Toward the Reconstruction of a Sacred Landscape of the Judean Highlands

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Aaron A. Burke
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Landscape Features ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Divine Name

Abstract At least a dozen biblical toponyms for sites and landscape features in ancient Judah’s highlands bear divine name elements that were most common during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. In light of archaeological evidence from many of these sites, it is suggested that they were first settled as part of a settlement influx in the highlands during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000–1550 BCE), following a reemergence of urbanism and a return of economic development that occurred under Amorite aegis. The cultic orientation of these sites may be suggested by reference to ritual traditions at Mari during the Middle Bronze Age but especially Ugarit during the Late Bronze Age. Such evidence may also serve to elucidate the various enduring cultic associations that persisted in connection with these locations during the Iron Age, as preserved in various biblical traditions.

The Early Iron Age Urban Forms of Cyprus

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Iacovou
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Urban Settlement ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Power Centers

This chapter examines the local conditions, traditions, and forms of urban settlement in Cyprus during the Iron Age. It explains that almost to the very end of the Middle Bronze Age, Cyprus had remained a closed rural society, though it was by then completely surrounded by Mediterranean urban states and it was only by 1100 BC that new social and economic structures started to dictate the establishment and development of new population and power centers. The archaeological evidence of 800–600 BC stands testimony to the culmination of a long process of social evolution and urbanization.

Cairnpapple Revisited: 1948–1998

1999 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 17-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon J. Barclay
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Phase 2 ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Phase 3 ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

It is 50 years since Stuart Piggott excavated the prehistoric complex at Cairnpapple. At that time there were few excavated parallels in Scotland, and interpretation inevitably relied heavily on sites excavated in southern Britain. Much more locally relevant data are now available and the sequence at Cairnpapple can now be reassessed its regional context.Piggott identified five Periods, commencing with a stone setting, ‘cove’ and cremation cemetery of ‘Late Neolithic date’ around ‘c. 2500 B.C.’. Period II was a henge monument, consisting of a ‘circle’ of standing stones with ceremonial burials in association, and an encircling ditch with external bank – ‘Of Beaker date, probably c. 1700 B.C.’ Period III comprised the primary cairn, containing two cist-burials ‘Of Middle Bronze Age date, probably c. 1500 B.C.’ Period IV involved the doubling of the size of the cairn, with two cremated burials in inverted cinerary urns. ‘Of final Middle Bronze Age or native Late Bronze Age date, probably c. 1000 B.C.’ Period V comprised four graves ‘possibly Early Iron Age within the first couple of centuries A.D.’The present paper, using comparable material from elsewhere in Scotland, argues for a revised phasing: Phase 1, comprises the deposition of earlier Neolithic plain bowl sherds and axehead fragments with a series of hearths. This is comparable to ‘structured deposition’ noted on other sites of this period. Phase 2 involved the construction of the henge – a setting of 24 uprights – probably of timber rather than stone, probably followed by the encircling henge ditch and bank. The ‘cove’ is discussed in the context of comparable features in Scotland. Phase 3 saw the construction of a series of graves, including the monumental ‘North Grave’, which was probably encased in a cairn. Piggott's ‘Period III’ cairn was then built, followed by the ‘Period IV’ cairn. The urn burials seem likely to have been inserted into the surface of this mound, which may have covered a burial (since disturbed) on the top of the Period III mound, or may have been a deliberate monumentalising of it. The four graves identified as Iron Age by Piggott seem more likely to be from the early Christian period.The reassessment of Piggott's report emphasises the value of the writing of a clear, and sufficiently detailed account. While no report can be wholly objective it can be seen that Piggott's striving for objectivity led him to write a paper that is of lasting value.

scholarly journals Bronze Age and Iron Age Archaeology at Thainstone Business Park, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire

2021 ◽  
Vol 95 ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Sue McGalliard ◽  
Donald Wilson ◽  
Laura Bailey ◽  
H E M Cool ◽  
Gemma Cruickshanks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Excavation ◽  
Commercial Development ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Age Structures

Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd was commissioned by Axiom Project Services to undertake an archaeological excavation in advance of a commercial development at Thainstone Business Park, Aberdeenshire. Excavation identified the remains of a Middle Bronze Age roundhouse and a contemporary urned cremation cemetery. Evidence of Late Bronze Age cremation practices was also identified. A large roundhouse and souterrain dominated the site in the 1st or 2nd century ad. Material culture associated with the Iron Age structures suggested a degree of status to the occupation there.

scholarly journals Vegetation and Climate Changes during the Bronze and Iron Ages (∼3600–600 BCE) in the Southern Levant Based on Palynological Records

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dafna Langgut ◽  
Israel Finkelstein ◽  
Thomas Litt ◽  
Frank Harald Neumann ◽  
Mordechai Stein
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Vegetation History ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

This article presents the role of climate fluctuations in shaping southern Levantine human history from 3600 to 600 BCE (the Bronze and Iron Ages) as evidenced in palynological studies. This time interval is critical in the history of the region; it includes two phases of rise and decline of urban life, organization of the first territorial kingdoms, and domination of the area by great Ancient Near Eastern empires. The study is based on a comparison of several fossil pollen records that span a north-south transect of 220 km along the southern Levant: Birkat Ram in the northern Golan Heights, Sea of Galilee, and Ein Feshkha and Ze'elim Gully both on the western shore of the Dead Sea. The vegetation history and its climatic implications are as follows: during the Early Bronze Age I (∼3600–3000 BCE) climate conditions were wet; a minor reduction in humidity was documented during the Early Bronze Age II–III (∼3000–2500 BCE). The Intermediate Bronze Age (∼2500–1950 BCE) was characterized by moderate climate conditions, however, since ∼2000 BCE and during the Middle Bronze Age I (∼1950–1750 BCE) drier climate conditions were prevalent, while the Middle Bronze Age II–III (∼1750–1550 BCE) was comparably wet. Humid conditions continued in the early phases of the Late Bronze Age, while towards the end of the period and down to ∼1100 BCE the area features the driest climate conditions in the timespan reported here; this observation is based on the dramatic decrease in arboreal vegetation. During the period of ∼1100–750 BCE, which covers most of the Iron Age I (∼1150–950 BCE) and the Iron Age IIA (∼950–780 BCE), an increase in Mediterranean trees was documented, representing wetter climate conditions, which followed the severe dry phase of the end of the Late Bronze Age. The decrease in arboreal percentages, which characterize the Iron Age IIB (∼780–680 BCE) and Iron Age IIC (∼680–586 BCE), could have been caused by anthropogenic activity and/or might have derived from slightly drier climate conditions. Variations in the distribution of cultivated olive trees along the different periods resulted from human preference and/or changes in the available moisture.

Is There Anybody Out There? A Reconsideration of the Environmental Evidence from the Breiddin Hillfort, Powys, Wales

2001 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 51-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C Buckland ◽  
Mike Parker Pearson ◽  
Andy Wigley ◽  
Maureen A Girling
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Impact ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Natural Water ◽  
Water Reservoir ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Natural Pond ◽  
Evidence Of Absence

Researchers have often assumed that the Iron Age hillforts of the Welsh borders were densely occupied centres of population. One of these is the Breiddin, occupied in the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, which was excavated in 1969–76. At its centre was a natural water reservoir, Buckbean Pond, which provided a radiocarbon dated sequence of deposition contemporary with the later prehistoric occupation of the hillfort. The beetle assemblage from these deposits was never properly studied or published due to Maureen Girling's death and, as a result, its implications for understanding the human impact on the pond's immediate environment were not fully appreciated. Despite the remains of four-post structures close to the pond and of roundhouses and associated deposits in the vicinity, both flora and insect faunas indicate a quiet natural pond with little disturbance other than casual grazing by animals. This ‘evidence of absence’ does not square with the archaeological evidence which is here interpreted as deriving from human activity which was neither permanent nor intensive.

Chronology and Terminology in the British Bronze Age

1969 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. B. Burgess
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Age Gap ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

SummaryThe paper pleads for an end to persistent misuse of the traditional ‘Three Age’ terminology which still governs the Irish British Bronze Age, and for acceptance of work of the past decade which has either been ignored or misunderstood. Uniform terms of reference are needed, fitted to the new attitudes. Hawkes's Scheme of 1960 provides a framework for this, and is summarized. The Early, Middle, and Late divisions now have a techno-typological, rather than cultural, basis.Traditional cultural and ceramic concepts, based on typology, have resisted changes demanded by a new emphasis on the evidence of associated finds. The various Urn forms and the Deverel—Rimbury complex are particularly relevant here. Associations of Urns, and the few available C14 dates, are examined to demonstrate their existence in the Early Bronze Age, but, because of a remarkable ritual break at c. 1400, not in the Middle Bronze Age, let alone the Late Bronze Age. Similarly, Deverel—Rimbury is now Middle Bronze Age, not Late Bronze Age, its position after c. 1000 uncertain. Since much in our Iron Age is now thought indigenous, already apparent in Deverel—Rimbury, an awkward Late Bronze Age gap is opened up, apparently devoid of settlements and pottery. But much nominally Iron Age material may prove to be Late Bronze Age. There is a need for many more C14 dates to clarify these problems.

scholarly journals Sinop Province in the Second Millennium B.C. (In the Light of New Archaeological Evidence)

Belleten ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 68 (251) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Şevket Dönmez
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Important Data ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Terra Incognita ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Small Finds ◽  
Architectural Tradition

During the 1980s Archaeological research began to be carried out in Sinop Province. Until that time, it was an unexplored part of Anatolia (terra incognita) but since research efforts began our knowledge of the 2nd Millennium BC in Sinop Province has increased. M.A. Işın and İ. Tatlıcan conducted one of the most effective surveys in this province. In addition to the surveys, I was invited to the Boyabat-Kovuklukaya rescue excavation led by Musa Özcan, the current director of Sinop Museum. I was given responsibility for Trench 5 where we found a building with a substructure built from flat stones. This architectural tradition, along with the pottery and the small finds, provided us with new and important data about the 2nd Millennium BC in the Sinop Region. In Sinop city centre, a spearhead anda pin were found during an excavation at the foundation of the Kız Öğretmen Okulu. These two objects, which were dated to the Middle Bronze Age by Ö. Bilgi, are very important finds because they indicate a possible 2nd Millennium BC settlement or a cemetery in Sinop city centre. Another object, also dated to the Middle Bronze Age by Ö. Bilgi, is a spearhead found at Lala Village. During surveys carried out under the directorship of F.J. Hiebert, some Middle Bronze Age potsherds were found at Nohutluk-Güllüavlu (Hacıoğlu). All these finds indicate that there were a large number of settlements and cemeteries in Sinop Province and the surrounding region during the Assyrian Trading Colonies Period. In spite of research that would suggest otherwise, no Old Hittite or Hittite Empire objects were found in any of the surveys and excavations conducted in Sinop Province but two lugged axes found in the villages of Bülbül and Dibekli, have been dated to the Late Bronze Age (Hittite Empire Period) by Ö. Bilgi.

scholarly journals NEW DATA ON THE HERD COMPOSITION IN THE MIDDLE AND LATE BRONZE AGE OF NORTHWESTERN CRIMEA

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 82-96
Author(s):  
M. KASHUBA ◽  
◽  
M. KULKOVA ◽  
T. SMEKALOVA ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Small Ruminants ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
The North ◽  
Synchronous Cultures ◽  
Assem Blages ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

The paper deals with the results of an archeo-zoological study of bone materials from a num- ber of newly discovered settlements in Northwestern Crimea (Tarkhankut-Н2, Tarkhankut-Н8, Tarkhankut-18 and Tarkhankut-22а). According to the available archaeological evidence and ra- diocarbon determinations obtained on bone remains from cultural layers and semi-closed assem- blages, the materials in question belong to the early stage of the Babino culture (Tarkhankut-18, Tarkhankut-22а) and to the Sabatinovka (Tarkhankut-Н2, Tarkhankut-22а) and Belozerka (Tarkhankut-Н8, Tarkhankut-18) cultures. In addition, the Tarkhankut-22а settlement yielded some Early Iron Age materials. Altogether, 1211 bones were studied, and 284 of them proved to be identifiable. An attempt is made to consider the herd composition in its dynamics: during the final stage of the Middle Bronze Age the herd was heavily dominated by cattle, followed by small ru- minants, while the percentage of horse remains was insignificant. The Late Bronze Age witnessed an increase in the numbers of small ruminants, and the presence of horse became perceptible in the final of the Bronze Age. The authors compare their data with the information available for the Middle and Late Bronze Age settlements of Crimea and the synchronous cultures of the North Black Sea region. The analyzed materials point to the existence of pastoral stockbreeding with stone architecture represented by livestock enclosures.

scholarly journals Reconstructing the childhood diet of the individuals from the Middle Late Bronze Age Bezdanjača Cave, Croatia (ca. 1430 1290 BCE) using stable C and N isotope analysis of dentin collagen

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Martinoia ◽  
Stefano Benazzi ◽  
Mario Carić ◽  
Siniša Radović
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
C3 Plant ◽  
Childhood Diet ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Dentin Collagen ◽  
C And N ◽  
East West

This paper investigates the childhood diet of 16 individuals from the Middle Late Bronze Age (1430 1290 BCE) Bezdanjača Cave (Lika region, Croatia) using stable isotope analysis of dentin collagen from permanent first molars. Results from the analysis reveal that the individuals from Bezdanjača consumed notable quantities of C4 plants during their childhood. The most common C4 plant is millet, whose spread throughout Southern Europe was recently dated to the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE, which agrees with the results obtained in this research. Comparisons between the data collected for the individuals from Bezdanjača and other Middle and Late Bronze Age sites in Croatia suggest that only the individuals from the site of Veliki Vital (Middle Bronze Age, inland Croatia) exhibit similar isotopic values to those from Bezdanjača. Human isotopic values from coastal sites, however, reveal that during the Middle and Late Bronze Age people from the coast had diet that still predominantly contained C3 plant-based foods, which appears to suggest that the dispersion of this crop in Croatia during the Bronze Age followed an east-west trajectory, appearing earlier (Middle and Late Bronze Age) in inland settlements such as Veliki Vital and Bezdanjača and only later (Late Bronze Age and mostly Iron Age) in coastal sites.

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