The Early Dynastic-Akkadian transition, Part 1. When did the Akkadian period begin?

Iraq ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Donald Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Present State ◽  
Reference Sequence ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
First Empire ◽  
Administrative Innovations ◽  
Historical Periods ◽  
Southern Iraq

We may want to recognise an “Akkadian period” in archaeology for two reasons. A sequence of periods is used as a system of chronological reference, and the Akkadian period conventionally represents the time from 2334–2154 BC (Walker 1995, 234). Periods are also used to define fields of analysis in which studies of social structure or other synchronic investigations may be conducted. The Akkadian period is known as the “first empire” which saw major political and administrative innovations. In archaeology periods have to be defined from the changes in artefact types, so a concordance is needed between the historical and artefactual phases. During the last thirty years McG. Gibson has persistently addressed questions of chronology, and has made an especially important contribution to the chronology of the Akkadian period. A new article (Gibson and McMahon 1995) represents the present state of this issue, based on excavations in the Diyala and Hamrin regions, and in the vicinity of Nippur. Dr McMahon has subjected thousands of sherds from stratified occupation surfaces to statistical analysis, and publication of their distribution and comparanda is expected. The resulting pottery sequence, exhaustively constructed, and summarised in that article, will constitute the principal reference sequence for archaeological sites of this period in southern Iraq. In this article, while accepting the validity and importance of this achievement, I will examine how the Akkadian period should be defined and how pottery sequences should be calibrated with respect to historical periods. I will suggest that the Akkadian pottery should be calibrated by ultimate reference to the glyptic sequence, and that this results in a different dating for the strata in question.

scholarly journals Human and Steppe in the Early Iron Age. Results of Interdisciplinary Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 6-30
Author(s):  
Mikhail Krivosheev ◽  
◽  
Evgeniy Pererva ◽  
Maksim Eltsov ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
Archaeological Cultures ◽  
Science Disciplines

Introduction. Recent archaeological studies deal with the integration of natural science disciplines. Such scientific interaction includes the reconstruction of climatic changes, human adaptation to the changing conditions of nature, study of sociocultural specifics in nomadic groups as well as rising archaeological cultures, with emphasis on the interconnection between the fluctuations of steppe environmental conditions and steppe populations. Analysis. The article presents the results of the carried out interdisciplinary analysis of classic and modern archaeological studies and natural science disciplines. This allows evaluating the specifics of different factors (paleoclimatic, sociocultural, etc.) influencing the “steppe-human” system in a new way. Such factors as registered climatic changes, spreading areas of archaeological cultures, mortuary funeral rites, results of paleoanthropological examination, written records and ethnographic data provide evidence to reconstructing different time-span events of early nomads’ history in one context. The reconstruction of historical reality shows quite strong correlation between the environment and specific features in the development of ancient steppe societies. Human has high adaptive abilities to changing factors. However, the steppe population mode of life is extremely conservative and it has practically never changed during the Sarmatian or Sauromatian history. Climate fluctuations over the steppe area influenced the demographic and social structure of nomadic society. During auspicious periods, nomadic communities became populous and active politically and military. If negative factors dominated, the population tended to decrease and the social structure tended to simplify. Critical indicators of aridization and humidization in Eurasian steppes are followed with the population outflow, which is evidenced by small amount of archaeological sites or even by vanishing of cultures. Results. Thus, the authors conclude that when studying archaeological sites of the Early Iron Age nomadic cultures, it is necessary to consider the steppe and human as a single organism responsive to changing and a strong impact of environmental and socio-cultural factors.

scholarly journals Near Eastern Landscapes and Declassified U2 Aerial Imagery

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Hammer ◽  
Jason Ur
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Aerial Imagery ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Northern Iraq ◽  
Modern Agriculture ◽  
The Past ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Southern Iraq ◽  
Aerial Perspective

AbstractRecently declassified photographs taken by U2 spy planes in the 1950s and 1960s provide an important new source of historical aerial imagery useful for Eurasian archaeology. Like other sources of historical imagery, U2 photos provide a window into the past, before modern agriculture and development destroyed many archaeological sites. U2 imagery is older and in many cases higher resolution than CORONA spy satellite imagery, the other major source of historical imagery for Eurasia, and thus can expand the range of archaeological sites and features that can be studied from an aerial perspective. However, there are significant barriers to finding and retrieving U2 imagery of particular locales, and archaeologists have thus not yet widely used it. In this article, we aim to reduce these barriers by describing the U2 photo dataset and how to access it. We also provide the first spatial index of U2 photos for the Middle East. A brief discussion of archaeological case studies drawn from U2 imagery illustrates its merits and limitations. These case studies include investigations of prehistoric mass-kill hunting traps in eastern Jordan, irrigation systems of the first millennium BC Neo-Assyrian Empire in northern Iraq, and twentieth-century marsh communities in southern Iraq.

scholarly journals Remote Sensing the Archaeological Traces of Boat Movement in the Marshes of Southern Mesopotamia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 2474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaafar Jotheri ◽  
Michelle de Gruchy ◽  
Rola Almaliki ◽  
Malath Feadha
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Persian Gulf ◽  
Human Movement ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Morphological Evidence ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Persian Gulf ◽  
Southern Iraq

This study presents the results of the first remote sensing survey of hollow ways in Southern Mesopotamia between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf, primarily using the imagery in Google Earth. For archaeologists, hollow ways are important trace fossils of past human movement that inform about how people travelled in the past and what considerations were important to them as they moved through the landscape. In this study, remotely sensed hollow ways were ground-truthed and dated by association with both palaeochannels and known archaeological sites. Contextual and morphological evidence of the hollow ways indicate that they are likely the archaeological manifestation of ethnographically attested “water channels” formed through the dense reeds of marshlands in southern Iraq, not formed by traction overland like other known hollow ways. The map itself documents the first known hollow ways preserved underwater and one of the best-preserved landscapes of past human movement in the Near East.

Social Geography of Suicidal Behaviour in Hobart

1976 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Koller ◽  
R. C. M. Cotgrove
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Spatial Pattern ◽  
Suicidal Behaviour ◽  
Attempted Suicide ◽  
Social Geography ◽  
Geographical Patterns ◽  
Business Area

Psychological notions are required to explain geographical patterns. Mapping and statistical analysis for year 1971, 1973, 1974 and half of 1975 revealed that attempted suicide occurs commonly in the area surrounding the central business area of urban Hobart and also in the older housing department areas. Physical patterns and social structure are related in a tangible way for the expression of suicidal behaviour in a spatial pattern.

Piecing Together Sha Po

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mick Atha ◽  
Kennis Yip
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Six Dynasties ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Salt Industry ◽  
A Site ◽  
Historical Periods

Hong Kong boasts a number of rich archaeological sites behind sandy bays. Among these backbeaches is Sha Po on Lamma Island, a site which has long captured the attention of archaeologists. However, until now no comprehensive study of the area has ever been published. Piecing Together Sha Po presents the first sustained analysis, framed in terms of a multi-period social landscape, of the varieties of human activity in Sha Po spanning more than 6,000 years. Synthesising decades of earlier fieldwork together with Atha and Yip’s own extensive excavations conducted in 2008-2010, the discoveries collectively enabled the authors to reconstruct the society in Sha Po in different historical periods. The artefacts unearthed from the site—some of them unique to the region—reveal a vibrant past which saw the inhabitants of Sha Po interacting with the environment in diverse ways. Evidence showing the mastery of quartz ornament manufacture and metallurgy in the Bronze Age suggests increasing craft specialisation and the rise of a more complex, competitive society. Later on, during the Six Dynasties-Tang period, Sha Po turned into a centre in the region’s imperially controlled kiln-based salt industry. Closer to our time, in the nineteenth century the farming and fishing communities in Sha Po became important suppliers of food and fuel to urban Hong Kong. Ultimately, this ground-breaking work tells a compelling story about human beings’ ceaseless reinvention of their lives through the lens of one special archaeological site.

Part II, An Archaeological Evaluation of the Method

1960 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford Evans ◽  
Betty J. Meggers
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Accurate Method ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Tropical Region ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Raw Data ◽  
Hydration Rate ◽  
Principal Source ◽  
Technical Factors

AbstractDating archaeological sites, cultures or phases by the obsidian method is still experimental, but shows promise provided the archaeologists understand the present limitations. Two categories of factors cause possible dating errors: the technical or geological aspect discussed by Friedman and Smith, and the archaeological context. For the establishment of valid rates of hydration and for the archaeological evaluation of the method, preferred samples are those datable by independent means, such as radiocarbon, dendrochronology, historical records, rates of refuse accumulation, contemporary calendars, or correlated positively with complexes or seriated sequences that are so dated. A few samples used in the preliminary part of the study do not meet these rigid standards and make the method look poorer than it is, but a table contains the raw data on all specimens tested to date. The principal source of potential error at our present state of knowledge is the frequency with which artifacts of older manufacture were re-used by a younger (more recent) culture. Evaluations of the data presented in the table and most of the results are discussed by geographical area. For the tropical region where the annual temperature range is minimal and where large obsidian samples from village refuse are available, the hydration rate appears to be a fairly accurate method of dating. Lack of conformity of obsidian dates with archaeological dates for the Maya region and the Southwest, however, emphasizes the need for further research using larger series of artifacts and for a continued examination of technical factors. Objects of modern manufacture can be identified with little difficulty, offering a simple means of detecting fakes or copies.

scholarly journals IMAGE-BASED VIRTUAL TOURS AND 3D MODELING OF PAST AND CURRENT AGES FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARKS: THE VISUALVERSILIA 3D PROJECT

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-5/W1 ◽  
pp. 639-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Castagnetti ◽  
M. Giannini ◽  
R. Rivola
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Current Configuration ◽  
Historical Investigation ◽  
Interactive Services ◽  
Spherical Images ◽  
Modern Experience ◽  
Historical Periods

The research project <i>VisualVersilia 3D</i> aims at offering a new way to promote the territory and its heritage by matching the traditional reading of the document and the potential use of modern communication technologies for the cultural tourism. Recently, the research on the use of new technologies applied to cultural heritage have turned their attention mainly to technologies to reconstruct and narrate the complexity of the territory and its heritage, including 3D scanning, 3D printing and augmented reality. Some museums and archaeological sites already exploit the potential of digital tools to preserve and spread their heritage but interactive services involving tourists in an immersive and more modern experience are still rare. The innovation of the project consists in the development of a methodology for documenting current and past historical ages and integrating their 3D visualizations with rendering capable of returning an immersive virtual reality for a successful enhancement of the heritage. The project implements the methodology in the archaeological complex of Massaciuccoli, one of the best preserved roman site of the Versilia Area (Tuscany, Italy). The activities of the project briefly consist in developing: 1. the virtual tour of the site in its current configuration on the basis of spherical images then enhanced by texts, graphics and audio guides in order to enable both an immersive and remote tourist experience; 2. 3D reconstruction of the evidences and buildings in their current condition for documentation and conservation purposes on the basis of a complete metric survey carried out through laser scanning; 3. 3D virtual reconstructions through the main historical periods on the basis of historical investigation and the analysis of data acquired.

scholarly journals Cultural Potential of the Social Structure of Russian Society: Definition of the Problem

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-32
Author(s):  
Arkadyi L. Marshak ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Present State ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Data ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
Definition Of

The article analyses the present state of culture in Russia, its multilevel content. It shows the influence of different layers of society on the state and development of the present social structure. Based on perennial research data collected with participation of the author, sociocultural models of social relations and their influence on the cultural potential of the social structure are described. The article emphasizes the necessity of multilevel social research of the cultural potential of Russian society. The main directions of theoretical, methodological and empirical program of such research are formulated.

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