Gabbroic clay sources in Cornwall: a petrographic study of prehistoric pottery and clay samples

Summary.  This analysis of prehistoric pottery and clay samples from Cornwall demonstrates that the clay used to make Cornish gabbroic pottery in prehistory originated around the gabbro rock outcrop in a small area of the Lizard peninsula. The research uses petrographic and chemical analysis to subdivide the prehistoric pottery into six groups. Owing to the unusual geology of the Lizard these groups can be attributed to specific locations. The most abundant pottery fabric, Typical Gabbroic , was made using coarse clay which is mainly found in a 1 km² area near Zoar. A finer version of this clay, found higher in the soil profile or slightly transported and redeposited, was used to make Fine Gabbroic pottery and an even finer variant called FNS (Fine Non-Sandy) Gabbroic . We identify for the first time here a Loessic/Gabbroic pottery fabric which can be matched exactly to clay found at Lowland Point. Serpentinitic/Gabbroic pottery was made using clay from the gabbro/serpentinite border zone. Pottery made from the Granitic/Gabbroic fabric did not match any clay from the Lizard, showing that gabbroic clay was sometimes removed and made into pottery elsewhere in Cornwall. The main clay source near Zoar was used for clay extraction throughout the Bronze Age and Iron Age for pottery which was traded all over Cornwall. Other gabbroic clay sources produced pottery only during certain periods and exclusively supplied particular settlements, such as the Loessic/Gabbroic fabric which was found only at Gear and Caer Vallack. The results suggest that pottery was produced by several small-scale cottage industries, which may have operated on a seasonal, part-time basis and probably formed only part of a wide range of activities located around the Lizard area.     

CHARACTERIZATION AND THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING OF PREHISTORIC POTTERY SHERDS FROM MILENA

This paper reports the results obtained applying absolute dating methodologies and mineralogical, petrographical and micropalaeontological characterization techniques to prehistoric pottery sherds varying in age from the Sicilian Middle Neolithic to Bronze Age. All samples came from the archaeological area of Milena (Caltanissetta, Sicily); those of the Bronze Age were found on a site with a precise stratigraphic succession. The investigation has contributed to the determination of an absolute chronology for the Milena prehistoric period. The data provide, for the first time in Sicily, absolute dates covering a wide spectrum of cultures following one another in the same area and, for the Bronze Age site, correlated to the precise stratigraphic succession. The petrographical and mineralogical analyses allowed not only the identification of the principal constituents of the pottery, but also the formulation of some hypotheses regarding the specific manufacturing techniques of different epochs. The microfacies, obtained from the presence of fossils in the groundmass of the pottery, were also analysed and compared with the microfauna present in the Miocene clays outcropping in the area. The data identified local Messinian clay as the raw material probably used in the manufacture of the pottery and also support the presence, already assumed by archaeologists, of imported Mycenaean pottery, thus supporting the dates obtained on pottery taken from the same stratum.     

Evidence of Iberian Bronze Age ‘Boquique’ Pottery in the Balearic Islands: Trade,Marriage or Culture?

Summary.   This paper deals with the recent discovery of Iberian 'Boquique' Bronze Age pottery on the Balearic Island of Mallorca. It marks the 'maritime' spread of this distinctive pottery into a geographic area not previously recorded. It should therefore be of particular interest to mainland investigators and others concerned with its geographical distribution as well as those dealing with long-distance trade and possible kinship links during the period. The find is further supported by the 'micaceous' and 'quartz' composition of the pottery clay fabric, since mica is not known on the island as a component of local clays. The presence of Boquique pottery with 'micaceous' clay properties is demonstrated by microphotographic slab and thin sections as well as chemical clay analysis. This suggests that the pottery was imported, either as a trade item or as personal possessions.
Along with recent evidence of earlier trade in exotic 'elephant' ivory and other items during Bell Beaker times, where the Boquique pottery appears to be a late intrusive element into local Beaker contexts ( Waldren 1998 ), this new evidence represents the first material sign of cultural maritime interaction (Boquique in the present case), either as demographic extension or commercial exchange of these cultural items into the area.
Furthermore, contextual radiocarbon dating surveys strongly indicate a date of 1700–1400 BC for the pottery, in accord both with recent Iberian mainland dates as well as the local archaeological sequence in which it was found.     

The Achaian Vapheio Cup and Its Afterlife in Archaic South Italy

Summary.   This article publishes an Archaic Greek cup of individual form from the extramural sanctuary of the Achaian colony of Sybaris at Francavilla Marittima in south Italy. The Francavilla cup, which is Achaian or Achaian-style, is fully discussed and similar Archaic cups from the site of Incoronata, near the Achaian apoikia of Metapontion, are assembled. These vessels find no immediate parallel among contemporary Greek or indigenous pottery of the seventh and earlier sixth centuries BC, but bear a remarkable similarity to the characteristic cylindrical, so-called Vapheio cups of the Aegean Bronze Age which are known in metal, clay and stone versions from as early as the Early Minoan III period through the Late Helladic era. It is argued that these cups represent the Archaic creation or re-creation of a well-known Bronze Age shape in the Achaian apoikiai of south Italy.     

Variability of Ceramic Production and Consumption on the Greek Mainland During the Middle Stages of the Late Bronze Age: The Waterpots from the Menelaion,Sparta

The article examines pottery groups manufactured in non‐Mycenaean traditions from the site of the Menelaion in Laconia (southern Peloponnese, Greece) during the middle stages of the Late Bronze Age. Pottery traditions are first defined using macroscopic study of surface and break features. Two distinct handmade traditions, and another one employing the wheel but with some links to traditional handmade pottery manufactured on the island of Aegina, were recognized and subjected to petrographic analysis. Its results confirmed that potters’ choices regarding clay preparation were different in the case of each identified tradition, being most distinct for the largest group of handmade undecorated water jars. The study highlights survival of pottery traditions with roots in the Middle Helladic period well into the Late Bronze Age, a fact that has not received appropriate attention in the scholarly discourse. It captures the very last stage of their existence, as just a few decades later the production and consumption are entirely dominated by Mycenaean pottery.     

Original DocumentsCharter of Cuthwulf,Bishop of Hereford

The investigation of a Late Bronze Age occupation layer on the banks of the Thames below Wallingford, on a number of occasions since 1949, has yielded an assemblage of Late Bronze Age pottery, flints, small finds including metalwork, and animal bones. The environment of the site, and the sequence of alluviation, have been elucidated by molluscan analysis.

The precise character of the settlement is unknown, but it can be compared with other British later Bronze Age settlements in respect of both its riverside location and the presence of a ‘midden’ deposit. The site bears directly on the question of riverine finds of Bronze Age metalwork; it is concluded that settlement erosion does not account for much of this material. The site is one of the few Late Bronze Age settlements to have been indentified in the Upper Thames Valley, and represents an early phase in the Iron Age settlement sequence of this area.     

LEAD ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF LATE BRONZE AGE POTTERY FROM HALA SULTAN TEKKE (CYPRUS)

Lead isotopic compositions were measured for 65 sherds from five pottery wares (Plain White, Coarse, Canaanite, White Slip and Base‐ring) excavated from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke (Cyprus). The elemental composition and isotopic signature of the sherds were compared with those of 65 clay samples collected in south‐east Cyprus, mainly in the surroundings (<20 km) of Hala Sultan Tekke. This work shows the effectiveness of using lead isotopic analysis in provenance studies, along with other analytical techniques, such as X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X‐ray detection (EDX) facility, to identify the composition of pottery wares and the clay sources used for pottery ware production.     

Pottery production and distribution in prehistoric Bronze Age Cyprus. An application of pXRF analysis

Portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analysis of over 400 samples of Early and Middle Bronze Age Cypriot pottery from four widely separated sites identifies both local and non-local products at each. A series of analyses of sub-sets of the data highlights differences in the clays used at each site and for some distinctive types and wares. When assessed in the context of general typological, technological and stylistic factors these variations provide the basis for considering patterns of local production and inter-regional relationships across the island. Although the great majority of pots were locally made, particular wares and shapes were brought in from elsewhere. For some sites finer, more highly decorated vessels are mostly imports, but at others both simpler and more complex vessels were made of the same local clays. While small juglets or flasks may have been containers for transporting small quantities of rare substances, larger vessels are likely to have held less precious material. Open vessels, especially small bowls – some of which are plain, utilitarian items – represent another aspect of social behaviour and inter-regional relationships.     

POST-MIDDENISM: DEPOSITIONAL HISTORIES ON LATER BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENTS AT BROOM, BEDFORDSHIRE

Summary.   This paper considers recent discussions of 'deliberate', 'formal', 'placed', 'special', 'structured', or 'token' deposits on later prehistoric settlements in Britain. It argues that while these concepts have certainly been very important in raising and forefronting the interpretative possibilities that depositional practices might offer, the idea of structured deposition has, at times, been adopted and applied somewhat simplistically. In such instances, exploration of the potential complexity and interpretative scope of depositional histories on later prehistoric settlements has been substantially curtailed. Current understandings of depositional practices involving pottery and burnt human bone are examined, and alternative interpretations offered, through a case study of the evidence recovered from a series of later Bronze Age settlements at Broom Quarry, Bedfordshire.     

Ceramics of the Ulakhan-Segelennyakh Culture,Early Bronze Age,Yakutia

The principal diagnostic feature of the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC) Ulakhan-Segelennyakh culture of southern, southwestern, and western Yakutia, which was first described by the present author, is pottery decorated with punched nodes in combination with dentate impressions and stamp imprints. This type of pottery differs from Ust-Mil pottery and resembles both ancestral Ymyiakhtakh ceramics and ceramics made by immigrants. The Ulakhan-Segelennyakh culture did not spread across all Yakutia, but occupied vast taiga regions in the basins of the Aldan, Olekma, Vilyui, and Middle Lena. Most immigrants were descendants of the Glazkovo people, and entered Yakutia along the upper reaches of these rivers.     

Ceramics, Ethnohistory, and Ethnography: Locating Meaning in Southern African Iron Age Ceramic Assemblages

For ceramics to be relevant in the Southern African Iron Age, archaeologists must broaden their theoretical base to include social and other contexts when interpreting material culture items such as pottery. Pottery remains critical in understanding cultural dynamics in the region for the past two millennia, but current usage is narrow in scope. Using ethnohistorical data and archaeological examples from South Africa and Zimbabwe, we argue that pottery provides valuable information on the region's Iron Age, if archaeologists address the social meaning of ceramic assemblages. Ceramic production among rural communities provides the basis on which a wide range of social issues are discussed and used to critique pottery recovered from archaeology. Ethnography suggests that ceramic assemblages are context specific, and archaeologists are cautioned against making generic statements on the basis of similarities of vessel shape and decoration motif.     

2002年度香港西贡沙下遗址C02区和DⅡ02区考古发掘简报

20 0 2年 ,香港古物古迹办事处和河南省文物考古研究所联合在香港发掘西贡沙下遗址 ,发掘面积达 70 0平方米。发现有新石器时代晚期、青铜时代和宋元代的遗存。遗迹中属新石器时代晚期有房址、灰坑等 ,青铜时代有房址、灰坑、石器制造场、灰沟等 ,宋元代有灰坑。遗物中有不同时代的石器、陶器、硬陶器、瓷器、釉陶器等。     

Provenance study of early and middle bronze age pottery from Kaman-Kalehöyük,Turkey, by heavy mineral analysis and geochemical analysis of individual hornblende grains

The provenance of Early Bronze Age and early Middle Bronze Age pottery produced between 2100 and 1970 B.C. and excavated from Kaman-Kalehöyük, Turkey was studied using mineralogical methods, including heavy mineral analysis and geochemical study of individual hornblende grains. The relative abundances of heavy minerals in the fabrics of 20 Early Bronze Age (EBA) and early Middle Bronze Age (MBA) pottery sherds, together with 27 local sediments collected within a radius of 25 km of the site were studied. The heavy mineral distributions in the Kaman region were statistically analyzed for consistencies in their occurrence. Amphibole was found to be the most abundant heavy mineral in most of the analyzed samples, followed by titanite and epidote. The amounts of other minerals such as garnet, clinopyroxene, and zircon are subordinate. Different proportions of heavy minerals in the fabrics allow categorization of the EBA and early MBA potteries into 5 groups. Comparative study of heavy mineral assemblages of local sediments and pottery suggests that half of the EBA and most of the MBA potteries were produced from sediment near the excavation site, whereas the other half of the EBA potteries were produced from sediment occurring at 25 km east or more east of the site. The geochemistry of individual amphibole grains was studied by electron-microprobe analysis. Most of the studied amphibole grains are calcic and aluminous, corresponding to hornblende. They can be further characterized into four types based on their chemical composition. The combination of heavy mineral identity and hornblende geochemistry provides diagnostic evidence for the origins of Kaman-Kalehöyük pottery. These and analogous heavy mineral techniques are effective archaeometric tools for determining pottery provenance.     

THE CROW DOWN HOARD, LAMBOURN, WEST BERKSHIRE

Summary.   The discovery of a hoard of five middle Bronze Age gold objects during a metal-detecting rally on the Lambourn Downs in 2004 precipitated an archaeological investigation into their character, provenance and context. This article describes the objects themselves, their composition, how they were made and their archaeological background. It also reports the result of forensic archaeological work undertaken on them. The parallels for the objects and the social context of their deposition are discussed.     

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 PROVENANCE AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF BRONZE AGE AND IRON AGE POTTERY FROM TELL MISHRIFEH/QATNA (SYRIA)*

This work deals with the archaeometric study of the Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery from Tell Mishrifeh/Qatna (central‐western Syria), where the complete cycle of ceramic production is well documented. Petrographic, chemical and diffractometric analyses were carried out on both potsherds and a clayey material found in a separation basin within the area of the workshops. Petrographic groups were defined and maximum firing temperatures and redox firing conditions were estimated, providing constraints on identifying the production technology and its evolution with time. The studied potsherds turned out to be locally produced, with only a few cases of possible similarities with those described for other localities along the Orontes Valley, and in a couple of cases with evidence of pottery exchange.     

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF CERAMICS FROM THE CHRONOLOGICALLY TRANSITIONAL (LATE BRONZE – EARLY IRON AGE) SITE OF LINYOVO-1, SOUTHERN SIBERIA: METHODOLOGICAL PROSPECTS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS

Linyovo-1, a Late Bronze – Early Iron Age site in southwestern Siberia, is highly important for the study of ceramic production as it offers a rare opportunity for directly examining the clay and paste of which the vessels were made. Technological analysis has allowed us to trace the changes produced by fi ring. For the fi rst time, results of petrographic, X-ray phase, and thermal analysis of vessels are being published. An algorithm of derivatographic measurements and the techniques of data processing and interpretation are outlined in some detail. Prospects for science-based methods of studying pottery are discussed. As an alternative to the traditional approach for assessing fi ring temperature on the basis of thermal analysis, we suggest using a comparative analysis of the preservation of clay components in the ceramic paste to evaluate the quality of fi ring. This approach can be used with regard to vessels from a single site as well as those from different sites and even with regard to various parts of a single vessel.     

The Source Provenance of Bronze Age and Roman pottery from Cyprus

Archaeological interpretations of ancient economies have been strengthened by chemical analyses of ceramics, which provide the clearest evidence for economic activity, and comprise both the objects of exchange and its means. Pottery is often manufactured from local materials, but its compositional diversity typically prevents significant patterns of resource utilization from being identified. Centrally located and positioned on traditional shipping routes, Cyprus maintained ties with and supplied a variety of distinctive ceramic products to the major commercial centres in the eastern Mediterranean throughout Antiquity. We analysed two Cypriot .ne wares and a variety of utilitarian pottery, as well as samples of extant Cypriot clays to determine source provenance. These chemical analyses provide an objective indication of the origins of ancient (Bronze Age and Roman) ceramics manufactured on Cyprus. The distribution of the probable clay sources and the links between pottery style and the material environment also afford a perspective on the spatial organization of large‐scale pottery production on the island. Compositional analysis provides the means to assemble geographies of pottery production and to unravel the interregional system of exchange that operated in Antiquity, but the ability to accomplish these tasks is predicated on systematic analyses of ceramic products and raw materials that are found far beyond the bounds of individual archaeological sites.     

A provenance study of Mycenaean pottery from Northern Israel

The occurrence of imported Mycenaean pottery in the Late Bronze Age southern Levant is one of the most conspicuous aspects of Eastern Mediterranean trade connections during this period. A group of 183 Mycenaean pottery vessels from 14 sites in northern Israel, from both coastal and inland settlement contexts were analyzed by Neutron Activation Analysis. The results indicate that the vast majority of these vessels have a similar profile and can be provenanced to the north-eastern Peloponnese or more specifically, to the Mycenae/Berbati workshop in the Argolid. Possible interpretations of these results are presented and discussed against the historical and cultural background of the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean.     

Prehistoric Settlement,Mobility and Societal Structure in the Peak District National Park: New Evidence from Ceramic Compositional Analysis

Detailed compositional and technological analysis of a large assemblage of prehistoric ceramics from numerous sites situated within the Peak District National Park has been used to explore the settlement patterns, societal structure, mobility and interaction of the populations that inhabited this area during the Early Bronze Age to Early Iron Age. A surprising pattern emerges of the widespread dominance of a single, geographically restricted temper type, which appears to have been transported and mixed with locally procured clay and used to produce pottery at numerous different sites. The distribution of this and several other compositional groups are defined via thin‐section petrography and compared to raw material field samples. The resulting patterns are used to assess the validity of previous theories about prehistoric life in this region during the third to first millennia bc .