荥阳小胡村墓地出土部分铜器的科学分析

小胡村墓地为殷墟晚期"舌"氏家族墓地,为探讨其出土铜器的腐蚀特征,揭示其所蕴含制作技术和相应考古学信息,从而为器物保护修复提供科学依据,采用金相显微镜和扫描电镜及能谱仪对墓地出土12件铜器进行基体锈层结构和制作技术分析研究。研究表明,相较纯铜、铜锡和铜锡铅合金,铜铅合金耐腐蚀能力较弱,腐蚀严重;铜器经冷热加工处理易造成内部组织结构不均内应力残存,间接加速铜器腐蚀;12件铜器材质:纯铜2件、铜铅合金4件、铜锡合金3件和铜锡铅合金3件;仅2件兵器(刀M28:1、戈M38:1)经有意铸后热锻和冷加工,其余皆直接铸造成型。M21墓4件铜器皆为铜铅合金明器,小胡村墓地作为殷墟周边商文化系统,趋同商文化中心区,亦呈现部分中小贵族随葬铜器明器化现象。研究结果可为器物修复保护提供科学依据。     

Copper quality and provenance in Middle Bronze Age I Byblos and Tell Arqa (Lebanon)

Forty-four Middle Bronze Age I weapons discovered at the sites of Byblos and Tell Arqa in Lebanon were investigated in order to study their copper quality and provenance. The evaluation of copper qualities is based on quantifying permanent inclusions such as copper sulfide and lead globules. The provenance of copper was studied using lead isotope analyses. For further discrimination between copper groups and sources elemental analyses by PIXE were performed on some of the weapons investigated. The results revealed two copper groups that could be qualified as “dirty” copper and “clean” copper. The former was used in most of the weapon types whereas the latter was reserved for items made of high-tin bronzes (>11 wt%) which underwent heavy hammering during the manufacturing process. Even though several potential copper sources were identified, the data point to Iran and Oman as the most probable areas of origin for the metal used in these weapons. These results contribute to the study of inter-regional exchange networks in the ancient Near East.     

昆明呈贡天子庙和呈贡石碑村出土铜铁器的科学分析

为了解中国古滇地区铜铁农具、兵器和工具的制作工艺,采用金相显微镜组织观察和扫描电子显微镜分析的方法,对昆明呈贡天子庙和呈贡石碑村出土的战国至西汉时代11件铜器和2件铁器样品进行分析。分析结果表明,铜器的材质有红铜和铜锡合金两种,相同的器物有较稳定的化学成分。铜器中农具、兵器和工具为铸造制作而成。2件铜柄铁刃剑的材质为亚共析钢,作为兵器,具有优良的性能。本研究成果对进一步研究古滇地区铜铁器具的工艺技术有一定的价值。     

望京楼遗址出土青铜器研究

望京楼遗址是夏商时期重要邑聚,为了解该遗址铜器制作工艺水平,通过金相显微镜和扫描电镜对2010~2012年新郑望京楼遗址出土的青铜器样品进行组织与成分分析和探讨。该批铜器未见青铜容器,仅有小件工具和兵器。但仍可初步反映出望京楼遗址出土的青铜器材质多样化和加工方式非单一性;对望京楼铜器分析反映出该区域使用锻打应该有了一定积累并在此基础上能依据材质和器物薄厚、尺寸选择工艺,对锻打技术认知度较高。望京楼铜器具有的原始性,应属于铜合金使用的早期阶段。研究表明,商代对于器物成分与性能关系的认识程度比之前得到提高。器物是本地制作还是外来还需要更多材料证明。     

云南香格里拉迪庆藏族自治州博物馆藏币的科学分析

为了解西藏钱币的制作工艺,采用金相显微镜组织观察和扫描电子显微镜分析的方法,对云南香格里拉迪庆藏族自治州博物馆收藏的五枚藏币样品进行分析。分析结果表明,五枚藏币可以分作两类,一类为铜质,一类为银铜合金。铜质钱币为含铜率高达99%,可以判定为纯铜制品;银铜合金币的配比基本符合"银八铜二"的合金化的要求。五枚钱币全部采用机械冲压制作,符合当时社会的生产动力变化。本研究成果对进一步研究西藏地区钱币的工艺技术有一定价值。     

The role of arsenic in Chalcolithic copper artefacts – insights from Vila Nova de São Pedro (Portugal)

The Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro (VNSP) is an emblematic settlement located at Azambuja, Portuguese Estremadura. It was occupied during the third and second millennia BC, predominantly during the Chalcolithic period. A diversified collection of 53 copper-based artefacts (most part in a fragmentary condition), belonging to an extensive metallic collection recovered during excavations carried out in VNSP, was studied using micro-EDXRF spectrometry, optical microscopy and SEM-EDS. Additionally, Vickers microhardness measurements were performed to establish the effectiveness of the thermomechanical treatment in the hardness of the artefacts. Results show that the Largo do Carmo, artefact collection is mainly composed of copper or arsenical copper, being 37% of the artefacts made of copper alloyed with arsenic (As > 2%). A statistically significant association was found between copper alloyed with arsenic and artefacts classified as tools/weapons (arrowheads, daggers and knives). In several cases, the presence of arsenic rich phases in the microstructure, resulting from an inverse segregation phenomenon, shows no evidence of chemical homogeneity control during the artefact manufacture. Microstructural analyses also show that the majority of this group (73%) was shaped with forging plus annealing operation cycles and 23% of the artefacts received a final cold hammering after the forging and annealing. An association between the presence of a final forging treatment and artefacts presenting higher arsenic contents was also identified. Nevertheless, no direct correlation was found between the arsenic content of the alloy and its hardness. Also no direct correlation was found between the hardness and a final forging operation. However, it was observed that a harder forging was applied to the cutting edge of the artefacts and consequently a high hardness in this area was obtained despite the arsenic content of the alloy. Concerning arsenical copper alloys, all evidences point out that the potential for obtaining a harder material was not recognized by the ancient metallurgists and the selection of the alloy was possibly made based on colour.     

THE COMPOSITION OF IRON AGE STRUCK 'BRONZE'COINAGE IN EASTERN ENGLAND

EDXRF was used to analyse the composition of 88 Iron Age copper and copper alloy coins excavated from the site of a pre-Roman shrine and Roman temple at Harlow, Essex. Most of the coins are local to the Essex-Hertfordshire region, with a few of Kentish origin. The earliest struck base metal issues were struck from almost pure copper, but from the late first century BC, their composition shows more variety. Particularly interesting are a group of types belonging to the Romanizing phase of Tasciovanus'coinage, which were struck in brass and possibly represent a distinct denomination. Roman coinage and other metalwork imports from the Roman world presumably provided the initial impetus, and the ultimate source of the brass. However, this experiment was relatively short lived. Cunobelinus, who ruled eastern England during the earlier first century AD, mainly employed bronze to strike his abundant base metal coinage. The products of his Colchester mint reveal a consistently different composition from those struck at his unlocated second mint in the Hertfordshire area, although the precise alloy does vary, sometimes within the same type. This suggests that unlike gold and silver issues, the source and purity of the metal used for minting base metal coinage was not always critical.     

COPPER ALLOYS FROM THE ‘ENOT SHUNI CEMETERY AND THE ORIGINS OF BRONZE METALLURGY IN THE EB IV – MB II LEVANT

Tin bronze replaced arsenical copper as the preferred alloy in the Levant for reasons that have long been debated. Found almost exclusively in graves, these two types of copper alloys share nearly identical mechanical properties. The Bronze Age cemetery of ‘Enot Shuni has yielded the first metals ever analysed from an uninterrupted stratigraphic sequence in the Levant, spanning the earliest adoption of tin bronze from the Early Bronze Age (EB) IV through the Middle Bronze Age (MB) II (c. 2300–1530 bc ). SEM–EDS analysis of these artefacts, combined with a compositional meta‐database of all previously published EB IV – MB II alloys, reveals diachronic alloy progression as selected by populations of the Levant. It has long been qualitatively understood that bronze became the primary alloy by the MB II. These results verify this trend and quantify human demand, showing that tin importation increased by 103% and arsenic content decreased by 49% throughout these periods. This shift in technological choice is attributed to cultural reorientation from the Egyptian to Mesopotamian sphere of influence, as well as to tin's appreciable fuel efficiency over pure copper and arsenical copper in light of unprecedented timber shortages.     

Technical Studies on the Bronze Age Metal Artefacts from the Graveyard of Deh Dumen,South‐Western Iran (Third Millennium BC)

During the excavations of the graveyard at the site of Deh Dumen in south‐western Iran, 15 graves from the Early/Middle Bronze Age were uncovered that contained a variety of metallic artefacts. This paper reports on the analysis of nine metal artefacts, including eight broken vessels and a decorative strip that covered the handle of a dagger. The ICP–MS results showed that the bodies of the vessels are made of tin bronze alloy with variable amounts of tin, while the internal piece of the base of one vessel is made from an arsenical copper alloy. Further, the metallic strip is a thin sheet manufactured with partially pure silver. Microanalytical and microstructural information yielded by SEM–EDS revealed elongated Cu–S inclusions and lead globules as various phases formed in bronze solid solution. This study presents some information about the transition from arsenical copper to bronze metallurgy in the third millennium bc in south‐western Iran.     

The Composition of the São Brás Copper Hoard in Relation to the Bell Beaker Metallurgy in the South‐western Iberian Peninsula

A large ceramic vessel was discovered at São Brás (southern Portugal) containing a metallic hoard from the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age period. These weapons and tools were characterized by microanalytical techniques as being composed of copper with varying arsenic contents (2.2 ± 1.6 wt%) and minor amounts of lead, bismuth and iron. The collection shows a clear association between daggers and copper with a higher arsenic content, which can be explained by the high status of these silvery alloys. Finally, the compositional distribution of the hoard was compared with the metallurgy of the Bell Beaker and non–Bell Beaker communities inhabiting the south‐western Iberian Peninsula.     

The production of speiss (iron arsenide) during the Early Bronze Age in Iran

In this paper, analyses of some unusual slag samples from the prehistoric site of Tepe Hissar in northeastern Iran are presented. These slags are the remains of a five-thousand-year-old pyrotechnological process that produced speiss, a quasi-metallic material usually formed as an accidental by-product of copper or lead smelting. We argue that the “speiss slags” from Tepe Hissar suggest the intentional production of iron–arsenic alloy (“speiss”) in prehistory. Why the Tepe Hissar metalworkers produced speiss is a question that requires further investigation, but our preliminary assessment suggests that it was to provide arsenic as an alloying component for arsenical copper, the preferred copper alloy during much of the Early Bronze Age in Iran, and widely used across the ancient world. This recognition significantly advances our understanding of the early stages of metallurgy in the Old World.     

A Second Investigation into the Chemical Composition of the Roman Provincial (Procuratorial) Coinage of Judaea,AD 6–66*

An investigation of the chemical composition of the first Roman provincial coinage of Judaea, minted in ad 6–66, was conducted. A total of 103 copper‐alloy coins were analysed by ICP‐AES. It was determined that different copper alloys were used for the coinage, a leaded tin‐bronze and a pure tin‐bronze alloy. The investigation also showed that the copper alloy was made in four different formulae with regard to the alloying elements added to copper. Trace element profiles point to the existence of a shared pool of metal for Roman coins and metalwork.     

巴蜀带斑纹兵器的锈蚀产物分析及机理探讨

带斑纹兵器是巴蜀兵器的一大特色。由于表面有斑纹的青铜兵器锈蚀与一般青铜器锈蚀有所不同,必须针对其特殊性进行锈蚀机理的研究,才能对症下药,达到有效保护的目的。应用矿相分析、SEM EDS、XRD等分析手段对几件巴蜀带斑纹兵器表面与截面锈蚀产物进行分析,并与非斑纹锈蚀进行比较;对斑纹与非斑纹的锈蚀机理进行探讨。分析结果表明,斑纹的锈蚀产物主要是SnO2,其在兵器斑纹表面形成钝性保护膜,防止其进一步腐蚀,对斑纹下面的基体有一定的保护作用。非斑纹层锈蚀向斑纹层下面的基体扩展,膨胀是造成斑纹层凸起甚至脱落的主要原因,对斑纹兵器保护的关键是控制非斑纹层锈蚀的进一步发展。     

Strategic taboos: chemical weapons and US foreign policy

This article examines US President Barack Obama's foreign policy rhetoric on Syria, specifically in relation to the threat of chemical weapons and the prohibitionary taboo surrounding their use. It contends that Obama's rhetorical construction of the taboo is not simply a commitment to the control of these horrific weapons (where such arms have been comprehended as so extensively vile as to preclude their employment), but that this also represents the strategic linguistic exploitation of these normative ideals in order to directly shape policy. By analysing of presidential speeches made during the conflict, it demonstrates that Obama has manipulated pre‐existing conceptions of chemical weapons as taboo, and also as forms of weapons of mass destruction, to deliberately construct policy in line with his own political ambitions—most notably as a way of forcing a multilateral solution to the situation in Syria. This article challenges existing perceptions of the chemical weapons taboo as an inherently normative constraint, arguing that this instead comprises a more agency‐driven construct. Static notions of the taboo must be abandoned and subsequently replaced with a framework of understanding that recognizes how the taboo can be used as a deliberate driver of foreign policy.     

Russia,nuclear leakage,and the non-proliferation regime

Abstract

Russia inherited from the Soviet Union vast holdings of nuclear weapons and of the fissile materials necessary to build them. These nuclear assets have been in the possession of a Russia in the midst of an extraordinarily difficult and turbulent political, social, and economic transformation. Never before have such enormous inventories of nuclear weapons and fissile materials existed in such circumstances of political instability and uncertainty and economic distress. The economic struggles and financial crisis experienced by Russia since it emerged as an independent state in 1991 have placed enormous stress on its society. The Russian military and the Russian nuclear complex have not been exempt from these pressures. This reality has led to concerns that the Russian state is not in a position to provide adequately for the safety and security of its nuclear assets. If true, this would raise the risk that these assets could leak out of Russia and into the hands of those who wish to acquire nuclear weapons –the so called nuclear leakage problem.     

北周武帝孝陵出土铜器的焊接模拟实验研究

为研究出土铜器的焊接技术,但文献中仅有少量关于铜焊的记载,而且模拟实验研究少有进行,因此,进行了实验室焊接工艺的模拟研究。以北周武帝孝陵出土铜器中检测发现的焊料为依据,进行了相关的焊接模拟实验研究,并利用金相显微镜、扫描电子显微镜及X射线能谱分析仪分别对铜锡合金、纯锡焊接红铜样品进行了检测分析,结合结果的分析与讨论,排除了焊料为纯锡的可能性,进一步证实了孝陵发现的焊料为铜锡合金焊料。本研究开展的铜焊模拟实验为日后系统研究铜焊技术具有一定的参考与借鉴意义。     

Hunting with Howiesons Poort segments: pilot experimental study and the functional interpretation of archaeological tools

For many decades the use of backed pieces from the Howiesons Poort, between about 70 ka and 55 ka ago, in South Africa has been a point of discussion. Recently direct evidence has been provided to associate these tools with Middle Stone Age hunting strategies. Yet, whether they were used to tip hunting weapons or as barbs remained an open question. In this paper we introduce a set of pilot experiments designed to test the effectiveness of Howiesons Poort segments, the type fossils of the industry, hafted in four different configurations as tips for hunting weapons. It is shown that the morphological type can be used successfully in this way. We present the results of a macrofracture analysis conducted on the experimental tools and compare these to results obtained from three Howiesons Poort backed tool samples. By correlating experimental outcomes, macrofracture data and the interpretation of micro-residue distribution patterns, we provide some insight into the functional variables that might be associated with Howiesons Poort segments.     

山西定襄中霍墓地出土铜器的初步科学分析

中霍墓地出土青铜器是研究春秋晚期和战国早期青铜文化特征、制作技术以及探讨该时期中原和北方少数民族相互关系等学术问题的重要资料。为进一步揭示该墓地出土青铜器所包含的科学信息,对该墓地出土17件铜器的37个样品进行了科学分析检测。结果显示,这批青铜器的制作工艺以铸造为主,另外还有热锻、热锻后冷加工等;其合金成分有铜锡二元合金和铜锡铅三元合金两种,铜锡二元合金全部用于制作工具,铜锡铅三元合金用于制造容器。这显示中霍墓地铜器的合金成分和器物类型之间的关系明显,表明制作者已经能根据青铜器的用途而选择合适的制作材料。研究结果对研究中原和北方少数民族冶金术及在此基础上的文化交流有较大的指示性意义。     

Exhibiting atomic culture: the view from Oak Ridge

In the aftermath of World War II, residents of “nuclear cities” like Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, where America's atomic weapons were produced struggled to interpret the nation's atomic history as well as their own stories, for themselves, for tourists and for other visitors. Once literally hidden cities, they remain steeped in Cold War culture and ideology, yet they face uncertain futures as weapons production needs change, hazardous waste dangers become more apparent and homeland security is threatened. “Atomic museums” established at these and other sites have become focal points of such dilemmas. Their evolving interpretations of America's atomic heritage play a significant role in shaping public understanding of the Bomb.     

湖北郧县乔家院墓地出土战国及东汉铜器的成分与金相分析

2006年3 ～12月,在南水北调中线工程中,湖北省文物考古研究所等单位对郧县五峰乡乔家院墓群进行了考古勘探和发掘工作.限于考古发掘材料和学者关注度等因素,利用科技手段对该墓地出土战国及东汉时期青铜器的研究尚未见报道.同时,关于鄂西北地区出土古代青铜器的科学分析研究目前并不多见.鉴于此,本研究利用金相显微镜、XRF等方法分析了湖北省郧县乔家院墓地出土的14件战国及东汉时期铜器样品.分析表明除铜壶镶嵌丝为低锡二元(Cu-Sn)合金外,其他13件均为Cu-Sn-Pb三元合金;其制作工艺以铸造为主,另外还采用了热锻、热锻后冷加工、铜质芯撑、错红铜等工艺.以上分析数据为湖北地区战国及东汉时期青铜合金构成及成型工艺积累了相关数据.