Sherds on the Edge: Characterization of 16th Century Colonial Spanish Pottery Recovered from the Solomon Islands

We present the results of instrumental neutron activation analysis of ceramics recovered from the Solomon Islands, associated with Alvaro de Mendaña y Neira's 16th century colonizing expedition to the region (c.1595–6). Based on the chemical and typological data and previously published petrological and geochronological research, this study assigns the provenance of the ceramics variously to Peru, Panama, Spain, China and Thailand. A comparison of the provenance results with historical records related to Mendaña's voyage also shows the value of the archaeological assemblage in providing a detailed picture of provisioned ceramic types and their provenance.     

A hierarchical taxonomic procedure for provenance determination: A case study of Chalcolithic ceramics from the central Zagros

This study develops a data analysis methodology for the exploration of the variance in chemical composition of ceramic artifacts due to their typological, location and temporal characteristics. This methodology then allows for the characterization of ceramics based on these characteristics and the sequential assignment of unclassified ceramics to a region, subregion or site, with further assignment to specific ware and chronological period. The procedure uses INNA data on the elemental composition of ceramics in order to derive a series of classification functions for each category within each level of the taxonomic hierarchy. The developed procedure is used to investigate a provenance problem involving Chalcolithic ceramics from the Zagros region of western Iran. The results show that the elemental composition of ceramics, when coupled with multivariate statistical techniques, represents a powerful means for distinguishing ceramic provenance.     

Investigating the production and distribution of plain ware pottery in the Samoan archipelago with laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)

This paper presents a provenance study of 170 ceramic artifacts and 21 ceramic tiles from three islands in the Samoan archipelago using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Our analyses confirm that LA-ICP-MS can be used to differentiate between clay formations on a single island. We identify different distribution patterns for pottery recovered from lowland and highland sites on Tutuila Island. We also examine evidence for movement of pottery between islands, and find only limited evidence for such movement. Our findings suggest dynamic patterns of prehistoric interaction and site use that need to be evaluated with further data from across the archipelago.     

Long-term clay raw material selection and use in the region of Classical/Hellenistic to Early Byzantine Sagalassos (SW Turkey)

A provenance study was carried out on coarse ceramics from the Classical/Hellenistic to Mid-Byzantine city of Sagalassos, SW Turkey. The ceramics were sampled from the excavations of the city, and clay raw materials were sampled throughout its ancient territory. Used techniques were optical microscopy and electron microprobe analysis on thin sections, geochemical analysis (fusion ICP/MS and mineralogical analysis (X-ray diffraction). The geochemical/mineralogical diversity in the ceramics is not as wide as for the clay raw materials. It seems that even at the restricted scale of this study, the resources were limited to the area around the ancient site. The differences between the ceramics are likely due to the use of different ophiolitic clay bodies being exploited for their production.     

Development of quartz cathodoluminescence for the geological grouping of archaeological ceramics: firing effects and data analysis

Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectrometry reveals genetic crystallographic and chemical characteristics of quartz grains specific to the thermodynamic conditions in which they crystallised and their mineralisation history. These genetic characteristics have been used successfully to determine the provenance of sediments. Geological sediments are the raw material for archaeological ceramics which means quartz CL has a potential application in ceramic provenance studies, particularly for fine wares and fabrics in which quartz is the only identifiable inclusion.     

CALCAREOUS MICROFOSSILS IN BRONZE AGE AEGEAN CERAMICS: ILLUMINATING TECHNOLOGY AND PROVENANCE*

The calcareous skeletal remains of various microscopic organisms such as foraminifera and ostracods are a striking feature of thin sections of many archaeological ceramics from the Aegean Bronze Age. While the presence of these calcareous microfossils in pottery has been noted for some time, attempts to utilize them to further the aims of ceramic compositional analysis have been few in number. In the following paper, we take a first detailed look at the occurrence and utility of calcareous microfossils in archaeological ceramics. By presenting selected case studies from the Bronze Age of Crete, we demonstrate the potential of calcareous microfossils, especially the extremely small ‘nannofossils’ and the highly contextual geological information that they contain, in terms of the characterization and grouping of ceramics, the determination of their provenance and the reconstruction of ancient technology.     

NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS OF BIRD BOWLS AND RELATED ARCHAIC CERAMICS FROM MILETUS

In this paper we present the results of a chemical investigation by neutron activation analysis of sherds of different kinds of bird kotylai, bird bowls and related wares excavated in Kalabaktepe, a hill of the ancient city of Miletus. A new archaeological classification of this well-known group of Archaic ceramics of eastern Greece is presented. A number of kiln wasters of misfired vessels from Kalabaktepe revealed a characteristic local pattern. This pattern helped to clarify the provenance of some of the bird bowls classified archaeologically as of orientalizing type: they have been made in Miletus. But bird kotylai and bird bowls in the 'standard fabric’as well as other archaeologically related vessels show a different chemical pattern of unknown provenance.     

CRITERIA FOR THE PETROGRAPHIC CHARACTERIZATION OF STONEPASTE CERAMICS

The application of petrographic analysis to the problems of provenance attribution of ceramics made in the Islamic world is complicated by the presence of the highly quartzose ‘stonepaste’body. To facilitate the differentiation of different stonepaste groups, it has been necessary to develop specific criteria for distinguishing the characteristics of each centre, including the assessment of the degree of cloudiness of the quartz as rendered by fluid inclusions. This has enabled the successful application of petrographic analysis, and the solution of a number of provenance problems.     

Determining the Provenance of Cayo Pottery from Grenada,Lesser Antilles,Using Portable X‐Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

Portable XRF was used to analyse the chemical composition of 52 indigenous Cayo ceramics from excavations and from private collections on Grenada, Lesser Antilles. Initially, a comparative baseline of data representing three different islands (Grenada, St Vincent and Trinidad) was created by analysing with pXRF ceramic material that had previously been analysed both chemically and petrographically. The field data, when compared to the laboratory baseline data, indicated that the majority of the ceramics were made with clay local to Grenada. Four samples were potentially made with clay from another, as yet unidentified, source.     

我国科技考古研究的新进展

根据第九届全国科技考古学术讨论会上所报告和收到的103篇论文的内容,对我国科技考古的进展作一简要介绍.内容涉及生物考古和农业考古、年代测定、陶瓷考古、冶金考古、玉器及玻璃器的产地和结构分析以及环境考古、遥感考古和文物保护等.这些论文的内容充分展示了近些年来我国科技考古研究的最新成果和动态,全面反映了我国科技考古研究的发展方向.     

粗糙集理论（RST）及其在古陶瓷分类上应用的初探

为了获得古陶瓷器的产地和制造年代的信息,需要应用科学分析方法对古陶瓷器的化学组成数据进行归纳、分类。本文介绍了粗糙集理论(RST)的一些基本概念,同时给出了用粗糙集方法建立古陶瓷分类模型的基本步骤和对古陶瓷器化学组成数据的处理方法,通过对瓷器产地、时代判别的应用举例,表明用该方法对古陶瓷分类研究的效果能达到预期目的,回代检验分析结果正确率为100％。     

Archaeometrical study of Khmer stoneware from the Angkorian period: Results from the Cerangkor Project

In the area around Angkor, Cambodia, several ceramics kilns dating from the ninth to 15th centuries ce have been discovered since 1995. The technical, typological and compositional characterization of their production has been one of the main goals of the Cerangkor Project. Samples of green‐glazed ‘Kulen‐type' stoneware and non‐glazed stoneware produced in five kiln sites in the Angkor region were analysed chemically by wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry (WDS‐XRF) and also petrographically. The data indicate that some workshops used similar raw materials for the same types of ceramics, suggesting the exploitation of the same geological formations in the whole region. Several references groups were established for each type of stoneware offering an important database for future provenance studies of sherds from consumption sites.     

Trade and the Construction of Bahamian Identity: A Multiscalar Exploration

Using ceramic data, we explore how a multiscalar approach, framed within Giddens' Theory of Structuration, can lead to a more complete understanding of the construction of New World Creole identities. The two scales of analysis serve to inform one another. We draw upon archaeological and historical data from five plantation sites located on three islands of the Bahamas. On the macroscale level, we demonstrate how regional trade networks limited or facilitated access to ceramics and shaped the ways that individual planters used these goods to construct statements about wealth and prestige. A microscale analysis of ceramics recovered from six slave households demonstrates how families with complete market access used ceramics as a means of creating a sense of community identity and mediating tensions within the quarters.     

Characterisation of Chinese Tang sancai from Gongxian and Yaozhou kilns using ICP-MS trace element and TIMS Sr–Nd isotopic analysis

Tang sancai is one of the most important types of Chinese ceramics. To determine the provenance of Tang sancai is important to study ancient trade and other issues. In this paper we compare ICP-MS trace elements and TIMS Sr–Nd isotopes of visibly similar Tang sancai from two major production centres Gongxian and Yaozhou. The variation in contents/ratios of many of >40 trace elements is small for samples from Gongxian, yet is considerably bigger for that from Yaozhou. However, the variation in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotopic ratios is very small for samples from both places. Gongxian and Yaozhou samples have distinctive Sr–Nd isotopic and trace element features despite their similarity in major elements, and these analysis data can be interpreted with geochemistry, indicating that Sr and Nd isotopes have great potential in ceramic provenance studies. The distinct characterisation of these samples provides valuable criteria for identifying provenance of Tang sancai of uncertain origin. Two modern fakes are also analysed, and they can as well be distinguished from antique Tang sancai using above criteria.     

The Australian National University—Vanuatu Cultural Centre Archaeology Project, 1994–97: Aims and Results

Despite an intensive period of research in Vanuatu during the 1960s and 1970s, a number of basic questions regarding the archaeology of the islands remained largely unanswered. The Australian National University—Vanuatu Cultural Centre Archaeological Project began in 1994, and was established in an attempt to address some of these questions. Research has been carried out on the islands of Malakula, Efate and Erromango, and has concentrated on establishing cultural sequences for the different islands. The evidence collected thus far overwhelmingly indicates that the islands were initially colonised some 3000 years ago by Lapita settlers. Dentate-stamped Lapita ceramics arrived with the initial colonisers and the ceramic traditions that followed evolved from the Lapita tradition. A more technical report on the 1994–97 work has recently been published (Bedford et al. 1998) and includes full reporting of radiocarbon dates on which the chronologies presented here are based. The project has also included intensive archaeological field-training of Cultural Centre staff and fieldworkers. This has proved invaluable where fieldworkers are able to heighten local awareness and understanding of archaeological remains.     

Reconstructing Regional Trajectories: the Provenance and Distribution of Archaic to Hellenistic Ceramics in Central Pisidia (South‐west Turkey)

Analytical ceramic studies offer the opportunity to determine cultural development and change on the basis of origin and use of raw materials. In this particular study, an archaeometric approach on ceramics in central Pisidia contributes to the discussion of contact and exchange between indigenous communities and several cultural spheres of influence on a long‐term timescale (eighth to second centuries bce ). Morphological data as well as mineralogical (optical microscopy; n = 273) and chemical composition (by ICP–OES/MS; n = 122) of ceramics and raw materials show distinct resource zones for the production and distribution of ceramics in this connecting region of Anatolia. The use of trace element profiles (REE, HFSE, LILE and TTE) in particular is regarded as instrumental in detailing high‐resolution provenancing of ceramics. The ceramic provenance indicates different patterns of material interactions during the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. A significant increase in regional interaction occurs coinciding with the development of pottery activities at Sagalassos.     

GETTING SMASHED: THE DEPOSITION OF AMPHORAEAND THE DRINKING OF WINE IN GAUL DURING THE LATE IRON AGE

This paper aims to summarize current research on the chronology, provenance and deposition of Italian wine amphorae and associated material culture (ceramics and metal vessels) in Gaul from the second to the end of the first century BC. Recent studies have linked the consumption of imported wine in Gaul with the elite and/or a warrior class who organized great feasts in enclosures and sanctuaries. Instead, it will be suggested that access to wine in parts of central eastern France at least was relatively open while in some cases wine was being drunk by individuals involved in various industrial activities.     

EXPLORING IDENTITY AND PLACE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROVENANCE OF PASSAGE GRAVE STONES ON GUERNSEY AND JERSEY IN THE MIDDLE NEOLITHIC

Summary. This study examines the provenance of rock types used in the construction of Middle Neolithic passage grave stones on the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, focusing on the social dimensions of stone selection. The use of stones in passage grave construction includes both local and non-local rock types, which at some sites are organized in distinctive patterns. It is argued that the choice of stones was bound by concepts of identity, and that the communities which gathered to build these monuments may have used specific rock types to represent their community and their local mythologies. The relationship between identity and stone selection is supported both by analogy and by research into the role of landmarks in the development of local landscapes and ideology. The success of megalith provenance studies on Guernsey and Jersey suggests considerable potential for future research in other geologically diverse regions.     

Mineralogical analysis and provenancing of ancient ceramics using automated SEM-EDS analysis (QEMSCAN®): a pilot study on LB I pottery from Akrotiri,Thera

A wide range of existing mineralogical and geochemical methodologies such as optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, manual scanning electron microscopy, ICP-MS and INAA have been utilised in the analysis of ancient ceramics, in attempts to elucidate patterns of regional trade and interaction. However, advances in automated scanning electron microscopy with linked energy dispersive spectrometers (SEM-EDS) have created the potential to offer a seamless combination of textural and mineralogical data based on the acquisition of energy dispersive spectra that has so far been unattainable with existing techniques. In this pilot study on pottery from the Cycladic Bronze Age site of Akrotiri (Thera), we have quantified the mineralogy of the ceramics based on automated SEM-EDS using QEMSCAN^® technology and imaged the textures of the ceramics through compositional mapping. Thirteen samples were analysed and, based upon the automated analysis, four groups of ceramic compositions are defined. These data are consistent with, but also refine, previous traditional petrographic examination of the ceramic samples, and enable the likely provenance of the raw materials used in the ceramic manufacture to be identified. This technique allows the acquisition of fully quantitative data, not only for the larger inclusions within the ceramics but also for the typically finer-grained groundmass/matrix, whilst also providing the overall texture of the ceramic.     

NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM,LONDON

Neutron activation analysis was used at the British Museum from 1978 until 2002 for provenance studies on ceramics and marble. Significant numbers of the items analysed were of high quality and value, and careful sampling was necessary to avoid damage to the object. An in‐house British Museum Standard Pottery was established and inter‐calibrated with a number of standards used by other archaeometry laboratories. The results of the projects have been published in many papers, and the databases established will be of use to future scholars interested in the ceramic groups represented. Projects on Greek and Near Eastern pottery have been undertaken. Relatively large numbers of north European medieval and post‐medieval pottery samples were analysed, as well as the tin‐glazed ceramics of Spain and Italy. Classical marble has also formed the subject of another project and a database of quarry material has been established.