Issues in the absolute chronology of the Early-Middle Bronze Age transition in Sicily and southern Italy. A Bayesian radiocarbon view (original) (raw)
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This paper proposes a Bayesian model for the 14C chronology of Sicilian Early and Middle Bronze Age, with a specific focus on the northeastern sector of the island. Building on the available 14C determinations, the model allows addressing a number of chronological questions left open in literature, making a first step toward an independent absolute chronology. The analysis put the start of the earlier part of Early Bronze Age (Capo Graziano 1-Casa Lopez phase) between 2400-2175 cal BC, and the end at about 1960 cal BC. The advanced stage of the same period (Capo Graziano 1-Filo Braccio phase) is likely to have started and ended around 1960 and 1730 cal BC respectively. The model indicates that the time slot with the highest posterior probability for the start of the Middle Bronze Age-Milazzese (Portella phase) is between 1490 and 1460. This turns up to be earlier than held to date. Notably, the model enables for the first time to bracket the development of the later stage of Early Bronze (Capo Graziano 2-M. di Capo Graziano phase) between 1730 (end of Filo Braccio phase) and 1490/60 cal BC (start of Middle Bronze Age-Portella phase). The latter date is earlier than usually held for the end of Capo Graziano 2. The existence of a narrow gap between the end of the latter and the start of Portella phase is tentatively proposed only on stratigraphic grounds. Further, the analysis enables for the first time to pinpoint and quantify the lag that is likely to have existed between the start of those Sicilian prehistoric phases and the appearance of Late Helladic imports. The comparison with the Aegean 14C Bayesian chronology indicates that a time lag (about 45 yr) is likely to have occurred between the start of Capo Graziano 2 and of the Late Helladic period. A time lag between 20 and 70 yr is likely to have existed between the start of the Sicilian Middle Bronze Age and of the Late Helladic III. Arguments tentatively supporting the narrower interval are also discussed.
Anthropologica et Praehistorica, 2022
One of the most debated and explored period of the prehistory of Sicily is the Middle Bronze Age (15th-13th century BCE), which is considered as a crucial moment for the development of local prehistoric social, economic, and cross-cultural dynamics. The local Thapsos culture is what best represents this chronological period and is characterized at some sites by the occurrence of datable ceramic imports from the Aegean alongside their local replicas. These have helped researchers with establishing a local relative chronology based indirect beacons with eastern Mediterranean contexts. However, when it comes to an independent absolute chronology for MBA context in mainland Sicily, no recent program of radiocarbon dating has been carried out so far. In this contribution, the authors devise a Bayesian model based on evidence from a stratified MBA context at St. Ippolito (Caltagirone, central-eastern Sicily) where a set of seven samples have been radiocarbon dated. The study aims to assess which part of the overall development of the MBA the analyzed context corresponds to, to absolute date the activities represented by the deposit's layers, and to lay the basis to tentatively bracket in time the use of some associated ceramic materials.
This work explores the issue of the absolute chronology of Sicilian Middle Bronze Age (MBA) at the site level. While the overall absolute chronological framework of the period has been worked out through the years via historical means (namely, presence of datable ceramic imports from Late Helladic Greece), the chronology of individual sites has not been explored. In a Bayesian radiocarbon framework, this work aims at addressing the issue of the start, end, duration, and position within the overall MBA time-frame of a case study settlement (Portella, in north-eastern Sicily). Five models for the site chronology are built and compared, and the broader archaeological and cultural implications are discussed. The analysis indicates that the site is likely to represent an early stage of the development of the overall MBA and, notably, that its end is not likely to have been linked to the historical event that marks the end of MBA elsewhere in the same area. The analysis calls for a need of future site-by-site evaluations of the chronology of MBA at the site level.
This paper deals with radiocarbon determinations from the Middle Bronze Age site of Portella on the island of Salina (Aeolian Archipelago, Italy). The available 14C evidence is taken into account, in a simple Bayesian model, in order to explore the issue of the absolute chronology of both the settlement and the stage of the local cultural sequence to which Portella belongs. A high date is proposed for the start of the Aeolian (and Sicilian) Middle Bronze Age: 1556–1422 cal BC (95.4% confidence), with a a most likely (modal) date of about 1450 cal BC. Further, the analysis suggests that the Portella phase is likely to have been a very short one, with a span of 0–65 yr (68.2%) or 0–131 yr (95.4%). The archaeological implications are explored. The relation of these results to the evidence of ceramic phasing is also considered. Since Aegean datable ceramic imports are documented in Aeolian/Sicilian Middle Bronze Age contexts, the connection between Portella’s chronology and the absolute dating of one of the Aegean phases (namely, Late Helladic IIIA1) is also investigated.
Chronological Problems of the Middle Bronze Age in Southern Italy
Th. Lachenal/C. Mordant/Th. Nicolas/C. Véber (eds), Le Bronze moyen et l’origine du Bronze final en Europe occidentale (XVIIe–XIIIe siècle av. J.-C.). Colloque international de l’APRAB, Strasbourg, 17 au 20 juin 2014. Mémoires d’Archéologie du Grand-Est 1, 2017
T his paper gives an overview of some of the most important results as well as some open problems in current research regarding the chronology of the Middle Bronze Age in southern continental Italy. It focuses on the absolute chronology and its two pillars -the relationships with the Aegean and radiocarbon dates.
Quaternary International, 2019
Recently, G. Leonardi and colleagues have discussed in detail the transition of CA/EBA in northern Italy (Leonardi et al., 2015). After an initial assessment of the current (relative) typochronology, they run a simple Bayesian model using a previously selected database of radiocarbon dates ranging between 4100 and 3500 BP from central northern Italy (the regions of Lombardy, Trentino, central-western Veneto and the plain of Emilia-Romagna). The phases, which in their model were designed to allow partial overlap, were grouped and ordered in Late Copper Age, Bell-Beaker Culture, Early Bronze Age and Polada Culture. The latter has been traditionally considered to coincide with the EBA in northern Italy (Peroni, 1971; Carancini et al., 1996; Bietti Sestieri, 2010). The model showed a partial overlap between the end of the CA (2438-2187 calBC) and the start of the EBA (2253-2146 calBC). Moreover, the start and end of the Bell Beaker phase were determined at respectively 2810-2475 calBC and 1981-1628 calBC (Fig. 3). These results led the authors to place the boundary between CA and EBA around 2200 and to hypothesise a possible partial coexistence between Bell Beaker and Polada settlements, especially before the spread of the pile-dwelling phenomenon which can be dated from 2070 to 2030 BCE calBC ± 10 y (first felling dates in the regional tree ring sequence
In: Palaeohistoria 59/60, 2017
At Celano (Abruzzo region, Italy), rare tumulus tombs of the Final Bronze Age were excavated, yielding waterlogged sarcophagi of oak wood. Two tombs are dated by Wiggle Match Dating (WMD) using the conventional 14C method. This shows that the tumuli were erected around 1025±25 BC, while the associated artefacts in the sarcophagi refer to the final stages of the Bronze Age (FBA) in Italy. Related fibulae as the ones found in both tombs at Celano are recovered in limited numbers all over the Italian Peninsula and even in Croatia and nearby regions (Glogović 2003; von Merhart 1969, pls. 4, 5, 7). Our date of 1050-1000 BC for the last stages of the Bronze Age in Italy has consequences for the beginning of the Iron Age, which should start around 1000-950 BCE, an assessment that is consistent with other radiocarbon sequences obtained for Italy, such as the sequence for Latium Vetus and elsewhere in the western Mediterranean.