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Recent archaeological research has highlighted the potential role of mobile pastoral groups in the diffusion of raw materials and technological innovations between the southern Caucasus and north‐western Iran from the Neolithic onwards. Two successive projects, PAST‐OBS and SCOPE, were designed to explore this hypothesis through the study of obsidian consumption patterns from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age using a flexible analytical strategy that considerably extends the scale of obsidian studies in these regions. By focusing on the exploitation of obsidian at multiple levels—local, regional and interregional—we hope to unravel the complexity of the obsidian networks under study. The aim of this paper is to present (1) a reassessment of the work so far carried out by previous obsidian studies, with a view to homogenizing and to clarifying the nomenclature in use; and (2) an introduction to the PAST‐OBS and SCOPE projects in order to initiate a discussion of our preliminary results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a recent geological and archaeological survey conducted in the Sarab district (Sabalan area) in Northwestern Iran. This survey aimed to identify potential obsidian outcrops in the region and to investigate archaeological sites in the vicinity to assess their obsidian exploitation patterns. We located a new obsidian source, Ideloo, and surveyed the previously known archaeological sites of Tepe Qalehjoogh, Kultepe Asbfrooshan, Tepe Emam Chay and Qaleh Tepe Abarghan. Here, we describe the methods and results of our surveys, along with the geochemical characterisation, using portable XRF and LA‐ICP‐MS, of both the new outcrop and the obsidian artefacts found on the sites. Our analyses have revealed the consumption of Ideloo obsidian on three of the four sites surveyed, confirming its exploitation by local communities. While validating previous assumptions regarding the existence of potential obsidian sources in Northwestern Iran, our study also highlights the consumption of raw materials originating from the Caucasus or Eastern Anatolia in complement to local resources. However, the diffusion of the Ideloo obsidian seems so far restricted to a small area, which suggests more complex consumption and trade patterns than previously expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arslantepe is a höyük (= tell) located within the fertile Malatya Plain, near the right bank of the Euphrates River. The site is excavated since more than 55 years by the Italian Sapienza University archaeologists and reveals periods from at least the sixth millennium BCE until the final destruction of the Neo-Hittite town. This long sequence records the changing relations and connections with various civilizations and regions of the Near East. Using the chemical characterization of a large group of artefacts (388 analysed), we propose, in this paper, a new sourcing of the obsidian used by the inhabitants of Arslantepe from the beginning of the Late Chalcolithic to the end of the Early Bronze Age. The method is based on the portable XRF analyse of the artefacts and their attribution to a geological source using our database collected within the ongoing “GeObs” project (resp. D. Mouralis) in the Eastern Anatolia as well as previous published data in Central Anatolia and Caucasus. Moreover, the chemical characterization is coupled with the techno-functional determination of the artefacts. The present study conducted by an interdisciplinary research group allows to precise the procurement of obsidian in Arslantepe and to better understand the external relations of the site over time. This research also questions and discusses the preferential choice of the obsidian sources through time, in relation with various factors such as distance, quality and abundance of the raw material as well as socio-cultural influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of ante-mortem trauma is a popular and important aspect of palaeopathological analysis. The majority of publications focus on a particular assemblage, skeletal element or type of fracture, with case studies of single individuals with multiple/unusual traumata being much rarer in the literature. This paper presents the case of an adult male from the Bronze Age site of Sharakhalsun, Russia, buried, uniquely, in a sitting position on a fully assembled wagon, who displayed evidence for multiple healed ante-mortem fractures of the cranium, axial and appendicular skeleton. The mechanisms and likely etiologies of the fractures are presented, with reference to modern and 19th century clinical literature, and possible interpretations suggested: that the individual was involved in a severe accident involving a wagon or draft animals, or both, a number of years before his death. The suggestion is also made that the unique burial position of the individual was a form of commemoration by the community of the survival and recovery of the individual from such a serious incident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the intellectual traditions and recent advances in the archaeology of the Bronze and Iron Ages of the South Caucasus. The first goal of the paper is to provide an account of the scholarly traditions that have oriented research in the region since the mid-nineteenth century. This discussion provides a detailed case study of an archaeological tradition that arose within the context of Russian and Soviet research—traditions still poorly understood within Western archaeology. Yet archaeology in the South Caucasus was strongly influenced by international research in neighboring southwest Asia, and thus the region’s intellectual currents often diverged from the debates and priorities that predominated in Moscow. The second goal of this paper is to outline the primary issues that orient contemporary work in the region from the Neolithic through the Urartian period. My interest here is both didactic and prognostic. While I am concerned to fairly represent the primary foci of contemporary regional scholarship, I also make an argument for a deeper investigation of the constitution of social life. Such studies are critical to the advancement of archaeology in the South Caucasus over the coming decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of the French archaeological mission ' Caucasus', in a previous paper we have presented new geochemical analyses on geological obsidians from the southern Caucasus ( Armenia, Georgia) and eastern Turkey. We present here the second part of this research, which deals with provenance studies of archaeological obsidians from Armenia. These new data enhance our knowledge of obsidian exploitation over a period of more than 14 000 years, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Late Bronze Age. The proposed methodology shows that source attribution can be easily made by plotting element contents and element ratios on three simple binary diagrams. The same diagrams were used for source discrimination. As the southern Caucasus is a mountainous region for which the factor of distance as the crow flies cannot be applied, we have explored the capacity of the Geographic Information System to evaluate the nature and patterns of travel costs between the sources of obsidian and the archaeological sites. The role of the secondary obsidian deposits, which enabled the populations to acquire raw material at a considerable distance from the outcrops, is also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large analytical programme involving both obsidian source characterization and obsidian artefact sourcing was initiated recently within the framework of the French archaeological mission ' Caucasus'. The results will be presented in two parts: the first part, this paper, deals with the presentation and characterization of obsidian outcrops in the southern Caucasus, while the second presents some results obtained from a selection of artefacts originating from different Armenian sites dated to between the Upper Palaeolithic and the Late Bronze Age. The same analytical method, LA- ICP- MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), has been used to characterize all the studied samples (both geological and archaeological). This method is more and more widely used to determine the elemental composition of obsidian artefacts, as it causes minimal damage to the studied objects. We present in this first part new geochemical analyses on geological obsidians originating from the southern Caucasus ( Armenia, Georgia) and eastern Turkey. These data enhance our knowledge of the obsidian sources in these regions. A simple methodology, based on the use of three diagrams, is proposed to easily differentiate the deposits and to study the early exploitation of this material in the southern Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper addresses the question of human palaeodietary adaptation in the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age periods of the North Caucasus (South Russia) using stable isotope analysis. One of the key questions is the presence of fish in the diet. AMS radiocarbon dating of archaeological bone collagen has also been carried out to investigate potential radiocarbon reservoir effects in human skeletal material as a result of an aquatic diet. A fish component has previously been suggested in the diet of Iron Age and Bronze Age humans across Eurasia by isotopic research and radiocarbon dating of contemporaneous human and animal bones. In the North Caucasus however, isotopic data is scant. This study presents a new set of stable isotopic data from several Early Bronze Age sites, mainly belonging to the Maikop culture of the North Caucasus. The results show that the diversity in climate and environment across the northern Caucasus may be a causal factor for the patterns observed in the stable isotope values of terrestrial herbivores. This affects the isotopic values of the humans consuming them. The differences in δ15N and δ13C ranges of both humans and fauna were found to correlate strongly with geography and climate; the most enriched isotopic values are found in the dry steppe areas to the north. Overall, a relatively high enrichment in δ15N values of humans compared to local terrestrial herbivores and carnivores was observed. This indicates that aquatic resources were probably part of the Bronze Age diet in the region although the extent of this needs further investigation. The dramatic effect of environmental factors on isotopic values in the Early Bronze Age of the North Caucasus illustrates how confident conclusions cannot be drawn on the basis of a small number of samples from widely differing regions and time periods. Radiocarbon dating can provide a useful tool for identifying dietary derived reservoir ages in humans, potentially caused by a fish diet. With two possible exceptions, the nine human–animal bone pair dated as part of this study showed no consistent indication for a consistent reservoir effect. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]