Tracing the Distribution of Late 16th and Early 17th Century European Copper Artefacts in Southern Québec and Ontario,Canada

To understand the nature of trade/exchange of ‘Basque’ copper kettles and their fragments among Indigenous communities from Québec to Ontario, Canada, we examined 948 copper samples from 75 archaeological sites. We found that 936 samples were sortable into 11 coarse chemical groups: seven biased towards Ontario, three favouring Québec and only one balanced between the two provinces. This pattern may represent kettles and pieces ‘mostly traded’ or ‘mostly kept’ by Indigenous groups within Québec. Chemical group distribution within individual provinces is complex. A tentative chronology of copper chemical groups provides additional insight into the complex trading/exchange patterns among the Indigenous groups of southern Ontario.     

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF COPPER ALLOY TRADE METAL FROM A POST-CONTACT HURON SITE IN ONTARIO,CANADA

Fifty-three copper-based metal fragments, recovered from the Robitaille site in southcentral Ontario, were analysed by neutron activation to establish their chemical make-up and to sort them by their trace elemental chemistries. Three different European copper samples, one brassy copper and 48 brass samples with five different chemistries were found. As few as eight trading actions may account for all of the recovered European metal fragments.     

The glass beads of Kampai Island,Sumatra

Pulau Kampai is the name of a small island on the east coast of Sumatra and also the name of a village on this island. Excavations conducted at Pulau Kampai in the mid-1970s yielded glass beads likely manufactured in India. More glass beads dating from the 11th to the 14th c. AD were found during excavations undertaken more recently. Those beads were analyzed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Results show that the vast majority of the beads were likely imported from South Asia. Trace element signatures point toward two production areas: western India for most of the beads and northeastern India for a few high copper orange and red beads. A small number of beads have a very different composition resulting from the use of soda plant ash and a low alumina silica source indicating a possible Middle-Eastern provenance. A comparison with data published elsewhere indicates a similarity with material found in Egypt, dating from the 13th to the 15th c. AD suggesting that those beads might have reached the island during the later phases of the occupation period and might have transited through Egypt. It is uncertain where those beads were manufactured within the Middle-East. A comparison is provided with the glass beads from the site of Kampung Sungai Mas (9th to the 11th c. AD) located in Malaysia, one of the only “late” sites in the area that was studied recently using LA-ICP-MS.     

Food and social complexity at Çayönü Tepesi,southeastern Anatolia: Stable isotope evidence of differentiation in diet according to burial practice and sex in the early Neolithic

The identification of early social complexity and differentiation in early village societies has been approached in the past most notably through the evaluation of rituals and architectural layouts. Such studies could be complemented by an approach that provides data about everyday behaviours of individuals. We took 540 human and animal bone samples for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis from the Neolithic site of Çayönü Tepesi in southeastern Anatolia. The inhabitants at this site chose to bury their dead in two different ways at different times during its occupation: beneath the floors of their houses, but also inside a public mortuary building known as the Skull Building. This variation provides an opportunity using isotope methods to test whether there was evidence for structuring of daily activities (diet in this case) that might serve to reinforce this change in burial practice. We show that when the inhabitants of Çayönü Tepesi changed their architecture and operated different burial practices in conjunction, this coincided with other aspects of behaviour including socially-constituted food consumption practices, which served to reinforce social identities.     

The key role of zinc,tin and lead in copper-base objects from medieval Talgar in Kazakhstan

Metallurgical examination of brass and bronze objects from the medieval (AD 9th–13th century) site at Talgar in Kazakhstan shows that they were mostly cast from the quaternary copper–zinc–tin–lead system with some exceptions that were forged from binary copper–zinc alloys. Evidence is found that brass was produced in the cementation process and that the addition of tin and lead to the parent brass was considered beneficial in casting but was strictly avoided in forging. The mutual effect of zinc, tin and lead for better casting and the advantages of the binary copper–zinc alloys in forging seem to have been the major factors driving the establishment of this unique brass tradition in a society with probably limited access to tin.     

THE COLOURED TESSERAE DECORATING THE VAULTS OF THE FARAGOLA BALNEUM (ASCOLI SATRIANO,FOGGIA, SOUTHERN ITALY)

Twenty‐six tesserae (red, orange, yellow, light amber, green, blue and white) from the balneum of the villa at Faragola (Ascoli Satriano, Foggia) have been examined by colorimetry, ICP–MS, ICP–OES and SEM–EDS. Different types of calcareous sands have been used as the source of silica (network former), also providing the stabilizing agent. A natron‐type soda source served as the network modifier; however, the use of a sodium‐rich plant ash and the recycling process have been hypothesized for the production of two tesserae (FT 1 red and FT 3 orange). The colouring and opacifying agents were Cu oxide (cuprite, orange), metallic copper (red), Pb antimonates (yellow), Ca antimonates (white), a mixture of copper (Cu²⁺) and Pb antimonates (green), a mixture of cobalt (Co²⁺) or copper (Cu²⁺) and Ca antimonates (blue). The light amber tesserae should owe their colour to iron (Fe³⁺) alone or associated with sulphide (S^2?) and Ca antimonates. It is likely that the Faragola tesserae were locally produced in a secondary glass workshop.     

Iron Working in the Vicinity of Weybridge,Surrey

Abstract

The presence of eighteenth-century iron working mills and the coincidental local, but limited, source of iron in the Weybridge area of Surrey, has led a number of authors to suggest that these mills smelted locally extracted iron ore. The present author has described elsewhere the occurrence of the ore and indicated that extraction was in pre-mediaeval times, probably during the Iron Age. In further support of this theory, the original records of Iron Age archaeological sites in the area are shown to reveal positive evidence of iron working. The history of the iron mills throughout their restricted period of iron working is also described, and at each site a close association between the fabrication of iron, and brass and copper products, where the metal is of undoubted extraneous origin, is evident.     

From believers to compatriots: the case of Vojvodovo,a ‘Czech’ village in Bulgaria1

ABSTRACT. The subject matter of this study emerged from a hypothesis that the members of emigrant groups who left the Czech lands before the period of “national revival” did not have shared Czech national identity, which was created only after their departure and was transmitted to these groups within the scope of the ‘protection programme for compatriots’ implemented by the Czechoslovak Republic in the inter‐war period. The core of the article is an analysis of the “nationalising” process of the community of Vojvodovo, a village in north‐west Bulgaria founded by emigrants from the Czech lands. The main emphasis is on comparing the views of proponents of the protection programme for compatriots – who considered Vojvodovo to be a “Czech” village defined in the first place by the “Czechness” of its inhabitants – and those of the Vojvodovan, who defined themselves primarily in terms of their religion, while lacking (Czech) national consciousness.     

Investigation on the Yinjiawopu Site,a Medieval Salt Production Workshop in Northeast China

In 2014 and 2015, the Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology at Jilin University and the Jilin Province Archaeological Research Institute jointly conducted two excavations at the Yinjiawopu Site, in Da’an City, Jilin Province, Northeast China. One burial, two canals, five leaching pits, two house-foundations, four hearths, 103 pits, two ditches, and over 800 pieces of artifacts dated from the 12th to the 13th centuries a.d. (the Liao-Jin period) were found. Analysis shows that these features belong to a salt production workshop. This study marks the first discovery of a salt production site in Northeast China. The archaeological, ethnographic, and historical materials from the site allow a reconstruction of the chaîne opératoire of salt-making by the inhabitants of the Northeast China Plain during this period. This study sheds light on the exchange and control of salt, on the activities and daily life of the inhabitants of the region, and on their relationship with the environment.     

Editorial

Abstract

The history and cult of the tomb of Habakkuk are discussed from the earliest references to the sacred site in Jewish sources of the 13th century to the present. The tomb is located near the biblical and Mishnaic-Talmudic village of Hukkok and the Arab village of Yaquq. After a survey of the site's early history, the sources that mention the venerated tomb are analyzed in detail. Since the 13th century, the place has been part of an itinerary of sacred sites visited by Jewish pilgrims, who performed prescribed rites at set times of the year, or paid homage as individuals. Side by side with these pilgrims was the local Muslim community, which participated both in the cult and in the upkeep of the sacred place — a participation that is not mentioned in the sources and may be deduced only from very late sources. In 1948, the village of Yaquq was abandoned, and the outcome of its abandonment and the history of the sacred site from the founding of the State of Israel to the present day are discussed in detail.     

A local response to a wider situation: the archaeology of the clan stronghold of Dùn Èistean,Isle of Lewis

Abstract

Dùn Èistean stands at the end of a long tradition of clan strongholds seen in the MacLeod lordship of the western seaboard of north-west Scotland in the medieval and early post-medieval periods. Excavations on the site have shown that it was in repeated use for refuge in times of trouble in the 16th and early 17th centuries, acting as a power centre caught up in the wider political scene. The inhabitants of Dùn Èistean were a people with a strong local identity, using their traditional building techniques, adapting to available raw materials and drawing on the resources of the surrounding environment to support and defend the inhabitants in the face of incoming attack.     

ELECTRON BACKSCATTER DIFFRACTION (EBSD): A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF PIGMENTS AND RAW MATERIALS IN HISTORIC GLASSES AND CERAMICS

Coloured samples of glass and ceramic were selected for EBSD investigation to verify the potential (advantages and limitations) of this technique in the characterization of the raw materials used and the neoformation phases originating from the manufacturing processes. In the case of copper‐bearing red glasses, it was verified that micrometric droplets, residuals of the original copper source, can be ascribed to metallic copper or to a low‐Sn bronze, due to strongly similar lattice parameters. From the same samples, micrometric flakes were identified by EBSD as magnetite and interpreted as residues of the reducing agent used in the production of such red glasses. Further, the technique allowed the pigment responsible for the yellow colouring of some incised slipware to be recognized as bindheimite. In a third case, the black pigment, contained in some Nestorian decorated pottery, was identified as an amorphous phase of Mn oxide. The accurate identification of the colouring particles and other products or materials offered a more precise comprehension of the production technique, period and site of the examined artefacts, together with scientific parameters for the identification of the raw materials, their transformation during the production cycle and an evaluation of the most reliable recipes used for their preparation.     

THE SECTILIA PANELS OF FARAGOLA (ASCOLI SATRIANO,SOUTHERN ITALY): A MULTI‐ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE RED,ORANGE AND YELLOW GLASS SLABS*

SEM–EDS, EMPA, ICP–MS and ICP–OES were applied to the study of three sectilia panels made of red, orange and yellow glass slabs. In order to determine the chemical state of Cu, XAS was also performed. The results indicate that, with the exception of the red samples, all slabs were made by mixing a siliceous sand with natron. The red slabs show significant compositional differences with respect to K₂O and MgO contents, probably linked to the use of plant ashes as a source of alkali. The red, orange and yellow slabs are coloured by metallic copper, cuprite and Pb antimonates, respectively. The comparison between the chemical composition of the Faragola samples and several glass reference groups did not provide conclusive evidence of provenance.     

Cemented ash as a receptacle or work surface for ochre powder production at Sibudu,South Africa, 58,000 years ago

The white ash of Sibudu hearths sometimes became cemented and, when this was the case, some of these crusts were used as work surfaces or receptacles, particularly in occupations dating about 58,000 years ago. Substantial deposits of red and yellow ochre powder have been found on these crusts. This suggests that the ochre was not associated with hearths for heat treatment because yellow ochre readily transforms to red even at low temperatures. XRF readings suggest that the ochre used at the site derives from different geological sources. Micromorphological studies imply that phosphatization caused the cementation of the ashes in some hearths, while gypsum growth hardened one of the hearths described here.     

故宫宁寿宫装饰彩瓷嵌片釉彩料的分析研究

故宫宁寿宫花园延趣楼、萃赏楼内檐装修釉上彩瓷装饰嵌片,是研究乾隆时期釉上彩瓷的珍贵标本。本研究采用X射线荧光能谱仪、显微激光拉曼光谱仪和实体显微镜,对乾隆时期釉上彩瓷样品进行无损分析。结果表明,蓝色、胭脂红色釉彩的基底釉为铅钾玻璃,白色、黄色、黄绿色、绿色釉彩的基底釉为铅玻璃。白彩的乳浊剂和着色剂为砷酸铅;蓝彩的乳浊剂为砷酸铅,着色元素为Co;黄彩为铅锡黄Ⅱ型乳浊及着色;黄绿彩为铅锡黄Ⅱ型和Cu共同作用;胭脂红彩为Au着色;绿彩为Cu着色;黑彩需覆盖透明绿彩于珠明料上才能完全发色;橘红彩为赤铁矿着色和乳浊;棕彩则为赤铁矿和Mn、Co共同着色。本研究成果可为乾隆时期釉上彩瓷的原料与工艺研究提供基础数据。     

Rock art on Socotra,Yemen: the discovery of a petroglyph site on the island's south coast.

Recent fieldwork on the south coast of the island of Socotra, Yemen, has revealed a hitherto unknown petroglyph site. This site represents the first rock art to have been recorded on the south coast, an area generally regarded as being unpopulated up until the recent past. The corpus of recorded petroglyphs includes feet, cupules, anthropomorphic figures and geometric motifs, whose designs parallel those from known rock‐art sites on the north coast. The importance of this site is that it provides us with the first glimpse into the religious and socio‐political lives of the inhabitants of the previously unknown southern half of Socotra. Placing these petroglyphs within the broader context of rock‐art studies on the island of Socotra has also allowed us to begin to disentangle the skewed view of Socotra's inhabitants.     

A Needle Assemblage from a Roman Shipwreck off the Israeli Coast

Underwater excavation of a shipwreck‐site off Hof Carmel, south of Haifa, Israel, yielded numerous artefacts associated with a ship and cargo dated to the 3rd century AD. Among them were eight sewing needles: six of bronze, one of copper and one of brass. This article describes the needles including their chemical composition, discusses comparable finds from nautical and domestic contexts, and their possible uses and roles aboard a Roman ship.     

Metallurgical Characterization of A Coated Roman Iron Coin By Analytical Investigations

A coated Roman iron coin from Villa Loig in Salzburg, Austria was investigated. The coating is a copper alloy consisting of Cu, Pb, Sn, Zn and negligible amounts of Ag, a variant of gunmetal known as ‘leaded red brass’. The numismatic term for such a coin is subferratus (Latin). From an archaeometallurgical point of view, information about the chemical composition, the microstructure and the manufacturing technique are of interest. To achieve these objectives, different analytical techniques and metallographic examinations were applied. Droplet‐shaped iron inclusions were observed in the red brass coating, while at the grain boundaries, inside the iron core, copper and lead were detected (liquid metal embrittlement). The dendritic microstructure of the coating, the spheroidal‐shaped iron inclusions in the coating and the liquid metal embrittlement show that the iron coin was plated by immersing it in a molten copper alloy. The iron core is a low‐carbon steel with slag stringers, both of which are characteristic of a bloomery iron. Deformation twins (Neumann lines) were observed in the microstructure of the iron core and indicate that the coining was performed after the flan was cooled.     

Late medieval copper alloying practices: a view from a Parisian workshop of the 14th century AD

161 late medieval copper-based day-to-day items have been analysed, mostly consisting of small artefacts such as dress fittings. The items were all recently excavated from a 14th century AD metallurgical workshop located in Paris. Eight well-defined copper alloys have been identified that refer to various constraints, the most important one being economics. According to the model proposed, most of the alloys were obtained by dilution of a fresh brass master alloy by scrap metal containing small amounts of zinc, tin and lead. Pure lead was added separately in relatively large quantities, with a limit of 6 wt% Pb marking the boundary between leaded and unleaded alloys. It has been found that the less the cost of the artefact, the more the fresh brass is diluted. For the medium-size castings such as cast vessels, alloys containing large quantities of lead or alloys rich in antimony were used. Such complex alloying strategy pertains more to a small industrial-like plant organisation rather than to craftsman activity, as further supported by a variety of archaeological and historical evidence.     

Everyday political practices,democracy and the environment in a native village in Mexico City

In recent years there has been a debate about the extent to which democratization implies protection of the environment. This article offers an exemplary case of this debate, exploring the theoretical links between democracy and environmental protection advanced by Walker (1999): accountability, development and participation. The site of the study is a Mexican native village, one of many incorporated into the metropolis, Mexico City. The city is faced with the challenge to supply an expanding population of some 20 million with housing, clean water and oxygen. The forest in the common property belonging to the original inhabitants is formally protected with logging bans and a rigorous Land Use Plan, yet illegal sales of this communal land to new settlers result in irregular settlements which now contain one quarter of the village’s inhabitants. In 1997 local elections were reinstated in Mexico City, after a suspension of nearly 70 years. Although the governing party in the city promoted the protective Land Use Plan, the party’s local politicians promised to regularize the zone in exchange for votes from the irregular settlers. These dynamics are explored in the context of everyday political practices in the village. The struggles over material and symbolic resources are analyzed in terms of force fields with multiple actors, making visible the ways in which democratic elections alone cannot prevent the ongoing deforestation caused by irregular settlements.