Relatively few examples of Palaeohispanic writing have been recovered from the Vasconic territories of present-day Navarre, leading to the assumption that the Vascones were a pre-literate society. ...Here, the authors report on an inscription on a bronze hand recovered at the Iron Age site of Irulegi (Aranguren Valley, Navarre) in northern Spain. Its detailed linguistic analysis suggests that the script represents a graphic subsystem of Palaeohispanic that shares its roots with the modern Basque language and constitutes the first example of Vasconic epigraphy. The text inscribed on this artefact, which was found at the entrance of a domestic building, is interpreted as apotropaic, a token entreating good fortune.
In 2023, prospection of a dried-out lake near Papowo Biskupie in north-central Poland identified substantial deposits of bronze artefacts. Excavation revealed further deposits and dozens of human ...skeletons that date from 1000–400 BC, suggesting that the site held particular significance as a place for sacrificial offerings in the Lusatian culture.
The Gansu–Qinghai region lies in the key position for trans-Eurasian cultural exchange, and hence investigations of the history of agricultural development in this region are significant for ...understanding the spatiotemporal evolution of prehistoric crop dispersal in Eurasia. However, systematic archaeobotanical studies concerning the history of the development of prehistoric agriculture in this area are scarce. Here, based on archaeobotanical analysis and radiocarbon dating at the Jinchankou site, we investigated the history of agricultural development in the Datong River valley during the Qijia culture. Combined with previous archaeobotanical studies of the Gansu–Qinghai region, we explored the diachronic changes in the cropping patterns from the Late Neolithic to the Early Iron Age. The results suggest that millet remained the most important subsistence plant during 4100–3700 BP, while barley and wheat were first cultivated around 3900 BP at the Jinchankou site. Humans only cultivated foxtail and broomcorn millet in the Gansu–Qinghai region with a high level of agricultural management during 5900–4000 BP. Barley and wheat were added to the agricultural system in the area during 4000–3600 BP, although they played a subsidiary role compared with millet. During 3600–2100 BP, barley played an increasingly important role in the Gansu–Qinghai region but with evident differences among geomorphic units, and there was an obvious decrease in agricultural management level. It is likely that the transformation of cropping patterns and agricultural management levels in the Gansu–Qinghai region from 5900 to 2100 BP was primarily promoted by prehistoric trans-continental cultural exchange and secondly by climate change in the area.
The Xinjiang region in northwest China is a historically important geographical passage between East and West Eurasia. By sequencing 201 ancient genomes from 39 archaeological sites, we clarify the ...complex demographic history of this region. Bronze Age Xinjiang populations are characterized by four major ancestries related to Early Bronze Age cultures from the central and eastern Steppe, Central Asian, and Tarim Basin regions. Admixtures between Middle and Late Bronze Age Steppe cultures continued during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages, along with an inflow of East and Central Asian ancestry. Historical era populations show similar admixed and diverse ancestries as those of present-day Xinjiang populations. These results document the influence that East and West Eurasian populations have had over time in the different regions of Xinjiang.
The large metal assemblage of the unique site of el-Aḥwat, a short-lived Iron I settlement, is presented here for the first time. It mainly comprises local tools, jewellery and evidence of ...bronzeworking, typical of Iron Age I urban settlements in the lowlands, mostly continuing Late Bronze Age traditions. Spatial distribution of the metal finds shows that metals were abundant across the site. Lead isotope analysis reveals that the copper at the site is local, originating from the Arabah, and that the silver is from the Aegaean-Anatolian sphere. Copper spills and ingot suggest that copper and bronze were worked on the site. As metals are rare in the central hill country during this period, the results suggest that el-Aḥwat should be reconsidered as an exceptional site, not only in its large size, unique architecture and marginal location between the highlands and lowlands, but even more so as its inhabitants maintained commercial connections with the lowlands, coast and beyond, and were probably engaged in metalworking.
Previous studies of rapid geomagnetic changes have highlighted the most extreme changes in direction and field strength found in paleomagnetic field models over the past 100 ky. Here we study ...distributions of rates of change in both time and space. Field models based on direct observations provide the most accurate values for rates of change, but their short duration precludes a complete description of field behavior. Broader representation is provided by time‐varying paleofield models, here including GGF100k, GGFSS70, LSMOD.2, CALS10k.2, HFM.OL1.A1, pfm9k.2, and SHAWQ‐iron age although variability across models and lack of temporal and spatial resolution of fine scale variations make direct comparisons difficult. For the paleofield we define rapid changes as exceeding the peak overall value of 0.4° yr−1 for directional changes and 150 nT yr−1 for intensities as established by the gufm1 model spanning 1590–1990 CE. We find that rapid directional changes are associated with low field strength and can spread across all latitudes during such episodes. Distributions of directional rates of change exhibit high skewness for models that include excursions. Rates of change in field intensity exceeding 150 nT yr−1 arise in brief intervals during the Holocene particularly associated with the strong field Levantine Iron Age Anomaly. Around the Laschamp excursion there are also rare localized occurrences of rapid intensity change. Limitations in current models make it difficult to define absolute rates for past changes, but we see that rapid changes are essential field characteristics not observed in the modern field that should nevertheless be regarded as an essential for Earth‐like dynamo simulations.
Plain Language Summary
Earth's magnetic field is generated by fluid motions in its liquid outer core lying deep below the surface. Changes in the modern field are well‐mapped using low earth orbiting satellites and ground observations, but these are very modest. The largest changes over the past hundred thousand years occur on geological time scales predating the era of direct observations. These include geomagnetic excursions, periods characterized by low field strength and unstable directions, and intensity spikes when the field is unusually strong. To study the rates at which field changes occur we use a range of global time‐varying magnetic field models constructed from paleomagnetic and archeomagnetic records. These are much less detailed than modern data, but after accounting for their lesser resolution can still provide key insights into the occurrence of the most rapid changes. We find that high rates of change are an essential characteristic of the geomagnetic field over 0–100 ka that should be reproducible in Earth‐like dynamo simulations. Anomalously large rates of directional change are associated with weak field intensities surrounding geomagnetic excursions. Rapid intensity changes occur in brief intervals associated with the strongest fields found during the past few thousand years.
Key Points
Rapid changes are an essential characteristic of the geomagnetic field over 0–100 ka
Anomalously large rates of directional change are associated with weak field intensity
Rapid intensity changes occur in brief intervals associated with strong fields
This study defines early Iron Age burials in Northern Israel as a coherent assemblage with traditions that are archaeologically distinguishable from those of northern Phoenician and southern ...Philistine societies. These burial traditions are distinct from funerary customs of the Late Bronze Age and Iron IIB. The study discusses the main developments and regional differentiations of early Iron Age burial traditions with an emphasis on their chronological contexts.
The archaeological excavations at the Ophel site between 2009-2013, headed by Dr. Eilat Mazar, uncovered, for the first time in the history of Jerusalem, layers with buildings-some of them ...monumental-that were in use throughout the Iron I, Iron IIA and Early Iron IIB. These buildings are of great importance due to their location on the southern slopes of the Temple Mount. In this article I review these buildings, the relation between them, their date and their function. I then attempt to reconstruct a picture of Jerusalem and Judah in these formative periods.
