THE ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION OF TIN IN SOME ANCIENT METALS AND THE RECYCLING PROBLEM IN METAL PROVENANCING

A recent suggestion that some ancient metallurgical processes might give rise to large changes (> 0.5%) in the isotopic composition of tin gave hope that it might be possible to identify ancient bronze samples which had undergone recycling and mixing processes. This paper describes a method for the analysis of the isotopic composition of tin by thermal ionization mass spectrometry and applies it to analyse a number of ancient bronzes and tin metal objects from the Bronze Age Mediterranean. No observable isotopic fractionation of tin was found above $0.1% in the ratio¹²² Sn/¹¹⁶. Consequently, either recycling of bronze in the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean was not so common as supposed, or the isotopic composition of tin is not fractionated by anthropogenic metallurgical processes to the extent predicted by the Bradford group.     

FROM PRECOCITY TO INVOLUTION: THE NEOLITHIC OF CORSICA IN ITS WEST MEDITERRANEAN AND FRENCH CONTEXTS

The cultural and economic development of neolithic Corsica falls into two periods. Until the early fourth millennium be the rate of innovation is rapid and the range of contacts extensive but thereafter involution sets in. This paradox cannot be explained in terms of static geographic factors. The author suggests a possible solution: the island acted as a transmitter of cultural and economic innovations which were in the long run better adapted to other regions of the Mediterranean. The postglacial paucity of terrestrial resources would have stimulated maritime activity and the selective adoption of the pastoral sector at the inception of the Neolithic but the typically late neolithic pattern of mixed-farming villages failed to become established: exploitation of the mature deciduous forest of the climatic optimum appears to have been more important.     

INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY FOR THE ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT METALS*

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a relatively new analytical technique, growing in popularity, that offers many advantages over previously available instrumentation for the measurement of both the elemental and isotopic composition of metallic antiquities. The application of this method of analysis to archaeological metalwork is discussed and the technique compared with other methods of analysis commonly used in archaeometallurgy. Particular attention is drawn to the potential pitfalls and difficulties associated with ICP-MS and the need for extremely careful sample preparation and instrument operation.     

THE DALAI AND THE WEST

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

The uses made of analyses of copper alloys from West Africa are critically discussed in relation to the techniques by which metal was produced in contemporary Europe and Islamic lands. The conclusions of this study are that it is likely to be very difficult to provenance the metal source, or date the artifact by composition except in the rare case of high zinc brasses. Some analyses of European copper alloys, manillas and further samples from Igbu-Ukwu are given.     

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.     

THE SED-FESTIVAL AND ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY

The problem of the periodic character of the sod-festival, as with other aspects of this mysterious ceremony, has long been discussed and is still the subject of debate. This ritual was intended to be celebrated by the king, normally after a reign of thirty years had elapsed -- the so-called ＂thirty-year principle,＂ --which is taken by general consent to be a significant feature of the sed-festival. Yet, there is disagreement as to how to use records relating to the sed-festival in chronological studies on account of the fact that a number of records of the sed-festival are dated prior to the thirtieth regnal year of the king. Due to our hunger and need for datable sources, none the less, historians cannot always resist the temptation to assess the length of a king＇s reign on the basis of the sed-festival records, sometimes even though only scant evidence is available.     

THE TRADE OF INDO-PACIFIC SHELLS INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN AND EUROPE

Summary. This paper is on shells which originate in the Indo-Pacific marine province (Red Sea or other waters to the south and east) and are found at sites in the Mediterranean Basin and Europe over 250 km. from their source. The catalogue of over 160 sites yielding these shells ranges in date from the Upper Paleolithic to recent times. Sixteen sites which supposedly produced Indo-Pacific shells are shown to be incorrect identifications.
Many of these exotic shells are seen to come from graves and sanctuary sites. Some shells are unmodified, others made into simple beads, and some finely worked by engraving and incising.     

DRAMATIC ELEMENTS IN POLYBIUS' GENERAL HISTORY: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON THE MODEL OF THE CONNECTIVITY OF THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN WORLD

The Histories composed by Polybius is the only extant historical work from the ancient world which directly criticizes the historical tradition "tragic history." Modern researchers generally agree that the reflections and criticism of Polybius on tragic history is one predominant feature of his "objective history." Nevertheless, in the structure of general history in The Histories, Polybius himself also uses certain dramatic elements, such as stage props, selection of historical materials, fictional asides and the tragic theme of tyche, to rationalize Romans' dramatic conquest of the whole Mediterranean within fifty-three years. Polybius' failure to exclude dramatic elements from The Histories reflects the limitation of the historiographic thoughts of Greek historians as well as the complex relationship between literature and history in the Hellenistic cultural context.At present, Global, Entangled and Transcultural History are commonly used key words in modern history, and also ancient history has partly taken over their ideas and concepts. With the present bibliographical survey of recent literature on the topic with regard to antiquity, the chances and challenges of conducting research under this perspective are examined.     

ANCIENT WORKSHOPS AND ANCIENT 'ART'

Summary.   There is a tension between the understanding of the term 'workshop' in art historical scholarship and the actual locations of production unearthed by archaeology. Yet countless ancient works of art bear traces of their own production, and many working sites have produced unfinished products. The differing approaches can be combined, to a greater extent than they have been, to attain a more comprehensive understanding of ancient art production. A first step is an exhaustive analysis of the interactions between the provenance, processing, inherent quality, logistics, presentation and preservation of any material used in art production. But the products themselves also have much to reveal about their conditions of production.     

THE COMPOSITION OF COPPER-BASED SMALL FINDS FROM A WEST PHOENICIAN SETTLEMENT SITE AND FROM NIMRUD COMPARED WITH THAT OF CONTEMPORARY MEDITERRANEAN SMALL FINDS

About 100 Phoenician copper alloy artefacts from Morro de Mezquitilla (Spain) have been analysed by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry and atomic unpublished analyses of contemporary material from Nimrud and with small finds of the same period from several Mediterranean areas. There are no published large-scale analyses of Phonenician metalwork and few analyses of the copper-based, very minor objects of the sort typically recovered from excavation and the comparisons show both similarities and differences in techniques and alloys of the various civilizations and classes of objects.     

OBSIDIAN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND THE NEAR EAST: A PROVENANCING SUCCESS STORY

Obsidian provenancing studies comprise one of the most productive and successful research programmes of archaeological science. Obsidian characterization has been successful because workable obsidian is homogeneous on a small scale, analysable by a large number of methods, and is restricted to a small number of mainly readily distinguishable geological sources. Analytical, dating, source, and trade studies within the western Mediterranean, central and eastern Europe, the Aegean, and Anatolia and the Near East during the last 30 years or so are reviewed. Research has shown that distributions are mainly separate in the four regions examined, and that obsidian was traded up to 900km in the prehistoric period. Publications on obsidian in the areas under review reached a peak of frequency in the later 1970s and 1980s, but have now decreased in number. This may reflect changing fashions in archaeometric studies, and a current lack of routine application of the provenancing methods developed.     

古代佛教旅游发展及其启示

本文研究了历史时期佛教旅游发展以及佛教寺院作为旅游吸引物功能转换过程。研究认为佛教旅游作为人类历史上重要的旅游活动形式之一,在不同发展时期,佛教旅游活动表现为不同的形式与内涵。佛教寺院在满足日常宗教活动同时,也采取"顺俗"措施,其作为佛教旅游核心旅游吸引物的各项功能也在不断完善。历史时期佛教旅游发展对现代宗教旅游开发有着重要启示:本质上现代佛教旅游是古代佛教旅游发展和延续;适应现代旅游业发展需求是佛教发展所必须面对的问题;调整佛教寺院旅游功能是促进佛教旅游健康发展的重要现实途径。