Morphometry of Middle Bronze Age palstaves by Discrete Cosine Transform

The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is a Fourier-related transform widely used in signal processing and well suited to the analysis of open outlines. This method was applied here to evaluate the discrimination power of the inner lateral rib for two palstave populations dating from the Middle Bronze Age, excavated in northwest France. A corpus of almost 400 palstaves (bronze axes) of the Breton and Norman types was processed, and compared to specimens found at Sermizelles in Burgundy. The procedure is robust and produces a discrimination in good agreement with the traditional typology. Besides the definition of a ‘standard’ shape for each population, the morphometrical approach allows shape disparity, which is generally inaccessible to the naked eye, to be visualised and quantified. Shape disparity indicates that, contrary to previous assumptions, the bronze axes from the Sermizelles hoards cannot be explained as an assortment of Breton and Norman palstaves alone. We believe that this approach is quick, reproducible, and generalisable enough to be applied to a wide variety of artefacts from different periods, in order to clarify their typology and even their origin.     

Differential diagnosis and discussion of a large nasal neoplasm from a late Bronze Age Athenian male

An adult male from the late Bronze Age of Athens, Greece, was found to have a large neoplasm in the nasal cavity. The characteristics of the lesion suggest that it was an osteoma of the ethmoid. Secondary infections of the paranasal sinuses are present as a result of the tumour blocking the sinus drainage. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A provenance study of Mycenaean pottery from Northern Israel

The occurrence of imported Mycenaean pottery in the Late Bronze Age southern Levant is one of the most conspicuous aspects of Eastern Mediterranean trade connections during this period. A group of 183 Mycenaean pottery vessels from 14 sites in northern Israel, from both coastal and inland settlement contexts were analyzed by Neutron Activation Analysis. The results indicate that the vast majority of these vessels have a similar profile and can be provenanced to the north-eastern Peloponnese or more specifically, to the Mycenae/Berbati workshop in the Argolid. Possible interpretations of these results are presented and discussed against the historical and cultural background of the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean.     

Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal, Siberia: An overview for the new century

The paper examines Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer adaptive strategies in the Baikal region of Siberia based on diverse data (radiocarbon, mortuary, geochemical, genetic, human osteological, and zooarchaeological) accumulated over the last 10–15 years. The new model emphasizes the cyclical nature of the long-term changes and recognizes similarities between the Early Neolithic and Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age cultures. The overall impression seems to be that change in the region was rapid rather than gradual. A number of interesting correlations between various cultural and environmental variables have been identified. During the Early Neolithic and Late Neolithic–Bronze Age, the spatial distributions of mortuary sites, open landscape, and good fisheries are all correlated and both intervals are coeval with periods of environmental stability. For the Early Neolithic two additional sets of correlated variables have been identified: (1) the uneven distribution of fish resources, uneven distribution of the human population, and cultural heterogeneity; and (2) poorer overall community health, more extensive male travel and heavier workloads, and higher reliance on fishing. For the Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age, the sets of correlated variables are somewhat different: (1) more even distribution of terrestrial game resources (herbivores), more even distribution of the human population, and cultural homogeneity; and (2) better overall community health, less travel and lighter workloads, more equitable distribution of labor between males and females, and higher reliance on game hunting. Viewed together, these patterns emphasize the much more dynamic pattern of hunter-gatherer cultural variability, temporally and spatially, compared to what was known before.     

殷周时期的“举族”及其相关问题

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南阳汉代铜舟科学分析

本文对一件南阳汉代铜舟进行科学分析,认为其在合金技术、锻造技术、热处理技术和机械加工技术等方面,反映了我国古代青铜技术的先进水平。     

Technological examination of Neolithic-Bronze Age pottery from central and southeast Europe and from the Near East

Scanning electron microscopy is used to examine sequences of pottery sherds from central and southeast Europe, Greece and the Near East spanning the period from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, in order to obtain information on the ceramic technologies employed in antiquity. On the basis of the vitrification observed and the chemical composition, the types of clay and firing procedures (temperature and atmosphere) employed in the manufacture of the pottery are defined. Two under-lying trends in the associated ceramic technologies are thus identified. The first is based on the use of non-calcareous or “unstable” calcareous clays fired in a reducing atmosphere at temperatures below 800 °C and the second on the use of “stable” calcareous clays fired in an oxidizing atmosphere at temperatures in excess of 800 °C.     

Early Imports in the Late Bronze Age of South‐Western Iberia: The Bronze Ornaments of the Hypogea at Monte da Ramada 1 (Southern Portugal)

The composition and manufacture of Late Bronze Age metallic artefacts from funerary and domestic contexts of southern inland Portugal was studied. The prevailing trend comprises binary bronzes (10.3 ± 2.1 wt% Sn) showing deformed equiaxial grains, annealing twins and slip bands. The alloy composition is somewhat independent of artefact type, while the manufacture seems to rely on artefact function and the skilfulness of the metallurgist. The technological characteristics were linked with archaeological and chronological features, disclosing some artefacts of uncommon composition, such as low‐tin bronze bracelets (4.3–7.1 wt% Sn) associated with ornaments of exotic materials (glass and Egyptian faience beads, and also ostrich egg shell beads). The assemblage testifies to an archaic trade with the Mediterranean region before the establishment of the first Phoenician colonies on the southern Iberian coast.     

甘肃武威出土铜奔马铸造工艺初探

甘肃武威出土的东汉铜奔马和铜车马仪仗队是我国古代青铜艺术品中罕见的杰作,是中国众多文物中的代表和古老中华文明的一种象征。甘肃省博物馆通过现代科学仪器检测及综合分析发现:铜奔马和铜车马仪仗队都是陶范铸造法铸造而成,而不是失蜡法铸造的;铜奔马铸造时在铜质马腿内夹铸了卯榫状铁芯骨,以增强马腿的强度和支撑力;铜车马仪仗队中甲型马和刻有铭文的乙型马,是铸造工艺不同的两批制品。这些发现对进一步研究铜奔马及墓主人提供了新的材料。     

基于标准差分析的秦始皇陵青铜马车零部件生产工艺研究

此项研究分析评估了秦始皇陵出土青铜马车零部件尺寸、金属成分配比的标准化程度。研究发现,青铜马车同类型零部件外形尺寸标准差与平均值的比值都保持在2%以内;青铜部件的铜含量标准差在3%以内,器物成分高度统一。马车的青铜部件都为铜锡二元青铜,从小型饰件到大型部件,从薄板部件到青铜焊液,大致都含有约10%的锡,90%的铜。马车零部件的外形尺寸与器物成分的同一化,表明秦始皇统一六国后存在着高度标准化的社会生产。