MEDIEVAL COPPER ALLOY PRODUCTION AND WEST AFRICAN BRONZE ANALYSES - PART II

The first part of this work (Craddock 1985) critically examined the uses to which analyses of West African metalwork have been put and suggested other possible significance against the background of increased knowledge of the smelting technology and alloys used in Europe and the Middle East during the last 1500 years. The second part is devoted to the composition and metalworking techniques of some of the bronzes and brasses from Nigeria and the implications for their art history.     

WEST AFRICAN METALS AND THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN

Summary. Contact between the Mediterranean in Roman or earlier times and the Sahara and lands beyond has commonly been examined from the northern angle with rather negative results (as for instance in Mortimer Wheeler's Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontiers, 1954). Although West African archaeology is still at an infant stage, it is now becoming possible to examine the issue from a southern, inner African, angle. (The multi-volume Cambridge History of Africa, 1975-, and the less consistent UNESCO General History of Africa, 1981-, document some of the progress made in reconstructing the African side of the story.) And, while substantial trans-Saharan communications did not develop till late in the first millennium A. D. with camel-caravans, stimulated especially by the gold of Far-West Africa, evidence is emerging of earlier exploitation of other metals, perhaps connected with horse (and cart?) transport. At two localities on the southern Saharan edge there was copper mining and smelting around the mid-first millennium B.C., with likely trade of the product to the Mediterranean. The case for Nigerian tin at the same period—raised by Taylor in the previous volume of this Journal (1, 317–24)—is less clear, but would make sense in this context. That the same period saw the spread of iron technology in these sub-Saharan regions is doubtless more than coincidence.     

SERIPHOS SURFACES: A STUDY OF COPPER SLAG HEAPS AND COPPER SOURCES IN THE CONTEXT OF EARLY BRONZE AGE AEGEAN METAL PRODUCTION

Kephala and Phournoi, on the island of Seriphos, add to a growing number of EBA metal production sites identified in the south‐central Aegean. Analytical examination of samples from the two sites addressed the technological parameters of the copper smelting process, indicating the use of mixed oxidic and sulphidic copper–iron ores to produce unalloyed copper with minute copper sulphide inclusions. A preliminary geological reconnaissance of the island identified several small copper mineralizations, one of them close to the site of Kephala. Nevertheless, the ore sources used remain unclear. Comparisons are made with other contemporaneous neighbouring smelting sites.     

ION BEAM ANALYSIS OF COPPER AND COPPER ALLOY COINS

In recent years ion beam techniques have become more and more important since in most cases the analysis of copper and copper alloy coins has to be non-destructive. It is therefore of interest to study the relative advantages of several nuclear methods for a certain type of metal. The results are presented here of a comparison between three non-destructive ion beam techniques: particle induced X-ray emission, proton activation analysis and fast neutron activation analysis.     

COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS IN ANCIENT TURKEY: SOME NEW ANALYSES

This note presents some new analyses for 13 early copper and bronze artefacts from Turkey in the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. They were not included in a small programme of early copper and bronze objects from Iraq, Syria and Palestine (Moorey and Schweizer 1972, Archaeometry 14 (2), 177–198) and conclude this pilot-project.     

COMPLEX SOCIETIES IN COPPER AND BRONZE AGE IBERIA: A REAPPRAISAL

This paper starts from the conviction that it is not only important to study long-term processes of change in a particular area, but to analyse the extent to which other areas have been implicated and affected by the processes occurring in it. The study of the emergence, maintenance and even disappearance of social complexity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Copper and Bronze Age has lacked such an approach. As a result, on the one hand it seemed that South-east Spain and Portuguese Estremadura, the two areas where it was argued complexity first appeared, were isolated from each other and from the rest of the Peninsula during the Chalcolithic, and on the other, changes in the geographical distribution of complex societies in the Bronze Age had not been explained. This article reassesses these arguments and aims to show that it was not only intrinsical factors which provoked the social changes which took place in the various areas during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. Extrinsic factors were on occasion as if not more important. In addition, new data published in recent years has been used to give a broader picture of the expansion of complex societies in the Iberian Peninsula.     

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN THE USSR, 1970-1988: PART I (PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY)

The first of two articles devoted to spatial and temporal trends in economic development and levels of living within the USSR focuses on changes in the pattern of absolute and per capita economic output—national income produced and gross value of industrial output (at the republic and economic regional level, respectively). It then investigates the question of whether divergence or convergence has occurred among republics and economic regions in terms of these indicators. Finally, it assesses patterns of change in labor and capital productivity across Soviet republics.     

COPPER AND COPPER ALLOYS IN ANCIENT IRAQ,SYRIA AND PALESTINE: SOME NEW ANALYSES

In a pilot-programme to increase evidence for the history of copper-alloying in ancient Iraq, Syria and Palestine 128 objects in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, were tested with a point-source linear X-ray spectrometer for tin, arsenic and antimony. These analyses showed the gradual introduction of tin-copper alloys into Iraq after ca. 2750 b.c. (Early Dynastic IIIA), into Syria a little later and into Palestine by the end of the third millennium b.c. , though numerous artefacts continue to be of copper or arsenical-copper until well into the second millennium b.c. at least. With the appearance of tin-copper alloys the percentage of arsenic in the copper objects noticeably declines indicating that the earlier arsenical-coppers were deliberately produced under controlled conditions.     

CHEMICAL AND LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSES OF GREEK LATE NEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE METALS

Results of a combined archaeological and analytical project of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age copper, bronze and lead artefacts from four distinct areas of mainland Greece are presented. The aim of the study is to understand better the stages of technological development of each region, their possible ore sources and also to assess any external contribution to or internal evolution of their metallurgy. Interesting results which could challenge the established view of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age metallurgy in the Greek mainland are presented.     

COPPER AND BRONZE DURING THE ENEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE: A METALLOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION OF AXES FROM THE NORTHALPINE REGION*

This paper presents the results of a metallographic examination of Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age axes from the Northalpine region of central Europe. During this period, different types of copper were in use: arsenical copper, Fahlerz copper and tin bronze. We examine if and to what extent the different properties of the metals used were known to prehistoric metalworkers and actively manipulated in the production of the axes. The development of methods of casting and smithing is discussed. Both aspects contribute to our understanding of the nature of prehistoric technological change. During the Early Bronze Age of the Northalpine region, different traditions of early metallurgy can be identified, which differ in their use of Fahlerz copper, their attitude towards tin alloying and the use made of tin bronze in the production of the axes. These traditions can only be adequately described by reference to both composition—that is, access to different types of copper as well as tin—and knowledge of the production techniques provided by metallographic data.     

THE SYMBOLIC AND SOCIAL MEANINGS OF THE INTERMEDIATE BRONZE AGE COPPER DAGGERS

Abstract

The transformation of hard, durable natural substances, such as stone or metal, into cultural objects with symbolic value has played an important role in human social development. This paper attempts to understand the symbolic and social meanings of copper daggers during the Intermediate Bronze Age, and the reasons for their widespread use within a burial context. A multidisciplinary approach is taken, combining and processing different areas of research, and employing a range of archaeological and ethnographic parallels. This paper allows also for a more comprehensive understanding of the social organisation during the Intermediate Bronze Age.     

PRODUCTION,EXCHANGE, AND SOCIO-POLITICAL COMPLEXITY ON BRONZE AGE CYPRUS1

Summary. During the centuries 1700–1400 BC, the archaeological record of the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus shows a number of significant innovations: urban centres with public and ceremonial architecture, differential burial practices, writing, an intensification of metallurgical production and export, extensive trade relations with the surrounding cultures of the eastern Mediterranean, fortifications, ‘mass’burials, and increased finds of weaponry. Documentary evidence from Egypt, the Levant, and the Aegean sheds further light on these developments. These changes represent the transformation of an isolated, village-based culture into an international, urban-oriented, complex society. One of the key questions to consider is why these developments in Cyprus lagged so far (400-1200 years) behind those of the island's neighbours: Egypt, Crete, Syria-Palestine, and Anatolia. Using concepts from development economics and political anthropology, and models developed by archaeologists working on similar problems elsewhere, this study attempts to explain the process of change and innovation apparent in the Cypriot archaeological record of 1700–1400 BC.     

POST‐MEDIEVAL CRUCIBLE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION: A STUDY OF MATERIALS AND MATERIALITIES*

This paper is concerned with the manufacture and trade of post‐medieval crucibles (14th–19th centuries). The analytical study of crucibles from different contexts in Europe and America employed optical microscopy and SEM–EDS, coupled with archaeological and historical data. We identified two major producers of crucibles, both of them in Central Europe, whose products appear widely distributed internationally. The analytical data allow an explanation of the technical reasons behind their superior reputation, as both crucible types shared comparable material properties, such as thermal, chemical and mechanical stability. Conversely, the two crucible types were radically different in their manufacture and appearance. We argue that, besides technical considerations, sensorial aspects such as texture and colour may have played an important role in the perception and choice of materials.     

BEYOND COPPER: COMMODITIES AND VALUES IN MIDDLE BRONZE CYPRO‐LEVANTINE EXCHANGES

During the transition from the Middle to Late Bronze Age, Cyprus became a full participant in the Levantine maritime interaction sphere. This is reflected in the archaeological record by a dramatic increase in the Cypriot pottery found in the surrounding region, widely assumed to be the by‐product of an (archaeologically invisible) external demand for Cypriot copper. On the receiving end of this relationship, small numbers of imported ‘luxury’ goods appear on Cyprus. This paper discusses one aspect of exchange that has received little attention in the literature, the presence and significance of quantities of imported transport amphorae (Canaanite jars). These vessels have only rarely been recognized from excavations on Cyprus but recent examination of material from several sites reveals that they are more common than previously assumed. The Canaanite jar evidence may go some way towards redressing the apparent imbalance in goods exchanged and also to illuminate the processes through which Cypriot populations first engaged with the materiality of urban ways of ordering the world.     

ROMAN AND MEDIEVAL GLASS FROM THE ITALIAN AREA: BULK CHARACTERIZATION AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES*

Compositional investigations were performed on 81 Roman and medieval glass fragments (first to 14th centuries ad ) from four Italian archaeological sites. The samples were soda–lime–silica in composition, with natron as flux for the Roman and early medieval glass samples, and with plant ash as flux for the late medieval ones. The varying colours are due to the differing FeO, Fe ₂ O ₃ , MnO and Sb ₂ O ₃ contents. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified six compositional groups related to age, which were compared with those found in the literature. In this way, technological continuity from the Roman to the early medieval period and the appearance of plant ash technology in the ninth century, 200 years in advance of the period previously believed, are demonstrated.     

CHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE ORGANIZATION OF LATE BRONZE AGE NUZI WARE PRODUCTION

In order to investigate the nature and organization of high‐status ceramic production in the Late Bronze Age, samples of Nuzi Ware from four different sites were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM–EDS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP–AES). Chemical and mineralogical evidence suggests that Nuzi Ware was produced in at least two distinct regions, one probably in the Adhaim Basin in northern Iraq and another possibly in the Orontes catchment in southeastern Turkey. The existence of individual production units probably developed in response to the local elites' desire to imitate the tastes of the Mitanni aristocracy, resulting in a mapping of political relationships on to material culture.     

LATE BRONZE AND IRON AGE LAKE SETTLEMENT IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 'CRANNOG' IN THE NORTH AND WEST

Summary.   This paper considers the evidence for the origins and development of the lake settlement tradition of Scotland and Ireland in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Considering a crannog 'event horizon' around the mid-first millennium BC, dating and structural evidence are compared and contrasted, and the evidence for non-domestic activity including ritual and votive deposition is contextualized. It is argued that the concurrent appearance of crannogs with the flourish of domestic monumentality in Scotland and Ireland can be seen as a consequence of the fusion of ritual and domestic spheres of life in the later first millennium BC, integrating the themes of architectural monumentality and the Iron Age reverence of water.