The diffusion of the cuneiform writing system in northern Mesopotamia: The earliest archaeological evidence

Iraq ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Quenet
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
Third Millennium Bc ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
Scribal Tradition ◽  
Southern Iraq ◽  
Shed Light

The invention of writing in southern Mesopotamia at the end of the fourth millennium BC had many and long-lasting consequences. As far as the Early Bronze Age is concerned, one of the most remarkable of these consequences is that the cuneiform writing system that gradually emerged in southern Iraq during the first part of the Early Dynastic period spread to northern Syria around the mid-third millennium BC. A flourishing scribal tradition was already firmly established throughout the Syrian Jezirah and inner Syria by the advent of the Akkadian period.It is difficult to establish the reasons and mechanisms that led the elites of northern Syria to borrow the practice of writing from their counterparts in southern Iraq. The steps in this process are even more unclear. Hence the aim of this paper is to gather material evidence that may help us shed light on those questions. As an archaeologist, I will not discuss here the content of epigraphical finds, but only their context and chronological attribution according to the chronological divisions in northern and southern Mesopotamia respectively.

Radiocarbon Dating of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia: Results, Limitations, and Prospects

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 635-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Mateusz Wencel
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Bayesian Modeling ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Textual Information ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Gradual Evolution ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
Southern Iraq ◽  
Textual Records

AbstractThis paper describes the results of Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates from Early Bronze Age contexts in Southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq. The model uses 14C dates available in the literature, employing archaeological and textual information to correlate contexts from a number of important Mesopotamian sites. The insufficient number of dates makes it impossible to precisely define the chronology of the period in question; however, the analysis allows for observing patterns of cultural change otherwise invisible in archaeological and textual records. Firstly, it is suggested that there was a hiatus of at least a century between the latest protocuneiform texts and the earliest historical writing. Furthermore, the results seem to argue against a steady, gradual evolution of literate civilizations, indicating a more complex and varied process of development.

Restoring the balance: an Early Bronze Age scale beam from Tell Fadous-Kfarabida, Lebanon

Antiquity ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (329) ◽  
pp. 839-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann Genz
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Economic Complexity ◽  
The People ◽  
Third Millennium ◽  
Third Millennium Bc ◽  
Small Bone

The author reports an object of modest appearance but great significance — a small bone beam for weighing precious commodities. Weighing indicates the regulation of quantities for exchange or manufacture and is thus a key agent of social and economic complexity. Well-stratified and dated to the early third millennium BC, this find puts the people of the Levant among the earliest to quantify mass. We are rightly urged to inspect faunal assemblages for similarly subtle modifications of bones.

TRAVELLING WITH THE POTTER'S WHEEL IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE AEGEAN

2020 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 59-104
Author(s):  
Maria Choleva
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Linear Diffusion ◽  
Craft Knowledge ◽  
Technological Tradition ◽  
Technological Study ◽  
Comparative Examination ◽  
Shed Light

By adopting the chaîne opératoire approach as a dynamic theoretical and methodological framework for studying ancient technologies, this paper investigates the modalities behind the appearance of the potter's wheel in the Aegean during the Early Bronze Age II (c. 2550–2200 bc). Based on the comparative examination of ceramic assemblages from different Aegean sites, an extended technological study has been carried out in order to track the earliest wheel-made pottery and reconstruct the craft behaviours perpetrated by the use of the potter's wheel across the Aegean. The paper presents the results of this multi-site study and aims to (a) trace out the wheel-based technological traditions, (b) explore the contexts of the learning and transmission of the new tool, (c) shed light on the connectivity among Aegean and western Anatolian communities that enabled the transfer of the new craft knowledge, and, finally, (d) bring into view the mechanisms behind its emergence and appropriation. By considering technologies as representing an entire social system of knowing, perceiving and acting on the material world, it will be argued that the spread of the potter's wheel in the Aegean does not reflect a moment of linear diffusion of a technological innovation, adopted thanks to certain techno-functional advantages. Instead, it discloses the resilience of social identities and values embedded through the practical engagement of individuals in the production of their material culture. The potter's wheel, in fact, emerges as a socially and culturally mediated practice, specific to small groups of potters trained within a technological tradition of Anatolian origin, performing their craft in the Aegean socio-cultural milieus. Furthermore, its transfer reveals a multidirectional and dynamic crossing of material cultures that designated a navigable world where traditions, objects and people travelled, mixed and merged in unpredictable ways.

Figurines of the Anatolian Early Bronze Age: the assemblage from Koçumbeli-Ankara

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 85-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Çiğdem Atakuman
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Near East ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
The Social ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Social Concerns ◽  
Third Millennium Bc

AbstractThrough analysis of a figurine assemblage from the site of Koçumbeli-Ankara, this study aims to re-evaluate the origins, meanings and functions of the Early Bronze Age (third millennium BC) anthropomorphic figurines of Anatolia. Conventional typological approaches to figurines are often focused on their origins and sex; however, such approaches hinder an understanding of the context of the norms of production, display and discard within which the figurines become more meaningful. Following an examination of breakage patterns and the decorative aspects of the Koçumbeli assemblage, a comparative review of figurine find contexts, raw materials and abstraction scales in Anatolia is provided, so that the social concerns underlying the use of these figurines can be explored. It is concluded that the origins of the figurines are difficult to pinpoint, due to the presence of similar items across a variety of regions of the Near East from the later Neolithic onwards. The sex of the figurines is equally ambiguous; while some human sexual features can be discerned, it is difficult to decide whether these features are ‘male’, ‘female’, both or beyond classification. Alternatively, the decoration, breakage and find contexts of the figurines suggest that the imagery was embedded in more complex perceptions of social status, death and social regeneration. The need for materialisation of these concerns in the form of the figurines could be related to the development of a new social landscape of interaction leading to political centralisation by the second millennium BC. Furthermore, the figurines were produced through a meaningful linking of particular raw materials and particular abstraction scales to particular use contexts, which seems to have shifted during the centralisation process.

The Development of Embossed Goldwork in Bronze Age Europe

2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Needham
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Parallel Development ◽  
The Third ◽  
Third Millennium ◽  
Third Millennium Bc ◽  
Craft Skills

The discovery of a pair of armlets from Lockington and the re-dating of the Mold cape, add substance to a tradition of embossed goldworking in Early Bronze Age Britain. It is seen to be distinct in morphology, distribution and decoration from the other previously defined traditions of goldworking of the Copper and Early Bronze Ages, which are reviewed here. However, a case is made for its emergence from early objects employing ‘reversible relief to execute decoration and others with small-scale corrugated morphology. Emergence in the closing stages of the third millennium BC is related also to a parallel development in the embossing of occasional bronze ornaments. Subsequent developments in embossed goldwork and the spread of the technique to parts of the Continent are summarized. The conclusions address the problem of interpreting continuity of craft skills against a very sparse record of relevant finds through time and space.

Unpublished material from the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut and the British School at Athens and its Contribution to a Better Understanding of the Early Bronze Age settlement pattern on Lesbos

1997 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 73-107
Author(s):  
Kyriacos Lambrianides ◽  
Nigel Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
First Generation ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Settlement Pattern ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
British School ◽  
New Material ◽  
Material Evidence

This paper presents previously unpublished material from the archives of the DAI and BSA, assessing its contribution to a better understanding of the settlement pattern on the north-east Aegean island of Lesbos in the Early Bronze Age, a period known only in terms of the single excavated sites of Thermi on its east coast. Using this new material evidence, the study places Thermi in its wider context within EBA Lesbos, demonstrating that several other EBA sites co-existed with Thermi, not only on the coast but also inland. It then places EBA settlements on the island in their west Anatolian context through an examination of ceramic parallels and affinities with mainland sites. It is argued: (1) that in view of the extensive distribution of EBA sites on Lesbos, colonization of the island must have begun long before the emergence of Thermi; (2) that several sources and mechanisms of colonization were involved in the process of settlement, which may be reflected in the fact that at least two distinct groups of sites can be identified on the island; and (3) that some of these sites appear to have relied upon agriculture rather than marine resources. Such inland agricultural sites may represent the first generation of purely endogenous communities which emerged on the island after its colonization.

scholarly journals THE FLESH-HOOK FEATURING A SCENE OF FIST FIGHTING FROM A MAIKOP CULTURE DOLMEN NEAR THE VILLAGE OF TSARSKAYA IN THE NORTHWEST CAUCASUS

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
В.А. Трифонов ◽  
Н.И. Шишлина ◽  
А.Ю. Лобода ◽  
В.А. Хвостиков
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
Western Asia ◽  
The World ◽  
Temple Art ◽  
The Village ◽  
Portable Art

В статье приведены результаты всестороннего анализа уникального бронзового крюка с антропоморфными фигурками из дольмена эпохи ранней бронзы (прибл. 3200–2900 до н. э.) у ст. Царская (совр. Новосвободная) на Северо-Западном Кавказе. Установлено, что предмет отлит из мышьяковой бронзы по технологии утрачиваемой восковой модели, является крюком для вынимания мяса из котла и входит в набор церемониальной посуды для общественной трапезы. Изображения пары обнаженных мужчин, стоящих в боксерской стойке, представляют сцену ритуального поединка в присутствии или в честь божества, чьим атрибутом являются бычьи рога, на которых соперники стоят. Предмет в целом ассоциируется с темой погребального пира и погребальных игр. Вероятно, что сюжет и иконография изображений восходят к канонам храмового шумерского искусства раннединастического, а возможно, и более раннего времени. Адаптация этой темы в майкопской культурной среде объясняется ее принадлежностью к кругу культур самой северной периферии переднеазиатской цивилизации. Пара фигур, изображенная на крюке из Царской, является самым ранним образцом антропоморфной металлической мелкой пластики на Кавказе и, видимо, самым ранним в мире скульптурным изображением кулачного поединка. The paper reports on the results of comprehensive analysis of a unique bronze flesh-hook featuring anthropomorphic figures from an Early Bronze Age dolmen (ca. 3200–2900 BC) near the village of Tsarskaya (contemporary Novosvobodnaya) in the Northwest Caucasus (fig. 1). It was established that the flesh-hook was cast from arsenical bronze with the use of the lost wax method and was used to take meat out of a cauldron and, therefore, it entered a ceremonial table-ware set used in public feasts. The depicted pair of naked men in boxing stand (fig. 2; 3) represents a scene of ritual fight in the presence of or in honor of a deity whose attribute are bull horns (fig. 4), on which fighters are standing. As a whole, the item is associated with the theme of a funeral feast and funeral games. The narrative scene and iconography of the images are likely to have its roots in the canons of Sumerian temple art of the Early Dynastic period and, probably, even of the earlier time (fig. 5). The adaptation of this narrative to the Maikop cultural milieu is explained by its attribution to the circle of cultures located in the northernmost periphery of the Western Asia civilization. Two figures depicted on the Tsarskaya fleshhook represent the earliest example of anthropomorphic portable art in the Caucasus and the earliest sculptural image of fist fighting in the world.

Archaeological Evidence for an Early Second Millennium BC Potter’s Kiln at Liman Tepe

Belleten ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (287) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Ayşegül Aykurt ◽  
Hayat Erkanal
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Transition Phase ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Western Anatolia ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Pottery Sherds ◽  
Comprehensive Manner ◽  
Pottery Kiln

This article will focus on a pottery kiln which is dated to the transition phase between the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age in Liman Tepe. The kiln is not only important in terms of being one of the earliest examples on the Western Anatolian coast, but also for the local pottery sherds amongst its debris. They demonstrate the continuation of relationships with Central Anatolian cultures which began in the early periods. Very few centers in Western Anatolia have levels from the Early Bronze to Middle Bronze Age phase. This transition phase is being investigated in a comprehensive manner at Liman Tepe and this will provide an important contribution to understanding the region's chronology.

The Visual Worlds of Early Europe

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter S. Wells
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Visual Environment ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Ready Availability ◽  
Electric Light

This chapter discusses the visual world of late prehistoric Europe. It first uses Teniers's painting of the interior of an inn at the beginning of the chapter in order to introduce the topic of light as an important issue in any consideration of seeing in times previous to the ready availability of electric light. It then describes changes in the landscape, in the character of settlements, houses, and in other aspects of the visual environment during the two millennia between the beginning of the Early Bronze Age and the end of the Iron Age. These changes were most often gradual. A number of significant trends are recognizable in the environmental evidence pertaining to changes in the landscape; and there is archaeological evidence pertaining to changes in tool use, the digging of ditches, the building of walls, and the construction of settlements and houses.

The Bo Capital and Questions Concerning Xia and Early Shang

Early China ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 46-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Continuous Development ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Developmental Sequences ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Homogeneous Culture

The question whether the Xia and the Shang signify a relatively homogeneous culture or relatively distinct cultures is approached through efforts both to determine whether the late Erlitou culture dates to the final years of dynastic Xia or to the beginning of Shang and to identify, in turn, those early Bronze Age sites most likely to correspond to the first recorded Shang capitals. By contrasting traditional chronologies with the developmental sequences of artifacts, the author reaches the conclusion that the Bronze Age remains at Erlitou represent the late Xia culture and the discoveries at Zhengzhou, the period of the Bo capital. A close affiliation between the Shang and the Xia rulers in the time prior to the conquest, revealed by the Bamboo Annals, is shown to be consistent with the archaeological evidence which Indicates that the transition between the two dynastic periods was characterized primarily by continuous development, rather than by disruption or radical change. The proposal is also made that the most significant influence from the eastcoast cultures upon those of the Zhong Yuan may have occurred during Xia times, instead of during Shang.

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