scholarly journals An Archaeometallurgical Explanation for the Disappearance of Egyptian and Near Eastern Cobalt-Blue Glass at the end of the Late Bronze Age

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Wood ◽  
Yi-Ting Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Glass Production ◽  
Glass Frit ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Blue Glass ◽  
Native Silver ◽  
Cobalt Blue

A recent compositional study of Egyptian cobalt-blue glass from museum collections in Japan (18th Dynasty) and from the site of Dahshur (18th and 19th-20th Dynasties) concluded that a new source of cobalt was exploited for the later Dahshur glass, thereby suggesting that glass production continued into the Ramesside period (Abe et al. 2012). It is shown in the current article that some of this 18th Dynasty glass and the majority of the 19th-20th Dynasty glass had been recycled, not only supporting the general consensus that glass production virtually disappeared by 1250 BC, but that the cobalt source did not necessarily change. It is further proposed, however, that the generally accepted cobalt source for Egyptian glass was not the alum deposits of Egypt's Western Desert, but derived from cobaltiferous siliceous ores, possibly from central Iran. Re-analysis of the compositions of cobalt-blue glass frit found at Amarna, as well as Egyptian and Mesopotamian glass, suggests that the cobalt colourant was a by-product of silver extraction from these ores and can therefore be considered as a concentrated cobalt glass slag, which travelled in the form of a frit to glass producers who added it to locally derived base glasses and/or their precursors. Experiments conducted on ore containing cobalt-nickel arsenides with native silver demonstrate that not only can silver be extracted and that concentrated cobalt glass can be produced simply by adding a flux, but that some components of the ore partition preferentially into the silver or the glass slag, thereby weakening their associations with the other components in archaeological glass. Treating the cobalt-blue colourant as a slag composed of the gangue of a smelting system provides an explanation for the unique elevated levels of alumina and lower levels of potash found in cobalt-blue glasses, as well as providing an explanation for the cessation of cobalt exploitation at the end of the Late Bronze Age. It is suggested that the exhaustion of native silver and siliceous silver ore deposits during the Bronze Age, with argentiferous lead ores becoming the main source of silver, depleted the amount of cobalt available, thereby reducing the amount of glass produced which, in turn, led to increases in recycling during the New Kingdom period.

scholarly journals Prehistoric copper from the Eastern Alps

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Lutz ◽  
Ernst Pernicka
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Eastern Alps ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Copper Production ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Metal Artifacts ◽  
Metal Artefacts

The rich copper ore deposits in the Eastern Alps have long been considered as important sources for copper in prehistoric Central Europe. It is, however, not so clear which role each deposit played. To evaluate the amount of prehistoric copper production of the various mining regions it was attempted to link prehistoric metal artefacts with copper ores based on the geochemical characteristics of the ore deposits that have been exploited in ancient times. More than 120 ore samples from the well known mining districts Mitterberg, Viehhofen, Kitzbühel and Schwaz/Brixlegg have been analysed so far (lead isotope ratios, trace elements). Furthermore, about 730 archaeological copper/bronze artifacts were investigated and analysed. These results were combined with analytical data generated by previous archaeometallurgical projects in order to compile a substantial database for comparative studies. In the Early Bronze Age, most metal artifacts were made of copper or bronze with fahlore impurity patterns and most finds from this period match excellently the fahlore deposits in Schwaz and Brixlegg. At the end of the Early Bronze Age, a new variety of copper with lower concentrations of impurities appeared. The impurity patterns of these finds match the ores from the Mitterberg district. In the Middle Bronze Age, this variety of copper Dominated while in the Late Bronze Age fahlores from Schwaz and Brixlegg experienced a comeback. The reason for this may be a decline of the chalcopyrite mines or a rising demand for copper which could not be covered by the chalcopyrite mines alone. The finds of the Early Iron Age are of similar composition and continue the traditions of the Late Bronze Age.

The Ritual Background of the Dying God in Cyprus and Syro-Palestine

1982 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noel Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
General Type ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Common Culture ◽  
Central Figure ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Roman Literature

In Frazer'sGolden Boughthe leading instance of the central figure whom he called “the dying god” was Adonis, famous from Greco-Roman literature and art but firmly localized in Semitic Phoenicia, Syria, and Cyprus. Since Frazer wrote, his other Near Eastern instances have been so transformed by increasing knowledge that it can be doubted whether they severally belong to the same type or indeed whether any general type exists. Adonis has hardly shared in these discoveries and debates, for research has emphasized instead the large developments which overtook his worship within the Greco-Roman world. Most of this research does not bear at all on the origins of Adonis, but scholars have sometimes been so bemused by the Greek elements as to forget or deny the Semitic. Everything has been called into question at different times. Such features of his myth as the boar and the myrrh tree and the incest are discounted as Greek embroidery; his peculiar festival, with mourning women and miniature gardens of lettuce, is traced to the preoccupations of Greek urban society; even the Semitic derivation derivation of his name is disputed. This Greek exclusivism cannot be sustained. All accounts of Adonis' life and lineage, and all analogies for his worship converge in the Levant — not in a single site or land, but in Phoenicia, coastal Syria and Cyprus together, lands which from the Late Bronze Age onward display a distinctive common culture, above all with respect to religion. This is where Adonis is at home, and where we may look for evidence to explain the figure of the dying god.

The Role of the Lukka People in Late Bronze Age Anatolia

Antichthon ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Bryce
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Clear Picture ◽  
General Character ◽  
The Political ◽  
Western Anatolia ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
Population Groups ◽  
Near Eastern

In a number of Near Eastern texts dating to the period of the Hittite New Kingdom, the term Lukka appears as a geographical and/or ethnic designation for one of the Late Bronze Age population groups of western Anatolia. Unfortunately we have no documents which deal primarily or specifically with the Lukka people; what we know of them rests essentially on incidental references in Hittite treaties, letters, prayers and historical records, along with several references in non-Hittite sources. Yet although the evidence is meagre, it still provides a relatively clear picture of the general character of the Lukka people and the role they played in the political and military affairs of Hittite Anatolia.

scholarly journals LA‐ICP‐MS analysis of Late Bronze Age blue glass beads from Gurob, Egypt

Archaeometry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Kemp ◽  
A. McDonald ◽  
F. Brock ◽  
A. J. Shortland
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Glass Beads ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Blue Glass ◽  
Ms Analysis ◽  
Icp Ms

scholarly journals Digital documentation and visualization of archaeological excavations and finds using 3D scanning technology

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Moser ◽  
Simon Hye ◽  
Gert Goldenberg ◽  
Klaus Hanke ◽  
Kristóf Kovács
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mining Area ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Copper Production ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Research Project ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Modern Times ◽  
The University

<p>In 2007 the special research program HiMAT - History of Mining Activities in Tyrol and adjacent areas, focussing on environment and human societies, was established at the University of Innsbruck as an interdisciplinary and international research project, sponsored by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). During late medieval and early modern times, the mining area of Schwaz in Tyrol became famous in Europe, due to the large scale exploitation of copper and silver bearing fahlores, going along with the development of high technologies in the field of mining and metallurgy. In that period, Schwaz was even called “the mother of all mines”.</p><p>In the area of Schwaz/Brixlegg the main focus of our research project is on early traces of copper mining and metallurgy dating back to the late Bronze Age. Such traces are still preserved, especially in boundary areas of the main ore deposits. On the basis of previous surveys a little valley called “Maukental” was chosen for archaeological investigations, because within this small area the entire copper production process of the late Bronze Age can be studied in detail. During the past two years, the Institute of Archaeology and Surveying and the Geoinformation Unit of the University of Innsbruck worked together in this area. One object of interest was a late Bronze Age ore dressing site situated in a former peat-bog. In this place the advantageous environment preserved fragile wooden structures and artefacts which could be digitally documented in the condition of retrieval.</p>

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