Provenance of Early Bronze Age metal artefacts in Western Switzerland using elemental and lead isotopic compositions and their possible relation with copper minerals of the nearby Valais

Ten Early Bronze Age (BzA1, 2200–2000 BC) copper artefacts from the central Valais region from Switzerland were studied for their elemental composition and lead isotope ratios. In order to answer the archaeological question of a local copper supply, a database for copper minerals across the Valais (Switzerland) has been established. This database contains 69 data on lead isotope ratios as well as additional information on the minerals and geochemical associations for copper minerals from 38 locations in the Valais. Comparisons of the artefacts were also made with data pertaining to minerals from various deposits from Europe and Anatolia taken from the literature. The provenance of the materials is very diverse. Some of the data are compatible with the data from the copper mineral deposits of the Valais region. Moreover, three copper lunulae were identified as possibly Tuscan, which suggests contacts between Italy and the Valais region. This pattern also establishes a multiplicity of provenances for the metal and cultural influences in the Alpine environment of the Rhone Valley of Switzerland at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.     

黄河流域早期铜器演进初探

黄河流域是中国早期铜器起源与发展的关键区域,早期铜器的演进受社会复杂化程度制约。在文明化进程的视野下,本文通过用铜遗存的考古信息与社会经济背景,将黄河流域早期铜器的演进分为早期用铜的萌芽、发展初期及区域化特征形成三个阶段,初步阐释铜制品从出现到规模化使用的过程。人群流动、定居农业、手工业生产、城市与权力的集中是影响黄河流域早期铜器演进模式的重要因素。大体在公元前2300年至前1400年的文明进程中,黄河上游铜器的制作与使用具有相似的风格及开放共融的特征,而黄河中下游地区防御性城市与权力的发展,推动了铜器技术与社会功用的本土化转变。     

贵州可乐墓地出土铜器的技术研究

为研究古夜郎地区的青铜器铸造技术,本文对贵州可乐墓地2000年出土的33件铜器进行了金相观察和扫描电镜能谱分析,结果表明:战国早期至中期,铜锡合金的配比技术已经进入相对成熟阶段;战国晚期,可乐地区开始规范化、甚至批量化生产铜器;战国末期到西汉前期,铜锡铅合金的配比技术进入较成熟阶段;工匠先后掌握了锡青铜和铅锡青铜的制作性能,能够根据器物选择材质和加工方法;战国中晚期,可乐地区可能能够自行生产巴蜀、石寨山风格铜器,且与两地青铜技术水平相近。     

汉阳陵东阙门出土黑色颜料的科学分析

为了科学分析汉阳陵东阙门西壁黑色颜料的组成和进一步探讨汉代皇陵颜料的使用状况,采用超景深显微观察、扫描电镜能谱(SEM-EDS)以及面扫描技术、X射线衍射(XRD)等测试方法,结合文献资料进行了科学分析鉴定与深入探讨。结果表明该黑色成分是氧化铜,应是原先含铜的蓝绿色颜料经过火烧氧化后所造成,属后呈现色彩。这一结果为后续彩绘类文物颜料鉴定提供科学思维,即不仅使用现代分析测试手段分析鉴定当前状态下的颜料种类,还应结合文物所处的环境变化,科学系统地指明其色彩呈现形式。另外,实验中使用的扫描电镜能谱面扫描技术可清楚确认颜料颗粒的分布情况,在微观分析颜料颗粒方面具有不可比拟的优越性。     

铜同位素分析法在考古研究中的应用探讨

最新地球化学研究发现,自然界不同地质条件和成矿环境中的铜同位素组成存在显著差异。根据铜矿中铜同位素变化规律,考古学家已将铜同位素作为一种新的示踪剂应用于考古探源研究之中。文章介绍了铜同位素地球化学的最新发展、考古应用原理、实验方法及相关的考古应用实例。认为尽管自然界铜同位素的变化较为复杂且铜同位素地球化学还处于形成发展阶段,但铜同位素分析法在含铜器物的产地研究中已显示出了较好的应用前景。随着铜同位素地球化学研究的深入及分析技术的进一步提高,铜同位素分析法将会在考古研究中发挥更大的作用。     

Dental evidence of biological affinity and environmental conditions in prehistoric Trentino (Italy) samples from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age

The use of teeth in anthropological analyses has always provided valuable information on the subsistence patterns of human communities, as well as the biological relationships among them. The present study analyses the permanent dentition of several diachronically continuing samples from the Trentino alpine region of Italy from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The study of both metric and non‐metric dental traits show a strong level of homogeneity from the earlier to the later samples, indicating little external biological influence from surrounding areas. However, the evidence of oral pathology and linear enamel hypoplasia highlights a trend of increase in defects, particularly between the Neolithic and the Copper Age. This has been ascribed to a shift towards more intense agricultural activities and pastoralism, that led to a change in diet and to an increased sedentism. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A long-distance copper alloy trade to the North Eastern Baltic during the late pre-Roman and Roman Iron Age (250 BCE–450 CE) explored with lead isotope MC-ICP-MS

The North Eastern Baltic has no copper resources of its own, meaning that Cu alloy was imported either as raw material or as finished objects. The north-eastern coastline of Estonia during the late pre-Roman and Roman Iron Age was connected to the south by sea to the long-distance ‘amber’ trade route and to the east by Russian river systems. This study quantitatively assesses the direction of the Cu alloy supply in the region before and after brass enters circulation at the beginning of the Roman Iron Age. After an initial portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) survey, 18 objects were chosen for Pb isotope analysis. This isotope analysis resolved a group of nine brass artefacts from the Roman Iron Age amongst a ‘melting pot’ of other Cu alloys. The similarity between the isotope ratios found in the Roman world suggests the presence of the same ‘melting pot’ in the North Eastern Baltic, possibly created by a large amount of Roman Cu alloy being traded north. No evidence for Cu alloy from Scandinavia or the Ural Mountains could be found. The hypothesis from this small study is that the Cu alloy entering Estonia was dominated by metal from Southern Europe from the late pre-Roman Iron Age and the Roman period.     

川陕省苏维埃铜元金属成分及相关问题分析

川陕省苏维埃铜元是第二次国内革命战争时期遗留下来的重要革命文物，它承载着中国共产党与川陕苏区人民英勇奋斗的光辉历程，本工作通过能量色散型X射线能谱(EDS)技术对二种面值、三个种类、九个版类的川陕省苏维埃铜元成分进行了研究，结合川陕省苏维埃铜元产地的历史变迁及版类的生产顺序，发现川陕省苏维埃铜元的含铜量整体上远高于晚清、民国典型黄铜元的铜含量，而稍低于典型红铜元的铜含量。随着生产时期向后推移，川陕省苏维埃铜元的含铜量逐渐增加并达到95%左右，而锌、铅、锡的含量则呈现出较明显的降低趋势。分析表明，川陕省苏维埃政府早期生产的大二百文铜元，中后期生产的部分无齿类小二百文铜元和繁体联五百文铜元极可能是采用红铜元、杂铜混合重铸的方式制造，而鼎盛时期生产的有齿类小二百文铜元和简体联五百文铜元则是合格的红铜元。这一动态变化趋势说明，苏维埃造币机构在铜元生产过程中，其原材料筛选标准逐渐明确并日趋严格，反映了苏维埃政府在铜资源管理与使用上逐渐趋于合理化。     

Precision in the X-ray fluorescence analysis of sixty-one Augustan quadrantes

Sixty-one Augustan quadrantes were analysed for calcium, iron, nickel, copper, silver, tin, antimony, and lead by X-ray fluorescence. Most coins contained about 99·7% copper with the other seven elements present as trace impurities. Significant differences in composition were found for the three different issues of quadrantes minted in c. 9 BC indicating that these issues were not minted exactly contemporaneously. Quadrantes minted in c. 4 BC have trace element concentrations in ranges that differ from those of the 9 BC quadrantes. The precision is very good for all trace elements (the precision of calcium was not calculated): average standard deviations are 0·0021% for Fe, 0·0026% for Ni, 0·0038% for Ag, 0·0014% for Sn, 0·0031% for Sb, and 0·015 for Pb.