IDENTIFICATION OF LEAD SOURCES BY STABLE ISOTOPE RATIOS IN BONES AND LEAD FROM POUNDBURY CAMP, DORSET

Summary. Skeletal material from the Romano-British cemetery at Poundbury Camp on the outskirts of Dorchester is remarkable for the high concentration of lead detected in the bones. In an attempt to discover whether this lead was local in origin or had been introduced in imported commodities lead isotope ratios were determined for a selection of bones. The isotope ratios indicated at least two sources for the lead. Three of the individuals tested appear to have acquired lead derived from local, British, ores while the bone from the fourth individual, a child, had a lead isotope ratio identical to ore from Laurion in Greece. The isotope ratios are so close as to indicate immigration of the child rather than importation of lead in food or wine.     

LEAD ISOTOPE RATIOS AS A MEANS OF SOURCING ANTHROPOGENIC LEAD IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOILS: A PILOT STUDY OF AN ABANDONED SHETLAND CROFT*

Results from soil chemical analysis have demonstrated enhanced concentrations of lead (Pb) associated with archaeological sites. However, interpretation of these Pb concentrations is difficult because of the multitude of possible Pb sources. This pilot study of an abandoned croft in Shetland suggests that Pb isotope ratios have the potential to identify sources of anthropogenic Pb. The results highlight two different Pb associations. The first includes hearth, house floor and house overburden soils, with end members of fuel materials and an unidentified material with a low (< 1.126) ²⁰⁶ Pb/ ²⁰⁷ Pb ratio. The second includes byre, kailyard (garden) and arable soils, with end members of hearth materials and local wind‐blown sand.     

CARBON ISOTOPE RATIOS IN PALAEODIET: LACK OF AGE OR SEX EFFECT

Palaeodiet of humans can be determined using stable carbon isotope ratios of bone collagen. Differences in δ¹³C-values between individuals in a population may be due to real differences in diet, or alternatively, they could be due to age- or sex-dependent differences in the physiologically controlled fractionation of carbon isotopes between food and collagen. The dependence of this fractionation on age and sex was tested in a study of 50 individuals of differing ages from a prehistoric population of bison hunters. The total variation in δ¹³C for bone collagen was found to be ± 0.3‰, indicating that variations larger than this, observed in other populations, are due to real dietary differences between individuals.     

PATTERNS OF IRON AGE HORSE SUPPLY: AN ANALYSIS OF STRONTIUM ISOTOPE RATIOS IN TEETH*

This paper presents a pilot study of strontium (Sr) isotope ratios from Iron Age horse tooth enamel samples. It compares ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios from horse teeth to estimates for local ranges of biologically available strontium, to investigate whether horses were being bred at the sites where their remains were discovered. A horse from Middle Iron Age Rooksdown, Hampshire, was not bred at the site but, rather, came from as far away as Wales, Scotland or continental Europe. Horse teeth from Middle Iron Age Bury Hill, Hampshire, returned ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values typical of local chalkland.     

INVESTIGATING SEASONALITY AND SEASON OF BIRTH IN PAST HERDS: A REFERENCE SET OF SHEEP ENAMEL STABLE OXYGEN ISOTOPE RATIOS

Intra‐tooth sequential analysis of enamel δ¹⁸O is currently used to investigate birth seasonality in past animal populations, offering new insights into seasonal availability of animal resources, herd management and seasonality of site occupation. Reference data sets are still required to address two major difficulties: (1) that inter‐individual variability in the record of the seasonal cycle is affected by tooth size; and (2) that the season of birth cannot be directly estimated from the timing of tooth growth, because of a delay in enamel mineralization. We present a data set acquired on the lower second molar of 10 modern sheep from Rousay (Orkney) born within a few weeks of each other in April/May and submitted to the same environmental conditions until death. All sheep have recorded a sinusoidal pattern of δ¹⁸O variation spanning approximately a year. From the difference between the expected and the measured time sequence, the delay of enamel mineralization is estimated to be 5–6 months. The data set is then described using a model mainly based on a cosine function. The period, corresponding to the length of the M2 crown formed over a year, averaged 35.8 mm. A very slight variation of tooth growth rate with time and no attenuation of the isotopic signal towards the cervical margin of the crown could be detected in this data set. The lowest δ¹⁸O values, corresponding to the sheep's first winter, were tracked at a distance from the enamel/root junction that varied between 23.0 and 30.3 mm (x_min mean = 27.6 mm); the highest δ¹⁸O values, corresponding to the sheep's second summer, were between 6.3 and 11.6 mm (x_max mean = 9.9 mm). Most of the variability can be attributed to tooth size. When normalized on the period, x_min and x_max are 0.28 (± 0.05) and 0.78 (± 0.05) on average, meaning that the Rousay sheep have recorded the minimum and maximum δ¹⁸O values on average at 78% and 28%, respectively, of the end of the periodic cycle recorded in the second molar.     

LEAD ISOTOPE AND TRACE ELEMENT ANALYSIS IN THE STUDY OF OVER A HUNDRED SOUTH INDIAN METAL ICONS*

Technical investigations were made on 130 South Indian statuary images and a few miscellaneous artefacts mostly sampled from the Government Museum, Madras, India, and from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum, UK. Lead isotope investigations were attempted on 60 of these, and compositional analysis for 18 elements on 115, using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy; thus, for 40 objects both lead isotope and trace element analysis was done. From the isotopic and elemental framework, insights are obtained into some art-historical problems of images and artefacts of the Pre-Pallava, Pallava, Chola (i.e., Vijayalaya Chola), Later Chola (i.e., Chalukya-Chola and Later Pandya), Vijayanagara (and Early Nayaka) and Later Nayaka (and Maratha) dynasties, spanning the Early Christian era to the nineteenth century, along with a few other regional styles. Inferences are also made regarding provenance of the lead and the early use of zinc and brass in the early historic period (c. fourth century BC—fourth century AD).     

LEAD ISOTOPE APPROACH TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF EARLY JAPANESE BRONZE CULTURE

For several years, the authors have used lead isotope analysis to investigate extensively the provenance of ancient bronze or copper artifacts which had been excavated mainly from Japanese archaeological sites. The results have been published item by item in several relevant Japanese journals. This review is intended to give an account which will review the whole work relating early Japanese bronze culture to Chinese and Korean cultures through lead isotope study.     

ISOTOPES ON THE BEACH,PART 1: STRONTIUM ISOTOPE RATIOS AS A PROVENANCE INDICATOR FOR LIME RAW MATERIALS USED IN ROMAN GLASS‐MAKING

The provenancing of Roman natron glass is one of the most challenging problems in the field of archaeometry. Although the use of Sr and Nd isotope ratios and trace element signatures as an indication of provenance has proven promising, there are still many unknowns. In this study, the influence of the different raw materials on the final Sr isotopic composition of Roman natron glass is examined. It is shown that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio in natron glass is significantly influenced by the silicate fraction of the sand used and does not always provide a clear indication of the lime source used.     

EARLY BRONZE AGE METAL TRADE IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN. NEW COMPOSITIONAL AND LEAD ISOTOPE EVIDENCE FROM CYPRUS

Summary.   This paper presents the results of chemical and lead isotope analyses of 17 Early and Middle Bronze Age artefacts from Cyprus. These suggest that a number of objects are of non-Cypriot copper and lead to the identification of several as imports, a new explanation for some artefact types as ingots and a discussion of the nature of deposits at the key Cypriot site of Vasilia. This in turn allows a reconsideration of the role of Cyprus in an Aegean/eastern Mediterranean metals trade in the early years of the second half of the third millennium BC and of the development of metalworking on the island.     

APPLICATION OF LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS TO A WIDE RANGE OF LATE BRONZE AGE EGYPTIAN MATERIALS*

Lead isotope analysis was applied to Egyptian materials from the Late Bronze Age in order to investigate the relationship between these different materials, many of which have lead as a significant component. The galena kohls analysed can be provenanced to Gebel Zeit, a large mining site known to have been active during the period. However, the source of lead metal is different and seems to be outside Egypt, along with the source of copper. Lead‐based pigments such as lead antimonate that were used in glass and glazes seem mostly to come from Egypt, although they may well contain a component of ‘Mesopotamian’ lead. In the Predynastic period, galena from many sources is being exploited for use as kohl. However, by the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 bc ), extraction has concentrated on one source, Gebel Zeit, perhaps reflecting increasingly centralized control and/or the use of large‐scale exploitation. It therefore appears that a complex pattern of trade in lead‐based materials was evident, with lead metal and galena being separate commodities from separate sources and treated as such.     

白鹭的禅机

<正>赵朴初先生有曰:禅是一面镜,它洞彻人的心境;禅是一盏灯,它照亮人的心路。能够参透"生存华屋外,零落归丘山"的人,有了任何烦恼,也是能看得开的。即便身处艰难,也不觉苦,所谓"日日是好日,处处沐清风"。当你拥有一颗禅心,便可以出世之心——行入世之事,所谓"人到无求品自高"。曾读过台湾散文家林清玄的一首禅诗:"白鹭立雪,愚人见鹭,聪者见雪,智者见白。"短短四句,貌似直白,却多隐意之美。凝炼处,享有沉思气;妙解读,需要颜色分。由"鹭"到"雪"比拟,是第一层面;由"雪"到"白"(意指洁净、清雅)的推演,则是第二层次。由鹭—雪—白的层层递进,以自然     

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS IN SCANDINAVIA

The authors quantitatively analyze the effect of railroad construction on agricultural land values in the often overlooked, agriculturally oriented, trans-Mississippi West. This region is unique in American history in that, at the end of the nineteenth century, the railroad itself preceded widespread settlement. Using a hedonic model, they show that railroad transport increased agricultural land values in this region by more than 20 percent, which had a larger impact than recent studies have found for other regions. Moreover, the authors found that the addition of a railroad to a county significantly increased its growth in land values. This finding is contrary to that of existing studies. Finally, the authors show statistically that the railroad and land values were not endogenously determined, lending credibility to the causality of the results presented in their hedonic and growth models. These results indicate a valuable alternative approach to use in the historical analysis of transportation infrastructure and its impact on land prices.