Archaeology and Prehistory

Conjoin analyses of stone artefacts have been employed to assess the stratigraphic integrity of rockshelter deposits in Australia. Paradoxically, no comparable studies are available for open coastal midden sites despite frequent reference to this site type as ...

In completing this thesis I have been fortunate in having the support of many friends and family whose love and encouragement pulled me through. I thank all of you for enduring my ep isodic mood swings, social absences, general distractedness and much, much more. Finally, I owe much to Jules for her support, encouragement and understanding throughout the growth of the ideas presented in this thesis. Taken together, [the] evidence does indeed seem to suggest that "something happened" in Australia about 2000 BC. But when each piece of evidence is examined individually, the apparent pattern becomes blurred (White 1994:225). In Chapter Seven I conclude the thesis with a summation of the main findings of my research and, finally, I consider the implications of this research for present and future archaeological investigations in this region and elsewhere.

This paper advances the Fractured Time meta-theory, a multidisciplinary critique of conventional chronologies and prehistoric narratives. It examines how scientific dating methods—radiometric dating, stratigraphy, and molecular clocks—are shaped by fragile assumptions and institutional consensus, often dismissing anomalies such as out-of-place artifacts, genetic entropy, and evidence of rapid geological change. Drawing from Young Earth science, catastrophist research, and alternative history scholarship, the paper argues that the prevailing deep-time paradigm is as much a cultural and political construct as a scientific model. By reframing time as fractured, manipulated, and ideologically maintained, this work calls for an interdisciplinary synthesis that integrates empirical evidence, Indigenous knowledge, and suppressed traditions to recover a more complete account of human origins and collective identity.

Le ricerche archeologiche condotte dalla Italian Mission To Oman (IMTO) sul sito di Salut e nell'area circostante a partire dal 2004 consentono ora di proporre una prima ricostruzione delle dinamiche del popolamento antico e delle modalità con le quali la regione si inseriva nei traffici commerciali anche a lunga distanza. A tal fine, i dati di scavo provenienti da un sito di Età del Bronzo, diretto dall'autore, e di una serie di tombe scavate sulle colline vicine da altri membri dell'IMTO, sono presentati e discussi nei loro diversi aspetti

Microliths are widely distributed throughout the various parts of Eastern India. The present paper tries to study microlithic assemblages of the western highlands of Odisha with special reference to the Kalangapali site, located in the Bargarh district of Odisha. This paper is focused on the detailed analysis of the lithic assemblage, stratigraphic contexts, raw material utilization, and site exposure pattern and other related areas of research. The microlithic sites in the area have been reported with the use of numerous varieties of raw materials like chert, quartz, and agate for microlithic tools production. In this context, one of the interesting findings of this site shows microliths associated with pebble tools also known as heavy-duty tools, in a stratigraphic context that is generally confined to limited sites in Odisha.

The present paper is a preliminary report based on the surface exploration carried out in and around the Upper Baitarani River valley in Keonjhar District of Odisha. This exploration has brought to light as many as four Prehistoric microlithic settlements in both primary and semi-primary contexts. The cultural remains of this region exhibit several characteristic features which are usually noticed in other river valleys of Odisha. The ample availability of raw materials adjacent to the riverbank has attracted prehistoric microlith-using communities to settle in this region. The area also appears to hold tremendous potential for understanding human adaptation from the Pleistocene epoch to the Holocene epoch. The river valley is fortunate in having such a wonderful landscape of hills, rock shelters and a chain of hillocks, which is quite befitting to nourish a rich culture in this region. Thus, the Baitarani River valley has been the cradle of human activities, as testified by the discovery of numerous and diverse lithic tool types.

This paper is based on the findings and analysis of microlithics from an excavated site-Malli located on the Chorkhambara River, a small tributary of Wainganga river system in in eastern Vidharbha region of District Gondia, Maharashtra. The Microlithic layer is consist of 20 cm thick. Excavations yielded 951 artifacts and from surface 508 artifacts collected for detailed analysis. The microliths were found associated with calcrete; suggest a chronology of late Pleistocene periods.

Abstract. In 2021 the archaeological mission of Phaistos started the new five-year program The forms of the settlement in
Phaistos between the Neolithic and the Late Roman Period (2021-2025). The activities included both excavation campaigns (2022-
2023) and study campaigns (2021-2023), of which the preliminary results are presented here. The excavation campaigns investigated
the area to the W and NW of the archaeological area, clarifying various aspects left open by previous excavations. The
soundings brought to light the continuation of the Neolithic wall already identified in 2002 (Sounding 3), a sequence of floor
levels dating back to between the EM III and the MM IIB period (Sounding 7), an enchytrismos burial of the MM III (Sounding
1 West), and a series of stratigraphic sequences dating between LM IIIC and the archaic period (Soundings 1, 3, 8). Noteworthy
is the discovery of a bronze panoply in Room OO (Sounding 5). For the most recent phases, a complex of Hellenistic rooms was
re-excavated whose position was not certain (Sounding 2, Rooms n1-3), and Hellenistic levels were brought to light in Soundings
4 and 7. Among the finds a fragment of vase with possible dedication to Hermes, datable to 450-425 BC. The research activities
concerned in particular the application of quantitative methods to LM IIIC-PG architectures (W.A.L(L) project), the survey
with georeferencing of kernoi and mason’s marks and the epigraphic analysis of Linear A texts. The latter, conducted with RTI
and HDR techniques, allowed the identification of a new sign in the epigraphic corpus of Phaistos and suggested the existence of
possible papyrus, leather or parchment supports on which some of the documents had been placed.

The present study investigates the prehistoric lithic assemblages from Battherma Nala, a sub-tributary of the Ghensali river in the southern Bargarh upland of Western Odisha, India. The stream, extends about 14 km from its origin to confluence, has revealed four significant prehistoric sites in two distinct geomorphic contexts i.e., riverbank and rocky outcrop. The surface exploration yielded 1,360 lithic artifacts, predominantly microliths including cores, flakes, blades, and bladelets. The assemblage also includes very few Middle Palaeolithic components, indicating advanced flintknapping techniques, structured blank removal process. The artifacts were analyzed for their technotypology and raw material variability. The study area, characterized by diverse physiographic units and complex lithological formations, provides an abundant source of raw materials, mainly chert, quartz, and quartzite. This investigation enriches our understanding of the settlement patterns, lithic assemblages and raw material exploitation strategies in the Bargarh upland. The findings contribute to broader archaeological contexts, reflecting the cultural dynamics and early human presence in this region.

The present study investigates the prehistoric lithic assemblages from Battherma Nala, a sub-tributary of the Ghensali river in the southern Bargarh upland of Western Odisha, India. The stream, extends about 14 km from its origin to confluence, has revealed four significant prehistoric sites in two distinct geomorphic contexts i.e., riverbank and rocky outcrop. The surface exploration yielded 1,360 lithic artifacts, predominantly microliths including cores, flakes, blades, and bladelets. The assemblage also includes very few Middle Palaeolithic components, indicating advanced flintknapping techniques, structured blank removal process. The artifacts were analyzed for their technotypology and raw material variability. The study area, characterized by diverse physiographic units and complex lithological formations, provides an abundant source of raw materials, mainly chert, quartz, and quartzite. This investigation enriches our understanding of the settlement patterns, lithic assemblages and raw material exploitation strategies in the Bargarh upland. The findings contribute to broader archaeological contexts, reflecting the cultural dynamics and early human presence in this region.

This book is focused on the anthropologically and historically complex subject of the body in ancient Egypt, with particular emphasis on the so-called ‘funerary literature’ and, more specifically, on the corpus of the Pyramid Texts and its ‘mutilated’ anthropomorphic determinatives. In this perspective, it was necessary to establish a framework for the perception and formal elaboration of the social, political, living, and dead body in iconographic and textual sources, in order to provide an emic basis to start from. Particular attention was paid to the ‘broken body’, understood not only as the physical body but also as its iconographical or material representation, sometimes mutilated, decapitated, treated and manipulated in different ways and contexts. Thus, a deductive process has been carried out, starting from the general and arriving at the particular, to propose some suggestions for a long-debated but still unsolved phenomenon. We thus arrive at the practice of mutilation, or partialisation of the body, which is still scarce in archaeological contexts, but more abundant in iconography and hieroglyphics, as a deliberate, reasoned and motivated work of construction and deconstruction of the human body and its representation. The work will have served its purpose if it succeeds in stimulating new reflections and more in-depth studies of the subject, or at least in throwing a glimmer of light on the shadows that Egyptian thought still ‘casts on the walls of the cave’.

This site report presents a description of archaeological investigations undertaken at Roof Fall Cave, an occupied rockshelter and art site located at Cania Gorge, eastern Central Queensland. Excavation yielded quantities of stone artefacts, bone and charcoal, along with some freshwater mussel shell and ochre with an occupational sequence spanning from up to 18,576 cal BP to the historical period. Roof Fall Cave is currently the oldest dated site in Cania Gorge and possibly in the Central Queensland region.

The archaeological area of Via degli Scavi in Montegrotto Terme, which constitutes an interesting complex for thermo-mineral cures from the imperial era, has been the subject of extensive studies in recent years, with particular regard to the structures pertaining to the baths and the theater; conversely, for the enigmatic so-called polylobate building, which was part of the therapeutic core, a targeted investigation is lacking to date.
The article aims to propose an accurate analysis of this structure on the one hand by examining unpublished documents in the archives of the Archaeological Superintendence of Padua, and on the other hand by presenting precise comparisons with other similar structures attested in coeval thermo-mineral contexts both in Italy and in the western Roman provinces. Finally, also thanks to a reconsideration of the artifacts discovered during the eighteenth-nineteenth century in the area of Via Scavi, an interpretative hypothesis is proposed that recognizes in the so-called polylobate building as a sacred-ceremonial building similar to a nymphaeum.

area archeologica di Via degli Scavi a Montegrotto Terme, che costituisce un interessante complesso per le cure termo-minerali di epoca imperiale, è stata oggetto di studi approfonditi negli ultimi anni, con particolare riguardo alle strutture afferenti alle vasche e al teatro; viceversa, per l’enigmatico edificio cd. polilobato, che faceva parte del nucleo terapeutico, manca ad oggi un’indagine mirata.
L’articolo intende proporre una analisi accurata di tale struttura da un lato prendendo in esame documenti inediti presenti nell’archivio della Soprintendenza archeologica di Padova, dall’altro presentando precisi confronti con altre strutture similari attestate in contesti termo-minerali coevi sia in Italia sia nelle province romane occidentali. Infine, anche grazie a una riconsiderazione dei manufatti scoperti nel corso del Sette-Ottocento nell’area di Via Scavi, viene proposta un’ipotesi interpretativa che riconosce nel cd. edificio polilobato edificio sacro-cerimoniale assimilabile a un ninfeo.

Pollen and starch residue analyses were conducted on 24 sediment samples from archaeological sites on Maloelap and Ebon Atolls in the Marshall Islands, eastern Micronesia, and Henderson and Pitcairn Islands in the Pitcairn Group, Southeast Polynesia. The sampled islands, two of which are ''mystery islands'' (Henderson and Pitcairn), previously occupied and abandoned before European contact, comprise three types of Pacific islands: low coral atolls, raised atolls, and volcanic islands. Pollen, starch grains, calcium oxylate crystals, and xylem cells of introduced non-Colocasia Araceae (aroids) were identified in the Marshalls and Henderson (ca. 1,900 yr B.P. and 1,200 yr B.P. at the earliest, respectively). The data provide direct evidence of prehistoric horticulture in those islands and initial fossil pollen sequences from Pitcairn Island. Combined with previous studies, the data also indicate a horticultural system on Henderson comprising both field and tree crops, with seven different cultigens, including at least two species of the Araceae. Starch grains and xylem cells of Ipomoea sp., possibly introduced I. batatas, were identified in Pitcairn Island deposits dated to the last few centuries before European contact in 1790.

This paper is written on a site called Dhuanpali. It has yielded microlithic artefacts which appear to be of advanced phase within the mesolithic. The assemblage includes backed points, trapezes, triangles, lunates and bladelet segments in a large quantity.

Excavations at Mask Cave on the sacred islet of Pulu off Mabuyag in the central west of Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait) reveal four occupational phases: Phase I (2900-3800 years ago), Phase 2 (2100-2600 years ago), Phase 3 (1500-1700 years ago) and Phase 4 (last 1500 years). Faunal remains indicate marine specialization (turtle and fish) during all phases. Petrographic analysis of sherds of finely made red-slipped pottery dating back 2400-2600 years reveals a unique fabric in terms of current understandings of Oceanic ceramic technologies. Mineral inclusions are consistent with local geology suggesting local manufacture and the existence of Indigenous Australia's first pottery tradition. Pre-ceramic Phase 1 is associated with demographic expansions across the western islands of Zenadh Kes by local populations of marine-based hunter-gatherers who were primarily Aboriginal language speakers. Phase 2 is associated with the immigration of Papuan maritime, horticultural and pottery-making peoples to the eastern and western islands of Zenadh Kes commencing 2600 years ago. Australian then Papuan settlement expansions across the western islands of Zenadh Kes explain why the local Western-Central Language has an Aboriginal base with a Papuan overlay. First colonization of the eastern islands by Papuans explains why the local Meriam Mir language is Papuan. Early red-slipped pottery in Zenadh Kes is linked to southern coastal Papuan pottery traditions that are reassessed to have a comparable 2600 year antiquity. Papuan settlement of the southern Papuan coast and Zenadh Kes was an extension of the post-Lapita settlement of the Pacific, an event memorialized in part by Torres Strait Islander oral tradition. In the central western part of Zenadh Kes' is a small granite boulder-strewn islet called Pulu (Figure I). The islet is IMcN, BD: Programme for

This site report presents a description of archaeological investigations undertaken at Big Foot Art Site, a large rockshelter and art site located at Cania Gorge, eastern Central Queensland. Field and laboratory methods are outlined and results presented. Excavation revealed evidence for occupation spanning from before 7,700 cal BP to at least 300 cal BP, with a significant peak in stone artefact discard between c.4,200-3,200 cal BP. Results are compared to analyses undertaken in the adjacent Central Queensland Highlands.

This site report presents a description of archaeological investigations undertaken at Roof Fall Cave, an occupied rockshelter and art site located at Cania Gorge, eastern Central Queensland. Excavation yielded quantities of stone artefacts, bone and charcoal, along with some freshwater mussel shell and ochre with an occupational sequence spanning from up to 18,576 cal BP to the historical period. Roof Fall Cave is currently the oldest dated site in Cania Gorge and possibly in the Central Queensland region.

This paper presents a general overview of archaeological investigations in the Cania Gorge region, located on the western margin of the Gooreng Gooreng Cultural Heritage Project study area. It includes a physical description of the region and a brief outline of the cultural setting, before presenting a summary of archaeological investigations undertaken in the area.

This paper reports the results of excavations conducted at the Mort Creek Site Complex, located in the Rodds Peninsula Section of Eurimbula National Park on the southern Curtis Coast, Central Queensland. Cultural and natural marine shell deposits were excavated and analysed as part of an investigation of natural and cultural site formation processes in the area. Analyses (including foraminifera studies) demonstrate a complex site formation history, with interfingering of cultural and natural shell deposits (cheniers) in some areas of the site. Radiocarbon dating indicates that Aboriginal occupation of the site was initiated before 2,000 cal BP, overlapping with dates obtained for natural chenier deposits.

This paper summarizes the background to, and preliminary results of, archaeological investigations conducted between 1993 and 1997 under the auspices of the Gooreng Gooreng Cultural Heritage Project. The implications of these results are briefly considered before research in progress and future research directions are outlined.

This paper summarizes the background to, and preliminary results of, archaeological investigations conducted between 1993 and 1997 under the auspices of the Gooreng Gooreng Cultural Heritage Project. The implications of these results are briefly considered before research in progress and future research directions are outlined.

This paper presents a general overview of archaeological investigations in the Cania Gorge region, located on the western margin of the Gooreng Gooreng Cultural Heritage Project study area. It includes a physical description of the region and a brief outline of the cultural setting, before presenting a summary of archaeological investigations undertaken in the area.

This volume presents an indexed compilation of chronometric determinations obtained from archaeological sites in the state of Queensland (including Torres Strait), Australia, to the end of 2000. The list includes conventional radiocarbon (14C), accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), thermoluminescence (TL) and optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) determinations. In total, 849 dates are listed from 258 sites. This listing is intended as a reference work only and no analysis of the dataset is undertaken in this volume.

The State of Odisha is a rich storehouse of rock art
that includes both paintings and engravings. To date, 116
rock shelters have been reported from different parts of
Odisha that preserve evidence of 6905 human signatures in
the form of rock art. However, unlike other parts of the
Indian subcontinent, a naturalistic representation of human
activities is rare in the rock art of Odisha. Anthropomorphic
and animal depictions are few in comparison to other subject
matters. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this paper to
enhance our understanding of the archaeological landscape
and human-animal representations in Odishan rock art.

Recent pieces of evidence recovered from microlithic cultures of Mehtakheri and Jwalapuram archaeological sites of Madhya Pradesh suggest that the earliest date of microlithic tradition goes up to 45000 and 35000 years ago 1 in Indian sub-continent. However, it has also been mentioned to exist in Iron Age 2. Microlithic tools have also been found to be associated with historical periods. Prehistoric archaeological studies and literary archaeological data reveal that the earliest microlithic tool-making industries reported high production rates from three continents; Howiesons Poort in southern Africa, Bondaian in eastern Australia, and microlithic period in India 3. A rich amount of prehistoric artifacts have been recovered from various cultural phases in the Indian subcontinent i.e. Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods. Large concentrations of tools belonging to the Paleolithic and Mesolithic ages have been recovered after excavation of archaeological sites from the central part of the Indian subcontinent.

An overview of plaster and pigments found in Palace B1500 at Meroitic Jebel Barkal.
Pancin F. 2019, "Gli intonaci del Palazzo B1500", in Ciampini and Iannarilli (eds) [2019]. Il leone e la montagna: scavi italiani in Sudan, pp. 72-73. Roma: Gangemi.

The school education system is an important public sphere where popular notions of archaeology and the archaeological past are produced and reproduced. Within the framework of an interpretive public archaeology, schools represent a significant social context in which archaeologists might seek meaningful engagement with the wider community. Analysis of the Queensland Education Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) syllabus reveals that there are many opportunities for the inclusion of Australian archaeology examples in the curricula of both primary and secondary schools. In this paper we develop a public outreach strategy for engaging the Queensland school curriculum and report on two case studies from southeast Queensland where this strategy was implemented.

This article by Sudam Jhankar & Neena Thakur present an archaeological study carried out in May 2019 in the lower Khadga stream which covers parts of Kandhamal and Balangir districts of Odisha. The stream flows between several hills and forests, interspersed with small hamlets of this region. Hence the explorations were designed to investigate the archaeological potential of the area. A systematic survey of the Khadga River significantly brought to light as many as five sites belonging to more than one prehistoric horizon. The sites have yielded the artefacts in the mint fresh condition which indicate their recent exposure.

Excavations at Mask Cave on the sacred islet of Pulu off Mabuyag in the central west of Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait) reveal four occupational phases: Phase I (2900-3800 years ago), Phase 2 (2100-2600 years ago), Phase 3 (1500-1700 years ago) and Phase 4 (last 1500 years). Faunal remains indicate marine specialization (turtle and fish) during all phases. Petrographic analysis of sherds of finely made red-slipped pottery dating back 2400-2600 years reveals a unique fabric in terms of current understandings of Oceanic ceramic technologies. Mineral inclusions are consistent with local geology suggesting local manufacture and the existence of Indigenous Australia's first pottery tradition. Pre-ceramic Phase 1 is associated with demographic expansions across the western islands of Zenadh Kes by local populations of marine-based hunter-gatherers who were primarily Aboriginal language speakers. Phase 2 is associated with the immigration of Papuan maritime, horticultural and pottery-making peoples to the eastern and western islands of Zenadh Kes commencing 2600 years ago. Australian then Papuan settlement expansions across the western islands of Zenadh Kes explain why the local Western-Central Language has an Aboriginal base with a Papuan overlay. First colonization of the eastern islands by Papuans explains why the local Meriam Mir language is Papuan. Early red-slipped pottery in Zenadh Kes is linked to southern coastal Papuan pottery traditions that are reassessed to have a comparable 2600 year antiquity. Papuan settlement of the southern Papuan coast and Zenadh Kes was an extension of the post-Lapita settlement of the Pacific, an event memorialized in part by Torres Strait Islander oral tradition. In the central western part of Zenadh Kes' is a small granite boulder-strewn islet called Pulu (Figure I). The islet is IMcN, BD: Programme for

This paper reports the results of excavations conducted at the Mort Creek Site Complex, located in the Rodds Peninsula Section of Eurimbula National Park on the southern Curtis Coast, Central Queensland. Cultural and natural marine shell deposits were excavated and analysed as part of an investigation of natural and cultural site formation processes in the area. Analyses (including foraminifera studies) demonstrate a complex site formation history, with interfingering of cultural and natural shell deposits (cheniers) in some areas of the site. Radiocarbon dating indicates that Aboriginal occupation of the site was initiated before 2,000 cal BP, overlapping with dates obtained for natural chenier deposits.

Recently, a large number of Late Palaeolithic open-air and rock shelter sites have been reported and studied from across South Asia [22-29]. However, evidence for red ochre/iron oxide use at open air sites in the Late Pleistocene context has not yet been reported from most of these microlith-bearing sites in South Asia. At Jwalapuram, Locality-9 rock shelter, striated red ochre crayon with several grinding facets have been reported from N3, Level 34, Stratum C/D interface, belonging to the Late Pleistocene sedimentary context dating back to about 34-33 BP [23]. Use of red ochre in the Late Pleistocene cultural contexts has also been widely reported from Sri Lanka but, in most of the cases those have been documented from cave and/or rock shelter sites, leaving large gaps in our understanding pertaining to the use of this mineral in the open-air site contexts. of our Recent prehistoric investigation at the site of Torajunga in the Bargarh Upland of Odisha has brought to light, for the first time,

Recently, a large number of Late Palaeolithic open-air and rock shelter sites have been reported and studied from across South Asia [22-29]. However, evidence for red ochre/iron oxide use at open air sites in the Late Pleistocene context has not yet been reported from most of these microlith-bearing sites in South Asia. At Jwalapuram, Locality-9 rock shelter, striated red ochre crayon with several grinding facets have been reported from N3, Level 34, Stratum C/D interface, belonging to the Late Pleistocene sedimentary context dating back to about 34-33 BP [23]. Use of red ochre in the Late Pleistocene cultural contexts has also been widely reported from Sri Lanka but, in most of the cases those have been documented from cave and/or rock shelter sites, leaving large gaps in our understanding pertaining to the use of this mineral in the open-air site contexts. of our Recent prehistoric investigation at the site of Torajunga in the Bargarh Upland of Odisha has brought to light, for the first time,

Da molto tempo mia moglie ed io, cerchiamo di trovare simboli in giro per la nostra amata Lombardia, che possano in qualche modo dare testimonianza di una celticità ancora esistente. Se non vi è dubbio che le origini delle città di Milano, Como, e molte altre città sparse per il nostro territorio che una volta era l'Insubria sono celtiche è più difficile dimostrare una continuità storica o quanto meno trovare testimonianza di una coscienza delle radici che arrivi fino ai giorni nostri. I luoghi in questione sono già abbastanza suggestivi da poter "trasmettere" una forte e arcaica presenza, anche in una città come Milano, se cerchiamo bene e ci guardiamo bene attorno, possiamo trovare simboli di differenti epoche che riconducono alla natura celtica della città. Ho voluto scegliere solo un simbolo, il Triskell, per dimostrare che seppur qualche volta in modo quasi "occulto", questo simbolo è stato rappresentato nelle epoche più svariate sul nostro territorio. La scelta dei luoghi tra Milano e Como è dettata dal fatto che in questi luoghi mia moglie ed io abbiamo una maggiore conoscenza del territorio e vi passiamo certamente più tempo.

Until the beginning of the nineties of the last century, almost nothing was known about the separate cultural status of an Iron Age phase in the archaeological profile of Odisha. It was during the excavation of Golbai Sason in the coastal plains of Odisha that, for the first time, a Ferro-Chalcolithic phase, overlaying a full-fledged Chalcolithic deposit, was recognised. Subsequently, intensive exploration and a series of test excavations conducted in different parts of the Middle Mahanadi Valley region of Odisha brought to light a distinct cultural horizon overlaying the Chalcolithic and underlying the Early Historic cultural deposits. Chronologically, the Iron Age in the region spans between the latter half of the second millennium BC and the second half of the first millennium BC. While the ceramic and other associated cultural features indicate a clear departure from the preceding Chalcolithic phase, some of the earlier cultural traits continued into the Iron Age phase. The late phase of this culture was marked by megalith building activities and the proliferation of graffiti marked potteries. Significantly, some of the graffiti marks resemble with that of Brahmi alphabets. The present paper intends to highlight the chrono-cultural aspects of the Iron Age phase in the Middle Mahanadi Valley of Odisha.

Until the beginning of the nineties of the last century, almost nothing was known about the separate cultural status of an Iron Age phase in the archaeological profile of Odisha. It was during the excavation of Golbai Sason in the coastal plains of Odisha that, for the first time, a Ferro-Chalcolithic phase, overlaying a full-fledged Chalcolithic deposit, was recognised. Subsequently, intensive exploration and a series of test excavations conducted in different parts of the Middle Mahanadi Valley region of Odisha brought to light a distinct cultural horizon overlaying the Chalcolithic and underlying the Early Historic cultural deposits. Chronologically, the Iron Age in the region spans between the latter half of the second millennium BC and the second half of the first millennium BC. While the ceramic and other associated cultural features indicate a clear departure from the preceding Chalcolithic phase, some of the earlier cultural traits continued into the Iron Age phase. The late phase of this culture was marked by megalith building activities and the proliferation of graffiti marked potteries. Significantly, some of the graffiti marks resemble with that of Brahmi alphabets. The present paper intends to highlight the chrono-cultural aspects of the Iron Age phase in the Middle Mahanadi Valley of Odisha.

هم‌اینک وی در بنیاد مطالعات فرگشت انسانی لورهیولم ، دانشگاه کمبریج بریتانیا مشغول به کار و پژوهش است. در سال‌های اخیر دکتر سامان حیدری گوران سرپرستی یک پروژه بلندمدت در منطقه ی غرب زاگرس میانی را به عهده گرفته است. هدف از این پروژه بازسازی زندگی جوامع دوران پارینه‌سنگی با تأکید بر دوران پارینه‌سنگی میانی و نوین است. در همین راستا، از سال گذشته،کاوش‌های علمی باستان‌شناسی را در اشکفت رازآور و پناهگاه صخره‌ای یوان واقع در دره ی رازآور در شهرستان کرمانشاه آغاز نموده است. مطالبی که در ادامه می آید حاصل گفتگو با ایشان در همین زمینه است که گزارشگر موفق شد باهدف بررسی فعالیت های اخیرشان به عمل آورد.

Burials and sites that can be related to the identified “Protobudzhak” horizon were left by bearers of various cultural groups. Their individual contributions to the Budzhak culture is not always obvious. DNA studies demonstrate that the population of the Pit Grave culture is not genetically homogeneous, showing a variety of maternal lines from the west and from the east. But mechanisms of transformation can be reconstructed only after specification and correction of information about such cultures that are chronologically and geographically comparable with the “proto-Budzhak horizon” of the North- Western Black Sea Region