The metal ages and medieval period. Рубрика в журнале - Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia
An early Bronze Age hoard of bronze tools from Dvin, Central Armenia
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We describe a hoard found in 2018 on a hilltop near the village of Dvin, Armenia, and comprising seven daggers and six adzes. Similar pickaxes and adzes were found in caches at Dzhrashen, Yerevan, and at Nahal-Mishmar, Israel. A peculiar feature of the Dvin adzes is that their blades are sharply rounded, resembling those of the Bronze Age battle axes. All the Dvin daggers belong to a single type, similar to tangless daggers of the Maikop culture, but more robust. Results of an X-ray diffraction analysis show that the Yerevan, as well as the Dvin, specimens are made of arsenic bronze, whose source is hard to determine. Judging by the typology and the presence of blanks, the Dvin hoard indicates local metalworking, a production of artisans working in the southern part of the Alaverdy mining area. According to GPS, the direct distance between the Dvin and Yerevan hoards is just 13 km. Both locations apparently belonged to one and the same metalworking region in Armenia, and both hoards date to the late 5th to early 4th millennia BC.
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An early iron age camp of reindeer hunters in the Bolshezemelskaya tundra, Nenets autonomous okrug
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An elk figurine from Tourist-2, Novosibirsk: technological and stylistic features
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Most fi gurines from the Bronze Age cemetery Tourist-2 in Novosibirsk are anthropomorphic, and follow one and the same iconographic style, termed “Krokhalevka”. Two fragments, however, refer to a zoomorphic image—that of an elk. As they cannot be refi tted, a special analysis was carried out. Computer-aided measurements and statistical comparisons suggest that they belong to a single specimen. This is important for further study, the search for parallels, and interpretation. Stylistic comparison with other items of portable art from Tourist-2 is diffi cult, since these are anthropomorphic. Nonetheless, the analysis suggests that the elk fi gurine is a perfect match with the homogeneous and stable technological complex revealed by other specimens. In terms of technology and style, the elk fi gurine parallels those of the Late Angara fi gurative tradition. Because the Tourist-2 burial had not been dated, a preliminary AMS-date of 4601 ± 61 BP (3511–3127 cal BC) was generated. Given this date and the archaeological context of the elk fi gurine, it can provide a reference point for the cultural and chronological attribution of other stylistically and technically similar images.
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An old Turkic statue at Borili, Ulytau hills, Central Kazakhstan: cultural realia
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An upper Paleolithic mandible from Listvenka, Siberia: a revision
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The mandible of a child from the Upper Paleolithic site of Listvenka in the Krasnoyarsk-Kansk forest-steppe, south-central Siberia, was subjected to a new detailed study. It was found in 1992 and was first published five years later with very incomplete information about place and context. The need for revision was prompted by the sophistication of dental trait batteries, new views of the diagnostic signifi cance of certain dental traits, availability of new techniques, etc. Now the fi nd can be related to habitation layer 12d, consistently dated to ca 13 ka on the basis of three estimates. Results of the multi-slice computed tomography suggest that the child was 3.5–4.5 years old. Like most fossils representing early anatomically modern humans, the specimen is rather robust by modern standards. Based on the combination of nonmetric and metric traits, the individual's place among other eight Upper Paleolithic children was assessed. The distinctive feature of the mandible is generally modern morphology combined with robusticity and a neutral position on the west-to-east scale. We tentatively describe this trait combination as Upper Paleolithic Central Siberian.
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This article describes the methods used in the multidisciplinary study, preservation, and museumization of a wooden structure from a grave under the Early Iron Age kurgan 5 at Pazyryk in the Altai. The structure consisted of two chambers with additional elements on top. Its technological analysis was carried out during the excavations, and the structure was subjected to special treatment after extraction. At the side the mound, the outer cribwork was reconstructed; its details and technologies were evaluated. The stages in the field conservation of all artifacts are described. The museumization of the outer cribwork at the Anokhin National Museum of the Republic of Altai is outlined.
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Archaeological excavations carried out in the Republic of North Ossetia – Alania over the past 15 years have yielded numerous artifacts associated with the Proto-Koban (15th/14th to early 12th century BC) and “classic” Koban culture (9th–8th centuries BC). Here, we analyze antimony artifacts from the cemeteries of Adaidon, dating to the Proto-Koban stage, and Elkhotovo, representing “classic” Koban. The analysis of composition of the metal revealed the recipes used by ancient craftsmen for manufacturing weapons, ornaments, and votive items. Antimony ornaments from Elkhotovo suggest that this substance was used not only in the Middle and the beginning of the Late Bronze Age in the Caucasian highlands, but also much later in the piedmont zone of the region. The study of certain bronze artifacts from Adaidon suggests that to make ornaments and votive items more attractive, antimony in the amount of 4.5–5.0 % was added. As a result, they acquired a light-golden color and luster.
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This article presents the findings of the study of a co-burial of a eunuch-official and his wife, found in the city of Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do Province, made in accordance with Confucian traditions during the Joseon Dynasty period. A description of finds, perfectly preserved in the grave sealed with lime-soil mixture and charcoal barrier, is given. The writings on the banners draping the coffins are studied. These say that in the left coffin the husband named Lee was buried; he was an official who oversaw the management of palace goods and held the position that was given only to eunuchs. In the right coffin, according to the writing, there was the body of the wife; she was awarded a lady's rank corresponding to her husband's status. Special focus is given to the description of clothes and fabric on the bodies of the buried. The results of anthropological analysis of the remains are given. Morphological features of the pelvic and skull bones provided the information on the sex of the deceased. According to the condition of the auricular surface of the left pelvic bone, the age of the eunuch-official and his wife was determined as more than 60 years. It is concluded that the research materials significantly supplement the scientific information on the position of eunuch-officials in the society during the Joseon Dynasty period.
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Beads are the most frequent finds in 1st–5th century AD female burials at Tarasovo on the Middle Kama, the largest Finno-Ugric cemetery, dating to the Great Barbarian Migration era. Larger beads are common in burials of women aged 17–45, whereas seed beads were typically worn by girls and young women aged 13–29. This was probably because unmarried girls wore beanies embroidered with beads and bronze ornaments. Also, variously sized beads were attached to bands of the headdress, framing its bottom edges in one or more lines. Single beads found near the crania suggest that they were amulets. In one- and several-strand necklaces, beads alternated with bronze ornaments. Necklaces were often parts of gift sets, some of which are completely preserved, including the organic base. Larger beads were used as pendants. Some of them decorated strips, used for appending knives and other utensils to belts. All these ways of using beads are still practiced by Finno-Ugric women in the Ural area.
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