AN ANALYSIS OF THIRTY-ONE COINS FROM THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD

Thirty-one silver coins of the Hellenistic period were examined by the particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) method, and the results incorporated into a wider study of the coins. Some tentative conclusions reached in the study are mentioned, together with an outline of the PIXE method. A number of patterns emerged in the results, the most important being an apparent deterioration in silver content among the later Seleucid and Ptolemaic issues; some high concentrations of particular elements were also noted.     

SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF ROMAN GLASS FROM AUGUSTA PRAETORIA

Fifty-five fragments of Roman glass from Augusta Praetoria (Aosta, Italy) were analysed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy determining 15 elements (Si, Na, Ca, Al, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ti, Sr, Ba, Cr, Ni, Cu, Co and Pb) on dissolved samples; in addition, potassium was determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. The analytical results indicate that all the fragments, with one exception, are silica-soda-lime glasses; (he exception is a potash glass. Cluster analysis was performed on the analytical data by accounting for either 14 (all the elements searched for but Ni and Pb) or eight elements (after further removal of Si, Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu and Co from the data set). The results obtained indicate that, once colouring and decolouring agents are removed, the classification of the glasses seems to be mainly determined by chronology; separate groups within coeval fragments may indicate different provenances.     

PINE RESINS AND POTTERY SEALING: ANALYSIS OF ABSORBED AND VISIBLE POTTERY RESIDUES FROM CENTRAL NEW YORK STATE*

Analysis was performed on absorbed and visible residues from 21 New York State prehistoric pottery sherds dating from 2905 ± 35 bp (Intcal04) (1256–998 cal bc ) to 425 ± 40 bp (Intcal04) (1417–1626 cal ad ). The use of pine resin was detected in 10 of 12 absorbed residue samples and 11 of 17 sherds subjected to visible residue analysis. It seems likely that the pots were resin‐sealed to make them more impermeable, constituting the first chemical evidence of extensive resin‐sealing in North America. A comparison of the results of absorbed and visible residues from eight of the sherds indicates that the two kinds of residue provide complementary evidence of vessel use.     

INSIGHTS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF ANGEL MOUNDS POTTERY TROWELS

Archaeologists have recovered pottery trowels in excavations at numerous historic and pre-Columbian archaeological sites in North America since the late nineteenth century. Despite these facts, pottery trowels have not been the subject of thorough scientific analysis or interpretation. In this study, I define and implement a new method of analysis for pottery trowels, using a sample of 188 pottery trowels from the Mississippian site of Angel Mounds (12VG1). After describing the quantitative and qualitative attributes of pottery trowels, I define categories of frequently occurring pottery trowel bell and handle types. The extensive variability of pottery trowel shapes and sizes discovered at Angel Mounds is then discussed with regard to alternative or multiple uses for the tools and the spatial and temporal distributions of pottery trowel types. As an artifact type that provides opportunities to analyze technology, craft production and specialization, and daily practices in past societies, I argue pottery trowels may hold important future insights into a number of topics of interest to archaeologists.     

ON THE SOURCE OF CLAY USED FOR COLOGNE ROMAN POTTERY

Chemical analyses have been made of Roman wares found in Cologne and of bearded man jugs found both in Cologne and Frechen. The question of the influence of the approximately 1600 year difference in time between the manufacture of the two major groups of wares is addressed. It is concluded that the Roman wares were very probably made of Frechen clay.     

THE DISCOVERY OF ANOMALOUSLY HIGH SILVER ABUNDANCES IN POTTERY FROM EARLY ROMAN EXCAVATION CONTEXTS IN JERUSALEM*

This is the first study on the differential distribution and concentrations of silver in ceramics recovered from archaeological excavations. The chemical compositions of 1174 pottery vessels from 38 Roman‐period sites in Israel have been determined. Unusually high and variable abundances of silver were discovered in pottery samples of all vessel types and chemical compositions from four distinct archaeological contexts dating to late first century bce to 70 ce Jerusalem. The large majority of the Jerusalem vessels could be distinguished by their silver abundances from all analysed pottery pieces recovered at rural sites outside Jerusalem, even when the pottery types and chemical compositions, except for silver, of pottery found within and outside Jerusalem were indistinguishable. The evidence is suggestive of a human origin for the high and variable silver abundances, and dispersion of the silver by aqueous transport. The differential silver concentrations found in excavated pottery from Jerusalem and other urban and rural sites suggest that attention to the distribution of silver in pottery from excavated contexts may be helpful for evaluating the nature and function of archaeological remains and patterns of urban contamination.     

NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPIC AND ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF CARBONIZED RESIDUES FROM SUBARCTIC CANADIAN PREHISTORIC POTTERY

Late prehistoric pottery is found in abundance at archaeological sites around Southern Indian Lake. Black residues, found on the two dominant vessel forms, flat plates and round pots, are presumed to be the remains of prehistoric meals. ¹³C cross-polarization magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (CPMAS NMR) and¹³C and¹⁵ N isotopic ratios and C/N ratios are used to reconstruct prehistoric diet and to shed light on possible uses for the plates. Samples of foods were cooked in clay pots, on a wood fire, to simulate the conditions of burning that could have produced the residue. Decomposition of carbohydrates, protein, and fat during cooking is studied with ¹³C CPMAS NMR, and the effect of cooking on isotopic and C/N ratios documented. Predominantly fish and fat were cooked in the pots, whereas the residues from plates contain a greater proportion of fat and could have been used as frying pans or possibly as fat-burning lamps placed on the ashes of a wood fire.     

PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF ROMAN LEAD‐GLAZED POTTERY AND ITS CONTINUANCE INTO LATE ANTIQUITY

A broad selection of Roman lead‐glazed pottery dating from the first century ad through the fifth century ad was studied to establish locations of workshops and to address their technology of production. The ceramic bodies were analysed by ICP–AES. In addition, lead isotope analysis was undertaken on a selection of glazes. These findings suggested that there were several regions responsible for the production of lead‐glazed ceramics in the western Roman world, including central Gaul, Italy and, probably, Serbia and Romania. Using the body compositions as a starting point, the glazing techniques employed by each of the potential workshops were examined using electron probe microanalysis. It was determined that there were two primary methods of glazing. The first method used lead oxide by itself applied to non‐calcareous clay bodies, and the second method used a lead oxide‐plus‐quartz mixture applied to calcareous clay bodies. Based on these data for clay composition and glazing method, transfer of technology from the Hellenistic east to the western Roman world was proposed. Likewise, the inheritance of lead‐glazing technology into late antiquity was established by making comparisons to lead‐glazed ceramics dating to the seventh to ninth centuries from Italy, the Byzantine world and Tang Dynasty China.     

ROMAN POTTERY FROM AUGUSTA PRAETORIA (AOSTA,ITALY): A PROVENANCE STUDY

Forty-five sherds of Roman pottery, 21 terrae sigillutae and 24 common wares excavated in Augusta Praeroria, were analysed for 12 elements by atomic absorption and emission spectroscopy. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and non-linear mapping were performed on the analytical data in order to classify the objects in groups which could account for different provenances; soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA) and K nearest neighbours (KNN) were used for solving doubtful assignments. The classification results indicate that local productions of terra sigillatu can be easily distinguished from the imported ones, and that common wares have compositional patterns which differ from those of both local and imported terrae sigillatue.     

THERMOLUMINESCENT DATING OF EGYPTIAN PREDYNASTIC POTTERY FROM HEMAMIEH AND QURNA-TARIF

Eight sherds from Hemamieh and two from Qurna-Tarif, both Predynastic settlement sites in the Nile valley, have been dated by the thermoluminescence method (quartz inclusion technique). The results put the Badarian phase at Hemamieh in the sixth and fifth millenium b.c. , and the Gerzean phase in the first half of the fourth millenium b.c. The dates for the village of Qurna-Tarif fall around 4000 b.c.     

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.