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Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Christianity and Islam: Conversion in India

RELIGION COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 8 2010
Joseph G. Howard
The study of India is a very rich field, not least because of the religious diversity present in India. India has not only exported Buddhism to the rest of Asia but has also received religious traditions from the West (of India), notably Christianity , in the first century AD , and Islam , in the eighth century AD. How do scholars explain this importation of foreign religion? Some argue that ,religion' is an anachronistic term to use in the study of India, as Indian languages generally lack a word for ,religion', with the closest term, dharma, meaning ,way of life' rather than ,religion'. If this is so, then how can we understand Indians who converted to monotheistic faiths that claim universal truth when we cannot even say for sure from what they ,converted'? Not all of these questions have answers, but this article will explore the historiography of conversion to Christianity and Islam in India to try to get a sense of what the scholarly community has to say about conversion in India and also to see what this same group conspicuously chooses to ignore. It will focus on Christianity and will explore Islam to the extent that the comparison can further elucidate an understanding of Christianity in India. [source]

PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF ROMAN LEAD-GLAZED POTTERY AND ITS CONTINUANCE INTO LATE ANTIQUITY

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 5 2010
M. S. WALTON
A broad selection of Roman lead-glazed pottery dating from the first century ad through the fifth century ad was studied to establish locations of workshops and to address their technology of production. The ceramic bodies were analysed by ICP,AES. In addition, lead isotope analysis was undertaken on a selection of glazes. These findings suggested that there were several regions responsible for the production of lead-glazed ceramics in the western Roman world, including central Gaul, Italy and, probably, Serbia and Romania. Using the body compositions as a starting point, the glazing techniques employed by each of the potential workshops were examined using electron probe microanalysis. It was determined that there were two primary methods of glazing. The first method used lead oxide by itself applied to non-calcareous clay bodies, and the second method used a lead oxide-plus-quartz mixture applied to calcareous clay bodies. Based on these data for clay composition and glazing method, transfer of technology from the Hellenistic east to the western Roman world was proposed. Likewise, the inheritance of lead-glazing technology into late antiquity was established by making comparisons to lead-glazed ceramics dating to the seventh to ninth centuries from Italy, the Byzantine world and Tang Dynasty China. [source]

DEEPLY COLOURED AND BLACK GLASS IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE: DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN CHEMICAL COMPOSITION BEFORE AND AFTER ad 150*

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 5 2009
V. VAN DER LINDEN
In this work we attempt to elucidate the chronological and geographical origin of deeply coloured and black glass dating between 100 bc and ad 300 on the basis of their major and trace element compositions. Samples from the western and eastern parts of the Roman Empire were analysed. Analytical data were obtained by means of a scanning electron microscope , energy-dispersive system (SEM,EDS, 63 samples analysed) and laser ablation , inductively coupled plasma , mass spectrometry (LA,ICP,MS, 41 samples analysed). Among the glass fragments analysed, dark brown, dark purple and dark green hues could be distinguished. Only among the dark green fragments could a clear compositional distinction be observed between fragments dated to the periods before and after ad 150. In the early samples (first century bc to first century ad), iron, responsible for the green hue, was introduced by using impure sand containing relatively high amounts of Ti. In contrast, a Ti-poor source of iron was employed, containing Sb, Co and Pb in trace quantities, in order to obtain the dark green colour in the later glass samples. The analytical results obtained by combining SEM,EDS and LA,ICP,MS are therefore consistent with a differentiation of glassmaking recipes, detectable in glass composition, occurring in the period around ad 150. [source]

ROMANO-EGYPTIAN RED LEAD PIGMENT: A SUBSIDIARY COMMODITY OF SPANISH SILVER MINING AND REFINEMENT*

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 5 2009
M. S. WALTON
Samples of red pigment from a group of seven Roman-period Egyptian mummies, known as red-shroud mummies, are investigated. Elemental analysis by inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ICP,TOFMS) shows that the samples contain mostly Pb (83,92% by weight), along with 0.2,2.0% Sn. All of the samples are found to have similar trace element distributions when normalized to the continental crust, suggesting that they share a common geological origin. Lead isotope ratios are found to match the mixed lead sources typically associated with Rio Tinto, Spain , a site extensively mined for silver during the first century ad. Raman microspectroscopy identifies the major phase of each sample to be red lead (Pb3O4) with a minor phase of lead tin oxide (Pb2SnO4). Lead tin oxide does not occur naturally, and its incidental occurrence within the sample indicates that the material was heated under oxidative conditions at temperatures in excess of 650°C. In archaeological contexts, the high-temperature oxidative treatment of lead is typically associated with metallurgical refinement processes such as cupellation. Based on this evidence, it is argued that the pigment was produced out of litharge associated with silver cupellation at the Rio Tinto site. [source]