COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS IN ANCIENT TURKEY: SOME NEW ANALYSES

This note presents some new analyses for 13 early copper and bronze artefacts from Turkey in the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. They were not included in a small programme of early copper and bronze objects from Iraq, Syria and Palestine (Moorey and Schweizer 1972, Archaeometry 14 (2), 177–198) and conclude this pilot-project.     

NON‐DESTRUCTIVE SOURCING OF BRONZE AGE NEAR EASTERN OBSIDIAN ARTEFACTS: REDEVELOPING AND REASSESSING ELECTRON MICROPROBE ANALYSIS FOR OBSIDIAN SOURCING*

Despite predictions in the 1980s that electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) would become a popular technique for obsidian sourcing, few studies have used it with this goal, and most of them are now outdated and unrepresentative of modern EMPA. For example, Merrick and Brown (1984 ) recorded their data on punch cards. Furthermore, these studies destructively prepared artefacts for analysis. The research at hand endeavoured: (1) to establish the modern capabilities of EMPA for obsidian sourcing; and (2) to develop and evaluate procedures for non‐destructive artefact analysis. Issues such as diagenetic effects and compatibility with NAA and XRF data were also investigated.     

ENERGY DISPERSIVE X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT COPPER ALLOYS: EMPIRICAL VALUES FOR PRECISION AND ACCURACY

Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analyses are compared with neutron activation as well as atomic absorption analyses of ancient copper-based alloys in order to examine their accuracy and to estimate realistic values for precision and sensitivity of EDXRF. The results show that it is possible to obtain reliable data of the surface composition of objects non-destructively. Better results for bulk composition are usually obtained with drill samples where the sensitivity of the method is at least competitive with atomic absorption spectroscopy with flame atomization.     

PROBLEMS IN POLICY ANALYSIS AND URBAN GOVERNMENT

Malcolm C. Getz, The Economics of the Urban Fire Department
Robert K. Yin, Changing Urban Bureaucracies
Pietro S. Nivola, The Urban Service Problem     

COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS IN ANCIENT IRAQ,SYRIA AND PALESTINE: SOME NEW ANALYSES

In a pilot-programme to increase evidence for the history of copper-alloying in ancient Iraq, Syria and Palestine 128 objects in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, were tested with a point-source linear X-ray spectrometer for tin, arsenic and antimony. These analyses showed the gradual introduction of tin-copper alloys into Iraq after ca. 2750 b.c. (Early Dynastic IIIA), into Syria a little later and into Palestine by the end of the third millennium b.c. , though numerous artefacts continue to be of copper or arsenical-copper until well into the second millennium b.c. at least. With the appearance of tin-copper alloys the percentage of arsenic in the copper objects noticeably declines indicating that the earlier arsenical-coppers were deliberately produced under controlled conditions.     

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BLACK‐PATINATED COPPER ALLOYS*

This analytical study aims to investigate ancient Egyptian black‐patinated copper alloys. The study group was selected from the collections of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and from the Faculty of Archaeology Museum in Cairo University. Examination and analysis were undertaken using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy‐dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X‐ray diffractometry (XRD), X‐ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The analysis results indicated that the black patina contained mainly tenorite (CuO). The study presents evidence of thermal patination and animal glue coating.     

THE USE OF NON-DESTRUCTIVE ACTIVATION ANALYSIS AND PATTERN RECOGNITION IN THE STUDY OF FLINT ARTEFACTS

A method is described for the identification of the origin of flint artefacts. The method is based on the variation in the trace element concentrations for different origins. The trace element concentrations were determined by non-destructive neutron activation analysis. The identification was obtained from a pattern recognition analysis.     

SOLDERING WITH GOLD ALLOYS IN ANCIENT SOUTH AMERICA: EXAMINATION OF TWO SMALL GOLD STUDS FROM ECUADOR

This paper presents the results of electron microprobe analysis of two gold studs, and their associated gold alloy solders. from La Tolita in Ecuador. Metallographic and compositional data are presented and the types of solders used are discussed.     

NON‐DESTRUCTIVE INVESTIGATION OF BRONZE ARTEFACTS FROM THE MARCHES NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY USING NEUTRON DIFFRACTION*

Non‐destructive neutron diffraction techniques were applied to determine composition and microstructure data, and hence to derive information on manufacturing techniques of Picenum bronze artefacts. Furthermore, texture analyses were carried out on standards and suitable ancient artefacts to investigate their potential role in archaeometallurgical studies. This is a first step towards an overall characterization of the bronze collection of the Marches National Museum of Archaeology, Italy, and the analytical demonstration of relations with and differences compared to Etruscan metallurgy. The work is also an example application of the powerful non‐destructive archaeometrical approaches provided by time‐of‐flight neutron diffraction.     

CORRECTIONS FOR DRILL-BIT CONTAMINATION IN SAMPLING ANCIENT POTTERY FOR NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

The routine measurement of tungsten concentrations in pottery sampled with tungsten-carbide drill bits has enabled the measured concentrations of cobalt, tantalum, and lutetium to be corrected for drill-bit contamination. The corrected data, for cobalt at least, are sufficiently accurate that they regain their value as chemical indicators of pottery provenance.     

THE ROLE OF DAGGERS IN EARLY BRONZE AGE BRITAIN: THE EVIDENCE OF WEAR ANALYSIS

Summary. This paper examines the detailed condition of 55 Early Bronze Age daggers from central southern England. It appears that the more elaborate weapons had remained in circulation for a longer period than other examples.     

PARALLELS and CONTRASTS IN the BRONZE AGE of the PELOPONNESE

Summary: The provinces of the north-east Peloponnese, Laconia, and Messenia are chosen for comparison, as likely to have been always the most significant in the Peloponnese. Differences in the observable patterns of site-distribution are pointed out, which seem to conflict with the models suggested in Bintliff 1977 and to suggest a degree of local variation. the histories of the three provinces through the Bronze Age, so far as they can be outlined, have features in common but can be shown to vary at several significant points, strengthening this suggestion.     

IRON IN ANCIENT COPPER

Analysis of early copper-base artifacts invariably reveals traces of iron. Iron enters the copper during the smelting process and the level of iron in the metalwork is an indication of the smelting technology. In areas such as Western Europe where prehistoric slag heaps are absent even in the proximity of undoubted ancient mines, the iron content is low reinforcing the link between smelting technology and iron content. Very occasionally the iron content was deliberately encouraged and alloys containing between 30% and 50% of iron in copper were made, mainly for use in currency. These alloys are without modern parallel and their metallography and method of production are considered in some detail here.     

THE COMMUNICATIVE POTENTIAL OF THERAN MURALS IN LATE BRONZE AGE AKROTIRI: APPLYING VIEWSHED ANALYSIS IN 3D TOWNSCAPES

This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of the social functions of Aegean wall painting, by examining the communicative impact and possible socio‐symbolic significance of Theran murals in the urban landscape of Late Bronze Age Akrotiri (Thera, Greece). It uses a novel method of computational analysis to investigate the visibility of mural painting in the prehistoric townscape which combines the functionalities of 3D modelling and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The benefits of this approach lie in that it considers virtually all observer locations in the study area, while taking more fully into account the precise shape of built forms and the physiological structure of the human visual system than other established methods of visibility analysis used in landscape and urban studies. The application of the methodology in the townscape of Akrotiri highlights some previously unobserved spatial relationships that could have played a role in enhancing the communicative impact of Theran murals in the LBA built environment, consequently encouraging the wide production of mural decoration in the settlement.