Flint Use in England after the Bronze Age: Time for a Re-evaluation?

1999 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 231-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Young ◽  
J. Humphrey
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
The Bronze Age

Lithic assemblages from a variety of English later Bronze and Iron Age contexts are examined here in an effort to stimulate debate about the later prehistoric exploitation of flint. It is suggested that a variety of technological and morphological features, supporting the idea of discrete later industries, can be identified. A special plea is made to excavators of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement sites to pay greater attention to the contexts of deposition (and to the other artefactual associations), of recovered lithic material. Flint finds should not automatically be written off as residual from earlier activity on settlements.

Iron in Anatolia and the Nature of the Hittite Iron Industry

1985 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 67-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Muhly ◽  
R. Maddin ◽  
T. Stech ◽  
E. Özgen
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Iron Ore ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Industry ◽  
Human Race ◽  
Major Break ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Great Invention

The development of the skills necessary for working in iron, making possible the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, has long been regarded as one of the major break-throughs in man's technological history. For Lewis Henry Morgan, writing in 1877, the smelting of iron ore was a development on a par with the domestication of animals (Morgan 1877:39):“The most advanced portion of the human race were halted, so to express it, at certain stages of progress, until some great invention or discovery, such as the domestication of animals or the smelting of iron ore, gave a new and powerful impulse forward.”The importance of the appearance of iron as a practical, utilitarian metal has usually been seen in terms of a military context. With iron it was possible to produce weapons not only superior to those of bronze but also much cheaper. These improvements made it possible to arm a large peasant infantry in order to challenge the military superiority of the chariot forces of the Late Bronze Age aristocracy, armed with bronze weapons.

The Bronze and Iron Ages in Jerusalem

2018 ◽  
pp. 11-62
Author(s):  
Kay Prag
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Settlement Pattern ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The South ◽  
Iron Age I ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Pastoral Economy ◽  
The Bronze Age

Most evidence for the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Post-Exilic settlement of Jerusalem came from Site A on the south-east ridge, and Kenyon unearthed and dated material of almost all these periods, but very little of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I. This settlement pattern is reflected to a lesser extent on other sites, but elsewhere occupation of the region appears to continue, in a more dispersed fashion, perhaps partly related to diversification of the inhabitants to a more pastoral economy. Whether the centrality of Jerusalem is linked to its being an ancient place of burial is considered. Other evidence from the archive relates to the reigns of David, Solomon and Nehemiah. Specific issues are addressed, such as the location of the principal administrative buildings and fortifications, the use of volute capitals, the importance of water supply and drainage, and the problem of residuality affecting archaeological dating in Iron Age Jerusalem, which places the emphasis on C14 dating.

The ceramics of centralisation and dissolution: a case study from Rough Cilicia

2007 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 141-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.N. Postgate
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Far East ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Control ◽  
The West ◽  
Administrative Practices ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
The Bronze Age

AbstractStarting from Kilise Tepe in the Göksu valley north of Silifke two phenomena in pre-Classical Anatolian ceramics are examined. One is the appearance at the end of the Bronze Age, or beginning of the Iron Age, of hand-made, often crude, wares decorated with red painted patterns. This is also attested in different forms at Boğazköy, and as far east as Tille on the Euphrates. In both cases it has been suggested that it may reflect the re-assertion of earlier traditions, and other instances of re-emergent ceramic styles are found at the end of the Bronze Age, both elsewhere in Anatolia and in Thessaly. The other phenomenon is the occurrence of ceramic repertoires which seem to coincide precisely with the frontiers of a polity. In Anatolia this is best recognised in the case of the later Hittite Empire. The salient characteristics of ‘Hittite’ shapes are standardised, from Boğazköy at the centre to Gordion in the west and Korucu Tepe in the east. This is often tacitly associated with Hittite political control, but how and why some kind of standardisation prevails has not often been addressed explicitly. Yet this is a recurring phenomenon, and in first millennium Anatolia similar standardised wares have been associated with both the Phrygian and the Urartian kingdoms. This paper suggests that we should associate it directly with the administrative practices of the regimes in question.

Irish Bronze Age Horns and their relations with Northern Europe

1963 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 326-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Coles
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Wind Instruments ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The North ◽  
Actual Production ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Bronze Age

One of the features of the Irish Late Bronze Age is the appearance of wind instruments, commonly called ‘Trumpets’, often found in groups and only rarely in association with other material. Being conical and curved, these are therefore members of the horn family, to which the other large musical group of the Bronze Age, the north Europeanlurer, also belong.The Irish horns have attracted the attention of antiquarians for over 100 years, with the principal collection and listing of these beginning in 1860. Evans devoted a section of his 1881 book to the ‘trumpets’, and was followed by Day, Allen and Coffey. The latest treatment, which brought together most of the previous lists of horns, was by MacWhite in 1945. All of these later works were primarily concerned with the typology of the horns, and attention was paid neither to their actual production nor to their music. In the present study, all previously published horns have been examined where possible, as well as a number of unpublished finds, and an attempt will be made not only (i) to describe the typological variations and dating of the horns, but also (ii) to discuss their production as objects from Late Bronze Age workshops and (iii) to consider for the first time their musical potential.

scholarly journals Imaginary Vessels in the Late Bronze Age of Gotland and South Scandinavia: Ship Settings, Rock Carvings and Decorated Metalwork

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-103
Author(s):  
Richard Bradley ◽  
Peter Skoglund ◽  
Joakim Wehlin
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Bronze Age

The paper compares the Bronze Age ship settings of Gotland with the vessels portrayed in rock carvings on the Scandinavian mainland. It also makes comparisons with the drawings of vessels on decorated metalwork of the same period. It considers their interpretation in relation to two approaches taken to the depictions of ships in other media. One concerns the use of boats to transport the sun, while the other emphasises the close relationship between seagoing vessels and the dead. A third possibility concerns the distinctive organisation of prehistoric communities on Gotland. It seems possible that the largest of the ship settings were equivalent to the Bronze Age cult houses found on the mainland and that they may even have represented the island itself.

scholarly journals Contextualisation of the Early Iron Age hoard of bronze objects discovered in Gdynia-Karwiny, site 1

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 21-78
Author(s):  
Karol Dzięgielewski ◽  
Anna Longa ◽  
Jerzy Langer ◽  
Magdalena Moskal-del Hoyo
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Copper Alloy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Use Value ◽  
Porous Copper ◽  
Narrow Valley ◽  
The Bronze Age

After the amateur discovery of a hoard of bronze ornaments (a kidney bracelet and two hollow ankle rings) in 2014 in a forest near Gdynia (Pomerania, northern Poland), the place was subjected to excavation. It turned out that in the nearest context of the bronzes (which had been found arranged one on top of the other in a narrow pit reaching 60 cm in depth) there was a cluster of stones, some of which could have been arranged intentionally in order to mark the place of the deposit. Next to this alleged stone circle there was a deep hearth used to heat stones, and for burning amber as incense. Remains of amber were preserved in the form of lumps and probably also as a deposit on the walls of some vessels. Some of the features of the examined complex may indicate a non-profane nature of the deposit: the presence of the stone structure, traces of burning amber, the location of the deposition spot in a not very habitable flattening of a narrow valley, as well as the chemical composition of the alloy of metals themselves. The ornaments were made of a porous copper alloy with a high addition of lead, antimony and arsenic, which could promote their fragility and poor use value. However, the ceramics found near the place where the bronzes are deposited do not differ from the settlement pottery of the time. The hoard and its context should be dated to the transition phase between the periods HaC1 and HaC2 (the turn of the 8th and 7th cent. BC). The Gdynia-Karwiny deposit adds to the list of finds from a period marked by the most frequent occurrence of hoards in Pomerania (turn of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age). Its research seems to contribute to the interpretation of the deposition of metal objects as a phenomenon primarily of a ritual nature, and at the same time a social behaviour: a manifestation of competition for prestige.

THE ARCHAEOBOTANICAL EVIDENCE OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE AND PROTOGEOMETRIC OCCUPATION UNDER THE ROMAN VILLA DIONYSUS, KNOSSOS, CRETE, AND AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROTOGEOMETRIC DATA OF GREECE

2012 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 189-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Livarda
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Roman Villa ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Of Greece

Archaeobotanical material was collected from the Bronze Age fill and the Protogeometric phases underneath the Roman Villa Dionysus, Knossos, Crete. The Bronze Age assemblage was poor, representing only accidental intrusions to a tight fill of sherds and stones. The Protogeometric data were more plentiful, providing a rare glimpse into the everyday life of the period. Glume wheat, barley, legumes, fruits, nuts and several wild species were present across two Protogeometric floors. No significant differences were observed in their spatial and temporal distribution. The plant remains, along with other bio-archaeological classes of material, indicated a series of domestic activities, including cooking and consumption events, the remnants of which gradually accumulated in the habitation floors. The archaeobotanical evidence from Villa Dionysus was then compared with other Protogeometric Cretan and Greek mainland sites. An overview of these sites allowed some general trends to be observed, tentatively suggesting a picture more similar to Bronze Age than Iron Age archaeobotanical assemblages. It also highlighted differences, which would both dictate and be shaped by different socio-economic systems, and the need for more contextualised studies.

Two Late Bronze Age Settlements on the Kennet Gravels: Excavations at Aldermaston Wharf and Knight's Farm, Burghfield, Berkshire

1980 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 217-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bradley ◽  
Sue Lobb ◽  
Julian Richards ◽  
Mark Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Open Site ◽  
Gravel Pits ◽  
Cross Reference

One of the major problems of British prehistory has been the contrast between the mass of Late Bronze Age metalwork and the rarity of contemporary settlements. The Berkshire river gravels are one area in which a high proportion of bronze objects is recorded in apparent isolation. With the increasing recognition of Late Bronze Age pottery, however, it has been possible to identify domestic finds of this period among the artefacts from gravel pits around Reading. Part of the gap in the settlement record has also been closed by the excavation of two sites on the Berkshire Downs, the earthwork enclosure at Rams Hill, and an open site at Beedon Manor Farm (Bradley and Ellison 1975; Richards in press). But it was not until 1974 that a Bronze Age settlement on the gravels could be examinedin situ, and since the formation of the Berkshire Archaeological Unit a series of five sites have been sampled or more extensively investigated. This paper is concerned with the two most extensive sites, those at Aldermaston Wharf and Knight's Farm, Burghfield, but will make cross reference to the other work where necessary, in particular to a more recently recorded site at Pingewood.It is now clear why this evidence was so difficult to find. The pottery is extremely friable and would not survive on the surface; and the gravel sites contain very few worked flints. The main features are small pits under 50 cm deep, and for this reason the sites cannot be detected from the air; and, even if they could be recognized, there would be nothing to distinguish them from Iron Age open sites, like those in the Upper Thames Basin.

THE QUESTION OF THE ORIGIN OF CELTS WITH ON THE SIDE EARS OF THE BOLSHELOZHSKY TYPE

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 212-219
Author(s):  
KOVALEVSKY S. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Western Siberia ◽  
Transition Time ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Significant Similarity ◽  
New Research ◽  
Archaeological Cultures ◽  
The Bronze Age

The article is devoted to the consideration of the origin and dating of celts with on the side ears, which originate from the settlements of the Late Bronze Age and transition time from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in the Kazakh steppe and south of Western Siberia (some of which are accidental finds) and are identified by most experts to be antiquities of the Sargarinsko-Aleekseyevskaya, Begazy-Dandybayevskaya, Irmenskaya and Bolsherechenskaya cultures. Previously, such celts were dated to the beginning of the first millennium, BC. At present, there have been certain quantitative and qualitative changes. In particular, the fund of archaeological resources for the Late Bronze Age and transition time from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age had been significantly replenished, and new research concepts have appeared. This gave us the opportunity to compare the archaeological finds of the Late Bronze Age of remote regions, namely the Eastern Europe and the Kazakh steppe and south of Western Siberia. A significant similarity was revealed between the celts of the ancient cultures of the Eastern Europe and the region located east of the Urals. It is suggested that the celts with on the side ears are of Eastern Europe origin. Their appearance among the artifacts of archaeological cultures of Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia is dated to the 14th - 11/10th centuries BC. Keywords: late Bronze Age, transition time from Bronze to Iron, celts, south of Western Siberia, eastern Europe

Mervyn Reddaway Popham 1927–2000

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Cadogan
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Empirical Approach ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Evidential Basis

Mervyn Popham was a questioning, quiet person, driven by an uncompromising honesty to find the truth, and always ready to doubt accepted explanations or any theory-driven archaeology for which he could find no evidential basis. He was probably the most percipient archaeologist of the Late Bronze Age of Crete and the Aegean to have worked in the second half of the 20th century, and became almost as important in the archaeology of the Early Iron Age, which succeeded the Bronze Age. In his archaeology he took an analytical-empirical approach to what he saw as fundamentally historical problems, reaching unprecedented peaks of intelligent, and commonsensical, refinement.

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