Petrographic and chemical characterization of Middle Bronze Age pottery from Sicily: towards a definition of an Etnean production

AbstractAt Ustica island (Palermo, Italy), in the area of Casa dei Francesi, 119 fragments of obsidian artifacts were collected on the surface of an agricultural field at an altitude of 50 m asl. In the same area, until now, scientific literature reports only the presence of late Roman pottery (4th–6th centuries AD), and no evidence has appeared that it could be the site of a prehistoric settlement. The most important prehistoric settlement, the Faraglioni Village (Middle Bronze Age) is located 700 m further north, overlooking the sea. Obsidian provenance analyses, performed on the 119 samples with absolutely non-destructive techniques WD-XRF and SEM-EDS, indicate two sources areas: Lipari (93 samples, 78%) and Pantelleria (26 samples, 22%). Concerning the obsidians from the island of Pantelleria, it was possible to also establish the sub-source of Salto la Vecchia. The typological and functional analyses of the 119 obsidian fragments point out that 115 are debitages, some of which show evidence of percussion bulbs, and only 4 are tools with micro-retouching. This work focuses on the geochemical and typological characterization of the obsidian assemblage collected, the characteristics of which suggest the existence of a prehistoric settlement in the area of the Casa dei Francesi or nearby.

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Following the Collapse: Regeneration or Transformation of the Urban Societies?

BAF-Online: Proceedings of the Berner Altorientalisches Forum ◽

10.22012/baf.2016.14 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

Author(s):

Mohammed Alkhalid

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Developmental Trajectories ◽

The Other ◽

Urban Systems ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Economic Systems ◽

Archaeological Evidence ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

The One ◽

Definition Of

In the field of Syrian and Mesopotamian studies we must deal with many changes affecting the urban complexity and the socio-political and economic systems. In Syria, two major regional changes have been identified: one is the collapse of the Uruk system and the beginning of the second urban revolution, the other is the end of the Early Bronze Age and the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age cultures during the late third/early second millennium B.C. The terms “transition” and “collapse” are largely used in the definition of those two historical events.Many reasons could cause the collapse of any civilization: to explain the nature of any collapse we must look at the characteristics of the period that followed it. This paper will deal with the archaeological evidence from the late third and early second millennium B.C. in northern inner Syria to illustrate, on the one hand, the reason of that collapse and, on the other hand, to show how such a collapse affected the developmental trajectories of the urban systems.

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The Hoard from West Buckland, Somerset

The Antiquaries Journal ◽

10.1017/s0003581500003954 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 62 (1) ◽

pp. 13-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Robin J. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Definition Of ◽

Plaster Casts ◽

The Way

SummaryThe small Middle Bronze Age hoard from West Buckland, Somerset has been assumed to be lost since its publication in 1880. Plaster casts still exist of the objects in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. Parallels are given for these objects and their chronology discussed. The way in which the casts may have reached the collection is considered. The circumstances of the find are also discussed, with the possibility that these objects may be from a burial, thus raising the question of our definition of hoards.

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