scholarly journals A 12,000-year-old Shaman burial from the southern Levant (Israel)

2008 ◽  
Vol 105 (46) ◽  
pp. 17665-17669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leore Grosman ◽  
Natalie D. Munro ◽  
Anna Belfer-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Wild Boar ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Human Foot ◽  
Socioeconomic Changes ◽  
Rare Opportunity ◽  
Grave Goods

The Natufians of the southern Levant (15,000–11,500 cal BP) underwent pronounced socioeconomic changes associated with the onset of sedentism and the shift from a foraging to farming lifestyle. Excavations at the 12,000-year-old Natufian cave site, Hilazon Tachtit (Israel), have revealed a grave that provides a rare opportunity to investigate the ideological shifts that must have accompanied these socioeconomic changes. The grave was constructed and specifically arranged for a petite, elderly, and disabled woman, who was accompanied by exceptional grave offerings. The grave goods comprised 50 complete tortoise shells and select body-parts of a wild boar, an eagle, a cow, a leopard, and two martens, as well as a complete human foot. The interment rituals and the method used to construct and seal the grave suggest that this is the burial of a shaman, one of the earliest known from the archaeological record. Several attributes of this burial later become central in the spiritual arena of human cultures worldwide.

The Vikings in Ireland: longphuirt and legacy

Antiquity ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (353) ◽  
pp. 1390-1392
Author(s):  
Julian D. Richards
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Research Assistant ◽  
Royal Irish Academy ◽  
Major Task ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Grave Goods

Viking graves and grave-goods in Ireland is the longawaited outcome of the Irish Viking Graves Project, which ran from 1999–2005. The project originated at a conference held in Dublin in 1995, at which the limited understanding of Viking burials was identified as a significant shortcoming of the Irish archaeological record. Stephen Harrison was appointed as Research Assistant, and began the major task of making sense of the antiquarian records of the Royal Irish Academy. The primary aim of this work was the creation of the first accurate and comprehensive catalogue of all Viking graves and grave-goods in Ireland. With this volume, that aim has been handsomely achieved.

Radiocarbon and the Archaeological Record: An Integrative Approach for Building an Absolute Chronology for the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of Israel

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Boaretto
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Organic Residues ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
The Impact

The establishment of an absolute chronology for the Late Bronze and Iron Ages in the southern Levant would make it possible to use changes in material culture in order to study the impact of trade, dissemination of knowledge, and the impact of climate on historical processes. To achieve this, a detailed absolute chronology is needed for individual sites and on a regional scale with a resolution that can differentiate events within a century. To realize this challenging goal, only samples from well-established primary contexts ought to be studied. Such primary contexts (with “dating assemblages”) can be identified by combining macroscopic with microscopic observations. Chronological studies at the sites of Qubur el-Walaydah, Tel es-Safi, and in particular, Megiddo, demonstrate that high-resolution dating can be achieved, with very few outliers in the data sets. The major limitation on applying this approach is the fact that we are currently constrained to dating short-lived samples (charred seeds and olive pits) and collagen from bones. Thus, an immediate goal of radiocarbon research is to develop the ability to date other short-lived materials, such as organic material occluded in siliceous plant phytoliths, wood ash, and possibly organic residues preserved in pottery vessels.

scholarly journals Excavations at a Neolithic Enclosure on The Peak, near Birdlip, Gloucestershire

2011 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 139-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Darvill ◽  
Alex Bayliss ◽  
Debra Costen ◽  
Ellen Hambleton ◽  
Frances Healy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Outer Boundary ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Group Vi ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Human Foot ◽  
Foot Bones ◽  
The North ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Single Complex

Surveys and excavations in 1980–1 confirmed Peak Camp as a Neolithic enclosure on a flat promontory of the Cotswold escarpment overlooking the Severn Valley just 1 km south of Crickley Hill. Although heavily eroded by quarrying the site can be reconstructed as having two concentric arcs of boundary earthworks forming an oval plan which was probably open to the north where a steep natural slope defined the edge of the site. A section through the outer boundary showed four main phases of ditch construction, at least one causewayed. An extensive series of radiocarbon dates shows construction began in the late 37th century calbcand probably continued through successive remodellings into the 33rd century calbcor beyond. An internal ditch or elongated pit situated in the area between the inner and outer boundary earthworks had a similar history. Where sampled, the ditch and internal feature were rich in material culture, including a substantial assemblage of plain bowl pottery; flint implements and working waste; animal remains dominated by cattle but including also the remains of a cat; human foot bones; slight traces of cereal production; a fragment of a Group VI axe; part of a sandstone disc; and a highly unusual shale arc pendant of continental type. It is suggested that the ditch fills represent selectively redeposited midden material from within the site that started to accumulate in the late 5th or early 4th millennium calbc. The construction and use of Peak Camp is contemporary with activity on Crickley Hill, and the two sites probably formed components of a single complex. Its use was also contemporary with the deposition of burials at local long barrows in the Cotswold-Severn tradition which are linked by common ceramic traditions and the selective deposition of human body parts.

scholarly journals I remember. Differences between the Neanderthal and modern human mind

10.4312/dp.25 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 402
Author(s):  
Simona Petru
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Time Travel ◽  
Mental Time Travel ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Personal Time ◽  
Perception Of Time ◽  
Grave Goods

Modern humans remember things they experience as personal events. An important reason for this personal perception of time is episodic memory, which enables mental time travel. This type of memory could not have been fully evolved in Neanderthals and they might not have imagined their personal past and future. Thus, their archaeological record does not contain durable objects which would be preserved from one generation to another. Their burials also do not include convincing grave goods that indicate a belief that personal time continues after death.

scholarly journals Reflexiones sobre la presencia egipcia en el Levante meridional a finales del período del Bronce Temprano I(ca.3300-3000): a propósito del Tel Erani

2019 ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Marcelo Campagno ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Nile Valley ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Recent Information ◽  
Significant Change ◽  
A Site ◽  
The University ◽  
Exchange Relations

Although the contacts between the populations of the southern Levant and the Nile Valley date back to earlier times, the archaeological record indicates a significant change for the last third of the fourth millennium BC (the period of Early Bronze IB, in the Levantine chronology). This period is characterized by a remarkable expansion of the number of South Levantine sites where ceramics and other Egyptian objects are registered, whether imported directly or made locally imitating patterns previously known in the Nile Valley. These sites also show new types of evidence of Egyptian influence, including building structures, ceramics with serekhs and Egyptian-like sealings. The exact meaning of this Egyptian presence is not easy to establish. Researchers have proposed very different hypotheses, from those that suggest an Egyptian conquest of the region, to those that focus on the problem in terms of Egyptian “colonies” or exchange relations between both regions. These interpretations will be considered here taking into account the diversity that seems to emerge from the types of evidence of the Egyptian presence in different South Levantine sites. In particular, recent information from Tel Erani will be considered, a site that is being re-excavated by archaeologists from the Jaguelonian University of Krakow, the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beersheba), and the Israel Antiquities Authority, with the collaboration of an Argentine team from the University of Buenos Aires. Such information—particularly the traces of a remarkable wall that pre-date the evidence of Egyptian influence—could contribute to the reinterpretation of the ideas currently available on the nature of the Egyptian presence in the southern Levant at the end of the Early Bronze

Anglo-Saxon colonization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Rippon
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Ancient Dna ◽  
Immigrant Population ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Immigrant Communities ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Wooden Floor ◽  
Roman Britain ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Grave Goods

Two strands of evidence can be used to map where Anglo-Saxon immigrants made their home in Britain: the distributions of Grubenhäuser and burials furnished with a distinctive suite of Germanic grave goods (which are referred to here as ‘Anglo-Saxon’ burials). Exactly who is buried within ‘Anglo-Saxon’ cemeteries is not altogether clear, as they may include both the immigrant population with their direct descendants and some native Britons (e.g. Arnold 1988; Hodges 1989; Härke 1990; 2002; Higham 1992; Scull 1995; Lucy 2000; Hamerow 2002; Hills 2003; 2007; 2009; 2011), and without major advances in scientific analysis we will never know whether some of those buried were ‘really just disguised Britons’ (Hills 1993, 15). Recent work on ancient DNA at Oakington, in Cambridgeshire, has established that both immigrants and natives were buried in this ‘Anglo-Saxon’ cemetery (Pitts 2016), but in order to determine how far Anglo-Saxon colonization extended across the landscape of eastern England we must rely upon more traditional archaeology. Of particular importance is the distribution of Grubenhäuser, as these distinctive structures had no precedent in late Roman Britain, suggesting that they were constructed and used by immigrant communities. Grubenhäuser are represented in the archaeological record as shallow(c.0.3–0.5m deep), sub-rectangular (c.3 by 4 m), steep-sided, and flat-bottomed pits above which was probably constructed a suspended wooden floor (e.g. Fig. 8.1; Tipper 2004). These distinctive structures have variously been called ‘huts’, ‘sunken huts’, ‘sunken featured buildings’, and ‘SFBs’, although all of these terms are problematic. The term ‘hut’ in particular led to an interpretation that they were crude hovels, whereas, now that examples have been reconstructed, we can see that they were substantial and impressive buildings (Fig. 8.2). The German term Grubenhäuser is used here specifically because it indicates that they were an alien formof architecture: although a number of Romano-British buildingswith sunken floors have been excavated, Tipper (2004, 7–11) has demonstrated that they represent an entirely different building tradition of cellars with revetted sides, entrance stairways, and floors associated with hearths and sunken storage jars (e.g. King Harry Lane in Verulamium: Stead and Rigby 1989).

Tea Party Toys? Classical Kisalian Grave Goods from the Upemba (D.R. Congo)

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre de Maret
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Tea Party ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Spiritual World ◽  
Age Sequence ◽  
Socioeconomic Organization ◽  
Rare Opportunity ◽  
Grave Goods

The continuous Iron Age sequence that connects the 10th century Kisalian in central Africa to the present day inhabitants of the area, the Luba, provides a rare opportunity to link archaeological data to ethnographic observations. Numerous Kisalian graves reflect the elaborate rituals and beliefs and the complex socioeconomic organization of that period. One of its intriguing aspects is the extensive use of various miniature objects as grave goods, for children and adults. The widespread Luba practice of making miniature objects for their children, as well as in connection with the spiritual world, is thus likely to date back many centuries and testifies to the symbolic qualities of miniatures.

scholarly journals A human face carved on a pebble from the Late Natufian site of Nahal Ein Gev II

Antiquity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (358) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leore Grosman ◽  
Dana Shaham ◽  
Francesco Valletta ◽  
Itay Abadi ◽  
Hadas Goldgeier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Face ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Symbolic System ◽  
Human Form ◽  
Rare Opportunity ◽  
Palaeolithic Art

There is a paucity of Palaeolithic art in the southern Levant prior to 15 000 years ago. The Natufian culture (15 000–11 500 BP; Grosman 2013) marks a threshold in the magnitude and diversity of artistic manifestations (Bar-Yosef 1997). Nevertheless, depictions of the human form remain rare—only a few representations of the human face have been reported to date. This article presents a 12 000-year-old example unearthed at the Late Natufian site of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEGII), just east of the Sea of Galilee, Israel (Figure 1). The object provides a glimpse into Natufian conventions of human representation, and opens a rare opportunity for deeper understanding of the Natufian symbolic system.

The Contemporary Archaeology of Urban Cremation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Williams ◽  
Anna Wessman
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Ethnographic Studies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Spatial Dimensions ◽  
Rich Data ◽  
Space Architecture ◽  
Ash Disposal ◽  
Shed Light

Modern cremation is often portrayed by archaeologists as a distracting antithesis of the open-air cremation practices encountered in the archaeological record from the prehistoric and early historic past. In some key ways, the process of burning cadavers within gas-fired ovens, followed by the grinding of bones to uniformly sized granules, offers a stark contrast to the varied multi-staged open-air cremation practices known from recent ethnographic studies, and from the increasingly rich data provided by the archaeological record. The cremation process is hidden, indoors and hence distanced from the survivors in modern cremation. However, there are also numerous connecting themes between modern and ancient cremation and this chapter hopes to shed light on how mortuary archaeologists can explore cremation today to better understand cremation’s memorials, spaces and materials in both the distant and recent past, including both shared themes and distinctive dimensions in relation to other disposal methods, like inhumation. For while the burning of the body itself is hidden from view in modern cremation, the deployment of space, architecture, and memorialization before, during, and after the transformation of the body by fire choreographs comparable, if varied, emotive and mnemonic engagements between the living and the dead. This argument certainly holds for the post-cremation disposal of the ‘ashes’ or ‘cremains’ (the burned, distorted, shrunken, dried, and fragmented vestiges of the body and the materials and fuels involved in the cremation process: although in modern cremation, all artefacts and artificial body parts are removed prior to the grinding of bones). Both ancient and modern cremation practices share in providing a wide range of options regarding the destinations and treatments of ashes. They might be left at the site of cremation (in the modern sense, dispersed by crematorium staff in the garden of remembrance), yet they are readily retrievable, transportable and partible, and can be dispersed and integrated into a range of spaces and materials unavailable to the treatment of the unburned dead (see Williams 2008). Some of the spectrum of opportunities for ash disposal are comparable to those available for the inhumed dead and involve a specific plot and memorial, yet others can take on other material and spatial dimensions far different from the traditional grave plot.

The Standardization Hypothesis and Ceramic Mass Production: Technological, Compositional, and Metric Indexes of Craft Specialization at Tell Leilan, Syria

1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. James Blackman ◽  
Gil J. Stein ◽  
Pamela B. Vandiver
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Mass Production ◽  
Craft Specialization ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Urban Center ◽  
Reliable Index ◽  
Single Production ◽  
Blurring Effect ◽  
Rare Opportunity ◽  
Scanning Electron

Archaeologists often use measurements of standardization in ceramics as evidence for specialized craft production. Analysis of fine-ware bowl kiln wasters from the urban center of Leilan, Syria (ca. 2300 B.C.) provides a rare opportunity to test the standardization hypothesis against the archaeological record of a single production event. Scanning-electron microscopy, xeroradiography, neutron activation, and metric analyses of the wasters show extreme uniformity in manufacturing technology, chemical composition, and vessel dimensions. However, when contrasted with sherds of the same bowl type from other contexts at Leilan, a higher degree of compositional and metric variability is observed. This "cumulative blurring" effect stems from the use of long-lived types from multiple workshops. Although "cumulative blurring" increases sample variability, it does not obscure the overall homogeneity of these ceramics. Our results suggest that standardization can be a reliable index of craft specialization only under conditions of close spatial and chronological control over the archaeological record.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document