Bronze Age - Science topic

According to Philostratus [Life of Apoll. 3.20], Indians founded sixty cities in sub-Saharan Africa 1500-1100 BCE, and according to Juba of Numidia [Plin. Nat. 2.34.97], there was an Indian colony in West Africa before 50 BCE. According to Cornelius Nepos [Geog. 3.5], an Indian tribe had sailed to Germania to do commerce, and according to Scymnus [Perieg. 167], the land of the Indians was located west from Sardinia, which would locate Indian colonies into Iberia.

Were these ancient writers referring to people who originated from India, or was the word "India" just a confused term to refer to all dark skinned people? If the latter interpretation is correct, who were these Africans who were claimed to have populated also western Europe before 150 BCE?

P.S. If you have good comments to these questions, you are warmly welcome to participate to the peer review of the India-Africa-Europe theory, which has been published at https://agilepublishing.fi/books/atlas-and-herakles

I need articles about the Ottoman Bronze Age culture in the Carpathian area

There is evidence of early interaction between European types and Chinese civilisations and European types may have originated in Siberia. Any thoughts?

ttps://www.academia.edu/44985404/Climate_Change_Geopolitics_and_Human_Settlements_in_the_Hexi_Corridor_over_the_last_5_000_Years

Last year we have excavated Dobrogea (South-Eastern Romania) a small flat necropolis or a part from a large one. The dead were buried in flexed position with a lot of ocre. Chronologically (first half of the 3rd mil. BC) there are contemporaneous with the tumular burials of Jamnaja type and there are similar in ritual.

Is anyone aware of mammoth fossil occurrences in archaeological context?

More precisely, I'm referring to cases of graves belonging to cultures that did not co-exist with mammoths. Does anyone know of late Neolithic or Bronze Age graves that contain mammoth bones or teeth?

This would imply that the fossils were found by Neolithic or Bronze Age people and had some meaning to them (either functional or spiritual), and were buried with some people of their society.

Hello everyone, so I'm trying to create a least cost-benefit map and factors for least cost-benefit are very varied like slope, elevations, region vegetations and etc. I must say I'm very confused between these varied factors and I just want to make sure that I choose the correct and suitable factor in my map. although I want to create several maps of least cost-benefit but i want to ask you: what is the best factor for least cost-benefit for reaching a site to another in a region like southeast Iran?

if you are unfamiliar with the region and topography of southeast Iran, I must say that it's just like the most regions in Baluchistan of Pakistan with low hills in east of the region and high mountains in west. the vegetations of regions is also similar.

so if anyone could help me, i will be so grateful. thank you.

I am currently investigating a Late Bronze Age site from Wiltshire where a 'cushion' stone discovered, however the precise dating is uncertain of this context. Other examples have been found previously in Beaker/Early Bronze Age burial contexts. I am curious if you have knowledge of any examples from Late Bronze Age sites (Preferably from United Kingdom or Ireland.)

Hi Stephanie,

firstly I would like to wish you a happy new year. Then I would like to ask you, if I could meet you at Würzburg department to talk about your research projects, as I feel curiosity for Bronze Age amber in Southern Germany. Maybe questions related to glass could be helpful for me.

Kindly

Joachim Neumaier

Metaphors are powerful ways for conveying scientific hypotheses. And we are looking for fresh theoretical and methodological insights to the classic questions of archaeology as we are setting forward to discuss the mechanisms by which inventions and innovations shaped the societies that embraced them during our session Nr. 371 "Trial and error in times of transition"of EAA in Bern [https://www.researchgate.net/project/EAA-2019-Session-371-Trial-and-error-in-times-of-transition] If you feel willing to contribute to the discussion, please consider submitting an abstract. 10 days left!

This is a continuously contested issue, which at present seems unlikely to be fully resolved.

Were the Sea-People Greek or made up of peoples from further afield (Sardinia, for example), part of general movement of people as a consequence of famine or climate change, from western Anatolia or the direct result of the breakdown of elite control of Eastern and Mycenaean societies, or of economic reasons we still cannot grasp? Were they immediately responsible for the re-organisation of states and political institutions that witnessed possible changes in Canaan and the rise of theocracies (Judah and Israel-ok more Judah)?

During the early Iron age there were two significant gods, Ba'al and El, in Canaan. The latter was for centuries the chief Canaanite (West Semitic) god. Towards the end of the Bronze Age El began losing acolytes to Ba'al except in South Palestine. Many feel that El was Israel's primary god but that as the Ba'al cult began to gain ground in Israel (the Palestinian highlands), representing urban-life, agriculture and kingship, the early Israelites transformed El's character. The story of Moses and the Exodus is a much later epic detailing that conversion from a benevolent into a martial god.

I was asked to do a quantitative EDS analysis on a bone sample from an archeological site (bronze age).

The sample is a piece of a bone (fistula) that was found fractured.

Manganese, Strontium, Magnesium, Calcium, Copper, Barium, Vanadium and Zinc.

The guy who gave it to me hopes to derive the typical food diet from the data I will provide him.

He also asked for Ca/Sr ratio specifically and is hoping for a hint on whether the excavated man died because of a fracture or if the fracture was introduced post mortem.

Sample is from the fractured area and is approximately 10x5x5 mm big and it is not flat (it is rugged or hilly).

I also have some samples of soil from the site.

Preliminary random point analysis in ESEM mode (65 Pa, 30kV) shows Ca, P and a little Mn in the bone.

In the soil, Si, Cu, Al, Mg, K, Fe and some more (I think sediments from water streams or something) were found.

I know that without standards for the elements of interest and with a rugged sample the quantitative analysis is flawed, so i plan to:

1) chip a thin piece off of a sample

2) grind the piece somehow to make it as thin as possible

3) then mill the piece to powder

4) perform analysis after point 2 and 3

What would you do? Is my plan OK? What tools to use for the chipping/grinding/milling so i do not contaminate the sample? What else should I take care about?

Thanks in advance for any advice :)

Can anybody answer why the blue colour is preferred for painting doors and windows of traditional houses in hilly regions of Uttarakhand (India)? It is a myth as per the internet that it keeps the evils away from house but local community don't say so. Even Greeks paint their doors and windows blue. Is it possible that a myth is believed all over? There must be some scientific reason behind it as the architecture of Himalayan region have many scientific techniques and methods which makes them so stable in such an earthquake prone area, what is it?

Thanks in advance

Naveen

I am looking for data on  growth anomalies of speleothems or tree rings from these less investigated areas.  

I´m writing a thesis about use wear analysis of bronze age axes in area of nowadays Czechia. Do you know some similar works? I know a lot of works about use wear analysis of swords and halberds but I didn´t find some about axes. Thank you very much. 

Has anyone references or data on the archaeology, stratigraphy, geoarchaeology, soil micromorphology etc. of bone-fuelled hearths \ combustion features, esp. in Paleolithic caves or rock-shelters, or reference material from experimental work? Thanks in advance, Diego E. Angelucci

In the Eighteeneighties a Burial was found in the Area of the Village of Geroldshausen, Landkreis Würzburg. In the Case of being well documented,unusual in this Period,  it contained a human Skeleton and the following Gravegoods: Two Pottery Vessels of local Character, a Dagger with widespread Parallels in Southern Germany and the Chech Republic. Amazing are two objects: A bronze Needle which has it closest Parallels in the Area of the Canegrate Facies in Lombard, Northern Italy , and a bronze Razovr-Knife, whose Parallel most situated toward southern Directions ist documented in a cmenetery near Matrei am Brenner, Tyrol, Austria. I will try to put drawings next Time. You wil find it in Wilbertz, Urnenfelderkultur in Unterfranken.

Was there buried an Inmigrant from the southern Alpine Region. I thought to publisch it in 'Der Schlern' some Years Ago. Perhaps, it would be wothwile to continue.

I think I would be necessary to start a Field-Project on the Caves of southern Catalonia with Bronze Age Occupation  (Cova del Janet, etc.) studying Morphology, Space, Geological Features using modern Techniques. There are excellent older Studies written by Salvador Vilaseca, but as an Arcaheologist studying the Pottery of these Sites, I would like to know how these Places are like and how they might appear in tridimensional Computer Views.

I am interested in questions concerning the decoration of late bronze age pottery in europe and elements like crosses of possible symbolic meaning.

Not necesessarily a cross must have the ame being at all times and in all cultural groups. Could anyone help me with bibliiography on this ?

Thanks

Joachim Neumaier

I am looking for evidences of the use of Ilex aquifolium wood for making arrow shafts during Bronze Age.

I am interested in the characteristics of Pinus (especially nigra and sylvestris but not limited) as related to behavioral ecology. The characteristics that I am looking for include calorific value, volume (density-dependent), weight (density-independent), durability, and if possible the brightness of the burn.

These data will be used in human behavioral ecology models to see if they explain why Pinus was used as a fuel (cooking, heating, and lighting) in Bronze and Iron Age Anatolia. If anyone can provide any direction or references I would be most grateful.

I am interested in relevant archaeological evidences from any areas and periods.

I am planning to compare trace element profiles of Bronze Age pottery with those of clay resources in Cyprus to determine interactions on the island during the Bronze Age.

Do you have knowledge of similar structures in that of the illustration 1?

It is constituted by two series of 4 pits bounding two rectangles not centered. The outside rectangle measures 15 m by 8,60 m and is directed NNO-SSE It is bounded by 4 big pits, about 80 cms in diameter and depth, containing one post (fig. 2). The internal rectangle, of similar orientation, is however moved towards the northwest. More irregular, he measures from 4,30 to 4,70 m of length for 1,80 in 2 m of wide. Diggings are smaller and more irregular (fig. 3). The analysis of their filling is not obvious, but it seems that these structures contained one or two posts which were not necessarily were set up at the same time. Certain pits delivered some shards of rather protohistoric invoice.

These pits are near a dozen circles, doubtless funeral although there is no rest of grave or incineration (fig. 4). In hundred meters, three enclosures of the final Bronze age and first Iron age are known.

Thank you for your contributions

Nicolas Fromont

It is about a tool made of human bone discovered in a settlement from the final Bronze age, the Noua culture (1600-1200 BC) which is part of a large cultural complex Noua-Sabotinova-Coslogeni.

Dear all, I'm trying to develop a better interpretation framwork on the Bronze Age subsistence in Huai River basin, China. Could you please recommend some references related except Amber and Tanya's Integrating Zooarchaeology and paleoethnobotany?

Thank you for your interest,

Best regards.

I'm analyzing possible slag from a prehistoric furnace in Ireland with XRF results showing an 80-86% level of iron in all samples tested with the next highest element being silica at 7-8%, the rest being trace inclusions. These results do not correspond with the levels of iron that are produced in iron working slags that I have seen so far, so our research has lead us to believe that this may be a product of two stage copper smelting. Has anyone seen similar results elsewhere or can offer a different explanation for this type of result?

The great alluvial Plain of Catania (Piana di Catania) is situated in the East of the mediterranean island of Sicily. Basically two rivers flow there along the sides of the plain into the sea: Simeto and Gornalunga. The region is absolutely ideal for bronze age water engineers to build the usual bronze age water engineering. Yet, I cannot find any academic work on this. Sicilian archaeology is concerned only with the Greek era or with single settlements, not with landscape archaeology, as it seems. Any helpful hint is welcome!

I am looking for graves for which the season of burial is known. I am particularly interested in Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age Europe, but will follow up any hints! Season should be documented by botanical remains, pollen, or other scientific evidence.

Many thanks!

We've obtained a few radiocarbon dates from EIA Lower Danube Area and we need others to compare (excluding the older ones from Kastanas, Troy, Assiros, Durankulak, Odaia, Siret, Popesti, Mahala, Stepnoj, Lapus, Nemetbanya, Borcs and Gomolava). Any suggestions?

I'm undertaking a review of dogs & wolves in Prehistoric Britain for my undergraduate dissertation, I'm finding it difficult to find papers where the more recent excavations of these animals have been found. I know of a few Neolithic examples and one Bronze Age one, but there must be more than that.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I am searching for the presence of E. caballus in the Levant after the Late Bronze Age when they are well attested in historical records. Unfortunately, due to the nature of horse-rearing, E. caballus remains rarely appear in context with other faunal repertoire. However, occasionally they do appear in small numbers in a number of sites. I am compiling a list of E. caballus remains for the region during the Iron Age and into the Hellenstic Era and would appreciate if anyone has any knowledge on this subject.

65 years of age seems common practice amongst most Western (developed) countries to apply a diagnoses of 'Dementia'. Prior to 65 years of age, the term 'Younger-onset Dementia' seems to be common.

If '65' years of age was used, due to 65 being a common retirement age amongst most Western (developed) nations, could this mean the age of recognised/accepted diagnosis of Dementia may change in line with current and proposed age of retirement proposals. i.e, Australia is moving from 65 to 67 years of age for retirement and propose to move the age of retirement to 70.

With retirements moving above 65, can one imagine the potential impacts to a business, society and/or 'Person', as the result of the changing age of retirement (self funded/government supported), being diagnosed with dementia at 65 and due to the expectation of 'Person' having to work until: 67, 68, 69, 70.

I foresee the landscapes of workplace, society and home will change...and maybe not for the better.

In the region of Czech Republic, it is not so unusual find skeleton burials in the storage or trash pits in Late Bronze Age open settlements, especially it is characteristic for urnfield Knoviz culture, which has its ordinary burial rite as the cremation in urns. Usually it seems like the body was just thrown to the pit without any rigorous care and it is not any exception to find more bodies or only their parts laying on each other in "breakneck" position (see examples in fig. 1 + 2).

HOWEVER there is one burial group which seems to be unique one, because the bodies are strictly oriented N-S or E-W, laying on the backs with hands next the body or put in the lap. These burials are always equipped with ceramic pots and more rarely with bronze artifacts such as earrings or knives. Attribute sui generis is the location of some of these artifacts directly under the head, especially in the case of miniature vessels (see examples in fig. 3 + 4).

I have found some similar skeleton burials in Czech republic, containing 5 graves + 4 new ones from my 2013 excavation, but then I hit the similar indications in the area of Austria and Germany - for example sites Biblis (Starkenburg) or Köchen, where some of the bodies are buried in stone cists graves, richly equipped and again with typical miniature vessel under the head.

From my point of view it seems that this is a specific burial practices among the urnfield cultures in Central Europe and I would like to ask for help to finding more of these burials. Thank you in advance!

The mid-Bronze Age is a period of interesting cultural processes recorded by archaeologists. But reconstructions of climate conditions ca 3.-3.0 ka BP are different. Do you have an opinion or a paper you'd recommend on palaeoclimatic, paleaohydrologic and palaeoecological conditions of this period?

Taking into account that even though I've had archaeology education, it was mostly about America.