Beads and personal ornamentation have often been overlooked in the intense debates that have surrounded archaeological work on the Neolithic settlements of the Konya plain. In this article I assess the bead assemblages from the ninth- to eighth-millennium BC calibrated sites of Pınarbaşı and Boncuklu Höyük to ask what they can tell us about the technology, sense of personal expression and interactions with the wider landscape of Neolithic populations. The two sites in question occupy significantly different positions within the plain: the former right at the edge; the latter next to a low ridge surrounded by wetland. Evidence suggests that these communities adopted some materials, ideas and influences from outside sources, while holding on to their own, very local identities.
Kassite Babylonia counts among the great powers of the Late Bronze Age Near East. Its kings exchanged diplomatic letters with the pharaohs of Egypt and held their own against their Assyrian and Elamite neighbors. Babylonia's internal workings, however, remain understood in their outlines only, as do its elite's expansionary ambitions, the degrees to which they may have been realized, and the nature of ensuing imperial encounters. This is especially the case for the region to the northeast, where the Mesopotamian lowlands meet the Zagros piedmonts in the Diyala River valley and where a series of corridors of movement intersect to form a strategic highland-lowland borderland. In this paper, we present critical new results of regional survey in the Upper Diyala plains of northeast Iraq and excavations at the Late Bronze Age site of Khani Masi. Not only do our data and analyses expand considerably the known extent of Babylonia's cultural sphere, but also the monumental character of Khani Masi and its wider settlement context prompt a fundamental rethinking of the nature and chronology of Babylonian presence in this transitional landscape. As such, this paper contributes an important new case study to the field of archaeological empire and borderland studies. 1 introduction Kassite Babylonia (ca. 1550-1150 B.C.E.) was one of the great powers of the Late Bronze Age, an international age in which the expansive polities of 1 We would like to thank the General Directorate of Antiquities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the Garmian Department of Antiquities for allowing us to work in this important area and for their ongoing support. In particular we must thank Abwbakr Osman Zainadin (Mala Awat), Director General of Antiquities and Heritage for the Kurdistan Region, and Shwkr Muhammed Haydar, Director of Antiquities and Heritage for Garmian. In Garmian, we owe a special debt of gratitude to Salah Muhammad Samin, Deputy Director of the Museum, and our representatives during fieldwork, Nawzad Latif, Ahmed Ismail, Jamal Muhamed, Sawat Hambden, Muhamad Ali, and Awat Baban. We thank Jakob Lauinger for reading and commenting on parts of this manuscript.
The Neolithic period saw changes in production practices and the roles of individuals that were important in the development of increasing social differentiation. Although there is evidence of specialised manufacturing in Neolithic Anatolia, the dynamics of changing production and accompanying social effects have not been characterised. This article looks at how specialisation might be defined and identified in the Neolithic period in Anatolia using the results of recent theoretical debates as a starting point. It addresses the possibility of comparing the various forms taken by early non-institutionalised specialisations and argues the importance of considering this subject as a major element in emerging social complexities.
The use of marine shells in the manufacture of bracelets and beads is a well-attested phenomenon of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods of Western Anatolia, the Aegean, and the Balkans. The site of Gökçeada-Uğurlu, located on an island in the Aegean between mainland Europe and Anatolia, shows evidence for the manufacture and use of bracelets and beads from Spondylus and Glycymeris shell. This use of personal ornamentation ties the site into one of the widest material culture production and trade networks of the prehistoric period. This article explores the possible role of, and influences on, an island site within the wider context of long-distance exchange. The life history of shell products is investigated, showing that a bracelet may have gone through processes of transformation in order to remain in use. The article also questions whether there was a relationship between the use of marine shell and white marble from which similar products were manufactured in contemporary contexts. In its conclusions the article addresses the value of materials and of the personal ornaments they were used to make.
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