scholarly journals The New Swedish Cyprus Expedition 2019: Excavations at Hala Sultan Tekke (The Söderberg Expedition). Preliminary results, with contributions by L. Recht, B. Placiente Robedizo, C. Eriksson, L. Andersson, M. Svensson, L. Avial Chicharro, S. Hermon, M. Polig, & D. Kofel

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 73-111
Author(s):  
Peter M. Fischer ◽  
Teresa Bürge ◽  
Laerke Recht ◽  
Bebelyn Placiente Robedizo ◽  
Cecilia Eriksson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
City Wall ◽  
14Th Century ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City ◽  
Large Compound

The tenth season of excavations at the Late Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke was carried out in four areas: City Quarter 1 (CQ1), CQ4, City Wall 1 (CW1), and Area A (Tomb RR). The excavations in CQ1 provided additional information on the pre-LC IIIA occupation of the city. Stratum 3 which can be dated to the LC IIC (13th century BC) was further exposed. For the first time in the city even older phases, Strata 4 and 5, were found. These are tentatively dated to the LC I–II (15th to 14th century BC). In CQ4 numerous storage areas were exposed, which belong to a large compound. There is also evidence of production of textiles and purple dye. All remains can be associated to the most recent Stratum 1 and can be securely dated in the LC IIIA, i.e. the 12th century BC. A test trench (CW1) was opened up 150 m to the south-east of CQ4, in an area where the magnetometer survey indicated a possible city wall with moat. A c. 2.5 m-wide man-made construction consisting of small stones intermingled with larger blocks of stones was found running north–south. Built against the interior of this structure is a copper-producing workshop as indicated by much slag, ash, and remains of a furnace, which is preliminarily dated to the 13th century BC. Tomb RR, which was partly excavated in 2018 and secured, was reopened and additional burials came to light. The total number of skeletons now stands at 37; these are associated with 74 complete/intact finds of mainly pottery vessels of which some contained food remains. The pottery comprises Cypriot-produced wares and Mycenaean imports, which indicate a LC IIB–C date of the burials. Other finds include a unique Minoan female figurine and a bronze knife with ivory handle.

Preliminary Radiocarbon Results for Late Bronze Age Strata at Tel Azekah and Their Implications

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyndelle C Webster ◽  
Omer Sergi ◽  
Sabine Kleiman ◽  
Oded Lipschits ◽  
Quan Hua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Region ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Existing Data ◽  
Good Agreement ◽  
Severe Destruction

AbstractThis article presents the first radiocarbon (14C) results from the Late Bronze Age levels of Tel Azekah (Israel). The results testify to the long and prosperous occupation of the site during this period, commencing at least in LB IIA and ending with a severe destruction at the close of LB III. In the extra-mural quarter (Area S2), a pre-monumental building phase (S2-6) dates to the 14th or early 13th century BCE. Two sub-phases of a public building constructed above this yielded dates in the second half of the 13th century and first two-thirds of the 12th century BCE, suggesting that occupation persisted through the “Crisis Years” of the eastern Mediterranean region. On the top of the mound, in Area T2, the destruction of the final LB III level (T2-3) most likely occurred near the end of the 12th century BCE. The preliminary Azekah results are in good agreement with existing data from Lachish and Megiddo, but seem at odds with results from nearby Tel es-Safi/Gath.

scholarly journals THE BEGINNING OF THE IRON AGE AT ARSLANTEPE: A 14C PERSPECTIVE

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Federico Manuelli ◽  
Cristiano Vignola ◽  
Fabio Marzaioli ◽  
Isabella Passariello ◽  
Filippo Terrasi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
High Precision ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Archaeological Data

ABSTRACT The Iron Age chronology at Arslantepe is the result of the interpretation of Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions and archaeological data coming from the site and its surrounding region. A new round of investigations of the Iron Age levels has been conducted at the site over the last 10 years. Preliminary results allowed the combination of the archaeological sequence with the historical events that extended from the collapse of the Late Bronze Age empires to the formation and development of the new Iron Age kingdoms. The integration into this picture of a new set of radiocarbon (14C) dates is aimed at establishing a more solid local chronology. High precision 14C dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and its correlation with archaeobotanical analysis and stratigraphic data are presented here with the purpose of improving our knowledge of the site’s history and to build a reliable absolute chronology of the Iron Age. The results show that the earliest level of the sequence dates to ca. the mid-13th century BC, implying that the site started developing a new set of relationships with the Levant already before the breakdown of the Hittite empire, entailing important historical implications for the Syro-Anatolian region at the end of the 2nd millennium BC.

An Examination of Deterioration Products Found on Tin Ingots Excavated from the 14th Century B.C., Late Bronze Age Shipwreck, The Ulu Burun, Near Kas, Turkey

2002 ◽  
Vol 712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Lipcsei ◽  
Alison Murray ◽  
Reginald Smith ◽  
Mahmut Savas
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Degradation Products ◽  
Corrosion Products ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
14Th Century ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Plasma Emission Spectroscopy ◽  
Underwater Sites

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to investigate the deterioration of tin ingots recovered from a late 14th century B.C. (Late Bronze Age) shipwreck off Ulu Burun (Kas) Turkey. As so little elemental tin has been excavated from underwater sites and preserved to date, the Ulu Burun ingots offer a unique opportunity to study the degradation products of ancient tin artifacts from a natural marine environment. The current investigation had three major objectives: to identify corrosion products; to confirm or refute the presence of ‘tin pest’, which has been asserted as one of the major reasons for the disintegration of the ingots and a topic of much controversy in the conservation and museum communities; and, finally, to contribute to the overall understanding of marine tin. The following instrumental techniques were used to analyze ingot samples: x-ray diffraction, atomic absorption, inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. The results of the analysis have identified corrosion products that are characteristic of the type of products anticipated on tin objects from a marine environment. The presence of the controversial tin pest disease was confirmed in two of the six samples tested. Sample preparation appears to be a potential factor in the determination of tin pest using XRD.

scholarly journals Alalakh: an account of the excavations at Tell Atchana in the Hatay, 1937–1949

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Woolley
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Gold Silver

This monograph describes large-scale excavations undertaken by Sir Leonard Woolley from 1937 to 1939, and again from 1946 to 1949, at the site of Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) – a late Bronze Age city in the Amuq River valley of Turkey's Hatay Province. Described is the evidence of a series of superimposed palaces and temples, town defences, private houses and graves, in 17 archaeological levels reaching from late Early Bronze Age (Level XVII, c. 2200–2000 BC to Late Bronze Age (Level 0, 13th century BC). Supplementary reports describe the architecture and frescoes, sculptures, and portable objects in fired clay, gold, silver, ivory, stone, and glass.

scholarly journals ATOP THE KADMEIA: MYCENAEAN ROOF TILES FROM THEBES IN CONTEXT

2020 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 175-245
Author(s):  
Vassilis L. Aravantinos ◽  
Ioannis Fappas ◽  
Yannis Galanakis
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Systematic Study ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Similar Material ◽  
Widespread Distribution ◽  
The Past ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
First Time

Questions were raised in the past regarding the use of Mycenaean tiles as ‘roof tiles’ on the basis of the small numbers of them recovered in excavations and their overall scarcity in Mycenaean domestic contexts. The investigation of the Theodorou plot in 2008 in the southern part of the Kadmeia hill at Thebes yielded the single and, so far, largest known assemblage per square metre of Mycenaean tiles from a well-documented excavation. This material allows, for the first time convincingly, to identify the existence of a Mycenaean tiled roof. This paper presents the results of our work on the Theodorou tiles, placing emphasis on their construction, form and modes of production, offering the most systematic study of Mycenaean tiles to date. It also revisits contexts of discovery of similar material from excavations across Thebes. Popular as tiles might have been in Boeotia, and despite their spatially widespread attestation, their use in Aegean Late Bronze Age architecture appears, on the whole, irregular with central Greece and the north-east Peloponnese being the regions with the most sites known to have yielded such objects. Mycenaean roof tiles date mostly from the mid- and late fourteenth century bc to the twelfth century bc. A study of their construction, form, production and contexts suggests that their role, apart from adding extra insulation, might have been one of signposting certain buildings in the landscape. We also present the idea that Mycenaean tile-making was guided by a particular conventional knowledge which was largely influenced by ceramic-related technologies (pottery- and drain-making). While production of roof tiles might have been palace-instigated to begin with, it does not appear to have been strictly controlled. This approach to Mycenaean tile-making may also help explain their uneven (in terms of intensity of use) yet widespread distribution.

Georgia before the Mongols

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen H. Rapp Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Southern Georgia ◽  
First Time ◽  
New Phase

Nestled in one of Eurasia’s most energetic crossroads, Georgia has a long and multifaceted history. The remains of Homo georgicus excavated at Dmanisi in southern Georgia belong to the oldest hominids yet discovered outside Africa. They have been reliably dated to 1.8 million years ago. Subsequent Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age sites are distributed throughout the region between the Black and Caspian Seas. But it is not until the early 1st millennium bce that the immediate ancestors of modern Georgians emerge in the historical record. Their attestation sharpens in the Achaemenid and early Hellenistic epochs. The peoples of Caucasia were thrust upon the Eurasian stage principally as a result of their associations with Iran. They were, at the same time, active members in the first Iranian Commonwealth, a massive cross-cultural enterprise stretching from Central Asia to the Balkans. Toward the end of the 4th century bce, the disruption triggered by Alexander’s conquest of Achaemenid Persia sparked the formation of a kingdom anchored in the eastern Georgian territory of Kʻartʻli (Iberia). Caucasia’s Iranian and especially Iranic (“Persianate”) cultures proved remarkably durable. The Irano-Caucasian nexus pushed into the medieval period, having endured the Christianization of the realms of Kʻartʻli, Armenia, and Caucasian Albania. As was the case elsewhere, Christianity’s long-term success hinged on its adaptation to the existing social pattern. Caucasia’s social landscape continued to be dominated by dynastic noble houses, but the hybrid Zoroastrianisms they had long favored were eclipsed by Christianity starting in the 4th century. Meanwhile, in western Georgia the polities based in Egrisi (cf. Greek Colchis) fell under the stronger influence of the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean. They too were brought into the Christian fold in late antiquity. The Kʻartʻvelian monarchy was abolished by the Sasanians circa 580 and remained in abeyance until 888. In the afterglow of the interregnum, the ascendant Bagratid dynasty—following the “Byzantinizing” path blazed by the Georgian Church—consciously reoriented kingship from an Iranian to a Byzantine basis as it politically integrated eastern and western Georgia for the first time. Nevertheless, at the height of the all-Georgian kingdom, many aspects of Iranic culture flourished, including epic literature. Mongol hegemony across much of the 13th century marks a crucial turning point in Georgian history. Under Īlkhānid rule, Caucasia’s access to the Eurasian ecumene expanded significantly, but the political fragmentation of Georgia intensified. In the new phase of imperialism ushered by Timur (Tamerlane), the Irano-Caucasian nexus blossomed one last time under the Safavids before the isthmus fell under Russian and then Soviet control.

scholarly journals Negotiating Imperialism and Resistance in Late Bronze Age Ugarit: The Rise of Alphabetic Cuneiform

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-199
Author(s):  
Philip J. Boyes
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Near East ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Writing System ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
Local Language ◽  
Elite Culture ◽  
Spheres Of Influence ◽  
The City

Ugarit was a highly cosmopolitan, multilingual and multiscript city at the intersection of several major Late Bronze Age political and cultural spheres of influence. In the thirteenth centurybc, the city adopted a new alphabetic cuneiform writing system in the local language for certain uses alongside the Akkadian language, script and scribal practices that were standard throughout the Near East. Previous research has seen this as ‘vernacularization’, in response to the city's encounter with Mesopotamian culture. Recent improvements in our understanding of the date of Ugarit's adoption of alphabetic cuneiform render this unlikely, and this paper instead argues that we should see this vernacularization as part of Ugarit's negotiation of, and resistance to, their encounter with Hittite imperialism. Furthermore, it stands as a specific, Ugaritian, manifestation of similar trends apparent across a number of East Mediterranean societies in response to the economic and political globalism of Late Bronze Age élite culture. As such, these changes in Ugaritian scribal practice have implications for our wider understanding of the end of the Late Bronze Age.

14C-Dating of the Late Bronze Age City of Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus: Status Report

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1253-1264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva M Wild ◽  
Peter M Fischer ◽  
Peter Steier ◽  
Teresa Bürge
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Status Report ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
14C Dating ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
New City ◽  
The City ◽  
Vast Area ◽  
Existing Data

ABSTRACTHala Sultan Tekke is a large Bronze Age city located on the southeastern littoral of Cyprus. The city flourished from approximately 1650 BC to 1150 BC according to the archaeological evidence. Since 2010, Swedish excavations have exposed four new city quarters (CQ1–4) with three occupational phases, the 14C dating of which is of highest importance also for other contemporaneous cultures. The finds demonstrate vast intercultural connections in the Mediterranean and even with southern Scandinavia. In 2014, roughly 500 m to the east of CQ1, one of the richest cemeteries on the island was discovered. According to the archaeological evidence, the finds from the city date mainly to the 13th and 12th centuries BC. However, many of the wealthy tombs and the offering pits from the cemetery are considerably older with the oldest finds dating to the 16th century BC. This raises the question where the city quarters belonging to the oldest finds from the cemetery are situated. The radiocarbon (14C) dates from Hala Sultan Tekke have much influence on the dating of related sites because of numerous imports from a vast area. We present here new 14C data obtained in the course of the current excavations, which add to sets of already existing data.

Revisiting the Fosse Temple at Tel Lachish

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ido Koch
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Self ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural World

This paper reconsiders the Late Bronze Age history of the Fosse Temple at Lachish and reconstructs its context vis-à-vis the broader role of the local Canaanite cult. During the reign of Amenhotep iii the structure’s plan was modified to conform to Egyptian-style and there was a profusion of Egyptian imports to the site, primarily associated with the cult of Hathor. These facts reflect the cultic innovations that were taking place in Egypt itself—the self-deification of Amenhotep iii and his consort, Tiye, including her depiction and worship as Hathor. It is consequently argued that the translation of Hathor/Tiye into the local goddess, Elat, and its continuous practice until the late 13th century bc echo the integration of Egypt within the indigenous cultural world.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document