Giuseppe Guida

A Chlorite Container Found on the Surface of Shahdad (Kerman, Iran) and its Cosmetic Content

Abstract Analysis of a stone flagon found on the surface of the early urban site of Shahdad (Kerman, Iran) has shown that the vessel contained a lead-based cosmetic. Other finds recovered from the same surface context suggest a dating within the second half of the fourth millennium BC or slightly later. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) have been used to reconstruct the manufacturing techniques of the cosmetic. The substance was likely made of artificial lead carbonates. As our find and recent studies confirm that wet chemical processing of lead was common in the third millennium BC, the social implications of cosmetology in the early cities of the Near East and Middle Asia of the fourth-third millennia BC are briefly addressed.

Rings or daggers, axes or fibulae have a different composition? A multivariate study on Central Italy bronzes from eneolithic to early iron age

AbstractBackgroundOne of the main concerns for archaeo-metallurgists and archaeologists is to determine to what extent ancient craftsmen understood the effect of metal alloy composition and were able to control it in order to produce objects with the most suitable features.This problem can be investigated by combining compositional analyses of a high number of ancient artefacts with correlation analyses of the objects’ age, production site, destination of usage etc. – and thus chemometric data treatment is carried out. In this study, multivariate analyses were performed on a matrix composed of elemental compositional data from 134 archaeological bronze objects, obtained by XRF analyses. Analysed objects have been dated back from the Eneolithic Period to the end of the Bronze Age including the early Iron Age and were excavated in Central Italy (mainly Abruzzo Region).ResultsChemometric analysis was performed attempting to visualise clouds of objects through PCA. In parallel and independently, object grouping was attempted using several different approaches, based on object characteristics (e.g. shape, weight, type of use – cutting or hitting and age) following indications given by archaeologists (or derived from the archaeological context).Furthermore, case-tailored data pretreatment (logratio-centred scaling) was used, but no homogeneous groups could be identified.ConclusionsBy using chemometric data analysis, homogeneous groups of objects could not be detected, meaning that compositional data of alloys is not correlated with the considered objects’ characteristics. This favours the conclusion that – without discussing the ascertained ability of ancient foundry-men - they had also already discovered the convenience of recycling broken objects thus producing a more or less similar bronze alloy each time, depending on materials’ availability; necessary mechanical characteristics could then be obtained by post processing. Graphical AbstractScores PCA plot in 3D space with 3 different bronze objects.

A Preliminary Note on the Metallography and Chemical Analysis of Silver Samples from the Mahboubian Collection, London

ABSTRACT This is the chemico-physical examination of 13 samples collected from the early 2nd millennium BC Linear Elamite inscribed silver gunagi vessels of the Mahboubian collection (see Desset; preceding paper). Chemical composition of the silver-copper alloys as well as their physical microstructure are considered here.

Symbols at War. The Impact of Corallium rubrum in the Indo-Pakistani Subcontinent

The extraction, trade and ornamental use of corals in the Indo-Pakistani Subcontinent has been traditionally described from the exclusive viewpoint of the Indo-Roman trade, when red Corallium rubrum from the Mediterranean became a crucial export in the system of exchanges described in the famous Periplus Maris Erythraei. The present work focuses on a different version of the story, considering the much longer history of the exploitation and transformation of local Indo-Pacific corals. The historical trajectory presented in this paper examines the apparent rejection of local corals in the early and middle Bronze age and gradual acceptance of local corals in the late Bronze and Iron age. We argue that general replacement of local corals by imported Corallium rubrum in the early historical period is closely associated with the rise of the first Buddhist communities and their rejection of traditional Brahmanic values, in a new world globalised by long-distance trade and the imminent rise of the Kushan imperial political unification.

Copper-melting crucibles from the surface of Altyn-Depe, Turkmenistan (ca 2500-2000 BC)

Ten crucible fragments collected at a single location on the surface of Altyn-Depe, most probably datable to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC, have been studied and analysed by the means of different techniques. The research provides new information on Middle Bronze Age (Namazga V) copper-based metallurgy at this important southern Turkmenian early urban site.