Late Iron Age (late + iron_age)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Assyrians, Judaeans, Pastoral Groups, and the Trade Patterns in the Late Iron Age Negev

HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 2 2007
Juan Manuel Tebes
This article gives a current reassessment of the evidence of trade between the Negev, Edom, and the Mediterranean in the Late Iron Age. To determine the characteristics of this trade pattern, textual (Assyrian, Biblical) and archaeological data , especially the distribution of Edomite wares in the Negev , are used to propose a model in which trade was controlled by the local nomadic pastoral groups. [source]


Grassland diversity related to the Late Iron Age human population density

JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2007
MEELIS PÄRTEL
Summary 1Species-rich semi-natural grasslands in Europe developed during prehistoric times and have endured due to human activity. At the same time, intensive grassland management or changes in land use may result in species extinction. As a consequence, plant diversity in semi-natural calcareous grasslands may be related to both historical and current human population density. 2We hypothesize that current vascular plant diversity in semi-natural calcareous grasslands is positively correlated with the Late Iron Age (c. 800,1000 years ago) density of human settlements (indicated by Late Iron Age fortresses and villages) due to enhancement of grassland extent and species dispersal, and negatively correlated with current human population density due to habitat loss and deterioration. 3We described the size of the community vascular plant species pool, species richness per 1 m2 and the relative richness (richness divided by the size of the species pool) in 45 thin soil, calcareous (alvar) grasslands in Estonia. In addition to historical and current human population density we considered simultaneously the effects of grassland area, connectivity to other alvar grasslands, elevation above sea level (indicating grassland age), soil pH, soil N, soil P, soil depth, soil depth heterogeneity, geographical east,west gradient, precipitation and spatial autocorrelation. 4Both the size of the community species pool and the species richness are significantly correlated with the Late Iron Age human population density. In addition, species richness was unimodally related to the current human population density. The relative richness (species ,packing density') was highest in the intermediate current human population densities, indicative of moderate land-use intensity. 5Community species pool size decreased non-linearly with increasing soil N, and was highest at intermediate elevation. Small-scale richness was greater when sites were well connected and when the elevation was intermediate. Spatial autocorrelation was also significant for both species pool size and small-scale richness. 6In summary, human land-use legacy from prehistoric times is an important aspect in plant ecology, which could be an important contributor to the current variation in biodiversity. [source]


BETWEEN WARRIORS AND CHAMPIONS: WARFARE AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE LATER PREHISTORY OF THE NORTH-WESTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA1

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
FRANCISCO JAVIER GONZÁLEZ GARCÍA
Summary This article explores changes in the ,art of warfare' among societies in the north-western Iberian Peninsula in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. These changes are interpreted as a manifestation of the transformation experienced by societies living in the region first from ,warrior societies' to ,societies with warriors' at the end of the Bronze Age and then back to ,warrior societies' in the Late Iron Age. Evidence of individual combat as a manifestation of ,societies with warriors' is analysed in the broader context of Indo-European and ethnographical examples. It reflects societies in which there were groups specialized in warfare and represents the establishment, in the region, of an Indo-European warrior ideology. [source]


POTS AND PITS: DRINKING AND DEPOSITION IN LATE IRON AGE SOUTH-EAST BRITAIN

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 2 2005
MARTIN PITTS
Summary. This paper considers the role of pottery in the Late Iron Age to Roman transition in south-east Britain. Traditional concern with the significance of Continental imports is rejected in favour of a more holistic and bottom-up approach giving equal emphasis to locally made forms and imports in complete assemblages. Several stages of inter-site correspondence analysis are conducted on a range of sites and assemblages in the region. Patterning pertaining to the use and deposition of both imported and local pottery vessels can be seen to contradict simplistic models for ,Romanization before conquest'. The main conclusions include evidence for the selective disposal of drinking vessels and table wares in pits, the likely widespread consumption of beer as opposed to wine, and the implied importance of indigenous social practices such as feasting and communal drinking. [source]


LAST ORDERS: CHOOSING POTTERY FOR FUNERALS IN ROMAN ESSEX

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
EDWARD BIDDULPH
Summary. This paper examines ceramic vessels from Roman-period funerary contexts in Essex. Using correspondence analysis, it charts changes in the choice of funerary pottery and isolates the elements in pottery assemblages that unite or differentiate sites. The paper finds that the status of sites can be distinguished on ceramic grounds, reflecting cultural differences in life. Jars and beakers are characteristic of settlement cemeteries, while cups are more typical of high-status burials. Flagons and samian ware are common between them. Underlying funerary traditions are rooted in continuity from the Late Iron Age, rather than post-conquest change. The study also suggests that funerary pottery was selected out of the supply intended for domestic use. [source]


The distribution of republican amphorae in france

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 2 2003
MATTHEW E. LOUGHTON
SummaryRecent research on assemblages of Republican amphorae from France has greatly altered our understanding of the wine trade during the Late Iron Age. However, much of this work, and its implications, are not well known in Britain and this paper aims to disseminate this information by examining the latest evidence concerning the dating and distribution of Republican amphorae (Dressel 1, Lamboglia 2, Brindisi and Republican Ovoid amphorae) in France during the Late Iron Age. In total 1975 findspots of Republican amphorae have been recorded. This includes a significant number of Greco-Italic findspots that testify to an important phase of amphora importation to non-Mediterranean France that possibly started as early as the late third or early second century BC. Parts of southern and central France received an exceptional quantity of Republican amphorae. [source]


Defining the OE hearg: a preliminary archaeological and topographic examination of hearg place names and their hinterlands

EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE, Issue 4 2007
Sarah Semple
The OE term hearg is interpreted variously as ,pagan temple', ,hilltop sanctuary' and even ,idol'. It is a rare survival in the English place-name record. When it can be identified, the place name is commonly considered to refer to a location of pre-Christian religious activity, specifically a pagan Anglo-Saxon temple. Taking inspiration from the extensive and methodologically well-advanced studies in Scandinavia, which have successfully related place-name evidence for cultic and religious sites with the archaeology and topography of these localities, this paper adopts and uses a similar methodology to investigate the archaeological and topographic character of a selection of hearg locations. The traditional interpretations of the place name are questioned and evidence is presented that these sites are characterized by long-lived, localized cult practice spanning the late prehistoric to early historic periods, but with activity reaching a zenith in the late Iron Age to Romano-British eras, rather than the fifth to seventh centuries AD. [source]