scholarly journals Examining Raw Material of Stone Tools. Siliceous Marl from the Eastern Part of the Polish Carpathians Re-interpreted

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 191-201
Author(s):  
Andrzej Pelisiak
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Eastern Carpathians ◽  
Polish Carpathians ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Different Sources

Neolithic and Early Bronze Age communities which settled the eastern Carpathians Forelands and Carpathian Foothills used a variety of local and non-local siliceous raw materials. Silicites identified in archaeological material differ in quality and usefulness for making tools. Obsidian, Jurassic flint from the Cracow-Częstochowa Uplands, ‘chocolate’ flint, and Świeciechów (grey white-spotted) and Volhynian flints are the best quality. They were commonly used from the Early Neolithic onwards. On the other hand, some local raw materials were also in used. Among them the so-called Dynów marl or siliceous marls were suggested as the most popular. To correct the classification of raw material of these artefacts HCl (Hydrochloric acid) was used for testing both raw material samples and the artefacts of the so-called Dynów or siliceous marls. The results of the analysis shows that so-called Dynów or siliceous marl consists of several different raw material varieties. More than 50% of the analysed tools were of yellowish or grey-yellowish hornstones (cherts). Both siliceous marls and the chert came probably from different sources and each one has a different chemical composition and physical properties

scholarly journals New Perspectives on the Problems of the Exploitation Area and the Prehistoric Use of the Buda Hornstone in Hungary

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 167-189
Author(s):  
Norbert Faragó ◽  
Réka Katalin Péter ◽  
Ferenc Cserpák ◽  
Dávid Kraus ◽  
Zsolt Mester
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Geophysical Methods ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Age ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Siliceous Rocks ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

The mountainous areas of the Carpathian basin have provided a wide spectrum of siliceous rocks for prehistoric people. Although the presence of outcrops of a kind of chert, named Buda hornstone was already known by geological and petrographic investigations, the developing Hungarian petroarchaeological research did not pay much attention to this raw material. Its archaeological perspectives have been opened by a discovery made at the Denevér street in western part of Budapest in the 1980s. During the excavations of the flint mine, not much was known about the distribution of this raw material in the archaeological record. Since then the growing amount of archaeological evidences showed that its first significant occurrence in assemblages can be dated to the Late Copper Age Baden culture, and it became more abundant through the Early Bronze age Bell-Beaker culture until the Middle Bronze Age tell cultures. Until now, 15 outcrops of the Buda hornstone have been localised on the surface. Based on thin section examinations taken from two different outcrops, we have made a clear distinction between three variants. In the last few years, archaeological supervision has been conducted during house constructions, suggesting the Buda hornstone occurrence takes the form of a secondary autochthonous type of source. In the framework of our research program, a systematic check of the raw materials is planned in the lithic assemblages of the nearby prehistoric sites, as well as to look for extraction pits or other mining features with the application of geophysical methods and a thorough analysis of the surface morphology

scholarly journals Raw material sources of knapped stone tools from the excavation of the Early Bronze Age site at Toumba Thessaloniki, Greece

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stamatia Karageorgiou ◽  
Aikaterini Kostaki ◽  
Michail Vavelidis ◽  
Stelios Andreou
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Socioeconomic System ◽  
Geochemical Study ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Petrographic Examination ◽  
Geological Formations

This study investigates the origin of the lithic findings from the prehistoric site at Toumba, Thessaloniki in Greece, during the Early Bronze Age (EBA). The artefacts from the excavation were studied in order to compare the raw materials utilized for the manufacture of these tools with the geological occurrences of the corresponding materials in the broader region. This research provides evidence for the provenance of these materials and consequently some insight into the socioeconomic system of the settlement. For this reason, samples of siliceous sediments were chosen from regions with similar geological formations, such as Vasilika and Galatista. Apart from macroscopic examination, both archaeological and petrographic, microscopic examination was also applied in order to identify the microstructure and the mineralogical context, and finally geochemical study by ICP-MS analysis and XRF spectrometry for determining the major, trace and rare earth element concentrations. The comparison of these features with the archaeological features reveals that during the Early Bronze Age there was possibly a relation between Toumba inhabitants and the regions of Vasilika and Galatista for the procurement of chert. The petrographic examination of the lithic findings shows whether the tools are manufactured in the settlement or if there is an import of tools from other sites.

From tools to production: recent research on textile economies in Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 109-128
Author(s):  
Bela Dimova ◽  
Margarita Gleba
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Wool Fibre ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Textile Production ◽  
Spindle Whorls ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Of Greece

The aim of this report is to provide a summary of the latest developments in the textile archaeology of Greece and the broader Aegean from the Neolithic through to the Roman period, focusing in particular on recent research on textile tools. Spindle-whorls and loomweights appeared in the Aegean during the Neolithic and by the Early Bronze Age weaving on the warp-weighted loom was well established across the region. Recent methodological advances allow the use of the physical characteristics of tools to estimate the quality of the yarns and textiles produced, even in the absence of extant fabrics. The shapes of spindle-whorls evolved with the introduction of wool fibre, which by the Middle Bronze Age had become the dominant textile raw material in the region. The spread of discoid loomweights from Crete to the wider Aegean has been linked to the wider Minoanization of the area during the Middle Bronze Age, as well as the mobility of weavers. Broader issues discussed in connection with textile production include urbanization, the spread of different textile cultures and the identification of specific practices (sealing) and previously unrecognized technologies (splicing), as well as the value of textiles enhanced by a variety of decorative techniques and purple dyeing.

scholarly journals The Status and the Role of ‘Chocolate’ Silicite in the Bohemian Neolithic

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Pavel Burgert
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Carpathian Mountains ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Czech Lands ◽  
Image Expansion

The article focuses on the chronological status of the distribution of ‘chocolate’ silicite originating from the area of south-east Poland in the prehistory of the Czech lands. The flow of ‘chocolate’ silicite across the Carpathian Mountains culminated in the period of the Stroke-Ornamented Ware culture (5100/5000–4500/4400 cal BC) in the area studied. Based on the analysis of the contexts of finds and the classification of the artefacts, the raw material is interpreted as an indicator of the presence of individuals or groups with an exclusive social status. Both the pattern of distribution and the status are common to other ‘exotic’ raw materials, especially for Carpathian obsidian, in the studied area in that same period. By comparing the spatial and chronological image expansion of both materials can lead to similar conclusions in their assessment

Figurines of the Anatolian Early Bronze Age: the assemblage from Koçumbeli-Ankara

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 85-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Çiğdem Atakuman
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Near East ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
The Social ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Social Concerns ◽  
Third Millennium Bc

AbstractThrough analysis of a figurine assemblage from the site of Koçumbeli-Ankara, this study aims to re-evaluate the origins, meanings and functions of the Early Bronze Age (third millennium BC) anthropomorphic figurines of Anatolia. Conventional typological approaches to figurines are often focused on their origins and sex; however, such approaches hinder an understanding of the context of the norms of production, display and discard within which the figurines become more meaningful. Following an examination of breakage patterns and the decorative aspects of the Koçumbeli assemblage, a comparative review of figurine find contexts, raw materials and abstraction scales in Anatolia is provided, so that the social concerns underlying the use of these figurines can be explored. It is concluded that the origins of the figurines are difficult to pinpoint, due to the presence of similar items across a variety of regions of the Near East from the later Neolithic onwards. The sex of the figurines is equally ambiguous; while some human sexual features can be discerned, it is difficult to decide whether these features are ‘male’, ‘female’, both or beyond classification. Alternatively, the decoration, breakage and find contexts of the figurines suggest that the imagery was embedded in more complex perceptions of social status, death and social regeneration. The need for materialisation of these concerns in the form of the figurines could be related to the development of a new social landscape of interaction leading to political centralisation by the second millennium BC. Furthermore, the figurines were produced through a meaningful linking of particular raw materials and particular abstraction scales to particular use contexts, which seems to have shifted during the centralisation process.

Houses and Hierarchies: Economic and Social Relations in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age of Southernmost Scandinavia

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristian Brink
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Small Area ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Elite Networks ◽  
South West ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
Individual Strategies

Research on Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age society in southernmost Scandinavia has to a large extent focused on the creation of social hierarchy and on elite networks upheld by individuals. This has meant that the importance of collective strategies has been underplayed. In the south-west corner of Sweden, about eighty house remains from the Late Neolithic and the earliest Bronze Age have been excavated within a small area. It is the largest concentration of houses from the period so far excavated in southern Scandinavia. The settlement pattern reveals both single farms and one site, Almhov, with a concentration of several contemporary farms with large houses. The aim of this article is to highlight collective aspects, recognizing that both collective and individual strategies are important in the formation of hierarchical societies. House remains as well as graves and their placement in relation to each other within the local landscape are the archaeological material in focus, regarded as materializations of economic and social relations. It is argued that collective strategies were an important part of creating and maintaining economic and social position.

scholarly journals Recycling in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age: evidence of flint recycling at Ein-Zippori, Israel

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoni Parush ◽  
Richard Yerkes ◽  
Bar Efrati ◽  
Ran Barkai ◽  
Gopher Avi
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Separate Paper ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear

This paper presents a new techno-typological analysis of a sample of small flakes that were produced through recycling from discarded blanks at the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age site of Ein-Zippori, Lower Galilee, Israel. This study shows that the systematic production of small flakes from previously discarded blanks was not related to a scarcity in raw materials, but rather to specific decisions concerning the types of tools needed to complete necessary tasks. These results are supported by use-wear analysis noted briefly here and presented in more detail in a separate paper. The results indicate that recycling was a significant lithic production trajectory during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Recycling also contributes to the variability in lithic assemblages from those cultural periods.

scholarly journals Transformations of Metal Supply during the Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-330
Author(s):  
Viktória Kiss
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Neutron Radiography ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Carpathian Basin ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Metal Artifacts ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
The Bronze Age

This paper presents recent research questions which have been raised and methods which have been used in the study of Bronze Age metallurgy in connection with available natural resources (ores) in and around the Carpathian Basin. This topic fits in the most current trends in the research on European prehistoric archaeology. Given the lack of written sources, copper and bronze artifacts discovered in settlement and cemetery excavations and prehistoric mining sites provide the primary sources on which the studies in question are based. The aim of compositional and isotope analysis of copper and tin ores, metal tools, ornaments, and weapons is to determine the provenience of the raw materials and further an understanding of the chaine operatiore of prehistoric metal production. The Momentum Mobility Research Group of the Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities studies these metal artifacts using archaeological and scientific methods. It has focused on the first thousand years of the Bronze Age (2500–1500 BC). Multidisciplinary research include non-destructive XRF, PGAA (promptgamma activation), TOF-ND (time-of-flight neutron diffraction) analyses and neutron radiography, as well as destructive methods, e.g. metal sampling for compositional and lead isotope testing, alongside archaeological analysis. Microstructure studies are also efficient methods for determining the raw material and production techniques. The results suggest the use of regional ore sources and interregional connections, as well as several transformations in the exchange network of the prehistoric communities living in the Carpathian Basin.

scholarly journals To the question of raw material sources of mining and smelting centers of the Paleometal Epoch in Central Kazakhstan

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
Darkhan Aitzhanuly Baitileu ◽  
Maksim Nikolaevich Ankushev
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Smelting Process ◽  
Maximum Effect ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
Copper Deposits ◽  
Mineral Raw Materials ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Mining And Smelting

The subject of this research is the copper deposits, copper-ore resource, and sources of alloying raw materials for mining and smelting production of the Paleometal Epoch in Central Kazakhstan, namely within the Kazakhstan mining and smelting region and Zhezkazgan-Ulytau mining and smelting center. The article provides the interim results of comprehensive research of geoarchaeological production facilities in the territory of copper deposits within the Zhezkazgan-Ulytau mining and smelting center, which allow determining the peculiarities of metallogenic complexes that used to be potential objects of the development of copper-ore reserves during the establishment of copper metallurgy, as well as making a predictive assessment of mineral raw materials potential of the region. The initial premise of this research lies in the authors' pursuit to integrate natural scientific methods of research into the field of humanities to the maximum effect via studying smelting slags and ore relics from the ancient settlements of the region for the purpose of reconstructing the mining and smelting process of the Bronze Age in Central Kazakhstan. The authors offer the variants of localization of the mineral raw materials complex of Zhezkazgan-Ulytau mining and smelting center within the Kazakhstan mining and smelting region. Based on examination of the ores and smelting slags of Bronze Age settlements in Central Kazakhstan, the authors believe that the main copper raw materials in the Zhezkazgan-Ulytau region were the oxidized malachite-azurite and rich sulfide ores, as well as the zones of secondary sulfide enrichment of copper sandstones of the Zhezkazgan ore region. The conducted research allow to get closer to establishing patterns of localization of various types of copper deposits and development of copper-ore resources for mining and smelting production of Zhezkazgan-Ulytau region during the Paleometal Epoch.

scholarly journals Trace Elements of Cu-(Fe)-Sulfide Inclusions in Bronze Age Copper Slags from South Urals and Kazakhstan: Ore Sources and Alloying Additions

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry A. Artemyev ◽  
Maksim N. Ankushev
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Copper Deposit ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Copper Smelting ◽  
South Urals ◽  
Material Base ◽  
Main Indicator ◽  
Indicator Minerals

In the paper, the results of an investigation into trace elements found in slag sulfides from 14 archaeological Bronze Age settlements of the Cis-Urals, Trans-Urals, and North and Central Kazakhstan are presented. The study used Cu-(Fe)-sulfides as indicator minerals. Cu-(Fe)-S minerals in slags are primarily represented by covellite and chalcocite, as well as by rarer bornite and single chalcopyrite grains. Slag sulfides formed relic clasts and neogenic droplets of different shapes and sizes. Supergenic ores in the Bronze Age in Urals and Kazakhstan played a significant role in the mineralogical raw material base. In sulfides, the main indicator elements, Fe, Co, Ni, As, Se, Te, Sb, Ag, Pb, and Bi, are important markers of copper deposit types. Sulfides from olivine Cr-rich spinel containing slags of Ustye, Turganik are characterized by As-Co-Ni high contents and confined to copper deposits in ultramafic rocks. Olivine sulfide-containing slags from Kamenny Ambar, Konoplyanka and Sarlybay 3 are characterized by Co-Se-Te assemblage and confined to mafic rocks. Glassy sulfide-containing slags from Katzbakh 6, Turganik, Ordynsky Ovrag, Ivanovskoe, Tokskoe, Bulanovskoe 2, Kuzminkovskoe 2, Pokrovskoe, Rodnikovoe, and Taldysay are characterized by Ag-Pb-(Ba)-(Bi) assemblage and confined to cupriferous sandstone deposits. High As, Sb, Sn, and Ba contents found in slags can be seen as indicators of alloying or flux components in primary copper smelting. These include samples from Ustye, Katzbakh 6, Rodnikovoe, and Taldysay sites, where high Ba and As slag contents are identified. The compilation of a database with a broad sample of sulfide compositions from Bronze Age slags and mines in the Urals and Kazakhstan will permit the further identification of ore types and raw materials associated with a particular deposit.

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