Edited volume · 2015

Broadening Horizons 4: Conference of Young Researchers Working in the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Central Asia, University of Torino, October 2011

Giorgio Affanni, Cristina Baccarin, Laura Cordera, Angelo Di Michele and Katia Gavagnin (eds.)

Archaeopress

A collection of papers on the archaeology, history and material culture of the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Central Asia, given at a conference of young researchers in Torino.

Broadening Horizons 4 publishes most of the papers presented at the fourth Broadening Horizons conference of young researchers working in the Ancient Near East, Egypt and Central Asia, held at the Università degli Studi di Torino from 25 to 28 October 2011. Contributions range across archaeology, prehistory, history, anthropology, archaeobiology and philology, with subjects extending from Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean to Central Asia. Stefano de Martino signed the foreword. The introduction describes five sessions: natural resources and sustenance, human effects on landscape, socioeconomic reconstruction, settlement and exchange, and new archaeological technologies.

How it is organised

Papers follow the order in which they were presented (pp. viii–x, 1–317). The contents list gathers the first group under Settlement patterns and exchange networks, from Gailhard on copper mining in Transcaucasia to Baccarin on Early Bronze Age chamber tombs of the Middle Euphrates Valley. A second group falls under Application of new technologies in archaeological research, which opens with Simpson on objects in the British Museum, and further papers on frontiers, water supply, routes, lithics, storage jars, databases, defences and fortification systems follow it to the end of the volume.

The papers

Chelazzi and Davit write on archaeology and archaeometry in Cyprus (pp. 201–208). They report Red Polished Ware collected on the eastern bank of the Kouris Valley, with a preliminary fabric analysis and a cluster analysis of chemical results, and analyses from Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou covering a metal slag, bone traces in tomb fill and lime plaster. They also set Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou beside the nearby necropolis of Erimi-Kafkalla. Andreou proposes an interdisciplinary, multiscalar approach to settlement patterns.

Several papers treat Anatolia, the Caucasus and the Levant. Gailhard examines copper mining communities of Transcaucasia in the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages, and Carminati takes up Bedeni pottery at the Early to Middle Bronze Age transition in the same region. De Vincenzi compares cultural interaction between western and central Anatolia in the third millennium BC, Whalen writes on wagons and wine in Early Bronze Age Central Anatolia, D'Andrea reads Early Bronze IV ceramics in the Southern Levant, Soennecken follows the Bronze to Iron Age transition in northern Palestine, and Vandam and Poblome study Late Chalcolithic pottery from the Burdur Plain. Squitieri maps Iron Age basalt vessels across the Southern Levant.

Tomé analyses movement and space control at Tell Beydar, Di Michele the architecture and use of space in Middle and Late Bronze Age Mesopotamian temples, and Raccidi the Late Chalcolithic 'Hammerhead' bowls of Tell Barri, where Pappalardo studies Islamic relief-moulded jugs. Gregoratti uses epigraphic sources for Palmyra, its city and territory, while Palmieri and Rossi describe the new technologies applied by the Italian-Syrian mission there. Iamoni applies the chi square test to pottery from Qatna, Perini examines organic remains in Middle Bronze Age vessels from Tell Ahmar, Taha follows the operational sequence of a Neolithic bevelled bone tool, Borrell returns to lithic production at Akarçay Tepe in the Late PPNB, and Baccarin investigates the origin of monumental chamber tombs along the Middle Euphrates. Somma reports small finds from the Italian excavations at Nimrud. N. Morello, Zingarello and Foietta write on frontiers and fortifications in Assyria, on city walls in Central and Lower Mesopotamia, and on the defences of Hatra, and Palermo treats the Jaghjagh River Valley in the Roman period.

Further papers concern Iran and Central Asia. McRae studies Achaemenid and Post Achaemenid ceramics from Qaleh Kali, Farjamirad Sasanian burial customs and social class, and Manassero and Ceccarini the sealings and Parthian storage jars of Old Nisa. Luneau reassesses the end of the Oxus Civilization, M. Morello the human imagery on Bronze Age metal vessels of Middle Asia, and Pedrosi, Mariotti and Belcastro the probable cases of leprosy in two skulls from the Koc-Oba kurgan. Other papers range from Egypt to Crete: Gilli discusses demolition and restoration at Giza, del Cerro Iron Age water supply at al Madam, Walker the oracle at Didyma and Hittite oracles, Gropp religious exchange, Marchand modelled skulls, and Da Pieve the TESS database for the mosaics of Crete.

What it records

Red Polished Ware collected on the eastern bank of the Kouris Valley numbered 640 sherds among more than 6,000 artefacts.p. 202
Preliminary analysis of the Kouris Valley material recorded 11 fabrics in Red Polished Ware and four in storage-vessel pithoi, from 26 samples including sub-types.p. 202
Hierarchical cluster analysis found no chemical subclassification among the Kouris Valley Red Polished Ware samples.p. 203
A metal slag from Area A at Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou contained 69.2–99.0% zinc, depending on the analytical technique.p. 203
Four archaeological campaigns at Erimi-Laonin tou Porakou excavated nine rock-cut tombs.p. 204
The introduction records 53 talks, seven posters and 74 registered participants at the Torino conference.p. ix
Gailhard dates the emergence of mining activities in the South Caucasus to the middle of the 5th millennium BC.p. 1
Tell Beydar comprised a 7-hectare walled tell and a 22.5-hectare walled lower town.p. 10
The plateau of Tall Zirā'a measures 160 metres across, and its cultural deposits reach 16 metres deep.p. 41
The 2010 Burdur Plain survey covered an area of 1.25 square kilometres.p. 61
At Tell Barri, chaff-faced ware made up more than 65 per cent of the pottery from pit 128.p. 90
Carminati distinguishes eight main typological classes of Bedeni pottery, subdivided into sub-types.p. 107
The Qaleh Kali excavations identified six structural or occupational phases, among them Achaemenid and Post Achaemenid settlements and a later Islamic village.p. 140
The new Old Nisa sealings found so far in the southwest building number 95, all of clay.p. 155
Residue analysis at Tell Ahmar considered 23 samples, after two with uncertain association to Middle Bronze Age levels were excluded.p. 195
The main wall at Hatra measured about two kilometres in diameter and six kilometres in circumference.p. 295

Where to read

Gailhard's hypothesis for mining settlements and ore processing at Zirinçlikpp. 1–5
Access hypotheses and four Space Syntax analyses at Tell Beydarpp. 10–13
Bedeni pottery classes, fabric and relative chronologypp. 106–110
Qaleh Kali ceramic phases, forms and fabricspp. 139–142
New Old Nisa sealings and their iconographypp. 155–158
Red Polished Ware analysis at Erimi and in the Kouris Valleypp. 201–203
Erimi slag, bone traces in tomb fill and lime plaster analysespp. 203–205
City walls of Central and Lower Mesopotamia by period and sitepp. 310–312

Settlement patterns and exchange networks
Copper Mining Community in Transcaucasia during Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages1
Circulating through the City: An Analysis of Movement and Space Control in a Northern Mesopotamian City9
A Comparative Analysis of the Cultural Interaction between the Western and Central Areas of Anatolia in the Third Millennium BC21
The Socio-Economic Landscape of the Early Bronze IV Period in the Southern Levant: A Ceramic Perspective31
The Transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Northern Palestine39
Transferred Religion – Can Faith Be Exchanged?47
Palmyra, City and Territory through the Epigraphic Sources55
Looking at and Beyond Late Chalcolithic Pottery of the Burdur Plain, Southwest Turkey61
Architecture and Use of Space in Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages in Mesopotamian Temples69
Demolition and Restoration at Giza: The Egyptian Sense of History and Heritage79
The Modelling Skulls from the Ancient Near East85
‘Hammerhead Bowls’ in the Syrian Jezirah: A Case-Study from Tell Barri89
Wagons and Wine in Early Bronze Age Central Anatolia97
The Early-Middle Bronze Age Transition in Transcaucasia: The Bedeni Pottery Case105
Human Iconography on Metal Vessels from Bronze Age Middle Asia117
The Oracle at Didyma, Hittite Duddumar and the Mercy of the Gods127
Italian Excavations at Nimrud: Preliminary Studies about Shell, Glass and Stone Small Finds133
Ceramics from Achaemenid and Post Achaemenid Qaleh Kali (Tappeh Servan, Jinjun), Iran: Political Reality versus Cultural Actuality139
Influence of Social Class Division on the Sasanian Burial Rituals (224-650 AD)149
New Sealings from Old Nisa155
The Islamic Relief-Moulded Jugs from Tell Barri (Syria)161
Investigating the Origin of Early Bronze Age Monumental Chamber Tombs in the Middle Euphrates Valley169
Application of new technologies in archaeological research174
Unlocking Stories from Objects: Some Ancient Near Eastern Case-Studies Based on New Research at the British Museum175
Inferential Analysis in Archaeology: The Chi Square and its Application to Ceramic Studies. A Case Study from Middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age Pottery of Qatna187
Organic Remains from Middle Bronze Age Ceramic Vessels at Tell Ahmar (North Syria)195
Close Encounters between Archaeology and Archaeometry in Cyprus201
Basalt Vessels Distribution in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age209
Broadening the Horizons of Space and Place. A New Interdisciplinary, Multiscalar Approach on Settlement Patterns217
New Technologies in Archaeological Research at Palmyra. The Case of the Italian-Syrian Mission PAL.M.A.I.S.223
A Complete Operational Sequence of a Bone Industry Element from the Northern Near East: A Neolithic Bevelled Tool229
Probable Cases of Leprosy in Two Skulls from the Koc-Oba Kurgan (Kazakhstan)237
Frontiers and Fortifications in Assyria: An Introduction241
Iron Age Water Supply Systems Regarding Agriculture at al Madam, Sharjah (U.A.E.)249
The Jaghjagh River Valley during the Roman Period (2nd–4th Centuries CE)257
Further Remarks about Lithic Production at Akarçay Tepe (Middle Euphrates Valley) during the Late PPNB265
Parthian Period Storage Jars from the South West Building in Old Nisa279
The TESS Database for the Cataloguing of the Mosaics of Crete (Greece)287
The Defences of Hatra: A Revaluation through the Archive of the Italian Expedition295
A New Assessment of the End of the Oxus Civilization (Southern Central Asia, ca. 1750–1500/1400 BCE): Overview of the Transformations of the Society303
Fortification Systems in Central and Lower Mesopotamia between the 3rd and the First Half of the 2nd Millennium BC: An Overview309

People, places and institutions

People

Stefano de Martinosigned the conference foreword
St John Simpsonguest speaker and contributor on museum objects

Institutions

University of Torinohosted the conference

Places

Kouris River ValleyCyprus survey and Red Polished Ware analysis
Erimi-Laonin tou PorakouBronze Age site, tombs and archaeometry
Transcaucasiacopper mining and metallurgy
Tell Beydarurban access and movement analysis
Tall Zirā'aBronze to Iron Age transition
Palmyraepigraphy, territory and mission research
Burdur PlainLate Chalcolithic survey and pottery
Tell BarriLate Chalcolithic pottery and medieval jugs
Alaca HöyükEarly Bronze Age tombs and wagons
Bedenipottery typology and social use
Gizamonument reuse and restoration history
Oxus Civilizationmetal vessels and late transformations
Qaleh KaliAchaemenid and Post Achaemenid ceramics
Old Nisasealings and Parthian storage jars
Middle Euphrates ValleyEarly Bronze Age chamber tomb study
Tell Ahmarchamber tombs and residue analysis
Hatracity and defensive system
Tell HalulaNeolithic bone tool study
Koc-Oba kurganskull paleopathology study

Also named: Biblioteca ‘Arturo Graf’, MAO (Museo d'Arte Orientale), Stefania Mazzoni, Barbara Cerasetti, Miquel Molist, Anna Gomez, Erimi-Kafkalla.

Extent pp. 1–317

Defines opportunity mining, Real Relative Asymmetry (RRA), Early Bronze IV, ‘chaff-faced’ ware, ‘Hammerhead’ bowls, Bedeni fine fabric, Bedeni coarse fabric, Early Kurgan I, Early Kurgan II, dunnu, Chi Square, chamber tomb

Early Bronze Age Middle Bronze Age Pottery Copper Trade Architecture Settlements

Cited on Ancient Cyprus

1 page

Red Polished WareCompendium