A Bayesian 14C chronology of Early and Middle Bronze Age in Sicily. Towards an independent absolute dating

Gianmarco Alberti

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.08.014

Challenging the Traditional Chronological Framework of Funerary Rituals in the Meuse-Demer-Scheldt Region: 14C Results from the Site of Lummen-Meldert (Belgium)

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200049511 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 56 (02) ◽

pp. 461-468

Author(s):

Guy De Mulder ◽

Guido Creemers ◽

Mark Van Strydonck

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Size Number ◽

Specific Category ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Different Types ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Middle Iron Age

Archaeologists tend to use typochronological frameworks to date their sites. These are based on the appearance of certain cultural markers such as grave types or houseplans. In the Meuse-Demer-Scheldt region, a chronological framework is used for the cremation cemeteries from the Middle Bronze Age until the Late Iron Age based on the size, number, and presence of different types of cremation graves. Radiocarbon dating of cremated bone from the small cemetery at Lummen-Meldert dates this site to the Late Bronze Age. These results challenge the hypothesis that small cremation cemeteries with mostly “unurned” graves date to the Middle Iron Age. The cremation graves without an urn and grave goods are a specific category that has to be dated by absolute dating methods such as14C. The results also suggest a connection with the funerary traditions in the Atlantic region.

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Challenging the Traditional Chronological Framework of Funerary Rituals in the Meuse-Demer-Scheldt Region: 14C Results from the Site of Lummen-Meldert (Belgium)

Radiocarbon ◽

10.2458/56.16948 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 461-468 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Guy De Mulder ◽

Guido Creemers ◽

Mark Van Strydonck

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Size Number ◽

Specific Category ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Different Types ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Middle Iron Age

Archaeologists tend to use typochronological frameworks to date their sites. These are based on the appearance of certain cultural markers such as grave types or houseplans. In the Meuse-Demer-Scheldt region, a chronological framework is used for the cremation cemeteries from the Middle Bronze Age until the Late Iron Age based on the size, number, and presence of different types of cremation graves. Radiocarbon dating of cremated bone from the small cemetery at Lummen-Meldert dates this site to the Late Bronze Age. These results challenge the hypothesis that small cremation cemeteries with mostly “unurned” graves date to the Middle Iron Age. The cremation graves without an urn and grave goods are a specific category that has to be dated by absolute dating methods such as 14C. The results also suggest a connection with the funerary traditions in the Atlantic region.

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Radiocarbon Evidence from the Middle Bronze Age Settlement At Portella (Aeolian Islands, Italy): Chronological and Archaeological Implications

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200034317 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Gianmarco Alberti

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Bayesian Model ◽

Aeolian Islands ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

The Absolute ◽

Aeolian Archipelago

This paper deals with radiocarbon determinations from the Middle Bronze Age site of Portella on the island of Salina (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy). The available14C evidence is taken into account, in a simple Bayesian model, in order to explore the issue of the absolute chronology of both the settlement and the stage of the local cultural sequence to which Portella belongs. A high date is proposed for the start of the Aeolian (and Sicilian) Middle Bronze Age: 1556–1422 cal BC (95.4% confidence), with a a most likely (modal) date of about 1450 cal BC. Further, the analysis suggests that the Portella phase is likely to have been a very short one, with a span of 0–65 yr (68.2%) or 0–131 yr (95.4%). The archaeological implications are explored. The relation of these results to the evidence of ceramic phasing is also considered. Since Aegean datable ceramic imports are documented in Aeolian/Sicilian Middle Bronze Age contexts, the connection between Portella's chronology and the absolute dating of one of the Aegean phases (namely, Late Helladic IIIA1) is also investigated.

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Absolute Dating of the Gihon Spring Fortifications, Jerusalem

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/rdc.2017.37 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 59 (4) ◽

pp. 1171-1193 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Johanna Regev ◽

Joe Uziel ◽

Nahshon Szanton ◽

Elisabetta Boaretto

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Water Source ◽

The Other ◽

Iron Age Ii ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Absolute Dating

AbstractOne of the most impressive structures in Jerusalem’s ancient landscape is the tower that was built to surround and protect the Gihon Spring, Jerusalem’s perennial water source. The structure, first discovered by Reich and Shukron (2004), encompasses the cave in which the spring sprouts from, with walls 7 m thick built of large boulders. The Spring Tower, along with the other features relating to it, were all attributed to the Middle Bronze Age II, based on their architectural and stratigraphical relationship, the type of architecture, and the pottery found. In the continued excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority along the outer, eastern face of the Spring Tower, it was noted that at least the northeast side of the tower was not built on bedrock, but rather on layers of sediment, which were sealed by the massive boulders at the base of the tower. In order to provide an absolute dating for the structure, two sections were sampled for radiocarbon (14C) dating beneath the foundation stones at two locations. Scenarios for the construction of the tower during Middle Bronze Age (MB) and Iron Age II are considered, based on the new 14C data, yielding a series of dates, the latest of which falls in the terminal phases of the 9th century BCE, alongside previous excavation data.

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