PROVENANCE DETERMINATION OF LAVA FLAGSTONES FROM THE ROMAN ‘VIA CONSOLARE FLAMINIA’PAVEMENT (CENTRAL ITALY) USING PETROLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS*

Trachyte lava flagstones from the northernmost stretch of the Roman ‘Via Consolare Flaminia’pavement and trachyte lavas from the most exploited quarries in Roman times were compared from a petrological point of view. ‘Via Consolare Flaminia’was the most important route used by the Romans to reach northern Italy and all the northern provinces of the Empire. A provenance for the flagstones as coming from the trachyte quarries of the Euganean Hills (Veneto region, northern Italy) is suggested by the similarity of both the fundamental mineral assemblage and the major trace element geochemistry. The location of the quarries of the Euganean Hills next to the harbours of the northern Adriatic Sea strongly supports the hypothesis that the Romans carried the flagstones by ship towards the coasts of the central Adriatic Sea.     

GC–MS ANALYSIS AND FATTY ACID RATIOS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTSHERDS FROM THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN OF NORTH AMERICA*

The study of organic residues in archaeological pottery has focused on fatty acids due to their relative stability and longevity. However, even these compounds are subject to degradation, which makes assignment of residues to original foods problematic. This paper suggests that the use of ratios of fatty acids that degrade at roughly the same rate can be useful to identify very general categories of foods. It compares independent information on pot function based on ethnography and engineering/technological studies to that reconstructed based on extracted fatty acid ratios. The results support the notion that Great Basin pots were used primarily to boil seeds and that pot shape and pot function were related.     

Sources of archaeological volcanic glass in the Primorye (Maritime) Province,Russian Far East*

Geochemical studies of volcanic glasses (obsidians and perlites) from geological outcrops (N = 80) and archaeological collections (N = 110) were performed in order to determine source provenance in Primorye (Russian Far East), using neutron activation analysis and X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry. Three major sources of archaeological volcanic glass were identified, two relatively local and one more remote. Several minor sources detected in the archaeological assemblage have not been located. This study suggests that long‐distance obsidian exchange between Primorye and adjacent North‐East Asia has existed since c. 10 000 bp .     

BLACK AND RED GRANITES IN THE EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITY MUSEUM OF TURIN: A MINERO‐PETROGRAPHIC AND PROVENANCE STUDY

A recent project to investigate the stone artefacts preserved in the Egyptian Antiquity Museum of Turin has been undertaken, with the aim of supplying their systematic classification and suggesting the provenance site of the original raw materials. This paper focuses on seven sculptures dating back to the New Kingdom (18th–19th Dynasties): the statue of Ramses II, three of the 21 sculptures of the goddess Sekhmet, the statue of the goddess Hathor, the Ram‐headed Sphinx and the sarcophagus lid of Nefertari. Petrographic observations have shown that all the sculptures are made of granitoid rocks, with variable composition from granite to granodiorite and tonalite. The observation of strong macroscopic analogies with the so‐called black and red granites outcropping in the Aswan area has suggested a common origin of all the raw materials used for their manufacture. In order to verify this provenance hypothesis, several samples were collected in the Aswan quarry districts. According to results of a minero‐petrographic and geochemical comparison between the statues and the Aswan quarry samples, it was possible to identify the source area of the stone sculptures and finally to highlight the importance of an archaeometric approach to the solution of archaeological problems.     

TECHNOLOGY OF PRODUCTION OF GHAZNAVID GLAZED POTTERY FROM BUST AND LASHKAR‐I BAZAR (AFGHANISTAN)

Fifteen fragments of glazed pottery were studied by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis (SEM–EDS). The fragments, dated from between the 11th and the 12th centuries, are part of a group excavated at ancient Bust and Lashkar‐i Bazar (southern Afghanistan) and belonging to the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza. All the samples are characterized by highly calcareous bodies, and all of them but one is coated with a transparent lead glaze; the last fragment is, instead, coated with a turquoise opaque lead–alkali glaze. With three exceptions, the studied fragments show underglaze decorations featuring white, red, green or black motifs applied on to a white, red or black engobe; one of the remaining glazes is applied on to a monochrome white slip and the other two directly on to the ceramic body. Optical microscopy and SEM images show that engobes and decorations were obtained by deposition of differently coloured clayey slips, the composition of which was characterized by EDS analyses. In particular, black engobes and decorative motifs were obtained by recourse to manganese and iron compounds or to chromium, magnesium and iron compounds; it appears that both possibilities could be exploited for obtaining different decorative motifs on the same object.     

FINE WARE FROM LOCRI EPIZEPHIRI: A PROVENANCE STUDY BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY

Fifty-six sherds of fine ware from Locri Epizephiri were analysed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICPOES) and flame emission spectroscopy (FES). The sherds had been excavated on the archaeological areas of Marasà Sud, Centocamere and San Cono, and represent local and imported products from the seventh to the second century BC. The samples were dissolved by fusion with lithium metaborate and analysed for nine elements (Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Ti, Mn, Sr, Ba and Cr) by ICPOES, while Na and K were determined by FES. The analytical data were subjected to hierarchical agglomerative clustering and principal components analysis to classify the sherds into compositional groups. The results obtained indicated that Corinthian, Attic and Ionian products or imitations may be classified in a few separate groups, while most local products are found in a unique, large group.     

INAA OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SAMPLES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

INAA at Manchester began almost by chance, and amid scepticism, with a request for help from the university's Department of Archaeology in the early 1970s. Over the years, the method of selecting pottery to be sampled was refined from the simple assumption that sherds found at a site were typical of those made there, to a greater focus on kiln sites and wasters. An important element in Manchester's approach was that this was a teaching department: in the quarter‐century during which the laboratory practised INAA over 6000 samples were analysed in a wide range of projects by postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. students and even final‐year undergraduates. Although there were sometimes problems of comprehension on both sides, close collaboration with archaeologists encouraged methodological comparisons, and often INAA was seen as an additional weapon in the archaeologists’ arsenal as much as a developing scientific technique. The university's place as the inventor of the computer encouraged the development of statistical programs, which in turn facilitated ready collaboration and exchange of information with other laboratories, such as those at Bonn and Berkeley.     

FINGERPRINTING ANCIENT EGYPTIAN QUARRIES: PRELIMINARY RESULTS USING LASER ABLATION MICROPROBE-INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY*

Microchemical analysis of minerals present in pottery and stone artefacts may help determine their provenance. Electron microprobe major element analyses of augite suggest that minor elements (Ti0₂,MnO, Aa₂O) are important in fingerprinting basalts. This points to the potential usefulness of trace elements. Augite present in six basalt samples (representing all known/suspected Pharaonic basalt quarries in northern and middle Egypt) and basaltic temper fragments in two New Kingdom pottery sherds was analysed for 28 trace elements (Sr, Ba, Th, U, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. Sc, V, Cr, Ni, Ga) by laser ablation microprobe-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LAM-ICP-MS, laserprobe). Cluster and discriminant analysis indicate that (1) laserprobe trace element data are more effective at fingerprinting basalts than conventional electron-microprobe data and (2) basaltic temper in the two sherds does not match any of the quarries. Microbeam techniques providing trace element data may represent the future for mineral-based provenance studies.     

PROVENANCE STUDIES OF KOREAN CELADONS OF THE KORYǑ PERIOD BY NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS*

Neutron activation analyses of the body fabric of celadons from the main production sites of the Koryǒ period have shown differences in composition between kilns. Comparison of over 50 celadon objects in the collections of the British Museum with this data base from the production sites has permitted the assignment of over 40 of the pieces to their kiln of origin The majority show the trace element pattern of the Sadangri kilns, a smaller proportion are assigned to Yuchǒnri, while others are assigned to the kilns at Chinsanri (underglaze iron) and Kyǒngsǒ-dong (unglazed). A representative group of Chinese Yue wares arc clearly different from Koryǒ celadons in trace element composition.     

OLDOWAN RAW MATERIAL PROCUREMENT AND USE: EVIDENCE FROM THE KOOBI FORA FORMATION*

Raw material availability has been shown to be a major factor affecting the material culture of Oldowan tool users. Studies of artefact provenance often focus on site‐specific raw material availability. Here, we use data from primary and secondary sources of raw material to develop a model of basin‐scale stone availability in the eastern Turkana Basin, during the KBS and Okote Members of the Koobi Fora Formation. ED‐XRF was used as a method of characterizing raw material sources and artefacts using trace elements. This model is applied to the site of FxJj 50 to investigate transport and discard patterns.