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First Century Bc (first + century_bc)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

THE ALPS,A BARRIER OR A PASSAGE FOR CERAMIC TRADE?*

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 2 2005
M. MAGGETTI
The Alpsas a barrier: ceramic remnants of the so-called Laugen-Melaun culture (c. 11th to c. sixth centuries bc) can be found in the northern Italy (Trentino/Alto Adige),eastern Switzerland,Liechtenstein and western Austria region. A petrographic study of 454 sherds from this area covering a time span of 500 years reveals the following. (1) The pottery from the Trentino/Alto Adige contains a predominantly volcanic temper, which can be linked to the volcanic rocks of the Bolzano area,in other words, to the core region of this culture. This material is therefore of a local/regional production. (2) These ceramics were imported from the Bolzano region to southeastern Switzerland (the Inn Valley) and the amount of imported pottery decreases markedly from the 11th century bc (approximately 70% imported) to the seventh to sixth centuries bc (approximately 10% imported). (3) No imported pottery can be detected north of the Alpine crest in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria, and in this region serpentinite temper was preferred by ancient potters. These results demonstrate that long-lasting contacts and ceramic trade existed between the populations of the Inn Valley and the Trentino/Alto Adige. Such contacts could have been motivated by intermarriages between the two populations and/or economic exchange. The potters north of the Alpine ridge adopted the Laugen-Melaun style and produced such pottery locally. The use of serpentinite temper is puzzling and not related to any technological advantage. (Could it be recycled material? Or does it have any sociocultural specificity?) The Alps as a passage: 59 fragments of a black gloss ware, the so-called Campana, unearthed at 11 Late Latene sites (second to first centuries bc) in Switzerland and neighbouring Germany were analysed chemically by X-ray fluorescence. The results revealed: (1) that all of them were produced either in Italy or Lyon and then exported to the north; (2) that two principal south,north exchange routes existed, (a) fluviatile, along the Rhône,Rhine corridor and (b) trans-Alpine, using the Alpine passes, such as the Simplon and the Grand St Bernard. [source]

The Isle of Portland: An Iron Age Port-of-trade

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 2 2001
John Taylor
The Isle of Portland (Dorset, England) was part of a trading system that involved the circulation of goods in and across the English Channel during the first century BC. This paper assesses the suitability of Portland as an Iron Age port-of-trade, focuses on the exotics found there and discusses evidence for its hill-fort, which was destroyed in the middle of the nineteenth century [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]

MINERO-PETROGRAPHIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ,GRECO SCRITTO' MARBLE FROM CAP DE GARDE, NEAR HIPPO REGIUS (ANNABA, ALGERIA)*

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 3 2009
F. ANTONELLI
This work presents the results of the first mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical characterization of the marble quarried from the Cap de Garde headland, not far from Annaba (Algeria). This site is traditionally held by archaeologists to be the main source of supply of the so-called ,greco scritto' marble, which was much used by the Romans for architectural and decorative,ornamental purposes, locally from the first century bc, and in Rome and central and southern Italy from the late Flavian period until the fourth century ad. The databank relating to the quarried material, created here for the first time, is used to establish the origin of ,greco scritto' found in six important Roman cities of North Africa: Hippo Regius and Cuicul (Djemila), in Algeria; Volubilis, in Morocco; Cyrene, in Libya; and Carthage and Utica in Tunisia. The results of this archaeometric study support the hypothesis (already put forward by authors) that the ,greco scritto'used in the Roman Mediterranean originated from different sites, and suggest the existence of a number of North African quarries, also in the vicinity of Annaba. [source]