Geoelectric, Magnetic Susceptibility and Geochemical Survey as a Tool to Clarify the Origin of Bronze Age Water Reservoirs at the Hillfort Štěpánov, Czechia

ABSTRACTEcse Mound is a burial mound in the Hortobágy region of eastern Hungary. Built by prehistoric nomadic peoples from the east, it now stands on the border between two modern settlements. The construction of the mound was assumed to be related to representatives of the Pit Grave Culture populating the area between the Late Copper and Bronze Ages. This theory considered similarities in shape, orientation, and stratigraphy of this mound with other absolute-dated ones in the Hortobágy region alone. The mound comprises two construction layers as indicated by magnetic susceptibility and on-site stratigraphic observations. According to detailed sedimentological, geochemical analyses of samples taken from the bedrock, artificial stratigraphic horizons, and the overlying topsoil, there is a marked similarity between the soil forming the body of the mound in both artificial horizons and the underlying bedrock soil. In contrast the pedological, geological character of the modern topsoil is utterly different. According to our dating results, the uppermost stratigraphic horizon is coeval with the absolute-dated mounds in the region, assigning it to the period of the Pit Grave Culture. However, the lower anthropological horizon is older and dates to between the Early and Late Copper Ages.

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"Urban water reservoirs in the land of the Bible during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age (3000-586 B.C.)

ARAM Periodical ◽

10.2143/aram.13.1.504509 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 377-401

Author(s):

TSUK Tsvika

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Urban Water ◽

Water Reservoirs ◽

The Bible ◽

The Bronze Age

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Obsidians of Pantelleria (Strait of Sicily): A Petrographic, Geochemical and Magnetic Study of Known and New Geological Sources

Open Archaeology ◽

10.1515/opar-2020-0120 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 434-453 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Silvio G. Rotolo ◽

Maria Luisa Carapezza ◽

Alessandra Correale ◽

Franco Foresta Martin ◽

Gregor Hahn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Susceptibility ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Remanent Magnetization ◽

Analytical Approach ◽

Major Element ◽

Natural Remanent Magnetization ◽

Strait Of Sicily ◽

Magnetic Methods ◽

Icp Ms ◽

Ft Ir

Abstract This paper provides new petrochemical and paleomagnetic data from obsidian sub-sources on the island of Pantelleria, exploited since the Neolithic. Data has been obtained from 14 obsidian samples from 4 locations: Fossa della Pernice (2 sites), Salto la Vecchia and Balata dei Turchi. Here, we aim to better characterize these obsidians using a cross-disciplinary and multi-analytical approach, to further understand their archaeological significance. Major element analyses (EMP) have enabled two compositional super-groups to be distinguished: (i) Fossa della Pernice, less peralkaline and (ii) Balata dei Turchi–Salto la Vecchia, distinctly more peralkaline and having almost identical chemical patterns. Trace element analyses (LA-ICP-MS) corroborate major element groupings, with the Balata dei Turchi–Salto la Vecchia super-group being further characterized by a pronounced negative europium anomaly. Glass H2O contents (FT-IR) reveal an overlap among all the sub-sources (H2O = 0.1–0.3 wt. %). Magnetic methods have refined the petrochemical groupings, permitting further distinction between Balata dei Turchi–Salto La Vecchia and the Fossa della Pernice super-groups. The occurrence of sub-microscopic (< 1 μm) ferromagnetic minerals results in different magnetic susceptibility and Natural Remanent Magnetization values and allows the best distinction among the products from the chosen sites. When compared with obsidian tools excavated from Bronze-age settlements on the island of Ustica (230 km NE of Pantelleria), 12% are distinctly peralkaline, indicating their provenance to be from the Balata dei Turchi sub-source.

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The Excavation of an Early Bronze Age Burnt Mound at Arisaig, Lochaber, Highland

Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports ◽

10.9750/issn.1773-3803.2009.39 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

Author(s):

Ian Suddaby ◽

Torben Ballin ◽

Michael Cressey ◽

Clare Ellis ◽

Karen Clarke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Susceptibility ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Thin Section ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Area Studies ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

The Road ◽

Soil Magnetic Susceptibility ◽

Considerable Damage

During the upgrading of the A830(T), the 'Road to the Isles', the remains of a disturbed burnt mound deposit were discovered and later excavated during September and October 2005 by CFA Archaeology Ltd. This is the first such feature to have been excavated in this part of the Highlands.The burnt mound was discovered lying partly below a modern field bank on the edge of Arisaig during a trial trenching evaluation. Excavation demonstrated that the feature was formed in an active fluvial environment and that, despite the rural and boggy location, it had suffered considerable damage since its formation, caused by both the fluvial action of the adjacent stream and by a field drain. No evidence was found for either a hearth or a formal trough. The implication of a small assemblage of local quartz from within the burnt material is discussed. The charcoal assemblage is compared to spectra of pollen from contemporary deposits of peat in the area. Studies of the nature and origin of the burnt material via the results of soil magnetic susceptibility and thin-section analyses are presented. Six radiocarbon dates from three associated contexts span the period from 2550 to 1900 BC and suggest the burnt mound accumulated during the Early Bronze Age.

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NEW TECHNIQUES FOR SAMPLING AND CONSOLIDATION OF SEDIMENTS: APPLICATION TO BURNT SOILS FROM AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN AUSTRIA

Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece ◽

10.12681/bgsg.16454 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 1129

Author(s):

E. Aidona ◽

R. Scholger ◽

H. J. Mauritsch

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Susceptibility ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Remanent Magnetization ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

Natural Remanent Magnetization ◽

New Techniques ◽

Stable Component ◽

History Of ◽

The Times ◽

The Stability

An archaeomagnetic study requires samples to be oriented very precisely prior to the removal from the site and to be transported safely since most of the times the collected samples are very soft and fragile. In this study we present new techniques for sampling and consolidation of sediments and unconsolidated soils, which are useful tools for palaeomagnetic and archaeomagnetic investigations. An application of the above techniques has been performed in burnt soils (roastbeds) in an archaeological site near Eisenerz (Austria), which used to be a cooper-smelting place in Bronze Age (around 1450 b.c.) Several roast beds have been collected and consolidated in order to investigate the distribution and the stability of the magnetization of these materials. We obtained around 350 samples and the natural remanent magnetization and the magnetic susceptibility of all these samples have been measured with a 2G squid cryogenetic magnetometer and a GEOFYSIKA KLY-2 susceptibility meter, respectively. Plots of the natural remanent magnetization and magnetic susceptibility versus depth indicate different layers of heating and give some first evidences for the use of these soils during the smelting procedure. Higher values of the intensity of the magnetization as well as of the magnetic susceptibility represent the more intense heating layer. Magnetic cleaning (thermal and Af demagnetization) of pilot samples revealed the presence of a stable component of magnetization. It seems, therefore, that these types of materials are suitable for an archaeomagnetic investigation, since they are able to record and preserve all the necessary magnetic information and provide important knowledge concerning the recent history of the Earth's magnetic field.

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Thermal characterisation of Bronze Age hearths from the cave of Les Fraux (Dordogne, France) by thermoluminescence and magnetic susceptibility techniques

Open Journal of Archaeometry ◽

10.4081/arc.2014.5457 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Aurélie Brodard ◽

Pierre Guibert ◽

François Lévêque ◽

Vivien Mathé ◽

Albane Burens ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Susceptibility ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Oxides ◽

Fire Intensity ◽

Equivalent Temperature ◽

Sediment Characteristics ◽

Sediment Samples ◽

Quartz Grains ◽

Reference Samples ◽

Cave Sediment

In the cave of Les Fraux (Dordogne, France) numerous traces of fires are visible in the galleries. A multidisciplinary investigation was carried out to study these fires. This paper presents the methodology applied for the hearth study. It is based on the examination of the thermoluminescence (TL) of quartz and the magnetic susceptibility of iron oxides. First of all, magnetic susceptibility was measured on the surface of hearths. Based on both susceptibility mapping and visible sediment characteristics, small sediment samples (1-2 g) were taken. Subsequently, quartz grains were extracted from the sediment samples. Fourteen thermal references were obtained by heating (from 200 to 650°C) fractions of the pristine unfired cave sediment. Comparing the TL signal of anciently heated quartz to the reference samples allowed to obtain the maximum equivalent temperature attained for each sample extracted from ancient fires. Consequently, the correspondence between magnetic susceptibility and temperature allowed for the reconstruction of a paleotemperature map of the study area. This research provides information about fire intensity in the cave, which can help to understand its function.

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Paleoenvironmental Evolution and Sea Level Change in Saronikos Gulf (Aegean Sea, Greece): Evidence from the Piraeus Coastal Plain and Elefsis Bay Sedimentary Records

Water ◽

10.3390/w13121621 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 1621

Author(s):

Maria V. Triantaphyllou ◽

Theodora Tsourou ◽

Katerina Kouli ◽

Olga Koukousioura ◽

Margarita D. Dimiza ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Susceptibility ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Sea Level ◽

Coastal Plain ◽

Aegean Sea ◽

Sedimentary Records ◽

Sedimentary Sequences ◽

Rise Rate ◽

Paleoenvironmental Evolution ◽

Freshwater Inputs

Thorough faunal (benthic foraminifera, ostracods, molluscs) and palynomorph analyses as well as magnetic susceptibility measurements performed on the Piraeus coastal plain sedimentary sequences have shed light on the paleoenvironmental evolution of the area since ca. 9000 cal BP. Benthic and palynomorph assemblages along with magnetic susceptibility suggest a typical lagoonal environment with significant freshwater inputs at the eastern part of the plain after 8700 cal BP. Between 7500 and 5400 cal BP, microfaunal assemblages, mollusc fauna and magnetic susceptibility suggest a shallow marine paleoenvironment, with Piraeus forming a tied island in the center of the bay. Since ca. 4800 cal BP a closed oligohaline lagoon is evidenced in the western part of the Piraeus plain further developed to a marsh after 2800 cal BP, while a coastal environment associated with the fluvio-deltaic system of Kifissos and Korydallos Rivers is continually developing to the west. Signs of cultivation and grazing activities in the area are evidenced since the Early Bronze Age, culminating during the Classical Period. A comparison with a well-dated marine record, recovered from the nearby shallow Elefsis Bay, provides a reasonable estimation of ~5 mm/yr for the absolute sea level rise rate in the inner Saronikos Gulf during the Mid-Holocene.

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