scholarly journals Paleoanthropological study of a skull from a burial at the Chemurchek sanctuary Hulagash (Bayan-Ulgii aimag, Mongolia)

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-95
Author(s):  
A.A. Kovalev ◽  
K.N. Solodovnikov ◽  
Ch. Munkhbayar ◽  
M. Erdene ◽  
A.I. Nechvaloda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Altai Mountains ◽  
Intergroup Comparison ◽  
South Siberia ◽  
Cultural Affinity ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Ritual Site ◽  
Burial Grounds

Recent studies show that, in the 3rd millennium BC, the highlands in the basin of the upper reaches of the Khovd (Kobdo) River constituted a ritual zone, which was of particular importance for the population inhabiting the western foothills of the Mongolian Altai Mountains. Its cultural singularity was due to the so-called Chemurchek cultural phenomenon — a set of characteristics of West European origin, which appeared there no later than 2700–2600 BC. Three large-scale ritual complexes-‘shrines’ attributed to this period were discovered in the area of Lake Dayan Nuur. Excavations conducted by the expedition of A.A. Kovalev and Ch. Munkhbayar revealed that these structures constituted fences consisting of vertical stone slabs, decorated all-over on the outside with the images of fantastic anthropomorphic creatures and animals. The excavation of Hulagash 1 (one of these sanctu-aries), radiocarbon dated to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, revealed a single grave in the centre of the structure, synchronous with the time when the complex was used. The grave belonged to a man of advanced age, whose body was wrapped in a wide piece of cloth. The significance of this man being buried in the centre of the ritual site remains unclear. This person could have been sacrificed during construction or, conversely, he could have had a special status. Craniometrical measurement and dentological investigation of the scull from the Chemurchek sanctuary Hulagash were conducted; its graphic reconstruction was performed. Its anthropological type shows a significant Mongoloid component. Intergroup comparison revealed its significant morphological dif-ferences from markedly Caucasoid groups, including the Afanasievo culture of South Siberia and Central Asia. This excludes the morphogenetic continuity of the Chemurchek phenomenon from the antecedent Afanasievo popula-tion. The individual from Hulagash bears the greatest anthropological similarity to the Neolithic-Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age populations of the Circumbaikal region (Serovo and Glazkovo cultures) and the Barnaul-Biysk Ob area (Itkul and Firsovo XI burial grounds dating back to the pre-Bronze Age; Early Bronze Age burial grounds of the Elunino culture). This is obviously a manifestation of a shared anthropological substrate, since the anthropological component of the Baikal type (which the population of the Elunino culture included) was recorded in the Neolithic-Eneolithic materials from the northern foothills of the Altai Mountains. Remarkable morphological similarities between the individual from Hulagash and the bearers of the Elunino archaeological culture reinforce the assumption that there is a cultural affinity between the Chemurchek and Elunino populations of the Early Bronze Age.

scholarly journals Alalakh: an account of the excavations at Tell Atchana in the Hatay, 1937–1949

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Woolley
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Gold Silver

This monograph describes large-scale excavations undertaken by Sir Leonard Woolley from 1937 to 1939, and again from 1946 to 1949, at the site of Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) – a late Bronze Age city in the Amuq River valley of Turkey's Hatay Province. Described is the evidence of a series of superimposed palaces and temples, town defences, private houses and graves, in 17 archaeological levels reaching from late Early Bronze Age (Level XVII, c. 2200–2000 BC to Late Bronze Age (Level 0, 13th century BC). Supplementary reports describe the architecture and frescoes, sculptures, and portable objects in fired clay, gold, silver, ivory, stone, and glass.

scholarly journals BIOARCHAEOLOGY OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE ON THE BASIS OF MATERIALS FROM THE BURIAL GROUNDS OF THE VOLGOGRAD REGION

2019 ◽  
pp. 106-120
Author(s):  
E.V. Pererva ◽  
A.N. Dyachenko
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Solid Food ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Lower Volga ◽  
Burial Grounds

The paper studies the burials and anthropological materials of children (Early Bronze Age; Yamna culture), originating from the burial complexes of the Lower Volga using the method of paleopathological examination of skeletal remains and through the interpretation of the archaeological material. The skeletal remains of seven indi-viduals whose age did not exceed 15–16 years were examined. The bone material exhibited varying degrees of preservation. In 6 skeletal remains, only fragments of the cranium were examined, whereas in 5 individuals it was possible to examine the postcranial remains along with the skull bones. In this study, we applied a procedure for studying pathological abnormalities in the human skeleton developed by A.P. Buzhilova [1998]. Different me-thodological recommendations were used when recording bone porosis [Ortner, Ericksen, 1997; Ortner, Putschar, 1981; Lukacs, et al., 2001; Brown, Ortner, 2011; Maclellan, 2011]. The analysis of anthropological series helped to assess the incidence of porotic hyperostosis of eye sockets (cribra orbitalia) and cranial roof bones; to detect the signs of inflammatory processes in the bones of the postcranial skeleton in the form of periostitis, inflamma-tion on the inner surface of the bones of the cranial vault, as well as the pathological conditions of the dental sys-tem [Hegen, 1971; Stuart-Macadam, 1992; Waldron et al., 2009; Walker et al., 2009; Suby, 2014; Zuckerman et al., 2014]. The analysis of archaeological materials from children's burials of the Early Bronze Age revealed that almost all burials of children and adolescents are inlet, i.e. they do not have their individual barrows. The collec-tion of items is extremely small and is primarily represented by ceramics of very poor quality. A low proportion of children's burials attributed to the Yamna culture is observed in the Lower Volga burial grounds. As a rule, chil-dren are buried together with adults, so separate burials are very rare. Two of the seven studied individuals were 4 to 7 years old, while the remaining five individuals were buried at the age of 8–16. The reason for the small number of children's burials of the Yamna culture is associated with the low social status of the immature part of the population, which, in turn, may suggest some special, poorly fixed archaeologically, burial ritual for the bulk of children, given that subsequently the number of children's individual burials increased quite significantly on the same territory. Nevertheless, their design and accompanying items are not much different from those of adult burials. Young individuals of the Early Bronze Age are characterised by markers of episodic stress that occurred during various periods of childhood, predominantly from 2 to 4 years old. The stress can be associated with the transition from the dairy diet to the solid food diet. The widespread occurrence of tartar in immature individuals can indicate the specificity of their diet, which was based on soft and, possibly, fatty food. In addition, it may indi-cate a lack of oral hygiene, which is quite natural for the historical period. Vitamin deficiency recorded in the stu-died group results either from exposure to negative factors during the late transition from breastfeeding to solid food or from chronic hunger. Young people of the Early Bronze Age had non-specific inflammations, which, most likely, were not systematic, but occurred sporadically. We can presume that children and adolescents of the stu-died age lived peacefully and participated in the economic activities of the social groups. Being exposed to epi-sodic stresses, immature individuals of the pit culture successfully adapted to environmental factors.

The Collfryn Hillslope Enclosure, Llansantffraid Deuddwr, Powys: Excavations 1980–1982

1989 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Britnell ◽  
Jenny Britnell ◽  
Timothy C. Darvill ◽  
Stephen Greep ◽  
Elizabeth Healey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Drainage Ditches ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
High Social Status

The report on partial rescue excavations of the Collfryn enclosure between 1980–82 presents a summary of the first large-scale investigation of one of the numerous semi-defensive cropmark and earthwork enclosure sites in the upper Severn valley in mid-Wales. Earlier prehistoric activity of an ephemeral nature is represented by a scattering of Mesolithic and Late Neolithic or early Bronze Age flintwork, and by a pit containing sherds of several different Beaker vessels. The first enclosed settlement, constructed in about the 3rd century bc probably consisted of three widely-spaced concentric ditches, associated with banks of simple dump construction, having a single gated entranceway on the downhill side. It covered an area of about 2.5 ha and appears to have been of a relatively high social status, and appropriate in size for a single extended-family group. This was subsequently reduced in about the 1st century bc to a double-ditched enclosure, by the recutting of the original inner ditch and the cutting of a new ditch immediately outside it. The habitation area between the 3rd and 1st centuries bc probably focused on timber buildings in the central enclosure of about 0.4 ha, whose gradually evolving pattern appears to have comprised between 3–4 roundhouses and 4–5 four-posters at any one time. Little excavation was undertaken between the outer ditches of the first phase settlement, but these are assumed to have been used as stock enclosures. A mixed farming economy is suggested by cattle, sheep/goat and pig remains, and remains of glume wheats, barley and oats. Industries included small-scale iron and bronze-working. The Iron Age settlement was essentially aceramic, although there are significant quantities of a coarse, oxidized ceramic probably representing salt traded from production centres in the Cheshire Plain. The entranceway was remodelled in about the late 1st or early 2nd, century AD by means of a timber-lined passage linked to a new gate on the line of the inner bank. There is equivocal evidence of continued occupation within the inner enclosure continuing until at least the mid-4th century AD, possibly at a comparatively low social level, associated with domestic structures of uncertain form sited on earlier roundhouse platforms, and including some four-posters and possible six-posters. Drainage ditches were dug across parts of the site during the Medieval and post-Medieval periods, which were associated with various structures, including a corn-drying kiln inserted into the inner enclosure bank in the 15th century.

The Aduun Chuluu Site and Cemetery of early Bronze Age in Wenquan (Arixang) County, Xinjiang

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tianshan Mountains ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Eurasian Steppe ◽  
Western Tianshan ◽  
Stone Slab ◽  
Cultural Connotations

AbstractIn 2012 and 2013, four large-scale architectural remains and 16 stone slab cists were excavated in Aduun Chuluu Site and Cemetery, from which potteries, stone implements, small bronze objects and gold-filled bronze earring and stone human statues were unearthed. The dates of the remains and burials were concentrated between the 19th to the 17th centuries BCE, which was the early Bronze Age in this region. This discovery is helpful for revealing the features of the sites of the early Bronze Age in the western Tianshan Mountains and provides important clues for the explorations on the cultural connotations of the early Bronze Age in Xinjiang and the cultural intercommunication in the Eurasian Steppe area at that time.

Economic and social zones during the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age in Jæren, Southwest Norway. Reconstructing large-scale land-use patterns

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-88
Author(s):  
Lisbeth Prøsch-Danielsen ◽  
Christopher Prescott ◽  
Mads Kähler Holst
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Large Scale Land

Zusammenfassung Basierend auf einer Untersuchung der ökologischen und archäologischen Hinterlassenschaften für Jæren, Südwest-Norwegen, wird vorgeschlagen, dass der Übergang zu einer agrar-pastoralen Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft am Übergang vom mittleren zum späten Neolithikum (2400–2350 v. Chr.) erfolgte und es in Folge zu einer raschen Strukturierung der besiedelten Kulturlandschaften kam. In den folgenden Jahrzehnten und Jahrhunderten entwickelte sich die Gesellschaft auf dieser Basis fort. >Eines der charakteristischen Merkmale der damaligen Landschaften ist, dass diese umfassend in das soziale und rituelle Leben integriert wurden, was auf lokaler Ebene zu einer Zonierung der Landschaft mit jeweils deutlichen Unterschieden in den wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und kulturellen Ausdrucksformen führte. In den offenen, gras- und heidedominierten Küstenzonen manifestiert sich der Befund auf monumentaler und ritueller Ebene, während geeignete quartäre Lagerstätten als Zonen unterschiedlich intensiven Getreideanbaus genutzt wurden. Die beschriebenen Landschaften entwickelten sich als Reaktion auf eine nachhaltige Wirtschaftspraxis, die eine kontinuierliche Ausweitung der Beweidung, eine Intensivierung der Getreideproduktion und den Zugang zu Kommunikationswegen umfasste. Unterschiede im Nutzungsdruck, in der Produktion und in der Wirtschaftsstrategie spiegeln eine Reihe von Umweltparametern wider. Somit korrelieren die Aktivitätszonen weitgehend mit physikalischen Eigenschaften der Landschaft, was offensichtlich sowohl einen adaptiven Aspekt in der Wirtschaft als auch Muster einer umfassenden Ressourcenausnutzung der Zonen widerspiegelt, etwa in der Kombination von Getreideproduktion, Wanderweidewirtschaft, Jagd und Zugang zu maritimen Engstellen. Zur Interpretation schlagen die Autoren ein Modell sozialer und wirtschaftlicher Organisationen und Interaktionen in der Region Jæren vor, basierend auf den Verteilungen mehrerer Kategorien archäologischer Funde. Das Modell präsentiert eine Reihe voneinander abhängiger Zonen innerhalb einer einheitlichen, aber diversifizierten Wirtschaft mit Querschnittsaktivitäten und Mobilitätsmustern. Der präsentierte Ansatz stellt eine Alternative zu bestehenden Hierarchiemodellen innerhalb begrenzter Gebiete dar. Die Landschaftszonierung in Jæren ähnelt jener in Westskandinavien, einschließlich Jütlands, Dänemark. Aus diesem Grund war die Einführung einer subsistenzorientierten, Feldbau und Weidewirtschaft kombinierenden Landwirtschaft in Jæren von externen Impulsen abhängig.

scholarly journals SIMILARITY OF THE EARLIEST ROCK ART IN SOUTH SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA AND THE ISSUE OF THEIR ATTRIBUTION

2020 ◽  
pp. 82-98
Author(s):  
Е. А. Миклашевич
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
South Siberia ◽  
Dating Methods ◽  
Western Sayan

Статья посвящена проблеме хронологической атрибуции самых ранних наскальных изображений нескольких сопредельных регионов Южной Сибири и Центральной Азии: Минусинской котловины, Горного Алтая, Северо-Западной Монголии, Западного Саяна и Южной Тувы (рис. 1-4). Рассматривается общность стиля, иконографии и репертуара основных анималистических образов; обсуждаются характер и причины этого сходства. Составлена карта распространения наскальных изображений древнейшего пласта (рис. 5). Актуальность проблемы их датирования заключается в том, что они не имеют археологических «привязок», поскольку до сих пор не обнаружено изобразительных материалов подобного стиля в закрытых комплексах. Можно лишь утверждать, что они древнее изображений окуневско-каракольской традиции. Исследователями предлагались разные датировки - от верхнего палеолита до эпохи ранней бронзы; предлагалась атрибуция афанасьевской культуре, но пока ни одна из версий не выглядит достаточно обоснованной. По мнению автора, вероятность принадлежности этого изобразительного пласта к эпохе камня довольно высока, однако для более узкого определения еще недостаточно данных. Пути решения проблемы требуют пополнения корпуса источников, более точного документирования памятников, применения междисциплинарных исследований, в том числе методов прямого датирования (например, уран-ториевое датирование перекрывающего наскальные рисунки кальцита и др.). The paper deals with the issue of chronological attribution of the earliest rock art in several adjacent regions of South Siberia and Central Asia such as the Minusinsk Depression, the Altai Republic, northwestern Mongolia, Western Sayan Mountains and southern Tuva (Fig. 1-4). It reviews shared stylistical traits, iconography and repertoire of main animalistic images discussing the nature and causes of this similarity. It also provides a map showing distribution of the rock images from the earliest layer (Fig. 5). Relevance of the issue of their dating is explained by the fact that they do not have any archaeological «links» as no figurative materials of this style have been discovered in closed assemblages. We can only argue that they are older than the images attributed to the Okunevo-Karakol traditions. Scholars have proposed various dates ranging from the Upper Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age; the attribution to the Afanasyevo culture has been proposed; however, so far, none of the versions seems well justified. In the author’s opinion, probability of this figurative layer dating to the Stone Age is quite high, though there are no sufficient data to narrow down the time interval. To address this issue, it is necessary to expand the corps of sources, make more accurate records of the sites and conduct interdisciplinary studies including use of direct dating methods (such as uranium-thorium dating of the calcite over the rock images, etc.).

scholarly journals The Population of the Bronze Age of the Lower Volga Region in the Works of Russian Anthropologists

2019 ◽  
pp. 205-223
Author(s):  
Evgeny Pererva ◽  
Alexandr Djachenko
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Volga Region ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Lower Volga Region ◽  
Lower Volga ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Bronze Age

Introduction. This work is a review of scientific publications on studying paleoanthropological materials of the Bronze Age originating from burial mounds of the Lower Volga region. Materials and Analysis. The paper begins with the analysis of articles and monographic studies of domestic authors, whose works were written in the period from the 30s to the late 80s of the 20th century. The so-called Soviet period in Russian anthropology is characterized by the dominance of the individual-typological approach in describing skeletal series of representatives of the Bronze Age cultures. The osteological collections from burial complexes of the Bronze Age of the Lower Volga region accumulated at this stage of the study were distinguished by a small number and low representativeness. The main conclusions were based on studying craniological samples. A great contribution to developing ideas on the racial and ethnic history of the Lower Volga region during this period was made by researchers G.F. Debets, V.V. Gizburg, V.I. Vuich, B.V. Firshtein, A.V. Shevchenko. The second part of the article is devoted to analyzing the results of anthropological research in the region in the works of modern Russian scientists.A distinctive feature of these works is that they are based on studying large-scale craniological series of broad temporal and territorial coverage. The studies of such scientists as A.A. Khokhlov, E.F. Batieva, A.A. Kazarnitsky, M.A. Balabanova use the complex approach in which classical methods of physical anthropology (craniology, osteology) are combined with the methods of statistical analysis and using data from Archaeology, Paleodemography, and Paleoecology. Results. The work shows the importance of using anthropological data as an independent source in paleohistorical constructions, as well as in the process of the archaeological study of various cultures of the Bronze Age that existed in the Lower Volga region.

Palestinian Excavations

Antiquity ◽  
1950 ◽  
Vol 24 (96) ◽  
pp. 196-199
Author(s):  
Kathleen M. Kenyon
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Hill Country ◽  
Chalcolithic Period ◽  
First Millennium

Recent years have seen the publication of some sumptuous reports of the large scale excavations conducted by American enterprise in the years before the war. The sites of Megiddo and Beth-Shan, which can confidently be referred to by their historical and biblical names, are of outstanding importance, dominating as they do the Plain of Esdraelon and the great road from Egypt to North Syria and Mesopotamia. The publications here considered are the latest (but not, it is hoped, the last) of a series dealing with different aspects of the excavations. Both sites have been partially sounded to bed-rock, and show continuous occupation from thc chalcolithic period to the end of the first millennium B.C., and Beth-Shan beyond it. Tell en-Nasbeh is in a different category. It is possibly to be identified with the Biblical Mizpah, but this is not universally accepted. Like many Palestinian hill-country sites, it was occupied in the Early Bronze Age (the ascription of some groups to the chalcolithic period is unsatisfactory). Its main occupation is, however, confined to the Early Iron Age, from the time of the undivided Israelite Kingdom down to the post-exilic, Hellenistic and Roman periods.

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