TRACING THE RESOURCES OF IRON WORKING AT ANCIENT SAGALASSOS (SOUTH‐WEST TURKEY): A COMBINED LEAD AND STRONTIUM ISOTOPE STUDY ON IRON ARTEFACTS AND ORES*

Lead and strontium isotope analyses were performed by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) on Roman to Byzantine iron artefacts and iron ores from the territory of ancient Sagalassos (south‐west Turkey), to evaluate Pb and Sr isotopes for provenance determination of ores for local iron production. It can be demonstrated that for early Roman artefacts and hematite iron ore processed in early Roman times from Sagalassos proper, as well as for magnetite placer sands and early Byzantine raw iron from the territory of the city, Sr isotopes are much less ambiguous than Pb isotopes in providing clearly coherent signatures for ore and related iron objects. Late Roman iron objects were produced from iron ores that as yet remain unidentified. Early Byzantine iron artefacts display more scatter in both their Pb and Sr isotope signatures, indicating that many different ore sources may have been used. Our study demonstrates that iron objects can be precisely analysed for their Sr isotopic composition, which, compared to Pb isotopes, appears to be a much more powerful tool for distinguishing between chronological groups and determining the provenance of raw materials.     

一批楚墓包金金属饰片金箔成分及制作工艺的科学研究

出土于湖北当阳赵巷M12和曹家岗M5春秋晚期楚墓的金属饰片部分外包有带纹饰的金箔,该批饰片数量较大,类型丰富,材质多样,制作精良,在楚墓所出类似文物中规格较高。为对金箔的元素含量、厚度、颜色、光泽度、纹饰和制作工艺等方面展开系统的研究,本研究采用扫描电镜、X射线荧光分析显微镜、激光共聚焦显微镜、三维视频显微镜、色差仪、光泽度仪以及气质联用色谱等分析手段对194片金箔进行科学的分析。研究表明,这批楚墓金箔为金银合金,Au含量为82%～95%,Ag为5%～18%,厚度7～35μm,与先秦时期其他墓葬出土的金箔、金片相比,其厚度最薄,金含量相对较高,金箔表面更光亮,打磨抛光较为明显,纹饰种类更为丰富,纹饰刻划更加细腻、繁缛。显然,其制作工艺达到较高的水准。同时,对该批金箔的冶炼技术和制作工艺过程进行了探讨。研究结果可为了解中国传统金箔和纹饰制作工艺提供重要的参考依据。     

The Production of Thin‐Walled Jointless Gold Beads from the Maykop Culture Megalithic Tomb of the Early Bronze Age at Tsarskaya in the North Caucasus: Results of Analytical and Experimental Research

This study, the first of this kind, reconstructs the technical chaîne operatoire of thin‐walled jointless gold bead production in the Maykop culture on the basis of trace‐wear analysis, experimental research and comparative analysis, using gold beads from the Early Bronze Age dolmen (c. 3200–2900 bc ) in kurgan 2 at Tsarskaya (discovered in 1898). The results of the study demonstrate that such beads were produced from a perforated disc‐shaped blank by pressure (with intermittent annealing) within a hemispherical depression in a shaping block (presumably made from stone or bone) and subsequent abrasive treatment of the surface. Most probably, this technique was a regional expression of Near Eastern jewellery traditions that emerged within the urbanized centres of Upper Mesopotamia in the early fourth millennium bc and spread out, through the Caucasus, into the southern boundaries of the Eurasian steppe.     

Pottery technology in the Tang dynasty (ninth century ad): archaeometric analyses of a Gongyi sherd found at Siraf,Iran

In 1969–70, a single Tang dynasty blue‐spotted Gongyi sherd was found at Siraf, Iran, the main trading port on the Persian Gulf in the early Islamic period. This is the only known example of Chinese blue‐and‐white ware, whether low‐ or high‐fired, found in the Middle East from such an early date. The sherd provides direct archaeological evidence for the Indian Ocean trade between China and the Middle East in the ninth century ad . The body paste, clear glaze and blue glaze or pigment were analysed by thin‐section petrography, scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry (SEM‐EDX) and X‐ray fluorescence (XRF). The technological analysis reveals the different steps of the chaîne opératoire: clay mixing, slip and glaze application, and decoration with the cobalt blue glaze before high‐temperature firing. These steps are characteristic of Tang stoneware production at Gongyi in Henan province, China. The use of cobalt blue pigment as part of a simple spotted decoration scheme on the Gongyi sherd, and its find context within the Middle East, provides evidence for the complex interplay and influence occurring between Chinese and Middle East ceramic industries at this time. Closely comparable examples of contemporary low‐fired earthenware ceramics with cobalt blue decoration on a white tin glaze manufactured within the Middle East also occur within the same assemblage from Siraf.     

New Insights into the Calcium Flux Used in Ancient Longquan and Yue Kilns Based on Strontium Isotopic Compositions

The glazes of seven types of greenware produced in the Yue and Longquan kilns between the Tang dynasty and the Ming dynasty (ad 618–1644) were studied for their strontium isotopic compositions and bulk chemical compositions. The aim was to identify the raw materials used as the calcium fluxes in the glaze recipes and whether the raw materials changed over time, particularly before and after the Southern Song dynasty (ad 1127–1279). From this work, botanic ash has been identified as the raw material used as the calcium flux in all the seven glaze types studied, and some related ceramic historical issues are also discussed.