Pre‐Industrial Iron Smelting and Silver Extraction in North‐Eastern Greece: an Archaeometallurgical Approach

In contrast to Western Europe's well‐documented contribution to global industrialization, Eastern Europe has not received adequate attention. This paper addresses this asymmetry by defining a secure socio‐technical framework for the development of metallurgical technology in one of the most important mineralized zones in Eastern Europe, namely the uplands of north‐eastern Greece. The interplay of technological innovation, geography and social process has made this region central in European political history from the Classical and Roman periods up to recent times. Metal procurement has been crucial particularly between the 15th and 19th centuries ad, when armed conflicts escalated across the Balkans and the high inflation throughout Europe increased the demand for raw materials from the East. Field data from north‐eastern Greece and instrumental analysis corroborate the concept of iron extraction during this period from complex ores that were potentially used for their precious metals contents as well. Chemical analysis of slag points to iron bloomery processes, while analysis of respective residues (speiss) reveals significant concentrations of silver and thus testifies to the extraction of precious metals. This study addresses concerns that preoccupy political and technological minds today, and provides a context for understanding the effects of changing attitudes to the environment, social development, consumption and natural resources.     

银器文物缓蚀处理抗光照腐蚀的研究

通过紫外光和荧光曝露加速腐蚀实验,采用L16(45)正交试验方案研究银器文物抗光照腐蚀的缓蚀处理的影响因素,对PMTA(1-苯基-5-巯基四氮唑)、MBO(2-巯基苯并恶唑)、MBI(2-巯基苯并咪唑)及其复合缓蚀剂的防银变色作用进行了比较和研究,筛出复合缓蚀剂的最佳配比和缓蚀处理的工艺条件.结果表明,在酸性条件下,PMTAMBOMBI为213,总投加浓度3000mg.·L-1,银试片经50oC,4h预膜处理,加速腐蚀试验后的增重和外观的变化较小,显示了复合缓蚀各组分之间存在较好的协同效应,能兔满足银器文物抗变色处理的要求.     

A selected and annotated bibliography for 1988: The history of Zionism and the state of Israel

The option of aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) poses a continuous challenge to any attempt to forge a diasporic version of Zionist ideology. This challenge grew twofold during the years immediately preceding and following the founding of the State of Israel. The article examines this challenge through the lens of Abba Hillel Silver, the leader of American Jewry during the period in question. While the Israeli leadership saw aliyah as a litmus test, indicating the degree to which Zionist leaders abroad were committed to the cause, for Silver the question was not one of dual loyalties between competing American and Israeli citizenships but a dilemma of inner American-Jewish identity. It is through this American-Jewish perspective that Silver's grappling with both the option of his own aliyah, and the importance of aliyah per se in American Zionism should be seen. An analysis of his views on the matter may illumine the evolving relations between diasporic transnationalism and homeland nationalism during the critical years when the homeland gains independence and sovereignty.     

四川邛崃一批出土银元的分析与除锈保护

为了保护四川邛崃出土的一批银元,用SEM-EDS和XRD分析法对具有代表性的银元及锈蚀物成分进行了分析。结果显示,银元中除含主元素Ag之外,同时还含有一定量的Cu元素;表面锈蚀物大多数为铜的化合物——氧化亚铜和碱式碳酸铜,少量为角银。结合分析结果及试验,采用机械振动和5%EDTA二钠盐水溶液相结合的方法进行除锈,之后再缓蚀封护,并用有机玻璃制作的钱币专用盒封装存放。分析数据将为研究我国银元文物提供科学信息,保护方法将为银器类文物的保护提供应用实例。     

陈列银币变色原因初步分析

为了探讨博物馆内陈列银币经常出现的表面失去光泽甚至变暗变黑的原因,采用离子色谱、X荧光光谱等方法分析变色银币清洗液成分,并对博物馆周边环境空气和颗粒物进行检测。结果表明,Cl-、NO2-、NO3-、SO42-等无机离子主要来源于环境空气,甲酸和乙酸主要来源于陈列用装饰材料。采用电子能谱、扫描电镜等分析手段对银试片表面黑色物质进行分析,发现其主要元素为碳、氧、硫,其中硫分布较深,说明黑色物质除了硫化物外还存在氧化物;进一步采用红外光谱分析发现,发黑处有明显的碳氢吸收,说明发黑银试片表面除了无机物外还存在含碳有机物,可解释扫描电镜和电子能谱中检测到碳的原因。通过模拟实验比较了空气质量、相对湿度、光源和光照等因素对银变色所起作用表明,在空气质量较差的情况下,光照强度差异几乎与银变色程度无关。在标准空气中相对湿度100%下银依旧不变色,说明在空气质量、光照度与相对湿度中,空气质量是影响银变色的主要因素。实验结果和银化合物的化学性质的结合解释了银与各种污染离子作用最终转化为稳定硫化银的原因。实验结果为制定银质文物保护环境要求和改造方案提供了依据。     

论明代太祖朝的物质赏赐

朱元璋在起兵反元和君临天下期间对各阶层、各势力颁发过形形色色的物质赏赐。物质赏赐形式中赏功臣、赏周边国家和少数民族区域是主体,赏赐的物品除了金银外,还有农畜产品、手工业品、钱钞、宅第、田地、奴仆等。本文对白银在明初的角色做了分析,认为赏赐冠带内含精神赏赐的层面。最后总结物质赏赐在太祖朝的影响,赏赐得当,对加强贵族和臣属对皇室的向心力,稳定民间秩序起着重要作用。     

曹村窑青黄釉陶表面腐蚀物成分及形成原因初步分析

河北临漳县曹村窑出土的青黄釉陶器残片表面覆盖着一层有光晕的层状腐蚀物。为了明确这层腐蚀物的来源,以便为后续的考古修复提供参考,采用了显微观察(OM)、能量色散X射线荧光(EDXRF)、X射线衍射(XRD)、拉曼光谱分析(RAMAN)、傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)等方法对该腐蚀物进行了分析。结果表明腐蚀物可分为三层,最上层土褐色,中间金黄色,最下层银白色,主要成分是白铅矿和石英。曹村窑地下埋藏环境很潮湿,釉中的铅离子和土壤中的碳酸根等可溶性盐类在表面析出。沉积物与釉面的接触并不紧密,故水份仍能进入空隙继续溶蚀。反复进行后层次不断增多。达到一定厚度时,由于光线的干涉作用,就产生银白色光泽,氧化铁含量较高时便呈现金黄色甚至土褐色。目前,器物上的"银釉"作为一种历史的记录,一般不予去除,在保存中要注意防潮,防污染。     

Silver lining: evidence for Inka silver refining in northern Chile

Prehistoric silver purification using lead cupellation has been documented in multiple places throughout the Andes, but direct evidence of the Inka use of this technology has remained elusive. In this study, we use X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, and electron-microprobe analysis to document direct evidence of Inka period (AD 1400–1532) silver purification using lead cupellation in the Tarapacá Valley of northern Chile. Local metalworkers used wind-driven huayra furnaces to produce pure lead metal, sustaining temperatures of ca. 900–1100 °C to smelt lead-bearing ores that may have included galena. The lead metal was then used in open-vessel cupellation of silver-bearing ores, some of which may have been cupriferous and derived from the nearby Inka mines at Huantajaya. Phase analyses of the slagged interiors of bowl-shaped ceramic vessels used for cupellation indicate that the metalworkers maintained the oxidizing environment and temperatures between 800 and 1100 °C requisite for cupellation. We argue that the Inka introduced this technique to Tarapacá metalworkers. The absence of finished silver artifacts in local valley contexts suggests that the refined silver was removed from the valley for use elsewhere in the empire.     

MEDIEVAL SILVER PRODUCTION AROUND SIJILMÂSA,MOROCCO

Sijilmâsa (south-east Morocco) was one of the most strategic cities in a far-reaching exchange network, that is, the Trans-Saharan trade, linking the Maghreb with West Africa during the medieval period (from the 8^th to the 15^th century CE). It was also one of the most important gold and silver monetary workshops at the time. If gold came from West Africa, we know from written sources that silver was produced in Morocco, although archaeological evidence of silver mining and smelting has remained elusive. Thanks to a thorough analysis of the lead isotopic data from silver mining districts in Morocco and from ores and slags of our study, we were able to refine the tracing of our materials and provide tangible evidence of medieval mining in the close hinterland of Sijilmâsa city.     

Was Lacquer the Key Ingredient for Luxurious Jinyin Pingtuo Products in the Tang Dynasty of China (AD 618–907)?

Jinyin pingtuo is one of the most sumptuous decorative methods applied on ‘lacquered' objects described in Tang dynasty literatures. Two Tang dynasty objects, a silver bowl and a bronze mirror, in the British Museum collection said to be made by this technique, were scientifically examined to confirm the application of the technique. Although the metal décors levelled with the rest of the surfaces on these objects suggested the application of the pingtuo method, lacquer, a major ingredient of this technique, was not identified by Py (HMDS)-GC–MS in any of the four samples analysed. The results question the use of lacquer in the pingtuo technique as usually described. The detection of shellac and oil in the bronze mirror aligns with other studies on similar objects, whereas proteinaceous materials as main ingredient of the decorative layers of the silver bowl, appear less usual. Further comparative study by scientific analysis of similar objects in other museum collections or from excavations is required to help better understand the use of lacquer in ancient China.