RESEARCH ON THE PIGMENTS FROM PAINTED CERAMICS EXCAVATED FROM THE YANGQIAOPAN TOMBS OF THE LATE HAN DYNASTY (48 BC – AD 25)

The analysis of pigments on painted ceramics excavated from the Yangqiaopan Tombs of the late Western Han Dynasty was undertaken using optical microscopy (OM), micro‐Raman spectroscopy (μ‐RS), scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry (SEM–EDS), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy spectra (FTIR). The pigments were identified as red lead (Pb₃O₄), carbon (C), malachite [Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂], Chinese purple (BaCuSi₂O₆) and illite {[K,H₃O]Al₂Si₃AlO₁₀(OH)₂}. Fibrous materials were observed in some pigment samples. When observed by SEM, one showed a large amount of fibre in solidified gum, which indicated that gum of ramie could have been used as the binding medium to make the pigment particles adhere together. These results provide significant insights into the characteristics of these pigments in the Qin and Han Dynasties.     

IDENTIFICATION OF FORGERIES BY MEASURING TIN ISOTOPES IN CORRODED BRONZE OBJECTS*

The reliable identification of fakes consisting of bronze often presents problems, because traditional methods such as stylistic studies, optical microscopy, chemical analysis or X‐ray diffraction of the corrosion may not be conclusive. We present a method that is based on the comparison of the tin isotope ratios ¹²²Sn/¹¹⁶Sn and ¹¹⁷Sn/¹¹⁹Sn in the metal and in the adherent corrosion layer. An artificial patina is usually generated within a short time period. It has been observed that such a procedure leads to a depletion of the light tin isotopes in the corrosion layer, while in naturally corroded authentic archaeological objects no isotopic fractionation has been detected. The method has also been applied to archaeological objects and it could be confirmed, among other examples, that the famous ‘Sky Disc of Nebra’ is authentic.     

Remains of fly puparia as indicators of Neolithic cattle farming

Abstract

Remains of invertebrates were examined from four Final Neolithic settlements of the northern Federsee region in Upper Swabia. High concentrations of fly puparia (Diptera, Sepsidae, Sphaeroceridae, Muscidae) indicate cattle husbandry within the settlements.     

Pollen,herds, jasper and copper mines: economic and environmental changes during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC in Liguria (NW Italy)

Abstract

This paper reviews the interdisciplinary projects carried out during the last 25 years in eastern Liguria (NW Italy). These have brought together archaeologists, geographers, palaeobotanists and historians in a series of research exercises based upon many different types of evidence: archaeological excavation and survey, ecological analysis of existing landscapes, geoarchaeological, anthracological and palynological analyses. Taken together, the results of this research provide a rich source of material for developing an understanding of how humans in eastern Liguria have interacted with the landscape through time. The influence of human activity on the vegetation of Liguria, in the Late Neolithic, Copper Age (Chalcolithic) and Bronze Age, is part of a complex system of agricultural activity mainly involving transhumant pastoralism. Several peat sites and buried soils have supplied the palaeoecological data that indicate the considerable effect of this economic activity on the landscape: a reduction in fir woodland, a decrease in arboreal species and an increase in the diversity of light demanding herbaceous and fern taxa. The environmental and economic changes during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC in eastern Liguria are also testified to by the starting of quarrying and mining activities to obtain both red jasper and copper.     

The Internationalism of German Castle Research: Bodo Ebhardt,His European Network,and the Construction of 'Castle Knowledge'

Abstract

Recent monographs and articles emphasize the strong impact of nationalism and racist thinking on archaeology. In contrast to the treatments which focus on single nation states and on archaeology as a politically legitimate science, this paper explores the tension between internationalism and racist premises in German castle research, and how it manifests itself in the construction of knowledge about medieval castles across national borders. I will focus on Bodo Ebhardt, Germany's most famous and influential castle researcher of the first half of the 20th century. The analysis of his scientific work, and of his personal contact with other European researchers as well as with German politicians and patrons, will shed light on the changes and continuities in his network, and in particular on his construction of the past that was influenced by the formation of this network, which, in turn, affected his assessment of medieval castles.     

Wind Words and Fury: Canada and the Geneva Protocol, 1925–26

Abstract

Negotiation over the Geneva Protocol and its acceptance or rejection is placed in the context of Canadian domestic policy and its relationships both to the League of Nations, of which the Canadian government remained a strong support in principle, and the demands and expectations of its place within the British empire.     

Transformations: Post-Battle Processes on the Hürtgenwald Battlefield

Abstract

This paper uses the 1944 Hürtgenwald battlefield on the German-Belgian border as a case study to reflect upon two issues: what contributions to an understanding of post-battle transformations are made by an analysis of Second World War battlefields; and how an archaeological approach can help understand the Hürtgenwald battlefield. The analysis presented here discusses what actually happens with a modern battlefield after the killing is over and how such post-battle processes alter the way such a site is interpreted. In this respect, a battlefield from World War II reveals the transformations to which battlefields are subjected and provides a well-documented model case to study the effect of post-battle processes on conflict landscapes.     

The Social and Legal Status of Jews in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its Influence on the Status of Tatars and Karaites

Abstract

At the end of the fourteenth century, when Lithuania was baptized, three non-Christian communities — Jews, Tatars, and Karaites — began to settle in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and their legal and social status began to take shape. The segregation of Jews from Christians was legitimized in the first privilege granted for the Jews of Brest in 1388 by the Grand Duke Vytautas (Witold, Vita&?t) the Great. This privilege, which adapted Western variations of the Judenrecht to Lithuanian realities and introduced some local improvements, began the process of the formation of the legal and social status of non-Christians in the Grand Duchy. The expulsion of Jews to the margins of the estate system of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the establishment of the incumbency of the iudex iudeorum and internal community court, and the fully formed relations between the Jews and the legal system of the Grand Duchy were used as reference points in trying to define the legal status of the Tatars and the Karaites. In the case of Karaites, Magdeburg law, which was already known in Lithuania, was adopted. Grand Duke Casimir Jagiellon granted such a privilege to the Trakai (Troki) community in 1441, and the Karaite community’s life was organized according to the principles of the existing model of urban self-government. For some time the legal status of the Karaites differed from that of the Jews. Despite its uniqueness, Magdeburg law was not applied to the community’s everyday life, and the Karaites gradually absorbed the privileges granted for the Jews (especially that of 1646). The Tatars, who were socially stratified within their community and thus had different interests, were never granted a common privilege. Those ‘Jewish’ legal and social models, which were adapted for the Tatar community, were best revealed in the Third Lithuania Statute of 1588, which contained more regulations for non-Christians than its two predecessors. The content of its articles shows similarities of the social and legal status of non-Christians and the entrenchment of the social strata of non-Christians. The features of the model applied for regulating the state’s relations with the Jewish community might also be observed in the state’s relations with the Roma (Gipsy) community, which, although Christian, was considered unacceptable in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania because of its way of life.     

A NEW METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE PROVENANCE OF WHITE MARBLES BY CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF INCLUSION FLUIDS: THE MARBLES OF THE MAUSOLEUM OF BELEVI/TURKEY*

A new method is presented in this paper to pinpoint the origin of white marbles using the chemical analysis of fluids occurring as micro-inclusions in calcitic or dolomitic marbles. Beside the conventional methods usually applied for this purpose, the analyses of significant anions and cations in fluids extracted from white marbles were used to characterize different types of marbles. Using this new approach it is possible to distinguish different groups of marbles which cannot be separated isotopically. A case study was performed on the mausoleum of Belevi, close to Ephesus in Turkey, and the quarries in the area of the mausoleum. The marbles used for the architecture of the mausoleum cannot be distinguished isotopically but were split into two groups when using fluid inclusion analysis. The corresponding quarry for the high-quality marble (cella walls, columns etc.) turned out to be the Kentli Çiftliği quarry, which also supplied the marbles for the classical Artemision. According to the chemical and fluid data it can be shown, however, that neither the adjacent famous antique quarry of Belevi nor the underground mine of Kusini, some 5 km away from the mausoleum, are the sources for the marbles used for the construction or decoration of the mausoleum.     

EVALUATION OF THE APPLICABILITY OF CONVENTIONAL METHODS FOR THE CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF WATERLOGGED ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

A series of 112 waterlogged archaeological wood samples of different provenances, wood species, burial times and states of preservation were analysed with the aim of assessing the validity (in terms of limits and reliability) of procedures conventionally used in the pulp and paper industry, to evaluate the state of preservation of decayed wood. In particular, the extent of any damage wrought on decayed wood tissue by the repetitive cycles that characterize these procedures was evaluated as a function of the degradation of the samples. The results indicated that standard methodologies give reliable measurements regardless of the extent of wood decay. However, it is essential to compare these data with those of non‐decayed wood that has been measured using the same procedures to take account of the errors that are inherent in these methodologies and that affect measurements.