Dating and provenance of glass artefacts excavated from the ancient city of Tall Zirā‛a,Jordan

Fourteen glass objects recovered from excavations at the ancient city of Tall Zirā‛a, Jordan, were analysed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to determine the period and origin of manufacture. The composition of glasses manufactured in the Late Bronze Age (LBA) and Iron Age are distinctly different, therefore major element analysis can be used to distinguish between the groups relatively easily. The LA-ICP-MS analysis provided quantitative trace element data which were used to determine the provenance of those glasses identified as LBA. This research discusses the implications of the presence of both Egyptian and Mesopotamian LBA glasses and examines the varying compositions and colour strategies employed in both the LBA and Iron Age objects. Specifically, glass in the LBA was considered to be one of the highest status items attainable, playing an instrumental role in diplomatic gift-giving. When considered with the archaeological information, the significance of these finds at Tall Zirā‛a indicates that this city was a settlement of high status, not primarily a convenient trading stop on the Transjordan route.     

Buried raised beaches on the northern side of the forth valley,central Scotland

In an area on the northern side of the River Forth, between the Menteith moraine and Kincardine‐on‐Forth, the stratigraphy of the carselands was investigated by hand‐boring, the results being augmented from commercial borehole records. The information obtained indicates that a series of raised beaches, composed of fine‐grained, marine‐estuarine sediments, is buried beneath the carse. Best developed between the Menteith moraine and Blairdrummond and between Abbey Craig and Menstrie, these buried beaches can be correlated with the buried raised beach sequence beneath the carselands south of the River Forth.     

LA-ICP-MS analysis of Late Bronze Age blue glass beads from Gurob,Egypt

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis was undertaken on 37 blue glass beads excavated from a tomb in the southern Faiyum region of northern Egypt. The tomb was undisturbed, contained the remains of seven females and two children, and dated between the reigns of Amenhotep I (1525–1504 bce ) and Tuthmosis III (1479–1425 bce ). The glass beads were coloured by copper and the trace element concentrations were compositionally consistent with glasses from Mesopotamia rather than from Egypt. Therefore, these glass beads represent a rare example of Mesopotamian glass to be discovered in Egypt, in addition to being some of the earliest glass found. Gurob is known to have been the site of a ‘harem palace' established in the reign of Tuthmosis III, the implication being that these beads represent luxury items transported to Egypt by high-ranking foreign women, possibly in connection with the harem palace.     

Review symposium

Australian Political Science — Past and Present Directions

Don Aitkin (ed.), Surveys of Australian Political Science, Sydney, George Allen and Unwin, 1985, pp.xi, 365. $14.95 (paper)

Brian Head (Review Editor, Politics)