Bronze Age (Other Keyword)
226-250 (333 Records)
While the obsidian used by southern Aegean prehistoric communities has long been known to derive primarily from Melos, there has been little investigation regarding the relative importance of the two Melian quarries – Sta Nychia and Dhemenegaki. This study employed portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to investigate this question and begin to map regional traditions of obsidian source selection during the 3rd millennium BC. The 715 artifacts analyzed derive from 11 Early Bronze I - late...
On the Origins of Metalworking in China: Technology and Art (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The “independent invention versus diffusion” argument remains undecided regarding the inception—or rather inceptions—of copper-based metallurgy in China. The intriguing course leading to the substantial rise of a distinctive metallurgical tradition that can be confidently called “Chinese” was probably too perplexing to be explained by a single theoretical...
Ordinary or Extraordinary? Analytical Disjunctures between Production and Rituals in Pastoralist Societies (2018)
This paper considers the connection between the quotidian practices of pastoralism and the role of herd animals (and their material remains) in ritual practices in the Late Bronze Age in the South Caucasus. Zooarchaeological and isotopic analysis of faunal remains from Late Bronze Age (1500-1100 BCE) sites in the Tsaghkahovit Plain, Armenia have revealed new, if perplexing, evidence about everyday practices of production, distribution, and consumption of pastoralist products and the...
The Organic Residue Analysis from the Early Bronze Age Site of Sotira Kaminoudhia in Cyprus (2018)
This paper presents the final results of organic residue analysis from the Early Bronze Age settlement and associated cemeteries of Sotira Kaminoudhia. A total of twelve pottery samples were analyzed using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (gc/ms) as part of a larger research program that aimed to identify prestigious, organic substances that would have been utilized on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus during the prehistoric Bronze Age. Three categories of prestigious substances...
The Origin and Spread of Antimony as a Raw Material in Metal and Vitreous Materials Making: From the Bronze Age to the Roman Period (2019)
This is an abstract from the "The Movement of Technical Knowledge: Cross-Craft Perspectives on Mobility and Knowledge in Production Technologies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Antimony has a long history of use in metallurgy and glass making. The first attestation of Cu-Sb alloys dates to the 5th millennium BC (e.g. Nahal Mhismar), while its widespread adoption started around 3500 BC. Metallic antimony objects are reported in Mesopotamia (e.g....
The Origin of Metallurgy in China: Retrospect and Prospect (2019)
This is an abstract from the "New Thoughts on Current Research in East Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Early metallurgy is considered one of the most essential factors to the development of Chinese civilization, and the controversy concerning its origin has been going on for decades.With increasing number of early bronzes found in the past decades, scholars keep renewing their views on this topic, and as a result, the controversy...
Osteoarchaeological assessment of generalized stress indicators in skeletons from the Tápé-Széntéglaégető cemetery, Hungary (2016)
Generalized stress indicators are non-specific anomalies produced by the body as an adaptive response to biological stressors such as malnutrition, disease or trauma. The prevalence of these lesions may be related to daily activity, lifestyle or differential access to resources. Based on archeological analyses, the Hungarian Bronze Age is associated with significant socio-economic changes, including population increases, agricultural intensification, and the emergence of social inequality. In...
Over Land, Sea and the Space Between: Evidence for Multi-Scalar Interactions between Eastern Mediterranean and Central European Communities during the Bronze Age (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Mediterranean Archaeology: Connections, Interactions, Objects, and Theory" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Bronze Age in both the Mediterranean and Europe represents a period during which new socio-economic relationships were being forged that inextricably linked far-off communities. Within these discursive social networks, new commodities were traded over long-distances, new markets emerged, and along with novel...
Palaces and Power in Early China: Comparative Analysis between Shang and Zhou Elite Courtyard Complexs (2016)
The courtyard building, enclosed by walls or corridors, was a typical architectural pattern in ancient East Asia. According to archaeological excavations, such as in the Yanshi and Huanbei Shang city sites, and the Zhouyuan Zhou capital site, this pattern emerged early in China, before the emergence of Qin-Han Empires (ca. 221 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.), and then was used widely in high-class buildings such as palaces and ancestral temples. Comparison of the high-class courtyard buildings of the Shang...
Paleopollution and Environmental Consequences of Bronze Craft Production during the Shang Periods in Anyang, China (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Geoarchaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between bronze production and paleopollution during the middle and late Shang periods (1450-1045 BCE) in Anyang. Archaeologists have discovered several bronze workshops operating during these periods. These workshops were located among residential areas, and the long-term bronze production activity at Anyang could...
Pastoralist Intensification and Dietary Dynamics in the Mongolian Steppe: Multi-isotope Analyses of Human and Faunal Collagen (2021)
This is an abstract from the "New Directions in Mongolian Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The initial spread of pastoralism into the Mongolian steppe during the third millennium cal BC marked a major transformation in human subsistence. Dairying was practiced by early pastoralist groups, evidenced by the identification of milk proteins preserved in human dental calculus. However, we have a poor understanding of how the focused...
The Patterns of the Drums: An Evaluation Of Iconographic Variation In Dong Son Drum Motifs Of Vietnam (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. One of the larger debates in studies of Bronze age Vietnam is the symbolic meaning of Dong Son drums. However, in the academic haste to find this overarching meaning there are several questions that have been left unanswered regarding iconographic variation. In this paper, it is my goal to address the iconographic variability of these drums and explore the...
A Pawsitively Interesting Prehistory of Dogs: New Stable Isotope and Morphometric Analyses from Croatia (2018)
Though dogs are recognized as important points of comparison for archaeologists seeking to reconstruct prehistoric human diet and lifestyles (e.g., canine surrogacy approach), less attention has focused on understanding the cultural and ecological significance of dogs themselves in these same contexts. We report new morphometric and stable isotope results from prehistoric (Neolithic-Iron Age) sites from Croatia that represent different cultural and environmental contexts that potentially...
Peeling Back the ‘Overburden’: Collaborative Projects Studying Middle Bronze Age Societies in the Körös-Region, Southeast Hungary (2018)
The transition to the Middle Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin encompassed a broad range of changes in material culture, settlement and social organization. Upon first glance, the Körös-Region was no different from its neighbours. Tell sites emerged, population increased, farming intensified, and people engaged in long distance trade. The international Bronze Age Körös Off-Tell Archaeology (BAKOTA) project has studied this area through settlements and mortuary archaeology for over 11 years. Our...
Performative Aspects of Early Monumental Architecture at Late Bronze I Phlamoudhi-Vounari, Cyprus (2018)
The small (1 hectare) site of Phlamoudhi-Vounari was built in Late Cypriot IA:1 and abandoned early in Late Cypriot IIA, a lifespan of c. 200 years. This paper presents a 3D model and spatial analysis suggesting that the site functioned as a stage during community gatherings (and greeting visitors). Vounari’s plan is unique on Cyprus: a likely man-made, eight-meter-high mound topped with a sequence of superimposed structures. Initially built with open access to the summit from the higher south...
The Performativity of Measurement (2015)
This paper examines the archaeological traces of measurement in light of the roles of mensuration in quotidian rituals. Most archaeologies of performance emphasize public spectacle, coordinated by elites, usually taking place in highly visible ceremonies. While some instances of measurement do fall under this rubric, most occur with less fanfare. Nevertheless, even mundane acts of measuring may be accompanied by some amount of pageantry. Differences in context, furthermore, yield varying...
Plant and Animal Remains from Old Babylonian Ur (2018)
Archaeologists have been examining the great cities of ancient southern Mesopotamia for well over a century now, but as yet we have limited understanding of their subsistence economies. For decades researchers more or less ignored the wealth of faunal and botanical remains in and around ancient Mesopotamian architecture. Over the course of the twentieth century researchers began to recover animal bones and teeth, but as few digs dry-screened or floated their soils the resulting assemblages...
Preliminary Analysis of Landscape – Social Complexity Relationship Changes from Neolithic to Bronze Age in South Carpathian Basin (2018)
The onset of the Early Bronze Age saw increasing degrees of social inequality and institutionalized leadership in most of Europe. In the Carpathian Basin these changes are most evident in shifts in burial practices and settlements. This research aims to see if these changes are reflected in regional settlement patterns by applying spatial analyses to two periods of a regional settlement dataset. I will examine the landscape and the environmental characteristics of Neolithic and Bronze Age...
A preliminary analysis of the metal finds from Békés 103 (2016)
Bronze is a central economic and symbolic focus in the European Bronze Age, and the distribution of metals found in Bronze Age burial contexts can suggest differences in wealth. This poster analyzes the bronze artifacts from the site of Békés 103, a Bronze Age site in Eastern Hungary. Previous work at settlements in this area indicates little social inequality and suggests that metal production was not centralized at larger settlements (fortified tell-sites). Study of the distribution of metals...
Preliminary Exploration of Provenance of Stones and Strategy of Using Stones in Panlongcheng Site during Shang Period (2019)
This is an abstract from the "New Thoughts on Current Research in East Asian Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The production of stone tools is a systematic human activity, and the utilization of stone materials is the basis of the entire production. Before conducting research on the entire stone production, we should observe the provenance of stones and the strategy of using these materials. Through the analysis of the lithic facies of...
Preliminary Results from a Multi-Methodological Approach on a Refuse Pit from the Middle Shang Period at Huanbei (2017)
In the study of refuse pits from Bronze Age China, much effort has been invested in defining chronologies illustrated by ceramic typology, while overlooking the practices surrounding the usage of the pits. Our research is intended to capture and interpret depositional behaviors related to domestic ritual and social organization and transformation during the middle Shang period. We are presenting our preliminary results of a refuse pit (2016NEK0541H128) excavated at Huanbei (late 14th century –...
Preservation and Perception: Archaeobotanical Patterning and Site Formation Processes in Mycenaean Messenia (2018)
Despite the increased application of spatially intensive sampling for archaeobotanical remains at large Mycenaean sites in Greece, the recovered assemblages are typically small and show poor preservation. Here, we consider the macrobotanical assemblage recovered through flotation of more than 7000 L of sediment at the site of Iklaina, in Messenia, in conjunction with microbotanical remains (starches, phytoliths) to illuminate cultural and natural site formation processes that have either...
The Production and Use of Chipped Stone Tools during the Metal Ages in the Southern Levant – Evidence from Abu Snesleh (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Middle Bronze Age (MBA, c. 2000–1500 BCE) in the southern Levant (modern day Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and southern Syria) is characterized by a re-urbanization, and extended use and specialized production of metal objects which obviated the use of chipped stone tools, of which production has long been considered to have significantly declined after the...
Putting the Mold to the Test: The Application of Experimental Archaeology to Compare the Mold and Potter’s Wheel in Bronze Age Anatolia (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Moving across Syria-Mesopotamia to Anatolia and finally to the Aegean, potters during the Bronze Age gradually began to shift their ceramic repertoire from hand-made and coil-made ceramics to wheel-made pottery. Despite this rise in innovative manufacturing technology (the potter’s wheel), some sites in Western Anatolia, namely Seyitömer Höyük, exhibit...
Queer Eye for the Dead Guy: The Influence of Debra Martin on a Bioarchaeological Investigation of Gender beyond the Binary (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Debra L. Martin" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Any aspect of human social life worth studying, whether in the past or present, is a complex product of history, biology, culture, and agency. Gender is a prime and important example of just such a topic. It requires a high degree of nuance to understand and describe gender constructs in a contemporary society, and studies of...