Prehistoric Cyprus: longer durée and transformation - François Briois, Catherine Petit-Aupert & Pierre-Yves Pechoux. Études Chypriotes: Histoire des Campagnes d'Amathonte I. L'occupation du sol au Néolithique. 260 pages, 109 colour & b&w illustrations. 2005. Paris: De Boccard; 2-86958-194-7 paperback. - Joanne Clarke (ed.). Archaeological Perspectives on the Transmission and Transformation of Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean (Levant Supplementary Series 2). xii +218 pages, 69 illustrations, 2 tables. 2005. Oxford: Oxbow & Council for British Research in the Levant; 1-84217-168-2 hardback £40. - David Frankel & Jennifer M. Webb Marki Alonia: an Early and Middle Bronze Age settlement in Cyprus, excavations 1995-2000 (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 123:2). xl+366 pages, 416 figures, 68 plates, 129 tables,10 plans inside jacket, CD-ROM. 2006. Sävedalen: Paul Åström; 91-7081-218-7 hardback.

Antiquity ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (315) ◽  
pp. 211-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert J. Ammerman
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Cd Rom ◽  
Supplementary Series ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Mediterranean Archaeology ◽  
British Research

3.2 ka BP Megadrought and the Late Bronze Age Collapse

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kaniewski ◽  
Elise Van Campo
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Prime Factor ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Southwest Asia ◽  
Aegean Region ◽  
Climate Shift ◽  
Dark Ages ◽  
Political Unrest ◽  
Mediterranean Archaeology

The collapse of Bronze Age civilizations in the Aegean, southwest Asia, and the eastern Mediterranean 3200 years ago remains a persistent riddle in Eastern Mediterranean archaeology, as both archaeologists and historians believe the event was violent, sudden, and culturally disruptive. In the first phase of this period, many cities between Pylos and Gaza were destroyed violently and often left unoccupied thereafter. The palace economy of the Aegean Region and Anatolia that characterized the Late Bronze Age was replaced by the isolated village cultures of the Dark Ages. Earthquakes, attacks of the Sea Peoples, and socio-political unrest are among the most frequently suggested causes for this phenomenon. However, while climate change has long been considered a potential prime factor in this crisis, only recent studies have pinpointed the megadrought behind the collapse. An abrupt climate shift seems to have caused, or hastened, the fall of the Late Bronze Age world by sparking political and economic turmoil, migrations, and famines. The entirety of the megadrought’s effects terminated the Late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean.

scholarly journals Tell Es-Sultan (Jericho): Radiocarbon Results of Short-Lived Cereal and Multiyear Charcoal Samples from the End of the Middle Bronze Age

Radiocarbon ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik J. Bruins ◽  
Johannes Van Der Plight
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Calibration Curves ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
Archaeological Excavations

Samples from Tell es-Sultan, Jericho, were selected for high-precision 14C dating as a contribution toward the establishment of an independent radiocarbon chronology of Near Eastern archaeology. The material derives from archaeological excavations conducted by K. M. Kenyon in the 1950s. We present here the results of 18 samples, associated stratigraphically with the end of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) at Tell es-Sultan. Six short-lived samples consist of charred cereal grains and 12 multiyear samples are composed of charcoal. The weighted average 14C date of the short-lived grains is 3306 ± 7 bp. The multiyear charcoal yielded, as expected, a somewhat older average: 3370 ± 6 bp. Both dates are more precise than the standard deviation (a) of the calibration curves and the absolute standard of oxalic acid. Calibration of the above Jericho dates is a bit premature, because several groups are currently testing the accuracy of both the 1986 and 1993 calibration curves. Nevertheless, preliminary calibration results are presented for comparison, based on 4 different calibration curves and 3 different computer programs. Wiggles in the calibration curves translate the precise bp dates into rather wide ranges in historical years. The final destruction of MBA Jericho occurred during the late 17th or the 16th century bc. More definite statements about the calibrated ages cannot be made until the accuracy of available calibration curves has been tested. Development of calibration curves for the Eastern Mediterranean region would be important.

Plant remains from Jiyeh/Porphyreon, Lebanon (seasons 2009–2014): preliminary results of archaeobotanical analysis and implications for future research

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 487-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Badura ◽  
Ewelina Rzeźnicka ◽  
Urszula Wicenciak ◽  
Tomasz Waliszewski
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Residential Quarter ◽  
Unknown Area ◽  
Mediterranean Archaeology ◽  
Archaeological Excavations ◽  
Over Time

The seaside settlement of Jiyeh in Lebanon, now identified with the ancient Porphyreon, boasts a history dating back to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age when Phoenicia occupied part of the Levantine coast (eastern Mediterranean). Extensive archaeological excavations by a team from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw have focused on the urban residential quarter, which consists of numerous houses and buildings separated by passages, containing material that has provided important insights into the lives of its inhabitants over time. However, as archaeobotanical studies had not been conducted there before, the question of plant use remains an important and largely unknown area of research. This article presents the first botanical results from Jiyeh (seasons 2009–2014) and considers their implications for future cooperation between archaeologists and natural scientists.

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