Roman lava quarries in the Eifel region (Germany): geochemical data for millstone provenance studies

Roman millstones of assumed Eifel origin were produced and exported in huge quantities to many parts of Roman Europe and can be used as tracers for trade patterns in Roman times. This study presents for the first time a raw-material centred geochemical definition of the 13 well-known Roman basaltic lava quarries in the Quaternary East and West Eifel volcanic fields. The aim is to find a way to characterize the individual exploitation sites precisely by means of their geochemical composition and to recommend a standard procedure for further millstone provenance analysis. Based on major and trace element composition analyses by XRF, a differentiation of each quarry is achieved by using a combination of geochemical discrimination and cluster and discriminant analysis. Therefore, for provenance analysis of a unknown millstone sample the following procedure is recommended: (1) geochemical discrimination to check if it actually belongs to the volcanic Eifel quarries; (2) cluster analysis to check to which quarry or cluster of quarries the millstone can be affiliated; and (3) discriminant analysis to assign the sample to its quarry of origin with a certain confidence.     

Geochemical provenance analyses of Roman lava millstones north of the Alps: a study of their distribution and implications for the beginning of Roman lava quarrying in the Eifel region (Germany)

In Roman times, rotary querns and different types of millstones, driven either by horse-capstan or water power, were produced in the lava quarries of the quaternary volcanic Eifel region and exported to many parts of the Empire. The geographic distribution of Roman lava millstones from the Eifel region provides important information about trade patterns and, in cases of well dated millstones, also allows an estimate as to when the Roman lava quarrying in the Eifel region began. Sixty-two millstones from Germany, France and Austria were sampled and analyzed for major and trace elements by X-ray fluorescence. To determine their provenance, the millstone data was evaluated by a combination of geochemical discrimination and cluster and discriminant analyses using an extensive and detailed database of all Roman lava quarries in the Eifel region. An Eifel provenance could be confirmed for forty-four artefacts and, furthermore, determined down to the exact lava flow. The affiliation of the other artefacts to other possible regions where millstones of comparable lava were extracted was carried out on the basis of geochemical data from the literature. However, because of insufficient data, only assumptions about the regional provenance can be made. The origins of the other finds are assumed to be the Vogelsberg region, the Massif Central, Orvieto, and, possibly, the Pannonian Basin. A preliminary map of the distribution of Eifel millstones in Roman times based on these data is presented; the beginning of Roman lava quarrying can be constrained to 8–7 BC.     

INAA of pre-contact basalt quarries on the Samoan Island of Tutuila: a preliminary baseline for an artifact-centered provenance study

This project presents a material-centered instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) characterization of 120 geologic samples selected from four fine-grained basalt quarries on the Samoan Island of Tutuila. Previous attempts at definitive differentiation of these Tutuilan quarries have utilized x-ray fluorescence (XRF). In this study, clear differentiation of each analyzed quarry was achieved using INAA. Biplots of canonical discriminant analysis (CDA) scores for the INAA data illustrate clear separation based on the variation in chemical composition between each quarry. The samples analyzed not only define quarry separation, but also provide the “core group” for a preliminary baseline necessary for future artifact-centered provenance studies. Inclusion of these “core group” samples in the baseline was confirmed by stepwise discriminant analysis. These findings suggest the ability to determine artifact quarry of origin on the island of Tutuila, which can elucidate the importance of individual Tutuilan quarries in the production, distribution and consumption of fine-grained basalt artifacts in Polynesia.     

The technology and significance of the Acheulian giant cores of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov,Israel

The presence of very large lithic artifacts at the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov is one of the site’s most distinctive and enlightening features. Basalt giant cores and their products, modified by a variety of core methods and found in association with different hominin activities, occur throughout the stratigraphic sequence of the site.     

Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence analysis of Haleakalā basalt adze quarry materials, Maui, Hawai‘i

One of Hawai‘i’s major prehistoric basalt adze quarries (SIHP 50-50-11-2510) is located in the summit region of Haleakalā, Maui. Situated at approximately 2750 m above sea level (9000 ft), the quarry shares a similar high-altitude setting with the Mauna Kea adze quarry on Hawai‘i Island. Adding to a growing Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) database for the Hawaiian Islands, we present the results from 255 geological and archaeological lithic samples from the Haleakalā quarry site. We also briefly discuss why this non-destructive XRF technique is particularly applicable in the Hawaiian cultural context.     

Application of magnetic susceptibility on polished stone tools from Western Hungary and the Eastern part of the Czech Republic (Central Europe)

A non-destructive method – magnetic susceptibility (MS, κ) measurement – was used to characterize about 360 Neolithic, Copper and Bronze age polished stone tools of the Miháldy collection (Laczkó Dezső Museum, Veszprém, Hungary), composed of artefacts from three Neolithic (Moravian Painted Ware) workshops around a source of greenschist at Želešice near Brno (Moravia, Czech Republic) and semifinished artefacts from workshops at Neolithic mines in the Jizerské hory Mts. (Bohemia, Czech Republic); in addition, rock reference samples collected from the possible provenance areas and rock outcrops in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary were analysed as comparative material with the same method. We elaborated a model experience to control the thickness correction factor (TCF) following Williams-Thorpe et al. (2000).Among various stone raw materials of polished artefacts we found basaltic rocks and greenschists-metabasites as the most common.