scholarly journals New relative sea-level (RSL) indications from the Eastern Mediterranean: Middle Bronze Age to the Roman period (~3800–1800 y BP) archaeological constructions at Dor, the Carmel coast, Israel

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0251870
Author(s):  
Assaf Yasur-Landau ◽  
Gilad Shtienberg ◽  
Gil Gambash ◽  
Giorgio Spada ◽  
Daniele Melini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
The North ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

This article presents new archaeological observations and multidisciplinary research from Dor, Israel to establish a more reliable relative sea level for the Carmel Coast and Southern Levant between the Middle Bronze Age and the Roman period (ca. 3500–1800 y BP). Our record indicates a period of low relative sea level, around -2.5 m below present, from the Middle Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period (ca. 3500–2200 y BP). This was followed by a rapid rise to present levels, starting in the Hellenistic period and concluding during the Roman period (ca. 2200–1800 y BP). These Roman levels agree with other relative sea-level indications from Israel and other tectonically stable areas in the Mediterranean. Several relative sea-level reconstruction models carried out in the current study provide different predictions due to their parameters and do not model the changes observed from field data which points to a non-isostatic origin for the changes. Long-term low stable Iron Age relative sea level can be seen in Dor, where Iron Age harbor structures remain around the same elevation between ca. 3100–2700 y BP. A similar pattern occurs at Atlit, the Iron Age harbor to the north used continuously from ca. 2900 y BP to the beginning of the Hellenistic period (ca. 2200 y BP). An examination of historical and archaeological sources reveals decline and occasional disappearance of Hellenistic sites along the coast of Israel at ca. 2200 y BP (2nd century BCE), as in the case of Yavneh Yam, Ashdod Yam, Straton’s Tower, and tel Taninim. In Akko-Ptolemais, the large harbor installations built in the Hellenistic period were never replaced by a substantial Roman harbor. The conclusions of this research are thus relevant for the sea-level research community and for the historical analyses of the Israeli and South Levantine coastline.

building techniques and materials, Roman

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger B. Ulrich
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Roman Architecture ◽  
The North ◽  
Mediterranean World

The inherent strengths, weaknesses, and availability of diverse Roman building materials governed the techniques used in construction and greatly influenced the final appearance of Roman architecture. Trace archaeological evidence exists of buildings and burials in Rome from the Italian Bronze Age (second millennium bce) or earlier, and substantial physical remains, in the form of Iron-Age huts and grave goods, roughly correspond to the Romans’ own belief of the foundation date of their city (traditionally 753 bce). Rome’s earliest builders sourced materials obtainable from the immediate environment and transformed them using practical knowledge. Within the span of a couple centuries, architectural design, implementation, and decoration reflect a broad interaction between Roman builders and their counterparts in the regions around central Italy (particularly Etruria to the north and Campania to the south) and also the wider Mediterranean world, particularly those areas where Greeks traditionally lived or had placed colonies. While southern Italy and Sicily represent the closest areas for the transmission of Greek ideas, Greek building practices on the Greek mainland and in Asia Minor also influenced Roman projects from the Archaic period onwards. As Rome grew wealthier and expanded abroad, patrons and builders imported marble to the capital from the Aegean, well before the discovery of more local, Italian sources. The importation of exotic stones grew exponentially over the period of the late Republic and the first two centuries of empire. The coloured marbles that embellished the buildings of Rome served as physical testimony to Rome’s control over the eastern Mediterranean. Nothing, however, was as transformative as the adoption of concrete in the late 3rd century bce, the mass production of fired brick, and the ensuing experimentation that resulted in the vaulted structures that have become the hallmark of Roman architecture.

scholarly journals A 4000-year long Late Holocene climate record from Hermes Cave (Peloponnese, Greece)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Kluge ◽  
Tatjana S. Münster ◽  
Norbert Frank ◽  
Elisabeth Eiche ◽  
Regina Mertz-Kraus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Clumped Isotopes ◽  
Elemental Ratios ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Age Constraints

Abstract. The societal and cultural development during the Bronze Age and the subsequent Iron Age was enormous in Greece, however interrupted by two significant transformations around 4200 years b2k (Early Helladic II/III; b2k refers to years before 2000 CE) and 3200 years b2k (end of Late Helladic III). Artefacts and building remains provide some insights into the cultural evolution, but only little is known about environmental and climatic changes on a detailed temporal and spatial scale. Here we present a 4000-year long stalagmite record (GH17-05) from Hermes Cave, Greece, located on Mount Ziria in the close vicinity of the Late Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae and the Classical-Hellenistic polis of Corinth. The cave was used in ancient times, as indicated by ceramic fragments in the entrance area and a pronounced soot layer in the stalagmite. 230Th-U dating provides age constraints for the growth of the stalagmite (continuous between ~ 800 and ~ 5300 years b2k) and the formation of a soot layer (2.5+0.5-0.65 ka b2k). Speleothem δ18O and δ13C values together with clumped isotopes and elemental ratios provide a detailed paleoclimate record of the Northern Peloponnese. The proxy data suggest significant centennial scale climate variability (i.e., wet vs. dry). Furthermore, carbonate δ18O values, calculated drip water δ18O values, 234U/238U activity ratios and elemental ratios suggest a long-term trend towards drier conditions from ca 3.7 to ~ 2.0 ka b2k. From 2.0 ka b2k towards growth stop of the stalagmite, a trend towards wetter conditions is observed. A high degree of correlation was found for isotope trends of different speleothems from the Peloponnese and partially with climate records from the Eastern Mediterranean, whereas speleothems and lake records with a larger distance to the Peloponnese show little correlation or even opposing trends.

Excavation of Four Barrows, and a Middle Bronze Age Cremation Cemetery, at Heatherstone Grange, Bransgore, Hampshire

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-89
Author(s):  
Richard Massey ◽  
Elaine L. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

Excavation at Heatherstone Grange, Bransgore, Hampshire, investigated features identified in a previous evaluation. Area A included ring ditches representing two barrows. Barrow 1.1 held 40 secondary pits, including 34 cremation-related deposits of Middle Bronze Age date, and Barrow 1.2 had five inserted pits, including three cremation graves, one of which dated to the earlier Bronze Age, and was found with an accessory cup. A number of pits, not all associated with cremation burials, contained well-preserved urns of the regional Deverel-Rimbury tradition and occasional sherds from similar vessels, which produced a closely-clustered range of eight radiocarbon dates centred around 1300 BC. Of ten pits in Area C, three were cremation graves, of which one was radiocarbon-dated to the Early Bronze Age and associated with a collared urn, while four contained only pyre debris. Barrow 1.3, in Area E, to the south, enclosed five pits, including one associated with a beaker vessel, and was surrounded by a timber circle. Area F, further to the south-west, included two pits of domestic character with charcoal-rich fills and the remains of pottery vessels, together with the probable remains of a ditched enclosure and two sets of paired postholes. Area H, located to the north-west of Area E, partly revealed a ring ditch (Barrow 1.4), which enclosed two pits with charcoal-rich fills, one with a single Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age potsherd, and the other burnt and worked flint. A further undated pit was situated to the east of Barrow 1.4. The cremation cemetery inserted into Barrow 1.1 represents a substantial addition to the regional record of Middle Bronze Age cremation burials, and demonstrates important affinities with the contemporary cemeteries of the Stour Valley to the west, and sites on Cranborne Chase, to the north-west.

Eight Ring-ditches at Four Crosses, Llandysilio, Powys, 1981–85.

1986 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 53-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walt Warrilow ◽  
Glyn Owen ◽  
William Britnell ◽  
M. Bowmer ◽  
P. Crew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Complex Pattern ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

Eight ring-ditches and several stretches of pit alignment have been excavated between 1981 and 1985, as part of the investigation of an extensive cropmark complex on a gravel terrace in the Upper Severn valley at Four Crosses, northern Powys. Excavation of the ring-ditches, which form part of a more scattered barrow cemetery, has revealed a long and complex pattern of development of barrow types and burial forms in the period between the Middle Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age. This is compared with the recently published sequence from the neighbouring upland barrow cemetery at Trelystan, and subdivided into four hypothetical phases. There is evidence of activity in the vicinity of some of the sites in the Iron Age, Romano-British, and possibly the early post-Roman period.

Ancient harbors and Holocene morphogenesis of the Ras Ibn Hani peninsula (Syria)

2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Marriner ◽  
Jean-Philippe Goiran ◽  
Bernard Geyer ◽  
Valérie Matoïan ◽  
Michel al-Maqdissi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Rapid Phase ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Coastal System

AbstractRas Ibn Hani peninsula, a wave-dominated tombolo (800 × 1000 m) on the Syrian coast, provides evidence for significant Holocene changes that can be linked to geological inheritance, rising post-glacial sea level, sediment supply and human impacts. Initial development of Ras Ibn Hani's coastal system began ~ 8000 years ago when shallow marine environments formed in a context of rising post-glacial sea level. Following relative sea-level stabilization ~ 6000 cal yr BP, beach facies trace the gradual formation of a wave-dominated sandbank fronted by a ~ 2300 × ~ 500 m palaeo-island whose environmental potentiality was attractive to Bronze Age societies. A particularly rapid phase of tombolo accretion is observed after ~ 3500 cal yr BP characterised by a two- to fourfold increase in sedimentation rates. This is consistent with (i) a pulse in sediment supply probably driven by Bronze Age/Iron Age soil erosion in local catchments, and (ii) positive feedback mechanisms linked to regionally attested neotectonics. Archaeological remains and radiocarbon datings confirm that the subaerial tombolo was probably in place by the Late Bronze Age. These data fit tightly with other eastern Mediterranean tombolo systems suggesting that there is a great deal of predictability to their geology and stratigraphy at the regional scale.

A Preliminary Investigation of Two Prehistoric Cave Sites in Southern Albania

2009 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 9-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.D. Francis ◽  
D.J. Bescoby ◽  
I. Gjipali
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
The North ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Trading Networks ◽  
The Town

In this article we describe the evaluation of two prehistoric sites situated within the coastal zone of south-western Albania, originally investigated by the Italian prehistorian Luigi Cardini in 1939. The first is a cave site in the town of Himara; the second a rock-shelter at Kanalit in the Acroceraunian Mountains to the north. Investigations at both locations revealed stratified evidence of prehistoric activity dating from the mid-Holocene. At Kanalit, an extensive lithic assemblage provided evidence for the exploitation of the adjoining coastal lowlands during the Mesolithic, while at Himara, a largely unbroken sequence of deposits records often intensive human activity at the cave from the Early Bronze Age. Radiocarbon dates have provided a significant independent chronological marker for Early/Middle Bronze Age horizons. The ceramic evidence indicates a predominance of local influences, the site not becoming part of wider trading networks until the late Iron Age, c. seventh to sixth centuries BC.Σε αυτό το άρθρο πραγματευόμαστε τη σημασία δύο προϊστορικών θέσεων, οι οποίες βρίσκονται στην παράκτια ζώνη της ΝΔ Αλβανίας. Οι θέσεις αυτές είχαν αρχικά ερευνητεί από τον Ιταλό προϊστορικό αρχαιολόγο Luigi Cardini το 1939. Η πρώτη θέση αφορά ένα σπήλαιο στην πόλη της Χειμάρρας και η δεύτερη μία βραχοσκεπή, στη θέση Kanalit, στα Ακροκεραύνια όρη προς βορρά. Έρευνες στις δύο θέσενς αποκάλυψαν στρωματογραφημένες ενδείξεις προϊστορικής δραστηριότητας, που χρονολογούνται από το μέσο Ολόκαινο. Στη θέση Kanalit ένα ευρύ σύνολο λίθινων αντικειμένων παρέχει στοιχεία για την εκμετάλλευση των γειτονικών παράκτιων πεδινών περιοχών κατά τη Μεσολιτική περίοδο. Στο σπήλαιο της Χειμάρρας μία σειρά από αδιάσπαστες, στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος τους, αποθέσεις μαρτυρεί συχνά έντονη ανθρώπινη δραστηριότητα από την Πρώιμη Εποχή του Χαλκού. Οι ραδιοχρονολογήσεις παρέχουν ένα σημαντικό ανεξάρτητο χρονολογικό δείκτη για τους ορίζοντες της Πρώιμης/Μέσης Εποχής του Χαλκού. Η κεραμική φανερώνει την επικράτηση τοπικών επιρροών, με τη θέση αυτή να μην λαμβάνεν μέρος στα ευρύτερα εμπορικά δίκτυα πριν από την όψιμη Εποχή του Σιδήρου, περίπου τον 70 – 60 αιώνα π.Χ.

Hot Stone Technology at Bucklers Park, Crowthorne, Berkshire: The Use and Re-use of a Persistent Place During the Bronze and Iron Ages

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Helen Chittock ◽  
Robert Masefield ◽  
Enid Allison ◽  
Anne Crone ◽  
Derek Hamilton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Organic Material ◽  
Remote Area ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Iron Age

Archaeological investigations at Bucklers Park in Crowthorne have revealed a window onto a significant later prehistoric place, which was used and revisited over 1700 years between the Early Bronze Age and later Iron Age (c. 1800–100 bc). Activity on site was based around the heating of water using fire-heated flint, producing three mounds of fire-cracked flint and burnt organic material. These ‘burnt mounds’ are known across later prehistoric Britain and Ireland, but the ways they may have been formed are uncertain, and they are arguably under-discussed in southern Britain. Whilst water was initially drawn from a stream, a series of wells were established at the site between the Middle Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, one of which contained a well-preserved log ladder. These wells were revisited and recut over long periods of time and during the Middle Iron Age the site’s function shifted dramatically when a roundhouse was constructed. The long-term use of the site, its excellent organic preservation, dating, and its location in a remote area on the Bagshot Heath, make it significant. This paper summarises the findings from the excavations, discussing the formation of the site in the context of wider research on later prehistoric burnt mounds.

Developing constraints on the relative sea-level curve for the northeast of Ireland from the mid-Holocene to the present day

2006 ◽  
Vol 364 (1841) ◽  
pp. 857-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian D Orford ◽  
Joanne Murdy ◽  
Robert Freel
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Sea Level Change ◽  
Tidal Level ◽  
Tide Gauge Records ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
Level Change ◽  
The North

Tide-gauge records from the north of Ireland have been digitized to generate annual estimates of both mean-sea-level (MSL) position from Malin Head (1958–1998), and mean tidal level (MTL) from Belfast Harbour (1918–2002). Both sites exhibit substantial annual variation, but show overall long-term shallow rates of falling relative sea-level change (RSLC) that are very similar at −0.2 mm a −1 (±0.37 mm a −1 ) for Belfast and −0.16 mm a −1 (±0.17 mm a −1 ) for Malin. Using these rates as constraints, plus other constraints of inferred RSLC rates from the mid-Holocene, an approximation of the likely profile of RSLC rates for the northeast of Ireland since 6 ka ago is presented.

scholarly journals ROUTE DETERMINATION OF HISTORICAL ROADS BY LOCATION OF PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENTS: NORTH OF LAKE EBER

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (13) ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Ozdemir Kocak ◽  
Omur Esen
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
The North ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Prehistoric Settlements

Prehistoric settlements are prominent among the most important representatives of the cultural heritage in Turkey. These settlements are important for understanding the social, cultural, and economic conditions of the people who had lived in the past. As a matter of fact, these ancient settlements (mounds) and their locations to each other are taken as a basis in understanding the prehistoric routes. In this study, a route is identified beginning from the settlements in the north of a lake called Eber Gölü, which is located in the western part of Turkey. In this project, the study methods of Ancient History, Archaeology and Geodesy, and Photogrammetry Engineering are used. According to that, first old settlements are identified, three-dimensional maps of these settlements are created and dating is carried on based on the ceramics (sherds) that are found on the settlements. All of this data is then overlapped. Successive settlements are observed in the east-west direction in the north of Lake Eber. These settlements reach a large mound called Üçhöyük in the westernmost part. In the east, it extends in different directions. Findings dating back to the 5th millennium BC (Chalcolithic Age) were found in these mounds. It is understood that the ceramics among these finds reflect a common tradition. This also supports the connection between these settlements. It is also possible to see some of these settlements from other settlements by the naked eye. Thus, it can be thought that the settlements in the north of the aforesaid lake have been in contact with each other since the prehistoric period. It can also be said that this relationship started in the Chalcolithic Age, continued during the Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic Period, and Roman Period, because it is determined that the findings (especially sherds) belonging to these periods are very similar.

scholarly journals Clay Figurines from Sirkeli Höyük

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moira Looney
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Final Phase ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Master's Thesis ◽  
Terracotta Figurines ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Temporal Dispersion

Sirkeli Höyük is a settlement mound in the cilician plain near Adana, Turkey. It was first excavated in the 1930s by John Garstang. Work there was resumed in the 1990s by Barthel Hrouda and Horst Ehringhaus, and then again from 2006 until the present day; initially by the Universities of Tübingen and Çanakkale and subsequently (2011 onwards) by the Universities of Bern and Çanakkale. My Master’s thesis focused on the terracotta figurines unearthed during the excavations from 1992 onwards. Its aim was to construct a classification for the material from Sirkeli Höyük, which I documented, classified and catalogued according to their shape. I did not create a completely new classification, but rather tried to build on work form A. Pruss and H. Goldmann, who’s approaches I adapted to suit the material from Sirkeli Höyük. The terracotta figurines found to date span the following epochs: the Hellenistic period, the Iron Age, the Late Bronze Age, and the Middle Bronze Age. The first aim of my PhD is to construct a working typology for these terracotta figurines by clearly defining the criteria of each of the different types. In a second phase I intend to elaborate my existing comparison of the material from Sirkeli Höyük and figurines from other excavations in the cicilian plain, to document their geographical distribution and diversity. The final phase will be an evaluation of the temporal dispersion of differing styles with a view to determining the extent of any extra-regional influences.

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