2025 papers by Barry Molloy
Interactions-Transmission-Transformation: Long-Distance Connections In Metal Ages Of Southeastern Europe., 2025
The terms urban and urbanism are commonly synonymous with concepts of social complexity, sophisti... more The terms urban and urbanism are commonly synonymous with concepts of social complexity, sophistication and the paradigm of civilisation in prehistoric archaeology. Those terms provide a link that enables societies sharing such features to be considered in comparative perspective. However, this equation risks marginalising societies lacking urban features but possessing complexity from discussion on social change in large spatial and temporal perspectives. Bronze Age Europe is a case in point, where complexity that has been recognised was commonly evaluated through the lens of influence from urban areas around the Mediterranean despite the weak evidential match. Evidence for other, less centralised and less hierarchical modes of complexity, is abundant in regional literature though over-arching frameworks that enable that rich and varied record to be mobilised in comparative perspective are less commonly encountered. To address this, the paper takes a lead from recent work on Iron Age settlement archaeology. It dispenses with the term “proto-urban” and explores the utility of the term agro-agglomerate to characterise organisationally complex settlement systems in Bronze Age temperate Europe. This is pursued through the settlement archaeology of the northern Balkans / south Carpathian Basin during the late third to end of the second millennium BC. Promoting a comparative approach that includes urban frameworks, these settlements are considered in the context of contemporary Aegean societies. It is argued the Bronze Age societies of the Pannonian Plain present an important case for a form of complexity that was long-lived, resilient and widely influential within temperate Europe.
Ambio, 2025
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Concern has rise... more VIEW THE OPEN ACCESS PAPER HERE:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1
Concern has risen that current global warming and
more frequent extreme events such as droughts and floods
will increase conflict around the world. This concern has
spurred both social science research on contemporary
climate, peace, and conflict as well as research in the
historical sciences on past climate, weather, warfare, and
violence. This perspectives article compares these two fields
of scholarship and examines how each may benefit the other.
It finds significant convergences in methods and insights
across contemporary and historical research as well as
persistent patterns in causal pathways between climate and
conflict. Contemporary climate, peace, and conflict (CPC)
research may sharpen methods and causal models for
historical researchers. Historical studies, particularly those
informed by contemporary research, may elucidate deep
origins and long-term effects of climate-related conflicts. For
policymakers and the public, history offers comprehensible
ways to make sense of complex and contingent linkages and
to construct cogent narratives of the past as well as storylines
for the future.
Bronze Age Europe general by Barry Molloy
European Journal of Archaeology, 2024
The iconic Dupljaja chariot model from the Carpathian Basin informs us on cosmologies and technol... more The iconic Dupljaja chariot model from the Carpathian Basin informs us on cosmologies and technologies of Bronze Age societies in Europe between 1600 and 1200 BC. It communicates key elements of religious imagery and ritual practice alongside technical features of working chariots. Through a detailed reappraisal employing use-wear, compositional, and iconographic analyses as well as 3D modelling of the chariot model, the authors explore the social context of its creation and use. Integrating functional wheels with four spokes and iconographic depictions of the similar cross-in-circle symbol, the Dupljaja chariot combines and cross-references motifs with pan-European relevance in the Bronze Age. The study aims to better understand the interplay between the local and regional context of the Dupljaja chariot and how its distinct features arose from the material and ideological networks defining later Bronze Age Europe.
Journal of Archaeological Research, 2022
The globalizing connections that defined the European Bronze Age in the second millennium BC eith... more The globalizing connections that defined the European Bronze Age in the second millennium BC either ended or abruptly changed in the decades around 1200 BC. The impact of climate change at 3.2 ka on such social changes has been debated for the eastern Mediterranean. This paper extends this enquiry of shifting humanclimate relationships during the later Bronze Age into Europe for the first time. There, climate data indicate that significant shifts occurred in hydroclimate and temperatures in various parts of Europe ca. 3.2 ka. To test potential societal impacts, I review and evaluate archaeological data from Ireland and Britain, the Nordic area, the Carpathian Basin, the Po Valley, and the Aegean region in parallel with paleoclimate data. I argue that 1200 BC was a turning point for many societies in Europe and that climate played an important role in shaping this. Although long-term trajectories of sociopolitical systems were paramount in defining how and when specific societies changed, climate change acted as a force multiplier that undermined societal resilience in the wake of initial social disjunctures. In this way, it shaped, often detrimentally, the reconfiguration of societies. By impacting more directly on social venues of political recovery, realignment, and reorganization, climate forces accentuate societal crises and, in some areas, sustained them to the point of sociopolitical collapse.
Journal of World Prehistory, 2020
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During the later Bronze Age in Europe (c. 1500-... more CHECK OUT FULL PAPER HERE: https://rdcu.be/b5FQx
During the later Bronze Age in Europe (c. 1500-800 BC), the archaeological visibility of the production and consumption of bronze increases substantially. Yet there remains a significant imbalance between the vast number of finished artefacts that survive and the evidence for where, how, and by whom they were produced. At the centre of these questions is the metal smith, who has been variously regarded in scholarship as nomadic, a reviled outsider, elite in status, a mediator of wealth, a shaman or a proto-scientist. In most cases, however, the social role of the smith is seen as central to the functioning of Bronze Age societies This paper provides a new cross-regional study that evaluates current theoretical paradigms in the light of empirical evidence. It does this through contextual analyses of metalworking traces, focussing on case studies primarily from Atlantic, Nordic, Urnfield and Balkan regions of Europe. Our work breaks down the production cycle into various practical steps, and the material evidence for each step is evaluated. This enables similarities and differences on the broader European scale to be identified and discussed. Through this, our aim is to better characterise the modes of participation in smithing and the identities of those involved, and consequently to improve our understanding of the material patterns related to smithing activities that occur archaeologically. These patterns range from discard or deposition at settlements, the construction of identity in mortuary practice, technological choices in alloy design and treatment, and the quality of finished metalwork objects. Concerning the question of the single smith, it is argued that the material evidence in many regions indicates that metal-working was more broadly embedded in society; this might be through cross-craft interaction, the location of metalworking activities, and the reuse of casting debris and moulds. We argue that crafting metal was a commonplace and socially visible activity, which was in many regions a venue for enhancing social integration and stability.
by Francesco Iacono, Maurizio Cattani, Claudio Cavazzuti, Helen Dawson, Maja Gori, Cristiano Iaia, Thibault Lachenal, Alberto J. Lorrio, Rafael Micó, Argyro Nafplioti, Kewin Peche-Quilichini, Barry Molloy, and Nicola Ialongo Journal of Archaeological Research, 2021
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The Late Bronze Age (1700-900 BC) r... more -- Full-text paper available here: https://rdcu.be/cmCGI --
The Late Bronze Age (1700-900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioarchaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as different as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, ranging from the short to the long range, became a defining aspect of the "Middle Sea" during this time, influencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern boundaries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics.
Bronze Age Central and Southeast Europe by Barry Molloy
Local Traditions, Culture Contact or Migration?, 2023
The Great Hungarian Plain during the HaA and HaB periods (13-9 th centuries B.C.
Journal of Field Archaeology , 2024
Plos One, 2023
Read Open Access paper here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.02... more Read Open Access paper here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0288750
Societies of the later Early to Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2200–1600 BC) in the Carpathian Basin exhibited complex, hierarchical and regionally influential socio-political organisation that came to an abrupt end in the 16th century BC. Considered a collapse by some, this change was characterised by abandonment of virtually all central places / nodes in settlement networks. Until recently, the complexity that characterised the period was believed to have substantially diminished alongside depopulation. This model was reinforced by a combination of the loss of established external networks and low-resolution knowledge of where and how people lived in the first stages of the Late Bronze Age (between 1600 and 1200 BC). We contest the idea of a diminished Late Bronze Age and argue that a fully opposite trajectory can be identified–increased scale, complexity and density in settlement systems and intensification of long-distance networks. We present results of a settlement survey in the southern Pannonian Plain using remote and pedestrian prospection, augmented by small-scale excavations. New absolute dates are used to define the occupational history of sites dating primarily between 1500–1200 BC. We argue that climate change played a substantial role in in the transformation of settlement networks, creating a particular ecological niche enabling societies to thrive. New and specific forms of landscape exploitation developed that were characterised by proximity to wetlands and minor watercourses. In this context, the largest monuments of Bronze Age Europe were created and inhabited. In considering the origins and demise of these megasites and related settlements, we provide a new model for Late Bronze Age societies in the Carpathian Basin and their regional relevance.
Archaeological and Anthropological Science, 2023
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The present study aims to explore connectivity and networking in Late Bronze Age (LBA)/Early Iron Age (EIA) Greece and the Balkans using morphological biodistance analysis and test the potentiality of newly introduced statistical tests, which were designed for challenging datasets, in this particular cultural area. Cranial non-metric traits were recorded in ten skeletal collections, spanning from East Crete to Romania. We followed an experimental statistical approach encompassing two different measures of divergence, the conventional and well-tested mean measure of divergence (MMD) and the newly introduced untransformed measure of divergence (UMD). Though different, results based on these two measures are mutually supporting and show that biodistances in our regional case studies mainly follow the isolation by distance model. This cautiously confirms our main hypothesis that during the LBA and EIA periods in Greece and the Balkans, personal mobility was a slow process characterized by integration, rather than displacement or transformation. The current study is the first one to infer biological affinities using cranial non-metric analysis combined with artifactual evidence, in LBA/EIA Greece and the Balkans. Building a larger dataset through future non-metric analyses will better enable exploring networking and mobility to further complement ongoing bioarchaeological, genetic, and material culture studies.
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2022
OPEN ACCESS: Click on DOI link above for free PDF. The Carpathian Basin was a highly influential ... more OPEN ACCESS: Click on DOI link above for free PDF. The Carpathian Basin was a highly influential centre of metalworking in the 2nd mil. BC. Nevertheless, despite the abundance of metal objects from the Late Bronze Age, the scarcity of contextually associated metalworking remains representing distinct phases of the metalworking cycle from this region is striking. Here, we explore Late Bronze Age metalworking through the lens of a uniquely complete metalworking assemblage from the site of Șagu from contexts spanning the sixteenth to early thirteenth century BC. This material provides insights into changes in craft organisation following socio-political change after the collapse of Middle Bronze Age tell-centred communities. Our approach combines analytical and experimental data together with contextual analysis of technical ceramics (crucible, mould, and furnace fragments) to reconstruct the metalworking chaîne opératoire and place Șagu in its broader cultural context. Analyses demonstrate clear technological choices in ceramic paste recipes and strong interlinkages between metallurgy and other crafts practised on site, from domestic pottery production to building structures. Experimental replications reveal important intrinsic and experiential aspects of metallurgical activities at Șagu. Evidence on the spatial organisation of metallurgical workflows (routine sequence of actions and decisions) suggests they incorporated a high degree of visibility, which marks a distinct change in the use of craft space compared to the context of densely occupied Middle Bronze Age tells nearby. Combined, our archaeometric, experimental, and contextual results illustrate how changes in metalworking activities in the Late Bronze Age Carpathian Basin were deeply embedded in an ideological shift in the aftermath of the breakdown of Middle Bronze Age tells and the emergence of new social structures.
Journal of Field Archaeology, 2020
A newly discovered network of later Bronze Age fortified sites of unusually large size are discus... more A newly discovered network of later Bronze Age fortified sites of unusually large size are discussed, with a primary focus on results of excavations at the site of Gradište Iđoš. Closely associated with the rivers Mureš, Tisza, and Danube, these sites are located in the southeast of the Carpathian Basin in central Europe. On current evidence, the main period of construction and occupation took place between 1400-1100 B.C., probably constituting successor communities of the tell-centred societies of the Middle Bronze Age. Geophysical survey and excavation results from Gradište Iđoš, the largest site in this network in Serbia, are presented in this paper within their regional context. We discuss preliminary insights into the structural development of the site, alongside a correlation of new 14 C dates with relative ceramic chronological markers and the results of faunal analysis. These results provide new perspectives on settlement systems at the dawn of Urnfield cultural traditions in this region.
Starinar, 2021
Alleged "Aegean migrations" have long been seen as underlying major transformations in lifeways a... more Alleged "Aegean migrations" have long been seen as underlying major transformations in lifeways and identity in the Balkans in the 12 th-11 th centuries BC. Revisiting the material culture and settlement changes in the north-south "routeway" of the Velika Morava-Južna Morava-Vardar/Axios river valleys, this paper evaluates developments within local communities. It is argued that mobility played an important role in social change, including an element of inward migration from the north. We argue that rather than an Aegean end point, these river valleys themselves were the destination of migrants. The prosperity this stimulated within those communities led to increased networks of personal mobility that incorporated elements from communities from the wider Carpathians and the north of Greece over the course of two centuries.
Rethinking Migrations in Late Prehistoric Eurasia, 2023
Email us for a full copy of the paper - address at end of PDF.
In B.P.C Molloy (ed.). Of Odysseys and Oddities: Scales and modes of interaction between prehisto... more In B.P.C Molloy (ed.). Of Odysseys and Oddities: Scales and modes of interaction between prehistoric Aegean societies and their neighbours (Sheffield Studies in Aegean Archaeology). Oxford: Oxbow
PDF Coming soon!
Commanding a position near the edge of a loess plateau
in the southern reach... more PDF Coming soon!
Commanding a position near the edge of a loess plateau
in the southern reaches of the central Carpathian
Basin, the site of Gradište Idjoš (variously called
Gradište kod Kikinde, Gradište near Idjoš or Idjoš
Gradište in literature) in Serbian Banat is a major fortified
site of the Later Bronze Age. Our investigations
are refining its chronology, though the major phase
of settlement appears to belong to c. 15th to 9th century
BC, with a possible gap from the 11th to the 10th century
BC. Clearly visible in historic maps of the area and in
early aerial photographs (Fig. 1), the central fortification
consists of a sub-circular rampart probably surrounded
by a fosse and up to three other curvilinear
ditches at progressively farther distances, all evident
from a geophysical survey and aerial imagery. We will
begin with a brief overview of the landscape setting
of the site, followed by a description of the history of
research. We then present an overview of the results
of our geophysical survey and excavations at the site
in 2014 and 2015, leading up to a preliminary discussion
of the ceramics to demonstrate the chronology of
the occupation. We conclude with a discussion of the
social environment of the site in the Bronze Age, set
within the landscape of the »mega-forts« within and
bordering the geographical and historical region of
Banat (an area now shared by Hungary, Romania and
Serbia).
The Early History of War and Conflict. Edited by Svend Hansen and Rüdiger Krause, 2022
It is widely recognised that the Carpathian Basin was an important region of cultural innovation ... more It is widely recognised that the Carpathian Basin was an important region of cultural innovation in the Late Bronze Age, yet in its south-east quadrant, our knowledge of where and how people were living remains fragmentary. This paper presents new research into settlement archaeology in that region by providing data on a newly discovered network of enclosed sites close to the River Tisza and River Danube in the Banat region of Serbia. It is apparent that well-resourced, socially complex and closely linked communities were living there. We further argue that communities extended beyond the site-specific and may have possessed regional-scale configurations in terms of their organisation and structure. It is shown that many exhibit defined features arising from intentional planning/design. Finally, we present preliminary thoughts on how these densely spaced sites may relate to each other organisationally and consider the role of built enclosures in these societies.
Warfare in Bronze Age Society
Mobility of Culture in Bronze Age Europe. Proceedings of an international conference and the Marie Curie ITN ‘Forging Identities’ at Aarhus University June 2012.
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2025 papers by Barry Molloy
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1
Concern has risen that current global warming and
more frequent extreme events such as droughts and floods
will increase conflict around the world. This concern has
spurred both social science research on contemporary
climate, peace, and conflict as well as research in the
historical sciences on past climate, weather, warfare, and
violence. This perspectives article compares these two fields
of scholarship and examines how each may benefit the other.
It finds significant convergences in methods and insights
across contemporary and historical research as well as
persistent patterns in causal pathways between climate and
conflict. Contemporary climate, peace, and conflict (CPC)
research may sharpen methods and causal models for
historical researchers. Historical studies, particularly those
informed by contemporary research, may elucidate deep
origins and long-term effects of climate-related conflicts. For
policymakers and the public, history offers comprehensible
ways to make sense of complex and contingent linkages and
to construct cogent narratives of the past as well as storylines
for the future.
Bronze Age Europe general by Barry Molloy
During the later Bronze Age in Europe (c. 1500-800 BC), the archaeological visibility of the production and consumption of bronze increases substantially. Yet there remains a significant imbalance between the vast number of finished artefacts that survive and the evidence for where, how, and by whom they were produced. At the centre of these questions is the metal smith, who has been variously regarded in scholarship as nomadic, a reviled outsider, elite in status, a mediator of wealth, a shaman or a proto-scientist. In most cases, however, the social role of the smith is seen as central to the functioning of Bronze Age societies This paper provides a new cross-regional study that evaluates current theoretical paradigms in the light of empirical evidence. It does this through contextual analyses of metalworking traces, focussing on case studies primarily from Atlantic, Nordic, Urnfield and Balkan regions of Europe. Our work breaks down the production cycle into various practical steps, and the material evidence for each step is evaluated. This enables similarities and differences on the broader European scale to be identified and discussed. Through this, our aim is to better characterise the modes of participation in smithing and the identities of those involved, and consequently to improve our understanding of the material patterns related to smithing activities that occur archaeologically. These patterns range from discard or deposition at settlements, the construction of identity in mortuary practice, technological choices in alloy design and treatment, and the quality of finished metalwork objects. Concerning the question of the single smith, it is argued that the material evidence in many regions indicates that metal-working was more broadly embedded in society; this might be through cross-craft interaction, the location of metalworking activities, and the reuse of casting debris and moulds. We argue that crafting metal was a commonplace and socially visible activity, which was in many regions a venue for enhancing social integration and stability.
The Late Bronze Age (1700-900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioarchaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as different as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, ranging from the short to the long range, became a defining aspect of the "Middle Sea" during this time, influencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern boundaries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics.
Bronze Age Central and Southeast Europe by Barry Molloy
Societies of the later Early to Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2200–1600 BC) in the Carpathian Basin exhibited complex, hierarchical and regionally influential socio-political organisation that came to an abrupt end in the 16th century BC. Considered a collapse by some, this change was characterised by abandonment of virtually all central places / nodes in settlement networks. Until recently, the complexity that characterised the period was believed to have substantially diminished alongside depopulation. This model was reinforced by a combination of the loss of established external networks and low-resolution knowledge of where and how people lived in the first stages of the Late Bronze Age (between 1600 and 1200 BC). We contest the idea of a diminished Late Bronze Age and argue that a fully opposite trajectory can be identified–increased scale, complexity and density in settlement systems and intensification of long-distance networks. We present results of a settlement survey in the southern Pannonian Plain using remote and pedestrian prospection, augmented by small-scale excavations. New absolute dates are used to define the occupational history of sites dating primarily between 1500–1200 BC. We argue that climate change played a substantial role in in the transformation of settlement networks, creating a particular ecological niche enabling societies to thrive. New and specific forms of landscape exploitation developed that were characterised by proximity to wetlands and minor watercourses. In this context, the largest monuments of Bronze Age Europe were created and inhabited. In considering the origins and demise of these megasites and related settlements, we provide a new model for Late Bronze Age societies in the Carpathian Basin and their regional relevance.
The present study aims to explore connectivity and networking in Late Bronze Age (LBA)/Early Iron Age (EIA) Greece and the Balkans using morphological biodistance analysis and test the potentiality of newly introduced statistical tests, which were designed for challenging datasets, in this particular cultural area. Cranial non-metric traits were recorded in ten skeletal collections, spanning from East Crete to Romania. We followed an experimental statistical approach encompassing two different measures of divergence, the conventional and well-tested mean measure of divergence (MMD) and the newly introduced untransformed measure of divergence (UMD). Though different, results based on these two measures are mutually supporting and show that biodistances in our regional case studies mainly follow the isolation by distance model. This cautiously confirms our main hypothesis that during the LBA and EIA periods in Greece and the Balkans, personal mobility was a slow process characterized by integration, rather than displacement or transformation. The current study is the first one to infer biological affinities using cranial non-metric analysis combined with artifactual evidence, in LBA/EIA Greece and the Balkans. Building a larger dataset through future non-metric analyses will better enable exploring networking and mobility to further complement ongoing bioarchaeological, genetic, and material culture studies.
Commanding a position near the edge of a loess plateau
in the southern reaches of the central Carpathian
Basin, the site of Gradište Idjoš (variously called
Gradište kod Kikinde, Gradište near Idjoš or Idjoš
Gradište in literature) in Serbian Banat is a major fortified
site of the Later Bronze Age. Our investigations
are refining its chronology, though the major phase
of settlement appears to belong to c. 15th to 9th century
BC, with a possible gap from the 11th to the 10th century
BC. Clearly visible in historic maps of the area and in
early aerial photographs (Fig. 1), the central fortification
consists of a sub-circular rampart probably surrounded
by a fosse and up to three other curvilinear
ditches at progressively farther distances, all evident
from a geophysical survey and aerial imagery. We will
begin with a brief overview of the landscape setting
of the site, followed by a description of the history of
research. We then present an overview of the results
of our geophysical survey and excavations at the site
in 2014 and 2015, leading up to a preliminary discussion
of the ceramics to demonstrate the chronology of
the occupation. We conclude with a discussion of the
social environment of the site in the Bronze Age, set
within the landscape of the »mega-forts« within and
bordering the geographical and historical region of
Banat (an area now shared by Hungary, Romania and
Serbia).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02109-1
Concern has risen that current global warming and
more frequent extreme events such as droughts and floods
will increase conflict around the world. This concern has
spurred both social science research on contemporary
climate, peace, and conflict as well as research in the
historical sciences on past climate, weather, warfare, and
violence. This perspectives article compares these two fields
of scholarship and examines how each may benefit the other.
It finds significant convergences in methods and insights
across contemporary and historical research as well as
persistent patterns in causal pathways between climate and
conflict. Contemporary climate, peace, and conflict (CPC)
research may sharpen methods and causal models for
historical researchers. Historical studies, particularly those
informed by contemporary research, may elucidate deep
origins and long-term effects of climate-related conflicts. For
policymakers and the public, history offers comprehensible
ways to make sense of complex and contingent linkages and
to construct cogent narratives of the past as well as storylines
for the future.
During the later Bronze Age in Europe (c. 1500-800 BC), the archaeological visibility of the production and consumption of bronze increases substantially. Yet there remains a significant imbalance between the vast number of finished artefacts that survive and the evidence for where, how, and by whom they were produced. At the centre of these questions is the metal smith, who has been variously regarded in scholarship as nomadic, a reviled outsider, elite in status, a mediator of wealth, a shaman or a proto-scientist. In most cases, however, the social role of the smith is seen as central to the functioning of Bronze Age societies This paper provides a new cross-regional study that evaluates current theoretical paradigms in the light of empirical evidence. It does this through contextual analyses of metalworking traces, focussing on case studies primarily from Atlantic, Nordic, Urnfield and Balkan regions of Europe. Our work breaks down the production cycle into various practical steps, and the material evidence for each step is evaluated. This enables similarities and differences on the broader European scale to be identified and discussed. Through this, our aim is to better characterise the modes of participation in smithing and the identities of those involved, and consequently to improve our understanding of the material patterns related to smithing activities that occur archaeologically. These patterns range from discard or deposition at settlements, the construction of identity in mortuary practice, technological choices in alloy design and treatment, and the quality of finished metalwork objects. Concerning the question of the single smith, it is argued that the material evidence in many regions indicates that metal-working was more broadly embedded in society; this might be through cross-craft interaction, the location of metalworking activities, and the reuse of casting debris and moulds. We argue that crafting metal was a commonplace and socially visible activity, which was in many regions a venue for enhancing social integration and stability.
The Late Bronze Age (1700-900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioarchaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as different as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, ranging from the short to the long range, became a defining aspect of the "Middle Sea" during this time, influencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern boundaries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics.
Societies of the later Early to Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2200–1600 BC) in the Carpathian Basin exhibited complex, hierarchical and regionally influential socio-political organisation that came to an abrupt end in the 16th century BC. Considered a collapse by some, this change was characterised by abandonment of virtually all central places / nodes in settlement networks. Until recently, the complexity that characterised the period was believed to have substantially diminished alongside depopulation. This model was reinforced by a combination of the loss of established external networks and low-resolution knowledge of where and how people lived in the first stages of the Late Bronze Age (between 1600 and 1200 BC). We contest the idea of a diminished Late Bronze Age and argue that a fully opposite trajectory can be identified–increased scale, complexity and density in settlement systems and intensification of long-distance networks. We present results of a settlement survey in the southern Pannonian Plain using remote and pedestrian prospection, augmented by small-scale excavations. New absolute dates are used to define the occupational history of sites dating primarily between 1500–1200 BC. We argue that climate change played a substantial role in in the transformation of settlement networks, creating a particular ecological niche enabling societies to thrive. New and specific forms of landscape exploitation developed that were characterised by proximity to wetlands and minor watercourses. In this context, the largest monuments of Bronze Age Europe were created and inhabited. In considering the origins and demise of these megasites and related settlements, we provide a new model for Late Bronze Age societies in the Carpathian Basin and their regional relevance.
The present study aims to explore connectivity and networking in Late Bronze Age (LBA)/Early Iron Age (EIA) Greece and the Balkans using morphological biodistance analysis and test the potentiality of newly introduced statistical tests, which were designed for challenging datasets, in this particular cultural area. Cranial non-metric traits were recorded in ten skeletal collections, spanning from East Crete to Romania. We followed an experimental statistical approach encompassing two different measures of divergence, the conventional and well-tested mean measure of divergence (MMD) and the newly introduced untransformed measure of divergence (UMD). Though different, results based on these two measures are mutually supporting and show that biodistances in our regional case studies mainly follow the isolation by distance model. This cautiously confirms our main hypothesis that during the LBA and EIA periods in Greece and the Balkans, personal mobility was a slow process characterized by integration, rather than displacement or transformation. The current study is the first one to infer biological affinities using cranial non-metric analysis combined with artifactual evidence, in LBA/EIA Greece and the Balkans. Building a larger dataset through future non-metric analyses will better enable exploring networking and mobility to further complement ongoing bioarchaeological, genetic, and material culture studies.
Commanding a position near the edge of a loess plateau
in the southern reaches of the central Carpathian
Basin, the site of Gradište Idjoš (variously called
Gradište kod Kikinde, Gradište near Idjoš or Idjoš
Gradište in literature) in Serbian Banat is a major fortified
site of the Later Bronze Age. Our investigations
are refining its chronology, though the major phase
of settlement appears to belong to c. 15th to 9th century
BC, with a possible gap from the 11th to the 10th century
BC. Clearly visible in historic maps of the area and in
early aerial photographs (Fig. 1), the central fortification
consists of a sub-circular rampart probably surrounded
by a fosse and up to three other curvilinear
ditches at progressively farther distances, all evident
from a geophysical survey and aerial imagery. We will
begin with a brief overview of the landscape setting
of the site, followed by a description of the history of
research. We then present an overview of the results
of our geophysical survey and excavations at the site
in 2014 and 2015, leading up to a preliminary discussion
of the ceramics to demonstrate the chronology of
the occupation. We conclude with a discussion of the
social environment of the site in the Bronze Age, set
within the landscape of the »mega-forts« within and
bordering the geographical and historical region of
Banat (an area now shared by Hungary, Romania and
Serbia).
Serbia, is well known in the archaeological literature of the region. Excavated on several
occasions since 1913, the site is best known for the existence of a late Neolithic settlement where
material culture belonging to both Vinča and Tisza communities was found in the same archaeological
contexts. Furthermore, the site is known for a 250 metre diameter fortified settlement from the
Late Bronze/Early Iron Age period. А new research cycle was initiated in 2014 in order to explain
cultural processes during prehistory in this part of the Pannonian basin. The first season of the
new research campaign was focused on geophysical prospection of an area of approximately 2
hectares, geological coring and excavation of four stratigraphic trenches across the site. This
work has confirmed the existence of up to 2.5 metres of archaeological remains on the tell site
with several daub structures detected and the existence of numerous archaeological features within
the Late Bronze - Iron Age settlement.
Copyright © American School of Classical Studies at Athens, originally published in Hesperia 89 (2020), pp. 215–280. This offprint is supplied for personal, non-commercial use only, and reflects the definitive electronic version of the article, found at <https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.89.2.0215>
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in Hesperia 87 (2018), pp. 279–309. This offprint is supplied for personal, non-
commercial use only, and reflects the definitive electronic version of the article,
found at <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.87.2.0279>.
terms of the infrastructures supporting its conduct, the effects of its occurrence, and its role in symbolic
systems. In the Bronze Age many of the weapon forms that were to dominate battlefields for millennia
to come were first invented — shields and swords in particular. Using the case study of Ireland, developments
in Bronze Age warfare are traced from the Early to the Late Bronze Age. It is argued that
during this period there was a move from warfare that made use of projectiles and impact weapons to
warfare that used both defensive and cutting weapons. This formed the basis for a fundamental
reorganisation in combat systems. This in turn stimulated change in the social organisation of warfare,
including investment in material and training resources for warriors and the development of new
bodily techniques reflecting fundamental changes in martial art traditions. Metalwork analysis of
bronze weapons and experimental archaeology using replicas of these are used to support this position.
The article explores how developments in fighting techniques transformed the sociality of violence and
peer-relations among warriors and proposes that these warriors be regarded as a category of craft specialist
exerting significant social influence by the Late Bronze Age.
Lead Isotope Analysis (LIA) has been applied most often as a means of provenancing copper at the macro scale. Here we use LIA at the regional scale to expose the relationship between long-distance communication and local metal management strategies. We conducted lead isotope and chemical analysis on 82 objects and ingots from Late Bronze Age hoards of the south Carpathian Basin, a node in long distance networks. From a social perspective, results indicate the presence of a community of practice of metalworkers that went beyond sociopolitical boundaries. Analyses of ingots demonstrate that communities imported copper from a variety of distant sources, but local circulation and specific mixing and recycling practices created a characteristic chemical signature unique to this region. Moreover, metalworkers' choices of copper sources were tailored to specific object types. From an analytical perspective, we demonstrated that the frequent mixing of copper from different sources with varying lead concentrations to make objects resulted in the masking of LIA signatures for some sourceswe termed these 'ghost fractions' in mixturesby others with more lead.
200 metal tools and weapons, we use data reduction methods to define technological pathways in the long biographies of hoarded objects extending across the sourcing of materials, production, use, decommissioning, and deposition in the Carpathian Basin. We show how the differential treatment of materials and objects was strongly biased by social decisions across artefact types. We identify shared, standardised signature treatments that crossed over social-spatial boundaries. Our findings bring new insights on the interface between communal and elite wealth management at the intersection of technological reasoning and cultural beliefs in prehistoric communities.
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ABSTRACT:
The role of 3D modelling in archaeology is increasing exponentially, from fieldwork to architecture to material culture studies. For the study of archaeological objects the roles of digital and print models for public engagement has been much considered in recent literature. For model makers, focus has typically been placed on exceptional and visually striking objects with inherent appeal. In contrast, this paper explores some of the potential roles for 3D digital models for routine artefact research and publication. Particular emphasis is placed on the challenges this technology raises for archaeological theory and practice. Following a consideration of how 3D models relate to established illustration and photographic traditions, the paper evaluates some of the unique features of 3D models, focussing on both positive and negative aspects of these. This is followed by a discussion of the role of potential research connections between digital and craft models in experimental research. Our overall objective is to emphasise a need to engage with the ways in which this gradual development has begun to change aspects of long-established workflows. In turn, the increasing use of this technology is argued to have wider ramifications for the development of archaeology, and material culture studies in particular, as a discipline that requires reflection.
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Perception of the increasing role of 3D modelling for object studies in archaeology varies from it being a revolutionary resource to a useful addition to our toolkit. Its use for excavation documentation, structures and landscapes has been established in archaeology, though its role in the analysis of smaller items of interest has yet to be considered in depth. It is clear, however, that we are making and using 3D models with increasing frequency for material culture studies (broadly interpreted) and in other areas such as osteological research. In turn, this ranges from using models as an aid for documentation during primary studies, in a more active role as objects (or datasets) for research in themselves, as dynamic tools for academic dissemination, to augment or challenge experimental projects, and as a tool for citizen science and public outreach in both digital and print forms.
The actual 3D modelling process therefore constitutes a node linked to a wide array of archaeological research questions and methodologies. The methods, objectives, capabilities and outputs of each strand have capacity to complement each other in novel ways, which may be seen as an important development in itself. In this way, the use of 3D models may provide cross-fertilisations that challenge conventional workflows within the study of objects in archaeology. From primary research through to dissemination, they represent a new consideration in the study of objects that many are now taking on board in their project designs. In a rapidly changing field, this issue seeks to take the pulse of where we are presently with the use of 3D models from both theoretical and practical / functional perspectives. Our intention is also to consider future directions in the field of archaeology that utilise 3D models as a resource to augment, enhance or potentially enable the conduct of new research.
We invite contributions that reflect on the benefits, challenges, and opportunities that 3D modelling can provide and those that consider this as a symptom of a broader digital movement best not treated in isolation. We invite you to ask is this a revolution, a resource or a redundant question?
This is thematic issue builds upon a workshop held in Dublin on October 15th-16th at the UCD Centre for Experimental Archaeology and Material Culture, though we welcome further paper proposals for inclusion in this volume. Please email me using the email links (not academia messenger).
The session discusses new perspectives on warrior burials from Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze AgeEurope focusing on the relationship between martial ideology and martial practices; markers of receivedor inflicted violence and related bioarchaeological evidence; and the funerary and non-funerarydimensions of grave kits. Papers may also discuss the gender dynamics underlying warrior graves as wellas meaningfully associated or comparative evidence, e.g., unfurnished or differently furnished burials.True to the session’s focus on transitions, papers are also welcomed, which investigate the shift fromweapon-poor to weapon-rich burials in the Neolithic and the transformation of warrior burial andideology during the Bronze Age. A parallel poster session will host narrower studies, e.g., those solelyfocusing on bone trauma.
Please submit your abstract by 10th February 2022
https://eaa.klinkhamergroup.com/eaa2022/
For queries contact
[email protected]
Excavations (2005 – 2010) and further research at Priniatikos Pyrgos, in Eastern Crete, have shown that this location represents a substantial settlement and, probably, an important harbor, during the Early Byzantine period (Molloy et al. 2014. Tsipopoulou and Hayden 2012).
This location, a limestone headland in Mirabello bay, was almost continually settled from the Final Neolithic up to the Early Roman period. After very limited habitation, or even an hiatus, in the Roman period, intensive construction had resumed by the end of the 6th C A.D. The building complex which resulted was repeatedly re-modelled during the 7th and 8th C AD but was then abandoned and slowly collapsed during the 9th C AD.
Habitation areas, storage rooms, kitchens and graves of Early Byzantine period have been recovered within the complex. One of the oldest and most substantial structures, featuring an internal curved wall, has yielded items commonly found in ecclesiastical contexts indicating the possibility that the complex itself may have been monastic in nature.
The aim of our paper is to demonstrate how we propose to use diet research, inter alia, to help address some specific historical questions, with emphasis on the Early Byzantine period (the so -called ‘Dark Ages’), for which the literary sources are extremely sparse and only a limited number of excavated and published sites exist..
Among the general questions arising from this site are:
Who were the people living in Priniatikos Pyrgos during the Early Byzantine period? Why did they settle in this particular location? What was their social status?
All of the questions above can be approached from the point of view of the diet of the population, as was demonstrated by Ch. Bourbou (2010) for Byzantine Crete. However, to address these questions in detail, we must combine all the data available, including information provided by material culture, literary sources, cultural anthropology, and a wide range of biological sciences (including human osteology, animal osteology and palaeobotanics), together with that provided by a number of scientific techniques (including Sr, N and C isotope analyses, organic residues analysis and radiocarbon dating).
Since our research is still at a relatively early stage, we intend, with the exception of some preliminary data, to present a schedule of the methodology we propose to apply to some general and some more specific questions and indicate our expectations concerning the results from each investigation. .
Bibliography:
Bourbou, C. 2010: Health and Disease in Byzantine Crete (7th–12th centuries AD). Ashgate.
Hayden, B. and Tsipopoulou, M. 2012: The Priniatikos Pyrgos: Preliminary report on the Rescue Excavation of 2005 – 2006. Hesperia. The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Vol. 81, No. 4, 507 – 584.
Molloy, B. P.C. Duckworth, C. N. (eds.) 2014: A Cretan Landscape through Time: Priniatikos Pyrgos and Environs. British Archaeological Reports IS 2634. Oxford.
This is especially important for photographers who specialize in photographic documentation like archaeologists, because the RAW file format allows one to collect and store most of the information that the camera can capture. The .jpg format, on the other hand, compresses the file, which requires digital “decisions” by the onboard software. All RAW file formats allow greater control over post processing such as color control or detail recovery.
3D modeling using images is increasingly being used in archaeology, particularly using the cost-effective photogrammetric method. This raises methodological concerns, as there can be variable engagement with photographic best practice. We wish to ask in this paper if the use of RAW files during data capture for photogrammetric modeling improves the quality of final 3D model.
We aim to answer the question using following case studies:
- Large-scale models of medieval basements – complex objects consisting of rooms, recorded in RAW and then developed to jpg using automated and custom settings.
- Historical street lantern posts from Warsaw, Poland - medium size objects with homogeneous texture recorded in camera both in jpg and RAW.
- Small-scale metal objects recorded in camera both in jpg and RAW format, where customization of developing parameters was used to improve variable quality of original images.
We performed comparisons of quality of 3D modeling concerned not only the number of points generated for point-clouds, but also quality and accuracy of the model produced, particularly its texture.
The question we address is if we should be working towards forming best practice in archaeological 3D modeling based on image format and resolution, or do such issues really matter?
This session aims to critically evaluate social transformations of the 2nd millennium BCE Middle and Lower Danube hinterlands in a nuanced manner that addresses the impact of connections through time and across the diverse, contemporary societies that shaped these landscapes. We call for contributions that shed new light on transformations of settlement patterns and land use, on changes in patterns of mobility, nutrition, infectious diseases, socio-political interactions between larger and smaller-scale settlement networks, management of and responses to societal-scale crises.
Some questions that ResCom will tackle include:
* How can we define societal resilience so that it balances the effect of environmental and societal forces of change?
* How can insights from different pertinent disciplines contribute to promoting the use of the concept of resilience in archaeology given the fragmentary archaeological record?
* How can we quantify resilience using multiple proxies in a meaningful manner to avoid reliance on existing, flawed, top-down approaches?
* Overcoming stressors can enhance the resilience quality of a person according to psychologists and social workers. Can the same be said about larger units, namely societies?
* What is the role, if any, of hierarchies in societal resilience?
The session discusses new perspectives on warrior burials from Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age Europe focusing on the relationship between martial ideology and martial practices; markers of received or inflicted violence and related bioarchaeological evidence; and the funerary and non-funerary dimensions of grave kits. Papers may also discuss the gender dynamics underlying warrior graves as well as meaningfully associated or comparative evidence, e.g., unfurnished or differently furnished burials. True to the session’s focus on transitions, papers are also welcomed, which investigate the shift from weapon-poor to weapon-rich burials in the Neolithic and the transformation of warrior burial and ideology during the Bronze Age. A parallel poster session will host narrower studies, e.g., those solely focusing on bone trauma.
Please submit your abstract no later than 10th February: https://eaa.klinkhamergroup.com/eaa2022/
For any queries, please contact [email protected]