scholarly journals Archaeometric evidence for the earliest exploitation of lignite from the bronze age Eastern Mediterranean

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Buckley ◽  
Robert C. Power ◽  
Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki ◽  
Murat Akar ◽  
Julia Becher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Dental Calculus ◽  
Pottery Production ◽  
Polarizing Microscopy ◽  
Pyrolysis Gas ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Fire Smoke ◽  
The Bronze Age

AbstractThis paper presents the earliest evidence for the exploitation of lignite (brown coal) in Europe and sheds new light on the use of combustion fuel sources in the 2nd millennium BCE Eastern Mediterranean. We applied Thermal Desorption/Pyrolysis–Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and Polarizing Microscopy to the dental calculus of 67 individuals and we identified clear evidence for combustion markers embedded within this calculus. In contrast to the scant evidence for combustion markers within the calculus samples from Egypt, all other individuals show the inhalation of smoke from fires burning wood identified as Pinaceae, in addition to hardwood, such as oak and olive, and/or dung. Importantly, individuals from the Palatial Period at the Mycenaean citadel of Tiryns and the Cretan harbour site of Chania also show the inhalation of fire-smoke from lignite, consistent with the chemical signature of sources in the northwestern Peloponnese and Western Crete respectively. This first evidence for lignite exploitation was likely connected to and at the same time enabled Late Bronze Age Aegean metal and pottery production, significantly by both male and female individuals.

Pottery Wares from the Prehistoric Settlement at Ialysos (Trianda) in Rhodes

2006 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
pp. 1-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toula Marketou ◽  
Efi Karantzali ◽  
Hans Mommsen ◽  
Nikos Zacharias ◽  
Vasilis Kilikoglou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Neutron Activation Analysis ◽  
Activation Analysis ◽  
Chemical Analysis ◽  
Neutron Activation ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Pottery Production ◽  
The Bronze Age

Among the vast amount of pottery yielded from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Ialysos (Trianda) on Rhodes, 233 samples have been selected for chemical analysis by means of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) at the Bonn Laboratory. Thus, a rather comprehensive new data-base for pottery assemblages from Rhodes and other related production centres has been provided. Further evidence has been also suggested for the local mechanisms of pottery production and the patterns of continuity and changes from the LM IA, through to LMIB/LH IIA and LH IIB-III A1 to LH III A2/LH III B1 periods, in both the intra site and inter site relations of the island with Minoan Crete, the Greek mainland, the Argolid, Cyprus, and other eastern Mediterranean sites.The study sets the basis for further studies towards the identification of the rather complex system of the society of Ialysos and its interaction with some other yet unknown centers in the Aegean during the early stages of the Bronze Age and throughout the periods of the Minoan and Mycenaean expansion.

scholarly journals Aegean diffusions - Diffusions of power: Cultural connections between Minoan Crete and Pharaonic Egypt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Vinko Kerr-Harris
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
The People ◽  
Minoan Crete ◽  
Cultural Connections ◽  
Economic Nature ◽  
The Bronze Age

<p>The development of Minoan society has traditionally been considered by scholars to have been an insular phenomenon unique to the southern Aegean. Such assumptions, however, fail to acknowledge the wider context of the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean. Contact between the people of Crete and their contemporaries in Egypt and the Levant is well attested in the archaeological record, with a plethora of artefacts – imported and imitation – appearing on both sides of the Libyan Sea. Whilst investigations into the economic nature of these exchanges have been undertaken, little thought has been given to the cultural consequences of inter-regional contacts. This thesis examines the evolution of palatial society upon Crete and considers the extent to which interactions with comparatively more mature civilisations may have influenced the increasingly hierarchal trajectory of Minoan society, by re-evaluating the corpus of material culture and interconnectivity.</p>

Societies and economics in the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age

Antiquity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (362) ◽  
pp. 534-537
Author(s):  
David A. Warburton
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Broken Bones ◽  
The Bronze Age

These volumes treat economic and social themes of the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean; all touch on Egypt, but the volume on Egypt itself limps way behind in both quality and scope. Taking these three volumes together, one has the impression that the unresolved problems of the last five decades of turmoil in archaeological thought have left not merely unhealed scars, but also badly set broken bones.

Diet reconstructed from an analysis of plant microfossils in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age site of Shilinggang, southwestern China

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naimeng Zhang ◽  
Guanghui Dong ◽  
Xiaoyan Yang ◽  
Xinxin Zuo ◽  
Lihong Kang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Southwestern China ◽  
Dental Calculus ◽  
Plant Microfossils ◽  
The Bronze Age

Opening the Bronze Age world

Antiquity ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (343) ◽  
pp. 210-212
Author(s):  
Flemming Kaul
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Rock Paintings ◽  
The Bronze Age

In the above paper by Johan Ling and Zofia Stos-Gale, an object seen in a number of Swedish rock paintings and carvings is understood to be a representation of the so-called oxhide shaped ingot of the eastern Mediterranean Minoan-Mycenaean Bronze Age culture.

Final response and future directions

Antiquity ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (343) ◽  
pp. 221-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Ling ◽  
Zofia Stos-Gale
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Deep Insight ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Final Response ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Insight Into

It is rare for authors to be able to read comments on their paper by leading colleagues and to have the chance to respond before its publication. We would like to thank the editor of Antiquity for providing this opportunity. The comments express both acceptance of, and doubts about, interconnectedness between the eastern Mediterranean and Scandinavia in the Bronze Age. Kaul's comments demonstrate a deep insight into how Nordic archaeology reveals this interconnectedness; that is clearly expressed in his latest publication on the topic in Antiquity (Kaul 2013). Moreover, both Kaul and Sognnes, who accept these interconnections, have an excellent understanding of Scandinavian Bronze Age rock art. In fact, most of the reviewers’ comments express a positive attitude to the interpretation of the rock art images as possible representations of oxhide ingots.

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