Previous observations of the intaglios on quartz cylinder seals from Western Asia suggested that they had been engraved by one or more of four basic techniques, that is, micro-chipping, filing, drilling and wheel-cutting. In this paper we test our earlier observations and interpretations experimentally. Examination and comparison of experimentally engraved features with the seal intaglios was made directly with a binocular microscope and also by examination of impressions with a scanning electron microscope. Successful replication was achieved using tools of flint, chalcedony, copper, bronze and iron together with quartz and emery abrasives.

Methods of engraving mesopotamian cylinder seals: experimental confirmation*

Lithic technology and social transformations in the South Indian Neolithic: The evidence from Sanganakallu–Kupgal

The authors present a new procedure for discovering where stone artefacts come from without having to cut a slice through them The method is tested on axes of spotted dolerite bluestone from Preseli in Wales, source of monoliths at Stonehenge

Non-destructive provenancing of bluestone axe-heads in Britain

Kenneth G. Kelly Department of Anthropology University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 kenneth.kelly@sc.edu Mark W. Hauser Department of Africana Studies University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 46556 mhauser1@nd.edu Christophe Descantes Archaeological Research Facility University of California–Berkeley 2251 College Building Berkeley, CA 94720-1076 cdescantes@berkeley.edu Michael D. Glascock Archaeometry Laboratory University of Missouri Research Reactor 1513 Research Park Drive Columbia, MO 65211 glascockm@missouri.edu There is a considerable literature that explores the significance of low-fired earthenware production as a component of African Diaspora identity creation and maintenance both in the West Indies and in the American Southeast. Yet very little analysis has gone into understanding the role of industrially-produced, low-fired, earthenware ceramics in the Caribbean. We believe that these ceramics may be an overlooked archaeological resource. Although they do not typically reflect the fairly rapid changes in style that make European ceramics useful for chronology building, and whereas they do not usually exhibit stylistic and morphological variations that enable clear identification of their origin, they were produced in great quantity and transported around the West Indies to serve a wide variety of uses. We suggest that industrially-produced, low-fired, earthenwares may provide us with more information than simply their functional purpose. They may also prove useful as a key aspect of material culture to aid in the reconstruction of trade and interaction patterns, dependant, of course on being able to identify the place of origin of these ceramics. This article discusses compositional analysis of archaeological ceramics and wasters (poorly fired ceramics) recovered from historic kiln sites on the islands of Martinique and the Guadeloupe Archipelago. Compositional data from kiln sites are then compared to ceramic sherds from excavated domestic contexts elsewhere on these islands to begin to reconstruct trade and exchange patterns during the French Colonial period. The results from these analyses not only point to expected routes of trade, but also routes which contravened colonial boundaries. ____________________________________________

Compositional analysis of french colonial ceramics: implications for understanding trade and exchange

Archaeological Theory and Scientific Practice: Before and after science

There has been a long but sporadic history of research on stone axes in Ireland, leading to the formation of the Irish Stone Axe Project (ISAP) in 1990. The purpose of this paper is to outline the research strategy of the project and to indicate the petrological techniques that are being applied in parallel with archaeological and archival studies to classify and identify potential sources for Irish stone axes. These include macroscopic studies, transmitted and reflected light microscopy on polished thin sections and X-ray fluorescence analyses. The results of the macroscopic examination of 15916 axes indicate that one rock type, porcellanite, was the dominant source, but that a wide range of other lithologies was also exploited. Several avenues for more detailed research are highlighted. A case study of gabbro axes demonstrates the value of this systematic approach to stone axe studies, and the results of this study suggest that some of these axes are petrographically consistent with British Group I, presumed to originate from sources in Cornwall, south-west England.

Striking the balance : The roles of petrography and geochemistry in stone axe studies in Ireland

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

S. Mandal

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Striking the balance : The roles of petrography and geochemistry in stone axe studies in Ireland