CARBON AND OXYGEN ISOTOPE RATIOS OF MARBLES FROM SOME ANCIENT QUARRIES OF WESTERN ANATOLIA AND THEIR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

¹³C/¹²C and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios have been measured for 42 marbles from the main quarry localities of archaeological interest of Western Anatolia (Marmara, Ephesos, Aphrodisias, Denizli and Afyon) in order to test the possibility of isotopically characterizing ancient marbles from this region. The various groups of samples are not clearly distinguishable on a δ¹³C-δ¹⁸O diagram. However, if only white or slightly coloured samples are considered, the isotopic method appears to be much more selective.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviews in This Article: Al-Quran Rendered into English. By Syed Abdul Latif. The Message of the Qur'an Presented in Perspective. By Hashim Amir-Ali. Ibn Kammn?a's Examination of the Three Faiths: A Thirteenth-Century Essay in the Comparative Study of Religion. Translated from the Arabic, with an Introduction and Notes, by Moshe Perlman. Arab Civilization to A.D. 1500. By D. M. Dunlop. The Baha'i Faith: Its History and Teachings. By William McElwee Miller. Jeunesse, Famille et Développement: Essai sur le changement socio-culturel dans un pays du Tiers Monde (Tunisie). By Carmel Camilleri. Jabal al-Akhdar, Cyrenaica: An Historical Geography of Settlement and Livelihood. By Douglas L. Johnson. Is Western Civilization Universal? By Maryam Jameelah. Syria under the Ba'th, 1963-1966: The Army-Party Symbiosis. By Itamar Rabinovich. Politics and Change in Al-Karak, Jordan. By Peter Gubser. Man, State, and Society in the Contemporary Middle East. Edited by Jacob M. Landau.     

The Chemical Composition and Production Area of Early Western Zhou Proto‐Porcelain Unearthed from Yejiashan Cemetery,Suizhou, China

The bodies and glazes of 27 early Western Zhou proto‐porcelain samples from Yejiashan cemetery, Hubei Province, were analysed using LA‐ICP–AES, SEM, XRD, a thermal expansion instrument and other analytical methods. The results indicated that the bodies of all samples were characterized by high silicon and low aluminium, and were made with porcelain stone raw materials found in the south of China. The glazes are typical of high‐temperature calcium glazes of the CaO (MgO) – K₂O (Na₂O) – Al₂O₃ – SiO₂ series, with relatively high Mn and P content, which was probably caused by the addition of plant ashes. The physical properties and phase compositions of Yejiashan proto‐porcelain show that firing processes were still in the early stages of development in ancient China. Multivariate statistical analyses indicated that Yejiashan proto‐porcelain might have come from the Deqing area, in Zhejiang Province. These results provide new archaeological evidence for research on issues related to material flow in the Western Zhou dynasty.