The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

31
The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods

Transcript of The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Page 1: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

The Middle Bronze Agein Mainland Greece

&Dating Methods

Page 2: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Bronze Age Chronology

Crete Minoan (Minos - mythical king) Cyclades Cycladic (Aegean island chain) Mainland Helladic (Hellas = Greece)

• EarlyEBA EM EC EH (3100-2000)• Middle MBA MM MC MH (2000-

1650)• Late LBA LM LC LH (1650-1050)

Page 3: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Bronze Age Aegean Map

Page 4: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Alternative Minoan Chronology (Palaces of Knossos, Phaistos,

Mallia & Zakro)• Pre-palatial EM I - MM IA

(ca. 3100/3000-1925/1900 B.C.)• Protopalatial (Old Palace) MM IB - MM IIB

(ca. 1925/1900-1750/1720 B.C.)• Neopalatial (New Palace) MM IIIA - LM IB

(ca. 1750/1720-1490/1470 B.C.)• Post-palatial LM IIIA-C

(ca. 1490/1470-1075/1050 B.C.)

Page 5: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

How do archaeologists date a site?

Page 6: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Dating Techniques

• Carbon-14 (radiation emission)

• Thermoluminescence Dating (radiation reception)

• Obsidian Hydration (post-flaking water absorption, but temperature, chemical variation)

• Pollen Dating• Deep-Sea Cores• Ice Cores • Dendrochronology • Stratigraphic

Sequence (later on top of older)

• Typological Sequence

Page 7: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Carbon-14 dating

C-14 dating can determine the age of organic material up to 40,000 years old.

• Living organisms absorb carbon.• C-14 decays at known rate.• After burning a small piece of a sample,

scientists compare the amount of unstable, decaying Carbon-14 to the amount of stable Carbon-12 to determine the age of the organic matter

Page 8: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Carbon-14, Myth and Archaeology?

A Famous Case?

Page 9: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Carbon-14, Myth and

Archaeology

• The Shroud of Turin: the burial garment of Jesus?

• 1988 study, C-14 tests showed that the cloth dated from some time between 1260 and 1390. This ruled it out as the possible burial cloth that wrapped the body of Christ.

• Cardinal of Turin admitted the garment was a hoax.

Page 10: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

BUT…• Shroud damaged in several

fires since first recorded in 1357, including church blaze in 1532.

• Said to have been restored by nuns who patched holes and stitched the shroud to reinforcing material.

• chemical tests may indicate material used in the 1988 radiocarbon analysis was cut from medieval patch woven into the shroud to repair fire damage!

• Was C-14 test performed on later repair work, not on original material of shroud?

Page 11: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Shroud real?

Church very hesitant, very reluctant to do further tests, because they've been given so many conflicting opinions

Page 12: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Thermoluminescence dating

• Thermoluminsecence is the luminescence of minerals giving off stored nuclear energy when heated.

• not generally accurate enough for archaeological standards

• simple authenticity tests of art object• dates items between the years

300-10,000B.P

Page 13: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Thermoluminescence & Tanagra

Figurines

Page 14: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Obsidian Hydration dating• Volcanic glass• Sharper than

surgical steel• Blades, tools (cutting

crops, projectile points, drills, etc.)

• Water absorption “rind”

• Two uses: – relative dating

method: a older than b

– absolute dating method where a calendar date (AD/BC) is produced

Page 15: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Pollen Dating

• Palynology: the study of pollen & spores• Pollen deposits such in lakes, etc.,

supply a sequential record of changes in vegetation since the last Ice Age

• Pollen analysis of lakes and bogs to study humans as agents of vegetation change rather than causes such as climate

Page 16: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Deep Sea Core Dating

• oceanic sediments retrieved by the core yields information on temperature changes in the ocean through time.

• changes, suggestive of climatic variation, help chart progress of glaciation and, since they can be dated, the technique assists in the establishment of a chronology for the Quaternary.

Page 17: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Ice Core Dating• polar ice caps contain layers of compacted ice• continuous record of snow accumulation, air

temperature, and fallout from volcanic, terrestrial, marine, cosmic, and anthropogenic sources

• reconstruction of paleoenvironments & paleoclimatology and as a method of absolute dating

• Record of more than 300,000 years• samples of ancient atmospheres are trapped in air

bubbles within the ice• 6000 years in a core more than two kilometres in

depth, with an excellent level of reliability within around 50 years

Page 18: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Ice Core Segment

Page 19: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Ice Cores for BA Aegean

• Some layers of ice contain high levels of dust and acidity caused by volcanic eruptions.

• historical eruptions, e.g. Krakatoa (1883) or Vesuvius (AD 79), can be correlated with ice-cores

• further undocumented eruptions in prehistoric times may also be detected.

Page 20: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Dendrochronology

Page 21: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Cornell Dendrochronology Lab: Anatolian Timeline

Page 22: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Stratigraphy: the law of superposition

Page 23: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Stratigraphy of Troy

Page 24: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Typological Sequence

• Barbed?

• Tanged?

• Barbed & Tanged?

Page 25: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

Early Helladic Pottery

• (a) saucer, EHII • (b) sauceboat, EHII • (c) askos, EHII

• (d) plate, EHII-III

• (e) tankard,

patterned ware, EHIII

• (f) 2-handled bowl, EHIII

Page 26: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

EH Pottery

Page 27: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

MH Pottery• a) ring-stemmed

goblet, Grey Minyan ware

• (b) kantharos, Grey Minyan ware

• (c) barrel jar, Aiginetan Matt-painted ware

• (d) kantharos, Matt-painted ware

• (e) Matt-painted cup, with ‘panelled’ style of decoration;

• (f) jug, Mainland Polychrome style

Page 28: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

MH: Gray Minyan Ware

Page 29: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

MH Gray Minyan Kantharos

Page 30: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

MH Pottery

Page 31: The Middle Bronze Age in Mainland Greece & Dating Methods.

MH Matt-Painted & Mainland Polychrome

Wares