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

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-279 ◽  
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.

The first religious buildings: ‘sacred huts’

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.

Research on the Hungarian Bronze Age since 1936 and the Bronze-Age Settlement at Békés-Várdomb

1956 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 123-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Banner
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
The State ◽  
Detailed Account ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Modern Approach ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
At Home

The state of current knowledge on the Bronze Age in Hungary, was summed up twenty years ago by Dr Francis Tompa, who had by then written several shorter studies on the subject, and had excavated a number of cemeteries and settlements. His summary defined the modern approach to the Bronze Age in Hungary though his conclusions have since been modified in detail by later explorers. How fruitful his work proved to be was shown by the interest of critics abroad and by the fact that research at home took a sudden upward swing.A few years later Dr Paul Patay published a study in which he came to somewhat different conclusions on the chronology of the Early Bronze Age; he also gave a detailed account of the various cultures that must have shaped the course of the Bronze Age in Hungary and in this he was substantially in agreement with Dr Francis Tompa.Dr Amelia Mozsolics dealt with chronological problems of the Bronze Age in Hungary, but had not yet reached satisfactory newer conclusions. Her paper was published only in Hungarian. She presented a useful summary of the history of her subject, and at the same time sharply criticized the views held by foreign and Hungarian experts on the Bronze Age.

scholarly journals VEGETATION AND CLIMATE OF THE ISET-TOBOL INTERFLUVE FROM THE ENEOLITHIC TO THE EARLY IRON AGE: NEW PALAEOECOLOGICAL DATA ON THE OSKINO-09 SWAMP

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
E.D. Nasonova ◽  
N.E. Ryabogina ◽  
A.S. Afonin ◽  
S.N. Ivanov ◽  
A.A. Tkachev
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Pollen Data ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Birch Forests

The article analyses new data, which provides the opportunity to reconstruct the natural environment of peo-ple in the Tobol area (forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia) in the 3rd–1st millennia BC. The authors consider the issue associated with the consistency between off-site pollen data and on-site palynological data, as well as how correctly they reflect natural conditions defining the living environment of the ancient population. Materials for the study were obtained from the Oskino-09 swamp-lake located near the confluence of the Iset and Tobol Rivers in the immediate vicinity of a multilayer settlement (Oskino Boloto). The age of swamp-lake sediments was de-termined using an age-depth model developed on the basis of AMS dates. In this study, the authors analysed pollen and plant macro-remains, as well as the indicators of economic activity (non-pollen palynomorphs, weed pollen). The analysis of stratigraphy, the composition of plant macro-remains and local pollen revealed that up to 1.2 cal ka BC the water body in question was developing as a fresh lake, which allowed the inhabitants of the Oskino Boloto settlement to use it for fishing and as a source of water in the Eneolithic and in the Bronze Age. Its transformation into a swamp occurred in 1.1–0.8 cal ka BC, which coincided with the transition period from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. During the study period, the swamp-lake and the settlement were surrounded by forests confined to the terraces of the Iset River; starting from the middle of the Eneolithic, birch-pine forests ap-peared in the vicinity. However, pine forests were actively replaced with birch forests at the beginning of the Bronze Age; evidently, warmer temperatures and higher humidity resulted in the appearance of deciduous trees. Most of the Bronze Age is associated with a gradual decrease in humidity, with the signs of an increase in the water table level and the active expansion of birch forests being observed only at the turn of the Bronze and Iron Ages. A new stage of coniferous forest expansion in the Early Iron Age (ca 0.8 cal ka BС) is probably associated with a low level of the water table, as well as with a general fall in the temperature. The natural environment at the beginning of the Early Iron Age is very similar to that at the end of the Eneolithic. New data indicate that there were no completely treeless areas in the studied interval; forests always grew along river terraces. However, most of the settlements located nearby in the Ingala Valley were confined to open meadow-steppe areas forming an inhabited landscape. Despite the differences in the off-site pollen data obtained from the swamp and the on-site data, these data reveal similar trends in climatic changes in the 3rd–1st millennia BC.

scholarly journals Neolithic Thessaly: radiocarbon dated periods and phases

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 34-53 ◽  
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.

Prehistoric Cyprus: fieldwork and research, 2003–2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 81-108
Author(s):  
Angelos Papadopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Detailed Survey ◽  
The Bronze Age

The aim of this overview is to present a detailed survey of the major fieldwork and relevant research on the Neolithic and Bronze Age of Cyprus that took place between 2003 and 2020. This presentation is not meant to be exhaustive, as almost two decades of excavations, surface surveys and publications cannot be covered fully in a review of this length. The following discussion is divided geographically and chronologically, starting with the Neolithic period and moving through to the end of the Bronze Age. It focuses on settlement patterns, aspects of chronology and the roles of mining and seafaring, via fieldwork, conferences, research projects and their subsequent publications.

scholarly journals The Early Aegean Civilization in Italy

1907 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 405-422
Author(s):  
T. E. Peet
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
The Bronze Age

It may be well to begin by defining the period with which this paper attempts to deal. It is the whole of the Neolithic period in the Aegean, together with that part of the Bronze Age which is prior to the appearance of the style of pottery to which the name Mycenaean was, and is still usually given. With this true Mycenaean period, corresponding to Late Minoan III in Crete, we are not here concerned. Suffice it to say that in various parts of Italy and Sicily, vases, bronzes, and other objects have been found which must have been imported from some centre of this Mycenaean civilization. What is more difficult is to find proofs of connexion between Italy and the Aegean previous to this date, i.e. during the period covered by the eight metres of Neolithic deposit on the Palace Hill at Knossos, and by the succeeding Minoan periods down to, and including Late Minoan II.

Some Problems Concerning China's Early Copper and Bronze Artifacts

Early China ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 53-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia K. Murray ◽  
An Zhimin
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Shang Dynasty ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Slave Society ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Bronze Age

(Translator's Note: This article originally appeared in Kaogu Xuebao 1981.3: 269-284, and is translated with the author's permission.)I. The appearance of metal is a very important event in human history, marking the start of an age. From the patriarchal clan communes of the late Neolithic period to the slave society of the Bronze Age, there was a great change in the relationship between social development and production. As a result, the origin and development of metal-working is one of the important issues in archaeological research (p. 269).Early in the Shang dynasty, China had already advanced into slave society, and its brilliant bronze culture is an outstanding phenomenon in the history of the ancient world. Shang civilization evolved from Longshan foundations, and there is ample archaeological proof of the close relationship between the two. But from what origins did Shang bronze arise? Before the Shang, was there an aeneolithic period in which copper was used? These questions have not yet been satisfactorily answered. Since 1949 the new discoveries of copper objects and of bronze objects belonging to an early period have contributed important clues to the solution of these problems.

scholarly journals Some Balkan and Danubian Connexions of Troy

1919 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 185-201
Author(s):  
Ida Carleton Thallon
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Near East ◽  
Single Site ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Northern Limit ◽  
The West ◽  
Aegean Area ◽  
The North ◽  
The Bronze Age

Prehistoric research shows us that in the troubled section of Europe known as the Near East there existed as early as the neolithic period several culture groups which may be classified under four heads as follows:—(1) The Aegean, Minoan-Mycenaean group.(2) The Thessalian.(3) The Upper Balkan and Danubian.(4) The South Russian and allied groups.The first of these is so familiar that we need only emphasize its continuity from the neolithic period through the Bronze Age, and the fact that, although eventually it was widely diffused through the Mediterranean from Spain to Cyprus and the coast of Palestine, in the Aegean area itself the northern limit on the west coast was Thessaly, which it reached in the L. M. period, and on the opposite shore the single site toward the north is Troy, where L. M. is contemporary with the VIth city. The sporadic examples on the coast from Thessaly to Troy are very late and apparently had little influence.The excavations by Messrs. Wace and Thompson in prehistoric Thessaly, which included considerably more than one hundred sites, have led them to differentiate a large number of styles of pottery, including red monochrome, red or black incised, or else painted either light on dark or dark on light in many varieties. The designs are predominantly rectilinear and more closely akin to the northern groups than to the Minoan.

Prehistoric Crop Cultivation in Southern England: A Reconsideration

1976 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Dennell
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Crop Cultivation ◽  
Southern England ◽  
Main Crop ◽  
Staple Crops ◽  
Crop Agriculture ◽  
The Bronze Age

SummaryThis article re-examines Helbaek's (1952) conclusion that wheat was the main crop in southern England during the Neolithic and Iron Age, but that barley was the main cultigen in the Bronze Age. It is shown that the grain impressions from Windmill Hill, which form most of our data on Neolithic crop agriculture, represent a mixture of two crop economies which were practised in ecologically dissimilar regions. The suggestion is made that both wheat and barley were staple crops in different areas of southern England from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. There is no evidence that the importance of either cultigen changed over this period.

scholarly journals Neolithic Thessaly: radiocarbon dated periods and phases

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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