SEM and electrochemical characterization of bronze artifacts from the Francavilla archaeological site

The excavations in the necropolis of the Francavilla Marittima archaeological area, in Calabria, have brought to light the rich burial artifacts and materials, dated between the end of the ninth and sixth centuries BCE. SEM/EDS analysis was conducted on some sections taken from a bronze artifact classifiable as an armilla or fibula fragment. Our aim was to elucidate the nature of the corrosion processes acting on the specimen. SEM investigation detected the segregation of tin towards the outer layer and a depletion of the copper content in the same region. Furthermore, the elemental distribution maps of the sections analyzed evidenced the presence of chloride ions in the border area between the corrosion patina and the metal alloy. Such anion migration of chloride ions into the interior of the alloy leads to a particular variant of the type of corrosion of structure that in the literature has been identified as structure I.A cavity electrode designed for electrochemical measurements of powders was used to perform cyclic voltammetry experiments devoted to explore the activity of the patina covering the surface of the bronze fragment. The surface layer consists mainly of tin and tin oxides; the layer immediately beneath it contains copper oxides. An increase of reactivity was shown in an acidic environment. The activity of the patina is greatly reduced at pH 5 and appears to be zero at neutral pH.     

Synchrotron radiation-based x-ray analysis of bronze artifacts from an Iron Age site in the Judean Hills

Seven bronze bangles from Tell en-Nasbeh, northern Judah, were investigated to understand the phase composition and manufacturing process of the artifacts, and possibly suggest a provenance for their origin. Synchrotron x-ray radiation diffraction (XRD) and fluorescence (XRF) were used in the analysis to avoid any destructive sampling and at the same time penetrate through the surface into the core metal. These techniques enabled us to determine that the bangles were not just tin bronze, but leaded tin bronze. Based on excavation reports, it is unlikely that the metal objects were manufactured locally at Tell en-Nasbeh; rather, preliminary XRD and XRF data point towards the neighboring region of Edom as their origin. Despite their political enmity during the Iron Age II, the data suggest that Judahite social demands for bronze may have fostered a strong economic relationship between these two polities.     

郑州商城青铜大方鼎造型与纹饰研究

郑州商城的三处青铜器窖藏共出土了八件青铜大方鼎,目前学界一般认为铜方鼎的原型与陶方鼎有关。但通过造型与纹饰的细节分析,可发现大方鼎的原型应为方形木质容器,乳钉纹带模仿了容器边套、箍圈上的成排铆钉。南顺城街窖藏的四件大方鼎,其纹饰的演变体现出从模仿铆钉原型到向装饰化发展的过程。     

The bronze artifacts from the Yejiashan site and the political presence of the Zhou dynasty in the middle Yangtze Plain: an application of lead isotope analysis

Lead isotope ratios of 15 Chinese bronze artifacts from the Yejiashan site (Suizhou City, Hubei Province) were analyzed and compared with copper ores across China. This study attempts to provide a new perspective to discuss the role that Zeng State played among all the vassal states in the early Zhou dynasty (ca. 1046–977 BC). The political presence of the Zhou dynasty in the middle Yangtze Plain is another main content of this paper. The lead isotopic characteristics of Chinese bronze artifacts between different historical periods are also in the scope of the study. By comparison, the lead isotopic ratios of the tested bronzes and copper deposits in the north Jiangxi Province show numerous overlaps. It indicates that the tested bronzes might have a single ore source, and this source was in the south of the Zhou dynasty. Combined with history and archaeological records, it is highly likely that the middle Yangtze Plain might be a part of the Zhou dynasty since the very beginning. Moreover, Zeng State might have a great influence in the ancient middle Yangtze Plain, and the nobles of Zeng State might even have authority to supervise certain area extending to Jiujiang. As lead isotopes of the bronzes appear to show a clear relation to chronology, the change of lead isotope patterns across times may further serve to distinguish the bronzes of the Western Zhou dynasty from the late Shang ones.     

廊坊市出土的汉唐至辽金时期铜镜

我国铜镜的历史,大约可追溯至4000多年前的齐家化时期,它形成于东周时期,盛行于汉唐,衰于宋元。不同历史时期铜镜的制作、形制、纹饰和铭都有其特点,反映着当时的政治、经济、思想化、社会生活及时代风尚。历史上青铜镜铸造还出现了如西汉的透光镜,唐代的金银平脱、嵌螺钿、捶金银、鎏金、彩漆绘、嵌琉璃等特种工艺,     

競之定铜器群考

澳门出现的一组楚器,数量大。组合比较完整,且大多数铸有铭文,是近年来楚国青铜器的一次重要发现,它对于研究春秋战国时期楚国的历史、楚王世系、青铜器铸造,以及楚国与少数部族之间的关系,都有着重要的价值。根据其形制、纹饰以及铭文等方面所表现出的特征,其时代应在春秋晚期后段。盘、匜的作器者楚王酓(熊)恷,金文首次出现,亦不见于史书。经考证熊恷就是楚平王熊居,恷、居一名一字。您读为休,休,息止也。居,也有止息之义。名与字意义相因。鼎、簋、豆、鬲的作器者競之定是楚国的一位封君。盘、匜是楚平王所赐。     

A re-assessment of bronze age wool

Measurements of twelve new samples of Danish Bronze Age wool showed them to be hairy medium fleeces. Supporting evidence was obtained that a high proportion of fine fibres in a yarn results from the plucking of wool during the moult before the hairy fibres have been released from the skin. The fine fibres were closer in diameter to the underwool of the wild ancestor than to those of the Soay sheep (supposedly a Bronze Age survivor), indicating a more primitive fleece. The samples described include the first white Bronze Age wool. Those with natural pigmentation in every fibre could be black or brown, while those with pigmented and white fibres are thought to be a mixture of brown and white (by analogy with the Soay) rather than grey, which is unknown in the Soay.     

Traditions and transitions in Korean bronze technology

Metallurgical examination of Korean bronze artifacts shows that a technical tradition based on casting and use of leaded high-tin alloys was established in Korea at the early stages of bronze use. After the subsequent discovery of quenching methods that suppress formation of the brittle δ phase, new thermo-mechanical techniques were introduced between the 7th and 10th centuries AD. Lead-free alloys were used, and tin contents near that of the peritectic point in the Cu–Sn phase diagram were chosen. Leaded high tin alloys continued in use, but only in cast objects, and with significant composition variation. The unique conditions during the time of innovation suggest that the transition to new metallurgical techniques was gradually achieved through domestic technical innovation inspired by external influences.     

Recent developments in the analysis of lithic artifacts

A review of recent research on lithic technology and functional analysis is presented. Our perception of the state of the art is based on a review of the literature published during the past three years and on the topics that were covered at conferences and workshops on lithic analysis. While the goals have essentially remained the same since the turn of the century, concerns with chronology and the classification of lithic artifacts have given way to studies that treat stone implements as products of a dynamic system of human behavior. In order to understand stone artifacts and the people that made and used them, archaeologists must understand theprocesses involved in the acquisition, production, exchange, and consumption of lithic artifacts. In the past ten years, experimental studies involving the manufacturing and use of stone tools have been integrated with studies of refitted or conjoined lithic artifacts and microwear analysis. The result is a much more dynamic view of the variability in assemblages of lithic artifacts. In this review, we focus on replication and technological analysis of chipped stone artifacts and microwear analysis, and consider the implications of this research.     

金文族姓研究中的常见问题

金文族姓研究对探索中国上古社会历史的意义重大,但研究中也存在一些问题,本文对研究中带有普遍性的臆断铭文性质、以媵器绝对为父方作器、混淆不同国族三个常见问题作了探析,冀为学者们以后的研究提供借鉴。     

Origins of Pacific Islands labourers in Fiji

Abstract

The administration of criminal justice in the period 1875–1900 had very different effects on men and women in three separate arenas: colonial towns, plantations and areas subject to chiefly control. In the towns of Levuka and Suva, men were the main concern of the courts; women rarely came before the courts and were almost never imprisoned. On the plantations, British magistrates dealt mainly with alleged breaches of the labour ordinances, with the result that women were prosecuted on an equal basis with men. The gender balance of criminal prosecutions was also closer to equal in the Fijian Provincial Courts, but the nature of the crimes charged against women was totally different from that in the other two spheres of colonial administration, the main concern being breaches of the traditional moral code. Understanding the segmented nature of the judicial system sheds further light on the workings of indirect rule in Fiji and suggests comparisons with colonial administrations in Africa.     

Testing hypotheses of independence on symmetrical artifacts

Independence between attributes on artifacts with two equivalent loci has ordinarily been tested only when the loci can be differentiated from each other, say as left or right side or as distal or proximal end. If such an identification does not exist, is uncertain or is irrelevant, then a test of independence requires a special statistical procedure. Such a procedure is given here. Applications are illustrated for coreplatforms, geometric microliths and arrow-head typology, and an extension to artifacts with several equivalent loci is determined.