Steffen Terp Laursen
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 103519 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Steffen Terp Laursen |
| PRENOMES | Steffen Terp |
| SOBRENOME | Laursen |
| ASSINATURA | LAURSEN S T |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Moesgaard Museum |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6036-6061 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 16 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 42 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 16 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2004 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 4 |
From biomolecular traces to multisensory experiences
Recent advances in biomolecular archaeology have enabled the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odor-active metabolites in archaeological materials, revealing the scents and olfactory environments of the ancient world. These developments offer new opportunities to reconstruct the sensory worlds of the past through their molecular signatures, from perfumery, ritual and medicinal practices to aspects of daily life. Yet their integra…
Stamped Tokens with Cuneiform Inscriptions from Bahrain
In this paper, we publish three exceptional tokens from Bahrain bearing impressions of two seals with cuneiform legends. In addition to expanding the small corpus of Early Dilmun cuneiform texts, these objects raise questions concerning their function and use. Both seals belonged to a certain Yaglī-’el, who styled himself “the servant of the (goddess) Panipa.” His name and epithet recall those of the namesake king of Dilmun, who called himself “t…
A Scatter of Gold—Temple Looting Event or the Votive Offerings of Seafaring Merchants on Failaka Island, Kuwait
This paper reports a newly identified, extensive scatter of gold ornaments recovered between two Bronze Age Dilmun temples at Tell F6 on Failaka Island, Kuwait. The assemblage comprises foil fragments, sheet with nail‐holes, gold nails and studs with golden head, and a few beads; several pieces show exposure to fire, including scorching or melting. Spatially widespread and lacking clear concentrations, the scatter probably extends across at least…
The City of Dilmun and Evolving Technology, c. 2000 bc
This paper focuses on the evolution of technology and its potential for making inferences on differentiation of urban activities over time. W. Bryan Arthur’s (2009) theory of ‘combinatorial evolution’ is explored with emphasis on comparative urban archaeology and heterogeneity. The emerging City of Dilmun on Bahrain serves as the study’s empirical point of departure as c. 2000 bc it became a hub for technological ‘opportunity-niche’ formation. He…
From Dilmun to Wādī al‐Fāw
There is a lacuna of knowledge on the inland trade routes across Bronze Age central Arabia, which this article seeks to fill based on new evidence from Wādī al‐Fāw, Saudi Arabia. Contrary to a common belief that interior Southeast Arabia after the Holocene Humid Phase and until the domestication of the dromedary had turned desolate Badlands, this study offers documentation that during the early Bronze Age, a commercial corridor connected the King…
Dilmun Boat shaped votive bowls for the Moon‐god Nanna
The Early Dynastic sources make it clear that there existed a distinct Dilmun boat connected to foreign sea trade. The Babylonian Moon god (Nanna/Suen/Sîn) was symbolically associated with both a bowl and a boat that sailed across the night sky during stages in the monthly cycle before Nanna ultimately would “rise” from the bowl and boat at full moon. Sources from the Early Dynastic IIIa period mention actual votive bowls that are related to the …
Dilmun boats on seals, horned figureheads, and the serpent/dragon slaying myth, c. 2050–1500 BC
Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boats. Contrary to previous studies, it is argued here that these vessels represent a distinct class of single‐masted sail boats and further that this boat type probably is synonymous with the “Dilmun boats” mentioned in Babylonian textual sources as a specific long‐distance vessel type native to Dilmun. The prow of the Dilmun boats typically exhibit a ch…
Symbols of Dilmun's royal house – a primitive system of communication adopted from the late Indus world
This article presents evidence of a system of symbolic markings, which developed in Dilmun between c .1950 and 1500 BC . The symbols predominantly appear on pottery, tokens and seals and may originally have been inspired by similar systems in the post‐Indus script period of the Harappan culture. There was a development over time from single symbols on pottery and tokens to more complex sequences on seals that ultimately formed irregular logograms…
A late fourth- to early third-millennium grave from Bahrain, c .3100-2600 BC
This article presents an exceptional burial that was excavated in 1986 by the National Museum of Bahrain. The presence of two ‘Jemdat Nasr’ style ceramic vessels in the grave makes it a unique testimony of occupation on Bahrain Island in the late fourth to mid-third millennium BC. A local cooking vessel also uncovered from the grave represents the earliest local pottery production so far uncovered in Bahrain
Mesopotamian ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain, c.2250-1750 BC
Among the ceramic vessels recovered from the burial mounds of Bahrain, a small percentage represents Mesopotamian imports or local emulations of such. In this paper two overall horizons are distinguished in these Mesopotamian ceramics. These are significant because both coincide with major stages in Mesopotamia’s interaction with the populations of the ‘Lower Sea’. The first import horizon is comprised of a vessel type found exclusively in the sc…
The westward transmission of Indus Valley sealing technology
This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the seals of the so‐called ‘Gulf Type’, which date to the end of the third millennium BC. It is argued that the Gulf Type seals are of key importance to our understanding of the origin of sealing and other administrative technologies within an emerging Early Dilmun ‘state’. Based on principal component analysis it is demonstrated that the shape of Gulf Type seals with inscriptions in Indus charac…
Routes and Wheeled Transport in Late 4th–Early 3rd Millennium Funerary Customs of the Jutland Peninsula
Zahlreiche Indizien belegen die kulturgeschichtliche Bedeutung von Wagen und Zugtieren in weiten Teilen des westlichen Eurasien in einem Zeitraum, der das späte 4. und 3. Jahrtausend vor Christus umfasst. Während beider Kombination im Alltagsleben gut belegt ist, wird nun erst ersichtlich, dass diese technologische Konstellation auch einen erheblichen konzeptionellen Einfluss auf die fraglichen Gemeinschaften ausübte. Einige der Beweise für diese…
The decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun
This article outlines some general aspects of the Magan and Dilmun trade and goes on to examine the Umm an‐Nar pottery discovered in the tombs of the Early Dilmun burial mounds of Bahrain. These ceramics are of particular interest because they indirectly testify to Dilmun’s contact with Magan in the late third millennium. In this article, thirty vessels of seven morphological types are singled out. By comparison with the material published from t…
Late third‐millennium elite burials in Bahrain
Studies of old aerial photographs of the Bahrain burial mound fields have revealed that a small number of both Early Type ( c. 2200–2050 BC) and Late Type ( c. 2050–1750 BC) mounds are encircled by an outer ring wall, apparently marking out the mound as belonging to an elite. Four of these mounds have been excavated, and the results are presented. The geological differences between the Early Type and the Late Type mound landscapes are discussed
Early Dilmun and its rulers
This paper deals with the social organisation of early Dilmun in Bahrain based on evidence from the burial mound record. Complete aerial photography survey and mapping have documented the extensive mound fields of Bahrain in their entirety and revealed a new and rare type of burial mound encircled by an outer ring wall. From the spatial distribution and appearance of these ‘ring mounds’ it is argued that they cover the time span 2200–1750 BC. It …
Spatial patterns of social organization in the Early Bronze Age of South Scandinavia
Routes and Wheeled Transport in Late 4th–Early 3rd Millennium Funerary Customs of the Jutland Peninsula
Zahlreiche Indizien belegen die kulturgeschichtliche Bedeutung von Wagen und Zugtieren in weiten Teilen des westlichen Eurasien in einem Zeitraum, der das späte 4. und 3. Jahrtausend vor Christus umfasst. Während beider Kombination im Alltagsleben gut belegt ist, wird nun erst ersichtlich, dass diese technologische Konstellation auch einen erheblichen konzeptionellen Einfluss auf die fraglichen Gemeinschaften ausübte. Einige der Beweise für diese…
The westward transmission of Indus Valley sealing technology
This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the seals of the so‐called ‘Gulf Type’, which date to the end of the third millennium BC. It is argued that the Gulf Type seals are of key importance to our understanding of the origin of sealing and other administrative technologies within an emerging Early Dilmun ‘state’. Based on principal component analysis it is demonstrated that the shape of Gulf Type seals with inscriptions in Indus charac…
The decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun
This article outlines some general aspects of the Magan and Dilmun trade and goes on to examine the Umm an‐Nar pottery discovered in the tombs of the Early Dilmun burial mounds of Bahrain. These ceramics are of particular interest because they indirectly testify to Dilmun’s contact with Magan in the late third millennium. In this article, thirty vessels of seven morphological types are singled out. By comparison with the material published from t…
Early Dilmun and its rulers
This paper deals with the social organisation of early Dilmun in Bahrain based on evidence from the burial mound record. Complete aerial photography survey and mapping have documented the extensive mound fields of Bahrain in their entirety and revealed a new and rare type of burial mound encircled by an outer ring wall. From the spatial distribution and appearance of these ‘ring mounds’ it is argued that they cover the time span 2200–1750 BC. It …
Late third‐millennium elite burials in Bahrain
Studies of old aerial photographs of the Bahrain burial mound fields have revealed that a small number of both Early Type ( c. 2200–2050 BC) and Late Type ( c. 2050–1750 BC) mounds are encircled by an outer ring wall, apparently marking out the mound as belonging to an elite. Four of these mounds have been excavated, and the results are presented. The geological differences between the Early Type and the Late Type mound landscapes are discussed
Symbols of Dilmun's royal house – a primitive system of communication adopted from the late Indus world
This article presents evidence of a system of symbolic markings, which developed in Dilmun between c .1950 and 1500 BC . The symbols predominantly appear on pottery, tokens and seals and may originally have been inspired by similar systems in the post‐Indus script period of the Harappan culture. There was a development over time from single symbols on pottery and tokens to more complex sequences on seals that ultimately formed irregular logograms…
Dilmun Boat shaped votive bowls for the Moon‐god Nanna
The Early Dynastic sources make it clear that there existed a distinct Dilmun boat connected to foreign sea trade. The Babylonian Moon god (Nanna/Suen/Sîn) was symbolically associated with both a bowl and a boat that sailed across the night sky during stages in the monthly cycle before Nanna ultimately would “rise” from the bowl and boat at full moon. Sources from the Early Dynastic IIIa period mention actual votive bowls that are related to the …
Dilmun boats on seals, horned figureheads, and the serpent/dragon slaying myth, c. 2050–1500 BC
Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boats. Contrary to previous studies, it is argued here that these vessels represent a distinct class of single‐masted sail boats and further that this boat type probably is synonymous with the “Dilmun boats” mentioned in Babylonian textual sources as a specific long‐distance vessel type native to Dilmun. The prow of the Dilmun boats typically exhibit a ch…
A late fourth- to early third-millennium grave from Bahrain, c .3100-2600 BC
This article presents an exceptional burial that was excavated in 1986 by the National Museum of Bahrain. The presence of two ‘Jemdat Nasr’ style ceramic vessels in the grave makes it a unique testimony of occupation on Bahrain Island in the late fourth to mid-third millennium BC. A local cooking vessel also uncovered from the grave represents the earliest local pottery production so far uncovered in Bahrain
Mesopotamian ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain, c.2250-1750 BC
Among the ceramic vessels recovered from the burial mounds of Bahrain, a small percentage represents Mesopotamian imports or local emulations of such. In this paper two overall horizons are distinguished in these Mesopotamian ceramics. These are significant because both coincide with major stages in Mesopotamia’s interaction with the populations of the ‘Lower Sea’. The first import horizon is comprised of a vessel type found exclusively in the sc…
Spatial patterns of social organization in the Early Bronze Age of South Scandinavia
Late third‐millennium elite burials in Bahrain
Studies of old aerial photographs of the Bahrain burial mound fields have revealed that a small number of both Early Type ( c. 2200–2050 BC) and Late Type ( c. 2050–1750 BC) mounds are encircled by an outer ring wall, apparently marking out the mound as belonging to an elite. Four of these mounds have been excavated, and the results are presented. The geological differences between the Early Type and the Late Type mound landscapes are discussed
Early Dilmun and its rulers
This paper deals with the social organisation of early Dilmun in Bahrain based on evidence from the burial mound record. Complete aerial photography survey and mapping have documented the extensive mound fields of Bahrain in their entirety and revealed a new and rare type of burial mound encircled by an outer ring wall. From the spatial distribution and appearance of these ‘ring mounds’ it is argued that they cover the time span 2200–1750 BC. It …
The decline of Magan and the rise of Dilmun
This article outlines some general aspects of the Magan and Dilmun trade and goes on to examine the Umm an‐Nar pottery discovered in the tombs of the Early Dilmun burial mounds of Bahrain. These ceramics are of particular interest because they indirectly testify to Dilmun’s contact with Magan in the late third millennium. In this article, thirty vessels of seven morphological types are singled out. By comparison with the material published from t…
The westward transmission of Indus Valley sealing technology
This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the seals of the so‐called ‘Gulf Type’, which date to the end of the third millennium BC. It is argued that the Gulf Type seals are of key importance to our understanding of the origin of sealing and other administrative technologies within an emerging Early Dilmun ‘state’. Based on principal component analysis it is demonstrated that the shape of Gulf Type seals with inscriptions in Indus charac…
Routes and Wheeled Transport in Late 4th–Early 3rd Millennium Funerary Customs of the Jutland Peninsula
Zahlreiche Indizien belegen die kulturgeschichtliche Bedeutung von Wagen und Zugtieren in weiten Teilen des westlichen Eurasien in einem Zeitraum, der das späte 4. und 3. Jahrtausend vor Christus umfasst. Während beider Kombination im Alltagsleben gut belegt ist, wird nun erst ersichtlich, dass diese technologische Konstellation auch einen erheblichen konzeptionellen Einfluss auf die fraglichen Gemeinschaften ausübte. Einige der Beweise für diese…
Mesopotamian ceramics from the burial mounds of Bahrain, c.2250-1750 BC
Among the ceramic vessels recovered from the burial mounds of Bahrain, a small percentage represents Mesopotamian imports or local emulations of such. In this paper two overall horizons are distinguished in these Mesopotamian ceramics. These are significant because both coincide with major stages in Mesopotamia’s interaction with the populations of the ‘Lower Sea’. The first import horizon is comprised of a vessel type found exclusively in the sc…
A late fourth- to early third-millennium grave from Bahrain, c .3100-2600 BC
This article presents an exceptional burial that was excavated in 1986 by the National Museum of Bahrain. The presence of two ‘Jemdat Nasr’ style ceramic vessels in the grave makes it a unique testimony of occupation on Bahrain Island in the late fourth to mid-third millennium BC. A local cooking vessel also uncovered from the grave represents the earliest local pottery production so far uncovered in Bahrain
Symbols of Dilmun's royal house – a primitive system of communication adopted from the late Indus world
This article presents evidence of a system of symbolic markings, which developed in Dilmun between c .1950 and 1500 BC . The symbols predominantly appear on pottery, tokens and seals and may originally have been inspired by similar systems in the post‐Indus script period of the Harappan culture. There was a development over time from single symbols on pottery and tokens to more complex sequences on seals that ultimately formed irregular logograms…
Dilmun boats on seals, horned figureheads, and the serpent/dragon slaying myth, c. 2050–1500 BC
Seals of Dilmun type from Bahrain and Failaka island (Kuwait) in 18 cases have depictions of boats. Contrary to previous studies, it is argued here that these vessels represent a distinct class of single‐masted sail boats and further that this boat type probably is synonymous with the “Dilmun boats” mentioned in Babylonian textual sources as a specific long‐distance vessel type native to Dilmun. The prow of the Dilmun boats typically exhibit a ch…
Dilmun Boat shaped votive bowls for the Moon‐god Nanna
The Early Dynastic sources make it clear that there existed a distinct Dilmun boat connected to foreign sea trade. The Babylonian Moon god (Nanna/Suen/Sîn) was symbolically associated with both a bowl and a boat that sailed across the night sky during stages in the monthly cycle before Nanna ultimately would “rise” from the bowl and boat at full moon. Sources from the Early Dynastic IIIa period mention actual votive bowls that are related to the …
From Dilmun to Wādī al‐Fāw
There is a lacuna of knowledge on the inland trade routes across Bronze Age central Arabia, which this article seeks to fill based on new evidence from Wādī al‐Fāw, Saudi Arabia. Contrary to a common belief that interior Southeast Arabia after the Holocene Humid Phase and until the domestication of the dromedary had turned desolate Badlands, this study offers documentation that during the early Bronze Age, a commercial corridor connected the King…
The City of Dilmun and Evolving Technology, c. 2000 bc
This paper focuses on the evolution of technology and its potential for making inferences on differentiation of urban activities over time. W. Bryan Arthur’s (2009) theory of ‘combinatorial evolution’ is explored with emphasis on comparative urban archaeology and heterogeneity. The emerging City of Dilmun on Bahrain serves as the study’s empirical point of departure as c. 2000 bc it became a hub for technological ‘opportunity-niche’ formation. He…
From biomolecular traces to multisensory experiences
Recent advances in biomolecular archaeology have enabled the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odor-active metabolites in archaeological materials, revealing the scents and olfactory environments of the ancient world. These developments offer new opportunities to reconstruct the sensory worlds of the past through their molecular signatures, from perfumery, ritual and medicinal practices to aspects of daily life. Yet their integra…
Stamped Tokens with Cuneiform Inscriptions from Bahrain
In this paper, we publish three exceptional tokens from Bahrain bearing impressions of two seals with cuneiform legends. In addition to expanding the small corpus of Early Dilmun cuneiform texts, these objects raise questions concerning their function and use. Both seals belonged to a certain Yaglī-’el, who styled himself “the servant of the (goddess) Panipa.” His name and epithet recall those of the namesake king of Dilmun, who called himself “t…
A Scatter of Gold—Temple Looting Event or the Votive Offerings of Seafaring Merchants on Failaka Island, Kuwait
This paper reports a newly identified, extensive scatter of gold ornaments recovered between two Bronze Age Dilmun temples at Tell F6 on Failaka Island, Kuwait. The assemblage comprises foil fragments, sheet with nail‐holes, gold nails and studs with golden head, and a few beads; several pieces show exposure to fire, including scorching or melting. Spatially widespread and lacking clear concentrations, the scatter probably extends across at least…
Archaeology (12 obras) · Geography (11 obras) · History (11 obras) · Ancient history (10 obras) · History (10 obras) · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology (8 obras) · Ancient Near East History (8 obras) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (7 obras) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (6 obras) · Geology (5 obras)