"The Walls of the Ruler" in Egyptian Literature and the Archaeological Record: Investigating Egypt's Eastern Frontier in the Bronze Age

Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC)

Journal of Archaeological Research ◽

10.1007/s10814-021-09165-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Francesco Iacono ◽

Elisabetta Borgna ◽

Maurizio Cattani ◽

Claudio Cavazzuti ◽

Helen Dawson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Organization ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Long Range ◽

Human Mobility ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Mediterranean Europe ◽

Northern Shore ◽

Comparative Survey ◽

The Bronze Age

AbstractThe Late Bronze Age (1700–900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioarchaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as different as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, ranging from the short to the long range, became a defining aspect of the “Middle Sea” during this time, influencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern boundaries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics.

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

10.26686/wgtn.17142464 ◽

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>

The Prevailing Art and Tradition of Intentional Dental Modification in Prehistoric Southeast Asia | Ang Namamayaning Sining at Tradisyon ng Intensyonal na Modipikasyon ng Ngipin sa Sinaunang Timog-Silangang Asya

10.26721/spafa.pqcnu8815a-06 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Maria Kathryn N. Purnell ◽

Keyword(s):

Southeast Asia ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Data Representation ◽

Body Modification ◽

Future Research ◽

Rite Of Passage ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Cultural Aspects ◽

The Bronze Age

Since prehistoric times, humans have changed select characteristics of their bodies, such as tattooing, hair-dyeing, cranial and feet deforming, and teeth modifying. Teeth are some of the most well-preserved remains in the archaeological record, with which we can study past cultural and ritualistic beliefs. Previous publications on dental modifications in Southeast Asia are mostly limited to the mainland, thus this paper reviews modifications observed in prehistoric sites across Southeast Asia, identifying common techniques and motivations. Findings show occurrence of dental ablation, filing, plating, and coloration, which began in the Neolithic, disappeared in the Bronze Age, but reappeared in the Iron Age, although the absence may be due to sampling shortage. Modifications have been associated to aestheticism, group identity, rite of passage, practicality, and medical benefit, but whether these all ring true remains uncertain. It is recommended that future research expand scope for better data representation, analyze modifications with context of community profiles, and investigate the significance of migration in the prevalence of certain techniques and patterns as part of understanding the cultural aspects of past humans’ lives, and assess the cultural (dis)continuity of these traditions into modern-day forms of body modification, art, healing, self-expression, and identity. Magmula sinaunang panahon, maitatala ang mga pagbabagong pisikal sa katawan, tulad ng pagtatato, pagkukulay ng buhok, at pag-iiba-anyo ng ulo, paa, at ngipin. Nabibilang ang ngipin sa mga lubos na napepreserbang artepakto sa arkiyoloji, at sa gayo’y magagamit pang-aral ng mga nakalipas na kultura at ritwal. Kasalukuyang limitado sa mainland ng Timog-Silangang Asya ang saliksik sa intensyonal na modipikasyon ng ngipin, kaya tatalakayin dito ang mga sinaunang modipikasyong nabanggit sa buong rehiyon, at tutukuyin ang pagkakatulad sa mga teknik at motibasyon. Nagsimula ang paglaganap ng sadyang pagtatanggal, pagliliha, pagkakalupkop, at pagkukulay ng ngipin noong Panahong Neolitiko, naglaho noong Panahong Tanso, at bumalik muli pagsapit ng Panahong Bakal, ngunit maaaring iukol ang paglaho sa kakulangan ng datos. Hindi pa tiyak, pero pwedeng ang mga modipkasyon sa estetisismo, pakikisama, pagriritwal, praktikalidad, at benepisyong-medikal. Inirerekomendang palawakin sa susunod na saliksik ang sakop para sa mas mabuting representasyon ng datos, suriin ang mga modipikasyon sa konteksto ng komunidad, at imbestigahan ang kahalagahan ng migrasyon sa paglaganap ng mga partikular na teknik at padron habang inuunawa ang mga aspetong kultural ng sinaunang panahon, at tasahan ang pagpapatuloy (o hindi) ng mga tradisyong nabanggit sa kasalukuyang modipikasyon ng katawan, sining, paggagamot, pagpapahayag ng sarili, at identidad.

DEALING WITH THE CRISIS: MOBILITY OF AEGINETAN-TRADITION POTTERS AROUND 1200 BC

The Annual of the British School at Athens ◽

10.1017/s0068245420000052 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 115 ◽

pp. 269-327

Author(s):

Bartłomiej Lis ◽

Evangelia Kiriatzi ◽

Anthi Batziou ◽

Štěpán Rückl

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Time Scale ◽

Political Context ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Pottery Production ◽

Technological Transfer ◽

Two Stages ◽

The Bronze Age ◽

Macroscopic Analysis

This article investigates the final episodes of a long-lasting potting tradition that developed on Aegina during the Bronze Age. From c. 1400 bc, cooking pottery constituted the only class of that tradition that was still manufactured and exported in quantity. Detailed study of several settlement contexts from sites scattered along the Euboean and up to the Pagasetic Gulf dating to c. 1200 bc shows that pottery imported from Aegina became increasingly less available, whereas similar cooking pots produced in various non-Aeginetan fabrics appear at the same time. Macroscopic analysis of traces related to manufacture of such pots reveals that it followed the typical chaîne opératoire of the Aeginetan tradition, strongly suggesting that their appearance reflects technological transfer and, thus, could not be explained without taking mobility of potters into account. Following a comprehensive presentation of available evidence, we argue that potters trained in the context of the Aeginetan potting tradition produced cooking pottery in several locations along the Euboean Gulf and up to the modern city of Volos. By considering the socio-economic and political context of their activity, as well as the development of Aegina and its pottery production during the later stages of the Late Bronze Age, we are able to shed more light on potters’ motivations to move, as well as on the population and the time scale of this mobility phenomenon. It appears that it had two stages, characterised by itinerant activity followed by permanent relocation, and that it was relatively short-lived, as by c. 1150 bc Aeginetan-tradition potters become invisible in the archaeological record.

Out of Range?

The Odd, the Unusual, and the Strange ◽

10.5744/florida/9781683401032.003.0017 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 323-346

Author(s):

Scott D. Haddow ◽

Joshua W. Sadvari ◽

Christopher J. Knüsel ◽

Sophie V. Moore ◽

Selin E. Nugent ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Young Male ◽

Mature Male ◽

Roman Period ◽

Congenital Deformity ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Time Periods ◽

The Dead ◽

The Bronze Age

Çatalhöyük is most well known for its Neolithic settlement, but the site also served as a cemetery during the Bronze Age, as well as the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods. During the Neolithic, Çatalhöyük is distinctive as a place for both the living and the dead, but thereafter the site becomes more closely associated with the dead. This chapter discusses four examples of non-normative burials from different time periods at the site, including two Neolithic burials: one of a mature male buried with a sheep and another of a young male with a congenital deformity; a Roman period double burial with an atypical grave orientation; and an isolated twentieth-century burial of a woman from the local village, which represents the last known burial on the mound. Osteobiographical information and sociocultural context are used to assess the significance of each burial. We also question how normative and non-normative burials are typically defined in the archaeological record.

The earliest horse-bits of western Europe

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x00011737 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

pp. 425-452 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

C. J. Balkwill

Keyword(s):

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Western Europe ◽

Central Italy ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

New Combinations ◽

The Bronze Age ◽

Burial Rite

Within recent years, much attention has been focused on the earliest objects of harness which have long been noticed in the archaeological record. They are a matter of some importance in the perception of social structure from extant remains; Kossack (1954) presented strong arguments in favour of interpreting, in this manner, the early Hallstatt (Ha C) horse harness from Bavarian graves. Other major publications have since added to the picture of widespread, supposedly aristocratic adoption of harness and wagons in association with burial rite (northern and central Italy in the Early Iron Age, von Hase 1969; the Iberian peninsula in the same period, Schüle 1969; the Middle Danube to the Russian Steppes and to the Asian hinterland, Potratz 1966). Nor has the thesis of Gallus and Horvath (1939) been ignored, and the activities of ‘Thraco-Cimmerian’ cavalry still play a large part in the interpretation of west European horse harness. Already in 1954, however, Kossack observed the continuing elements of native, western Urnfield Europe in the entirely new combinations of grave-goods in Ha C and he indicated that the cheekpieces, while being modelled closely on the lines of preceding types found in the region of the Middle Danube, were, in fact, local variants chiefly concentrated in the graves of Bohemia and Bavaria. That western Europe had long had its own forms of cheekpiece was demonstrated by Thrane in 1963, yet the mouthpieces themselves have received no consolidated attention. This paper is an attempt to redress the balance, by gathering together the earliest metal bits in Europe west of Slovakia and Hungary, in order to see what light they throw on the problems of continuity and transition at the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age.

Beyond Textiles: Alternative Uses of Twisted Fibres and Evidence from Akrotiri, Thera

Światowit ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0012.8471 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 56 (1) ◽

pp. 75-88

Author(s):

Sophia Vakirtzi ◽

Fragoula Georma ◽

Artemis Karnava

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Wall Paintings ◽

Textile Production ◽

Textile Manufacture ◽

Fibre Products ◽

Technical Properties ◽

Spindle Whorl ◽

The Bronze Age

Fibre crafts are among the oldest technological practices of mankind. Although commonly associated with textile manufacture, twisted fibres in the form of threads have always had a wider range of use in everyday life. Strings and ropes constitute a humble but essential category of fibre products deriving from the same technology and organic matter as threads. Due to their organic nature, however, they are rarely preserved in the archaeological record, unless special environmental conditions occur. This paper explores the research potential of the imprints of threads and strings in a study focusing on the alternative uses of fibre-spun artefacts. The focus is on the Bronze Age Aegean imprints of threads and strings preserved on objects made of clay and on wall paintings recovered at Akrotiri on Thera. The technical properties of the original threads and strings are evaluated through observation of their imprints, and the fibre technology used for their production is assessed. The methodologies of spindle whorl metrology and experimental spinning are also integrated in the discussion. Ultimately, the use of threads and strings for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to textile production, is discussed.

Localized management of non-indigenous animal domesticates in Northwestern China during the Bronze Age

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-95233-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Petra Vaiglova ◽

Rachel E. B. Reid ◽

Emma Lightfoot ◽

Suzanne E. Pilaar Birch ◽

Hui Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stable Isotope ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Hexi Corridor ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Animal Products ◽

Northwestern Region ◽

Culinary Traditions ◽

Southeastern Region ◽

The Bronze Age

AbstractThe movements of ancient crop and animal domesticates across prehistoric Eurasia are well-documented in the archaeological record. What is less well understood are the precise mechanisms that farmers and herders employed to incorporate newly introduced domesticates into their long-standing husbandry and culinary traditions. This paper presents stable isotope values (δ13C, δ15N) of humans, animals, and a small number of plants from the Hexi Corridor, a key region that facilitated the movement of ancient crops between Central and East Asia. The data show that the role of animal products in human diets was more significant than previously thought. In addition, the diets of domestic herbivores (sheep/goat, and cattle) suggest that these two groups of domesticates were managed in distinct ways in the two main ecozones of the Hexi Corridor: the drier Northwestern region and the wetter Southeastern region. Whereas sheep and goat diets are consistent with consumption of naturally available vegetation, cattle exhibit a higher input of C4 plants in places where these plants contributed little to the natural vegetation. This suggests that cattle consumed diets that were more influenced by human provisioning, and may therefore have been reared closer to the human settlements, than sheep and goats.

A Ritual Feature with Bell Beaker Elements in a Late Neolithic Hunter-Gatherer Campsite in North-Eastern Poland

European Journal of Archaeology ◽

10.1017/eaa.2020.52 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-23

Author(s):

Dariusz Manasterski ◽

Katarzyna Januszek ◽

Adam Wawrusiewicz ◽

Aleksandra Klecha

Keyword(s):

Eastern Europe ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Cultural Change ◽

Central And Eastern Europe ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Western Group ◽

North Eastern ◽

Bell Beaker ◽

The Bronze Age

The ephemeral nature of religious practices and rituals makes them challenging to trace in the archaeological record of Late Neolithic hunter-gatherer communities in central and eastern Europe. A ritual feature with Bell Beaker elements discovered in north-eastern Poland, a region occupied by hunter-gatherer groups of the Neman cultural circle, is thus exceptional. Its syncretic character indicates its role as a harbinger of wider cultural change that led to the emergence in this region of the western group of the Bronze Age Trzciniec cultural circle.

Metal Arrow-heads in the European Bronze and Early Iron Ages

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x0001313x ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 36 ◽

pp. 171-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Roger J. Mercer

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Point Of View ◽

General Context ◽

High Survival ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Arrow Head ◽

Firm Basis ◽

The One ◽

The Bronze Age

The practice of Archery in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age as it survives to us in the archaeological record is difficult of interpretation owing to the low survival value of most archery equipment—the one relic of fairly high survival value being the arrow-head, of flint, bronze or iron. This paper deals with a topic little touched upon previously, and, setting aside the tradition of stone arrow-head manufacture (which persisted well into the Bronze Age in various parts of Europe) essays a treatment of the evidence for the manufacture and use of metal arrow-heads. These will be divided into three types, tanged, socketed and spurred—a threefold division which will appear to be significant not only from the purely typological point of view, but also in the more general context of prehistory.A catalogue of all finds known to the writer in 1967 will be found at the end of the paper. While this catalogue makes no claim to be complete, it is representative enough to serve as a firm basis, and although further research may bring more examples to light, it will probably not reveal any major new concentrations of metal arrow-heads within Europe (at any rate within the framework of existing knowledge).