中子化盘铭文别释

中子化盘过去通常被归入东周楚国之器,但疑问甚多。本文通过分析,提出另一种解释,认为该盘之年代或为两周之际,铭文中的"保楚"当读为"保胥",与它器所见的"楚(胥)保"一样,为同义复合词,可训作"辅助"、"辅佐"等义,"用保楚王"是指辅佐周王。西周晚期,中氏的族居地在岐周一带,该族为当时的一个中级贵族家族,且其族姓为姬姓,可能属"周公之胤"的同氏之分支,而盘的主人"中子化"应该就是两周之际该宗族组织的某一代首领。所以,中子化盘乃王朝贵族器物,似与南方楚国无涉。     

AMT复合剂保护青铜文物的研究

本依据ATM复合剂清洗粉状锈即青铜病的实验,对春秋战国时期的腐蚀青铜编钟进行保护处理,将清洗液作了IC分析。从实验和分析表明ATM复合剂不怛可消除粉状锈,而且对青铜物起到缓蚀保护的作用,简化了传统腐蚀青铜物的处理工艺。     

重庆忠县洞天堡墓地出土西汉青铜钫的腐蚀研究

为了解重庆洞天堡墓地出土青铜器的保存状况、腐蚀产物种类和埋藏环境特征等,并探索其锈蚀成因,为即将进行的保护修复工作提供科学的依据,利用三维视频显微镜、激光共聚焦拉曼光谱仪和扫描电子显微镜等对重庆忠县洞天堡墓地出土青铜钫残片进行微观形貌观察和锈蚀物结构成分分析,并利用X射线荧光和微生物分析技术对青铜钫附着土壤进行成分和微生物分析。结果表明:该青铜钫锈蚀物含孔雀石、白铅矿、铅钒、磷氯铅矿、砷铅矿和赤铜矿等;外层锈蚀存在磷和氯元素富集现象;土壤中的磷、硫和氯等元素向青铜器迁移,青铜器中铜、锡和铅元素因腐蚀向土壤中流失;附着土富含多种真菌类微生物,促进了磷氯铅矿和砷铅矿的形成。     

Trace element discriminants between Egyptian and Mesopotamian Late Bronze Age glasses

The origins of Late Bronze Age glass artefacts found throughout the Mediterranean and Near and Middle East remain controversial. Previous analyses of major and minor elements in both Egyptian and Mesopotamian glasses have proven equivocal, revealing no significant compositional differences between glasses from these two regions. Here we present new Laser ablation-ICPMS analyses of 32 trace elements in 54 samples of both Egyptian and Mesopotamian blue and colourless glasses. Our results show that there are consistent differences between these two suites, which are not related to the colorant and clearly indicate the use of different raw materials and/or manufacturing processes. Compositional variations are related to geological controls, hence this method holds promise for the development of a minimally destructive technique for discriminating between archaeological glasses of different provenance, which will be essential in the interpretation of ancient trade patterns and contacts.     

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.     

When a ‘Waterhole’ Is Full of Dung: An Illustration of the Importance of Environmental Evidence for Refining Archaeological Interpretation of Excavated Features

Prehistoric field systems sometimes encompass excavated, pit‐like features which are difficult to classify due to the complex stratigraphies resulting from reuse, infilling and collapse. They are frequently classified as wells and watering holes, but other potential uses for excavated depressions are rarely cited. We argue the need for environmental archaeology in the interpretation of features of this nature, and present a case study from a Bronze Age site at Pode Hole, near Peterborough (UK), where fossil insect material clearly contradicts the archaeological interpretation. We present empirical evidence for a sealed context filled with dung which cannot be interpreted as a water source. This evidence strongly contrasts with other superficially similar features at the site.     

Was Lacquer the Key Ingredient for Luxurious Jinyin Pingtuo Products in the Tang Dynasty of China (AD 618–907)?

Jinyin pingtuo is one of the most sumptuous decorative methods applied on ‘lacquered' objects described in Tang dynasty literatures. Two Tang dynasty objects, a silver bowl and a bronze mirror, in the British Museum collection said to be made by this technique, were scientifically examined to confirm the application of the technique. Although the metal décors levelled with the rest of the surfaces on these objects suggested the application of the pingtuo method, lacquer, a major ingredient of this technique, was not identified by Py (HMDS)-GC–MS in any of the four samples analysed. The results question the use of lacquer in the pingtuo technique as usually described. The detection of shellac and oil in the bronze mirror aligns with other studies on similar objects, whereas proteinaceous materials as main ingredient of the decorative layers of the silver bowl, appear less usual. Further comparative study by scientific analysis of similar objects in other museum collections or from excavations is required to help better understand the use of lacquer in ancient China.     

NEW DATA ON THE TECHNOLOGY OF FAIENCE PRODUCTION IN CENTRAL EUROPE IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE

New data on faience production technologies in central Europe come from an analysis of 12 faience beads from an Early Bronze Age cemetery in Poland. The beads were tested with the EPMA method. Altogether 65 measurements were made. In terms of morphology, the artifacts are all the same, but they differ in microstructure and chemical composition. For some a mixed alkali flux was used, for others soda-rich plant ashes. Even so, all of the beads seem to have been made from local raw materials in central Europe (soda-rich plant ashes could have come from plants growing near one of the mainland salt sources, which are frequent, for example, in south-eastern Poland).     

Dietary changes and millet consumption in northern France at the end of Prehistory: Evidence from archaeobotanical and stable isotope data

Diachronic changes of dietary human habits between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age are mainly identified through archaeological artefacts and archaeozoological and archaeobotanical studies. This paper aims to demonstrate the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach for palaeodietary studies and to identify the food changes between Neolithic and Bronze Age human groups in northern France. These changes are probably linked to the introduction of new crops, such as millet, and the use of stable isotope analysis on bones and teeth proves to be an effective method for assessing the role of this specific cereal in the diet and the economy. Stable isotope analyses were performed on bone and tooth collagen and apatite from eight humans and five domestic animals from a Late Bronze Age site (LBA; Barbuise; 15th–13th c. BC; Aube). The studied corpus is compared with isotopic data from human and animal bones from a nearby Neolithic site (Gurgy; 5th mill. BC; Yonne) and regional Neolithic to Iron sites located in northern France. Moreover, Barbuise data are supplemented by information from an important archaeobotanical study carried out on 21 LBA and Early Iron Age sites in the region. Neolithic and LBA human collagen isotopic ratios (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) differ statistically, as do those of some animals. Carbon isotopic ratios of human apatite corroborate collagen results indicating the consumption of ¹³C enriched food by LBA humans and animals compared to Neolithic samples. The high number of occurrences of plant remains in the Bronze Age settlements near the site points to the consumption of C₄ plants, such as millet, and would account for these results.     

Tell Abraq during the second and first millennia BC: site layout,spatial organisation,and economy

Research recommenced at Tell Abraq in 2007, carried out by Bryn Mawr College with an international team in co‐operation with the Sharjah Archaeology Authority. Between 2007 and 2010 fieldwork was limited to documenting sections of the previous excavations and one small sounding while our attention focused mainly on the nearby shell‐midden site of Hamriya and the fortified Iron Age settlement site of Muweilah. Since 2010, large‐scale excavations have been conducted which have fundamentally altered our understanding of the layout of the settlement and its economic relations during the second and first millennia BC. In this report, we detail the results of this work and present preliminary interpretations.