摘要:

Epistemology has not kept pace with the progress experienced in the direct dating of rock art. This paper reviews the experimental methods that have been developed in recent years. While many do provide important information about the possible age of rock art, it is of concern that the precipitate archaeological interpretations these data are used for are often not warranted. Some are attributable to not understanding the severe qualifications that apply to most dating results, others perhaps to over‐enthusiasm on the part of some researchers. The introduction of archaeological dynamics into direct dating of rock art threatens the reliability of this young methodology. Some of the pitfalls are considered in this paper, and a general rationale for the direct dating of rock art is develope

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00757.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert of Egypt was an important source of granodiorite for Roman columns. Computer contouring of 1119 magnetic susceptibility measurements at the quarry shows systematic variations, with low readings in the west of the quarry area and higher readings in the east. One hundred and seventy measurements on 62 columns of Mons Claudianus type in Rome and its environs were compared with the quarry readings, using a t‐test based procedure. Some columns with distinctively low or high magnetic susceptibility could be provenanced very precisely to areas of about 700 × 700m within the 9km2of Mons Claudianus. Columns with susceptibility in the middle of the Mons Claudianus range could not be provenanced precisely. Results indicate early (first century AD) use of both west and east parts of Mons Claudianus, and contemporaneous use of several parts of the quarry, rather than systematic or sequential opening of the area. Columns found in third‐century AD monuments, provenanced to the same parts of Mons Claudianus as earlier material, may indicate reuse of columns in some monuments. Magnetic susceptibility constitutes a portable and non‐destructive method capable of provenancing not only to a quarry, but to specific areas within a single

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00758.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The recent application by Burton and Krinsley (1987) of back‐scattered electron (BSE) petrography to obsidians from sources located in the south‐western United States established that this method can effectively resolve and characterize included micro‐crystalline phases that have proven difficult to analyse by optical thin‐section microscopy. In the first extension of their original study, we have examined, using BSE petrography, obsidians from island sources located in the Mediterranean, including sources known to have been exploited in prehistory. Because of the kinetic contrasts on their crystallization, these microcrystalline phases reflect the magmatic history of the obsidian, providing information about superheating, supercooling, sub‐solidus processes, and other phenomena. This information is of significance for the chemical analysis of Mediterranean obsidians and also as the basis for a powerful alternative to existing non‐destructive analytical methods for the sourcing of archaeological and art‐histor

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00759.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

We have studied 35 samples of fragments of ceramic containers dated between the eleventh and the eighth centuries BC, found at the archaeological site of Roca Vecchia, some 20 km from Lecce along the Adriatic (Salentine) coastline. Analysis of the elemental composition of the finds has been performed by means of atomic emission spectroscopy in plasma and the results obtained have been treated with diverse multivariate statistical techniques. Except for some minor differences, the statistical analysis confirms the grouping structures indicated by typological and stylistic evaluations of the samples, in accordance with the validity of the above methods.

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00760.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Excavation of Testar del Molí, the only workshop found in the Manises‐Paterna area, revealed the existence of a fourteenth‐century ceramic workshop covering the remains of the thirteenth‐century workshop. This study is concerned with the fourteenth‐century production, and forthcoming papers will connect both epochs following the findings of current excavations. The chemical and mineralogical characterization of the ceramic production of this workshop shows the presence of three groups of ceramic pastes which could also be distinguished by, and, thus, related to, their daily use. The raw materials found in the excavation have also been mineralogically and chemically characterized, and a model of possible mixtures of raw materials has also been developed in order to determine their possible use in the manufacture of the pottery previously chara

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00761.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Around 90 samples of Roman wall painting dating from the first to the third century AD were analysed using different analytical techniques: X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray fluorescence, infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry, optical microscopy and physico‐chemical tests. The identified pigments are: ash, calcite, carbon black, celadonite, cinnabar, Egyptian Blue, glauconite, goethite, hematite and red lead. Pigment mixtures were used to get other colours such as brown, pink or purple. Three types of plaster were used: a first, and most dominant, with river sand, a second with crushed tile for damp places and a third, to which cinnabar was exclusively applied, was prepared with crushed calcite cry

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00762.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The red ink on four fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls was analysed by X‐ray fluorescence and X‐ray diffraction. The red pigment was identified as mercury sulfide (HgS), cinnabar. The significant archaeological and historical aspects of this finding are discus

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00763.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

As part of a study of Chumash Indian pigments, some black pigment cakes have been examined. One pigment cake was characterized as soot by polarized light microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared microscopy showed that the binder was proteinaceous. Protein determination was followed by examination using gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry analysis which showed a characteristic suite of amino acids to be present, proportionally similar to blood. The blood identification was confirmed by immunological analysis. The binder was shown to be a mixture of human and animal blood, the animal being pronghorn antelope. This is the first successful identification of a binding medium from a Chumash Indian pigment cak

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00764.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper reports the results obtained applying absolute dating methodologies and mineralogical, petrographical and micropalaeontological characterization techniques to prehistoric pottery sherds varying in age from the Sicilian Middle Neolithic to Bronze Age. All samples came from the archaeological area of Milena (Caltanissetta, Sicily); those of the Bronze Age were found on a site with a precise stratigraphic succession. The investigation has contributed to the determination of an absolute chronology for the Milena prehistoric period. The data provide, for the first time in Sicily, absolute dates covering a wide spectrum of cultures following one another in the same area and, for the Bronze Age site, correlated to the precise stratigraphic succession. The petrographical and mineralogical analyses allowed not only the identification of the principal constituents of the pottery, but also the formulation of some hypotheses regarding the specific manufacturing techniques of different epochs. The microfacies, obtained from the presence of fossils in the groundmass of the pottery, were also analysed and compared with the microfauna present in the Miocene clays outcropping in the area. The data identified local Messinian clay as the raw material probably used in the manufacture of the pottery and also support the presence, already assumed by archaeologists, of imported Mycenaean pottery, thus supporting the dates obtained on pottery taken from the same stratum.

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00765.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In this study the feasibility of infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) for dating loessic colluvial sediments, deposited as a result of human activity, is investigated. It is demonstrated that the ‘IRSL‐clock’is reset after a few minutes of daylight exposure even under foggy weather conditions. Samples of independently known age were taken at the Neolithic Bruchsal Aue site in south‐west Germany. Different laboratory procedures are tried and a method is suggested (narrow wave‐length band in the blue, preheat at 220° C for 5 min) to overcome age underestimates. This laboratory technique yielded archaeologically reasonable ages for colluvial sediments and hollow fillings. The IRSL‐ages demonstrate that the deposition of the colluvia is related to soil erosion triggered by human activities, such as wood clearing and agriculture. The successful dating of archaeosediments has a great potential for applications in environmental archaeology as well as in geomorphology and in particular for the reconstruction of man‐landscape interactions in

ISSN:0003-813X    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1996.tb00766.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY