Second Millennium BC (second + millennium_bc)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Malkata and Lisht Glassmaking Technologies: Towards a Specific Link between Second Millennium BC

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 1 2002
J. L. Mass
Elemental analyses have been conducted on 61 coloured opaque glasses from the Malkata and Lisht New Kingdom glass factories. The presence of tin in several of the blue glasses suggests that a bronze casting byproduct or corrosion product was the source of the copper colorant for these glasses. A positive correlation between the lead and antimony concentrations of the yellow and green opaque glasses, plus a consistent excess of lead oxide in these glasses, suggests the use of antimony-rich cupellation litharge as the source for the Pb2Sb2O7 , colorant in these glasses. The metallurgical byproducts used to colour the Malkata and Lisht glasses provide an explicit mechanism for Peltenburg's theory of interaction between second millennium BC glassmakers and contemporary metalworkers. [source]


Psychoses of epilepsy in Babylon: The oldest account of the disorder

EPILEPSIA, Issue 9 2008
Edward H. Reynolds
Summary We have previously published translations of Babylonian texts on epilepsy and stroke, which we believe to be the oldest detailed accounts of these neurological disorders from the second millennium BC. We now present a short Babylonian text, which clearly describes what are today known as interictal or schizophrenia-like psychoses of epilepsy. The text includes many of the classical symptoms of the syndrome, for example, paranoid delusions, hallucinations and mood disorders, as well as religiosity and hyposexuality, which have only been crystallized in the twentieth century. The Babylonians were remarkably good observers of human disease and behavior but had little or no understanding of pathology or brain function. Although they recognized many natural causes of disease, epilepsy and behavior disorders were attributed to supernatural, usually evil forces, the forerunner of the Greek concept of the Sacred Disease. [source]


WHO WERE THE GLASSMAKERS?

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 3 2007
STATUS, THEORY AND METHOD IN MID-SECOND MILLENNIUM GLASS PRODUCTION
Summary. Glass was first produced in a regular and controlled manner in the Near East in the sixteenth century BC. This paper examines a wide variety of textual, archaeological and analytical sources to try and determine more about the makers of this first glass. It attempts to show how modern ideas about medieval glassmaking have been anachronistically applied to the second millennium BC, and readdresses this by turning instead to second millennium sources of evidence. Using these sources, it investigates the position of glass within Late Bronze Age society and the status of glassmakers themselves. It goes on to examine the evidence for ritual and experimental behaviour in LBA crafts and industries and applies this to ideas of technological innovation and change in the period. It looks at the alchemical nature of glass production and proposes new ways of attempting to understand the glassmakers themselves. [source]


Saar and its external relations: new evidence for interaction between Bahrain and Gujarat during the early second millennium BC

ARABIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY, Issue 2 2001
R. A. CARTERArticle first published online: 7 JUL 200
First page of article [source]


Tepe Ghabristan: a Chalcolithic tell buried in alluvium

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 1 2007
Armin Schmidt
Abstract The Chalcolithic tell of Ghabristan in northwest Iran is now buried by alluvium and a magnetometer survey of the tell and its surroundings was undertaken to reveal any features under this cover. After the abandonment of the tell in the late third millennium BC it was used as an Iron Age cemetery by inhabitants of the neighbouring tell of Sagzabad. The magnetometer data show a related irregularly shaped channel that is also considered to be of Iron Age date. Its shallow burial depth, compared with the thick sedimentary layers underneath, indicates a considerable slowdown of alluviation rates in the second millennium BC, possibly related to environmental changes. The survey also found evidence for undisturbed buried building remains, most likely associated with copper workshops. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


The use and origin of antimonate colorants in early Egyptian glass,

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 4 2002
A. J. Shortland
The origin of the colorants in Egyptian glass of the second millennium BC has been the subject of much research and debate. Several colorants including lead antimonate yellow and calcium antimonate white appear in the archaeological record apparently concurrently with the introduction of glass, and it is possible that their origins are in some way linked. This paper examines the use of the antimonate colorants and uses analytical and experimental techniques to deduce possible technologies of production. Trace element data derived from a pilot study by LA-ICPMS gives additional indications of a possible source in the Caucasus for the antimony of these glasses. [source]