Bronze Age Mongolia

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Houle
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The Bronze Age

This article discusses the Bronze Age in Mongolia, a period when pastoralism, mobility, and interaction between regional communities increased dramatically. It also corresponds to the heyday of monumental construction and to the development of societal complexity in this region. After briefly discussing the local Bronze Age chronology, the discussion then turns to the topic of the transition to animal husbandry and to the development of mobile, equestrian pastoralism in particular—a phenomenon that seems to have taken place during the Late Bronze Age. Following this, I examine the monumental landscape as well as what is known from “settlements” before discussing the nature of Late Bronze Age social organization and societal complexity. The article ends with a brief exposé on bronze metallurgy before highlighting what are thought to be the critical issues that continue to challenge research on the Bronze Age in the region.

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

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.

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.

Ironworking in the Bronze Age? Evidence from a 10th CenturyBCSettlement at Hartshill Copse, Upper Bucklebury, West Berkshire

2006 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 367-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Collard ◽  
Timothy Darvill ◽  
Martin Watts ◽  
Alex Bayliss ◽  
Mark Brett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
European Context ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Interpretative Model ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Comprehensive Discussion

Excavations at Hartshill Copse in 2003 uncovered evidence for Late Bronze Age settlement, securely dated to the 10th centuryBC, associated with long alignments of closely set posts: prehistoric landscape features with few known parallels. Extensive sampling of the settlement remains yielded quantities of burnt flint and plain Post Deverel-Rimbury potsherds, and, quite unexpectedly, a substantial quantity of iron hammerscale. This paper presents the excavation data, with supporting dating evidence, and the results of detailed analysis of the metallurgical residues. It explores the spatial distribution of artefact types within the settlement, and presents an interpretative model for settlement use. The nature of the settlement, with its carefully planned use of space and close relationship with the post alignments, is then discussed. Together, all this provides conclusive evidence for the earliest ironworking site yet recognised in Britain. The paper concludes with a comprehensive discussion of early ironworking in its British and European context.

Vegetation development in the Middle Euphrates and Upper Jazirah (Syria/Turkey) during the Bronze Age

2010 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katleen Deckers ◽  
Hugues Pessin
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Fruit Tree ◽  
Vegetation Changes ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Climatic Impact ◽  
Vegetation Development ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
Northern Portion ◽  
The Bronze Age

AbstractVegetation changes are reconstructed based on more than 51,000 charcoal fragments of more than 380 samples from nine Bronze Age sites in northern Syria and southern Turkey. In addition to fragment proportions, special attention was paid to the frequency of Pistacia relative to Quercus and Populus/Salix relative to Tamarix, fruit-tree ubiquity, and riverine diversity in order to gain an improved understanding of the human versus climatic impact on the vegetation. The results indicate that human impacts first took place within the riverine forest. This phase was followed by land clearing within the woodland steppe, especially in the northern portion of the study area. In the south near Emar, the woodland steppe probably disappeared by the Late Bronze Age. It is uncertain whether this was caused by aridification and/or human clearing. The northward shift of the Pistacia-woodland steppe is very likely a result of climatic drying that occurred throughout the entire period under investigation. Although increased deforestation is evident through time, the small proportions of imported wood indicate that local resources were still available.

The antiquity of the Greek epic tradition: some new evidence

1980 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.C. Horrocks
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Poetic Tradition ◽  
Epic Tradition ◽  
Narrative Poetry ◽  
Greek Epic ◽  
Careful Handling ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
The Bronze Age

Since the decipherment of Linear B a number of scholars have argued, on the basis of supposed Mycenaean survivals in the Homeric poems, that the Greek legendary poetic tradition ran continuously from the Bronze Age through the Dark Age down to the singers of the Ionian towns in the ninth and eighth centuries. However, the directness of the connection between the narrative poetry of the Mycenaean Age, if indeed such existed, and the subsequent development of the Epic in Greece has been called into question. Thus Shipp, for example, has argued that most of the items listed by Chadwick in his article Mycenaean elements in the Homeric dialect in fact left their mark for a time at least on forms of Greek other than that of the Epic, and so could well have entered this tradition in post-Mycenaean times and in some other way than through a direct poetical current from the Bronze Age. A similar conclusion has been reached by Kirk, who has expressed his views forcefully in a series of publications. Consider the following:The two objective criteria for dating elements within the Homeric poems, namely archaeology and language, require careful handling and reveal less than is generally claimed for them. They enable certain elements to be recognized as having existed as early as the late Bronze Age, but do not necessarily prove that these all passed into the Ionian Epic tradition by the medium of late Bronze Age poetry.

Oxhide Copper Ingots in Crete and Cyprus and the Bronze Age Metals Trade

1986 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 81-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. H. Gale ◽  
Z. A. Stos-Gale
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Activation ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Lead Isotope ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Complex Basis

Lead isotope and neutron activation analyses of second millennium BC copper ingots are described. Examples from Cyprus, from the Mathiati hoard, and from Skouriotissa are consistent, and show similarities with Late Cypriot bronze artefacts from Hala Sultan Teke and Ayios Dhimitrios. Analysis of the Hagia Triada ingots shows that these Cretan examples were not imports from Cyprus. The possibility that they used Cretan ores is discussed and rejected. It is tentatively suggested they may be of Anatolian origin. It is clear that the Late Bronze Age metal trade was organized on a more complex basis than was previously assumed to be the case.

The Siting of Metalwork Hoards in the Bronze Age of South-East England

2010 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 41-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Yates ◽  
Richard Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Field Systems ◽  
South East England ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
As If

AbstractThe paper discusses the siting of Middle and Late Bronze Age hoards in south Hampshire, Sussex and parts of Surrey and Kent. It presents the results of fieldwork at the findspots of a hundred metalwork deposits and discusses the most informative ways of studying them on the ground. On the coastal plain the hoards were not far from occupation sites, and can be associated with evidence of burnt mounds and occasionally with field systems. That was less common on the chalk. Throughout the study area these deposits were normally located along watercourses, with a special emphasis on small areas of ground beside, or overlooking springs and confluences. It seems as if the deposition of bronze metalwork was governed by certain conventions. For that reason it may be possible to predict the pattern of future discoveries.

Ethnicity, Entrepreneurship, and Exchange: Mediterranean Inter-island Relations in the Late Bronze Age

1990 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 115-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bernard Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Copper Production ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Metals Production

New data on Late Bronze Age Cypriot and Aegean material found in the eastern, southern, and central Mediterranean significantly alter timeworn concepts about the scope and extent of Mediterranean trade systems. Recent geochemical and statistical analyses highlight the pivotal role played by the production, distribution, and consumption of copper oxhide ingots in the Bronze Age economies of the wider Mediterranean world. As a consequence, it is possible to propose some basic hypotheses on metallurgical origins, and on the possible orientation of Mediterranean Bronze Age trade and traders.Two basic issues are involved: 1) did increased trade with the eastern Mediterranean stimulate production and intensify exchange mechanisms in the central Mediterranean? 2) or did eastern Mediterranean traders simply plug into an existing politico-economic system that somehow monitored metals' production and exchange further west?This paper also evaluates the impact of new archaeological and metallurgical data on traditional interpretations of Cypriot copper production and exchange in its Late Bronze Age Mediterranean context. Whilst Cypriot copper production remained important to the economy of the Bronze Age Mediterranean, it also made key tactical and commercial adjustments to the coming Age of Iron. Mechanisms of Mediterranean trade are still difficult to pin down, and it is unrealistic to do more than propose basic models of entrepreneurship, ethnicity, and exchange.

Monkey Business in the Bronze Age Aegean: The Amenhotep II Faience Figurines at Mycenae and Tiryns

1991 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 29-42
Author(s):  
Eric H. Cline
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The Bronze Age

Two small blue frit monkey figurines inscribed with the cartouche of Amenhotep II have been found in Late Bronze Age contexts at Mycenae and Tiryns in Mainland Greece. The questions of the findspot of the Mycenae figurine and of an Egyptian or a Syrian origin for the Tiryns figurine are addressed. The usefulness of the two figurines for chronological studies and possible explanations for their purpose and presence in Mainland Greece are also addressed. Other occurrences of monkey figurines, amulets, and representations in the Bronze Age Aegean are included for comparative purposes.

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