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Ancient Meeting on European Ceramics. Abstract and Presentation, UCL 10-13 September:
V. Renson, J. Coenaerts, K. Nys, N. Mattielli, F. Vanhaeke, P. Claeys. Identifying Potential Sources of Late Bronze Age pottery from Cyprus using Lead Isotopic Analysis. Ancient Meeting on European Ceramics. Abstract and Presentation. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/EMAC09
Virginie RENSON (1) , Jan COENAERTS (2), Karin NYS (2), Nadine MATTIELLI (3), Frank VANHAECKE (4) and Philippe CLAEYS (1)
(1) Department of Geology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, vrenson@vub.ac.be; (2) Department of Art Sciences and Archeology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; (3) Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, (4) Department of Analytical Chemistry, Krijgslaan 281 S12, 9000 Gent, Belgium
This provenance study, which is part of a larger multidisciplinary project pertaining to the study of man and paleoenvironments at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, uses lead isotopes as a tracer of sources of raw material used in pottery production. Lead isotopes commonly trace the provenance of metal artifacts or lead-rich materials, but so far, they have not been applied to the analysis of the raw material used for pottery production.
A selection of eighty sherds from the most common pottery wares (Canaanite, Coarse, Base Ring, Black Slip, Bucchero, Plain White Wheel-made, Red Lustrous Wheel-made, White Painted, White Slip) from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke in southeast Cyprus were analyzed and compared to thirty potential clays sources collected in the surroundings of this site. The samples were selected based on their lithology: Quaternary clayey sediments, Pliocene, Miocene and Palaeogene marls, and clayey weathering products from the ophiolithic complex. Lead isotopes were measured using MC-ICP-MS. In addition to the isotopic analysis, elemental geochemistry and mineralogical analyses were carried out on a selection of sherds and sediments.
A preliminary set of results on a limited number of sherds from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke and clays demonstrated the effectiveness of lead isotopes for tracing pottery provenance and the use of local sources for pottery production (Renson et al. 2007). The scope of the provenance research was then enlarged and supplementary sherds and clays from other Late Bronze Age sites in Cyprus were analysed (e.g., at Sanidha). Current results focus on the lead isotopic composition of the local pottery production at Hala Sultan Tekke and its comparison with the composition of the potential clay sources collected in the vicinity. Furthermore, White Slip (WS) sherds were analysed to test the hypothesis of their possible provenance. This pottery ware, which is found all over the Mediterranean, is considered to come mainly from Sanidha (south Cyprus) and may also be locally produced at Hala Sultan Tekke (Hatcher 2002). Therefore, the composition of 31 WS sherds from Hala Sultan Tekke have been compared to the composition of 22 WS sherds from Sanidha and to the composition of the potential clay sources collected in the surroundings of both Hala Sulan Tekke and Sanidha (c.15-20 km).
Renson et al., 2007. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology, 45:12, 53-62.
Hatcher H., 2002. British Archaeological Reports International Series, 1040, 161-168.