THE ‘FRYING PANS’ OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE AEGEAN: AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO THEIR POSSIBLE USE AS LIQUID MIRRORS*

The so‐called ‘frying pans’ are peculiar vessels, most of them made of terracotta, flat and shallow, usually decorated on the outside part and dated to the Early Bronze Age. They were unearthed mostly in the Cyclades, in Crete and on the Helladic mainland. There are also a few artefacts made of stone and of bronze, from the Cyclades and Asia Minor, respectively. The intended purpose of these objects is disputed. Several interpretations exist for their function, the earliest one being that of liquid mirror vessels. We investigated the mirror hypothesis experimentally, by testing trays with attributes similar to those of the original ‘frying pans’, filled with a series of liquids familiar to the people of the time and the place where those vessels were made. The criterion employed was the contrast of mirror images. We conclude that, provided that some minimal prerequisites are met, the ‘frying pans’ are quite appropriate as liquid mirror vessels.     

IN‐SITU ELEMENTAL AND Sr ISOTOPE INVESTIGATION OF HUMAN TOOTH ENAMEL BY LASER ABLATION‐(MC)‐ICP‐MS: SUCCESSES AND PITFALLS*

Trace element and Sr isotope data were obtained by laser ablation‐ and solution mode‐(MC)‐ICP‐MS analysis for tooth enamel from remains excavated at the New Kingdom period Egyptian colonial and Nubian cemetery site of Tombos (Sudan). Elemental abundances determined by both methods of ICP‐MS analysis yielded comparable values; however, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values obtained by laser ablation were higher compared to their solution mode counterparts. This discrepancy is related to the production of a molecular interference—Ca + P + O (overlaps ⁸⁷Sr); hence the higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values recorded during ablation analyses. Laser ablation studies of enamel may provide relatively precise ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values rather quickly but cannot be used for accurately deciphering historical population migrations.