THE COMPLEMENTARY USE OF NEUTRONS AND X‐RAYS FOR THE NON‐DESTRUCTIVE INVESTIGATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBJECTS FROM SWISS COLLECTIONS*

This paper shows the possibilities offered by the combined use of non‐destructive neutron and X‐ray beams in archaeological research on metallic finds. The following five artefacts from Swiss excavations were submitted to investigation, each with dedicated aims: a Roman sword, a Roman dagger, an Iron Age bucket, Iron Age spearheads and a Roman finger ring. The images obtained with both methods—neutrons and X‐rays—are discussed in length in this paper. The investigations took place at the Paul Scherrer Institute and the archaeologists who studied the objects come from the Universities of Lausanne and Zurich.     

ESTIMATION OF THE AGE OF A PRE‐INDUSTRIAL IRON SITE IN KOREA*

A pre‐industrial iron‐smelting site in Korea, whose period of active use is placed on typological grounds between the eighth and 18th centuries ad , has been dated using accelerator mass spectrometry and thermoluminescence. The ages of two charcoal samples were 77 ± 25 and 81 ± 25 years bp , with the calibrated date for both ranging from ad 1700 to ad 1955, while a clay fragment dated to ad 1650 ± 50. The results from typology and radiocarbon seem insignificant due to the considerable uncertainties involved, but in combination with the thermoluminescence result they place the most probable date of the site at around ad 1700.     

GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND SOCIOCULTURAL COMPLEXITY: A CASE STUDY FROM EARLY IRON AGE MEGIDDO (ISRAEL)*

Few archaeological sites can claim a more celebrated position than Megiddo, the Armageddon of biblical revelation. Guardian to a strategic pass on the ancient land bridge that traverses the region, it has long been known that Megiddo played a prominent role in the emergence of the Iron Age nation‐states of biblical fame. Given its pivotal location, Megiddo provides an ideal opportunity to examine the experience of a community that found itself at the centre of these developments. The archaeological and textual evidence indicates a community that enjoyed extensive contact with an array of culturally distinct sociopolitical groups emerging in its hinterland. To further explore the nature and extent of this interaction, an assemblage of 86 ceramic sherds was analysed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). This paper presents the results of this analysis, together with an evaluation of potential geochemical and archaeological interconnections. Based on this comparative analysis, implications are drawn regarding Megiddo's role in the changing cultural and political landscape of this formative period in the history of the region.     

THE PROVENANCE AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF BRONZE AGE AND IRON AGE POTTERY FROM TELL MISHRIFEH/QATNA (SYRIA)*

This work deals with the archaeometric study of the Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery from Tell Mishrifeh/Qatna (central‐western Syria), where the complete cycle of ceramic production is well documented. Petrographic, chemical and diffractometric analyses were carried out on both potsherds and a clayey material found in a separation basin within the area of the workshops. Petrographic groups were defined and maximum firing temperatures and redox firing conditions were estimated, providing constraints on identifying the production technology and its evolution with time. The studied potsherds turned out to be locally produced, with only a few cases of possible similarities with those described for other localities along the Orontes Valley, and in a couple of cases with evidence of pottery exchange.     

GLASS CORROSION ACROSS THE ALPS: A SURFACE STUDY OF CHEMICAL CORROSION OF GLASSES FOUND IN MARINE AND GROUND ENVIRONMENTS*

Ancient glasses deriving from differing environments (marine and ground) and areas (Mediterranean and Continental) have been investigated to understand their weathering processes. Although the glass technologies, developed in various ways, and the differing compositions of the glasses from the two areas, have generated differing durabilities, the weathering features of both typologies of glass are identical. Therefore, the corrosion phenomena are due to the action of water, and they are not related to the sample microclimate. Data have been collected using optical microscopy, RGA and surface analysis techniques: XPS, ESEM and SIMS.     

A Second Investigation into the Chemical Composition of the Roman Provincial (Procuratorial) Coinage of Judaea,AD 6–66*

An investigation of the chemical composition of the first Roman provincial coinage of Judaea, minted in ad 6–66, was conducted. A total of 103 copper‐alloy coins were analysed by ICP‐AES. It was determined that different copper alloys were used for the coinage, a leaded tin‐bronze and a pure tin‐bronze alloy. The investigation also showed that the copper alloy was made in four different formulae with regard to the alloying elements added to copper. Trace element profiles point to the existence of a shared pool of metal for Roman coins and metalwork.     

Adhesive Production and Pottery Function During the Iron Age at the Site of Grand Aunay (Sarthe,France)*

A combination of elemental, functional and molecular analyses performed on amorphous organic residues dating from the Iron Age was developed in order to identify these remains and to understand their relationship with ceramic vessels in which some of them were found. These analyses made it possible to distinguish between ceramic vessels used for the production or storage of adhesive materials, mainly birch bark tar, and those dedicated to the preparation of culinary commodities, which contained animal fats. The organization of the production of adhesives is described and the addition of beeswax to birch bark tar is reported for the first time. The use of birch bark tar for coating ceramic vessels is also discussed.     

The Source Provenance of Bronze Age and Roman pottery from Cyprus

Archaeological interpretations of ancient economies have been strengthened by chemical analyses of ceramics, which provide the clearest evidence for economic activity, and comprise both the objects of exchange and its means. Pottery is often manufactured from local materials, but its compositional diversity typically prevents significant patterns of resource utilization from being identified. Centrally located and positioned on traditional shipping routes, Cyprus maintained ties with and supplied a variety of distinctive ceramic products to the major commercial centres in the eastern Mediterranean throughout Antiquity. We analysed two Cypriot .ne wares and a variety of utilitarian pottery, as well as samples of extant Cypriot clays to determine source provenance. These chemical analyses provide an objective indication of the origins of ancient (Bronze Age and Roman) ceramics manufactured on Cyprus. The distribution of the probable clay sources and the links between pottery style and the material environment also afford a perspective on the spatial organization of large‐scale pottery production on the island. Compositional analysis provides the means to assemble geographies of pottery production and to unravel the interregional system of exchange that operated in Antiquity, but the ability to accomplish these tasks is predicated on systematic analyses of ceramic products and raw materials that are found far beyond the bounds of individual archaeological sites.     

ARCHAEOMETRICAL STUDIES OF ROMAN IMPERIAL AGE GLASS FROM CANTON TICINO*

An archaeometrical study of Roman glass finds recovered in the Canton Ticino area was performed after the finding of traces of possible glass‐working at Muralto near Locarno. The aim of this work is to provide chemical characterization of these glass varieties—never analysed before—and to compare the results obtained with those for glass of the same period coming from other sites (Aquileia, Augusta Praetoria and Modena). The chemical data shows that the composition of Canton Ticino glass remained the same from the first to the fourth century ad . Moreover, the large amounts of Sb used as a decolouring agent in these samples represents a peculiar trait.