Neolithic Thessaly: radiocarbon dated periods and phases

Documenta Praehistorica ◽

10.4312/dp.3 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. 34

Author(s):

Agathe Reingruber ◽

Giorgos Toufexis ◽

Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika ◽

Michalis Anetakis ◽

Yannis Maniatis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Neolithic Period ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Central Greece ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

The Bronze Age

Thessaly in Central Greece is famous for settlement mounds (magoules) that were already partly formed in the Early Neolithic period. Some of these long-lived sites grew to many metres in height during the subsequent Middle, Late and Final Neolithic periods, and were also inhabited in the Bronze Age. Such magoules served as the backbone for defining relative chronological schemes. However, their absolute dating is still a topic of debate: due to a lack of well-defined sequences, different chronological schemes have been proposed. New radiocarbon dates obtained in the last few years allow a better understanding of the duration not only of the main Neolithic periods, but also of the different phases and sub-phases.

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Excavations at a Neolithic Enclosure at Lower Luggy, near Welshpool, Powys, Wales

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x00000815 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 72 ◽

pp. 163-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Alex Gibson ◽

Philippa Bradley ◽

Robert Francis ◽

Belinda Hill ◽

Alex Higton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Gate Structure ◽

Close Proximity ◽

Absolute Dating

Excavation at a cropmark enclosure in the Upper Severn Valley was undertaken to try and obtain material from which to provide relative and absolute dating for the site. Lying within an area rich in Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeology and in close proximity to a proven long barrow, the conventional later prehistoric date postulated for the enclosure was questioned. Excavation proved the site to have been a ditched enclosure with internal bank and a possible gate structure. Post-pits ran inside the bank. Finds were few but radiocarbon dates from the floor of the ditch proved the early Neolithic credentials of the monument which seemed to have continued in use for at least some 500 years.

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Troy and Anatolian Early Bronze Age Chronology

Anatolian Studies ◽

10.2307/3642730 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. 51-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jak Yakar

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Tree Ring ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Relative Dating ◽

Relative Chronology ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Dating Method ◽

To Come ◽

The Bronze Age

The use of an absolute chronological framework based on tree-ring calibrated C-14 dates has been recently proposed by D. F. Easton in his attempt “… to come to grips with the crucial and difficult dating of Troy” (Easton 1976:146). Easton points out that unlike Tarsus, whose relative dating vis-a-vis Mesopotamia and Egypt is stable, Troy's relative chronology is not agreed upon and this “impinges not only on Anatolia, but on the Aegean and Bulgaria as well”.In establishing his chronology Easton uses, in addition to “the normal comparative methods”, two sources: (a) radiocarbon dates which, after calibration, especially when using Suess's calibration curve, affect both relative and absolute dating, (b) his reassessed stratigraphy of the Bronze Age levels at Troy (Easton 1976; 1977).Easton in his new chronological structure has not taken into consideration certain facts and opinions surrounding tree-ring calibrated radiocarbon dating. In view of the persisting controversy regarding this scientific dating method, it is premature, at least as far as Anatolia is concerned, to replace the relative dates derived from historical synchronisms with calibrated “absolute” C-14 dates.

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Lockerbie AcademyNeolithic and Early Historic timber halls, a Bronze Age cemetery, an undated enclosure and a post-medieval corn-drying kiln in south-west Scotland

Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports ◽

10.9750/issn.1773-3803.2011.46 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

Author(s):

Magnus Kirby ◽

Sue Anderson ◽

Mhairi Hastie ◽

Adam Jackson ◽

Melanie Johnson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Poor Survival ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

North East ◽

The North ◽

South West ◽

East End ◽

The Bronze Age ◽

Early Historic

Trial trenching carried out by CFA Archaeology Ltd in 2006 to the north of Lockerbie Academy identified four areas of archaeological significance covering a timescale from early Neolithic to post-medieval periods. The earliest site identified was the remains of a Neolithic timber hall, which was situated on top of the flat plateau towards the northwest end of the site (Area A). Pottery recovered from the Neolithic structure was of the Carinated Bowl ceramic tradition.At the summit of the rounded knoll in the centre of the area (Area D) a Bronze Age phase consisting of a cremation and inhumation cemetery enclosed by a possible ring-cairn was identified. The Bronze Age cemetery included a Collared Urn and a copper alloy dagger of Butterwick type.At the base of the rounded knoll, the remains of an Early Historic timber hall were identified (Area C). This Anglian timber hall reoccupied the site of a post-built structure, which was interpreted as a timber hall, possibly belonging to an earlier British tradition. Radiocarbon dates taken from the primary fill of two of the post-holes of the earlier structure gave dates which are broadly contemporary with the dates obtained for the Anglian hall, suggesting that the post-built structure immediately preceded it.A corn-drying kiln was identified cut into the same knoll as the Bronze Age cemetery (Area D) and has been dated to the late medieval or early post-medieval period.A segmented ditched enclosure was located towards the north-east end of the site (Area B), but the poor survival of this feature combined with a lack of finds and palaeobotanical evidence means that it remains undated and poorly understood.

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MEGALO NISI GALANIS (6300–1800 bc): CONSTRUCTING A CULTURAL SEQUENCE FOR THE NEOLITHIC OF WEST MACEDONIA, GREECE

The Annual of the British School at Athens ◽

10.1017/s0068245419000145 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 114 ◽

pp. 1-40

Author(s):

Michael Fotiadis ◽

Areti Hondroyanni-Metoki ◽

Alexandra Kalogirou ◽

Yannis Maniatis ◽

Anna Stroulia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Early Bronze Age ◽

Neolithic Period ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

History Of ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Surrounding Landscape ◽

Early Phases

Scores of Neolithic sites have been excavated in west Macedonia since the 1990s, yet the majority are relatively short-lived installations, lacking high-resolution stratigraphies and sequences of radiocarbon dates. Megalo Nisi Galanis, a large mound in the Kitrini Limni basin, near modern Kozani, is a rare exception to that pattern. Systematically surveyed and excavated in 1987–9 and 1993, this site covers a large part of the Neolithic period in a stratified, radiocarbon-dated sequence capped in places by thin deposits of the Early Bronze Age. We present here the critical details of that sequence and relate them to evidence from other, recently excavated sites in west Macedonia. Megalo Nisi Galanis was first settled in the Early Neolithic (late seventh millennium bc), was intensively occupied until the early phases of the Final Neolithic (around 4500 bc), and continued to be inhabited, albeit sparely or intermittently, until the transition from the Early to the Middle Bronze Age, about 1800 bc. By the end of occupation, the mound covered more than eight hectares and rose up to five metres above the surrounding landscape. We attend closely to features of that landscape that are likely to have played an important role in the history of occupation of the site and Kitrini Limni in the course of the Holocene.

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Investigating Burnt Mounds in Clydesdale during Motorway Construction

Glasgow Archaeological Journal ◽

10.3366/gas.1998.21.21.1 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 1-28

Author(s):

John A Atkinson ◽

Camilla Dickson ◽

Jane Downes ◽

Paul Robins ◽

David Sanderson

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Research Strategy ◽

Archaeological Evidence ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Short Account ◽

And Function ◽

The Impact ◽

The Bronze Age

Summary Two small burnt mounds were excavated as part of the programme to mitigate the impact of motorway construction in the Crawford area. The excavations followed a research strategy designed to address questions of date and function. This paper surveys the various competing theories about burnt mounds and how the archaeological evidence was evaluated against those theories. Both sites produced radiocarbon dates from the Bronze Age and evidence to suggest that they were cooking places. In addition, a short account is presented of two further burnt mounds discovered during the construction of the motorway in Annandale.

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A Review of the Earliest Evidence of Agriculture in Lithuania and the Earliest Direct AMS Date on Cereal

European Journal of Archaeology ◽

10.1017/eaa.2017.36 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 264-279 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mindaugas Grikpėdis ◽

Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Indirect Evidence ◽

Cultivated Plants ◽

Neolithic Period ◽

Pollen Data ◽

Baltic Region ◽

Stratigraphic Sequence ◽

Crop Cultivation ◽

The Bronze Age

Current knowledge of the beginnings of crop cultivation in Lithuania is based mainly on Cerealia-type pollen data supplemented by other indirect evidence such as agricultural tools. We argue that these records, predating carbonized remains of cultivated plants, are not substantial enough indicators of the early stages of agriculture in Lithuania. Here, we demonstrate that the macroremains of cultural plants that were previously reported from two Neolithic settlements in Lithuania were either mistakenly identified as domestic crops or incorrectly ascribed to the Neolithic period due to movement through the stratigraphic sequence and the absence of direct dating of cereal grains. Furthermore, we present a charred Hordeum vulgare grain from the Bronze Age settlement of Kvietiniai in western Lithuania. It was AMS-dated to 1392–1123 cal bc, and at present represents the earliest definite evidence for a crop in the eastern Baltic region. We conclude that, presently, there are no grounds to suggest that crop cultivation took place in Lithuania during the Neolithic.

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The first religious buildings: ‘sacred huts’

Religious Architecture in Latium and Etruria, c. 900-500 BC ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198722076.003.0009 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte R. Potts

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Hot Springs ◽

Central Italy ◽

Fourth Century ◽

Religious Activity ◽

Neolithic Period ◽

Religious Buildings ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

The Bronze Age

The votive assemblages that form the primary archaeological evidence for non-funerary cult in the Neolithic, Bronze, and early Iron Ages in central Italy indicate that there is a long tradition of religious activity in Latium and Etruria in which buildings played no discernible role. Data on votive deposits in western central Italy is admittedly uneven: although many early votive assemblages from Latium have been widely studied and published, there are few Etruscan comparanda; of the more than two hundred Etruscan votive assemblages currently known from all periods, relatively few date prior to the fourth century BC, while those in museum collections are often no longer entire and suffer from a lack of detailed provenance as well as an absence of excavations in the vicinity of the original find. Nevertheless, it is possible to recognize broad patterns in the form and location of cult sites prior to the Iron Age, and thus to sketch the broader context of prehistoric rituals that pre-dated the construction of the first religious buildings. In the Neolithic period (c.6000–3500 BC), funerary and non-funerary rituals appear to have been observed in underground spaces such as caves, crevices, and rock shelters, and there are also signs that cults developed around ‘abnormal water’ like stalagmites, stalactites, hot springs, and pools of still water. These characteristics remain visible in the evidence from the middle Bronze Age (c.1700–1300 BC). Finds from this period at the Sventatoio cave in Latium include vases containing traces of wheat, barley seed cakes, and parts of young animals including pigs, sheep, and oxen, as well as burned remains of at least three children. The openair veneration of underground phenomena is also implied by the discovery of ceramic fragments from all phases of the Bronze Age around a sulphurous spring near the Colonelle Lake at Tivoli. Other evidence of cult activities at prominent points in the landscape, such as mountain tops and rivers, suggests that rituals began to lose an underground orientation during the middle Bronze Age. By the late Bronze Age (c.1300–900 BC) natural caves no longer seem to have served ritual or funerary functions.

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Ancient DNA shows domestic horses were introduced in the southern Caucasus and Anatolia during the Bronze Age

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.abb0030 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (38) ◽

pp. eabb0030

Author(s):

Silvia Guimaraes ◽

Benjamin S. Arbuckle ◽

Joris Peters ◽

Sarah E. Adcock ◽

Hijlke Buitenhuis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Large Scale ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

The Caucasus ◽

Domestic Horses ◽

Third Millennium Bce ◽

History Of ◽

Southern Caucasus ◽

The Bronze Age

Despite the important roles that horses have played in human history, particularly in the spread of languages and cultures, and correspondingly intensive research on this topic, the origin of domestic horses remains elusive. Several domestication centers have been hypothesized, but most of these have been invalidated through recent paleogenetic studies. Anatolia is a region with an extended history of horse exploitation that has been considered a candidate for the origins of domestic horses but has never been subject to detailed investigation. Our paleogenetic study of pre- and protohistoric horses in Anatolia and the Caucasus, based on a diachronic sample from the early Neolithic to the Iron Age (~8000 to ~1000 BCE) that encompasses the presumed transition from wild to domestic horses (4000 to 3000 BCE), shows the rapid and large-scale introduction of domestic horses at the end of the third millennium BCE. Thus, our results argue strongly against autochthonous independent domestication of horses in Anatolia.

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The Neolithic transition and European population history

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00113341 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 78 (301) ◽

pp. 708-710 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Philippe Crombé ◽

Mark Van Strydonck

Keyword(s):

World Wide ◽

Recent Progress ◽

European Population ◽

Population History ◽

The Other ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Neolithic Transition ◽

Regional Approach ◽

Absolute Dating

In volume 295 of Antiquity M. Gkiasta et al. (2003) discussed the results of two sets of analysis carried out on a “new” database of radiocarbon dates: one for the whole of Europe examining the spread of the Neolithic, and one regional approach looking at the relation between Mesolithic and Neolithic dates. Although we are convinced of the potential of both approaches, we do have some major comments on the methodology.First of all the analyses were conducted on a highly incomplete database. As the authors state on their p. 48, the analysed database currently includes over 2600 samples. Many of them, however, had already been collated in Gob’s Atlas of 14C dates (1990). Although the authors have included new dates, we do not believe that this has been done very systematically. For the Belgian territory, for example, virtually all the dates used in the article were those published by Gob – 16 Mesolithic dates and 30 Neolithic dates. The authors justify this by referring to the bad state of publication and public availability of radiocarbon dates in Europe. This certainly does not hold for the Belgian territory. In the last decade over a hundred new Mesolithic and Neolithic dates have been produced, the majority published in journals available world-wide such as Radiocarbon (Van Strydonck et al. 1995; 2001a), Antiquity (Crombé et al. 2002), Archaeometry (Cauwe et al. 2002) proceedings of the international congresses such as 14C and archaeology (Crombé et al. 1999) and The Mesolithic in Europe (Crombé 1999), and the IRPA- datelists (Van Strydonck et al. 2001b; Van Strydonck et al. 2002). The authors assert that these “shortcomings” to the database probably do not affect their conclusions. This is a rash and provocative statement, which minimises all recent progress in absolute dating of the European Mesolithic and Neolithic. We believe that for the Belgian situation a hundred new dates can make a difference. In recent years, for example, these new dates have allowed a thorough revision of Mesolithic chronology (Crombé 1999; Van Strydonck et al. 2001a) and a refinement of the (early) Neolithic chronology (Jadin & Cahen 2003). This will certainly also be the case for the other study-areas in Europe.

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