Recent
Discoveries and Results
2008
- Emotional news for lovers of a dry white wine. The blissful Hippocrene
was composed from wild grapes from the sixth millennium BC in the lands
of its natural habitat. But, as the author shows, the cultivation,
domestication and selective breeding of the grape following
in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age was aimed primarily at the
enjoyment of its sweetness.
Sweeter than Wine? The Use of the Grape in Early Western Asia.
Antiquity 82:937-946.
2006
- The serendipitous discovery that the default shape of a mudball is
biconical inspired research into spindle whorls. It turned out that all
things being equal, center-weighted spindle whorls are most suited fibers
that need more twist; linen fibers need a lot of twist, and the crimped,
scaly fibers of sheep wool need relatively little twist. Early west Asian
ceramic spindle whorls are normally biconical. It may be no
coincidence, therefore, that our first evidence for spindle whorls
roughly coincides with our first evidence for spun fibers, i.e., flax!
("Serendipity: Secrets of the Mudballs," by Naomi F. Miller, Kimberly E.
Leaman, and Julie Unruh. Expedition
48(3):40-41. Don't miss Mudball: The Movie!
- Plant remains from three sites in the Kur River Basin spanning the
late seventh to mid fifth millennium B.C. suggest that the
post-Pleistocene advance of the oak forest had not yet reached that area.
("Some Plant Remains from the 2004 Excavations of Tall-e Mushki, Tall-e
Jari A and B, an Tall-e Bakun A and B," by Naomi F. Miller and Masoumeh
Kimiaie, in The Origins of State Organizations in Prehistoric Highland Fars,
âSouthern Iran. Excavations at Tall-e Bakun) [pdf on-line]
2004
- Human impact on the vegetation of west Asia can be traced with the
earliest archaeobotanical records to those of the Iron Age. Local
deforestation is reflected in changes in proportions of dominant tree
taxa as well as increasing seed:charcoal raios (reflecting increases in
dung fuel use relative to wood). Although long- and short-term climate
fluctuations undoubtedly occurred, their impact on vegetation
was negligible compared to human impact. ("Long-term Vegetation Changes
in the Near East," in The Archaeology of Global Change)
2003
- Archaeological survey and excavation suggest that during much of the
third millennium (between the Banesh [Proto-Elamite] and Kaftari
[Elamite] periods), permanent settlements virtually disappeared in Fars
province, Iran. Analysis of pottery and stratigraphy at Malyan,
one of the few sites with both Banesh and Kaftari period deposits,
suggests that the site may have been occupied by a small permanent
population who had a ceramic tradition that eventually evolved into the
mature Kaftari style; i.e., the Malyan Kaftari occupation is just a
continuation, perhaps with some new influences, of the earlier Banesh
tradition. ("The Banesh-Kaftari Interface. The View from Operation H5,
Malyan," by Naomi F. Miller and William M. Sumner,
Iran 41:7-19)
- The people who lived at Anau North ('Chalcolithic
deposits, fifth and fourth millennia BC) settled in a landscape
dominated by tugai vegetation (lots of Tamarix).
Fields were probably cleared along the stream (a precursor of the Anau
Su), perhaps interspersed with tugai thickets, and herds
grazed on nearby steppe. The two main crops, six-row barley
(Hordeum vulgare supsp. vulgare) and bread wheat
(Triticum aestivum), almost undoubtedly were irrigated,
perhaps by simple gravity flow. Human activities had only a negligible
impact on the vegetation in the period considered here. Over time,
however, fields may have expanded at the expense of pasture and
tugai in the immediate vicinity of the settlement. ("The Use
of Plants at Anau North," in A
Central Asian Village at
the Dawn of Civilization. Excavations at Anau, Turkmenistan, 2003)
Home -
Publications list -
Archive of 'Recent Discoveries'