Sheep, sacrifices, and symbols

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Halstead ◽  
Valasia Isaakidou
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Grain Production ◽  
Animal Management ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Greece ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Linear B

Images, texts, and bones shed light on the place of animals in the later Bronze Age societies of southern Greece. Iconography offers an idealized vision of encounters with dangerous, exotic, and mythical beasts, of travel in elaborate horse-drawn chariots, and of ceremonial slaughter of bulls. Reality, even for the elite and as revealed by textual and faunal evidence, was more mundane: killing and consumption of sheep, goats, and pigs more than lions, deer, and bulls; and dependence, to finance a palatial lifestyle, on draught oxen for grain production and wool-sheep for exchangeable prestige textiles. Linear B texts describe aspects of animal management of interest to the Mycenaean palaces, while faunal data make clear how restricted were these interests. Faunal and ceramic data highlight the importance of commensality throughout the Neolithic and Bronze Age, and the shift from overtly egalitarian gatherings in the Neolithic to ostentatiously inegalitarian in the Bronze Age.

scholarly journals IMAGINING CRETAN SCRIPTS: THE INFLUENCE OF VISUAL MOTIFS ON THE CREATION OF SCRIPT-SIGNS IN BRONZE AGE CRETE

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Ester Salgarella
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Linear B

What's in a sign? What is there to be ‘seen’ in a sign? This paper sets out to explore the sources and processes of sign creation in the scripts of the Bronze Age Aegean, namely Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A, in use on Crete from c. 1900–1600 bce (Middle Minoan IB/II–Middle Minoan III) and c. 1800–1450 bce (Middle Minoan IIA–Late Minoan IB) respectively. Linear B, developed out of Linear A to write Greek (c. 1450–1190 bce), will also be touched upon where relevant. By investigating contemporary iconographic production and putting forward a methodological framework for the analysis and interpretation of visual motifs, a theory will be tentatively proposed for understanding the process(es) of selection of sign shapes, their incorporation into a script as script-signs and their transmission from one script onto a graphically related one. The underlying research questions leading this enquiry are the following: how did ‘images’ find their way into script(s) to become ‘signs’ in the Aegean context? Are we able to reconstruct such a process to shed light on the origin of script-signs?

SOME COMMENTS ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OXUS CIVILIZATION IN THEARABIAN GULF

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. 97-103
Author(s):  
Khayitmurod Khurramov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Arabian Gulf ◽  
Cultural Relations ◽  
Unique Material ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Written Sources ◽  
Marine Shell

It is known that the Oxus civilization in the Bronze Age, with its unique material culture, interacted with a number of cultural countries: the Indian Valley, Iran, Mesopotamia, Elam and other regions. As a result of these relationships, interactions and interactions are formed. Archaeologists turn to archaeological and written sources to shed light on the historiography of this period. This research is devoted to the history of cultural relations between the Oxus civilization and the countries of the Arabian Gulf in the Bronze Age. The article highlights cultural ties based on an analysis of stamp seals and unique artifacts.Key words: Dilmun, Magan, marine shell, Arabian Gulf, Bahrain, Mesopotamia, Harappa, Gonur, Afghanistan

Greek Prehistory Through the Bronze Age

Classics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan Burke
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
History Of Archaeology ◽  
Greek Language ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
History Of ◽  
Epic Poems ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Of Greece

The history of archaeology of Greece as we know it today begins with prehistoric investigations that took place in the 19th century. Early excavations by Heinrich Schliemann, Arthur Evans, and Wilhelm Dörpfeld, along with Greek colleagues like Christos Tsountas, Panagiotis Stamatakis, Valerios Stais, and Antonios Keramopoulos laid the foundation for systematic, stratigraphic excavations. Research was heavily directed by ancient Greek texts, primarily the epic poems of Homer. Efforts to find archaeological truth to the legendary tales of the ancient heroes continue to be problematic, but, to a degree, early excavations revealed a rich and fascinating period of Greece’s development. Although the archaeological discoveries of Greek prehistory date to an age centuries older than Homer, the discoveries shed light on a vast, rich archaeological history, one upon which the Homeric tales were, at least partially, based. Early discoveries of prehistoric texts, especially on Crete with scripts in Hieroglyphic Minoan, Linear A (non-Greek), and Linear B (Greek), along with the enigmatic Phaistos disc, have expanded our understanding of the history of the Greek language and Greek people.

scholarly journals Altai in the light of the cult of the mountain and sky: to the problem of the origin of the toponym

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 20-23
Author(s):  
V. E. Vasiliev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Close Similarity ◽  
Close Connection ◽  
Working Hypothesis ◽  
The Common ◽  
Sacred Mountain ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Shed Light

The article suggests a working hypothesis that the root of the toponym «Altai” is the semantics of the sacred mountain, which at the tribal, tribal, and then national-ethnic level symbolizes the sacred center of the universe, associated with the cults of ancestors and deities. The ethnographic materials of T. D. Dyrenkova testify to the close connection of the cult of mountains with the spirits-ancestors of shamans, who acted as defenders of the genus and tribe of the Turks of the Altai-Sayan highlands. This information, in our opinion, is confirmed by etymological experience of comparisons of Turkic-Mongol and partly tunguso-Manchu terms. The semantic unity or close similarity of the concepts of mountain, ancestors and sky can shed light on the archaic beliefs of the Turkic ethnic groups, whose shamanism dates back to the common Altaic layer of culture. Thus, it can be assumed that the cult of the sacred Altai existed in the Neolithic past, even before the bronze age and the culture of the early nomads of the Scytho-Saka world.

scholarly journals Orthographic variation as evidence for the development of the Linear B writing system

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-197
Author(s):  
Anna P. Judson
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Orthographic Representation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diachronic Development ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Linear B

Abstract This paper investigates the issue of orthographic variation in the Linear B writing system in order to explore ways in which studying a writing system’s orthographic conventions may shed light on the history of its development. Linear B was used in the palatial/administrative centres of Late Bronze Age Greece and Crete (c.1400–1200 B.C.E.) and records an early Greek dialect known as ‘Mycenaean’. The writing system’s structure and orthographic conventions permit flexibility in the spelling of particular phonological sequences: this paper discusses the varying orthographic representation of such sequences and shows that synchronic variation is common or even the norm in many cases. Investigating the factors which underlie this variation demonstrates the potential for a study of synchronic variation to illuminate a writing system’s diachronic development; it also underlines the importance of analysing the ways in which writers actually choose to use writing systems in order to fully understand their development.

scholarly journals Reconstructing genetic histories and social organisation in Neolithic and Bronze Age Croatia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Freilich ◽  
Harald Ringbauer ◽  
Dženi Los ◽  
Mario Novak ◽  
Dinko Tresić Pavičić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Social Organisation ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Genome Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Genetic Continuity ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractAncient DNA studies have revealed how human migrations from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age transformed the social and genetic structure of European societies. Present-day Croatia lies at the heart of ancient migration routes through Europe, yet our knowledge about social and genetic processes here remains sparse. To shed light on these questions, we report new whole-genome data for 28 individuals dated to between ~ 4700 BCE–400 CE from two sites in present-day eastern Croatia. In the Middle Neolithic we evidence first cousin mating practices and strong genetic continuity from the Early Neolithic. In the Middle Bronze Age community that we studied, we find multiple closely related males suggesting a patrilocal social organisation. We also find in that community an unexpected genetic ancestry profile distinct from individuals found at contemporaneous sites in the region, due to the addition of hunter-gatherer-related ancestry. These findings support archaeological evidence for contacts with communities further north in the Carpathian Basin. Finally, an individual dated to Roman times exhibits an ancestry profile that is broadly present in the region today, adding an important data point to the substantial shift in ancestry that occurred in the region between the Bronze Age and today.

scholarly journals Pathological evidence reveals cattle traction in North China by the early second millennium BC

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1205-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghao Lin ◽  
Fengshi Luan ◽  
Hui Fang ◽  
Hong Xu ◽  
Haitao Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
North China ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Pi Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
Labour Exploitation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Development Trajectories ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Shed Light

The use of cattle labour in antiquity is a worldwide well-discussed topic among researchers as it can shed light on the possible development trajectories of our communities over the past several millennia. Zooarchaeology can play a vital role in illuminating the history of cattle traction through observed pathologies on cattle bones linked to traction activity. Systemic zooarchaeological investigation is still underdeveloped in China, one of the likely early beneficiaries of animal labour exploitation in the world. Here, we apply the pathological index (PI) method, first developed by Bartosiewicz et al. on European assemblages, to Chinese Bronze Age cattle bones. Our results first confirm the wide applicability of the PI method with the involvement of Chinese control samples, which holds the potential to be applied as an effective tool in a larger geographical region. Our results also confirm the importance of cattle traction for the Late Shang states ( c. 1300–1046 BC) as previously proposed on the basis of disputed interpretations of oracle bone inscriptions as showing cattle ploughing, but also show that light cattle traction practices likely developed in China in the Bronze Age Erlitou ( c. 1750–1530 BC) and Early Shang ( c. 1600–1300 BC) periods. Cattle traction use in the Chinese Bronze Age may have facilitated the introduction and subsequent cultivation in China of wheat, an exotic cereal.

scholarly journals Non-scribal Communication Media in the Bronze Age Aegean and Surrounding Areas

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Communication Media ◽  
Economic Exchange ◽  
Exchange Networks ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Shed Light

This volume is intended to be the first in a series that will focus on the origin of script and the boundaries of non-scribal communication media in proto-literate and literate societies of the ancient Aegean. Over the last 30 years, the domain of scribes and bureaucrats has become much better known. Our goal now is to reach below the élite and scribal levels to interface with non-scribal operations conducted by people of the ‘middling’ sort. Who made these marks and to what purpose? Did they serve private or (semi-) official roles in Bronze Age Aegean society? The comparative study of such practices in the contemporary East (Cyprus, Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt) can shed light on sub-elite activities in the Aegean and also provide evidence for cultural and economic exchange networks.

scholarly journals Mitogenomic data indicate admixture components of Asian Hun and Srubnaya origin in the Hungarian Conquerors

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Endre Neparáczki ◽  
Zoltán Maróti ◽  
Tibor Kalmár ◽  
Klaudia Kocsy ◽  
Kitti Maár ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Population Genetic ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Carpathian Basin ◽  
Genetic Origin ◽  
Population Genetic Analysis ◽  
Inner Asia ◽  
Hungarian Language ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractIt has been widely accepted that the Finno-Ugric Hungarian language, originated from proto Uralic people, was brought into the Carpathian Basin by the Hungarian Conquerors. From the middle of the 19thcentury this view prevailed against the deep-rooted Hungarian Hun tradition, maintained in folk memory as well as in Hungarian and foreign written medieval sources, which claimed that Hungarians were kinsfolk of the Huns. In order to shed light on the genetic origin of the Conquerors we sequenced 102 mitogenomes from early Conqueror cemeteries and compared them to sequences of all available databases. We applied novel population genetic algorithms, named Shared Haplogroup Distance and MITOMIX, to reveal past admixture of maternal lineages. Phylogenetic and population genetic analysis indicated that more than one third of the Conqueror maternal lineages were derived from Central-Inner Asia and their most probable ultimate sources were the Asian Huns. The rest of the lineages most likely originated from the Bronze Age Potapovka-Poltavka-Srubnaya cultures of the Pontic-Caspian steppe, which area was part of the later European Hun empire. Our data give support to the Hungarian Hun tradition and provides indirect evidence for the genetic connection between Asian and European Huns. Available data imply that the Conquerors did not have a major contribution to the gene pool of the Carpathian Basin, raising doubts about the Conqueror origin of Hungarian language.

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