“BURNING PELTS” – BROWN BEAR SKINS IN THE IRON AGE AND EARLY MEDIEVAL (1–1300 AD) BURIALS IN SOUTH-EASTERN FENNOSCANDIA

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Kirkinen
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
South Eastern

scholarly journals Prilog poznavanju prapovijesti Dugog Otoka

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Čelhar
Keyword(s):  
Source Rock ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Deceased Person ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Ceramic Vessel ◽  
On This Island ◽  
Stone Slab ◽  
Burial Mounds ◽  
Grave Goods

This paper presents a grave from the site of Zdrakovac situated between Malo and Velo Jezero (small and big lake) near Žman on the island of Dugi Otok. The grave which was partially devastated by vegetation, animals and atmospheric agents was discovered by chance in 1998, and it was fully explored in 2009. Grave construction did not consist of a classical cist with regular vertically placed stone slabs. Terrain configuration has been partially used so that the source rock served as one longer side of the grave, whereas on the other side there is a larger stone with two narrow vertical stones in its extension. South-eastern shorter side of the grave consists of a vertically placed massive stone slab. The remaining side of the grave has not been determined on the opposite side as there is no evident stone architecture but only concentration of smaller stones. The cover is massive. A female person who died in her thirties was buried in the grave, most likely in a crouched position. Several ceramic and metal objects were found in the grave. Most objects were made of bronze, mostly representing jewelry and parts of attire which are usual finds in Liburnian graves. Grave goods include small ceramic vessel and spools, as well as probably iron objects whose function is difficult to determine due to poor state of preservation. Several sea pebbles were also found. Typological analysis of rich grave inventory shows that the objects laid next to the deceased person in this grave were produced and used during the 6th and 5th centuries BC. The youngest grave goods date this burial to the mid-5th century BC, or its latter half, corresponding to the fourth phase of the Liburnian culture. This grave is important because it indicates that there was a community in this region which communicated and participated in trade with other regions in the 5th century BC, which is attested by the first object that is definitely imported to the region of Dugi Otok. Furthermore, it was discovered that burials in the Iron Age took place not only under burial mounds, but also in flat graves which was a common practice in the entire Liburnian region, previously not confirmed on this island. On the basis of another massive cover, and a tumulus in the immediate vicinity of the grave, it is reasonable to assume that there was a necropolis belonging to occasionally inhabited hill-fort of Zarubinjak or a supposed settlement without hill-fort characteristics with visible remains of dry-stone wall houses on the slopes of the Zdrakovac ridge.

scholarly journals Past distribution of Ursus arctos in Bulgaria: fossil and subfossil records (Carnivora: Ursidae)

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-18
Author(s):  
Zlatozar Boev
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bear ◽  
Scattered Data ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Mountain Regions ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Bronze Age

The paper summarizes numerous scattered data from the last 120 years on the former distribution of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in Bulgaria. Data from 52 (13 fossil and 39 subfossil) sites (from the Middle Pleistocene to the 19th century AD) are presented. The brown bear former distribution was much wider than the present occurrence. The species range covered the whole territory of the country, including mountain regions, as well as vast lowland and plain landscapes. The geographical, altitudinal and chronological distribution are presented and analyzed. The record from the Kozarnika Cave (1.000,000–700,000 years BP) is one of the earliest records of this species in Europe. About 73% of the localities are situated between 100 and 500 m a. s. l. Twelve sites contain Paleolithic finds, one Mesolithic, 14 Neolithic, six Chalcolithic, five from the Bronze Age, and two from the Iron Age. The remaining 12 subrecent sites are dated to the last ca. 2,400 years. Most of the species findings came from archeological sites – prehistoric and ancient settlements. The distribution of Ursus arctos once covered the entire territory of the country, including the vast regions such as Ludogorie, Dobruja, the Danube Lowland, the Upper Thracian Lowland, as well as the Sakar, Strandja, Sredna Gora, and the Predbalkan Mts.

scholarly journals Bronze Age “pristinity”, Iron Age anthropization and Medieval intensification of human impact around Lake Montcortès (southern-central Pyrenees): a possible mid-elevation pattern and its significance for the definition of the Anthropocene

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentí Rull ◽  
Teresa Vegas-Vilarrúbia ◽  
Juan Pablo Corella ◽  
Blas Valero-Garcé
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Impact ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Human Pressure ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Early Medieval Period ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Central Pyrenees

Abstract The varved sediments of Lake Montcortès (central Pyrenees) have provided a continuous and well-dated high-resolution record of the last ca. 3000 years. Previous chronological and sedimentological studies of this record have furnished detailed paleoenvironmental reconstructions. However, palynological studies are only available for the last millennium, and the vegetation and the landscape around the lake had already been transformed by humans by this time. Therefore, the primeval vegetation of Montcortès and the history of its anthropogenic transformations remains unknown. This paper presents a palynological analysis of the interval between the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1100 BCE) and the Early Medieval period (820 CE), aimed at recording the preanthropic conditions, the anthropization onset and the further landscape transformations. During the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1100 BCE to 770 BCE), the vegetation did not show any evidence of human impact. The decisive anthropogenic transformation of the Montcortès catchment vegetation and landscape started at the beginning of the Iron Age (770 BCE) and continued during Roman and Medieval times in the form of recurrent burning, grazing, cultivation, silviculture, hemp retting and other human activities. Some intervals of lower human pressure were recorded, but the original vegetation never returned. The anthropization that took place during the Iron Age did not cause relevant changes in the sediment yield to the lake, but a significant limnological shift occurred, as manifested in the initiation of varve formation, a process that has been continuous until today. Climatic shifts seem to have played a secondary role in influencing catchment vegetation and landscape changes from the Iron Age onwards. These results contrast with previous inferences of low anthropogenic impact until the Medieval Period, at a regional level (central Pyrenees). The intensification of human pressure in Early Medieval times (580 CE onwards) has also been observed in Lake Montcortès, but the overall anthropization of its watershed had already commenced a couple of millennia before, at the beginning of the Iron Age. It could be interesting to verify whether the same pattern – i.e., Late Bronze “pristinity”, Iron Age anthropization and Early Medieval intensification of human pressure – may be a recurrent pattern for mid-elevation Pyrenean landscapes below the tree line. This pattern complicates the definition of the “Anthropocene”, as it adds a new dimension, i.e., elevational diachronism, to the anthropization of mountain ranges, in general.

scholarly journals Ritualizing Helmets – Symbolic Protocol of the Iron Age in Dolenjska

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 729-745
Author(s):  
Martina Blečić Kavur
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Eastern Alps ◽  
Ritual Practice ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Symbolic Manipulation ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Bronze Vessels ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Economic

The ritualization of helmets, along with fragmentation and hybridization, is a well-known fact in the wider area of South-Eastern Europe. It is apparent on the numerous examples of the helmets of the Illyrian type, interpreted in various contexts, for various purposes and in different ways. In the territory of Dolenjska (Slovenia), two Illyrian helmets of the type III A found in the grave VII/19 at Kapiteljska njiva in Novo Mesto present an exception. This is an exclusive double interment of the Eastern Alps region, both concerning its size and funerary construction, and the offerings consisting of warrior’s and equestrian equipment, ornaments and personal items, along with a set of bronze vessels and the first example of helmets of the Illyrian type among the communities of the Late Hallstatt circle in Dolenjska. The context of the grave may be dated into the second half of the 5th century and the beginning of the 4th century BC. The very choice of luxurious objects points to the state of the deceased and their immediate surrounding, ascribing to themselves the power (military, political, economic, ideological) through the practice of massive destruction during funerals. Such ritualization, deliberate destruction or damaging of objects became the ritual practice. As the “sacrifices” of an unique ritual protocol, the deliberate and violent ritualizations became a medium, and the symbolic manipulation of “cultural” proofs was a reflection of social dimensions of the living, i.e. precisely the communities of the Dolenjska Hallstatt society at its eastern frontiers.  

New dates for enclosed sites in north-east Scotland

2020 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 165-196
Author(s):  
Gordon Noble ◽  
James O'Driscoll ◽  
Cathy MacIver ◽  
Edouard Masson-MacLean ◽  
Oskar Sveinbjarnarson
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
North East

This article presents the results of a programme of investigation into the enclosed settlements/forts and promontory forts of north-east Scotland, undertaken as part of the Northern Picts project. Reconnaissance excavations are reported on for nine sites: Crathie Point and Durn Hill, northern Aberdeenshire (Banffshire); Barmkyn of North Keig, Hill of Keir, Hill of Christ’s Kirk and Cnoc Cailliche (Wheedlemont), central Aberdeenshire; and Doune of Relugas, Knock of Alves and Wester Tulloch, Moray. Targeted excavation was undertaken at all examples and in the majority of cases produced a basic chronology for key phases of occupation/enclosure at the sites in question. Thirty-two new radiocarbon dates are presented, with a number of sites producing Iron Age dates, but a smaller number also revealing early medieval phases of occupation and use.   Canmore ID 17947 Canmore ID 17973 Canmore ID 17701 Canmore ID 19341 Canmore ID 18141 Canmore ID 17215 Canmore ID 15755 Canmore ID 16214 Canmore ID 15766

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