scholarly journals Grindstone: Grinding... and Human Sacrifice? Why?

2020 ◽  
pp. 241-258
Author(s):  
Gábor Ilon
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Classification System ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Food Preparation ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Action Sequence ◽  
Unchanged Form

Three features, dated to diverse periods of prehistory (Neolithic: Transdanubian Linear Pottery Culture; Bronze Age: Tumulus culture; Iron Age: Celtic Period) are presented in the current study. One of our main goals is to encourage the introduction of an otherwise generally accepted protocol for the investigation and sampling of similar phenomena to Hungarian archaeological research. The method focuses on the examination of 1, complete or partial human skeletal remains; 2, complete or partial animal skeletal remains;3, offerings according to social position; 4, tools for food preparation and equipment of the ritual feast; 5, traces of burning or fire; 6, patterns of the action sequence burning–fragmenting–scattering, together with material analyses for all samples. This way a categorization of the results might open a possibility for a more adequate interpretation. The features under study fall into category A in Joanna Brück’s classification system of human skeletal remains,1 but I regard the phenomena also containing grindstones a subcategory. The ritual in the course of which these were created might have been practiced for millenia in an unchanged form; its possible interpretation was described by István Tóth. According to our view such actions represent the liminal zone between the worlds of the living and the dead.

scholarly journals Recently excavated Iron Age burials from the Western Isles

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Cook
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Coastal Erosion ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
The Body ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
The Past ◽  
Burial Practice ◽  
The Common ◽  
New Evidence

Between 2004 and 2008, AOC Archaeology Group undertook the excavation of four separate Iron Age burials. These remains had been exposed by coastal erosion, and were excavated under the terms of the Historic Scotland Call-Off Contract for Human Remains; the four inhumations were fully excavated and radiocarbon dated. The excavations provide new evidence for Iron Age burial practice in the Western Isles and, more generally, Scotland. The examples discussed here from Scarista, Vallay, Griminish and Drimsdale were all unaccompanied burials, which by the position of the body in the grave and/or the grave setting, may have, in the past, been interpreted as possible Bronze Age or Early Historic graves in the absence of direct dates obtained from the human skeletal remains. These recent discoveries emphasise the necessity for the application of radiocarbon techniques (in the common absence of grave goods) to classify burials chronologically.

A Bronze Age battlefield? Weapons and trauma in the Tollense Valley, north-eastern Germany

Antiquity ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (328) ◽  
pp. 417-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detlef Jantzen ◽  
Ute Brinker ◽  
Jörg Orschiedt ◽  
Jan Heinemeier ◽  
Jürgen Piek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Eastern Germany ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Braided Streams ◽  
The Dead

Chance discoveries of weapons, horse bones and human skeletal remains along the banks of the River Tollense led to a campaign of research which has identified them as the debris from a Bronze Age battle. The resources of war included horses, arrowheads and wooden clubs, and the dead had suffered blows indicating face-to-face combat. This surprisingly modern and decidedly vicious struggle took place over the swampy braided streams of the river in an area of settled, possibly coveted, territory. Washed along by the current, the bodies and weapons came to rest on a single alluvial surface.

Nancy was not alone: human skeletons of the Early Bronze Age from the Norfolk peat fen

Antiquity ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 66 (253) ◽  
pp. 948-955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances Healy ◽  
Rupert A. Housley
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains

Four separate finds of human skeletal remains from the Norfolk Fens have been 14C-dated to the Early Bronze Age. It is suggested that they are a facet of the far more extensive deposition of bodies and artefacts in wet places.

scholarly journals The skeletal remains from Babacan Village early Iron Age (Muradiye, Van, Turkey)

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1394
Author(s):  
Hakan Yilmaz
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Eastern Province ◽  
Human Bones

<p>Human skeletal remains were found from tomb dated to Early Iron Age in the Babacan Village in which is a town in the district of Muradiye (18km), Van province (105km), Turkey. Human bones were unearthed from tomb during an illegal excavation in the eastern province of Van’s Muradiye Babacan Village district. The bones were examined for age, sex and also presence of pathological. Furthermore,<em> </em>skeletal measurements and indices were calculated. A minimum of five individuals was defined from tomb dated to Early Iron Age. Skeletal remains in Babacan Village are composed of at least five individuals, including adult of both sexes (four male, one female). The average age of five individuals were calculated as &gt; 30 years. This age is similar to other Early Iron Age populations Van area. Assessing the paleopathological lesions were not observed on the skeletal remains Babacan Village burials. Moreover, another paleopathological observation was not found on the human bones, including trauma.</p>

scholarly journals A Short Cist Burial at Kilkeddan Farm, Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn McLaren ◽  
Donald Wilson ◽  
Rob Engl ◽  
Alan Duffy ◽  
Kathleen MacSweeney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates

AOC Archaeology Group undertook the excavation of a previously unknown Bronze Age cist, located in a field close to Kilkeddan Farm, Argyll & Bute, during September 2005 under the Historic Scotland call-off contract for human remains. The cist was found to contain poorly surviving unburnt human skeletal remains along with a finely decorated tripartite Food Vessel and a flint knife. The incomplete and fragmentary condition of the skeleton suggests that the human remains were disarticulated at the time of deposition. Radiocarbon dates obtained from the human bone and associated charcoal confirms an early Bronze Age date for the burial.

Biblical Tel Burna: contribution of POSL and PXRF to the discussion on sedimentary and site formation processes in archaeological contexts of the southern Levant

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Janovský ◽  
Jan Horák ◽  
Oren Ackermann ◽  
Aharon Tavger ◽  
Deborah Cassuto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Chemical Compositions ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Sedimentary Processes ◽  
Natural Processes

&lt;p&gt;An ancient tell is a multi-period archaeological site, where anthropogenic, and natural sedimentation processes took place. Although a tell is primarily an anthropogenic type of geomorphological feature, it is affected by natural processes as well. This contribution discusses how these processes can be determined within the context of archaeological research and how it is possible to differentiate and interpret past-human activities and natural processes. Tel Burna, a site intensively occupied from the Early Bronze to Iron Ages (3rd millennium BCE &amp;#8211; 6th century BCE) located in the southern Levant, was chosen for this study of the studying sedimentary processes and chemical compositions of sediments. The sedimentary processes were studied in the course of an archaeological excavation using POSL (portable optically stimulated luminescence), granulometry and PXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence). Focusing on the area along the fortification walls, data was collected from strata around the casemate fortifications dating from the Late Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The gradual increase of OSL values obtained inside the casemate wall, indicate accumulation of sediment during a long period of time. Whereas similar values along the entire profile outside the casemate wall indicate sediment accumulation in one-time event. This might be related to defensive preparations, allegedly in response to advances made by Sennacherib&amp;#8217;s army in 701 BCE. Results from the PXRF demonstrated a correlation between the Cu, P, K, Zn, Mn content and human activities. Ca content decreased as sampling descended from the tell's surface, suggesting its origin in post-abandonment aeolian processes.&amp;#160; The results demonstrate that the use of POSL and PXRF can be useful for determining sedimentary processes at ancient tells. The presented abstract is adapted from the article published in Quaternary International in 2020.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Acknowledgements:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The research is supported by project &amp;#8220;Geochemical insight into non-destructive archaeological research&amp;#8221; (LTC19016) of subprogram INTER&amp;#8208;COST (LTC19) of program INTEREXCELLENCE by Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic.&lt;/p&gt;

Bioarchaeological perspectives on the social experience of prehistoric and historic communities

Antiquity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (360) ◽  
pp. 1656-1658
Author(s):  
Kathryn M. Baustian
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Human Biology ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
The Past ◽  
Archaeological Interpretation ◽  
Physical Environments ◽  
The Social

Traditionally, reconstructions of social complexity in past societies have relied on a plethora of indicators including, but not limited to, ancient texts, monumental architectural and archaeological evidence for hierarchical leadership, surplus storage, craft specialisation and the density of populations. With the exception of mortuary patterns, particularly the quantity and quality of grave goods, bioarchaeological data have featured less prominently in archaeological interpretation. Over the past 40 years, however, the study of human skeletal remains has been more firmly integrated into theoretical explorations of the past, and the broader development of biocultural models has contributed more fully to archaeological research. The first of the two volumes reviewed here is exemplary of current bioarchaeological approaches that draw on human biology, cultural development and physical environments to understand the human experience.

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