scholarly journals Nazugum, a new 4000 year old rockshelter in the Ili Alatau, Tien Shan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abay Namen ◽  
Aristeidis Varis ◽  
Susanne Lindauer ◽  
Ronny Friedrich ◽  
Zhaken Taimagambetov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Channel Deposits

The PALAEOSILKROAD project has been conducting field surveys in Kazakhstan to explore the regional Palaeolithic record by targeting primarily caves and rockshelters. However, the survey also discovered numerous sites that were occupied during the Holocene. In this paper, we present our preliminary findings from the Nazugum rockshelter, a new archaeological site located in south-eastern Kazakhstan (Almaty region). The stratigraphic sequence demonstrates the transition from fluvial channel deposits without artifacts to aeolian loess deposits with lithics, charcoal remnants, and fragments of animal bones. The lithics recovered from the sediment wall are dominated by bladelet technology, characteristic for Holocene assemblages. Radiocarbon dates from adjacent charcoal samples yielded an age of 2461-2347 cal. years BC attributing the human occupation to the transitional period of late Eneolithic and early Bronze Age. Our study provides new data for the use of rockshelters in Kazakhstan during the late Holocene and lays the groundwork for future salvage work in Nazugum rockshelter due to the active erosion of the archaeological record.

scholarly journals Tracing the Final Bronze Age–Early Iron Age transition. Groningen Institute of Archaeology settlement excavations in the Sibaritide, 2018-2019

2021 ◽  
pp. 141-168
Author(s):  
P.M. Van Leusen ◽  
F. Ippolito
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Geophysical Investigations

We report here on the first two seasons of excavations by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (the Netherlands) at two settlement sites in the foothill zone of the Sibaritide coastal plain (northern Calabria, Italy). The work is throwing new light on finds assemblages unique to the transitional period of the Final Bronze Age–Early Iron Age, a poorly understood period in southern Italy, and is helping to resolve methodological questions about the interpretation of non-invasive archaeological and geophysical survey data. The finds so far excavated, supported by radiocarbon dates, form one of the first ‘pure’ FBA–EIA transitional assemblages, and thus contribute to fill a significant typochronological hiatus with wider implications for protohistoric archaeology in the region. It is also becoming clear what long-term effects mechanized ploughing has on slope processes and soil profiles typical for the region, knowledge that will help us understand the results of the wider field surveys and geophysical investigations conducted since 2000 in the Raganello River basin.

New Light on the Midland Discovery

1959 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Wendorf ◽  
Alex D. Krieger
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Radiocarbon Date ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Southern High Plains ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Cultural Events ◽  
Animal Bones

AbstractAdditional excavation in 1955 confirmed the previously reported stratigraphic sequence at Midland, Texas. Within the gray sand, which had yielded a fragmentary human calvarium, there were found additional flint flakes, burned rocks, and animal bones. Besides several small mammals, a four-horned antelope (probably Capromeryx) was present in the gray sand; horse bones occurred in the gray sand and overlying red sand. These finds make the two radiocarbon dates published in the 1955 Midland report, giving an age of about 7000 years to the gray sand, even less acceptable than previously thought. Experimental dating by the uranium daughter products technique suggests an age of about 20,000 years for the gray sand, somewhat excessive in terms of cultural correlations although supported by a single radiocarbon date and not unreasonable for the faunal assemblage. Ten radiocarbon dates from the Midland, Blackwater Draw, Lubbock Lake, and Plainview sites are discussed in terms of three possible correlations of the geological, climatic, faunal, and cultural events in the Southern High Plains.

scholarly journals Long-term trends of land use and demography in Greece: A comparative study

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 742-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Weiberg ◽  
Andrew Bevan ◽  
Katerina Kouli ◽  
Markos Katsianis ◽  
Jessie Woodbridge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Demographic Development ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Impact

This paper offers a comparative study of land use and demographic development in northern and southern Greece from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period. Results from summed probability densities (SPD) of archaeological radiocarbon dates and settlement numbers derived from archaeological site surveys are combined with results from cluster-based analysis of published pollen core assemblages to offer an integrated view of human pressure on the Greek landscape through time. We demonstrate that SPDs offer a useful approach to outline differences between regions and a useful complement to archaeological site surveys, evaluated here especially for the onset of the Neolithic and for the Final Neolithic (FN)/Early Bronze Age (EBA) transition. Pollen analysis highlight differences in vegetation between the two sub-regions, but also several parallel changes. The comparison of land cover dynamics between two sub-regions of Greece further demonstrates the significance of the bioclimatic conditions of core locations and that apparent oppositions between regions may in fact be two sides of the same coin in terms of socio-ecological trajectories. We also assess the balance between anthropogenic and climate-related impacts on vegetation and suggest that climatic variability was as an important factor for vegetation regrowth. Finally, our evidence suggests that the impact of humans on land cover is amplified from the Late Bronze Age (LBA) onwards as more extensive herding and agricultural practices are introduced.

Dating Persistent Short-Term Human Activity in a Complex Depositional Environment: Late Prehistoric Occupation at Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 1041-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloyd Weeks ◽  
Charlotte M Cable ◽  
Steven Karacic ◽  
Kristina A Franke ◽  
David M Price ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Northern Edge ◽  
Natural Dune

ABSTRACTThe archaeological site of Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, presents a long sequence of persistent temporary human occupation on the northern edge of the Rub’ al-Khali desert. The site is located in active dune fields, and evidence for human activity is stratified within a deep sequence of natural dune deposits that reflect complex taphonomic processes of deposition, erosion and reworking. This study presents the results of a program of radiocarbon (14C) and thermoluminescence dating on deposits from Saruq al-Hadid, allied with studies of material remains, which are amalgamated with the results of earlier absolute dating studies provide a robust chronology for the use of the site from the Bronze Age to the Islamic period. The results of the dating program allow the various expressions of human activity at the site—ranging from subsistence activities such as hunting and herding, to multi-community ritual activities and large scale metallurgical extraction—to be better situated chronologically, and thus in relation to current debates regarding the development of late prehistoric and early historic societies in southeastern Arabia.

Matching Data: Analyzing the Chronological Use Sequence in the Iron Age Necropolis of the Staggered Turriform of Son Ferrer (Balearic Islands, Spain)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (02) ◽  
pp. 361-374
Author(s):  
Manuel Calvo Trias ◽  
Jaume García Rosselló ◽  
David Javaloyas Molina ◽  
Daniel Albero Santacreu ◽  
Mark Van Strydonck
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Space Management ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Excavation Process

The Son Ferrer archaeological site presents a series of successive occupations spanning a long period of time. At the beginning of the Iron Age (∼850 BC), a staggered turriform structure was built for a ritual purpose over an artificial hypogeum that had already been used as a collective necropolis during the Early Bronze Age (∼1800–1500 BC). Later, in the post-Talayotic phase (Second Iron Age, 550–123 BC), the hypogeum was again reused as a collective burial place. The present work is focused on the chronological and functional analysis of this last phase, which began ∼500 BC and ended ∼180 BC with the saturation and sealing of the hypogeum. The excavation process revealed that significant removal of archaeological material has occurred as a result of complex funerary space management practices, which generated a secondary archaeological context. Given this situation, and in order to establish the different use phases of the post-Talayotic necropolis, a dual strategy of excavation and research was implemented. First, an extensive series of radiocarbon dates on human remains (18 dates) was obtained, which were later analyzed following Bayesian strategies. Second, a detailed spatial analysis was carried out, georeferencing the location of all the archaeological finds. This strategy allowed the reconstruction of the space management processes and movement patterns that took place in the burial space. Despite some initial difficulties, the combination of these research strategies embedded in a contextual analysis provided both material and chronological references that have contributed to define the various use phases of the hypogeum.

Matching Data: Analyzing the Chronological Use Sequence in the Iron Age Necropolis of the Staggered Turriform of Son Ferrer (Balearic Islands, Spain)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Calvo Trias ◽  
Jaume García Rosselló ◽  
David Javaloyas Molina ◽  
Daniel Albero Santacreu ◽  
Mark Van Strydonck
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Space Management ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Excavation Process

The Son Ferrer archaeological site presents a series of successive occupations spanning a long period of time. At the beginning of the Iron Age (∼850 BC), a staggered turriform structure was built for a ritual purpose over an artificial hypogeum that had already been used as a collective necropolis during the Early Bronze Age (∼1800–1500 BC). Later, in the post-Talayotic phase (Second Iron Age, 550–123 BC), the hypogeum was again reused as a collective burial place. The present work is focused on the chronological and functional analysis of this last phase, which began ∼500 BC and ended ∼180 BC with the saturation and sealing of the hypogeum. The excavation process revealed that significant removal of archaeological material has occurred as a result of complex funerary space management practices, which generated a secondary archaeological context. Given this situation, and in order to establish the different use phases of the post-Talayotic necropolis, a dual strategy of excavation and research was implemented. First, an extensive series of radiocarbon dates on human remains (18 dates) was obtained, which were later analyzed following Bayesian strategies. Second, a detailed spatial analysis was carried out, georeferencing the location of all the archaeological finds. This strategy allowed the reconstruction of the space management processes and movement patterns that took place in the burial space. Despite some initial difficulties, the combination of these research strategies embedded in a contextual analysis provided both material and chronological references that have contributed to define the various use phases of the hypogeum.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon, Soil, and Artifact Chronologies for An Early Southern Oregon Coastal Site

Radiocarbon ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Hall ◽  
Loren G Davis ◽  
Samuel Willis ◽  
Matthew Fillmore
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Texture Classification ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Particle Size Analysis ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Size Analysis ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
History Of

Radiocarbon dates together with geoarchaeological, soil, and lithic analyses are presented to describe archaeological site 35-CS-9 in Bandon Ocean Wayside State Park, Oregon, northwestern USA. One of the few Oregon middle-Holocene coastal sites that includes sediments and artifacts dating to the early Holocene and possibly to the late Pleistocene, it was recorded in 1951 and surface surveyed by archaeologists in 1975, 1986, and 1991, but its depth and antiquity were not tested. In February 2002, we studied the site's stratigraphy and sediments and described 8 strata from the aeolian surface to bedrock at 350 cm depth. Soil samples taken from a cut bank for texture classification, particle size analysis, pH, carbon content, and chemical analysis suggested that the site represented a complete history of Holocene deposits. Excavation of 2 test units in August 2002 uncovered substantial lithic and charcoal remains that confirm a protracted middle-Holocene occupation and suggest that human occupation began in the early Holocene. Charcoal recovered at 235–245 cm dated to 11,000 14C BP, and the deepest lithic artifact was recovered in a level at 215–225 cm. Whether the human occupation was continuous throughout the Holocene, and whether it began in the early Holocene or in the late Pleistocene, can only be determined with further excavations.

scholarly journals The Eneolithic/Bronze Age Transition at Tegole di Bovino (Apulia): Geoarchaeological Evidence of Climate Change and Land-Use Shift

Quaternary ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Guido S. Mariani ◽  
Italo M. Muntoni ◽  
Andrea Zerboni
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Sedimentary Deposits ◽  
The Bronze Age

Human communities at the transition between the Eneolithic period and the Bronze Age had to rapidly adapt to cultural and climatic changes, which influenced the whole Mediterranean. The exact dynamics involved in this crucial passage are still a matter of discussion. As newer studies have highlighted the key role of climatic fluctuations during this period, their relationship with the human occupation of the landscape are yet to be fully explored. We investigated the infilling of negative structures at the archaeological site of Tegole di Bovino (Apulia, Southern Italy) looking at evidence of the interaction between climate changes and human strategies. The archaeological sedimentary deposits, investigated though geoarchaeological and micromorphological techniques, show the presence of natural and anthropogenic infillings inside most structures. Both human intervention and/or natural events occurred in the last phases of occupation of the site and its subsequent abandonment. The transition to unfavorable climatic conditions in the same period was most likely involved in the abandonment of the site. The possible further impact of human communities on the landscape in that period, testified by multiple other archives, might have in turn had a role in the eventual change in land use.

New radiocarbon dating and archaeological evidence reveal the westward migration of prehistoric humans in the drylands of the Asian interior

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110259
Author(s):  
Kangkang Li ◽  
Xiaoguang Qin ◽  
Bing Xu ◽  
Yong Wu ◽  
Guijin Mu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Tarim Basin ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The North ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
Lop Nur ◽  
Desert Oasis

The vast drylands of the Asian interior were an integral part of a transcontinental network connecting east to west, that acted periodically as corridors and routeways for human migration. However, our understanding of the prehistoric human occupation of and interaction with this inhospitable environment has been hindered by a lack of direct evidence from settlements. Here we present the results of the first systematic study of archaeological material and radiocarbon dates from newly-discovered Bronze Age settlements in the hyper-arid Lop Nur region, in the eastern Tarim Basin. The studied settlement (the North Loulan Settlement, NLS), apparently associated with the prehistoric Xiaohe Culture, which is known from the Xiaohe and Gumugou cemeteries, is especially significant for the study of the prehistoric desert-oasis civilization in the drylands of the Asian interior, because it is quite different from any of the contemporary cultures in the surrounding regions. Based on a synthesis of Bayesian-modeled radiocarbon dates, the age of the NLS falls within the range of ca. 2051–1774 BC. Our field investigations indicate that the inhabitants of the site occupied semi-subterranean/semi-cave dwellings on the upper part of high yardangs, suggesting that they were able to utilize island-like yardangs in order to adapt to lake or wetland terrains. The new chronological framework for the Xiaohe cultural sites indicates that the NLS was the first Xiaohe settlement in the Tarim Basin. The earliest settlers, who were influenced by oriental culture, may have migrated to the NLS along the eastern or northeastern corridors. Later, there was the migration of populations westward along rivers.

scholarly journals The Minoan Santorini Eruption and Tsunami Deposits in Palaikastro (Crete): Dating by Geology, Archaeology, 14C, and Egyptian Chronology

Radiocarbon ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik J Bruins ◽  
Johannes van der Plicht ◽  
J Alexander MacGillivray
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Nile Delta ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Tsunami Deposits ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Airborne Deposition

Deposits from the Minoan Santorini (Thera) eruption in the eastern Mediterranean region constitute the most important regional stratigraphic marker in the chronological perplexity of the 2nd millennium BCE. Extensive tsunami deposits were discovered in Crete at the Minoan archaeological site of Palaikastro, containing reworked volcanic Santorini ash. Hence, airborne deposition of volcanic ash, probably during the 1st (Plinian) eruption phase, preceded the tsunami, which was apparently generated during the 3rd or 4th phase of the eruption, based on evidence from Thera. Average radiocarbon dates (uncalibrated) of animal bones in the Palaikastro tsunami deposits along the coast (3350 ± 25 BP) and at the inland archaeological site (3352 ± 23 BP) are astoundingly similar to the average 14C date for the Minoan Santorini eruption at Akrotiri on Thera (3350 ± 10 BP). The wiggle-matched 14C date of the eruption in calendar years is 1627–1600 cal BCE. Late Minoan IA pottery is the youngest element in the Palaikastro tsunami deposits, fitting with the LM IA archaeological date for the Santorini eruption, conventionally linked at ~1500 BCE with Dynasty XVIII of the historical Egyptian chronology. The reasons for the discrepancy of 100–150 yr between 14C dating and Egyptian chronology for part of the 2nd millennium BCE are unknown. 14C dates from Tell el-Dabca in the eastern Nile Delta show that the 14C age of the Santorini eruption matches with 14C results from 18th Dynasty strata C3 and C2, thereby confirming grosso modo the conventional archaeo-historical correlations between the Aegean and Egypt. We propose that a dual dating system is used in parallel: (1) archaeological material-cultural correlations linked to Egyptian chronology; (2) 14C dating. Mixing of dates from the 2 systems may lead to erroneous archaeological and historical correlations. A “calibration curve” should be established between Egyptian chronology and 14C dating for the 2nd millennium BCE, which may also assist to resolve the cause of the discrepancy.

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