Archaeological Research in Asia最新文献

{"title":"Natufian architecture 12,000 years ago: Analyzing ‘building stones’ at Nahal Ein Gev II","authors":"Laure Dubreuil ,&nbsp;Leore Grosman","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100600","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100600","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the Southern Levant, the Natufians established a long-lasting tradition of using stones, along with other materials, for construction. Initial field observations at Nahal Ein Gev II suggested that such stones are natural blocks or cobbles that frequently underwent some kind of modification. To further investigate this pattern and better understand construction techniques and design, a protocol was developed at the site to record and analyze the construction stones, labelled BL for ‘Building Stones.’ This paper presents our initial results.</div><div>Our analysis reveals that basalt and limestone were commonly used as BL, consistent with the lithology of the geological formations around the site. A large proportion of the BL are broken, perhaps as a result of intentional ‘calibration’ of the stones aimed at making them fit into the structure's walls. Consistency in modal BL size reveals some of the norms that underlie the design of the structures. The presence of several types of sheen was noted on the BL; some forms being related to the use of bonding material employed in wall construction, while other forms may indicate surface treatment. Finally, the construction traditions documented at the site are considered in the broader context of Natufian technical innovation and inter-site variability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100600"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Making spaces amongst the rocks: The construction, purpose and meaning of Late epipalaeolithic and PPNA buildings in the Harrat ash-Sham","authors":"Tobias Richter ,&nbsp;Lisa Yeomans ,&nbsp;Alexis Pantos","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100603","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100603","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Late Pleistocene and early Holocene inhabitants of the Qa’ Shubayqa in northeast Jordan's Harrat ash-Sham basalt desert constructed a remarkable array of buildings over the course of nearly 6000 years. We present the architectural evidence from two excavated archaeological sites in the area: Shubayqa 1 and 6 and reflect on the nature of Epipalaeolithic and Early Neolithic constructions, and the purpose and meaning of the uncovered buildings. The Shubayqa sites afford a rare opportunity to examine changes in architecture from the beginning of the Natufian to the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) in one confined area. We argue that construction at Shubayqa 1 and 6 followed different rhythms and that the materiality of stone used as a building material does not directly correlate with permanent or impermanent modes of inhabiting these places. This prompts a rethinking of how we analyse and understand architecture during the transition from the Epipalaeolithic to the Neolithic in southwest Asia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100603"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bodies in buildings: Human remains and the life histories of houses at Neolithic Çatalhöyük","authors":"Scott D. Haddow","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100598","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100598","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>At Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7100–6000 cal BCE), where evidence of monumental architecture and large communal spaces and structures is lacking, the house served as the focal point not only for domestic activities such as food processing and storage, but also for cyclical and periodic ritual activity including layered wall paintings, animal installations and burials. Human remains, in both primary and secondary burial contexts, are commonly found beneath the floors and platforms of houses. While intramural burials elsewhere in southwest Asia often took place in abandoned structures, most inhumations at Çatalhöyük occurred during the occupation phase of houses. The close association between human remains and the built environment can be seen in the way that bodies -whole or in part- were embedded in the fabric of houses to mark important architectural milestones. In this way, the construction, occupation, adornment, transformation and eventual abandonment of houses reflect and are entangled with the lives of the individuals buried within them. Using examples from the site, this paper presents and discusses the ways in which the “life histories” of houses are connected with the remains of individuals to form shared biographies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100598"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155801","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Natufian demographic cycle at el-Wad Terrace, Israel: The rise and fall of the architectural compound","authors":"Reuven Yeshurun ,&nbsp;Elisabetta Boaretto ,&nbsp;Ma’ayan Lev ,&nbsp;Meir Orbach ,&nbsp;Catherine Ujma ,&nbsp;Sigal Lavy-Elbaz ,&nbsp;Linda Amos ,&nbsp;Mina Weinstein-Evron","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100599","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100599","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The earliest appearance of permanent architecture in the Levant coincided with intensified diets, starting at ca. 15,000 years ago, with the Natufian Culture. High-resolution studies of intra-Natufian change are needed for testing the intertwined effects of the novel built environment, subsistence patterns, and population dynamics. The deep Early Natufian sequence of el-Wad Terrace (Mount Carmel, Israel), provides a high-resolution record (ca. 14.8–13.1 ka) that includes an initial phase with little architecture, followed by the intensive architectural phase with ten stratified building levels, in turn capped by more ephemeral habitation levels. Using the rich zooarchaeological samples from each stage, as well as the Late Natufian layer, we test how hunting patterns and bone depositional histories changed with the mode of habitation. All of the 20 stratified samples we studied likely attest to domestic activities, differing in scale but not in type. The initial habitation at the pre-architectural stage appears as very diversified, but with weaker evidence for resource depletion. The subsequent architectural stage presents the most intensive butchery patterns and sediment build-up, together with some shifts in hunting patterns, and large gazelle body-size that may signal some overhunting. The post-architectural stage displays more specialized or seasonal hunting patterns, alongside taphonomic evidence of more frequent abandonments. We suggest that these developments correspond to at least one full demographic cycle, whereby population growth had been mediated for several generations by flexible subsistence strategies, but eventually led to a Malthusian phase and settlement reorganization. Natufian hamlets were dynamic, at times not incorporating permanent architecture. The built spaces—and the habitation dynamics they reflect—are more clearly understood when compared with the non-architectural phases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100599"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The spread of the domestic horse in northern China during the pre-Qin period and its influencing factors","authors":"Chao Lu,&nbsp;Linyao Du,&nbsp;Bo Tan,&nbsp;Liyuan Zheng,&nbsp;Yong Zhang,&nbsp;Wensheng Zhang,&nbsp;Lai Jiang,&nbsp;Lei Tang,&nbsp;Chengbang An","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100596","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100596","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The latest research shows that horses were domesticated in western Eurasian Steppes and spread through Eurasia then. However, the process of spreading domestic horses in northern China and the factors that influence it remain unclear. This study systematically collected archaeological documents and related information on horse bones unearthed in northern China. We first sort out domestic horses' emergence and spatiotemporal distribution and then analyse them in the context of the natural environment and the history of human activities. Evidence shows domestic horses first entered the Loess Plateau region from the Altai Mountains-Hexi Corridor. As the climate became humid and the human occupation enforced, domestic horses appeared on the routes eastward from the Tianshan Mountains and southward from the Mongolian Plateau. Horse-drawn chariots were introduced to northern China around 1300 BCE, they first developed in the Central Plains due to the strong social foundation of the Shang Dynasty. After 1000 BCE, the spread of horseback pastoralism played an essential role in developing the arid inland areas of northern China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100596"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Formidable fortress: Historical cliff-top settlement and the role of Kisar Island in the Indo-Malaya trade network","authors":"Hendri A.F. Kaharudin ,&nbsp;Destario Metusala ,&nbsp;Ati Rati Hidayah ,&nbsp;Nugroho Purwono ,&nbsp;Hafizhuddin","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100594","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100594","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Kisar, a small limestone island in southeastern Indonesia, holds archaeological evidence of human habitation extending back to the Late Pleistocene. Among its significant sites, Negeri Lama Purpura stands out as the largest fortification on the island. First occupied in the 14th to 15th centuries CE, the site exemplifies the strategic use of elevated locations for coastal defense and visibility. This early occupation, preceding European colonial expansion, indicates that security concerns were already prominent before the rise of the spice and slave trade. The transition from small band societies to more complex village communities in Island Southeast Asia during the 11th to 15th centuries likely stemmed from climatic factors and the growth of regional trade networks. Kisar's historical challenges, including overpopulation, drought, and deforestation, were exacerbated by limited natural resources. Despite these constraints, its strategic location—north of Timor and between the Lesser Sunda and Maluku Islands—enabled it to flourish as a regional trade hub and center for cultural exchange. Artefacts such as pottery, ceramics, and Indo-Pacific glass beads from Negeri Lama Purpura highlight Kisar's integration into regional and global maritime trade networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100594"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The origins of pottery technology and its connection with house-building technology in the Zagros Mountains (Western Asia)","authors":"Natalia Petrova ,&nbsp;Anna Babenko ,&nbsp;Hojjat Darabi ,&nbsp;Tobias Richter","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100588","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100588","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The earliest finds of clay vessels fragments in Western Asia date back to the end of the 10th millennium BCEE. They have already been present at the site Ganj Dareh in the Central Zagros no later than the end of 9th millennium BCEE. The purpose of our research is to look for possible specific ways that led to the emergence of pottery technology in the Central Zagros region. For this, we carried out technological and spherulite analyzes on clay vessels and building fragments from Ganj Dareh. Our research suggests that there is a strong similarity between the methods used to produce the earliest pottery and those used in the construction of buildings in the Zagros region (and probably Western Asia as whole). Our analysis also confirmed the presence of dung in both the pottery paste of clay vessels and clay elements used in construction activities. This provides further evidence for the early onset of animal herding in this region (<span><span>Zeder and Hesse, 2000</span></span>; <span><span>Daly et al., 2021</span></span>), as well as evidence for the effective use a wide range of products related to the exploitation of animals. In general, the origin of pottery is undoubtedly a local invention and is associated with a wide range of different skills that the population of Western Asia possessed in previous periods (domestication of animals and plants, technologies associated with the construction of dwellings and economic structures, and technologies for the use of fire).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100588"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Halaf and Late Chalcolithic occupations at Shakar Tepe in the Shahrizor Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan: Preliminary report of the 2023 excavations","authors":"Takahiro Odaka ,&nbsp;Osamu Maeda ,&nbsp;Takehiro Miki ,&nbsp;Yuichi S. Hayakawa ,&nbsp;Yu Itahashi ,&nbsp;Masanori Oda ,&nbsp;Rawa K. Salih ,&nbsp;Hussein Hama Gharib","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100592","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100592","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Shahrizor Plain is one of the ideal fields for tracking the transition from Neolithic village life in the Fertile Crescent to Urbanisation which occurred in Mesopotamia because of its geographical location connecting the mountainside valleys along the Zagros and the downstream Diyala River that flows into the Tigris. Our field project aims to obtain archaeological materials to unveil this process. Following the first excavations at Shakar Tepe conducted in 2019, we excavated two additional areas at this site in 2023, including one of the three satellite mounds that were newly identified around the main mound. The cultural remains of the Late Halaf settlement uncovered from Operation B at Shakar Tepe II date back to approximately 5600–5400 calBC. On the other hand, Operation C at Shakar Tepe I yielded a thick deposit of the Late Chalcolithic occupations dated to ca. 3800–3600 calBC. The recovered materials fill the time ranges in the late prehistoric chronology of the site and will contribute to our understanding of the historical role of this region in the transition from Neolithisation to Urbanisation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100592"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Human diet and lifeways during late Bronze and early Iron age (pre-empire of Xiongnu time) of Western Transbaikalia: Reconstruction by С-N isotopes","authors":"A.M. Khubanova ,&nbsp;V.B. Khubanov ,&nbsp;D.A. Miyagashev ,&nbsp;Ya.V. Dikiy ,&nbsp;B.A. Bazarov ,&nbsp;O.V. Savchuk ,&nbsp;I.V. Smoleva","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100593","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100593","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Western Transbaikalia is the northern edge of the Eastern steppes zone. Archeological sites of the Late Bronze Age in Western Transbaikalia, which was the peripheral zone of the expansion of the tribes of Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age (ca. 1300-300 BCE) is affiliated with Khirigsuur and Slab Grave cultures, the economic basis for them was pastoralism. Here, we reveal the diet and lifeways of the population of the Khirigsuur and Slab Grave cultures in Western Transbaikalia by analyzing carbon and nitrogen isotopes of bone collagen from human and animal remains from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age archaeological complexes of Western Transbaikalia. The results of our study showed that Khirigsuur and Slab Grave cultures population practiced the husbandry of domesticated livestock. We identified that by the Xiongnu period (ca. 200 BCE – 250 CE) the dietary trend of the population diversified: in addition to meat and dairy products it included crops and freshwater fish. The isotopic characteristics of herbivorous domestic animals indicated that their feeding during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age and Xiongnu time in Western Transbaikalia were similar.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100593"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Architecture in Kharaysin from the late PPNA to the middle PPNB","authors":"Juan José Ibáñez ,&nbsp;Juan Muñiz ,&nbsp;Luis Teira ,&nbsp;Eneko Iriarte ,&nbsp;Amaia Arranz-Otaegui ,&nbsp;Carolyne Douché ,&nbsp;Lionel Gourichon","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100584","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ara.2024.100584","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study of the architectural remains discovered at the Early Neolithic site of Kharaysin (Zarqa, Jordan) casts light on the evolution of building techniques in the Jordan Highlands from the late 10th millennium, at the end of the PPNA, to the mid-8th millennium cal BC, during the Middle PPNB. Five main architectural levels are identified. Oval sunken dwellings were built at the end of 10th and the beginning of the 9th millennia cal BC. In ca. 8800 cal BC, important changes are observed in a transitional period, with the first indications of square architecture, the use of lime plaster floors and the construction of large rooms (30m²). In 8400–8300 cal BC, during the Early PPNB, square agglomerated houses with rounded corners and lime plaster floors were built, though one of the dwellings, probably with special symbolic meaning, is perfectly square in shape. At the end of the 9th millennium, extended square houses start to be the standard architecture at the site, as can be observed all over the Fertile Crescent during the PPNB. Ca. 7800 cal BC, lines of square houses were built in parallel rows, perpendicular to the natural slope, as it is also observed in ´Ain Ghazal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"41 ","pages":"Article 100584"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}