Feasting at Roca: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Society in the Southern Adriatic during the Late Bronze Age

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Iacono
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Cultural Encounters ◽  
Public Events ◽  
Social Encounters

This study examines some assumptions related to Late Bronze Age interaction between the Aegean world and central Mediterranean societies. It asserts that, contrary to what is often assumed, this relationship was extremely important and had considerable social consequences. It is argued that such an importance can be appreciated only by acknowledging that interaction is constituted by real-world social encounters. On the basis of this insight, the contextual evidence from the site of Roca in Apulia is analysed. It is proposed that archaeological remains here represent a series of public events—i.e. large feasts—possibly entailing the participation of people of different cultural backgrounds and in which a subtle strategy of representation of relative distance and closeness was adopted to promote interests within Roca's community. Such interests are interpreted with reference to the increasing connections between the eastern and western portions of the Mediterranean, substantiated in the circulation of metal and pottery models and types.

The Central Mediterranean and the Aegean

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Foxhall
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Cultural Encounters ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
Material Interaction

The early Iron Age in the Aegean has traditionally been perceived as a period of decline, in contrast to the splendour of the palatial societies of the later Bronze Age, and concomitantly is often presented as a ‘Dark Age’—a time of regionalism and isolation. Recent investigations across the Mediterranean region are, however, revealing a different and far more complex picture. A considerable amount of human and material interaction occurred between eastern and western Mediterranean societies in the period 1100–500 BC, and people, objects, and ideas were not travelling only in one direction. Links between so-called ‘Mediterranean’ and other European societies are also undergoing substantial re-evaluation. Adopting a regional approach, this chapter explores the developments which transformed Iron Age societies in the Aegean and central Mediterranean, and also examines how regional trajectories interlinked and converged through cross-cultural encounters, resulting in substantial material (including technological), social and political innovations.

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.

SARDINIA AND CYPRUS: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW ON CYPRIOTES IN THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN

2017 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 1-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Russell ◽  
A. Bernard Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Foreign Objects ◽  
Trading Network

Recent research reveals what we term a ‘discourse of certainty’ regarding an assumed predominant socio-economic and cultural impact of Late Bronze Age Cypriotes or Mycenaeans on the local peoples of Sardinia and/or Sicily and Italy, not least in terms of a systematic, seaborne trading network extending from the Cyprus to the Tyrrhenian Sea. ‘Minimalist’ approaches to such a phenomenon have a long and venerable but more limited pedigree. In this study, we question why minimalist views have been so summarily dismissed in much current literature that seeks to evaluate an eastern Mediterranean presence or influence in the central Mediterranean. We focus on Sardinia, and on the range of Cypriot or ‘Cypriot-type’ materials found there. We consider the nature of the Cypriot–Sardinian relationship, and suggest that we should decouple foreign objects from foreign agents. We question several of the perceived Cypriot influences on Sardinian artefacts, and consider possible alternative mechanisms and routes of exchange between the east and central Mediterranean. We outline and discuss the array of presumed or actual Cypriot artefacts found on Sardinia, and argue that these do not add up to a ‘significant’ corpus of Late Cypriot materials and connections.

Death in Colonial North America: Cross-Cultural Encounters

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik R. Seeman
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Cultural Encounters ◽  
North Americans ◽  
Labor Exploitation ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
Colonial Encounter

Death is universal yet is experienced in culturally specific ways. Because of this, when individuals in colonial North America encountered others from different cultural backgrounds, they were curious about how unfamiliar mortuary practices resembled and differed from their own. This curiosity spawned communication across cultural boundaries. The resulting knowledge sometimes facilitated peaceful relations between groups, while at other times it helped one group dominate another. Colonial North Americans endured disastrously high mortality rates caused by disease, warfare, and labor exploitation. At the same time, death was central to the religions of all residents: Indians, Africans, and Europeans. Deathways thus offer an unmatched way to understand the colonial encounter from the participants’ perspectives.

scholarly journals Archaeology and Religion in Late Bronze Age Canaan

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 258
Author(s):  
Aaron Greener
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Focal Points ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The Rich ◽  
City States

Dozens of temples were excavated in the Canaanite city-states of the Late Bronze Age. These temples were the focal points for the Canaanites’ cultic activities, mainly sacrifices and ceremonial feasting. Numerous poetic and ritual texts from the contemporary city of Ugarit reveal the rich pantheon of Canaanite gods and goddesses which were worshiped by the Canaanites. Archaeological remains of these rites include burnt animal bones and many other cultic items, such as figurines and votive vessels, which were discovered within the temples and sanctuaries. These demonstrate the diverse and receptive character of the Canaanite religion and ritual practices. It seems that the increased Egyptian presence in Canaan towards the end of the period had an influence on the local belief system and rituals in some areas, a fact which is demonstrated by the syncretic architectural plans of several of the temples, as well as by glyptic and votive items. Late Bronze Age religious and cultic practices have attracted much attention from Biblical scholars and researchers of the religion of Ancient Israel who are searching for the similarities and influences between the Late Bronze Age and the following Iron Age.

Iron Age Enclosed Settlements in West Wales

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 263-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Murphy ◽  
H. Mytum ◽  
L. Austin ◽  
A.E. Caseldine ◽  
C.J. Griffiths ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Age Dating ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
The Core ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Core Study

This paper presents the results of several years' research on late Iron Age enclosed settlements in west Wales. Geophysical survey was conducted on 21 sites and three of these, Troedyrhiw, Ffynnonwen, and Berry Hill, were part-excavated. Most sites examined were heavily plough-damaged, but results of the surveys and excavations demonstrated that substantial archaeological remains survive. Approximately 60 enclosed settlements lay in the core study area of southern Ceredigion (Cardiganshire), half of which were oval in shape and half rectangular. Both types contain suites of buildings seen in much of the British Iron Age – round-houses and 4-/6-post structures. Evidence from the excavations supports data from elsewhere in the region indicating that small oval enclosures appear in the landscape in the 2nd–1st centuriesbc, with rectangular enclosures constructed right at the end of the Iron Age. Dating is based almost entirely on radiocarbon determinations as, in common with other similar-aged sites in west Wales, artefacts are almost completely absent. It was not possible during excavation at Troedyrhiw to conclusively demonstrate late prehistoric use of the rectangular enclosed settlement, but a Roman pottery assemblage in the upper fills of the enclosure ditch coupled with a two phase entrance is interpreted as indicating Late Iron Age construction. More complex remains were revealed during excavations at Ffynnonwen, a circular enclosed settlement within a larger oval enclosure. Here, three round-houses, a 4- and 6-post structure and other remains were investigated and radiocarbon dated to the 8th–6th centuriesbcthrough to the early Romano-British period. Berry Hill, an inland promontory fort, appeared to be unfinished and abandoned. Radiocarbon determinations indicated a Late Bronze Age construction (10th–8th centuriesbc). The paper concludes with a consideration of a number of interpretive issues regarding settlement, enclosure, identity, and ways of living.

Anatolian Trade with Europe and Anatolian Geography and Culture Provinces in the Late Bronze Age

1968 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 187-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Mellaart
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Political Geography ◽  
The Political ◽  
Western Anatolia ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Foreign Occupation ◽  
Initial Knowledge

In another article in this volume, James Macqueen has re-examined the political geography of Western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age on the basis of the Hittite texts. As long ago as 1957 we discussed these problems together at Beycesultan and the results that he has reached independently agree in all major points with mine, which are shown in Fig. 1. For the last fifteen years travel and exploration has carried me through most of the territory here discussed, and with this advantage the archaeologist is able to make a contribution towards the problems raised by the inadequacy of the texts which are not concerned with geographical details, but with politics. In a study of this kind an initial knowledge of the terrain and its archaeological remains is essential. In my opinion a thorough knowledge of classical, i.e. mainly Roman and Byzantine conditions in Anatolia is a definite disadvantage, for the conditions imposed by this essentially foreign occupation bear no relation to earlier patterns of settlement and the possibility of chance survivals of place names tends to distract the student of Second Millennium geography. Many of our troubles stem from rash identifications of place names of which one may single out those of Millawanda-Miletus, Lukka-Lycia and Ahhiyawa-Mycenaean Greece (or Rhodes) as key points in any geographical reconstruction.

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