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Beyond Provenance

New Approaches to Interpreting the Chemistry of Archaeological Copper Alloys

Mark Pollard (Editor),

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Series: Studies in Archaeological Sciences 6

Category: Archaeology, Science, Engineering and Technology

Language: English

ISBN: 9789462701625

Publication date: December 4, 2018

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Number of pages: 234

Size: 234 x 156 x 17 mm

Number of illustrations: 90

Illustrations and other content description:
full colour

Stock item: 125486

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Series: Studies in Archaeological Sciences 6

Category: Archaeology, Science, Engineering and Technology

Language: English

DOI: 10.11116/9789461662668

ISBN: 9789461662668

Publication date: November 20, 2018

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Number of pages: 234

Number of illustrations: 90

Illustrations and other content description:
full colour

Summary
Contents
About the Editors

Human intentionality in chemical patterns in Bronze Age metals

For the last 180 years, scientists have been attempting to determine the ‘provenance’ (geological source) of the copper used in Bronze Age artefacts. However, despite advances in analytical technologies, the theoretical approach has remained virtually unchanged over this period, with the interpretative methodology only changing to accommodate the increasing capacity of computers. This book represents a concerted effort to think about the composition of Bronze Age metal as the product of human intentionality as well as of geology. It considers the trace element composition of the metal, the alloying elements, and the lead isotopic composition, showing how a combination of these aspects, along with archaeological context and typology, can reveal much more about the life history of such artefacts, expanding considerably upon the rather limited ambition of knowing where the ore was extracted.

Beyond Provenance serves as a ‘how-to handbook’ for those wishing to look for evidence of human intentionality in the chemical patterning observed in bronzes.

Ebook available in Open Access.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Table of Contents
Chapter 1Previous Approaches to the Chemistry and Provenance of Archaeological Copper Alloys
Chapter 2Developing a New Interpretative Framework
Chapter 3Legacy Datasets and Chemical Data Quality
Chapter 4Trace Elements and ‘Copper Groups’
Chapter 5Alloying Elements and ‘Alloy Types’
Chapter 6Lead Isotope Data from Archaeological Copper Alloys
Chapter 7The FLAME GIS-Database
Chapter 8Summary: Beyond Provenance?
References
Bibliography of Sources of Chemical and Isotopic Data Used in the FLAME Database
Index

Mark Pollard

Mark Pollard is Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, and PI on the ERC Advanced Grant ‘FLAME’.