A Roman Egyptian Painting Workshop: Technical Investigation of the Portraits from Tebtunis,Egypt

Roman‐period mummy portraits are considered to be ancient antecedents of modern portraiture. However, the techniques and materials used in their manufacture are not thoroughly understood. Analytical study of the pigments as well as the binding materials helps to address questions on what aspects of the painting practices originate from Pharaonic and/or Graeco‐Roman traditions, and can aid in determining the provenance of the raw materials from potential locations across the ancient Mediterranean and European worlds. Here, one of the largest assemblages of mummy portraits to remain intact since their excavation from the site of Tebtunis in Egypt was examined using multiple analytical techniques to address how they were made. The archaeological evidence suggests that these portraits were products of a single workshop and, correspondingly, they are found to be made using similar techniques and materials: wax‐based and lead white–rich paint combined with a variety of iron‐based pigments (including hematite, goethite and jarosite), as well as Egyptian blue, minium, indigo and madder lake to create subtle variations and tones.     

Integrated geological,petrologic and geochemical approach to establish source material and technology of Late Cypriot Bronze Age Plain White ware ceramics

Late Cypriot Bronze Age Plain White Wheelmade ware samples from several Cypriot excavation sites and the northern Canaanite coast were studied to ascertain their production centres and details of their manufacturing processes and post-depositional alteration. The investigation of the ceramics, using combined geoscientific analytical techniques (XRF, ICP-MS, XRD and EPMA) allowed four groups of pottery to be distinguished based on their common raw-material sources and/or technological analogies. Sediments that were sampled in East Cyprus (eastern Mesaoria Plain) for comparative purposes indicated that most of the investigated ceramics were produced from raw materials available around the ancient settlement of Enkomi. Appraising technological variations and discriminative raw-material characteristics, several pottery producing workshops in ancient Enkomi (Eastern Cypriot coast) have been identified that merchandised their commodities on Cyprus and, in all probability, also overseas.     

HONEY AND DRIPPING: NEOLITHIC FOOD RESIDUES FROM RUNNYMEDE BRIDGE

Summary. This paper illustrates the prospects for a fuller understanding of ancient foodstuffs by applying a range of analytical techniques to charred food residues on pottery. The relevant techniques of organic chemistry are briefly described. First results on Neolithic material from Runnymede stand amongst few for prehistoric Europe. They demonstrate the potential importance of such analyses both in redressing imbalances present at the site level and in opening wider issues, such as the functions attached to particular pot forms. The identification of beeswax in a British Neolithic context prompts an enquiry into the nature of early bee management and the suggestion that 'forest beekeeping'may have been widespread in temperate Neolithic Europe.     

Identification of ancient textiles from Yingpan,Xinjiang, by multiple analytical techniques

Various extraordinary textiles were excavated from a graveyard at Yingpan, Xinjiang, on the middle route of the ancient Silk Road. Applications of western motifs and designs to traditional Chinese textiles led to the emergence of compound woven textiles with central Asian characters. For a better understanding of the cultural exchanges and textile trade between the West and the East in ancient times, identifications of archaeological fibres and dyes were carried out for various funerary textile objects by using multiple analytical techniques, such as high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode detection, optical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Fibre identifications were performed for 35 archaeological textile samples, and the results showed that the ancient textiles were mostly made from Bombyx mori silk and wool. The SEM and FT-IR experimental results revealed that these ancient textiles remained morphologically intact due to the special (very dry) climate in Xinjiang, but noticeably degraded at the molecular level due to long time thermo-ageing and/or biodegradation. The principal colouring matters, such as alizarin, purpurin, indigotin and luteolin, were respectively characterised for nine archaeological textile samples. The yellow dyestuffs derived from luteolin-based plants were assumed to have been imported to China from the Middle East and Western Asia through the Silk Road.     

古埃及墓葬彩绘材料研究

分析研究了八件古埃及墓葬出土器物,这些器物包括部分传统殡葬遗存,包括木乃伊裹尸、面具、木棺和礼仪器具等。时代大约为古埃及晚期（公元前800到公元400年）,展现出不同的彩绘工艺和风格。本文将提供有关颜料、充填物、调合剂的分析结果。还将讨论古代工艺、时代、老化以及保护问题。另外,还对多种颜料分析手段进行了评估。     

敦煌石窟艺术应用颜料的产地之谜

论述了敦煌石窟彩绘艺术颜料的研究背景、科学分析方法和结果。并根据史料所载以及现代科学的实际勘探考察,结合颜料的科学分析,对敦煌石窟艺术所用的朱砂、铅丹、赭石、绛矾、雄黄、雌黄、密陀僧、金粉、金箔、石绿、铜绿、石青、青金石、群青、铅粉、石膏、白垩、云母、二氧化铅等主要矿物质颜料的化学成分、应用及其产地进行了探索。     

ARCHAEOMETRY AND MUSEUMS: FIFTY YEARS OF CURIOSITY AND WONDER*

Artefacts and works of art kept in museum collections originated in many cases from ancient private collections. In such cases, a partial or total absence of historical information may create additional problems concerning their authenticity. The study of museum collections and their preservation requires the use of analytical techniques but also combined examination techniques not commonly necessary for the study of archaeological objects. This paper gives an overview of the importance of museum items for the understanding of the past, the difficulties relating to their authentication and the significant advances brought about by science‐based techniques, in particular those cases discussed in Archaeometry during the past 50 years.     

金沙玉器制作工艺的初步观察

2001年发现的成都金沙遗址现已出土了2000余件玉器,数目可观,种类繁多。大量的玉器造型规整,制作精细。最为重要的是许多器物上都留下了与制作工艺有关的痕迹,其中更有一些半成品和玉料,这就为我们研究古玉制作工艺提供了极其重要而又丰富的实物材料。     

An atypical Ancient Egyptian pillow from Sedment el-Gebel: evidence for migrant worker trading and technology

Archaeological artefacts are irreplaceable information resources. Consequently analytical methods must be non-destructive or use the minimum of sample so that an artefact remains accessible and unchanged for future research. The significance and innovation of the current study is the application of micro- and non-destructive analytical methods to an ancient Egyptian pillow in order to gain new knowledge about funerary customs, population composition, trade routes, and technological expertise. In this study, the analytical results highlight the funerary customs of a migrant community within ancient Egypt with an ephemeral technological expertise.     

中国古建琉璃构件“粉状锈”之病变初探

琉璃构件是中国古代建筑中不可缺少的建筑材料,具有一定的功能性和艺术性.但因其长期处于露天环境之中,会产生釉面蜕变、开裂、脱落和胎体酥粉等多种病变.为了对琉璃构件的全面保护,对洛阳山陕会馆古建群琉璃构件进行了整体调查,发现部分构件釉面产生了一层亮绿色粉状物质,与青铜器粉状锈颜色非常相似,这是一种极其特殊的病变现象.为此,用偏光显微镜、扫描电镜、电子探针及X射线衍射等分析手段对这种病变产物进行分析研究.结果表明,琉璃"粉状锈"的主要成分为PbSO4.它是大气中SO2与水分和琉璃釉面共同作用的结果.该病变的形成过程为釉面弱酸水膜的形成,釉中铅离子的溶出和铅的硫酸盐形成三大步骤.研究结果可为琉璃构件的进一步保护研究奠定基础.     

中国古建琉璃构件“粉状锈”之病变初探

琉璃构件是中国古代建筑中不可缺少的建筑材料,具有一定的功能性和艺术性。但因其长期处于露天环境之中,会产生釉面蜕变、开裂、脱落和胎体酥粉等多种病变。为了对琉璃构件的全面保护,对洛阳山陕会馆古建群琉璃构件进行了整体调查,发现部分构件釉面产生了一层亮绿色粉状物质,与青铜器粉状锈颜色非常相似,这是一种极其特殊的病变现象。为此,用偏光显微镜、扫描电镜、电子探针及X射线衍射等分析手段对这种病变产物进行分析研究。结果表明,琉璃“粉状锈”的主要成分为PbSO4。它是大气中SO2与水分和琉璃釉面共同作用的结果。该病变的形成过程为:釉面弱酸水膜的形成,釉中铅离子的溶出和铅的硫酸盐形成三大步骤。研究结果可为琉璃构件的进一步保护研究奠定基础。     

Soft-Stone Sources on Crete

Abstract

Neutron activation analysis and other analytical techniques enable archaeologists to match certain stone artifacts with their sources in the living rock. Steatite, serpentinite, and chlorite, which are often called “soft stones,” have been matched with considerable success in tests on New World samples. Matching artifacts and sources helps the archaeologist in determining prehistoric exchange systems and thus gain considerable insights into ancient cultures.

In order to provide basic information on soft-stone sources on Crete with which samples from artifacts may be compared, a review of the literature and two field surveys were undertaken. The results indicate that soft-stone sources on Crete are more extensive than formerly believed. The correlation between soft-stone deposits and the location of ancient sites is also considered.     

Trepanation in Italy: A Review

This paper reviews and discusses cases of skull trepanation in ancient Italy on the basis of information provided by the literature. A total of 54 individuals from 43 different Italian archaeological sites were found to have evidence of trepanation. The analysis of evidences of trepanation in Italy has demonstrated that no differences can generally be perceived between the trepanned individual and the social context of the burial, leading to exclude a special role of the former within the group. Trepanation in Italy covers a time span of approximately 7000 years, the most ancient cases dating back to the fifth millennium bc and the most recent to the 18th–19th centuries ad . The geographic distribution appears quite homogeneous, with a prevalence of cases in Central Italy and abundant evidence from prehistoric Sardinia. The majority of individuals show a single trepanation, whereas others present skulls with multiple holes. Trepanation in Italy was reserved to adult individuals, except for some rare cases, and shows a relevant preponderance for the male sex. The most diffused technique is scraping; cutting and drilling are less attested, especially as unique techniques for trepanation, but they were used more frequently in combination with scraping. Trepanation could in some cases be hypothesised as therapeutic intervention for the treatment of a traumatic wound or of other pathologies, whereas in other cases, a number of evidences are attested of trepanation performed as probable ritual intervention or as experimental surgery; in the remaining cases, the reasons for trepanation are unclear or not determinable. A high percentage of long‐term healing associated with trepanation has been evidenced. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

LIME PLASTER AS AN ADHESIVE FOR HAFTING EIGHTEENTH-DYNASTY FLINT SICKLES FROM TELL EL DAB'A,EASTERN NILE DELTA (EGYPT)*

A combination of analytical techniques, including thin-section observations, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence analysis, was applied to study the nature and origin of an adhesive used for mounting flint sickle blades to a wooden handle, recovered from early Eighteenth Dynasty culture layers of the multi-layer settlement at Tell el Dab'a, Lower Eygpt. The results obtained from these investigations led to the conclusion that the adhesive is a pure lime plaster, thus providing the oldest evidence for the use of this material as a binding agent so far known in ancient Egypt.     

甘肃新石器时代与青铜代陶器研究的内容和科学意义

综述了现代分析测试方法和数学方法在古代陶器成分分析、年代测定、制作工艺、产地判断、形态分析方面的应用以及甘肃新石器与青铜时代陶器研究的意义。     

The Diet of Three Medieval Individuals from Caravate (Varese,Italy). Combined Results of ICP‐MS Analysis of Trace Elements and Phytolith Analysis Conducted on Their Dental Calculus

Teeth are in close contact with foodstuffs: phenomena such as caries and wear of the crowns are precious keys to gather information on diet and cooking techniques. Phytoliths are granules of hydrated amorphous silica, which are deposited in the oral cavity while chewing fruit and vegetables and incorporated into dental calculus during its formation. In diet investigation, different plants may therefore be related to specific phytolith shapes. Analysis of chemical trace elements, incorporated in dental calculus from ingested food and replacing small percentages of calcium in normal processes of resorption and redeposition, can further enrich the research on ancient diet. The aim of our work was to set up an analytical protocol, focalised on phytoliths and the inorganic elemental composition of dental calculus, on samples coming from medieval skeletons excavated in Caravate (Varese, Italy). The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analytical technique proved to be particularly suitable for such studies. The results suggested a diet based both on the consumption of carbohydrates (dicotyledons and monocotyledons such as the Poaceae, also known as Gramineae; and Coniferae) and on proteins, mostly derived from fish. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How reliable are our published archaeometric analyses? Effects of analytical techniques through time on the elemental analysis of obsidians

To assess the analytical accuracies and precisions of archaeometric elemental analyses by different techniques, a relatively homogeneous material such as obsidian must be studied. An assessment of published elemental concentration data from two Anatolian obsidian sources shows that while in most cases analytical accuracy is as high as is commonly expected, in some cases it is not. It also shows that the dispersions of elemental concentration data (indicators of analytical precisions) coming from modern analytical procedures are akin to the estimated homogeneity of the obsidian. Based on this latter observation, if one has element dispersion data from a single analytical technique, with a single source of obsidian as a control, data sets that contain multiple, but similar sources of obsidian may be differentiated.