Foreign ceramic tradition,local clays: the Handmade Burnished Ware of Tell Kazel (Syria)

Late Bronze Age Handmade Burnished Ware (HMBW) from Tell Kazel was studied by thin-section petrography and neutron activation analysis in order to investigate its manufacturing technology and origin of production. Results show that the majority of the HMBW fabric groups point to a local area of production while a few petrographic loners might have been produced elsewhere in the Akkar Plain or imported. The manufacturing technique, in terms of clay paste recipe, forming and finishing techniques, is however new in the Tell Kazel pottery assemblage, hinting at the work of foreigners present at the site. The historical and archaeological contexts further suggest that these foreigners were some of the Sea Peoples and the stylistic and analytical data further reinforce the link between the northern Levant and the western Mediterranean.     

Lead pigments and related tools at Akrotiri,Thera, Greece. Provenance and application techniques

This paper refers to an investigation of finds that are associated with the raw materials and tools for the preparation or use of lead pigments at Akrotiri on Thera, Greece, during the Early, Middle and Late Cycladic Bronze Age (c. 3000–1600 BC). For the detection and the preliminary characterisation of remains of pigments that were found on stone tools, the in situ application of X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy proved to be invaluable. In order to identify the chemical composition of the pigments and to investigate their provenance from a geological perspective, quantitative X-Ray Diffraction analysis was conducted. A thorough visual macro and microscopic examination of the morphology of the materials permitted the determination of physical features (colour, homogeneity, grain size) as indicators of their nature or degree of processing. Based on the results of these analyses, the traces of lead oxides that were detected on the stone tools are associated with specific collections of litharge items discovered at the settlement of Akrotiri, and probably provide evidence of their earliest use in preparing pigments.     

辽宁本溪县新城子青铜时代墓地

2006年,在本溪县新城子村发掘了16座盖石石棺墓。墓室均以石块或石板垒砌,墓顶盖石为整块大石板。墓中未见人骨,仅1座出有人牙。各墓随葬品均较少,种类有陶壶、罐及石斧、铲、纺轮等。这类墓葬属于广义的石棚类遗存,年代大体为西周晚期至春秋时期。同类遗存广泛分布于辽东北部地区。     

Fruits of Their Labour: Urbanisation,Orchard Crops,and Dental Health in Early Bronze Age Jordan

The analysis of dental remains, which outlast most other tissues in the human body, provides insight into past diet, activity patterns and ancestry. The remains from Bab edh‐Dhra' represent the only skeletal sample available to assess the impact of agricultural intensification in the Early Bronze Age of the southern Levant (ca. 3500–2000 bce ). This era ushered in a period of ‘urbanisation’, evidenced by fortified towns, planned roadways, developments in irrigation and growing population density. During this time, the cultivation, trade and consumption of orchard taxa (such as figs, grapes and olives) increased. This paper examines changes in the teeth associated with agricultural intensification involving orchard crops as well as grains. Dental caries, ante mortem tooth loss and dental wear are examined for Early Bronze IA (EBIA; 3500–3300 bce ) and Early Bronze II–III (EBII–III; 3100–2300 bce ) teeth from the site of Bab edh‐Dhra', located in modern‐day Jordan. Due to the commingling, general tooth groups (e.g. molars) and specific tooth types (e.g. lower left canine) were used to compare periods. Although age and sex could not be identified for every tooth, analyses of crania and os coxae showed no significant difference in demographic profiles of EBIA and EBII–III. No statistically significant increase was found over time in dental caries frequency; however, teeth for which the cause of pulp exposure could be determined suggested that caries increasingly led to exfoliation. Indeed, ante mortem tooth loss rose significantly with time, whereas dental wear decreased. In general, changes in oral health were consistent with an archaeological record of greater consumption of softer, stickier foods, such as fruits. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New Data on the Exploitation of Obsidian in the Southern Caucasus (Armenia,Georgia) and Eastern Turkey,Part 2: Obsidian Procurement from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Late Bronze Age

Within the framework of the French archaeological mission ‘Caucasus’, in a previous paper we have presented new geochemical analyses on geological obsidians from the southern Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia) and eastern Turkey. We present here the second part of this research, which deals with provenance studies of archaeological obsidians from Armenia. These new data enhance our knowledge of obsidian exploitation over a period of more than 14 000 years, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Late Bronze Age. The proposed methodology shows that source attribution can be easily made by plotting element contents and element ratios on three simple binary diagrams. The same diagrams were used for source discrimination. As the southern Caucasus is a mountainous region for which the factor of distance as the crow flies cannot be applied, we have explored the capacity of the Geographic Information System to evaluate the nature and patterns of travel costs between the sources of obsidian and the archaeological sites. The role of the secondary obsidian deposits, which enabled the populations to acquire raw material at a considerable distance from the outcrops, is also considered.     

滕州前掌大墓地“于屯”村IIIM308出土铜器的科学分析

“于屯”村北墓区为前掌大“史”氏族团“分裂”而来的“鸟”氏支族墓区,其中IIIM308和IIIM309为“鸟”氏支族具有特殊身份的高级贵族夫妻异穴并葬墓。本文对IIIM308出土8件铜礼器进行材质分析及制作工艺考察,8件铜礼器的材质以铅锡青铜为主,皆为浑铸成型,采用了金属垫片、加强筋等工艺措施来保证铸造质量。9件“鸟”字铭文铜器,“鸟”字铭文形状可分为两组,可能系两个不同铸造作坊或前后两批次铸造。     

西江流域东周时期墓葬的青铜文化内涵与特征

西江流域是岭南东周时期青铜文化遗存较集中的地区,青铜器的文化特征主要表现在兵器和工具的组合及摆放位置、本地化的铸造技术、器物群的多种文化因素组合三个方面.当地的土著居民应该是这些文化的主体创造者,他们就是战国秦汉时期的"南越"等土著民族.     

辽宁新民市偏堡子遗址青铜时代遗存

2010年7月至9月,多家单位联合对偏堡子遗址进行了主动发掘。在遗址第Ⅱ发掘区清理了青铜时代墓葬6座,出土陶器12件,同时发掘了灰沟、灰坑若干,出土了陶器、骨器、石器等。这批材料具有高台山文化和新乐上层文化的因素,同时又有较强的地域性和时代性,为研究本地青铜时代的文化面貌提供了新的材料。     

Natural preservation mechanisms at play in a Bronze Age wooden shovel found in the copper mines of Alderley Edge

A wooden shovel, dating from the Early Bronze Age, has survived in a remarkable state of preservation in the copper mines of Alderley Edge, Cheshire UK. Other historic timbers recovered from the mines, whilst still intact, have fared less well. An X-ray investigation into the distribution of minerals through the shovel using portable X-ray Fluorescence (PXRF) along with the use of synchrotron-based X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) measurements of the copper and arsenic chemical speciations has provided clues to the methods by which metals from the mining environment have entered the wood of the shovel and ensured its survival. The distribution and nature of the minerals so determined suggest that the copper and arsenic, along with a significant lead content, entered the shovel during its original use in working mineral-rich deposits, rather than through the burial environment. The insights gained are expected to be applicable to other wooden artefacts recovered from ancient copper mines in other places.