. Relevant knowledge of the peopling and material culture of Southwestern Iberia between 1170 and 730 BCE exists, but the exploitation and management of animals remain largely uncharacterized. We generally lack the taphonomical data that could allow for an in-depth understanding of faunal assemblages’ formation, with relevance for the description of depositional environments if paired with relative and absolute chronologies. We present two new absolute dates for the Outeiro do Circo Late Bronze Age and a zooarchaeological and taphonomical analysis of the total recovered faunal assemblage. Caprine, swine, and bovine primary and probably secondary products were of importance, with the hunting of red deer and wild boar being complementary. Other species such as leporids, equids, canids and several molluscs were recovered. The latter are mostly intrusive terrestrial gastropods but the scarce presence of scallops and peppery furrow shells can also relate to exchange networks. Taphonomical indicators of the butchering and consumption of animals and the secondary access by a large canid are well attested in the assemblage, as well as the culinary and non-culinary thermo-alteration of animals’ bones.

Continuous evolvement of constant diet in the 3rd−1st millennium BCE southern Levant: Macro-botanical proxies from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfī/Gath

This study employs new macrobotanical evidence to discuss agricultural developments at the site of Tell es-Safi/Gath through Early Bronze Age II-III to Iron Age IIB periods. This was the time period of the Canaanite, Philistine and Judahite cultures’ development, flourishing and falls, a time of droughts and war, appearance of fortified cities and their abandonment, and resettling. We studied species’ turnover over time, from the humid Early Bronze II-III to the dry final phase of the Late Bronze Age and then to the humid Iron Age II. We propose that the diet stability and changes in the fertile zone of southern Levant are evident through the macrobotanical data. Cultural developments are mirrored in the list of crops, yet the dominance of wheat is continuous. The results suggest a continuity in the human culture and the sustainable type of agriculture in this region throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages.

3D SCANNING FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE: THE CASE OF AMRIT (SYRIA) 3D

Abstract. The archaeological area of Amrit (350 ha) is located on the Syrian coastal region of Tartus and is known since the 18th century CE, due to its imposing archaeological remains dated to the first millennium BCE and to the Roman period. It was listed in the UNESCO tentative list in 2005.Since 2022, the University of Firenze (SAGAS) in collaboration with the CNR-ISPC and the DGAM-Syria, conducts a project that aims towards the documentation, restoration, public display, and community involvement of the archaeological site of Amrit, after more than 10 years of conflict and a still ongoing economic and social instability.Aim of this paper is to present the first results of the 3D survey at the site carried out in September 2022. This survey, conducted by archaeologists, aimed at obtaining a detailed documentation of the monumental structures on the site, to assess their state of preservation as of 2022, and to record the decay process of previous restorations and facilitate the planning for the archaeological park. The rapidity of acquiring data and the precision of this technique is obviously of great advantage in difficult contexts such as is Syria, where power cuts are systematic and there is a need of acquiring as much as data as possible in a limited time. This specific activity aims also at showing that archaeologists can acquire technological skills and gather specific knowledge to obtain the best possible results when dealing with damage assessment of heritage during and after a conflict.

A Rare Case of Chondroblastoma from Neolithic Crete of the 7th Millennium BCE

A Rare Case of Chondroblastoma from Neolithic Crete of the 7th Millennium BCE

Geometric morphometric analysis of Neolithic wheat grains: insights into the early development of free-threshing forms

Current knowledge of the origins and routes of introduction of both tetraploid and hexaploid free-threshing wheats (FTWs) from western Asia into Europe remains imprecise. Archaeobotanical distinction of ploidy level is often dependent on sparsely recovered rachis segments, while more specific identification of cultivars within ploidy groups using morphological characteristics of either grain or chaff is generally considered unreliable. This study offers a complementary approach by using geometric morphometric (GMM) analysis of grain shape to assess taxonomic and variety level distinctions in archaeobotanical FTW remains. Two substantial and well-preserved assemblages of Neolithic FTW grains from 7th millennium bce Çatalhöyük (central Anatolia, Turkey) and 6th millennium Kouphovouno (Peloponnese, Greece) were analysed with the aim of shedding light on the naked wheats cultivated by these early agricultural communities. While chaff remains from Çatalhöyük indicate a hexaploid FTW crop, no such diagnostic remains were recovered from Kouphovouno. GMM analysis of the archaeobotanical grains has corroborated early cultivation of hexaploid naked wheat at Çatalhöyük, whilst revealing that a tetraploid wheat, most closely resembling ‘unimproved’ durum wheat, was likely grown at Kouphovouno. The Kouphovouno findings are contextualised within existing theories of a Mediterranean route for introduction of tetraploid FTWs from western Asia to south-western Europe. At both sites, an assessment of the role of FTWs over time suggests changes in the cultural value attributed to these crops and/or the sustainability of the agricultural regimes they were associated with.

Gender as Frame of War in Ancient Nubia

Gender research in Sudan archaeology and Meroitic studies is a nascent field. Studies of gender are especially lacking in investigations concerning war and violence, which are usually written from an androcentric perspective, and often focus solely on soldiers, army, weaponry, and images of battles and enemies. The experiences of non-combatants in the context of war in ancient Nubia are rarely considered; nor is the gender background of war. This paper deals with gender structure in the lists of spoils of war, women and children as prisoners of war, feminization of enemies in royal texts, participation of royal women in war, and depictions of royal women smiting enemies. In gender as a frame of war, Kushite kings were represented as masculine and their enemies as feminine. This binary opposition has also been observed in ancient Egyptian and Neo-Assyrian sources, and was clearly a shared vocabulary of the great powers of the second and first millennium BCE. Such a frame of war was based on a gender disposition of men as active and strong, and women as passive and weak. It “naturalized” Kushite domination over their enemies just as it “naturalized” male domination in Kush. However, the participation of Meroitic queens in conflicts and their depictions smiting enemies shows how the visual vocabulary of violence can be utilized even by some women, in their own expressions of power

The Role of Warfare and Headhunting in Forming Ethnic Identity: Violent Clashes between A-Group and Naqada Peoples in Lower Nubia (mid-4th millennium BCE)

The Role of Warfare and Headhunting in Forming Ethnic Identity: Violent Clashes between A-Group and Naqada Peoples in Lower Nubia (mid-4th millennium BCE)

Interactions between Trypillian farmers and North Pontic forager-pastoralists in Eneolithic central Ukraine.

The establishment of agrarian economy in Eneolithic East Europe is associated with the Pre-Cucuteni-Cucuteni-Trypillia complex (PCCTC). PCCTC farmers interacted with Eneolithic forager-pastoralist groups of the North Pontic steppe as PCCTC extended from the Carpathian foothills to the Dnipro Valley beginning in the late 5th millennium BCE. While the cultural interaction between the two groups is evident through the Cucuteni C pottery style that carries steppe influence, the extent of biological interactions between Trypillian farmers and the steppe remains unclear. Here we report the analysis of artefacts from the late 5th millennium Trypillian settlement at the Kolomiytsiv Yar Tract (KYT) archaeological complex in central Ukraine, focusing on a human bone fragment found in the Trypillian context at KYT. Diet stable isotope ratios obtained from the bone fragment suggest the diet of the KYT individual to be within the range of forager-pastoralists of the North Pontic area. Strontium isotope ratios of the KYT individual are consistent with having originated from contexts of the Serednii Stih (Sredny Stog) culture sites of the Middle Dnipro Valley. Genetic analysis of the KYT individual indicates ancestry derived from a proto-Yamna population such as Serednii Stih. Overall, the KYT archaeological site presents evidence of interactions between Trypillians and Eneolithic Pontic steppe inhabitants of the Serednii Stih horizon and suggests a potential for gene flow between the two groups as early as the beginning of the 4th millennium BCE.

The Dawn of Israel: A History of Canaan in the Second Millennium BCE. By Lester L. Grabbe

Journal Article The Dawn of Israel: A History of Canaan in the Second Millennium BCE. By Lester L. Grabbe Get access The Dawn of Israel: A History of Canaan in the Second Millennium BCE. By Lester L. Grabbe. Pp. 354. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2023. isbn978 0 5676 6322 1, 6321 4, 6323 8, and 6324 5. Hardback £65; paperback £21.99; ePDF/e-book £19.79. P J Harland P J Harland University of Cambridge, UK pjh42@cam.ac.uk Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Journal of Theological Studies, flad024, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flad024 Published: 09 June 2023

Hunte 4: Re-validation of a Bell Beaker domestic site in the Dümmer region in northwestern Germany

Abstract One of the few areas of the central North European Plain with settlement structures of the Single Grave groups (SG) as well as the Bell Beaker (BB) phenomenon is the Dümmer region in northwestern Germany. This region is characterised by extensive wetlands on the southern border of the Northern Lowland and has been subject of several research projects on Mesolithic and Neolithic sites since the last century. Archaeological prospections in the 1940s led to the detection of a domestic site of the BB groups at the Hunte 4 site. In 2020, new research was carried out at this site, which, through the integration of archaeology, geophysics and palynology, identified a Late SG and BB site and reconstructed the surrounding landscape. In contrast to the Hunte 1 settlement with building structures 2.5 km to the south, which also shows SG and BB activities, the results of the investigations at Hunte 4 point to a temporary use of the site. Consequently, a settlement system can be reconstructed in the region of the Dümmer for the second half of the third millennium and at the beginning of the second millennium BCE, which consisted of at least one permanent settlement and at the minimum one temporarily used sites – several more could be presumed but have to yet be localised. At the same time, the Dümmer region marks the southern border of a settlement system in the central Northern European Plain which is characterised by less domestic site, less permanent settlement sites and buildings structures. This contrasts with the increasing number of known settlement sites in the surrounding regions of the central Northern European Plain and suggests a higher translocality of individuals and groups in this area.

A Unique Painted Sherd from the Mid-Sixth Millennium BCE Neolithic Context of Northeastern Iran

Depicting animal motifs on pottery vessels of prehistoric cultures of the Iranian Plateau was begun as early as the turn of the seventh millennium BCE in the lowland Susiana Plain of southwestern Iran. Such motifs appeared in the Neolithic of northeastern Iran, known as Chakhmaq Culture, as early as the early sixth millennium BCE. During a stratigraphic excavation at a Neolithic site, dated to ca. 7000–5000 BCE, in the Shahroud Plain of northeastern Iran, a body sherd was found depicting a scene of mating goats rotating around the vessel. Regarding its early date, ca. 5650–5550 cal BCE, and its naturalistic way of representing the animal motifs, this sherd is unique among the contemporaneous Neolithic sites of the Iranian Plateau.

The Holocene history of grapevine (Vitis vinifera) and viticulture in France retraced from a large-scale archaeobotanical dataset

Grapevine and wine have deeply shaped the landscapes, economy and cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean. In France, it is considered that viticulture started in the south via contacts with Mediterranean populations (Greeks, Etruscans, Phoenicians), during the second half of the 1st millennium BCE, and spread further with the Romans. Wild grapevines were nevertheless present in various areas of the country all through the Holocene. No archaeological or historical source allows us to follow the history of grapevine and viticulture over the entire Holocene period and over the whole territory.In this paper we investigate the potential of archaeological plant macroremains (seed/fruits and wood) to trace the history of the vine on a large scale. We have assembled the largest possible database of published and unpublished archaeobotanical data, comprising 4449 site-phases for seed and fruits and 1356 site-phases for wood remains. In spite of taphonomic discrepancies and imbalances in the datasets, the different types of macroremains and modes of preservation produce consistent patterns. They provide the first comprehensive picture of the spread of grapevine, fluctuations in the economic role of viticulture and grape uses over time, although some periods and regions are less documented.Grapevine remains are regularly recorded from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age in most regions showing that human societies were already familiar with the wild plant and its fruits, especially in the Mediterranean. In this region, Vitis remains become considerably more frequent and numerous during the Iron Age, from around 500 BCE onwards, testifying to the rapid and strong implantation of viticulture. Grapevine macroremains confirm that the spread of viticulture outside the Mediterranean area occurred mainly during the Roman period. However, this expansion was limited and mainly focused on the South. The main expansion into the temperate zone took place during the Middle Ages. However, the more detailed fluctuations of viticulture, particularly in relation to climate oscillations are still difficult to follow. Pip remains are mainly associated with urban sites. This is a consequence of the actual consumption of grapes and may be evidence of a viticulture centered around urban areas.

Giardia duodenalis and dysentery in Iron Age Jerusalem (7th-6th century BCE).

The aim of this study was to determine if the protozoa that cause dysentery might have been present in Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, during the Iron Age. Sediments from 2 latrines pertaining to this time period were obtained, 1 dating from the 7th century BCE and another from the 7th to early 6th century BCE. Microscopic investigations have previously shown that the users were infected by whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), Taenia sp. tapeworm and pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis). However, the protozoa that cause dysentery are fragile and do not survive well in ancient samples in a form recognizable using light microscopy. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits designed to detect the antigens of Entamoeba histolytica, Cryptosporidium sp. and Giardia duodenalis were used. Results for Entamoeba and Cryptosporidium were negative, while Giardia was positive for both latrine sediments when the analysis was repeated three times. This provides our first microbiological evidence for infective diarrhoeal illnesses that would have affected the populations of the ancient near east. When we integrate descriptions from 2nd and 1st millennium BCE Mesopotamian medical texts, it seems likely that outbreaks of dysentery due to giardiasis may have caused ill health throughout early towns across the region.

Estimating the Ontogenetic Age and Sex Composition of Faunal Assemblages with Bayesian Multilevel Mixture Models

Understanding the ontogenetic age and sex composition of zooarchaeological assemblages can reveal details about past human hunting and herding strategies as well as past animal morphology and behavior. As such, the accuracy of our estimates underlies our ability to ascertain details about site formation and gain insights into how people interacted with different animals in the past. Unfortunately, our estimates typically rely on only a small number of bones, limiting our ability to fruitfully use these estimates to make meaningful comparisons to theoretical expectations or even between multiple assemblages. This paper describes a method to use zooarchaeological remains with standard biometric measurements to estimate the ontogenetic age and sex composition of the assemblage, focused on immature, adult-sized female, and adult-sized male specimens. The model uses a Bayesian framework to ensure that the parameter estimates are biologically meaningful. Simulated assemblages show that the model can accurately estimate the biometry and composition of zooarchaeological assemblages. Two archaeological case studies also show how the model can be applied to produce tangible insights. The first, focused on sheep from Neolithic Pinarbaşı B, highlights the model’s ability to elucidate site formation and function. The second, focused on cattle remains from four assemblages from 7th-6th millennium BCE northwestern Anatolia, showcases how to use the mixture modeling results to compare assemblages to one another and to specific hypotheses. This modeling framework provides a new avenue for investigating long-term trajectories in animal biometry alongside contextual analyses of past human choices in butchery and consumption.

Environment, subsistence strategies and settlement seasonality in the Negev Highlands (Israel) during the Bronze and Iron Ages: The palynological evidence.

The Negev Highlands arid region (southern Levant) shows evidence of sharp settlement fluctuations, with several periods of strong human activity separated by centuries with no evidence of sedentary life. In this study, we used the palynological method in order to shed light on the region's demographic history in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Fifty-four samples of pollen were collected and analyzed from secure archaeological contexts in four Negev Highlands sites: Nahal Boqer 66, dated to the Early Bronze Age and Early Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 3200-2200 BCE); Ein Ziq, dated to the Early Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 2500-2200 BCE); Mashabe Sade, dated to the Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 2500-2000 BCE); and Haroa, dated to the Iron Age IIA (ca. late 10th through 9th centuries BCE). Our study revealed no evidence of cereal cultivation, with some hints that the inhabitants' diets may have included plants gathered from the wild. Only one of the sites, Nahal Boqer 66, showed micro-indicators of animal dung remains, suggesting that the inhabitants herded animals. The palynological evidence did, however, emphasize that the livestock there were not fed or supplemented with agricultural by-products but rather grazed freely on wild vegetation. The pollen data also suggest that all four sites were occupied only during late winter and spring. The activity in the Negev Highlands during the third millennium BCE was probably related to the copper industry in the Arabah and to copper transportation to settled neighboring lands, especially Egypt. A relatively humid climate supported the trade through the Negev Highlands. Deterioration in both climate conditions and settlement activity was documented in the second half of the Intermediate Bronze Age.

The earliest directly dated saddle for horse-riding from a mid-1st millennium BCE female burial in Northwest China

The invention of the saddle substantially improved horseback-riding, which not only revolutionized warfare, but also eased long-distance speedy movement across Eurasia. Here we present the first detailed construction analysis and absolute age determination of a well-preserved soft leather saddle recovered from the tomb of a female deceased at the Yanghai cemetery site in the Turfan Basin at the eastern end of the Tian Shan mountains. Compared with the oldest known saddle from the Scythian Pazyryk culture site Tuekta barrow no. 1 (430–420 BCE) in north-western Altai, the Yanghai specimen radiocarbon dated to 727–396 BCE (95.4% probability range) is contemporaneous or possibly older. The saddle features the basic elements of soft saddle construction that are still used today: two stuffed, wing-shaped hides sewn together along the outer edges and separated by a central gullet-like spacer and lens-shaped support elements, resembling knee and thigh rolls of modern saddles. Being a masterful piece of leather- and needlework, it is, however, less complex compared to Scythian saddles from the 5th–3rd centuries BCE. Another specimen from nearby Subeixi site, which is also described in detail for the first time in the present study, much closer resembles the Pazyryk saddles in shape, size and structure. In Yanghai, equestrian paraphernalia appear in the grave assemblages during the entire burial period (ca. 1300 BCE to 200 CE), although in higher numbers only from ca. 300 BCE. In the same way, the burial of horses was not common until then. Despite the generally very good preservation of leather, only two saddles were discovered in Yanghai which makes them an exception rather than the norm and raises the question of whether these saddles were acquired from more specialized horse breeders, riders, and saddlers in the North.

Water as a Problem and a Solution in Arid Landscapes: Resilient Practices and Adapted Land Use in the Eastern Marmarica (NW-Egypt) between the 2nd Millennium BCE and the 1st Millennium CE

Arid environments are suitable for researching the resilience of landscapes, since their ecological conditions pose continuous water stress to plants, animals, and humans living there. It is not only water, but also soil that is a limited resource. The arid landscape of the Eastern Marmarica (NW-Egypt) serves as an example for studying the resilience in and of a past landscape and its inhabitants from the 2nd millennium BCE to the 1st millennium CE, which is conceptualised as a ‘social arid landscape’. The adapted life strategies and resilient practices to make a living in the arid environment are reconstructed from (geo-) archaeological evidence, discussing the applicability of the concept of resilience for ancient (landscape) studies. Resilience is an etic concept, depending on the perspective on and scale of a system. With the categories of ‘event’, ‘practice’ and ‘knowledge’, however, various scales can be bridged; life strategies can be defined as communities of practice and dichotomies be solved. Niche dwellings in the ancient Marmarica, where exposure to stress was normal, functioned because of an elaborate water management and the mobility of the people living there. The resilience of the arid social landscape is based on mixed life strategies, where only a multi-factored crisis (economic and climatic) or a series of smaller shocks (many dry years) could have destructive impacts.

The signature of the stones: pXRF studies on prehistoric axes from the Eastern Sahara

Prehistoric stone axes are common in the Sahara but not much attention has been paid to them in recent research. Necked axes, also “haches à gorge” or “Darfur axes”, are a remarkable form of axes, which are characterised by a groove and a round or mushroom shaped neck. This rather peculiar type is widespread throughout the Sahara and can be linked with different pastoral groups of the 5th to 3rd/2nd millennia BCE. The distribution of these axes between the Nile Valley and Mali raises questions of trade and transport. In this regard the raw material used for the manufacture of these axes is of special interest. Visual rock determination of necked axes from the eastern Sahara, especially from the Wadi Howar and Laqiya regions in northern Sudan, indicates igneous rocks, mainly diabase, as raw material. As macroscopic raw material determination of archaeological objects can be difficult due to ancient surface treatment and taphonomic processes, a non-destructive elemental analysis approach was performed. pXRF analysis carried out on 62 pieces from the eastern Sahara for the first time allowed to further distinguish different rock groups based on their chemical composition. Comparison between pXRF measurements on the natural and fresh surfaces was made to address the question of taphonomic influence. A look for potential raw material sources for the production of the necked axes found in northern Sudan indicate a regional provenance of the raw material to be probable.

Dendroarchaeology at Lake Ohrid: 5th and 2nd millennia BCE tree-ring chronologies from the waterlogged site of Ploča Mičov Grad, North Macedonia

On the prehistoric site of Ploča Mičov Grad (Ohrid, North Macedonia) on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid a total of 799 wooden elements were recorded from a systematically excavated area of nearly 100 square metres. Most of them are pile remains made of round wood with diameters up to almost 40 cm. A comprehensive dendrochronological analysis allows the construction of numerous well-replicated tree-ring chronologies for different species. High agreements between the chronologies prove that oak, pine, juniper, ash and hop-hornbeam can be crossdated. The chronologies are dated by means of radiocarbon dates and modelling using wiggle matching. An intensive settlement phase is attested for the middle of the 5th millennium BCE. Further phases follow towards the end of the 5th millennium BCE and in the 2nd millennium around 1800, 1400 and 1300 BCE. Furthermore, the exact, relative felling dates allow first insights into the minimum duration of the settlement phases, which lie between 17 and 87 years. The multi-centennial chronologies presented in this study can be used as a first robust dating basis for future research in the numerous not yet dated prehistoric lake shore settlements of the region with excellently preserved wooden remains.