Towards an absolute chronology for the Iron Age of Inner Asia

Antiquity ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 71 (274) ◽  
pp. 863-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark E. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Old World ◽  
Inner Asia ◽  
Absolute Dating

For half a century now — ever since radiocarbon dating began — there have been regional reconciliations between relative chronologies and the new absolute dating. Sometimes they have been friendly, some times less so when the two schemes have not matched well. For Inner Asia — centre of the Old World — there is belatedly now the means to resolve some fundamentals.

The Political History of Megiddo in the Early Iron Age and the Ambiguities of Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Political History ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Iron Age I ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Developments

Abstract This article reviews the major problems in the political history of Megiddo during the early Iron Age (Iron Age I–IIA), at the time of the early monarchic period in Israel (eleventh–ninth centuries BCE). Megiddo has been central to an ongoing debate over the nature of the early monarchic period in Israel and the exact chronology of the Iron Age I–IIA periods. This importance derives both from the extensive excavations of the relevant strata at Megiddo (VIA, VB and VA-IVB) as well as Megiddo’s appearance in relevant historical sources, namely the Hebrew Bible, which claims that Solomon “built” Megiddo, and its appearance in the campaign list of pharaoh Sheshonq I. Though the fragment of a stela of Sheshonq I was found at Megiddo, it was only found after having been discarded and so its stratigraphic attribution is unclear. Radiocarbon dating from these strata has assisted to some degree but still left dating and historical questions quite open. This article will demonstrate that the political history of Megiddo during the early Iron Age is beset with ambiguities in the evidence, which have been divided into seven ambiguities for the purpose of the discussion here. When these ambiguities are taken into account, it becomes clear that the interpreter has much latitude in making their reconstruction, specifically in how they date strata and associate them with putative historical developments. Different cases can be made for associating particular strata and their termination with Solomon, Sheshonq or even later kings, but none can claim to objectively be the correct or superior reconstruction.

Absolute Dating of the Virje and Hlebine Sites

2021 ◽  
pp. 92-100
Author(s):  
Katarina Botić
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Bayesian Model ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Ams Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Cool Conditions

In this chapter the results of AMS radiocarbon dating of 26 charcoal samples from four sites are discussed. The primary aim was to explore the scope of (dis)continuity of temporally and functionally interconnected types of sites (settlement and iron production workshop). A Bayesian model was created based on the acquired data from excavated sites with three sequences in the model determined. The results show great accordance with the archaeologically based data, with some exceptions that are most probably a result of modelling strategy used. Contemporaneity of all four sites is mostly attested with a possible and very short temporal hiatus around AD 600. Occupation of workshop and residential areas at that time or slightly after may have been linked to the globally attested environmental change during the Bond 1 event when dry and cool conditions prevailed and which could have had an impact on bog iron formation processes.

Absolute Dating of Early Iron Objects from the Ancient Orient: Radiocarbon Dating of Luristan Iron Mask Swords

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1229-1238
Author(s):  
C Matthias Hüls ◽  
Ingo Petri ◽  
Helmut Föll
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Slag Inclusions ◽  
Metallurgical Analysis ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Production Period ◽  
Two Sides

ABSTRACTLuristan Iron Mask Swords have been recovered mostly from illegal diggings in the 1920s. The about 90 known objects are characterized by a disk-shaped pommel on the top of the handle with two mounted bearded heads on two sides. According to the similarity in form and radiocarbon (14C) measurements on two swords from museum collections, an overall short production period was assumed around 1000 BC (Moorey 1991; Rehder 1991). Here we present the results of metallurgical analysis and 14C measurements for three newly acquired Luristan swords, which were donated to the Royal Museums of Art & History, Brussels. Metallurgical analysis indicates an iron production via the bloomary furnace technique. Analyzed samples show large slag inclusions (Fayalite, Wüstite, glass) within a mostly ferritic and pearlitic iron. The carbon contents varied between 0.2 wt% to around 0.8 wt%). 14C measurements on thermally extracted carbon give 14C ages between 2800 BP–3360 BP (calibrated ∼1745 BC–900 BC). The reliability of the 14C measurements are discussed with respect to external (contamination during handling) and intrinsic contamination (e.g. fossil carbon sources during manufacture).

scholarly journals Wiggle-Match Dating of Tree-Ring Sequences from the Early Iron Age Defensive Settlement Motroninskoe Gorodishche in Mielniki (Central Ukraine)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 645-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Chochorowski ◽  
Marek Krąpiec ◽  
Sergej Skoryj ◽  
Vadim Skrypkin
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Matching Method ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Dendrochronological Analysis ◽  
Historic Data ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Tree Cutting

In 2002–2003, excavations were carried out within the early Iron Age fortified settlement of Motroninskoe Gorodishche in Mielniki (central Ukraine, obl. Cherkassy). The excavations revealed relics of a charred wooden structure in the core of the earth rampart, originally forming the outside fortification line of the settlement. Dendrochronological analysis of 20 charred pieces of the oakwood from the rampart demonstrated that they all represented a single construction phase. However, the chronology produced from them spanned only 62 yr, and the attempts of dating against the European oak standards were unsuccessful. For absolute dating, radiocarbon analysis was conducted on nine samples consisting of 4–8 tree rings, relatively dated and coming from selected timbers, of which dendrochronological sequences defined the above chronology. The wiggle-matching method allowed to determine the two most plausible periods tree cutting: 665–630 or 625–520 BC. The construction date of the rampart outlines the beginning of construction of the fortification system of one of the most heavily reinforced strongholds in eastern Europe raised by the local, settled population for defense against the nomadic Scythians invading from the steppe. Taking into account historic data and other dated artifacts, it may be assumed that the first period, 665–630 BC, would be more probable. This conclusion supports the historical process (crucial for eastern Europe) of migration of the Iranian Scythians from inside Asia and settling in areas around the Black Sea.

Iron Age inhumation burials at Yarnton, Oxfordshire

Antiquity ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 73 (281) ◽  
pp. 551-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gill Hey ◽  
Alex Bayliss ◽  
Angela Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Common Part ◽  
Burial Practice ◽  
Middle Iron Age

Radiocarbon dating of unaccompanied skeletons discovered during the excavation of an Iron Age, Roman and Saxon settlement at Yarnton, Oxfordshire, unexpectedly revealed the presence of a middle Iron Age cemetery (3rd or 4th century cal BC). British Iron Age burials before the 1st century BC are usually found as individuals, often in pits on settlement sites, or are repersented by disarticulated human bone. This paper explores whether cemeteries were a more common part of Iron Age burial practice than hitherto believed, or whether the Yarnton burials were a highly unusual and localized phenomenon? It highlights the merits of obtaining radiocarbon determinations on otherwise undated burials.

Este, Padova, Italy: Dating the Iron Age Waterfront

Radiocarbon ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (02) ◽  
pp. 655-665
Author(s):  
John Meadows ◽  
Nicoletta Martinelli ◽  
Marie-Josée Nadeau ◽  
Elodia Bianchin Citton
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Calibration Data ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Northeastern Italy ◽  
Term Fluctuation

Two floating tree-ring chronologies were developed from oak timbers recovered during salvage excavations of a pre-Roman wharf in Este, a prominent center of the Veneti people, who lived in northeastern Italy during the Iron Age. Wiggle-match radiocarbon dating shows that one chronology spans the 10th and 9th centuries cal BC, and that the waterfront was probably built ∼800 cal BC. The second chronology apparently spans most of the 7th century cal BC, and is associated with a phase of construction about 2 centuries after the first. One of the samples gave what appeared to be anomalous14C results that may best be explained as evidence of a short-term fluctuation in atmospheric14C level, which can be seen in short-lived samples but is not apparent in the decadal or bidecadal calibration data. Both chronologies cover periods for which there are no other tree-ring chronologies in this region, and could become key to refining the local Iron Age chronology.

scholarly journals Diet and Radiocarbon Dating of Tollund Man: New Analyses of an Iron Age Bog Body from Denmark

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1533-1545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina H Nielsen ◽  
Bente Philippsen ◽  
Marie Kanstrup ◽  
Jesper Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Scientific Investigations ◽  
Bog Body ◽  
General Diet ◽  
Isotope Analyses ◽  
Isotope Measurements

ABSTRACTTollund Man is one of the most famous Iron Age bog bodies due to his well-preserved head. Since he was unearthed in 1950 in Bjældskovdal, Denmark, he has been subjected to several scientific investigations, but until now no attempts to reconstruct his general diet through isotope analyses have been conducted. Furthermore, previous radiocarbon (14C) analyses have only been able to date him broadly to the 3rd–4th century BC. In this study, stable isotope measurements (δ13C, δ15N) on bone collagen from Tollund Man’s femur and rib showed that the diet of Tollund Man was terrestrial-based and that the crops he ate probably were grown on manured fields. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates were obtained on both the <30kDa and >30kDa fractions of ultrafiltered collagen. Results showed that the ultrafiltration removed contamination from older substances from the burial environment. The femur was dated to 2330±23 BP, the rib to 2322±30 BP. These dates statistically agree with a previously published AMS 14C age on skin. By combining the new dates with the previous date of his skin it was possible to narrow down the age of Tollund Man to the period 405–380 cal BC (95.4% confidence interval).

Dating Gordion: the Timing and Tempo of Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Political Transformation

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 495-514
Author(s):  
Lisa Kealhofer ◽  
Peter Grave ◽  
Mary M Voigt
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
Subsequent Formation ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Type Site ◽  
Key Events

ABSTRACTGordion has long served as an archaeological type site for Iron Age central Anatolia and provided pioneering radiocarbon (14C) determinations as reported in the first issue ofRadiocarbon(1959). Absolute dating of key events at Gordion continue to reshape our understanding of regional development and interaction in the Iron Age, with a major conflagration in the late 9th BCE century at this site the most recent focus of attention (DeVries et al. 2003). Here we present the latest series of14C determinations for Gordion from Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age contexts. Fifteen absolute dates provide a critical new framework for establishing the timing and tempo of cultural transformation from the collapse of the Hittite Empire through to the subsequent formation of the Phrygian polity that dominated central Anatolia from the 9th to the 7th c. BCE. This chronometric revision transforms our perspective on the LBA/EIA transition at this site: from disengagement from Hittite hegemony in the 12th c. BCE, to the precocious emergence of the Phrygian capital in the early 9th c. BCE.

Sandscaping and C14: the Udal, N. Uist

Antiquity ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 51 (202) ◽  
pp. 124-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Crawford ◽  
Roy Switsur
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Research Laboratory ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Research Fellow ◽  
University Of Cambridge ◽  
Queen's University ◽  
European Standards

A research campaign into the scarcely known history and prehistoric origins of Scottish West Highland and Island settlement, has located an area of ‘fossil’ landscape at Coileagan an Udail (the Udal), N. Uist. The completion of a first stage of 14 years excavation (155 weeks) has provided detailed evidence of continuous occupation from the Iron Age to the eighteenth century AD. Sampling has shown positive indications of a similar picture back through much of prehistory at least as far as the Beaker period and is the basis for the proposed second stage of excavations. This remarkably long (by European standards) sequence of deposition has had its coherence confirmed by a first series of radiocarbon dates. The calibration of these dates and their relationship to crucial artifacts is considered. This article is by Iain Crawford, who has just completed two years as Senior Visiting Research Fellow at The Queen's University of Belfast, and Dr Roy Switsur, Head of the Radiocarbon Dating Research Laboratory University of Cambridge.

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