Charcoal analysis and Holocene vegetation history in southern Syria

Charcoal analysis of three archaeological sites in southern Syria in the vicinity of the Jebel al Arab (formerly Jebel Druze) indicates that during the Early Bronze Age an association consisting predominately of Pistacia, deciduous oak and almond was exploited. During the Middle Bronze Age these taxa diminish and are partially replaced by more steppic species or introduced wood such as olive. During the Roman period evergreen oak appeared in the region and gradually replaced the deciduous oak which is now restricted to a small area. The gradual replacement of deciduous oaks by evergreen oaks has been observed in other areas of the Mediterranean basin during the Holocene. Conifer charcoal such as pine and cedar is present on the sites, but it is not clear whether these were local or imported from farther away, for example, the Lebanese highlands. During the Middle Bronze Age olive wood was also used as combustible but here also its exact origin is not known.     

Late second-early first millennium BC abrupt climate changes in coastal Syria and their possible significance for the history of the Eastern Mediterranean

The alluvial deposits near Gibala-Tell Tweini provide a unique record of environmental history and food availability estimates covering the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The refined pollen-derived climatic proxy suggests that drier climatic conditions occurred in the Mediterranean belt of Syria from the late 13th/early 12th centuries BC to the 9th century BC. This period corresponds with the time frame of the Late Bronze Age collapse and the subsequent Dark Age. The abrupt climate change at the end of the Late Bronze Age caused region-wide crop failures, leading towards socio-economic crises and unsustainability, forcing regional habitat-tracking. Archaeological data show that the first conflagration of Gibala occurred simultaneously with the destruction of the capital city Ugarit currently dated between 1194 and 1175 BC. Gibala redeveloped shortly after this destruction, with large-scale urbanization visible in two main architectural phases during the Early Iron Age I. The later Iron Age I city was destroyed during a second conflagration, which is radiocarbon-dated at circa 2950 cal yr BP. The data from Gibala-Tell Tweini provide evidence in support of the drought hypothesis as a triggering factor behind the Late Bronze Age collapse in the Eastern Mediterranean.     

Palynology,sedimentology and palaeoecology of the late Holocene Dead Sea

Palynological and sedimentological studies were performed at two Holocene profiles in erosion gullies (Ze’elim and Ein Feshkha) which dissect the retreating western shore of the Dead Sea. The aim of the project was to analyse possible links between climate, lithology, and vegetation development. The section in Ze’elim shows both lacustrine and fluvial sediments, whereas sedimentation at Ein Feshkha is predominantly lacustrine. The Ze’elim profile, previously used for paleo-lake reconstruction provides an opportunity to compare climate triggered lake levels as paleo-hydrological indicators and vegetation history by use of palynology. The vegetation development in Ze’elim and Ein Feshkha is influenced by both climate and human impact. The pollen record of Ze’elim begins in the Pottery Neolithic, the section of Ein Feshkha in the Late Bronze Age, both records end in the Middle Ages. The Ze’elim section is characterized by sedimentary hiati between the beginning of the Chalcolithic Period until the Middle Bronze Age and within the Late Bronze Age. Settlement periods during the Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age and Hellenistic–Roman–Byzantine Period are indicated by high values of anthropogenic indicators and/or Mediterranean trees. Collapses of agriculture, which can be related to climate effects, are evident during the Late Bronze Age, during the Iron Age and at the end of the Byzantine Period when the lake level curve indicates arid conditions. A comparison of the two pollen records, from different environments, illustrates a more prominent influence of Mediterranean vegetation and cultivated plants in the pollen diagram of Ein Feshkha. The southern Dead Sea region (at the desert fringe) is more vulnerable to regional climate change.     

Soil erosion,agricultural terracing and site formation processes at Markiani,Amorgos, Greece: The micromorphological perspective

Soils and sediments of a terraced slope at an Early Bronze Age site on the Aegean island of Amorgos were examined micromorphologically to determine the nature and amount of erosion on the slope during the past 5000 years, and how this had affected the formation of the surviving archaeological record. The deposits forming representative terraces were examined, as was the postdepositional sequence overlying the site, and a palaeosol preserved beneath terrace retaining walls at the break of slope. The buried, preterrace system “red soil” was a reworked red palaeosol, much affected by downslope erosion processes, which probably commenced with clearance associated with the Early Bronze Age occupation of the site. Examination of this soil suggested that there were at least two premodern phases of use of the hillside. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Placer Tin Ores from Mt. Cer,West Serbia,and Their Potential Exploitation during the Bronze Age

Tin is a rare metal that is essential for making bronze, the defining technology of the Bronze Age. The source(s) of tin for Aegean bronze is undetermined but several small Bronze Age tin mines have been documented in the circum‐Aegean region. The discovery of Bronze Age archaeological sites in West Serbia near a tin placer deposit on the flanks of Mt. Cer led to an investigation of this site as a potential additional Bronze Age tin mine in the region. Geochemical prospecting of stream sediments flowing from Mt. Cer allowed for categorization of streams based on relative tin grade. Tin grade is highest in the Milinska River, a likely combination of a broad catchment area with multiple ore‐bearing tributaries, and a topographic profile that favors the accumulation of placer deposits. A survey of cornfields along the southern pluton margin discovered archaeological sites spanning the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Unlike older and younger sites, those of the Bronze Age were found only along the Milinska and Cernica Rivers where placer tin grades are highest, but appear to be absent where tin is scarce or absent. This suggests that these sites were associated with the exploitation of the tin ore.     

Vegetation development in the Middle Euphrates and Upper Jazirah (Syria/Turkey) during the Bronze Age

Vegetation changes are reconstructed based on more than 51,000 charcoal fragments of more than 380 samples from nine Bronze Age sites in northern Syria and southern Turkey. In addition to fragment proportions, special attention was paid to the frequency of Pistacia relative to Quercus and Populus/Salix relative to Tamarix, fruit-tree ubiquity, and riverine diversity in order to gain an improved understanding of the human versus climatic impact on the vegetation. The results indicate that human impacts first took place within the riverine forest. This phase was followed by land clearing within the woodland steppe, especially in the northern portion of the study area. In the south near Emar, the woodland steppe probably disappeared by the Late Bronze Age. It is uncertain whether this was caused by aridification and/or human clearing. The northward shift of the Pistacia-woodland steppe is very likely a result of climatic drying that occurred throughout the entire period under investigation. Although increased deforestation is evident through time, the small proportions of imported wood indicate that local resources were still available.     

Tholeiitic, calc-alkaline and (?)alkaline igneous rocks of the Shortland Islands, Solomon Islands

The Shortland Islands lie in a northeast-southwest line across the western end of Solomon Islands, immediately adjacent to Bougainville. Three major islands dominate the group.Fauro and surrounding islands, in the northeast, have an altered basement suite comprising tholeiite, icelandite and tholeiitic dacite. This is intruded by a high-level calc-alkaline assemblage of microdiorite, hornblende andesite and rhyodacite and overlain by volcanogenic sandstones derived from an andesitic to dacitic volcano. Pyroclastics comprising high-alumina basalt and pyroxene andesite overlie the volcanogenic sandstones. The tholeiitic basement lavas may be of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene age, and the calc-alkaline rocks are probably also pre-Pliocene in age.Alu, in the centre of the group, also has an altered tholeiitic lava basement, which is intruded by a quartz diorite body and overlain by hypersthene-augite basaltic andesite. Pliocene siltstone and Quaternary shallow marine carbonates cover these igneous rocks over much of the island.Mono, in the southwest, has a small basement exposure of altered pillowed hawaiite, overlain by Miocene pelagic limestone, Pliocene siltstone and Quaternary reef limestone. Isolated clasts of pyroxene andesite and ?benmoreite occur in streams and on beaches.The younger, calc-alkaline suites on all islands were formed in an island arc environment, possibly related to subduction from the southwest beneath the New Britain Trench. The basement lavas on Alu are probably early island arc tholeiites, and both these lavas and the calc-alkaline rocks of Alu share a common trend on variation diagrams. The two igneous suites of Fauro, however, have distinctly different trends. The basement lavas have some chemical similarities with oceanic tholeiites, but an early island arc origin for these lavas cannot be ruled out. The altered hawaiite and benmoreite on Mono probably originated in an oceanic island environment.     

Origin of post‐Minoan caves and volcaniclastic cave fill,Thera (Santorini), Greece

The Aegean island of Thera (Santorini) was covered by tephra from its cataclysmic Late Bronze Age (ca. 3600 yr B.P.) eruption. Vertical exposures of the eruptive sequence show secondary, nonvolcanic, circular (in cross section) features composed of stratified sediment. Many are inaccessible from the floors of modern quarries and appear to be caves filled with younger sediment, but show no connection to the land surface. A filled cave was found in the wall of a modern gully outside the modern quarries, and a filled cave was found in a terrace scarp, well above the modern gully. Natural (and probably rapid) incision by gullies into the thick tephra deposit left many locations with lateral access to tephra. Inhabitants from post‐Minoan to recent times excavated tephra for materials and buildings, and caves were subsequently filled by sporadic (possibly seasonal) flood events that deposited sediment. These gullies may have provided access for modern tephra removal that isolated the filled caves high on the modern quarry walls. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of the Late Cretaceous Haji‐Abad ophiolite (Outer Zagros Ophiolite Belt,Iran): implications for geodynamics of the Bitlis–Zagros suture zone

The Haji‐Abad ophiolite in SW Iran (Outer Zagros Ophiolite Belt) is a remnant of the Late Cretaceous supra‐subduction zone ophiolites along the Bitlis–Zagros suture zone of southern Tethys. These ophiolites are coeval in age with the Late Cretaceous peri‐Arabian ophiolite belt including the Troodos (Cyprus), Kizildag (Turkey), Baer‐Bassit (Syria) and Semail (Oman) in the eastern Mediterranean region, as well as other Late Cretaceous Zagros ophiolites. Mantle tectonites constitute the main lithology of the Haji‐Abad ophiolite and are mostly lherzolites, depleted harzburgite with widespread residual and foliated/discordant dunite lenses. Podiform chromitites are common and are typically enveloped by thin dunitic haloes. Harzburgitic spinels are geochemically characterized by low and/or high Cr number, showing tendency to plot both in depleted abyssal and fore‐arc peridotites fields. Lherzolites are less refractory with slightly higher bulk REE contents and characterized by 7–12% partial melting of a spinel lherzolitic source whereas depleted harzburgites have very low abundances of REE and represented by more than 17% partial melting. The Haji‐Abad ophiolite crustal sequences are characterized by ultramafic cumulates and volcanic rocks. The volcanic rocks comprise pillow lavas and massive lava flows with basaltic to more‐evolved dacitic composition. The geochemistry and petrology of the Haji‐Abad volcanic rocks show a magmatic progression from early‐erupted E‐MORB‐type pillow lavas to late‐stages boninitic lavas. The E‐MORB‐type lavas have LREE‐enriched patterns without (or with slight) depletion in Nb–Ta. Boninitic lavas are highly depleted in bulk REEs and are represented by strong LREE‐depleted patterns and Nb–Ta negative anomalies. Tonalitic and plagiogranitic intrusions of small size, with calc‐alkaline signature, are common in the ophiolite complex. The Late Cretaceous Tethyan ophiolites like those at the Troodos, eastern Mediterranean, Oman and Zagros show similar ages and geochemical signatures, suggesting widespread supra‐subduction zone magmatism in all Neotethyan ophiolites during the Late Cretaceous. The geochemical patterns of the Haji‐Abad ophiolites as well as those of other Late Cretaceous Tethyan ophiolites, reflect a fore‐arc tectonic setting for the generation of the magmatic rocks in the southern branch of Neotethys during the Late Cretaceous. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lead isotopic analysis within a multiproxy approach to trace pottery sources. The example of White Slip II sherds from Late Bronze Age sites in Cyprus and Syria

Lead isotope analyses were carried out on fragments of White Slip II ware, a Late Bronze Age Cypriote pottery ware, and on raw materials possibly used for their production. Sherds originate from three Late Bronze Age sites (Hala Sultan Tekke and Sanidha in Cyprus and Minet el-Beida in Syria) and clays come from the surroundings of Sanidha, a production site for White Slip ware. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) are combined with Pb isotope analyses to further investigate the effectiveness of the latter method within a multiproxy approach for pottery provenance study. The pottery sherds from the three sites are compared between themselves and with potential raw material. Additional X-ray diffraction (XRD) and analyses using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray detection (EDX) facility were performed on selected sherds and clays. This work confirms that the clay source used for pottery production in Sanidha derives from local weathered gabbro. It also shows that different origins can be proposed for White Slip II ware sherds from Hala Sultan Tekke and Minet el-Beida and that clays were prepared prior to White Slip II ware production. It finally confirms the effectiveness of Pb isotopes in tracing pottery provenance not only by comparing sherd assemblages but also by comparing sherds to potential raw materials.     

西藏白朗地区蛇绿岩火山岩中单斜辉石的化学特征

近年来,应用岩石的地球化学和矿物学特征区分不同构造位置的现代火山岩,已被人们所注意。同时,根据这种观测资料所确定的一般特征,亦已广泛地应用于古火山岩,并获得了一些古地质环境的概念。     

Precursors to the plinian eruptions of thera (late bronze age) and vesuvius (AD 79): Data from archaeological areas

Volcanological studies in the Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri (Santorini, Greece) and in the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum (Vesuvius, Italy) provided information about the precursory phenomena preceding the Minoan and AD 79 plinian eruptions. Both the eruptions were characterised by seismic precursors with very different magnitudes and effects. The Minoan eruption was preceded by strong earthquake(s) that destroyed the Akrotiri settlement and forced an early evacuation of the island before the onset of the eruption. Instead, only some low magnitude shakings occurred before the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius, which caught Roman towns and their inhabitants in the middle of their every-day life. Clear evidences of real volcanic precursors (both magmatic and phreatic) are not recorded in the deposits of the two eruptions. The onset of volcanic activity in both cases was represented by phreatomagmatic pulses of low energy shortly followed by the main eruption.     

Geodynamics and sources of preaccretionary magmatism in western Mongolia

The paper reports original isotopic and geochemical data on Early Precambrian lavas in the Ozernaya Zone in Mongolia. According to their normalized trace-element patterns, the rocks are classified into the following groups: (1) rocks similar to N-MORB; (2) rocks similar to E-MORB; (3) basalts enriched in trace elements, with HFSE minima; and (4) basalts depleted in trace elements, with HFSE minima. All of the lava types could be produced in an island arc—backarc basin system. The magmatic rocks of group (1) were likely formed in a spreading backarc basin, and those of group (2) were likely generated within the influ- ence zone of a hotspot or were derived from heterogeneous upper mantle domains. The lavas of group (3) seem to be fragments of an ensimatic, relatively primitive island arc. The basalts and basaltic andesites of group (4) were likely produced by mixing melts of groups (1) and (3). The fact that lavas of groups (1) and (4) sometimes intercalate within a single stratigraphic section suggests that the extension and subduction zones were closely spaced and operated simultaneously. The magmas of groups (1), (2), and (3) were derived from different mantle sources, which possessed different ratios of trace elements and were different in isotopic composition.     

Using Lead Isotopes to Determine Pottery Provenance in Cyprus: Clay Source Signatures and Comparison with Late Bronze Age Cypriote Pottery

This paper presents the lead isotopic composition of potential clay sources for pottery production, collected in the four major geological zones of Cyprus (Troodos Ophiolite, Circum Troodos Sedimentary Succession, Mamonia Terrane, Kyrenia Terrane) and evaluates its usefulness in Cypriote pottery provenance studies. The clay isotopic signatures from the four zones are compared to each other and to the isotopic composition of various utilitarian pottery wares from three Late Bronze Age sites, respectively located in southern Cyprus (Alassa‐Pano Mandilaris), east Cyprus (Enkomi), and southeast Cyprus (Hala Sultan Tekke). It also explores the potential of this method to better discriminate between potential raw materials used for the production of Base‐ring ware, one of the most characteristic fine pottery of Late Bronze Age Cyprus, which was widely spread in the Eastern Mediterranean (Courtois, 1981; Vaughan, 1991, 1994). Results show that three main lead isotopic fields can be distinguished among the Cypriote clay sources and the comparison of Plain sherds with the clay sources allows discrimination between local products and imports. They also clearly indicate that all the Base‐ring sherds analyzed in this study were made of the clays from the Kathikas Formation that crops out in only limited parts of southwest Cyprus.     

Xenoliths of lawsonite-ferroglaucophane rocks from a Quaternary volcano of Milos (Aegean Sea,Greece)

Xenoliths of metamorphic rocks with ferroglaucophane + albite + stilpnomelane + muscovite ± lawsonite ± pumpellyite are described fromn the rhylolitic tephra deposits of the Late Quaternary Phyriplaka Volcano, Milos, Aegean Island, Greece. The chemical bulk analyses reveal metabasaltic parent rocks with strongly modified chemical compositions. Unusual for common fresh basalt types is extreme Na₂O combined with low K₂O and rather low CaO. These are chemical characteristics of spilitic basalts. High iron in the bulk rock and very high Fe/Mg is probably the cause of extreme ferroglaucophane compositions. The metamorphic assemblages point to a high-p/low-T metamorphism in the pressure range 4–8 kb and with temperatures of about 350°C. Phyriplaka Volcano is likely to have only a shallow explosive center and ferroglaucophane rocks were ejected from the immediate basement of the island, which was uplifted after the metamorphic event.     

Cretaceous tectonic evolution of the Neo-Tethys in Central Iran:Evidence from petrology and age of the Nain-Ashin ophiolitic basalts

The Nain and Ashin ophiolites consist of Mesozoic melange units that were emplaced in the Late Cretaceous onto the continental basement of the Central-East Iran microcontinent(CEIM).They largely consist of serpentinized peridotites slices;nonetheless,minor tectonic slices of sheeted dykes and pillow lavas-locally stratigraphically associated with radiolarian cherts-can be found in these ophiolitic melanges.Based on their whole rock geochemistry and mineral chemistry,these rocks can be divided into two geochemical groups.The sheeted dykes and most of the pillow lavas show island arc tholeiitic(IAT)affinity,whereas a few pillow lavas from the Nain ophiolites show calc-alkaline(CA)affinity.Petrogenetic modeling based on trace elements composition indicates that both IAT and CA rocks derived from partial melting of depleted mantle sources that underwent enrichment in subduction-derived components prior to melting.Petrogenetic modeling shows that these components were represented by pure aqueous fluids,or sediment melts,or a combination of both,suggesting that the studied rocks were formed in an arc-forearc tectonic setting.Our new biostratigraphic data indicate this arc-forearc setting was active in the Early Cretaceous.Previous tectonic interpretations suggested that the Nain ophiolites formed,in a Late Cretaceous backarc basin located in the south of the CEIM(the so-called Nain-Baft basin).However,recent studies showed that the CEIM underwent a counter-clockwise rotation in the Cenozoic,which displaced the Nain and Ashin ophiolites in their present day position from an original northeastward location.This evidence combined with our new data and a comparison of the chemical features of volcanic rocks from different ophiolites around the CEIM allow us to suggest that the Nain-Ashin volcanic rocks and dykes were formed in a volcanic arc that developed on the northern margin of the CEIM during the Early Cretaceous in association with the subduction,below the CEIM,of a Neo-Tethys oceanic branch that was existing between the CEIM and the southern margin of Eurasia.As a major conclusion of this paper,a new geodynamic model for the Cretaceous evolution of the CEIM and surrounding Neo-Tethyan oceanic basins is proposed.     

The Big Circles in Jordan: First absolute ages using rock luminescence surface dating

In this study, we provide the first absolute ages for a Big Circle megalithic structure in Jordan, using rock surface luminescence dating of the buried surface of rocks collected from circle J4 in southern Jordan. Five rocks were used for this study. All rocks showed evidence of previous daylight exposure before being used in the construction of the circle. The exposure was sufficient to bleach the latent luminescence signal to a negligible level compared to the subsequent burial dose. Three rocks gave indistinguishable ages, and were last exposed to daylight in 1500 ± 100 BCE; this is very likely to be the date of circle construction. Two others gave younger ages, indicating later disturbance or reworking. These new results provide very strong evidence for construction during the Late Bronze Age, and refute the earlier hypothesis of construction during Umayyad period (661–750 CE) as a hunting trap.     

Petrology, geochemistry and geodynamic implications of Jurassic island arc magmatism as revealed by mafic volcanic rocks in the Mesozoic low-grade sequence, eastern Rhodope, Bulgaria

In the eastern Bulgarian Rhodope, mafic extrusive rocks and underlying greenschists are found in the Mesozoic low-grade unit, which represents the northern extension of similar sequences including the Evros ophiolites in Thrace (Greece). Both rock types define a suite of low-Ti tholeiitic basalts to transitional boninitic basaltic andesites and andesites and associated metapyroclastites (greenschists), intruded at its base by diorite dikes of a boninitic affinity. Mafic lavas and greenschists display large ion lithophile element (LILE) enrichment relative to high-field strength elements (HFSE), flat REE patterns of a slight light REE depletion, a strong island arc tholeiite (IAT) and weak MORB-like signature. All these rocks are characterized by negative Nb anomalies ascribed to arc lavas. They have positive Nd_i values in the range of + 4.87 to + 6.09, approaching the lower limit of MORB-like source, and relatively high (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (15.57–15.663) at low (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (18.13–18.54) ratios. The Nd isotopic compositions coupled with trace element data imply a dominantly depleted MORB-like mantle source and a contribution of subduction modified LILE-enriched component derived from the mantle wedge. The diorite dike has a low Nd_i value of − 2.61 and is slightly more Pb radiogenic (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (15.64) and (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (18.56), respectively, reflecting crustal contamination. Petrologic and geochemical data indicate that the greenschists and mafic extrusive rocks represent a magmatic assemblage formed in an island arc setting. The magmatic suite is interpreted as representing an island arc–accretionary complex related to the southward subduction of the Meliata–Maliac ocean under the supra-subduction back-arc Vardar ocean/island arc system. Magmatic activity appears to have initiated in the north during the inception of the island arc system by the Early–Middle Jurassic time in the eastern Rhodope that most likely graded to back-arc spreading southwards as represented by the Late Jurassic MORB-type Samothraki Island ophiolites. This tectonic scenario is further constrained by paleotectonic reconstructions. The arc–trench system collided with the Rhodope in the Late Jurassic times.     

The tsunami generated from the eruption of the volcano of Santorin in the Bronze Age

A tsunami source mechanism, resulting from the collapse of the cone of the Santorin Volcano, accounted for the catastrophic sea waves observed in the Aegean Archipelago and the Eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze Age. The tsunami and destruction resulting from the explosion and collapse of the volcano of Santorin are discussed in this study. On the basis of recent geological evidence, it is concluded that the final caldera collapse resulted from a large earthquake, along an about NE-SW trending normal fault, along which the Santorin Volcanic field has developed. Such a source mechanism can account for the size and destructiveness of this Bronze Age Tsunami with its interesting archaeological and historical implications.