Veronika Szilágyi

Discrimination of prehistoric polished stone tools from Hungary with non-destructive chemical Prompt Gamma Activation Analyses (PGAA)

The determination of the geological provenance of the different rocks employed for the manufacture of prehistoric stone tools is useful from both historical and archaeological points of views, to indicate precise directions of cultural interactions. Prehistoric polished stone tools with fine to very fine grained texture may show striking similarities in their macroscopic appearance by texture and colour. Therefore, it is very difficult to distinguish the different rock types by naked eye. Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) is one of the powerful, absolutely non-destructive bulk chemical methods for the analysis of archaeological materials. As regards polished stone tools, PGAA measures all major elements and few trace elements. We analyzed 189 polished stone tools from different collections and localities of Hungary, and 42 geological samples from potential raw material sources. To control the method, several broken pieces were studied also by destructive methods, mainly thin-section petrography. Our results are: 1. we obtained chemical composition of the analyzed artefacts, 2. we created an initial database of PGAA results of the most important raw materials of polished stone tools occurring in Hungary, 3. we explored the potentials and limitations of PGAA in the determination of the raw materials used for the polished stone tools. As a result, several different raw material groups (basalt-dolerite-metadolerite, greenschist-contact metabasite-amphibolite, blueschist, hornfels, “white stone”, ultramafic rocks and intermediate volcanic rocks) could be distinguished. Moreover, different rock types were recognized within each group ( e.g ., greenschist-contact metabasite and basalt-dolerite). Macroscopic description combined with PGAA will help to determine raw material types of polished stone tools. However, in some cases other methods are also necessary to achieve precise determination.

Ceramics, Marbles and Stones in the Light of Neutrons: Characterization by Various Neutron Methods

In this chapter we give a brief overview of neutron based analytical investigations applied to study archaeological ceramics, and different types of stones. Since the vast majority of archaeological objects are made of ceramics and various stones—all are of geological origin—, one of the key objectives of these studies to determine the origin of raw material. This research is called provenance research, and a wide range of neutron based methods are applicable in it. Following a very basic, user-oriented description of the methods, we introduce examples from our everyday practice. The examples are about provenance of prehistoric stone tools, about the sources of 4th–3rd c. B.C. millennium limestone idols found in the South of Portugal, as well as about the characterization of 15th–16th c. A.D. Inka pottery. A very unique application of combined neutron techniques was aimed to determine the inner content of an Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian sealed vessel. In addition, investigations of samples from different epochs and characterization of marbles are presented.

High pressure metaophiolite polished stone implements found in Hungary

Good quality high pressure (HP) metaophiolite rock types (e.g. Na-pyroxenite/jade, eclogite) suitable for making prehistoric polished stone implements were unknown among Hungarian findings for a long time. Nowadays they are still among the rarest types of polished stone implements found in Hungary in the respect of raw material. After the first discovery of Neolithic stone tools made of HP metaophiolites in the records of Hungarian archaeological assemblages, detailed petrological investigations of large stone implement collections revealed their presence in a relatively large number. According to our current knowledge, 25 HP metaophiolite stone implements are known as found in Hungary. Unfortunately, most of them are stray finds, but 11 pieces from four localities have a known archaeological context. They were mainly located in Transdanubia (except for one piece from Tiszántúl) and are mostly attributable to the Late Neolithic Lengyel Culture and secondarily to the Late Neolithic Tisza Culture. In this study, we used only non-destructive analytical methods (macroscopic observation, magnetic susceptibility measurements, non-destructive SEM-EDX, and Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis). As a result of this study, the prehistoric stone implements were classified into raw material types. Based on our data, the high pressure-low temperature (HP-LT) metaophiolite stone implements found in Hungary probably originated from the same raw material sources as the Italian HP-LT metaophiolite stone tools (sourcing from North-western Italy). According to the literature on the topic, both primary (Western Alps in the vicinity of the Monviso in Piedmont or the Voltri Massif in Liguria) and secondary occurrences (in Quaternary deposits of the rivers Po, Staffora and Curone) are potential sources. These analyses confirmed the existence of long-distance trade routes connecting the Po Valley and its vicinity with the Carpathian Basin during the Vth Millennium BC.