2016/08/12 by Maciej Mateusz Wencel · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Ancient Egypt and Archaeology #Ancient Near East History #Ancient history #Archaeology #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Art #Bronze Age #Chronology #Geology #Hiatus #History #Mesopotamia #Paleontology #Period (music) #Radiocarbon dating
paper · doi:10.1017/rdc.2016.60
published in Radiocarbon 59(2), 635-645 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2016/08/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Abstract This paper describes the results of Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates from Early Bronze Age contexts in Southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq. The model uses 14 C dates available in the literature, employing archaeological and textual information to correlate contexts from a number of important Mesopotamian sites. The insufficient number of dates makes it impossible to precisely define the chronology of the period in question; however, the analysis allows for observing patterns of cultural change otherwise invisible in archaeological and textual records. Firstly, it is suggested that there was a hiatus of at least a century between the latest protocuneiform texts and the earliest historical writing. Furthermore, the results seem to argue against a steady, gradual evolution of literate civilizations, indicating a more complex and varied process of development.