930 Geschichte des Altertums bis ca. 499, Archäologie
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Institute
Highlights
• The Munich Procedure, developed for p-XRF data, standardises coefficient corrections.
• It ensures consistent, reproducible data, benefiting specialists in various industries.
• The protocol, documented as R-Skript, enhances accuracy and transparency of p-XRF data.
• Establishing a common baseline fosters discussion and improves the overall understanding of p-XRF.
Abstract
The Munich Procedure, a protocol presented as R code and initially developed on the basis of archaeometric portable X-ray fluorescence (p-XRF) data, offers adaptability and standardisation to evaluate coefficient corrections. These corrections are derived from linear regressions calculated by comparing p-XRF values with laboratory chemical analyses of the same sample set. The versatility of this procedure allows collaboration and ensures consistent data structure. Not tied to specific instrumentation, this approach helps to universally improve the accuracy of p-XRF data, benefiting specialists in a variety of industries. By providing a common baseline for performance evaluation, it enables discussion across different applications.
The little-known Roman gold mining site "Gralheira" is located near the well-explored mine of Tresminas. The 2.5 km long, almost dead straight archaeological monument from the first and second centuries AD is currently under threat from possible mining activities on the one hand and from modern waste disposal in the pits on the other. Since 2019, the Roman mining traces have been investigated by means of intensive field inspections, terrestrial 3d laser scanning and aerial photography. The following article will present first impressions and findings on this structure, as well as questions and preliminary interpretations.
Honey and other bee products were likely a sought-after foodstuff for much of human history, with direct chemical evidence for beeswax identified in prehistoric ceramic vessels from Europe, the Near East and Mediterranean North Africa, from the 7th millennium BC. Historical and ethnographic literature from across Africa suggests bee products, honey and larvae, had considerable importance both as a food source and in the making of honey-based drinks. Here, to investigate this, we carry out lipid residue analysis of 458 prehistoric pottery vessels from the Nok culture, Nigeria, West Africa, an area where early farmers and foragers co-existed. We report complex lipid distributions, comprising n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters, which provide direct chemical evidence of bee product exploitation and processing, likely including honey-collecting, in over one third of lipid-yielding Nok ceramic vessels. These findings highlight the probable importance of honey collecting in an early farming context, around 3500 years ago, in West Africa.
Around 400 BC, pottery- and iron-producing populations immigrated into the Inner Congo Basin (ICB) and subsequently spread upstream some major tributaries of the Congo River. Until recently, their subsistence was almost completely unknown. We present an archaeobotanical study of three sites in the ICB covering parts of the Early Iron Age (ca. 400 BC-AD 650) and of the Late Iron Age (LIA) as well as subrecent times (ca. AD 1300–2000). We studied 82 flotated samples of botanical macroremains, and 68 soil phytolith samples, recovered from the terra firme sites Iyonda and Mbandaka, and the floodplain fishing camp site of Bolondo. The EIA assemblage from Iyonda yielded domesticated Cenchrus americanus (pearl millet), Vigna unguiculata (cowpea), Canarium schweinfurthii, Elaeis guineensis (oil palm), several wild plants, and parenchyma fragments tentatively attributed to Dioscorea sp. (yams). The exploitation of these plants originated in the savannas and forest-savanna ecotones of West Africa. The presence of C. americanus in LIA contexts at Bolondo and Mbandaka, dated to ca. AD 1350–1550, indicates that its cultivation is not dependent on a seasonal climate with a distinct dry season, contrary to previous views. The role of C. americanus as a staple is difficult to assess; it might have been used for special purposes, e.g. beer brewing. In spite of extensive screening, we did not detect any banana phytoliths in the EIA samples. Musa phytoliths were only present in LIA contexts after ca. AD 1400, leaving room for the possibility that the introduction and spread of Musa spp. AAB ‘Plantain’ in the ICB was a late phenomenon.
In the culture history of ancient Europe questions pertaining to its diverse relationships to advanced civilisations in the Mediterranean sphere look back upon a long tradition. Varyingly different single finds and groups of finds have repeatedly provided the prospect and scope for investigating the character and extent of contacts and influences as well as the consequences for cultural developments north of the Alps. In discussions on the genesis and significance of the Bronze Age in central and northern Europe, the perceived linkages between the eastern Mediterranean and the Carpathian Basin and via the Danube River as far as areas north of the Alps have played an important role. Without question, the Danube River represented a crucial axis of communication ever since the Neolithic period and in following times. Recent interdisciplinary studies, however, have broadened the scope and shown that further important communication routes existed along the Ionian-Adriatic Sea to Upper Italy and beyond the Alps, and via the Rhône valley and the West Alps to the North. Thereby, impulses of varying economic nature could be discerned, which were consequential for many aspects of the cultural development of the Early and Middle Bronze Age in Central Europe.
We present the results of a multi-disciplinary investigation on a deciduous human tooth (Pradis 1), recently recovered from the Epigravettian layers of the Grotte di Pradis archaeological site (Northeastern Italian Prealps). Pradis 1 is an exfoliated deciduous molar (Rdm2), lost during life by an 11–12-year-old child. A direct radiocarbon date provided an age of 13,088–12,897 cal BP (95% probability, IntCal20). Amelogenin peptides extracted from tooth enamel and analysed through LC–MS/MS indicate that Pradis 1 likely belonged to a male. Time-resolved 87Sr/86Sr analyses by laser ablation mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS), combined with dental histology, were able to resolve his movements during the first year of life (i.e. the enamel mineralization interval). Specifically, the Sr isotope ratio of the tooth enamel differs from the local baseline value, suggesting that the child likely spent his first year of life far from Grotte di Pradis. Sr isotopes are also suggestive of a cyclical/seasonal mobility pattern exploited by the Epigravettian human group. The exploitation of Grotte di Pradis on a seasonal, i.e. summer, basis is also indicated by the faunal spectra. Indeed, the nearly 100% occurrence of marmot remains in the entire archaeozoological collection indicates the use of Pradis as a specialized marmot hunting or butchering site. This work represents the first direct assessment of sub-annual movements observed in an Epigravettian hunter-gatherer group from Northern Italy.
The grave offerings and the traces of ritual actions should prove a valuable source for speculation about views on death in antiquity. In the Classical necropolis of Medma the main features of grave’s goods reflect socio-religious believes about death and after death not completely explained yet. In this research suggestions could derive from the analysis of the vegetal charred offers discovered in some burials; they’re figs, olive stones, grapes, almond and, pheraphs, nuts laid inside the tombs, in most cases primary cremations, or in isolated cases above them. Their presence also in religious contexts like sanctuaries suggests ritual and votive actions more than luxury demonstrating, conclusion drawn from the analysis of the terracotta offers too. In Greek tradition the fruits considered are related to the meanings of civilisation, prosperity, wealth and nature renovation and for this holy to nether deities associated to burial rituals.
The archaeological data dealt with in our database solution Antike Fundmünzen in Europa (AFE), which records finds of ancient coins, is entered by humans. Based on the Linked Open Data (LOD) approach, we link our data to Nomisma.org concepts, as well as to other resources like Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE). Since information such as denomination, material, etc. is recorded for each single coin, this information should be identical for coins of the same type. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, mostly due to human errors. Based on rules that we implemented, we were able to make use of this redundant information in order to detect possible errors within AFE, and were even able to correct errors in Nomimsa.org. However, the approach had the weakness that it was necessary to transform the data into an internal data model. In a second step, we therefore developed our rules within the Linked Open Data world. The rules can now be applied to datasets following the Nomisma. org modelling approach, as we demonstrated with data held by Corpus Nummorum Thracorum (CNT). We believe that the use of methods like this to increase the data quality of individual databases, as well as across different data sources and up to the higher levels of OCRE and Nomisma.org, is mandatory in order to increase trust in them.
Metal artifacts from the Paleometal Epoch (ca. 1100 BC–400 AD) of the Primorye (Russian Far East) have shed new light on the introduction of the earliest bronzes into the Pacific coastal areas of prehistoric Eurasia. However, little is known about raw material circulation and the role of metal in the context of inter-regional exchange. This paper investigates 12 copper artifacts from major Paleometal settlements using alloy composition, trace elements, and lead isotopes to explore the metal sources and distribution networks. The results suggest that most objects are made of a copper-tin alloy, but some have arsenic as a significant minor element . Geologically, copper is unlikely to have come from local ore sources, but rather from the Liaoxi corridor and Liaodong Peninsula in Northeast China. This may indicate an inland route of metal trade across Northeast China or alternately, a coastal route via the northern Korean Peninsula. Archaeologically, the combined study of artifact typology and chemistry indicates two possible origins for the metal: the Upper Xiajiadian culture in Northeast China and Slab Grave culture in Mongolia/Transbaikal. Remarkably, the connection with Upper Xiajiadian communities parallels the transport route along which millet agriculture spread from Northeast China to the Primorye during the Neolithic.
Kola nut (Cola cf. nitida) and Safou fruit (Dacryodes edulis) remains have been discovered in eleventh- to fourteenth-century archaeological contexts at Togu Missiri near Ségou in Mali. These remains are evidence of early trade in perishable foodstuffs from the West African forest zone into the Middle Niger region. On the basis of these finds, this paper argues that long-distance trade links were well established by the end of the first millennium AD. It thereby supports the hypothesis that dates the inception of trade between the West African forest zone and the savanna regions to the first millennium AD. The circumstances of the find are discussed, as are the implications for our understanding of the wider exchange network based on the Niger River system in the late first and early second millennium CE.
We present the results of geochemical analysis of silver coinage issued by Rome and dated between the fourth and second century BCE, which are complemented by data of coinage issued by Carthage, the Brettii, and the Greek colony of Emporion. Each of these minting authorities represents one of the major parties involved in the struggle for hegemony in the fourth to second centuries BCE Western Mediterranean region. This study retraces how the metal supply shifts in response to the transforming power relations and how this change is related to Rome's rise to the virtually uncontested ruler of the region.
Understanding hominin expansions requires the comprehension of movement processes at different scales. In many models of hominin expansion these processes are viewed as being determined by large-scale effects, such as changes in climate and vegetation spanning continents and thousands or even millions of years. However, these large-scale patterns of expansions also need to be considered as possibly resulting from the accumulation of small-scale decisions of individual hominins. Moving on a continental scale may for instance involve crossing a water barrier. We present a generalized agent-based model for simulating the crossing of a water barrier where the agents represent the hominin individuals. The model can be configured to represent a variety of movement modes across water. Here, we compare four different behavioral scenarios in conjunction with a set of water barrier configurations, in which agents move in water by either paddling, drifting, swimming or rafting. We introduce the crossing-success-rate (CSR) to quantify the performance in water crossing. Our study suggests that more focus should be directed towards the exploration of behavioral models for hominins, as directionality may be a more powerful factor for crossing a barrier than environmental opportunities alone. A prerequisite for this is to perceive the opposite shore. Furthermore, to provide a comprehensive understanding of hominin expansions, the CSR allows for the integration of results obtained from small-scale simulations into large-scale models for hominin expansion.
We combined biostratigraphical analyses, archaeological surveys, and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) models to provide new insights into the relative sea-level evolution in the northeastern Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean). In this area, characterized by a very complex tectonic pattern, we produced a new typology of sea-level index point, based on the foraminiferal associations found in transgressive marine facies. Our results agree with the sea-level history previously produced in this region, therefore confirming the validity of this new type of index point. The expanded dataset presented in this paper further demonstrates a continuous Holocene RSL rise in this portion of the Aegean Sea. Comparing the new RSL record with the available geophysical predictions of sea-level evolution indicates that the crustal subsidence of the Samothraki Plateau and the North Aegean Trough played a major role in controlling millennial-scale sea-level evolution in the area. This major subsidence rate needs to be taken into account in the preparation of local future scenarios of sea-level rise in the coming decades.
Significant changes in the material culture, subsistence and mode of life are associated with the Middle (c. 2000–1600 BCE) and Late Bronze Ages (c. 1600–1300 BCE) in Eastern Arabia. Since first excavations in the 1970s, research has focused on the United Arab Emirates, where all major sites of this period known to date are situated. This birthed the idea of two different lines of development in the second millennium BC. While a more gradual change is assumed for the United Arab Emirates, Central Oman was regarded as having completely abandoned settled agricultural life, returning to a less complex social organisation. This article presents new evidence from Tawi Said, Al-Mudhairib and the Wilayat al-Mudhaybi that shows that the developments in both regions were more akin to each other than previously assumed. This encourages us to reconsider our assumptions about Central Oman’s social complexity during this pivotal period of Oman’s history.
A decorated pair of trousers excavated from a well-preserved tomb in the Tarim Basin proved to have a highly informative life history, teased out by the authors – with archaeological, historical and art historical dexterity. Probably created under Greek influence in a Bactrian palace, the textile started life in the third/second century BC as an ornamental wall hanging, showing a centaur blowing a war-trumpet and a nearly life-size warrior of the steppe with his spear. The palace was raided by nomads, one of whom worked a piece of the tapestry into a pair of trousers. They brought no great luck to the wearer who ended his days in a massacre by the Xiongnu, probably in the first century BC. The biography of this garment gives a vivid glimpse of the dynamic life of Central Asia at the end of the first millennium.
Are we creating our past?
(2020)
Urnfield Culture hilltop settlements are often associated with a predominant function in the settlement pattern. This study challenged the idea of centrality by means of density estimates and spatial inhomogeneous explanatory statistics. Reflecting on the differences in spatial trends and material culture, no conclusive evidence for a consolidation of power, economic, or cultic dominance was observed. The dataset strongly points towards the inapplicability of commonly used parametric and/or homogenous spatial algorithms in archaeology. Tracer variables as well as the methodological and theoretical limitations are critically reviewed and a methodological framework to increase the reproducibility and reusability of archaeological research is proposed.
In the nineteenth century, two Neolithic axe-heads were reported from the Michelsberg enclosure system at Kapellenberg. The recent identification of an unusually large tumulus, from which the axe-heads were almost certainly once recovered, reveals that socio-political hierarchisation, linked to the emergence of high-ranking elites in Brittany and the Paris Basin during the fifth millennium cal BC, may have extended into Central Europe.
After the introduction of the pottery tradition of La Hoguette and contemporaneous research on Earliest LBK about 10 to 15 years ago, research onthe spread of farming in Central Europe had somewhat stagnated; there were hardly any major advances in factual knowledge, nor could theoretical models be refined. In the last few years, however, an abundance of new data has appeared, partly deriving from botanical and anthropological analyses. Furthermore, newly available results from excavations in European Russia widenour understanding of the manifold and complex changes occurring during the latter 7th and 6th millennium cal BC.
Geoarchaeological reconstructions of land-use changes may help to reveal driving cultural factors and incentives behind these processes and relate them to supra-regional economic and political developments. This is particularly true in the context of complete abandonment of a settlement. Here we present a case study from the site of Faule Pfütze, a small catchment in the Eastern Ore Mountains (Saxony). The historical record of this site is confined to the report of a settlement called Hohenwalde in 1404 CE and two later references to the then-abandoned settlement in 1492 and 1524 CE in this area. Combined geoarchaeological studies allowed for the reconstruction of several phases of land use. While a first phase of alluvial sedimentation occurred during the late 12th century, archaeological evidence for a permanent settlement is absent during this period. The onset of settlement activity is identified during the late 14th century and included a hitherto unknown massive stone building. Mining features are present nearby and are dated to the early 15th century. The local palynological record shows evidence for reforestation during the mid 15th century and thereby corroborates the time of abandonment indicated by written sources. These processes are discussed in the context of a local political conflict (Dohna Feud) leading to the redistribution of properties and the development of a mining economy during this time. Later land use from the mid 16th century onwards appears restricted to charcoal production, probably in the context of smelting works operating in nearby Schmiedeberg as indicated by rising lead concentrations in the alluvial record.
This article presents a case study of three different coin series (RRC 468-RRC 470) minted near contemporaneously in Hispania during the latter stages of the civil war, which present strikingly different representations of foreign peoples and places. While Caesar’s coin series (RRC 468) displays an image of submissive Gallic captives and a military trophy, Cnaeus Pompey Jr’s two series (RRC 469=470) feature personifications of the region and local cities and depicts them working together with their Pompeian counterpart in the pursuit of victory in the area. The article incorporates hoard evidence to further develop our understanding of how a contemporary viewer might have experienced these contrasting images of foreign peoples and places. It demonstrates which would have been the more common image in circulation and provides evidence for potential audience targeting with the Pompeian coin series. In light of recent scrutiny of Pompeian patronage networks in Spain, this hoard evidence for potential audience targeting allows a new interpretation of the Pompeian coin series as targeting a potentially wavering host community to be put forward.
Geochemical analyses result of prehistoric pottery from the site of Tol-e Kamin (Fars, Iran) by pXRF
(2020)
A series of pottery samples from the Iranian site Tol-e Kamin, ranging from pre-historical period to the New Elamite, were analyzed in order to study the geochemical variability of the pottery assemblage. A total amount of 168 measurements were obtained using a portable XRF device and were statistically handled. The results could successfully distinguish the geochemical composition of potteries from the chalcolithic to the New Elamite periods in the Kur River Basin. A major shift in the use of different clay sources could be detected since the Proto Elamite period and afterward, in which the carbonated and marl content clays represented by Ca, Ba and Sr shifted to clay sources with a tendency to non-carbonate silty clay Al, Ti, and Fe from a different geological background. The results stress the importance of further provenance studies to address issues of trade and exchange possibilities in southwestern Iran.
In this report, we present the contributions, outcomes, ideas, discussions and conclusions obtained at the PaleoMaps Workshop 2019, that took place at the Institute of Geography of the University of Cologne on 23 and 24 September 2019. The twofold aim of the workshop was: (1) to provide an overview of approaches and methods that are presently used to incorporate paleoenvironmental information in human–environment interaction modeling applications, and building thereon; (2) to devise new approaches and solutions that might be used to enhance the reconstruction of past human–environmental interconnections. This report first outlines the presented papers, and then provides a joint protocol of the often extensive discussions that came up following the presentations or else during the refreshment intervals. It concludes by adressing the open points to be resolved in future research avenues, e.g., implementation of open science practices, new procedures for reviewing of publications, and future concepts for quality assurance of the often complex paleoenvironmental data. This report may serve as an overview of the state of the art in paleoenvironment mapping and modeling. It includes an extensive compilation of the basic literature, as provided by the workshop attendants, which will itself facilitate the necessary future research.
The dynamics of development of Bronze Age fortified settlements in the territory of present-day Poland reflects a general trend visible in other regions of Europe. The first period when relatively few defensive settlements were built was the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. However, intensification of the discussed phenomenon can only be noticed with the development of the Lusatian culture. The older development stage of fortified settlements in Poland is characterised by a significantly lower number of sources. The sites identified until now form a small group of settlements, clearly connected with two cultural circles. The four settlements which have been discovered in Greater Poland and Silesia so far should be linked with local groups of Únětice culture. In south-eastern Poland, in the Polish part of the Western Carpathians, there are three known sites, which are the result of northern expansion of Otomani-Füzesabony culture settlements, as well as the development of local communities of Mierzanowice culture. The text aims at detailed description of archaeological sources concerning particular features and aspects of functioning of fortified settlements. Moreover the collected information will serve to attempt to locate the discussed settlements in wider contexts regarding the roles which are most frequently assigned to the archaeological sites of this kind.
Panel discussion
(2019)
The history of the Lombards could well be designated a history of warfare, for in the course of the 206-year existence of their realm in Italy the Lombards constantly carried out warfare of varying intensity, whether in their own defence or to expand their territory. Even the time prior to their invasion of Italy, especially their advances from Pannonia, were already marked by numerous military conflicts. Of particular interest here are the questions with reference to the background and the course of these conflicts, and also to the weaponry that was utilised. In the following contribution the weapons of Lombard warriors – or more specifically – the weapons used by warriors in Lombardian Italy will be examined. This specification is necessary because Lombard warriors experienced many interactions with other powers, for example, with Byzantine forces stationed in Italy (until 751 AD), and with foreign enemies like the Franks and Avars, who however could always turn into cooperative partners for the Lombards. Thus, it can be assumed that ultimately through contacts with enemies as well as with allies, the different types of Lombard weaponry depended upon the respective situation. Aside from use in real battles, weapons of the Lombards also had other functions: They were of symbolic significance in that they could demonstrate power and social differences. Certain types of weapons can be interpreted as signs of rank – which of course applies to the early Middle Ages on the whole. In principal, three groups of source material are at disposal for study: 1) references in written sources, 2) contemporary depictions of Lombard warriors, and 3) archaeological evidence, that is, weapons and pieces of armament found in graves, settlements and also occasional finds – including those without a find context. An overall picture of Lombard weaponry can only be gained when all possible source groups are evaluated.
In this paper I assess two archaeological phenomena for Bronze to Iron Age Britain: the expanding scale of conflict over this period and the practice of what is often called deviant burial, and I consider their possible connection. Such burials may relate to a wider pattern of social violence, given that community setbacks need to be explained away, perhaps requiring scapegoats to take the blame, who met their death as a result of being identified as ‘the enemy within’. Although burials with weaponry occurred in the Early Bronze Age, there is little evidence of conflict and few deviant burials. The Later Bronze Age and the Iron Age, by contrast, provide significant evidence at varying scales of both warfare and deviant burial practices.
In this work we present an overview of the proliferation of walled hilltop sites in southwestern Europe, named castellari in Liguria, castellar in Provence, castelo in Portugal, with the question whether they are real settlements or just fortified enclosures in the Final Bronze Age. In many cases scholars considered only those with a similar context in Iron Ages as real fortifications. But, after a study with the support of psychology and physiology of violence and a careful examination of the structures and their contexts, it is possible to hypothesize their defensive nature also during the Final Bronze Age with less doubt. In this way it is possible to delineate, in a chronologically non-uniform way, in southwest Europe a social phenomenon definable as ‘castling’, and we can link this phenomenon to specific causes. Within this phenomenon, we can consider the use of walls on hilltops as practical-symbolic function concurrently. The case study of the Portuguese Middle Tagus region in Central Portugal and of the Liguria region in northwest Italy, the two extremities of the considered macro-region, are considered.
Sântana-Cetatea Veche. A late bronze age mega-fort in the Lower Mureș Basin in Southwestern Romania
(2019)
Our contribution provides an overview of the archaeological investigations carried out, including those in 2018, at the large fortification of Sântana–Cetatea Veche, north of Arad in Romania. The new research was undertaken within the framework of the LOEWE project “Prehistoric Conflict Research – Bronze Age Hillforts between Taunus and Carpathian Mountains”. In accordance with the main scientific guidelines of the project, the research efforts encompassed archaeological fieldwork, magnetometric surveys of the entire area of the fortification, as well as a LiDAR scan covering an area of nearly 850 ha. As a result of the excavation undertaken in the eastern part of the defences pertaining to enclosure III, new absolute chronological data were obtained, which in corroboration with the older information offer a clear dating of the fortification system to the 15th to 13th centuries BC.
The eastern part of the state of Hesse in Germany between the Vogelsberg and Rhön mountains was one area included in the field investigations of the LOEWE project on “Prehistoric conflict Research – Bronze Age Hillforts between Taunus and Carpathian Mountains”. There are several mountains in the county of Fulda with remains of protohistoric fortifications, which still need to be dated and further investigated. Our surveys and excavations took place successively at Stallberg, Kleinberg, Haimberg and Sängersberg. The results are briefly presented in this paper and will form part of more detailed forthcoming publications. At Stallberg and Kleinberg, no archaeological features had been destroyed by erosion, so sufficient material was found to date these sites. At Stallberg, two main periods of use have been documented by radiocarbon dates and corresponding artefacts: the Late Neolithic Michelsberg Culture and the Late Middle-Ages. At Kleinberg, radiocarbon datings indicate an occupation at the end of the Bronze Age and during the first Iron Age, whereas most of the ceramic sherds are typical for the second Iron Age and medieval times. Unfortunately, the fortification at the Haimberg is destroyed, and further excavation is not possible. Finally, at Sängersberg, the various field investigations brought forth evidence of conflicts during the Bronze Age.
During the advanced Early Bronze Age two innovative weapons – the sword and the bronze lancehead – became widespread or were regionally produced in vast parts of Europe. The rapid dispersion of these new weapons implies the corresponding necessity for defence measures and the supply of raw materials, as well as the presence of metalworkers, who possessed technical know-how. The ability to handle a sword or a lance required in turn specific training, which was not limited to only a few persons. The appearance of these weapons occurred around the same time as the construction of fortified settlements in elevated locations in Central Europe.
Shattered maceheads at early bronze age Tel Bet Yerah: symbolic power and destruction, but whose?
(2019)
An unusually large number of stone macehead fragments were found in a large open court in the Early Bronze Age site of Tel Bet Yerah, Israel. Maces, which first appear in the Levant in the seventh millennium BCE, are considered the earliest dedicated combat weapons in western Asia; in later periods they take on a symbolic role. We discuss the sequence of events leading to the accumulation of maceheads at Bet Yerah, the people who may have been implicated in it and its possible political significance.
Research on Bronze Age weapons from wet contexts in northern Europe often interprets those finds as structured deposits of a symbolic nature, placed in liminal environments that had special significance in social and religious terms. Much less consideration is given to direct or indirect connections with war and conflict in the competitive chiefdom polities of the Bronze Age. As territorial boundaries, rivers were obvious settings for conflict, with confrontations at fording points leading to weapon loss in battle. There may also have been intentional deposition connected to the death of a warrior at or near that location. River deposition may also signify the celebration of a military victory, involving a ritualized destruction of the weapons of the vanquished. They may also represent an assertion of territory or an expression of ritualized violence. Such scenarios illustrate how the use of weapons as funerary or votive offerings does not preclude a close association with warfare. The parallel phenomenon of hoarding in the same period may reflect a political climate in which it was necessary to hide valuables. This paper explores possible connections between the deposition of weapons and valuables in wet contexts and the landscape context of war in Ireland during the later Bronze Age, with implications for research in other parts of Europe.
In the archaeology of Scandinavian Bronze Age rock art, there is a long-standing debate over the function and role of the engraved weapons and warriors. The question can be boiled down to: Are the depicted warriors actual fighters, or are they showmen merely portraying an identity to gain status and power? One of the proposals was that spears are active because they occur in killing scenes and swords are passive because they are mostly depicted sheathed. Discussing recent rock art research on the transformation of petroglyphs, their narrative structure as well as new discoveries of weapon depictions, and confronting this with results from use wear analyses on similar weaponry, this paper sets out to argue that the answers to this problem may not be as straight forward as previously proposed. Instead it is proposed that while there is a concern with showmanship relating to a warrior identity in Scandinavian rock art, it is based on real combat, fighting, and killing. Rock art was used to enhance the stature of warriors and to make narratives more exciting that involve warriors.
Foreword
(2019)
Conflicts are shaping our life and influencing most of our behaviour. In the recent years, conflict archaeology has developed into a growing sub-discipline. This article tries to go beyond the traditional concepts of conflict archaeology that mainly addressing violence. We advocate widening the view on conflicts by including different levels of conflict escalation as well as of conflict de-escalation. Archaeological indicators for all of these facets of conflicts are discussed. Here, we concentrate on fortifications which are sensitive indicators of historical, social, economic and cultural processes and hence are able to indicate different facets of conflicts and not only violence. In this context, we also consider territoriality as relevant, because it is a kind of regulation, preventing conflicts from further escalation. The article presents a simple scheme of conflict archaeology which extends the traditional approach and provides deeper insights in human behaviour and its rational.
In this contribution the sub-project of the LOEWE initiative which is researching Late Bronze Age hilltop sites between the mountain ranges of the Vogelsberg and Taunus is presented. Special emphasis is placed on the first results from an evaluation of the data from archives and remote sensing as well as from geophysical examinations of particular sites.
This article pinpoints the double being and doing of weapons, warriors and warrior fraternities as quite possibly a characterising trait from the onset of the Corded Ware period well into the mature Bronze Age and beyond. Exquisitely crafted weapons of bronze – many spirited with a life-energy of their own – were used to wage war and sometimes to hack victims into pieces with strong indications that the beautiful warrior with his trained well-groomed body was capable of extreme violence. The companionship of warrior peers in the fraternity was a social construct enabling effective waging of war as well as fulfilling other roles in Bronze Age society, contributing to rituals and social interaction.
This paper considers archaeological evidence for warfare and conflict in Bronze Age Ireland, with specific reference to the destruction of hillforts during the later second millennium BC. These centres were built at a time of growing militarism, reflected in an increased output of bronze weaponry, including the first use of swords. The indications are of a society obsessed with power and status, with competitive tendencies that on occasion led to open warfare. Recent fieldwork has uncovered evidence of conflict at a number of hillforts across Ireland, the significance of which is considered in relation to the political landscape of the Middle and Late Bronze Age.
The article presents an interdisciplinary project that is focussed on an important cultural monument, namely a fortified hilltop settlement in the cadastre of Hradiště near Pilsen. This fortification is attested by five phases, which correspond to the main epochs of the erection of west Bohemian ramparts during the time span from the turn of the early to the Middle Bronze Age until the early medieval period. Geophysical prospection and trial excavations conducted there in 2012 and 2013 revealed important and new information on the stratigraphy and natural environment of the site. The project is particularly directed towards collaboration between archaeology and scientific studies. Geophysical and geochemical aspects of archaeological contexts, archaeobotanical and archaeozoological finds as well as geological composition of the materials from the fortification were analysed. Special attention was given to the problematic of the so-called vitrified walls (Schlackenwälle) associated with this site.
The large earth fortification of Sântana is located in the area of the Lower Mureş Basin, ca. 20 km northeast of the city of Arad. The attribution of this fortification to the late period of the Bronze Age was confirmed through the 1963 archaeological excavations coordinated by M. Rusu, E. Dörner and I. Ordentlich. In the spring of 2009, a gas pipeline disturbed the area of the third precinct in Sântana. Rescue excavations started in the autumn of 2009 and focused on the same area as where the 1963 research had been performed. The results of our excavations in Sântana were published on several occasions, so here we shall just present several data on the fortification and on the context in which the clay sling projectiles were discovered.
Recent investigations at the Teleac hillfort in south-western Transylvania have generated new data on the spatial organisation and history of the settlement. A combination of excavations and geophysical prospection revealed that Teleac was a dense and well organised settlement with a substantial population, and that some sections of the hillfort likely were used for different activities. It is also argued that Teleac likely dominated the open settlements and acted as a hub for transportation and trade throughout the region.
Foreword
(2018)
Foreword
(2019)
The construction of fortified settlements upon mountain summits and mountain spurs signifies a new form of defensive architecture for the Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC, which we designate ‘Bronze Age’ hillforts or fortresses. With mighty walls and gates built using various techniques with wood, clay and stone, the fortifi ed hill settlements manifest an eminent need for protection from assault, while at the same time they were obviously centres of power, from which territories and natural resources as well as travel routes could be controlled. Within the focus of the Hesse excellence initiative LOEWE “Prehistoric Conflict Research – Bronze Age Fortifi cations between Taunus and Carpathian Mountains” new approaches are made on the subject “War and Fortresses as Architecture of Power” in 2016–2019. Th ese studies are being carried out by the Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main and the Römisch-Germanische Kommission in Frankfurt/Main. The objective was to observe the development and character of fortifi ed structures in cultural spheres south of the Alps and landscapes north of the Alps in diachronic comparison in order to better understand the genesis and function of fortifications in their cultural milieu.
Attributing the large-scale, but tactically suspect, south Levantine Bronze Age fortification systems a ‘social’ role has become an archaeological commonplace, yet it begs the crucial question of form – if a polity, a social class, or a collective wish to advertise their cohesion, power, or wealth, why choose fortifications, rather than burial monuments, temples or palaces? In other words, what social end was served by conspicuous, inefficient, military consumption? This paper aims to offer a preliminary answer to this question through three interlocking arguments: The first, that societies like that of the Levantine Bronze Age are characterized by the existence of cooperative labor obligations; the second, that this collective labor investment was, in the ancient Levant, primarily dedicated to defense; the third, that tactically imperfect fortifications were nonetheless strategically successful as defensive installations, even while promoting social cohesion and projecting elite power.
In Bronze Age Cyprus, fortifications are only known from the beginning of Late Cypriote I (17th century BC) onwards, after previously only open settlements existed. In the first phase of the construction of these fortifications they had no uniform character, while later in the 13th century BC (Late Cypriote IIC), like in the Levant, they served primarily to secure settlements with a character of economic and administrative centres. Castles as enwalled noble residences are generally unknown in the Bronze Age of Cyprus.
The current paper summarizes the development of Bronze Age Aegean fortifications with a special focus on the Aegean Early and Middle Bronze Age. In order to get a better understanding of Aegean fortifications for each period, their numbers are set into relation with the number of known sites and other features. The impressive multi-phased fortifications of sites such as Troy or Kolonna on the island of Aegina will be used as case studies to explain the development of Early to Middle Bronze Age sites in the central Aegean. The final part of the paper gives a preview on the development of Late Bronze Age (Mycenaean palatial and postpalatial) fortifications.
The paper presents a reconsideration of settlement pattern and defensive systems in south-eastern Italy during the Bronze Age, on the ground of the archaeological data coming from the excavations at Coppa Nevigata. In particular, the transformations of the defensive lines of the settlement are discussed, which were strictly linked to both defensive and offensive strategies and their changes. Moreover, the paper seeks to examine some related problems, such as the possible origin for the model of complex fortification lines in southern Italy, the pattern(s) of fortified settlement in the Eastern Adriatic and matters related to the social organisation of the Bronze Age southern Italian communities that built the fortification lines.
The hillfort settlement of Monkodonja, located in the vicinity of the town Rovinj, is representative of the Bronze Age Castellieri culture in Istria. Twelve years of excavations that lasted one month each year revealed a proto-urban settlement with extensive fortification system, and a tripartite division of its interior that could well reflect the hierarchical social structure of its inhabitants. Remarkably, a change in the fortification concept during the time of the settlement’s existence could also be observed. With regard to bronze objects and ceramic finds the settlement is dated generally between the developed Early Bronze Age and the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age, or in Br A2 and Br B1 periods according to the chronology of Paul Reinecke. Moreover, about 40 radiocarbon dates from the Monkodonja settlement have also been analysed. The foundation of the settlement is dated to around 1800 cal BC. The second extensive building phase, including the rebuilding of the fortification system according to new defensive concepts, is dated approximately to 1600 cal BC, while the destruction of the settlement occurred around 1500 cal BC or in the middle of the 15th century BC at the latest.
Until now 33 hilltop settlements that might represent Bronze Age hillforts have been registered in South Bohemia. However, only four sites have been distinguished and designated with certainty as Bronze Age fortifications through modern archaeological excavations. As for the other sites, the probability is smaller. The main chronological horizons of the preference for hillforts are the turn of the Early to the Middle Bronze Age (Br A2/B1–B1; c. 1800–1500 BC) and the turn of the Late and Final Bronze Age (Ha A2–B1 and Ha B; c. 1050–800 BC). Enclosed areas of rather small dimensions existed throughout the Bronze Age. There are several Bronze Age hillforts, about which we have gained a fairly clear idea about the construction of their fortifications.
Among many prehistoric hillforts of the Western Carpathians the one located at Maszkowice village displays unique traits. The site was excavated in 1960s and 1970s, but it was not until 2015 that the new field project revealed remains of massive stone fortifications. The wall of the Zyndram’s Hill is dated to the Early Bronze Age (18th century BC), being one of the earliest examples of defensive stone architecture in Europe outside Mediterranean. In our paper we shall discuss the development of the defensive system with its geographical and settlement context. Considering the results of fieldwork and other applied methods we can assume, that the enclosed settlement in Maszkowice functioned as an isolated point located in scarcely populated area. Therefore, we need to stress the landscape and geological circumstances which played a significant role in inner layout organization, social perception and the development of settlement and its fortifications. The stone wall was erected already at the beginning of the site’s occupation. The defensive system existed then in its most elaborated form (with at least two gates leading into the village), while later during several dozen years the fortifications slowly but constantly deteriorated. Finally, in conclusion we shall consider the stone wall of Zyndram’s Hill not as a product of local adaptation, but as a result of a prepared execution of a project.
Despite the fact that the fortification in Sântana-Cetatea Veche has been known since the 18th century and various local scholars have taken a direct interest in the site, the first excavations only started much later. The fortification was correctly attributed to the Bronze Age only in the second half of the 20th century. Until then, those interested in the issue of the great fortifications in Banat believed that the ramparts had been constructed during the Avar Period. New research on the fortification in Sântana was initiated in 2008. The northern side of the third fortification system was tested in 2009, and its construction system was documented on that occasion. The fortification system in question consisted of an earthen rampart, a wall made of wood and clay built upon the crest of the rampart, and a defense ditch. At the same time we noted that the erection of the earthen rampart had disturbed a cemetery in use in that area. The present article focuses on the dating of the third system of fortification excavated in 2009 and on the presentation of the contexts from which radiocarbon data have been collected. The results indicate that the cemetery disturbed by the construction of the fortification was used at the end of the 15th century BC and that the fortification was certainly in use during the 14th century BC.
Geophysical prospection and excavations show that the heavily fortified Teleac hillfort was densely occupied with a population reaching the low thousands. In this article it is argued that Teleac was a local political centre that acted as a hub for transportation and trade in a region that is rich in mineral resources. Recent investigations also reveal that Teleac was attacked in the late 10th century in an event that breached and destroyed the formidable northern defensive system. This attack suggests that the level of military threat was quite severe in the eastern Carpathian Basin. The attacking forces must have had significant offensive capabilities in order to tackle Teleac’s defences. It is also a strong indication that not only Teleac, but contemporary fortified settlements in the surrounding region were at least in part erected to resist serious military threats.
The large hillfort of Teleac, commanding the Mureş River valley, the principal East-West connecting axis in the Carpathian Basin, was likely built in the second half of the 11th century BC and occupied until the end of the 10th or the early 9th century BC. The fortification wall was destroyed around 920 BC, according to recent investigations. More than 40 iron objects were discovered in the fortified complex. These iron finds viewed together with numerous other iron finds from other sites signify that Transylvania was an early centre of the implementation of iron and presumably iron production. Thereby, the use of iron for producing weapons probably stood in the foreground. This is indicated by corresponding grave finds in Greece that contain a sword as offering, but also iron swords found in Slovenia and Romania.
Th e article discusses the plant species found during the 2016 archaeological campaign inside the fortification of Teleac. Analysis of the macro remains recovered from archaeological deposits in Teleac helped to reconstruct the plant species cultivated by the Late Bronze Age inhabitants. The predominant cereal species in the samples was Panicum miliaceum (broomcorn/domestic millet) with 51 seeds, followed by Triticum monococcum (einkorn) with 27 seeds and Triticum spelta (spelt wheat) with 14 seeds. Also revealed were Triticum dicoccum (emmer) with 9 seeds and Secale sp. (rye) with 7 seeds. An overview of the entire Bronze Age, our focus shows that during this period the communities were engaged predominantly in agriculture, preserving their habits from the area of their origin. The results of specific analyses show that peasant farming was the mainstay of Bronze Age life.
This paper provides a glimpse into the palaeoecological conditions at the prehistoric settlement Corneşti-Iarcuri in the southwest Romanian Banat, which is known as the largest Bronze Age fortification in Europe. Preservation of pollen is generally poor in the region, where extensive marshlands have been drained and converted into arable lands since the 18th century. Remarkably, some fossil topsoils buried under thick colluvial layers within the fortification proved to contain pollen. Together with the sediments themselves, which serve as direct evidence for anthropogenically infl uenced geomorphodynamics and could partially be put into chronological context by radiocarbon dating, the on-site palynological data offer a unique opportunity to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental setting at Corneşti. Results reveal that during the Chalcolithic period, a partially cleared open woodland with Tilia, Quercus and Corylus prevailed. Soil erosion began in some central parts of the settlement site, resulting in the accumulation of up to 90 cm of colluvium in the main valley. Until the Early Iron Age, regional tree percentages dropped from around 38 to 22 %, while anthropogenic indicators (Cerealia, Plantago lanceolata, Polygonum aviculare) increased from 11 to 16 %. Meanwhile, between 50 to 170 cm of colluvium were deposited at the investigated floodplain sites.
The large fortifi cation of Corneşti-larcuri is located on the Mureş River in Romania and comprises four rings of defensive ramparts. With the outermost rampart encircling a total area of 17.65 km2, Corneşti-larcuri is thus considered the largest Bronze Age fortification in Europe. New intensive research began in 2007 with the six-year project “Investigations on settlement structures and the chronology of the Late Bronze Age fortification of Corneşti-larcuri in Romanian Banat”, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project terminated in the autumn of 2017. Now the goal is to evaluate the data collected during the last eleven years and to develop the first syntheses. As part of the new excavations, a total of 109 radiocarbon datings from diff erent contexts (ramparts, ditches, pits, house structures, etc.) were obtained. The subsequent phase model based upon these data essentially refers to the dating of ramparts I and II and to pits associated with house contexts. Thus, it enables a site biography for Corneşti-larcuri to be outlined for the first time and four settlement phases to be distinguished.
Micromorphology is a suitable method to study the contents and stratigraphic relationships of pit fills. Within the ramparts of Corneşti-Iarcuri, fill layers of a pit were sampled. Th e pit fill was macroscopically divided into primary and secondary fill due to striking differences. These differences could be verified and concretized micromorphologically.
Since the study of Late Antiquity evolved in the last few decades into an important research topic, several publications have been dedicated to the late antique city, resulting in lively discussions on "decline" and "transition". In line with this evolution Late Antiquity has recently been the central theme of several conferences and workshops, dealing with specific study themes of Late Antiquity as a whole, focussing on a particular time period and/or dedicated to well-defined geographical areas. ...
After this contribution dealing with the capital of Asia, the paper of Axel Filges discusses the late antique and Byzantine situation in the smaller town of Blaundos in Phrygia (Zum Aussagepotential ruinöser Mauern. Bevölkerung und Bebauung im spätantiken und byzantinischen Blaundos [Phrygia]). ...
For the environs of the Late Bronze Age fortification enclosure Iarcuri the hydro-morphological relief characteristics are combined with archaeological evidences. Target of the study is to evaluate the impact of settlement activities in the surroundings of Iarcuri on the development of the channel network. Data analysis is based on topographic map-derived and high resolution DEMs provided by LiDAR scanning; derivatives of the DEMs are used to characterize the different sub-catchments that show varying influences by the fortification ramparts. The tributaries reaching the receiving stream close to the central settlement area source close to the gates in the ramparts in the Late Bronze Age built-up areas. Additionally, also the geometry of these tributaries differs from that of other tributaries. The distinct character of the channel network with repeatedly occurring rectangular bends indicates the capture of channels, which developed as gullies along paths by retrogressive erosion.
In this paper we propose a sociological concept of innovation capable of transcending the limitations faced by the approaches of common theories of action. The concept was formulated by Ulrich Oevermann and is based upon Max Weber’s theory of charismatic authority. We apply this concept to archaeological data, using the example of Neolithic copper metallurgy in central Europe, and discuss the importance of analyzing innovations that failed to materialize even though they might have been "in the air" at the time. The concept sketched here enables the scientific study of such a phenomenon.
Iconographic representations on ancient artifacts are described in many existing databases and literature as human readable text. We applied Natural Language Processing (NLP) approaches in order to extract the semantics out of these textual descriptions and in this way enable semantic searches over them. This allows more sophisticated requests compared to the common existing keyword searches. As we show in our experiments based on numismatic datasets, the approach is generic in the sense that once the system is trained on one dataset, it can be applied without any further manual work also to datasets that have similar content. Of course, additional adaptions would further improve the results. Since the approach requires manual work only during the training phase, it can easily be applied to huge datasets without manual work and therefore without major extra costs. In fact, in our experience bigger datasets generate even better results because there is more data for training. Since our approach is not bound to a certain domain and the numismatic datasets are just an example, it could serve as a blueprint for many other areas. It could also help to build bridges between disciplines since textual iconographic descriptions are to be found also for pottery, sculpture and elsewhere.
The Nok Culture of Central Nigeria is known for its sophisticated terracotta figurines initially described in the 1950s by the British archaeologist Bernard Fagg. Since 2009, the Nok Culture has been the subject of research at the Goethe University Frankfurt within the scope of a long-term project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). This book is the outcome of a PhD thesis that involved pXRF analysis of features associated with the Nok Culture, namely stone-pot-arrangements and pit features.
Stone-pot-arrangements are considered to be burials, indicated by arranged and modified stones associated with complete pots and, in a few cases, a necklace made of stone beads. However, the absence of bones and other skeletal remains meant that their interpretation as burials was unresolved. The interpretation of pits or pit-like structures, of various shapes and sizes, also remained inconclusive.
Employing pXRF analysis succeeded in revealing traces of a decomposed body, supporting the hypothesis of stone-pot-arrangements being interments. Together with the analysis of pits, new ideas about the formation and use of Nok sites were advanced. These culminated in a 'patchwork model' that assumes a repetitive cycle of utilising land for farming, settlements and burials, followed by abandonment and subsequent re-visiting and re-use of the formerly abandoned land.
Writing the history of archaeology has become increasingly diverse in recent years due to developments in the historiography of the sciences and the humanities. A move away from hagiography and presentations of scientific processes as an inevitable progression has been requested in this context. Historians of archaeology have begun to utilize approved and new historiographical concepts to trace how archaeological knowledge has been acquired as well as to reflect on the historical conditions and contexts in which knowledge has been generated. This volume seeks to contribute to this trend. By linking theories and models with case studies from the nineteenth and twentieth century, the authors illuminate implications of communication on archaeological knowledge and scrutinize routines of early archaeological practices. The usefulness of different approaches such as narratological concepts or the concepts of habitus is thus considered.
A richly illustrated guide to the dolmen culture of Prehistoric Sicily.
Scattered around the world in woods and on mountains dolmens have posed a mystery for hundreds of years. The interpretations of these mysteries has been extremely imaginative over the centuries.
But in Sicily it has only been in recent years that the presence of numerous megaliths habe been revealed.
This manual provides a comprehensive guide to the dolmens of Sicily and the artefacts as well as historical and cultural associations of these prehistoric sites.
The photogrammetric acquisition of 3D object models can be achieved by Structure from Motion (SfM) computation of photographs taken from multiple viewpoints. All-around 3D models of small artefacts with complex geometry can be difficult to acquire photogrammetrically and the precision of the acquired models can be diminished by the generic application of automated photogrammetric workflows. In this paper, we present two versions of a complete rotary photogrammetric system and an automated workflow for all-around, precise, reliable and low-cost acquisitions of large numbers of small artefacts, together with consideration of the visual quality of the model textures. The acquisition systems comprise a turntable and (i) a computer and digital camera or (ii) a smartphone designed to be ultra-low cost (less than $150). Experimental results are presented which demonstrate an acquisition precision of less than 40 μm using a 12.2 Megapixel digital camera and less than 80 μm using an 8 Megapixel smartphone. The novel contribution of this work centres on the design of an automated solution that achieves high-precision, photographically textured 3D acquisitions at a fraction of the cost of currently available systems. This could significantly benefit the digitisation efforts of collectors, curators and archaeologists as well as the wider population.
In AD 79 the town of Herculaneum was suddenly hit and overwhelmed by volcanic ash-avalanches that killed all its remaining residents, as also occurred in Pompeii and other settlements as far as 20 kilometers from Vesuvius. New investigations on the victims' skeletons unearthed from the ash deposit filling 12 waterfront chambers have now revealed widespread preservation of atypical red and black mineral residues encrusting the bones, which also impregnate the ash filling the intracranial cavity and the ash-bed encasing the skeletons. Here we show the unique detection of large amounts of iron and iron oxides from such residues, as revealed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and Raman microspectroscopy, thought to be the final products of heme iron upon thermal decomposition. The extraordinarily rare preservation of significant putative evidence of hemoprotein thermal degradation from the eruption victims strongly suggests the rapid vaporization of body fluids and soft tissues of people at death due to exposure to extreme heat.
Throughout mankind’s history, the need to secure and protect the home settlement was an essential one. This holds especially true for the city of Ainos (modern Enez) in Turkish Thrace. Due to its continuous settlement history since the 7th/6th century BC, several different types of city walls were built—sometimes even on top of each other—several of which have been preserved over time. To decipher the construction style, the course and the age of a buried city wall segment in the southern part of the former city, a geoscientific multi-proxy approach including magnetic gradiometer (MG) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements in combination with granulometrical, sedimentological and microfaunistical investigations on sediment cores was applied. We were able to (1) present reasonable arguments for its Hellenistic age; (2) reveal the course of this wall segment and extrapolate it further north into a less studied area; and (3) demonstrate that in this near-coastal area, the former swampy terrain had been consolidated for constructing the wall. Our multi-proxy approach serves as a valuable example for investigating buried structures in archaeological contexts, avoiding a less-economical, time-consuming, or even forbidden excavation.
As Alex Potts points out in his essay, "Colors of Sculpture", "all sculpture is colored, in a literal sense". Yet, despite the fact that the addition of colour to objects as well as its presence as an inescapable fact of sculptural media makes imperative its inclusion in any consideration of sculptors’ intentions and the meaning of their work, Amanda Claridge is right to note in her review, that polychromed sculpture has been given short shrift in the post-enlightenment settlement. ...
Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ∼10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ∼8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local European wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic contribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process.
The volume under review is the result of a conference on historical graffiti held at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich in 2017. The aim of this book is to analyse — for the first time — graffiti from the ancient, medieval and modern periods in their historical and geographical contexts from an interdisciplinary point of view. Following this comparative approach the authors show the tremendous potential of this nascent area of research by investigating epigraphic material that has been neglected and underestimated by scholars for a long time. ...
Epigraphic documents attest that the two neighbouring, inland sites, Idalion and Tamassos, were kingdoms during the Cypro-Archaic period, and that-within an interval of nearly a century - they were both incorporated by the kingdom of Kition during the Cypro-Classical period, thereby losing their independent status. The geographical position of Idalion and Tamassos must have been both a blessing and a curse: while the two polities could thrive on the exploitation of the nearby copper mines, they also had to withstand the economic interest of other Cypriote polities in these natural resources. In addition, we may assume that, because of their inland position, Idalion and Tamassos were forced to seek economic collaboration with polities that had direct access to the sea for the export and exchange of commodities beyond the island. We may further expect that the control of ore-mining and forestry activities must have been a potential source of territorial strife between the two inland kingdoms. Therefore, the geo-economic reality likely induced Idalion and Tamassos to a dualistic relationship of being both allies and competitors. ...
With its broad spectrum of cults and coexisting religions Graeco-Roman antiquity seems, at first glance, to be the embodiment of religious freedom. Yet, a closer analysis shows that a concept of tolerance or the idea of religious freedom did not exist. Political institutions could easily suppress religious practices that were regarded as offensive. Fighting against the oppression of Christians appears to have increased under the influence of oecumenical paganism during the reign of the Severans. In this time, the Christian thinkerTertullian discovered and articulated the concept of religious freedom. However, he did not do so emphatically and the concept was not very successful in antiquity. With the Christianization of the Roman Empire it disappeared soon, although its rediscovery in later epochs contributed heavily to the formation of the European norm of religious freedom.
This paper describes the ongoing efforts of the authors to present ancient Greek and Roman numismatic data on the public internet, with an emphasis on efforts to integrate information from multiple sources using Linked Data and Semantic Web techniques. By way of very modern metaphor, it is useful to think of coins as intentionally created packages of 'named entities'. Each coin was struck by a particular authority, often at a known site, and coins often make reference to familiar concepts such as deities, historical events, or symbols that were widely recognized in the ancient world. The institutions represented among the authors have deployed search interfaces that allow users to take advantage of this aspect of numismatic databases. The American Numismatic Society's database provides faceted search to its collection of over 550,000 objects. The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) in the UK presents individual finds (and hoards) recorded throughout the country. The Römisch-Germanische Kommission and the University of Frankfurt (DBIS) are developing a prototype metaportal (INTERFACE) that accesses national databases of coin finds held in in Frankfurt, Vienna and Utrecht. Each of these resources is beginning to explore Semantic Web/Linked data approaches so that the role of numismatic standards is immediately coming to the fore. DBIS and INTERFACE are developing a numismatic ontology. At the ANS and PAS, the public database already presents RDF serializations based on Dublin Core. Together, the authors have begun to explore standardization of conceptual names on the basis of the vocabulary presented at the site http://nomisma.org . Nomisma.org is a collaborative effort to provide stable digital representations of numismatic concepts and entities. It provides URIs for such basic concepts as 'coin', 'mint', 'axis'. All of these are defined within the scope of numismatics but are already being linked to other stable resources where available. This is particularly the case for mints. For example, the URI http://nomisma.org/id/corinth is intended to represent that ancient city in its role as a minter/issuer of coins. The URI is linked via the SKOS ontology to the Pleiades Gazetteer of ancient places. This allows Nomisma to be the basis for a common representation of the concept that an object is a coin minted at Corinth. The ANS has already deployed such relationships in its public database. The work of all these projects is very much in progress so that this paper hopes to generate discussion on how multiple large projects can move forward in their own work while encouraging sufficient commonality to support large scale research questions undertaken by diverse audiences.
Earliest expansion of animal husbandry beyond the Mediterranean zone in the sixth millennium BC
(2017)
Since their domestication in the Mediterranean zone of Southwest Asia in the eighth millennium BC, sheep, goats, pigs and cattle have been remarkably successful in colonizing a broad variety of environments. The initial steps in this process can be traced back to the dispersal of farming groups into the interior of the Balkans in the early sixth millennium BC, who were the first to introduce Mediterranean livestock beyond its natural climatic range. Here, we combine analysis of biomolecular and isotopic compositions of lipids preserved in prehistoric pottery with faunal analyses of taxonomic composition from the earliest farming sites in southeast Europe to reconstruct this pivotal event in the early history of animal husbandry. We observe a marked divergence between the (sub)Mediterranean and temperate regions of Southeast Europe, and in particular a significant increase of dairying in the biochemical record coupled with a shift to cattle and wild fauna at most sites north of the Balkan mountain range. The findings strongly suggest that dairying was crucial for the expansion of the earliest farming system beyond its native bioclimatic zone.
Until recently the Nigerian Nok Culture had primarily been known for its terracotta sculptures and the existence of iron metallurgy, providing some of the earliest evidence for artistic sculpting and iron working in sub-Saharan Africa. Research was resumed in 2005 to understand the Nok Culture phenomenon, employing a holistic approach in which the sculptures and iron metallurgy remain central, but which likewise covers other archaeological aspects including chronology, settlement patterns, economy, and the environment as key research themes. In the beginning of this endeavour the development of social complexity during the duration of the Nok Culture constituted a focal point. However, after nearly ten years of research and an abundance of new data the initial hypothesis can no longer be maintained. Rather than attributes of social complexity like signs of inequality, hierarchy, nucleation of settlement systems, communal and public monuments, or alternative African versions of complexity discussed in recent years, it has become apparent that the Nok Culture, no matter which concept is followed, developed complexity only in terms of ritual. Relevant information and arguments for the transition of the theoretical background are provided here.
Rezension zu: H.-M. von Kaenel and F. Kemmers (eds.). 2009. Coins in Context I: New Perspectives for the Interpretation of Coin Finds. Studien zu Fundmünzen der Antike 23 (Mainz: von Zabern).
Responding to studies on prejudice in the Greco-Roman world, E. Gruen argues that Greeks and Romans had more nuanced and complex opinions about foreigners than often recognized. G. observes that the Greek and Romans could discover or invent links with these other societies through cultural appropriations of the past. These connections, G. contends, show that the Greeks and Romans cannot be ‘blanketed’ with xenophobia, ethnocentrism, and “let alone racism” (p. 3). G. argues that the Greeks and Romans were more interested in drawing connections with the other through cultural appropriation. G. contends that this approach reveals a positive outlook which does not reject or degrade the foreign other.
“Shades” of Postmortem Personal Identity: ψυχή καὶ εἴδωλον in the Dream Passage (Il. 23.103-104)
(2013)
In a recent contribution entitled, “Homer’s Challenge to Philosophical Psychology,” Fred Miller proposes an “aporetic approach” to the Homeric poems. That is to say, a close reading of the epics reveals “serious aporiai,” at least insofar as philosophical consistency is concerned. Homeric readers, ancient and modern alike, have found irreconcilably-different answers to our perennial questions about humanity and divinity, fate and free will. To his credit, Miller rightly relieves Homer of an undue burden – viz., that of addressing the philosophical problems of later generations. “The analysis of concepts and the resolution of aporiai”: these are, as Miller notes, definitively not the priorities of an epic bard. Instead, such poets, working freely within the parameters of their oral traditions, understandably use language in ways not strictly-philosophical. Ultimately, Miller wants to argue that the ambiguities of Homer’s poetic language hastened Greece’s philosophical awakening...
It has become increasingly apparent over the last decades that cooking pottery played a considerable role as a trade commodity in ancient times, yet relatively little research has yet been done on this topic for its own sake. By taking a closer look at the cooking pottery found in Priene, a small city in southern Ionia re-founded in the middle of the 4th century BCE, we want to trace some of the broader developments within the cooking wares that were used over a period of roughly 300 years. The aim is not only to outline the general shapes that were in use over this period of time, but also to register if and how these shapes correlate with the different fabrics observed in Priene so far.
Buff, red, grey – these are common descriptions of pottery in archaeology. Colour is usually part of the recording of ceramic data, but these data are rarely used for more than the most general characterisation of pottery. Despite hesitations concerning the subjective nature of these observations and other factors involved in colour notation, is has been shown that the data can lead the way to broader interpretations, and careful recording with a standardised system such as the Munsell colour charts may reduce the effects of personal perception. A sample of colour notations of pottery from Tell Mozan, Syria, is presented here as an example of the possibilities; it is hoped that this study will provide comparative data for other sites in the region.
"Shades" of postmortem personal identity : ψυχή καὶ εἴδωλον in the dream passage (Il. 23.103-104)
(2013)
The paper focuses on the problems of a juridical classification and evaluation of Ancient Near Eastern treaties with regard to the question if there existed an Ancient Near Eastern International Law or not. Alternatively treaties and their content are looked at uncommitted as mechanisms of conflict and dispute resolution. Main aspects are preliminary and prophylactic conflict resolution in treaties and the procedural context and efficiency of treaties.
The goals of this exercise are essentially threefold: (1) to rescrutinize, archaeologically, epigraphically and linguistically, the pre-Roman inscriptions of the justly famous Negau A and B helmets, (2) to identify "eastward graphemic drift" in preRoman northern Italy and (3) to reconsider and perhaps identify the origin of the Germanic runes in light of (1) and (2). While moving toward these goals, we cite but a sampling of the burgeoning literature, some of which may not be generally known or easily accessible, in these rapidly expanding venues; see Ellis (1998) for a recent overview in English.
Several types of symbolic weapons are portrayed in the hands of divinities on the most diverse artistic works of the third millennium, such as maces or sceptres, daggers, spears. hows and arrows. There is also a weapon which has a form similar to a sickle. Data referring to it may be found - in addition to the representations - in written sources. We learn from the Cy1. «A» of Gudea that the king, the en-priest of Ningirsu, was the first to reach the cedar mountains and fell the cedars with his big axe. He then made the SAR.UR, the «Floodstorm Weapon» of his god, the right hand of Lagas. The inscription of statue «B» tells us the Same. When Gudea built the temple of Ningirsu, the god aided him in reaching the cedar mountains from which he took gigantic logs to make a weapon for his god: the SAR.UR, having the power ofa flood storm and the SAR.GAZ, a mace with seven copper knobs.
This study is part of a larger work whose aim is to examine the historical significance of the tens of thousands of Islamic silver coins or dirhams which appeared in Eastern Europe during the pre-Mongol era. The first part of this work explored the questions of when and how dirhams first reached European Russia. Very briefly, this initial study led to the following conclusions: 1. Dirhams first reached Eastern Europe about 800 A.D., as R. Fasmer (Vasmer) argued a half-century ago. 2. The earliest dirham hoards from Eastern Europe are almost identical in composition with contemporaneous Near Eastern hoards (both contain a predominance of 'Abbasid coins struck after 769 in Iraq and North Africa). This suggests that the earliest Eastern-European hoards were composed from the Near-Eastern coin stock of the time. 3. The earliest dirham hoards from Eastern Europe are completely different in composition from the contemporaneous hoards found in Transoxiana indicating that the earliest dirhams to reach Eastern Europe did not come via Central Asia. 4. An analysis of the early Caucasian dirham hoards revealed that the composition of some of these hoards differs from that of Eastern-European and Near-Eastern hoards in that the Caucasian hoards contain a higher percentage of dirhams from South-Caucasian mints and a lesser percentage of coins from North-African mints. This suggests that these hoards were composed of dirhams imported from the Near East which had circulated in the Southern Caucasus for some time before being deposited. 5. Other early dirham hoards from the Caucasus, however, are very similar in composition to contemporaneous Near-Eastern and Eastern-European dirham hoards. This suggests that these hoards were composed of coins which were apparently being transported to Eastern Europe from the Near East and were buried accidentally while in route through the Caucasus. In short, the first segment of this research concluded that dirhams began to reach Eastern Europe around the year 800 and that they were imported by the Caucasus or Caspian route from the Near East. The purpose of this study is to investigate the historical circumstances which would explain why dirhams were first brought by the Caucasus or Caspian route to Eastern Europe in the early ninth century. It is pertinent to note that, to the best of my knowledge"no one has yet addressed this fundamental question in any depth. Consequently, in discussing this issue, it is not our intention to claim that the thesis which will be put forward is irrefutable or that no other thesis could explain the available data. Rather, the objective is to raise the question of why dirhams first reached Eastern Europe around 800 A.D. by the Caucasus-Caspian route and to suggest a possible solution. This study should thus be considered as the presentation of a working hypothesis which will hopefully inspire others to examine a basic question of medieval Eurasian history which has been too long ignored.
Rezension zu: Raimon Graells i Fabregat (Coord.), El valor social i comercial de la vaixella metàllica al Mediterrani centre-occidental durant la protohitòria in: Revista d’Arqueologia de Ponent 16-17, 2006-2007, 257-340 <81 pages, 65 illustrations. Edited by Secció d’Arqueologia, Prehistoria i Història Antiga, Departament d’Història, Facultat de Lletres, Universitat de Lleida. ISSN: 1131-883-X>