scholarly journals A Very Early “Fashion”: Neolithic Stone Bracelets from a Mediterranean Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 815-831
Author(s):  
Francisco Martínez-Sevilla ◽  
Emma L. Baysal ◽  
Roberto Micheli ◽  
Fotis Ifantidis ◽  
Carlo Lugliè
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Manufacturing Processes ◽  
Craft Specialization ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Ring-shaped objects, used mainly as bracelets, appear in the archaeological record associated with the first farming societies around the Mediterranean area. These bracelets, among other personal ornaments, are related to the spread of the farming economy in the Mediterranean (10th–6th millennium BC). In particular, stone bracelets, given their intricate technology, are linked with the early stages of craft specialization and the beginnings of complex social organization. Likewise, their frequency in Early Neolithic assemblages and the lithologies in which they were made have become an important element in the study of the circulation networks of goods, as well as the symbolic behaviors and aesthetic preferences of the first farming groups. This research provides the first overview of the stone bracelets of Neolithic groups in the Mediterranean. We compare the similarities and differences among these ornaments in different geographical zones across the region including Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Spain. Using all the information available about these ornaments – chronology, typology, raw materials and manufacturing processes, use-wear, repair, and alteration practices – we shed light on a complex archaeological trans-cultural manifestation related to the spread of the Neolithic lifestyle across the European continent.

scholarly journals PORTABLE ART OBJECTS DISCOVERED IN THE UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF ROMANIA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.-C. Nitu ◽  
O. Cirstina ◽  
F.-I. Lupu ◽  
M. Leu ◽  
A. Nicolae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Art Objects ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
New Findings ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Individual

In addition to their undeniable aesthetic value, ornaments are the element that may differentiate the various social groups or individuals belonging to certain groups. More specifically, body decoration is closely related to social identity. The ornament, as a form of communication, has a certain advantage over other means of communication because, once displayed, perhaps even more than language itself, the individual wearing it need not make any effort to deliver his/her message, social sta-tus, their belonging to a group etc. The first adornments used during the Paleolithic are beads, while perforated shells are among the earliest examples of this sort. In a few cases, the perforated shells come from species rarely used in the Paleolithic, brought from long distances, in terms of the settlements in which they were found so, apart from individualizing and characterizing a certain group, they may represent important documents regarding migrations over wide areas and even regarding the origin of a culture. This is shown by new discoveries made in an early Gravettian layer at the Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, north-eastern Romania), dated between 30 ka and 31 ka BP (Niu et al., 2019). The ornaments discovered here include a unique association of perforat-ed shells represented by three species of mollusks: Lithoglyphus naticoide, Litho-glyphus apertus and Homalopoma sanguineum (an exclusively Mediterranean spe-cies). This occupation differs from Central and Eastern European Gravettian tradi-tions through the symbolic behavior of the communities, defined by the use of perfo-rated shells of freshwater and marine (Mediterranean origin) mollusk belonging to species very rarely used in the Palaeolithic. Poiana Cireului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineum shells were found and is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoides shells were used. We present the ornaments discovered and the results of analysis performed to identify the perforation methods and the use-wear traces. The presence of a Mediterranean species at the Poiana Cireului settlement located more than 900 km from the nearest source suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area. In the light of these new findings, the origin and diffusion of the Gravettian from the Mediterranean to the east of the Carpathians are a hypothesis that should be considered. Niu, E.-C., Crciumaru, M., Nicolae, A., Crstina, O., Lupu, F. I., Leu, M. (2019). Mobility and social identity in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: new personal ornaments from Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, Romania). PLOS ONE, 14 (4), e0214932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214932

scholarly journals PERSONAL ORNAMENTS DISCOVERED IN THE EARLY UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF POIANA CIREȘULUI-PIATRA NEAMȚ (ROMANIA)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.-C. Nitu ◽  
O. Cirstina ◽  
F.-I. Lupu ◽  
M. Leu ◽  
A. Nicolae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
New Findings ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Early Upper

In addition to their undeniable aesthetic value, ornaments are the element that may differentiate the various social groups or individuals belonging to certain groups. More specifically, body decoration is closely related to social identity. The ornament, as a form of communication, has a certain advantage over other means of communication because, once displayed, perhaps even more than language itself, the individual wearing it need not make any effort to deliver his/her message, social sta-tus, their belonging to a group etc. The first adornments used during the Paleolithic are beads, while perforated shells are among the earliest examples of this sort. In a few cases, the perforated shells come from species rarely used in the Paleolithic, brought from long distances, in terms of the settlements in which they were found so, apart from individualizing and characterizing a certain group, they may represent important documents regarding migrations over wide areas and even regarding the origin of a culture. This is shown by new discoveries made in an early Gravettian layer at the Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, north-eastern Romania), dated between 30 ka and 31 ka BP (Niu et al., 2019). The ornaments discovered here include a unique association of perforat-ed shells represented by three species of mollusks: Lithoglyphus naticoide, Litho-glyphus apertus and Homalopoma sanguineum (an exclusively Mediterranean spe-cies). This occupation differs from Central and Eastern European Gravettian tradi-tions through the symbolic behavior of the communities, defined by the use of perfo-rated shells of freshwater and marine (Mediterranean origin) mollusk belonging to species very rarely used in the Palaeolithic. Poiana Cireului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineum shells were found and is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoides shells were used. We present the ornaments discovered and the results of analysis performed to identify the perforation methods and the use-wear traces. The presence of a Mediterranean species at the Poiana Cireului settlement located more than 900 km from the nearest source suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area. In the light of these new findings, the origin and diffusion of the Gravettian from the Mediterranean to the east of the Carpathians are a hypothesis that should be considered. Niu, E.-C., Crciumaru, M., Nicolae, A., Crstina, O., Lupu, F. I., Leu, M. (2019). Mobility and social identity in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: new personal ornaments from Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, Romania). PLOS ONE, 14 (4), e0214932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214932

Centers of Power, Weapons of Iron

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Douglas Price
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
The Alps ◽  
Iron Artifacts ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
City States

The introduction of iron after 1000 BC brought new tools and weapons to Europe. Smelting technology and higher furnace temperatures were likely the key to iron production, which is generally thought to have originated in Anatolia around 1400 BC among the Hittites, but there are a few earlier examples of iron artifacts as old as 2300 BC in Turkey. Iron produced sharper, more readily available implements and was in great demand. In contrast to copper and tin, whose sources were limited, iron was found in a variety of forms in many places across the continent. Veins of iron ore were exploited in Iberia, Britain, the Alps, the Carpathian Mountains, and elsewhere. Bog iron was exploited in northern Europe. Carbonate sources of iron in other areas enabled local groups to obtain the raw materials necessary for producing this important material. At the same time, the collapse of the dominant Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean changed the flow of raw materials and finished products across Europe. Greece fell into a Dark Age following the demise of the Mycenaean city-states. The Etruscans were on the rise in Italy. Rome was a small town at the border of the Etruscan region. Soon, however, new centers of power in classic Greece and Rome emerged, bringing writing and, with it, history to Europe. Again, we can observe important and dramatic differences between the “classic” areas of the Mediterranean and the northern parts of “barbarian” Europe. The chronology for the Iron Age in much of Europe is portrayed in Figure 6.2. The Iron Age begins earlier in the Mediterranean area, ca. 900 BC, where the Classical civilizations of Greece, the Etruscans, and eventually Rome emerge in the first millennium BC. Rome and its empire expanded rapidly, conquering much of western Europe in a few decades before the beginning of the Common Era and Britain around ad 43, effectively ending the prehistoric Iron Age in these parts of the continent. The Iron Age begins somewhat later in Scandinavia, around 500 BC.

Slovene Nationalism in Trieste, 1848–1982

1983 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-161
Author(s):  
Jože Pirjevec
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
The Other ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Town

Trieste is located at the extreme end of the northern coast of the Adriatic, where the arm of the sea reaches most deeply into the European continent. By its position Trieste is thus a part of Central Europe no less than of the Mediterranean area — if we take into account the fact that the distance between Vienna and Trieste is less than that between Trieste and Rome. On the other hand, Trieste is in an area where the Apennine peninsula meets the Balkan, where for millenia two cultural spheres have been juxtaposed: the Eastern — Greek, Byzantine and Slavic — and the Western — Latin, Romance and German. The complexity of the geographical and cultural circumstances is further increased by the national heterogeneousness of the inhabitants, Italians and Slovenes. Italians predominate in the town, Slovenes in the countryside.

scholarly journals Bone and antler implements of the Early Neolithic Dnepr-Dvina interfluve settlements: technological and functional features, context

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-247
Author(s):  
Anna Andreevna Malyutina
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Stone Artifacts ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Neolithic Culture ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
First Time ◽  
Neolithic Cultures

In this paper we consider the results of the use-wear analysis of the bone and antler implements received as a result of excavation of the Early Neolithic settlements on the territory of Dnepr-Dvina interfluve. This kind of research is conducted for this category of archaeological material for the first time. For the analysis we have selected 27 bone, antler and teeth items occurring from two settlements of the Serteysky microregion - Serteya X and Rudnya Serteyskaya. The good preservation of items has allowed us to study macro- and microtraces connected with technology of processing of raw materials and receiving products, ways of usage of finished utilitarian and not utilitarian character items. The following categories of implements have been marked out: knives, awls, pendants, spear-heads, arrowheads, barbed points, preforms, fragments of items with processing traces. The obtained information is correlated to other materials of settlements - ceramics, stone artifacts, economic and cultural characteristic of settlements in general. Ceramic traditions in upper courses of the Western Dvina belong to 7 millennium BC. The earliest ceramic traditions are combined in Serteyskaya archaeological culture. Later, in materials of the Early Neolithic sites influence of Early Neolithic cultures of East Baltics is traced. As a result, on the territory of Podvinya the Rudnyanskaya Early Neolithic culture is formed.

Spatial Distribution of Pre-Warm Front Rainfall in the Mediterranean Area

1988 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Corradini ◽  
F. Melone
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Compact Structure ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
Orographic Effects ◽  
Warm Front ◽  
Average Rainfall ◽  
Convective Motions ◽  
Rainfall Type ◽  
The Mediterranean

Evidence is given of the distribution of pre-warm front rainfall at the meso-γ scale, together with a discussion of the main mechanisms producing this variability. An inland region in the Mediterranean area is considered. The selected rainfall type is commonly considered the most regular inasmuch as it is usually unaffected by extended convective motions. Despite this, within a storm a large variability in space was observed. For 90% of measurements, the typical deviations from the area-average total depth ranged from - 40 to 60 % and the storm ensemble-average rainfall rate over an hilly zone was 60 % greater than that in a contiguous low-land zone generally placed upwind. This variability is largely explained in terms of forced uplift of air mass over an envelope type orography. For a few storms smaller orographic effects were found in locations influenced by an orography with higher slopes and elevations. This feature is ascribed to the compact structure of these mountains which probably determines a deflection of air mass in the boundary layer. The importance of this type of analysis in the hydrological practice is also emphasized.

The Control of Pollution from River Discharges in the Mediterranean

1986 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 229-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalil H. Mancy
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Nile Delta ◽  
River Basin Management ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Marine Management ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Management Schemes ◽  
The Mediterranean

The pollution burden of river discharges in the Mediterranean far exceeds all other sources, e.g. land based sources. The main contributors are the Rhone, Po and Ebro. Contributions from the River Nile are expected to be much less than those from rivers in the European continent. Recent Nile management schemes and irrigation projects in Egypt are posing direct impacts on the Mediterranean. This includes the erosion of the Nile Delta and off-shore pollution due to wastewater discharges. In view of the prevailing circulation patterns in the Mediterranean, these impacts are dominant in the South Levantin region. Cutrent practices of river management do not necessarily include the protection of marine resources. Similarly, sea protection programs do not include pollution from sources in the river basin. Marine management programs are largely concerned with pollution loads at the points of river discharge. In the case of a land-locked sea, such as the Mediterranean, it is particularly important to integrate river basin management schemes in the sea protection program. Under a suitable management plan, it could be possible to determine main sources of sea pollution within the river basin. This should serve as the basis for the implementation of control measures, since the problem is not exclusively within the river basin.

Anthocyanins: Chemical Properties and Health Benefits: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siraj Salman Mohammad ◽  
Renata Oliveira Santos ◽  
Maria Ivone Barbosa ◽  
José Lucena Barbosa Junior
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Extraction Methods ◽  
The Body ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Extraction Properties ◽  
Therapeutic Properties ◽  
Food Processes ◽  
Shed Light

: Anthocyanins are widely spread in different kinds of food, especially fruits and floral tissues, there is an extensive range of anthocyanin compounds reach more than 600 exist in nature. Anthocyanins can be used as antioxidants and raw material for several applications in food and pharmaceutical industry. Consequently, a plenty of studies about anthocyanins sources and extraction methods were reported. Furthermore, many studies about their stability, bioactive and therapeutic properties have been done. According to the body of work, we firstly worked to shed light on anthocyanin properties including chemical, antioxidant and extraction properties. Secondly, we reported the applications and health benefits of anthocyanin including the applications in food processes and anthocyanin characteristics as therapeutic and prophylactic compounds. We reviewed anticancer, anti-diabetic, anti-fatness, oxidative Stress and lipid decreasing and vasoprotective effects of anthocyanins. In conclusion, because the importance of phytochemicals and bioactive compounds the research is still continuing to find new anthocyanins from natural sources and invest them as raw materials in the pharmaceutical and nutrition applications.

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