Brass quickly overtook bronze as the dominant copper alloy across vast areas of the Roman world and beyond during the 1st century BC. It has also been established that the quality of this brass changed over time. To establish whether a rapid transition from bronze to brass also took place in the north-eastern Baltic, over 1200 copper-alloy objects were analysed non-destructively by pXRF. They were primarily sourced from the tarand cemeteries of Estonia and northern Latvia, which date to the Pre-Roman and Roman Iron Ages. The aim was to establish which alloys were in use during these periods, then to determine whether any chronological trends were visible and, if so, for which typological groups. The results show that there was a major shift from bronze to brass towards the end of the Pre-Roman and the early Roman Iron Ages. This is followed by a decline in the use of brass in favour of gunmetal over the following centuries. The results also suggest the existence of an introductory period when traditional bronze and newly arriving brass items circulated together. However, this period better matches a time slightly earlier than that traditionally proposed for the start of Estonia’s Roman Iron Age. This pXRF survey presents a better understanding of the arrival of brass in the north-eastern Baltic and adds to our knowledge about the effectiveness of long distance trade and communication networks that transferred new objects, ideas, and technologies to these distant communities.
{"title":"A ‘Roman Brass’ Age: a transformation in copper-alloy composition in Estonia and northern Latvia during the Roman Iron Age, identified by pXRF","authors":"Marcus Adrian Roxburgh, marcus","doi":"10.3176/arch.2023.1.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2023.1.01","url":null,"abstract":"Brass quickly overtook bronze as the dominant copper alloy across vast areas of the Roman world and beyond during the 1st century BC. It has also been established that the quality of this brass changed over time. To establish whether a rapid transition from bronze to brass also took place in the north-eastern Baltic, over 1200 copper-alloy objects were analysed non-destructively by pXRF. They were primarily sourced from the tarand cemeteries of Estonia and northern Latvia, which date to the Pre-Roman and Roman Iron Ages. The aim was to establish which alloys were in use during these periods, then to determine whether any chronological trends were visible and, if so, for which typological groups. The results show that there was a major shift from bronze to brass towards the end of the Pre-Roman and the early Roman Iron Ages. This is followed by a decline in the use of brass in favour of gunmetal over the following centuries. The results also suggest the existence of an introductory period when traditional bronze and newly arriving brass items circulated together. However, this period better matches a time slightly earlier than that traditionally proposed for the start of Estonia’s Roman Iron Age. This pXRF survey presents a better understanding of the arrival of brass in the north-eastern Baltic and adds to our knowledge about the effectiveness of long distance trade and communication networks that transferred new objects, ideas, and technologies to these distant communities.","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89751344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Jonuks, S. Chen, A. Kriiska, E. Oras, S. Presslee, A. Uueni
{"title":"Stone Age imitation of a slotted bone point from Pärnu River (south-western Estonia)","authors":"T. Jonuks, S. Chen, A. Kriiska, E. Oras, S. Presslee, A. Uueni","doi":"10.3176/arch.2023.1.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2023.1.03","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77723064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Wrecked trade – a medieval ship in the Gulf of Finland","authors":"R. Tevali","doi":"10.3176/arch.2023.1.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2023.1.02","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73795895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"JÄGALA JÕESUU V STONE AGE SETTLEMENT SITE IN NORTHERN ESTONIA: SPATIAL AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF FINDS","authors":"I. Khrustaleva, A. Kriiska","doi":"10.3176/arch.2022.2.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2022.2.01","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74469942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"FIRST AMS 14C DATING OF BRONZE AND PRE-ROMAN IRON AGE CREMATED BONES FROM BARROWS IN WESTERN LITHUANIA: RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION","authors":"L. Muradian","doi":"10.3176/arch.2022.2.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2022.2.03","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86191721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
At the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the post-medieval period, painted glass vessels were not uncommon and are found during archaeological excavations, especially in urban sites. In the first quarter of the 21st century in Wroc ł aw, a considerable collection of painted glassware was obtained during excavations: some of these artefacts were characterised by multicoloured painted decorations, while others seemed to be made using a modest colour palette, mainly brown and black. It was decided to take a closer look at the latter vessels and establish the cause of such differences. For this purpose, non-destructive and minimally invasive analytical tools were employed, commonly used to study archaeological artefacts, such as microscopic observations in visible light (OM), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) or scanning electron microscopy coupled with an energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS). In the course of archaeometric research, the results confirmed the assumptions about the significant contamination of painted decorations by mineral substances, especially iron and sulphur. The deposition of these elements on the surface of paint caused a permanent change in the colour of decorations on glass vessels.
{"title":"What is hidden underneath the black and brown on Silesian glassware? About the archaeometric challenge in the study of painted decorations on Late-Medieval and Post-Medieval finds from Wrocław, SW of Poland","authors":"B. Miazga","doi":"10.3176/arch.2022.1.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2022.1.03","url":null,"abstract":"At the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the post-medieval period, painted glass vessels were not uncommon and are found during archaeological excavations, especially in urban sites. In the first quarter of the 21st century in Wroc ł aw, a considerable collection of painted glassware was obtained during excavations: some of these artefacts were characterised by multicoloured painted decorations, while others seemed to be made using a modest colour palette, mainly brown and black. It was decided to take a closer look at the latter vessels and establish the cause of such differences. For this purpose, non-destructive and minimally invasive analytical tools were employed, commonly used to study archaeological artefacts, such as microscopic observations in visible light (OM), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) or scanning electron microscopy coupled with an energy-dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS). In the course of archaeometric research, the results confirmed the assumptions about the significant contamination of painted decorations by mineral substances, especially iron and sulphur. The deposition of these elements on the surface of paint caused a permanent change in the colour of decorations on glass vessels.","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88202568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"FAMILIAR YET UNKNOWN? COMINES’ TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN FLANDERS AND ITS CLOTH SEAL FINDS","authors":"E. Russow, M. Mordovin, I. Prokhnenko","doi":"10.3176/arch.2022.2.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2022.2.02","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82321014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The area around the lower reaches of the Pirita River in northern coastal Estonia is a unique region where the majority of the known stone-cist cemeteries have been excavated. The number of such cemeteries is seven or eight, with approximately 50 excavated stone mounds. A profound study by Valter Lang in the 1990s, proceeding mainly from artefact finds, dated the stone-cist cemeteries of the area to roughly 600–200 BC, with one exception in 800–500 BC. The current paper summarises and discusses the recently obtained and partly published radiocarbon dates of the skeletons from these sites, including the hitherto unpublished data from Iru 18 and Kuristiku 4. A total of 28 radiocarbon dates has been obtained from nine graves of probably five cemeteries. The numbers are regrettably small, the main reason being the absence of proper excavation and osteological records, which are a prerequisite of consequential and efficient radiocarbon dating. The radiocarbon data suggest that the majority if not all cemeteries had been established between 1100 and 900 or 800 BC, and the last graves were added around 400 BC at the latest. A few graves also contained burials from the subsequent centuries. This is consistent with data from stone-cist graves in other regions of Estonia. The discrepancies between the radiocarbon dates and the dates based on artefact typo-chronologies suggest certain caution, although the most likely explanation of the differences lies in the absence of closed find complexes, which has always presented a challenge to the dating of stone-cist graves.
{"title":"The age of the stone-cist graves at the lower reaches of the Pirita River reconsidered: analysis of the radiocarbon data","authors":"M. Laneman","doi":"10.3176/arch.2022.1.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2022.1.02","url":null,"abstract":"The area around the lower reaches of the Pirita River in northern coastal Estonia is a unique region where the majority of the known stone-cist cemeteries have been excavated. The number of such cemeteries is seven or eight, with approximately 50 excavated stone mounds. A profound study by Valter Lang in the 1990s, proceeding mainly from artefact finds, dated the stone-cist cemeteries of the area to roughly 600–200 BC, with one exception in 800–500 BC. The current paper summarises and discusses the recently obtained and partly published radiocarbon dates of the skeletons from these sites, including the hitherto unpublished data from Iru 18 and Kuristiku 4. A total of 28 radiocarbon dates has been obtained from nine graves of probably five cemeteries. The numbers are regrettably small, the main reason being the absence of proper excavation and osteological records, which are a prerequisite of consequential and efficient radiocarbon dating. The radiocarbon data suggest that the majority if not all cemeteries had been established between 1100 and 900 or 800 BC, and the last graves were added around 400 BC at the latest. A few graves also contained burials from the subsequent centuries. This is consistent with data from stone-cist graves in other regions of Estonia. The discrepancies between the radiocarbon dates and the dates based on artefact typo-chronologies suggest certain caution, although the most likely explanation of the differences lies in the absence of closed find complexes, which has always presented a challenge to the dating of stone-cist graves.","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76771765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"AN INTEGRATED RESULT OF GIS-BASED APPROACH TO PALAEOGEOGRAPHICAL RECONSTRUCTIONS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS OF COASTAL PALAEOLAGOONS AT THE MOUTHS OF THE RIVERS VIHTERPALU, TEENUSE AND VELISE (WESTERN ESTONIA)","authors":"K. Sander, A. Kriiska","doi":"10.3176/arch.2022.2.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2022.2.04","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86505143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"FRAGMENTED BONES TELL STORIES: VIIMSI I EARLY IRON AGE TARAND GRAVE","authors":"A. Lillak, E. Oras, M. Tõrv","doi":"10.3176/arch.2022.1.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3176/arch.2022.1.01","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42767,"journal":{"name":"Estonian Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90537857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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