Large scale smelting of speiss and arsenical copper at Early Bronze Age Arisman,Iran

We report analyses of different slag types found at the Early Bronze Age site of Arisman in North-West Iran. Here, an estimated 20 tons of slag provide evidence of sustained and large-scale production of metal, using both furnaces and crucibles. The results show that both speiss, an iron-arsenic alloy, and arsenical copper were produced, apparently side-by-side at the same site but using different ores and processes. We offer a tentative outline of the metallurgical processes involved in the production of these arsenic alloys and an explanation why speiss needed to be produced from arsenopyrite in a separate step, instead of using the mineral in its native form as a source for arsenic. We suggest that the speiss was then added either to secondary copper ore or to separately smelted copper metal, in order finally to produce arsenical copper in a regular and well-controlled process.     

A Preliminary Study on the Loss of Iron and Arsenic in the Re‐Melting of Iron‐Bearing Arsenical Copper

Re‐melting experiments were conducted with specimens made of high‐arsenic copper alloys containing lead, iron and sulphur. The melting treatment at 1000°C in ambient conditions for 5 min was found to cause an almost complete removal of iron and sulphur along with a notable reduction of arsenic levels. Evidence was found that the preferential oxidation of iron and arsenic was responsible for this change in composition. The treatment also brought about perfect dissolution of speiss particles scattered throughout the original specimen, suggesting the possibility of the addition of speiss to molten copper for the production of arsenical copper.     

On Pins and Needles: Tracing the Evolution of Copper-base Alloying at Tepe Yahya, Iran, via ICP-MS Analysis of Common-place Items

From 1967 to 1975 a team of archaeologists excavated the site of Tepe Yahya in southeastern Iran under the direction of C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky. Although there are two forthcoming “final reports” (Hiebert (in progress), and Magee (in press); see also Lamberg-Karlovsky & Potts, 2001), analysis of the materials continues as opportunities allow. Metal artefacts, most especially those made of copper and its alloys, are found at this site from the late Neolithic through the Iron Age. Archaeometallurgical analysis, radiocarbon chronologies, and archaeological interpretation allow one to state when and how a type of metal or a style of object was invented, its use as a trade item, and its function and value to an ancient community. In the hopes of establishing a framework for future archaeometallurgical studies, most of the metal artefacts from Tepe Yahya, Iran, stored in the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, were analysed for elemental composition to complement stylistic and metallographic data.     

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.     

Investigating cross-Gulf trade in the Iron Age III period: chronological and compositional data on Burnished Maroon Slipped Ware (BMSW) in southeastern Arabia and Iran

Recently obtained ceramic compositional data from the late Iron Age sites of Tepe Yahya in Iran and Sharm in the United Arab Emirates is presented in this paper. Analysis of this data suggests that a distinctive ceramic, Burnished Maroon Slipped Ware (BMSW), was produced somewhere in southern Iran and exported across the Gulf to eastern Arabia. That this trade was not limited to any defined historical period, such as that represented by the Achaemenid Empire, is suggested by a series of new AMS C¹⁴ dates from Tepe Yahya. The paper concludes with speculative comments on the possible elite nature of BMSW in societies on either side of the Straits of Hormuz.     

Colour in Minoan faience

The microstructures and chemical compositions of some 15 faience objects from Crete spanning the period from Middle Minoan IIIA through to Late Minoan IA are determined using analytical scanning electron microscopy. The Minoan faience is compared with replicate faience beads produced in the laboratory using various combinations of manganese, copper and iron as colorants. The alkali contents of the replicate beads are varied so that the colorants are present both as ions in a glass phase and as particulate oxides. These data are then used to try to infer the original colour of the Minoan faience, the great majority of which has suffered severe weathering during burial. The results suggest that instead of the present day “hallmark greys and browns” and “subtle greens and blues”, Minoan faience originally exhibited a wide range of colours, including bright turquoise blue, purple and violet, and pale yellow-green and greenish turquoise.     

Worked Human Femur from Gohar Tepe,Iran

A simple tool made from a gracile human femoral shaft was retrieved from a small animal bone assemblage found in a Late Bronze Age stratum at Gohar Tepe, Iran. The specimen has been identified as a chisel or gouge for which no analogous examples are known in the Near East. Studies examining similar tools from other regions suggest that such a tool may have been used for wood processing or pottery smoothing. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Metallurgical investigations at Godin Tepe,Iran, Part I: the metal finds

Godin Tepe, a large tell situated in western Iran along the Silk Road (High Road) and excavated from 1965 to 1973 by T. Cuyler Young, Jr. (56, 57, 58, 59 and 60), yielded over 200 metal artifacts dating to the Early Bronze through Iron Ages. Sixty-nine of these were investigated for this project using traditional metallography and electron probe microanalysis. It was found that the metal objects at Godin Tepe reflect a range of manufacturing techniques and represent multiple producers. In addition, a high degree of variability in production methods is seen for typologically similar aesthetic items like bracelets and pins, but there is uniformity in production of utilitarian items like chisels. The metals from Godin Tepe have provided great insight into the diverse manufacturing methods present on the Iranian Plateau in antiquity, especially during the Bronze Age.     

The palaeo-Christian glass mosaic of St. Prosdocimus (Padova,Italy): archaeometric characterisation of tesserae with antimony- or phosphorus-based opacifiers

The present paper reports the results of archaeometric characterisation of the opaque tesserae, intentionally coloured with antimony- or phosphorus-based opacifiers, coming from one of the two only palaeo-Christian glass mosaics known in the Veneto region (Italy), i.e., the mosaic which decorated the votive chapel of St. Prosdocimus in Padova. In particular, 55 tesserae belonging to glass types “White”, “Blue”, “Yellow”, “Green” and “Brown” are examined here. The multi-methodological approach (SEM-EDS, EMPA, XRPD, imaging spectroscopy coupled, in some cases, with XAS) gave valuable insights into the complexities of palaeo-Christian glass mosaic production technologies. Two main groups are identified, one characterised by glassy matrixes and opacifiers (calcium or lead antimonate) typical of the Roman period and comprising all “White”, “Blue”, and “Yellow” tesserae and some “Green” ones, and the other characterised by glassy matrixes and an opacifier (calcium phosphate) typical of the 6th century AD, composed of “Green” and “Brown” tesserae. This suggests that, during that century there was a gradual change from older to “new” production technologies: although new opacifiers such as calcium phosphate started to be used, the frequent use of antimony-based ones (43/55 samples) supports the hypothesis that their systematic use was extended until the 6th century, although re-using old tesserae cannot be completely excluded. In addition, comparisons with compositional groups already identified in the “gold” tesserae of the same mosaic and tesserae from Ravenna demonstrate that both the same “base compositions” of the glass were used to produce transparent and opaque glass. This evidence, coupled with the results of the historical-artistic study, suggests technological connections between Padova and Ravenna, the capital of Byzantine mosaics in Italy. Micro-structural observations and chemical analyses of the Paduan antimony-based opacified glass demonstrate that different processes and raw materials were used in their production. Both in situ and ex situ crystallisation can be identified for calcium and lead antimonate in Paduan tesserae, whereas the production of tesserae opacified with calcium phosphate generally appears to be highly standardised. Although the opacifiers used in the Paduan tesserae support technological transitions, the colouring elements identified here, i.e., iron and manganese for white, yellow, brown and some green tesserae, cobalt for blue, and copper for blue and green, suggest continuity, because their use is widely testified in the production of both transparent and opaque glass artefacts dating from the Bronze Age until Medieval times, from whichever archaeological site the samples come. Peculiar relationships among the oxidation states of colouring elements, their contents in the glassy matrix, the types of opacifiers used, and the final colour of tesserae were identified. In addition, the correlations of cobalt and/or copper with other elements, together with identification of relics of colouring and “metallic” droplets, allow us to speculate on possible sources and production technologies. Lastly, identification of newly formed crystalline inclusions in tesserae also yields information on kiln temperatures, which ranged between 900 and 1150 °C, a range easily reached in the furnaces of the 6th century AD.     

山东莱芜嬴城遗址炼铜渣初步研究

为了解山东地区早期冶金技术的发展情况,采用扫描电子显微镜分析等方法,对莱芜赢城冶炼遗址出土的3件炉渣进行了检测。结果表明其中2件为红铜还原渣,1件为砷铜熔炼渣。由此推测该遗址铜的还原可能存在两种工序,并且掌握了利用含砷矿物"点炼"铜液得到砷铜的技术。遗址所利用的铜可能来自于北江水铜矿,砷可能来自于鲁中山区,炉渣所属的时代应与遗址出土的商周青铜器年代相近。     

Portable XRF analysis of zoomorphic figurines, “tokens,” and sling bullets from Chogha Gavaneh,Iran

This study examines small finds from the site of Chogha Gavaneh, Iran, including zoomorphic clay figurines, geometric-shaped objects (often referred to as “tokens”), and sling bullets in order to investigate the possible social and economic functions of these artifacts. While Chogha Gavaneh has been occupied from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) (ca. 9000 B.C.E) period to the present, we focus on 87 small finds from the Early Chalcolithic period (ca. 5000–4000 B.C.E.). We explore how portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF) provides a new line of data with which to test the conventional wisdom about the uses of these small finds. Our findings suggest that local production is unlikely to account for the diversity in the elemental composition of the small finds. We argue that this supports claims that Neolithic and Chalcolithic people exchanged “tokens”. The presence of non-local zoomorphic figurines also raises interesting questions regarding their possible role in past societies.     

Accurate measurements with primitive instruments: the “paradox” in the qanat design

Qanats are up to 3000 years old artificial sub-horizontal underground water channels, 5–80 km long, widespread in Iran, but also common in western China, Arabia and the Mediterranean; they were excavated from the bottom of vertical shafts, starting from their exit and advancing upstream till main, productive wells, constructed at the very beginning of the project were met. Successful qanat excavation therefore required accurate geodetic design, though based on primitive instruments; an apparent “paradox”, obscured by the tremendous social and economic significance of qanats controlling lifestyle in arid regions.     

Ballistically anomalous stone projectile points in Australia

The emergence of stone-tipped projectile weaponry was an important event in hominin evolution. A common archaeological approach to identifying projectile weapons is to extrapolate from optimal values of ballistically-relevant attributes as determined from ethnographic North American weapons and modern experiments. Among the most significant of these attributes is “tip cross-sectional area” (TCSA) because it determines a point's efficiency in penetrating an animal. The warranting argument for projecting these data onto prehistoric artefacts is that past “research and development” necessarily led to stone projectiles with optimal TCSA values for a given delivery system. However, our test of this warranting argument, involving analysis of 132 hafted ethnographic Australian stone projectile points and 102 hafted knives, demonstrates that Aborigines did not optimize TCSA values, thus offering a challenge to TCSA-based narratives about the first appearance of projectile weaponry. This illustrates the difficulty of inferring ancient stoneworkers' design intentions from narrowly-defined optimal values. Instead, tool designs should be considered in the context of the reduction sequences that produced them and the dynamics of transmission of those reduction sequences across generations.     

Early Opacifiers In The Glaze Industry Of First Millennium bc Persia: Persepolis And Tepe Rabat

This study characterizes the opacifiers and colouring agents used in the glazed bricks of Persepolis (mid‐first millennium bc ) and the Mannean site of Tepe Rabat in north‐western Iran (eighth to seventh centuries bc ). Various analytical studies show that lead antimonate and brizziite (NaSbO₃) were used as the yellow and white opacifiers in the glazes of Persepolis and Tepe Rabat. Brizziite is shown to be incorporated in the white, green and turquoise glazes, and is also associated with lead antimonate and CaSb₂O₆ in some yellow and white opacifiers. The simultaneous formation of these opacifiers in one glaze might have been accidental. A possible connection between the Achaemenid glaze industry and the Mannean glaze production at Tepe Rabat is discussed.     

Vergemeinschaftung and Vergesellschaftung in Max Weber: A reconstruction of his linguistic usage

When Max Weber made use of the terms “Vergemeinschaftung” and “Vergesellschaftung” in the first chapter of “Economy and Society”, he was among other things alluding to Ferdinand Tönnies’ well-known usage of “Gemeinschaft” and “Gesellschaft”, as well as to related conceptions in the work of Georg Simmel. However, Weber's usage not only differed from the senses in which Tönnies and Simmel used these terms; he had himself altered his own usage since the early draft of this chapter, published in 1913 as “On some Categories of Interpretive Sociology”. The tangled resonances that result from this are carefully identified and separated, and in so doing light is shed upon the nature and status of Weber's intentions in writing his important chapter on “Basic Sociological Categories”.     

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.     

Biochemical Differentiation of Archaeological Equid Remains: Lessons from a First Attempt

Abstract

The difficulty of distinguishing different taxa of equids from one another on the basis of skeletal morphology has led to the search for alternative means by which archaeologically recovered bones may be separated according to species or hybrid. The recently evolved biomolecular technique of protein radioimmunoassay (RIA) offers much promise in this regard because it identifies specimens using constituent proteins that differ from species to species and that tend to blend in selectively bred crosses. The method works for ancient bones only when sufficient amounts of the appropriate proteins survive.

Bone samples were assayed from wild, hunted onagers recovered from Neolithic levels of Ali Kosh Tepe in lowland SW Iran and from possible hybrids recovered from Bronze Age Levels of Godin Tepe in highland western Iran. Although insufficient albumin remained with which to accomplish the intended goal of species identification, the pattern of collagen retention provided important information on the relationship between taphonomy and protein survival.

The authors encourage excavators to reserve parts of their archaeological fauna for RIA if the depositional context suggests favorable conditions for preservation of the ancient proteins.     

The production technology of Egyptian blue and green frits from second millennium BC Egypt and Mesopotamia

The microstructures and chemical compositions of some 55 Egyptian blue and green frit samples from New Kingdom Egypt and 15th century BC Mesopotamia are determined using analytical scanning electron microscopy, the main focus being on frit cakes, powder residues, and frit vessel and bead fragments from one of the “factory areas” at Amarna in Middle Egypt. Replicate Egyptian blue frits produced in the laboratory are similarly investigated. Comparison of the microstructures of the ancient and replicate samples suggest that frit cakes are the primary product, and that these were ground to produce the powder, and then moulded to shape and refired to produce the vessels and beads. Egyptian blue and green frits are shown to be distinct pigments, the pigment produced depending on the relative proportions of copper oxide and lime in the mixtures. The bulk and glass phase compositions are used to try to infer the different sources of the quartz, lime, copper and alkali flux used in the production of frits from Egypt and Mesopotamia. An estimate is made of the scale of production of Egyptian blue frit in New Kingdom Egypt.     

“Copper people” of the bronze age: The reconstruction of their health and social status

“After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth” Dan. 2: 39 The Metal Age opened up new prospects for mankind and led to the emergence of a new category of professionals – miners, founders, smiths. With relation to the Bronze Age, these may be called “copper people.” The article explores new methods that can be used to identify their skeletal remains in museum collections. Based on biological data, certain aspects of the lifestyle of a male (presumably a smith) buried in an Abashevo collective grave at Pepkino, the Republic of Mari-El, Volga Federal District, and of other individuals buried in the same grave are reconstructed. Morphological, paleopathological, radiographic, and computer tomography examination of skeletal remains, as well as the results of histological, atomic absorption, and isotopic analyses of bone tissue provide information concerning diet, physiological stress, beginning of professional specialization, and the effects of heavy physical stress on their health status.