LEAD ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF LATE BRONZE AGE POTTERY FROM HALA SULTAN TEKKE (CYPRUS)

Lead isotopic compositions were measured for 65 sherds from five pottery wares (Plain White, Coarse, Canaanite, White Slip and Base‐ring) excavated from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke (Cyprus). The elemental composition and isotopic signature of the sherds were compared with those of 65 clay samples collected in south‐east Cyprus, mainly in the surroundings (<20 km) of Hala Sultan Tekke. This work shows the effectiveness of using lead isotopic analysis in provenance studies, along with other analytical techniques, such as X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X‐ray detection (EDX) facility, to identify the composition of pottery wares and the clay sources used for pottery ware production.     

OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF TIN‐OPACIFIED GLAZES*

Tin glazes contain SnO2 particles, with a diameter similar to the wavelength of visible light, which are responsible for glaze opacification. In this paper a theoretical model to explain the optical behaviour of these glazes is developed. This model is tested by measurement of the reflectance and transmittance spectra for different optical paths in Spanish Islamic and mudejar glazed ceramics and it is shown to be valid by total reflectance non‐destructive measurements on a wide range of other Islamic and related glazed ceramics.     

The Determination of Lead Isotope Ratios by Multiple Collector Icp‐Ms: A Case Study of Early Bronze Age Artefacts and their Possible Relation With Ore Deposits of the Erzgebirge*

Lead isotope analyses of Early Bronze Age metal artefacts from the Aunjetitz (Ún?tice) culture in central Germany and Bohemia were determined in order to find out whether they could be related to ore sources of the Erzgebirge. Historical mining began only in the 12th century ad , but despite the lack of convincing field evidence it has frequently been suspected that this region was already being exploited in prehistoric times. For the determination of the lead isotope ratios, the new technique of multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC‐ICP‐MS) was employed, which combines relatively easy sample preparation with highly precise and accurate measurements. The results show that there is still no evidence for prehistoric mining in the Erzgebirge, but the Rammelsberg deposit in the Harz Mountains might have supplied some of the copper. Mining of stream tin in the Erzgebirge remains a possibility, but no positive evidence can be extracted from the data.     

AN ELEMENTAL AND LEAD‐ISOTOPIC STUDY ON BRONZE HELMETS FROM ROYAL TOMB NO. 1004 IN YIN RUINS

Lead isotope and element composition analyses were performed by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES) on bronze helmets from royal tomb No. 1004 at Yin Ruins, the last capital of China's Shang Dynasty (17th to 11th centuries bc ). The data show that the copper‐based alloy helmets can be divided into two categories: tin bronze and leaded tin bronze; and the lead isotope ratios for both categories are in the range of highly radiogenic lead (HRL). This result offers some important clues to answering questions concerning the provenance of raw metal materials, as well as the chronology of this famous royal tomb.     

LEAD ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF EIGHTEENTH‐DYNASTY EGYPTIAN EYEPAINTS AND LEAD ANTIMONATE COLOURANTS*

New lead isotopic analyses are presented for lead antimonate coloured glass and faience from Amarna in Middle Egypt and dated to around 1350 BC. When compared to existing data, these suggest that Gebel Zeit on the Red Sea coast of Egypt may be the source for some of the lead antimonate colourants used in Egypt and possibly for the galena kohls of Eighteenth‐Dynasty date as well.     

Malkata and Lisht Glassmaking Technologies: Towards a Specific Link between Second Millennium BC

Elemental analyses have been conducted on 61 coloured opaque glasses from the Malkata and Lisht New Kingdom glass factories. The presence of tin in several of the blue glasses suggests that a bronze casting byproduct or corrosion product was the source of the copper colorant for these glasses. A positive correlation between the lead and antimony concentrations of the yellow and green opaque glasses, plus a consistent excess of lead oxide in these glasses, suggests the use of antimony‐rich cupellation litharge as the source for the Pb₂Sb₂O₇ , colorant in these glasses. The metallurgical byproducts used to colour the Malkata and Lisht glasses provide an explicit mechanism for Peltenburg's theory of interaction between second millennium BC glassmakers and contemporary metalworkers.     

The use and origin of antimonate colorants in early Egyptian glass*

The origin of the colorants in Egyptian glass of the second millennium BC has been the subject of much research and debate. Several colorants including lead antimonate yellow and calcium antimonate white appear in the archaeological record apparently concurrently with the introduction of glass, and it is possible that their origins are in some way linked. This paper examines the use of the antimonate colorants and uses analytical and experimental techniques to deduce possible technologies of production. Trace element data derived from a pilot study by LA‐ICPMS gives additional indications of a possible source in the Caucasus for the antimony of these glasses.     

SOUTHEAST ASIA'S FIRST ISOTOPICALLY DEFINED PREHISTORIC COPPER PRODUCTION SYSTEM: WHEN DID EXTRACTIVE METALLURGY BEGIN IN THE KHAO WONG PRACHAN VALLEY OF CENTRAL THAILAND?

Southeast Asian metallurgical developments have been a focus of international academic interest since Solheim (1968 ) and Bayard (1972 ) first published bronze artefacts in claimed early/middle third millennium bce contexts from northeastern Thailand, igniting a regional ‘origins’ of metallurgy debate that has smouldered for 40 years (e.g., White and Hamilton 2009 , Higham in press ). In this paper, we present the results of a lead isotope pilot study centred on the Khao Wong Prachan Valley of central Thailand—currently Southeast Asia's only documented prehistoric copper smelting locale. These preliminary data indicate that our ongoing regional metal exchange research programme may be able to elucidate interaction networks between copper‐producing and ‐consuming societies within and beyond Southeast Asia from c. 2000 bce to c. 500 ce . Furthermore, we are able to offer tentative evidence relevant to White and Hamilton's (2009 ) ‘Rapid Eurasian Technological Expansion Model’ for the Sino‐Siberian derivation of regional metal technologies around the turn of the third/second millennium bce .     

APPLICATION OF LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS TO A WIDE RANGE OF LATE BRONZE AGE EGYPTIAN MATERIALS*

Lead isotope analysis was applied to Egyptian materials from the Late Bronze Age in order to investigate the relationship between these different materials, many of which have lead as a significant component. The galena kohls analysed can be provenanced to Gebel Zeit, a large mining site known to have been active during the period. However, the source of lead metal is different and seems to be outside Egypt, along with the source of copper. Lead‐based pigments such as lead antimonate that were used in glass and glazes seem mostly to come from Egypt, although they may well contain a component of ‘Mesopotamian’ lead. In the Predynastic period, galena from many sources is being exploited for use as kohl. However, by the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 bc ), extraction has concentrated on one source, Gebel Zeit, perhaps reflecting increasingly centralized control and/or the use of large‐scale exploitation. It therefore appears that a complex pattern of trade in lead‐based materials was evident, with lead metal and galena being separate commodities from separate sources and treated as such.