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Thanks to a long history of research on the origins, tracing distribution networks and assessing the cultural significance of amber, the pool of information on the complexity of exchange networks in Bronze Age Europe is steadily growing. The present study represents the next stage in the development of research on this issue. It presents a synthesis of previous knowledge on the presence of amber in the Early Bronze Age in the territory of present-day Slovakia, as well as new findings on the provenance of the raw material and the absolute chronology of the finds from selected three different sites located in the eastern part of the country. On the basis of the information obtained, key issues related to the provenance of amber, the context of its deposition and the chronological mechanisms of its spread in the studied area are discussed. The results obtained are encouraging enough to compare and clarify the initiation of amber acceptance, its further perception and valuation by exchange strategies, where amber seems to be provided rather as a by-product of a more complex trade system, focused primarily on metal exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This overview is based on the results of 25+ years of provenance studies to identify the sources of high-quality volcanic glass (obsidian) in prehistoric cultural complexes of the far eastern and northeastern regions of Russia (Maritime Province, the Amur River basin, Sakhalin Island, the Kurile Islands, Kamchatka Peninsula, Chukotka region, the Kolyma River basin, and the High Arctic), as well as in adjacent parts of Northeast Asia (Hokkaido Island, the Korean Peninsula, and Manchuria). The extended networks of obsidian exchange in antiquity are reconstructed for the southern Russian Far East and Northeastern Siberia. A possible mechanism of long-distance obsidian exchange/trade in Northeastern Siberia is suggested.

In the last decade, abundant evidence for seafaring and interaction among Southern Aegean communities has been produced through the recovery of imported materials (mainly metals, lithics, and ceramics) in archaeological excavations dated to the Final Neolithic period (c 4th millennium BC). This article attempts to synthesise the available data on exchange networks, and to discuss the images of maritime interaction, namely the longboats depicted on FN rock carvings. It is suggested that during the 4th millennium BC maritime communication played an important role in the transfer of people, ideas and technologies. A contrast between closely interacting regions, comprised by both mainland and island areas (such as for example Attica and the Northern Cyclades), and long-range, lower intensity connections (for example between Attica and Crete) can be identified. Similar to the Early Bronze Age period, the capacity of a Final Neolithic community to provide enough men for a longboat crew would be crucial in long-distance maritime connections. The longboat could have been used in establishing social alliances among Final Neolithic communities and/or piracy and warfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the present paper, the author offers new absolute and contextual dating evidence for Scottish archaeological pitchstone. Much archaeological pitchstone from the Scottish mainland is recovered from unsealed contexts of multi-period or palimpsest sites, and pitchstone artefacts from radiocarbon-dated pits therefore provide important dating evidence for this material group and its associated exchange network. In Scotland, all archaeological pitchstone derives from outcrops on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, and on the source island pitchstone-bearing assemblages include diagnostic types from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age period. Off Arran, pitchstone-bearing assemblages never include Mesolithic types, such as microliths, suggesting a post Mesolithic date. This suggestion is supported by worked pitchstone from radiocarbon-dated pits, where all presently available dates indicate that, on the Scottish mainland, Arran pitchstone was traded and used after the Mesolithic period, and in particular during the Early Neolithic period.

Copyright of Anatolia / Anadolu is the property of Ankara University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)