Bayesian mixing models as a tool to explore Bronze Age bitumen trade from Tell Lashkir (Erbil, Iraq)
Breu Barcons, Adrià (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Rosell Melé, Antoni (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Molist, Miquel 1956- (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Gómez Bach, Anna 1977- (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)

Fecha:	2022
Resumen:	Bitumen from north-eastern Mesopotamian seeps was exchanged across the Tigris and the Euphrates in antiquity. Nonetheless, recent research proposed a decline in its trade during the Bronze Age alongside the boost of central Mesopotamian (Hit) seeps trade. This paper presents new provenance studies from ancient bitumen recovered at Tell Lashkir, a 4th-2nd millennium BC settlement between the lower and upper Zab Tigris tributaries. The novel application of Bayesian mixing models to biomarker and isotopic data has narrowed down the identification of the bitumen putative sources and improved the apportionment of mixtures. This placed Tell Lashkir within the pathway of bitumen active trade routes in the Bronze Age. Thus, the population inhabiting Tell Lashkir participated in exchange networks which reached southern Mesopotamia, and traded with natural resources most probably originating from central and north-eastern Mesopotamia. From a methodological standpoint, the appraisal of the Bayesian mixing models in our study with modern and archaeological reference samples has provided a better understanding of the strengths and limitations of such an approach to apportion bitumen sources from several Bronze age territories. © 2022 The Authors.
Resumen:	Bitumen from north-eastern Mesopotamian seeps was exchanged across the Tigris and the Euphrates in antiquity. Nonetheless, recent research proposed a decline in its trade during the Bronze Age alongside the boost of central Mesopotamian (Hit) seeps trade. This paper presents new provenance studies from ancient bitumen recovered at Tell Lashkir, a 4th-2nd millennium BC settlement between the lower and upper Zab Tigris tributaries. The novel application of Bayesian mixing models to biomarker and isotopic data has narrowed down the identification of the bitumen putative sources and improved the apportionment of mixtures. This placed Tell Lashkir within the pathway of bitumen active trade routes in the Bronze Age. Thus, the population inhabiting Tell Lashkir participated in exchange networks which reached southern Mesopotamia, and traded with natural resources most probably originating from central and north-eastern Mesopotamia. From a methodological standpoint, the appraisal of the Bayesian mixing models in our study with modern and archaeological reference samples has provided a better understanding of the strengths and limitations of such an approach to apportion bitumen sources from several Bronze age territories.
Ayudas:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2019-106399GB-I00 Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad HAR2016-78416-P Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad HAR2013-43624-P Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte FPU2014/00957 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-1302
Nota:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Nota:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Materia:	Bayesian mixing models ; Bitumen trade ; Bronze age mesopotamia ; Petroleum biomarkers ; Tell lashkir
Publicado en:	Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 145 (2022) , p. 105643, ISSN 1095-9238

DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2022.105643

12 p, 5.1 MB

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