Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA)

This volume focusses on Bronze Age mining in the Balkan regions, presented in the regional and inter-regional context. The archaeological excavations on the Ada Tepe located in the Bulgarian Rhodopes are the point of departure, because not only did they bring to light one of the earliest known gold mines of Europe, but they also uncovered the mining areas, the work places and the adjacent settlement areas almost in their entirety – a singular case regarding gold mining sites of Bronze Age date....

This monograph is the second in a series dedicated to the final publication of the excavations at the Bronze Age site of Punta di Zambrone on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria (southern Italy), conducted from 2011 to 2013 in an Italian-Austrian cooperation, and aims to define the cultural processes taking place in the southern Tyrrhenian region of Italy between the 13th and 12th centuries BC. It presents the conspicuous set of fragments of "impasto" pottery, dating almost completely to the...

This edited volume gathers papers which follow innovative approaches in obsidian studies in order to revive the debate on procurement strategies, knapping and use of this raw material, which remains in some sites the predominant source of exotica. The geo-chronological frame of the book is intentionally broad, covering a span from the 8th to the 1st mill. BC and a large area from the Central Mediterranean to the Caucasus, including original data on obsidian from sites and geological sources in...

Political, social and cultural conditions and changes also have an impact on the sciences and humanities. In the field of archaeology, little attention has been paid to these issues so far. Only recently has there been an increased focus on them, as well as on the study of the history of archaeology, with attention often focussing on the inter-war period and the Second World War. In contrast, the conference „Archäologie und Republik. Reflexionen zur Archäologie in Österreich in der Ersten und...

Between 2900 and 2330 BCE, the Euphrates and Tiger alluvial plain was the site of kingdoms known to be the first to use writing in both an intensive and an extensive way and within different contexts, from practical to political, economic, religious or historical ones. Along with this decisive evolution, for the first time human settlements clearly witnessed the existence of hierarchical political and religious systems as parts of an interregional network. While we can find many examples of...

The fifth volume of the Çukuriçi Höyük series deals with the stratigraphy and architecture of Early Bronze Age settlements. In Early Bronze Age 1, a hitherto unique metalworking center for the region of western Anatolia is found at Çukuriçi Höyük. The large-scale excavations uncovered a densely built-up settlement area, which consisted of numerous buildings that can be accessed from squares and paths. In addition to the building materials used in the individual room units, this volume also...

"Çukuriçi Höyük 4. Household Economics in the Early Bronze Age Aegean" is a pioneering interdisciplinary account of households and socio-political organization in Aegean prehistory, written by a socio-cultural anthropologist embedded in a team of prehistoric archaeologists. Sabina Cveček applies methods of historical anthropology to address key issues in discussing households and socio-political organization at the dawn of the Bronze Age Aegean and beyond. By navigating through the “dwelling...

This volume collects the papers presented in a workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna in 2016. The ancient state of Lagash, with the three main sites of Tello (ancient Girsu), al-Hiba (ancient Lagash) and Tell Zurghul (ancient Nigin), was once a central and powerful political institution of Sumerian history, at least in the 3rd millennium BC. Excavated in the past, between the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, with the pioneering works by Ernest de Sarzec at Girsu and a few...

The publication presents the excavation of the Neolithic settlement strata of the tell Platia Magoula Zarkou, situated in the Peneios Plain in Western Thessaly (Greece). The tell is characterized by an uninterrupted settlement sequence which, according to the radiocarbon data, dates to the 6th millennium BC and includes the Middle Neolithic and early Late Neolithic of Greece. Geological and geophysical analyses situate the tell in its natural environment. They show that during the Neolithic...

This monograph focuses on the interdisciplinary examination of the metallurgical finds from Çukuriçi Höyük (western Turkey), which date from the Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age (c. 3300–2700 BC). The exceptionally rich ensemble includes almost all parts of the technological chain (chaîne opératoire), from tools, casting moulds, furnaces, ores, raw metal and ingots to finished products, tin bronzes and precious metals (Au, Ag). On the one hand, these remains were classified according to...

Syria has struggled and been divided by a civil war for over a decade. Human suffering and loss have been unprecedented in the area during the conflict. In this tragedy there are numerous problems that emerge in the loss of humanity and cultural identity. Cultural heritage is part of human identity and needs to be protected and preserved for the sake of the Syrians and the international community alike. Memories of places and artefacts, social connection and peace can be built on heritage that...