THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DATA BASE OF NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSES OF WHITE MARBLE*

The establishment of a data base of trace element analysis results obtained by neutron activation analysis of 183 marble samples, each weighing about 200 mg, from eight different quarrying localities for use in provenance studies is described and a summary of the results presented. The problems of sampling museum artefacts are discussed, and details of tests of the reproducibility of the technique are given together with those obtained from multiple-samples from single museum objects. Replicate analyses of a marble standard are also discussed. Thus these data are a measure of the accuracy and precision of the technique, as well as allowing an assessment of the variation in trace element composition within quarry sources and single blocks of marble, as used for artefacts.     

THE RED INK OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

The red ink on four fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls was analysed by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. The red pigment was identified as mercury sulfide (HgS), cinnabar. The significant archaeological and historical aspects of this finding are discussed.     

THOUGHTS ON THE UTILITY OF A BIVARIATE‐SPLITTING APPROACH TO OLMEC CERAMIC DATA INTERPRETATION*

A recently resolved debate centred on the interpretation of a major set of INAA data that was based on Olmec ceramics from Mexico. In an attempt to answer questions arising from the debate, this paper discusses the effect of numbers of samples chosen for data interpretation. It also presents interpretations of the ceramic data set based on a bivariate data‐splitting approach and compares the results of this with the multivariate analysis approaches employed by the initial publishers of the data.     

STRIKING THE BALANCE: THE ROLES OF PETROGRAPHY AND GEOCHEMISTRY IN STONE AXE STUDIES IN IRELAND*

There has been a long but sporadic history of research on stone axes in Ireland, leading to the formation of the Irish Stone Axe Project (ISAP) in 1990. The purpose of this paper is to outline the research strategy of the project and to indicate the petrological techniques that are being applied in parallel with archaeological and archival studies to classify and identify potential sources for Irish stone axes. These include macroscopic studies, transmitted and reflected light microscopy on polished thin sections and X-ray fluorescence analyses. The results of the macroscopic examination of 15916 axes indicate that one rock type, porcellanite, was the dominant source, but that a wide range of other lithologies was also exploited. Several avenues for more detailed research are highlighted. A case study of gabbro axes demonstrates the value of this systematic approach to stone axe studies, and the results of this study suggest that some of these axes are petrographically consistent with British Group I, presumed to originate from sources in Cornwall, south-west England.     

NON‐DESTRUCTIVE INVESTIGATION OF BRONZE ARTEFACTS FROM THE MARCHES NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY USING NEUTRON DIFFRACTION*

Non‐destructive neutron diffraction techniques were applied to determine composition and microstructure data, and hence to derive information on manufacturing techniques of Picenum bronze artefacts. Furthermore, texture analyses were carried out on standards and suitable ancient artefacts to investigate their potential role in archaeometallurgical studies. This is a first step towards an overall characterization of the bronze collection of the Marches National Museum of Archaeology, Italy, and the analytical demonstration of relations with and differences compared to Etruscan metallurgy. The work is also an example application of the powerful non‐destructive archaeometrical approaches provided by time‐of‐flight neutron diffraction.     

GREENSTONE AXES FROM EASTERN CENTRAL SWEDEN: A TECHNOLOGICAL-PETROLOGICAL APPROACH*

Thin-section study of Mesolithic-Neolithic axes from five sites in eastern central Sweden and of dolerites occurring in the vicinity showed that the axes were almost definitely produced from local material. Knapping experiments were carried out on blanks from two of these local dolerite varieties and on control material from Delaware, New Jersey, to produce thin-butted axes. These showed that the unconventional shape of the Swedish preforms is mainly, if not completely, determined by the intrinsic properties of the rock and not by local or regional cultural differences or bad craftsmanship. A number of features were observed in thin-section, such as a relatively coarse grain size, veining and small cracks, which may lead to the inferior knapping qualities of the Swedish dolerites.     

A NEOCLASSICAL ANATOMY OF THE ECONOMIC BASE MULTIPLIER*

ABSTRACT Keynesian export base theory ignores the supply side of the economy, while trade models may overemphasize resource constraints. A general equilibrium model which stakes out a position between those extremes is developed and used to define rigorously the components of an economic base (EB) multiplier. Capital moves freely in and out of the regional economy, but the factor land is fixed. Interregional labor movements are caused by wage differentials. Factor and relative commodity prices are determined endogenously. Demand and supply sides of a small regional economy are included. The relationship between average and marginal EB multipliers, and between key parameters (regional size, several elasticities, etc.) and the marginal multiplier are discussed. The Keynesian constant EB multiplier can be derived from a special case of the model.     

MATHEMATICS,STATISTICS AND ARCHAEOMETRY: THE PAST 50 YEARS OR SO*

This review of developments in the use of mathematics and statistics in archaeometry over the past 50 years is partial, personal and ‘broad‐brush’. The view is expressed that it is in the past 30 years or so that the major developments have taken place. The view is also expressed that, with the exception of methods for analysing radiocarbon dates and increased computational power, mathematical and statistical methods that are currently used, and found to be useful in widespread areas of application such as provenance studies, don't differ fundamentally from what was being done 30 years ago.     

X-RAY FLUORESCENCE AND DENSITY MEASUREMENTS ON SURFACE-TREATED ROMAN SILVER COINS*

Some 630 Roman silver coins excavated at Augusta Raurica (Switzerland) have been analysed by non-destructive X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction. Furthermore, the density and the weight have been determined. The measured average density of plated and massive depletion-silvered coins is lower than the density calculated from the chemical composition, whereas massive coins display equal values for both of the densities. Based on experimental X-ray investigations of modern silver (tempering, acid treatment, production of corrosion layers), the nature of corrosion products on silver, their impact on surface analysis, and aspects of wearing-off by circulation are briefly discussed.     

ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS AS A TOOL FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS*

Artificial neural networks (ANN) offer a supplement to traditional classification algorithms applied to archaeological data. Because of their flexible architecture, non-linearity and independence from the distribution of the underlying data, neural networks have unique advantages for such applications. In particular, ANN models are well suited for use with the sparse data sets common in archaeological work. Combining multivariate techniques with networks for data validation, pre-processing and classification exploits the merits of both and provides a comprehensive approach to the analysis and classification of archaeological data.     

CARBON AND OXYGEN ISOTOPIC RATIOS: A DATA BASE FOR CLASSICAL GREEK AND ROMAN MARBLE

An isotopic data base of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O analyses of 528 samples collected from 39 classical Greek and Roman quarries of Turkey, Greece, Italy and Tunisia has been accumulated. The discriminative possibilities of the data base vary from quarry to quarry. Most quarries have a distinctive pattern for either or both variables, but some have more than one grouping. The data also overlap for many quarries preventing a unique provenance assignment. If the alternatives are known so that the total pool of possible sources is reduced, the data base can then discriminate and assign a provenance for most classical marble artifacts.     

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONAL DATA AND THE COMPARISON OF ANALYSES

Recent statistical work on approaches to analysing compositional data - where variables sum to a constant for each row of a data matrix - may encounter difficulties when applied to data of the kind typically arising in scientific archaeology. The reason is that results obtained may be unsatisfactory from a substantive viewpoint for identifiable technical reasons. This paper explores and illustrates some possible resolutions of the problem. A feature of the approach used is to analyse subsets of the variables on separate scales. A synthesis of the results obtained from separate analyses is essential and the use of multiple correspondence analysis for this purpose is illustrated.     

A NEW CONCEPT AND EXHIBITION PROGRAM FOR THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN CAIRO

This article presents a new concept for the future permanent display of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and discusses different practical ideas and concepts. Throughout the discussion, recent challenges and opportunities are considered, particularly the conflicts and duplication among the three major museums in Greater Cairo, the Egyptian Museum(EMC), the Grand Egyptian Museum(GEM), and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization(NMEC). Different ideas are introduced, while selected options are then discussed. The author argues his suggestion to develop a concept that combines archaeological fieldwork, masterpieces, and visible storage in a presentation that varies from aesthetic, contextual and systematic display. This comes from the author's understanding of the expected audiences, their interests, the strengths of the collection, the exhibition space, and EMC's mission.