scholarly journals Manufacture, use and management of macro-lithic resources in the Bronze Age settlement of Bruszczewo (Poland)

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Selina Delgado-Raack ◽  
Jutta Kneisel ◽  
Janusz Czebreszuk ◽  
Johannes Müller
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Metal Artefacts ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Archaeological Materials

Contrary to pottery or metal artefacts, macro-lithic tools are still not fully integrated into the archaeological research programs concerning the Early Bronze Age of Central Europe. While such kind of archaeological materials usually do not easily allow typological approaches, their constant participation in several productive spheres makes them a crucial element for understanding the economic processes and the organisation of past societies. This paper presents the general results of the investigation carried out on an assemblage of 1073 macro-lithic items recovered in the wet soil area of the site of Bruszczewo (municipality of Śmigiel, Poland). This fortified settlement was inhabited during the Early Bronze Age (2100-1650 BCE) and later on in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (1100-800 BCE), with minor archaeological evidences from Middle Ages. The methodology applied in this assessment is a holistic one, which combines manufacturing (petrography and morphometry), functional (use-wear and residues) and spatial analyses. This approach has allowed recording a mainly local raw material supplying system, based on the gathering of pebbles in the vicinity of the site and a minimal transformation of raw pieces previous to use. Moreover, Bruszczewo comes out to be a central settlement managing and controlling exogenous ores, such as copper and gold, as shown by residues found on some macro-lithic forging anvils. All in all, the recognition in the macro-lithic tool assemblage of different tasks related to subsistence (food preparation) as well as to manufacture (metallurgy, probably bone working) processes contributes to (a) defining the settlement's organisation and the management of resources in the site and (b) improving our understanding of the role played by central settlements in the socio-economic networks, at a time when the first class societies emerged in Central Europe.

The Expansion of Settlement (1100–250 BC)

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bradley ◽  
Colin Haselgrove ◽  
Marc Vander Linden ◽  
Leo Webley
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Basic Unit ◽  
Funerary Monuments ◽  
Main Metal ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
Metal Artefacts ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

The previous chapter addressed an important period of change, but this would not have been apparent to the scholars who devised the Three Age Model. The most important developments between 1600 and 1100 BC were most clearly evidenced in the ancient landscape and registered to a smaller extent by the metalwork finds on which the traditional scheme depends. The same is true of the evidence considered in this chapter, for it cuts across the conventional distinction between the Bronze and Iron Ages. It begins in a period when bronze was still the main metal, but also considers a time when a new kind of raw material was employed. Similarly, it ends part way through the phase usually characterized as ‘Iron Age’, so that the drastic economic and political transformations that communities experienced in the late first millennium BC can be considered separately. These provide the subject of Chapter 7. By the late Bronze Age, evidence for settlements and houses is fairly abundant, and some sparsely used parts of the landscape were occupied for the first. This expansion—which continued into the Iron Age—is associated with new agricultural techniques and a wider range of crops. The nature of settlements suggests an emphasis on small household groups as the basic unit of society. New kinds of focal sites also appeared, which may have been used for assemblies and public ceremony. They include hillforts in upland regions, while other communal centres may have played the same role in lowland areas. Meanwhile, the trend towards less elaborate burial practices that had begun during the middle Bronze Age spread increasingly widely. Investment in funerary monuments was generally modest, and mortuary rituals displayed social distinctions in relatively subtle ways. While prestige objects were rarely placed with the dead, the deposition of metalwork in rivers and other places in the landscape increased. These metal artefacts have provided the basis for studies of long-distance interaction, and their styles have been used to define three geographically extensive traditions, in Atlantic, Nordic, and central Europe. Other ritual practices that developed during this time involved feasting and cooking.

Holocene evolution of closed depressions and its relation to landscape dynamics in the loess areas of Poland

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Kołodyńska-Gawrysiak
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Landscape Dynamics ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Atlantic Period

Past Pleistocene topography of the loess uplands is rich in local sinks (closed depressions (CDs)) influencing sediment fluxes. Soil-sediment sequences from CDs constituting geoarchives where landscape changes under natural and anthropogenic conditions have been recorded. Pedo-sedimentary archives from 10 CDs in the Polish loess belt and human settlements were analysed. Phases of the Holocene evolution of the CDs were correlated with landscape dynamics in loess areas in Poland and Central Europe. Phases of infilling of CDs occurring (2) from the late Boreal/early Atlantic Period until the (middle) late Bronze Age/early Iron Age and (4) since the early Middle Ages until today were documented. These were phases of long-term soil erosion and colluviation corresponding to the increasing agricultural land use of Polish loess uplands. Phases of soil formation related to geomorphic stabilization of CDs occurred (1) from the late Vistulian until the late Boreal/early Atlantic Period and (3) from the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age until the early/high Middle Ages. These were phases of decreased soil erosion and landform conservation in a considerable part of Poland’s loess areas. Pedo-sedimentary archives from the CDs have recorded soil erosion strongly related with human-induced land-use changes. The mean soil erosion rate in the catchment of CDs was 0.33 t·ha−1·yr−1 during prehistory and 4.0 t·ha−1·yr−1 during the last approximately 1000 years. Phases of CD evolution are representative for the main phases of sediment and landscape dynamics in Poland’s loess areas recorded in various archives, and are not synchronous with some of these phases in Central Europe.

scholarly journals Prehistoric copper from the Eastern Alps

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Lutz ◽  
Ernst Pernicka
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Eastern Alps ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Copper Production ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Metal Artifacts ◽  
Metal Artefacts

The rich copper ore deposits in the Eastern Alps have long been considered as important sources for copper in prehistoric Central Europe. It is, however, not so clear which role each deposit played. To evaluate the amount of prehistoric copper production of the various mining regions it was attempted to link prehistoric metal artefacts with copper ores based on the geochemical characteristics of the ore deposits that have been exploited in ancient times. More than 120 ore samples from the well known mining districts Mitterberg, Viehhofen, Kitzbühel and Schwaz/Brixlegg have been analysed so far (lead isotope ratios, trace elements). Furthermore, about 730 archaeological copper/bronze artifacts were investigated and analysed. These results were combined with analytical data generated by previous archaeometallurgical projects in order to compile a substantial database for comparative studies. In the Early Bronze Age, most metal artifacts were made of copper or bronze with fahlore impurity patterns and most finds from this period match excellently the fahlore deposits in Schwaz and Brixlegg. At the end of the Early Bronze Age, a new variety of copper with lower concentrations of impurities appeared. The impurity patterns of these finds match the ores from the Mitterberg district. In the Middle Bronze Age, this variety of copper Dominated while in the Late Bronze Age fahlores from Schwaz and Brixlegg experienced a comeback. The reason for this may be a decline of the chalcopyrite mines or a rising demand for copper which could not be covered by the chalcopyrite mines alone. The finds of the Early Iron Age are of similar composition and continue the traditions of the Late Bronze Age.

scholarly journals Post-Neolithic occupation in Tunel Wielki Cave (southern Poland)

2020 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 17-39
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Kot ◽  
Michal Wojenka ◽  
Grzegorz Czajka ◽  
Bartosz Kontny ◽  
Natalia Gryczewska
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Se Poland ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Intensive Use

Post-Neolithic cave occupation in Poland remains insufficiently recognised. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the analysis of pottery and metal objects discovered in Tunel Wielki Cave (Ojców area, SE Poland). The artefacts were collected during three fieldwork campaigns in 1967–68 and 2018. The results show that the cave was occupied at least several times. The most ephemeral settlement traces can be dated to the Early Bronze Age and these may be related to the Trzciniec culture. The site was more intensively used in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age by communities representing the Lusatian culture. Roman Period artefacts are very scarce. Traces of most intensive use of the cave come from the Middle Ages. One can determine artefacts conditionally dated from the 11th to the 12th century, as well as younger objects, dated to the 13th − early 14th c. Single pieces of pottery can be attributed to the Modern period. The obtained results point to multiple short-term visits. The cave fill does not bear traces of permanent occupation during the Post-Neolithic period.

scholarly journals The results of the technical-technological analysis of Grenada camp ceramics (Central Kazakhstan)

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-72
Author(s):  
Valeriy Grigoryevich Loman
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Ceramic Production ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Late Chalcolithic ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Technological Analysis

One of the problems in archaeology of Kazakhstan is the uneven study of the sites belonging to different epochs. For example, in Central Kazakhstan there is a clear bias towards the study of antiquities of the middle and late Bronze Ages, Early Iron Age and Middle Ages. The study of the Stone Age stopped since the 90-es of XX century, the Early Bronze Age is practically not investigated. This article publishes the results of technical-technological analysis of the ceramics of the Grenada camp (Karaganda, Kazakhstan) dated from the late Chalcolithic to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. Author studied raw materials (three kinds), the clay paste composition (six recipes), the features of the design of the beginning (two programs) and the hollow body. The diversity of pottery traditions, marked for all levels of ceramic production, speaks of the heterogeneous composition of the camp population. The vessels belonged at least to two groups of different origin. Mixed recipes with gruss and grog in the presence of pure demonstrate this process of cultural mixing that took place within the camp. The conclusion is made that the materials of the Grenada camp, including the features of pottery traditions, reflect the complexity of the cultural-historical processes that have taken place in the territory of the Central Kazakhstan in the end of Chalcolithic - in the beginning of Early Bronze Age.

scholarly journals The Southeastern Sindica Frontier: The Raevskoye Fortified Settlement

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
A. A. Malyshev ◽  
V. S. Batchenko
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Long Period ◽  
High Middle Ages ◽  
Political Center ◽  
History Of

The expansion of the Bosporan Kingdom (the interior colonization of Bosporus) was caused by the need for commercial grain in the Greek markets of the Mediterranean. The steep rise in the Bosporan rulers’ incomes followed the annexation of Sindica—one of the most fertile lands of the Northern Pontic region, situated in the Lower Kuban basin. This study discusses the history of the vast chora of the Greek Gorhippia in the southeastern fringes of Sindica, focusing on findings from a Bosporan fort—the Raevskoye fortified settlement. We reconstruct the evolution of the anthropogenic landscape of the area over four centuries (Hellenistic and Early Roman period). The chronology is based on a collection of Bosporan coins from the fortified settlement. We analyze the factors due to which the habitation layers of the fortified settlement span a period from the Early Bronze Age to the High Middle Ages. We provide a new topography of the Early Iron Age aboriginal site, along with that of the fortified site existing during the three Bosporan stages. Special attention is paid to the fortification system, arranged in the Hellenistic period. Studies in recent decades have suggested that the fortifications were constructed according to the typical Bosporan technique of adobe-stone architecture. The fortified settlement evolved over a long period as an economic and political center of a large borderland zone between the Greek civilization and the archaic societies of the Caucasian piedmonta peculiar frontier of the classical era.

MULTILAYER CAVE SITES IN RAVINES CHERKEZ-KERMEN AND ZAMIL IN THE CRIMEA

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (72) (3) ◽  
pp. 149-166
Author(s):  
M. Zhilin ◽  
V. Ruev ◽  
A. Simonenko
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Late 19Th Century ◽  
The Crimea ◽  
Cultural Layers ◽  
Late Mesolithic

The article sums up available data about excavations of multilayer cave sites in ravines Zamil and The sites Zamil-Koba 1and 2 were discovered and excavated by D. A. Krainov in 1935–1937. The former yielded two cultural layers dated to the Early and Late Mesolithic, and the latter yielded besides these two also layers dated to the Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, Early Iron Age and Middle Ages. Excavations of ZamilKoba 3 site carried out in 2020 yielded two cultural layers dated to the Late Mesolithic and Middle Ages. Directions of future multidisciplinary research of multilayer cave sites in the Zamil ravine are outlined.Cherkez-Kermen in the South-Western Crimea. The latter were excavated in the late 19th century.

scholarly journals Microwear analysis of small recycled flakes and recycling products from the Ein-Zippori site, Lower Galilee, Israel

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Yerkes ◽  
Yoni Parush ◽  
Avi Gopher ◽  
Ran Barkai
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Lower Paleolithic ◽  
Microwear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Lithic Raw Material

A microwear analysis of recycled lithic artefacts from late Pottery Neolithic Wadi Rabah and Early Bronze Age layers at Ein-Zippori, Israel included cores-on-flakes (COFs) which are discarded blanks made into cores, and the flakes detached from them. COFs may have microwear traces that formed before they were recycled. The focus here is on how blanks removed from recycled COFs were used. Discarded flakes were not used as cores to produce small blanks at Ein-Zippori because lithic raw material was scarce, but were COFs recycled so that small tools could be produced for specific tasks? Visible wear traces were present on 19 of 44 blanks produced from COFs. Microwear traces were similar to use wear Lemorini et al. (2015) observed on much older Lower Paleolithic recycled flakes from Qesem Cave, Israel. Most flakes struck from COFs had been used to cut and scrape meat and fresh hide (42%, n=8), but four were used to work wood (21%) and four others were used to cut, scrape, or whittle bone and wood (21%), and two were used for butchering and wood working (11%). One flake only had generic weak microwear traces (5%). These were expedient flake tools, made and used in an ad hoc fashion. Specific blanks do not seem to have been used for distinct tasks.

scholarly journals The function of the south-Levantine Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age basalt vessels bearing circumferential depressions: Insights from use-wear analyses

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252535
Author(s):  
Karolina Hruby ◽  
Marzena Cendrowska ◽  
Rivka Chasan ◽  
Iris Groman-Yaroslavski ◽  
Danny Rosenberg
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Processed Material ◽  
Exact Function ◽  
Late Chalcolithic ◽  
Basalt Vessels

One of the most characteristic aspects of the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods in the southern Levant is the appearance of large assemblages of basalt vessels. These vessels, frequently meticulously made, appear sometimes a considerable distance from the raw material sources and are found mainly at habitation sites. While these and their prestigious value have been widely discussed in the past, their function is still obscure. In the current paper, we address their functionality through microscopic use-wear analysis. Emphasis was placed on basalt vessels with a distinct wear pattern–circumferential depressions, which appear along the perimeter of their interior bases. The documented traces were compared to results of an experimental study we conducted to characterize the effects of abrasion, grinding, and lubrication on basalt surfaces. The results of the comparative experimental study suggest that the circumferential depression was formed from a repetitive rotational activity using a narrow-ended tool. Further, it seems that two material types acted in combination as the circling device and processed material. One was hard and abrasive, such as stone, and the other was semi-resilient, such as wood or mineral powder. Water was likely used as a lubricant in the rotational process. While the actual function of the bowls bearing the circumferential depressions is not entirely clear, the use-wear analyses suggest that they may have been devices involved in craft industries, used for processing materials unrelated to food (minerals in particular). Whatever the exact function was, it clear that this use continued from the Chalcolithic through the Early Bronze Age, providing evidence for functional continuity between these two periods.

The bronze headbands of Prehistoric Lofkënd and their Aegean and Balkan connections

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 33-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
John K. Papadopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
Young Females ◽  
The Many ◽  
Votive Offerings

This paper begins with an overview of the bronze headbands from the prehistoric (Late Bronze to Early Iron Age) burial tumulus of Lofkënd in Albania, which were found among the richest tombs of the cemetery, all of them of young females or children. It is argued that these individuals represent a class of the special dead, those who have not attained a critical rite de passage: marriage. In their funerary attire these individuals go to the grave as brides, married to death. The significance of the Lofkënd headbands is reviewed, as is their shape and decoration, but it is their context that contributes to a better understanding of Aegean examples, including the many bronze, gold, and silver headbands found in tombs from the Early Bronze Age through the Early Iron Age, as well as those dedicated as votive offerings in sanctuaries. In addition to discussing the evidence for headbands in the Aegean and much of southeast Europe, this paper also attempts to uncover the word used in this early period in Greece for these distinctive items of personal ornament. In memory of Berit Wells.

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