<p>In this paper I discuss the theory of altered states of consciousness. Some of the rock art of the san-people in southern Africa and the lakota people in South Dakota, USA have been inspired by experiences during trance. The question is if some of the rock art in southern Scandinavia also have been inspired by trance experiences, and if archaeological scientists by investigating this theoretical view might find a better understanding as far as the Bronze Age in Southern Scandinavia is concerned.</p>

<p>This thesis discusses South Scandinavian cup marks in general, and cup marks in Kronobergs County in particular. The question is whether the cup mark phenomena can be viewed as an ordinary family-based cult for a kind of everyday use, or more likely as a community passage ritual. The thesis also suggests that cup marks were made by ritual participants in, or in the process of trying to reach, an altered state of consciousness.</p>

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 389-402) and index.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Harvard University, 2001. / Advisers: Ofer Bar-Yosef, K.C. Chang, Yun Kuen Lee, Richard H. Meadow. Includes bibliographical references.

Although it is accepted that Phoenician colonization occurred on Sardinia by the 9th century B.C., it is possible that contact between Sardinia‟s indigenous population and the Levantine region occurred in the Late Bronze Age (LBA). Eastern LBA goods found on the island are copper oxhide ingots and Aegean pottery. Previously, it has been suggested that Mycenaeans were responsible for bringing the eastern goods to Sardinia, but the presence of Aegean pottery shards does not confirm the presence of Mycenaean tradesmen. Also, scholars of LBA trade have explained the paucity of evidence for a Mycenaean merchant fleet. Interpretations of two LBA shipwrecks, Cape Gelidonya and Uluburun, indicate that eastern Mediterranean merchants of Cypriot or Syro-Canaanite origin, transported large quantities of oxhide ingots from the Levant towards the west. It remains possible that similar itinerant merchants conducted ventures bringing eastern goods to Sardinia while exploring the western Mediterranean. Trade in eastern goods may have stimulated the advancement that occurred in Nuragic culture in the LBA, resulting in the emergence of an elite social stratum in the Nuragic society. Archaeological evidence, such as elitist burials and increasingly complex architecture, supports the idea of cultural change due to internal competition. This „peer-polity‟ effect may have been incited because of limited accessibility to the exotic eastern goods and the „ownership‟ to the rights of this exchange.

During the fall of 1973, the newly formed (American) Institute of Nautical Archaeology conducted its first systematic underwater survey of the southwestern coast of Turkey with the goal of locating the first shipwreck to be subsequently excavated by the Institute. Of the 18 wreck sites identified during the survey, a site off Sheytan Deresi (Devil’s Creek) proved to be the one that attracted George Bass, director of the survey, as most meriting further study. During the excavation that followed in September and October 1975, the site produced a number of complete and fragmentary ceramic vessels that formed the main artifact assemblage. Although the ceramic vessels brought to light at Sheytan Deresi have been studied by George Bass, Roxani Margariti and others since the 1975 excavation, locating precise parallels for the assemblage proved a difficult task and resulted in a less than full understanding of the site. The following thesis represents a renewed effort to answer a number of questions still surrounding the Sheytan Deresi site. In addition to expanding the extensive search for parallels undertaken by Bass and Margariti, recent research has involved a number of scientific analyses, including petrographic analysis of the ceramic assemblage, luminescence dating of ceramic fragments, and elemental examination of the fabric through neutron activation analysis and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The use of three-dimensional modeling has been adopted for the purposes of site interpretation. Although the impact of this more holistic approach cannot be entirely foreseen at this time, a number of interesting hypotheses regarding the site can now be suggested. It appears that the ceramic assemblage, which is now conclusively of a single origin, may be of a specialized maritime nature, and likely belongs to the Middle Bronze Age, reminiscent of, but entirely similar to, regional types of Anatolian and Cretan vessels. These tentative conclusions, as well as an examination of the site itself, suggest that the (Minoanizing) ceramic assemblage of Sheytan Deresi stood witness to a fairly small Middle Bronze Age coastal trading vessel that capsized rounding a dangerous cape, not far from its point of origin. We are still not in a position to fully comprehend the wrecking event that took place at Sheytan Deresi, but we are now firmly on course towards reaching that objective.

<p>There are none known Bronze Age settlement on Gotland, although there are severalexcavation reports that mention that they have found a probable Bronze Age settlement. In the excavation that have been done in the study areas, there are Bronze Age dated hearths, cooking pits and post holes. These study areas have been investigated if they might be possible Bronze Age settlements. This paper discusses about the criteria of settlements and also investigate if the study areas meet those criterias. There are many different criteria for settlement but only the criteria of FMIS are used in the study. There are also different criteria for hearths and cooking pits, what separates them from each other. There have been measures on the distance between different landscape variables in the study areas to see if there are any differences or similarities between the different study areas.</p>

The Uluburun shipwreck was discovered in 1982 when a Turkish sponge diver informed the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) of his discovery of metal biscuits with ears. INA archaeologists recognized this as a description of oxhide ingots, a clear indication of a Late Bronze Age site. This find was of considerable interest as very little is known about seafaring, long distance trade, and ship construction during the Late Bronze Age, except for a glimpse provided by the Cape Gelidonya shipwreck excavated in 1960 by George Bass. The site at Uluburun revealed only a handful of disarticulated ship fragments; nevertheless, a meticulous study of these timbers and the distribution of the cargo and shipboard items on the seabed resulted in a hypothetical, but carefully guided, reconstruction of the ship and the lading of its cargo. The artifacts recovered from the Uluburun shipwreck are unlike those discovered on land in quality of preservation as well as the quantity found. Items pertinent to this study include 354 copper oxhide ingots (approximately 10 tons), 152 copper bun ingots (nearly 1 ton), 110 tin ingot fragments (approximately 1 ton), 175 glass ingots (approximately 0.3 tons), 150 Canaanite jars (approximately 2 tons if filled with water), 10 large storage jars (pithoi) (approximately 3.5 tons if filled with water), approximately 51 Canaanite pilgrim flasks, 24 stone anchors (3.3 tons), nearly 1 ton of ballast stones, and the hull remains itself. Two computer programs, Rhinoceros and PHASER, were used to visually model the artifacts and ship in three-dimensions and to systematically test various hull shapes and lading arrangements in a range of hydrostatic conditions. Tests showed that a hull measuring 15 x 5 x 2 m would be capable of carrying the estimated 20 tons of cargo and shipboard items recovered from the wreck at a draft of 1 m, with sufficient freeboard to allow six passengers to stand on one side of the vessel without compromising the stability of the ship. / Institute of Nautical Archaeology

The Late Bronze Age on the island of Crete saw a period of strong administrative and religious control by the palace at Knossos, which also controlled a vast trade network with the rest of the eastern Mediterranean. After the collapse of the palace of Knossos, the Final Palatial period (1490 - 1320 BCE), was a time of sociopolitical transition and change, witnessing an explosion in number and variety of mortuary practices used, even within the same cemetery. In this thesis I analyze Final Palatial burial practices in a more systematic method than has been previously attempted, in order to gain a better understanding of how the Minoans chose to use the mortuary sphere as a platform for constructing and negotiating their social and political identities in the dynamic socio-political climate of the Final Palatial period.

In this bachelor thesis an attempt is made to recreate the shoreline of Gotland during the Bronze Age. This has been done with the help of GIS to analyze remains dated to different periods of the Bronze Age that have been situated close to the coast. Case studies of three areas of the island have been made where dated remains together with typical Bronze Age remains like cairns and ship settings are analyzed with variables such as height over sea level and geological and topographical information. Contemporary datings from each case study have been compared to find a possible shoreline for both early and late Bronze Age. Two shorelines, one for the early Bronze Age and one for the late Bronze Age, have been created and tested on the three areas to see the placement of the remains in relation to these coastlines.