Bronze Bowls Research Articles

Analysis on the Ancient Bronze Cooking Outils Excavated from Historic Site of Anti-Mongolian Struggle in Hangpaduri, Jeju

The microstructure of ancient bronze cooking outil excavated in historic site of anti-Mongolian struggle in Hangpaduri was analyzed to confirm various manufacturing techniques. Bronze spoon and bronze ladles were made by alloying only copper and tin, and the alloy ratio included approximately 22% tin in the copper composition of the forged high tin bronze. The manufacturing process of forged high tin bronze technology, which commonly involves high-temperature forging and final finishing with quenching, was performed. In addition, the sulfide elongated in the longitudinal direction shows that the copper material supplied to the metal may be copper ore containing sulfur such as chalcopyrite and chalcocite. The three bronzewares were made using a binary alloy of copper-tin and a ternary alloy of copper-tin-lead, respectively. Manufacturing techniques using a binary alloy of copper-tin are divided into a forged high tin bronze technique using a hammering and quenching process and a manufacturing technique system of quenching after casting into a shape. Bronze bowl made using a ternary alloy of copper-tin-lead contain 11 wt% tin and 9 wt% lead in the main metal of copper. The lead contained in large quantities is formed in an uneven size within the microstructure, and shows the characteristic of sulfide being distributed around the lead. In addition, there are no traces of additional processing or heat treatment such as quenching. Therefore, it can be seen that the work process was completed by casting the shape. The results of the microstructure analysis show various manufacturing technology systems applied to the bronze cooking outils from historic site of anti-Mongolian struggle in Hangpaduri, Jeju. In particular, through comparison with bronze artifacts utensils excavated from other regions of the Sambyeolcho’s historic site, the possibility of bronze being introduced due to the migration of the Sambyeolcho was confirmed.

Looking for the Signs An Unfinished Royal Bowl from Karmir-Blur of Minua, King of Urartu

Among the most representative objects not only of metallurgy, but of the Urartian kingship itself, there is a rather conspicuous group of bronze bowls bearing short inscriptions in cuneiform. These texts allow to attribute the ownership of these objects to a series of Urartian rulers. Since 2022, a new project has been underway to study comprehensively these objects, most of which are stored in the History Museum of Armenia. The present article deals with two bowls referable to king Minua, son of Išpuini, one of which, unpublished, bears an unfinished inscription. A reconstruction of this inscription is given based on microscopic analysis of the epigraph preparation marks.

ԱՍՈՐԵՍՏԱՆՅԱՆ ՏԱՐՐԵՐԸ ԲԱՐՁՐԱՎԱՆԴԱԿԻ ԵՐԿԱԹԻ ԴԱՐԻ ՄՇԱԿՈՒՅԹՈՒՄ. ԵՂԵԳՆԱՁՈՐԻ ԳԱՆՁԻ ԶԱՐԴԱՐՎԱԾ ԲՐՈՆԶԵ ԹԱՍԸ / ASSYRIANIZING ELEMENTS IN THE IRON AGE CULTURES OF THE HIGHLAND։ THE DECORATED BRONZE BOWL FROM THE YEGHEGNADZOR HOARD

Among the most well-known Urartian materials one can find the bronze bowls: they usually have the same shape and bear an incised decoration in the centre surrounded by a cuneiform inscription indicating the name of the sovereign owning them. This article, instead, deals with a single specimen, found in the town of Yeghegnadzor (Armenia), which only presents the incised decoration in the centre: even this decoration is indeed a unicum among the Urartian bronze bowls, as it doesn’t appear on any other known specimen. The authors will analyze the bowl in detail, presenting different comparisons both to the shape itself and to its decoration, and framing it with the context where it was found.

«Կումայրի» պատմամշակութային արգելոց-թագարանում պահպանվող Շիրակավանի պատահական գտածոների շուրջ

The work presents random findings from the village of Shirakavan, Shirak Marz. Chance findings were discovered during the construction work that was carried out in the village of Shirakavan in the late 1980s - early 1990s. The collection consists of bronze items - a bronze bowl and two types of bronze standards-pendants. Bronze standards date back to the beginning of the 1st millennium-9th-8th centuries BC, and a bronze bowl -XII-X centuries BC.

DETERIORATION AND CONSERVATION OF AN ASSYRIAN BRONZE KNEADING BOWL

An Assyrian bronze kneading bowel is preserved in the storage area of the Jordanian Heritage Museum. Its diameter is 37 cm, and the height is 16 cm. The bronze bowl suffered from many corrosion forms, as different corrosion layers are visible on the surface. The bronze disease appears in different parts, damaging parts of the edges of the bronze bowl, and holes in the bowl’s body. Samples of corrosion layers were studied using Light Optical Microscope (LOM), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X- Ray diffraction (XRD), and (EDX). Analyses indicated that atacamite and paratacamite minerals were the main components in the corrosion samples in addition to quartz and cuprite minerals. Treatment and conservation of the bronze bowl included mechanical and chemical cleaning. Localized electrochemical reduction was used to remove the bronze disease as hydrogen ions reduced these compounds and convert them into water-soluble compounds. A mixture of beeswax, dammar, and colophony resin was used to fill the holes in the bowl body and to complete the edges. Finally, the bronze bowl was isolated using benzotriazole 3%.

가야고분 출토 청동완의 분포와 의미

5세기 후엽부터 6세기 중엽까지 가야고분에서는 일부 수장층 고분을 중심으로 청동용기가 부장된다. 당시 가야고분에 부장된 청동용기는 거의 대부분 청동완의 형태로 확인되고, 계보는 중국 남조에서 시작되어 백제를 거쳐 가야지역까지 유통된 것으로 파악하고 있다. 특히 6세기 전~중엽 가야고분 출토 청동완은 백제 무령왕릉 출토품과 매우 유사하기 때문에 동일한 지역에서 제작되었을 것으로 추정된다.BR 5세기 후엽~말 가야고분에서 출토된 청동완은 당시 대가야권역에서 확인되는 계수호 등 중국 남조계 유물로 보아 479년 남제견사와 관련되었을 가능성이 크다. 6세기 전~중엽의 청동완은 무령왕릉 출토품과 형태적으로 훨씬 더 가깝다는 점에서 백제를 통해서 입수되었을 가능성이 크다.BR 그리고 6세기 대가야권역 내 거점지역과 외곽의 주요 지역을 대상으로 대가야 최고지배층은 이러한 청동완을 분배하였을 것으로 판단된다. 공통의 묘·장제를 공유하는 고령과 합천지역 등 대가야 중심권역에서 다소 벗어난 지역인 진주 수정봉·옥봉고분군과 의령 경산리고분군에서 다수의 대가야양식 토기와 함께 출토된 청동완과 청동합은 이러한 흐름이 반영된 것으로 이해할 수 있다. 이에 이러한 현상에 기왕의 연구 성과를 더해 6세기 이후 대가야의 직접영향권과 간접영향권으로 구분하였다.BR 가야고분 출토 청동완은 청동합과 더불어 그 존재 자체만으로도 희소한 가치가 있으나 대가야양식 토기, 그리고 고아동식 횡혈식석실의 분포권과 거의 일치하는 등 공통의 묘·장제를 공유하였고, 권역 내 유력 수장층 고분군에서만 부장된다는 점에서 의의가 있다.

Palaepaphos-Skales Tomb 277. More prestigious burials. With an appendix by Maria A. Socratous

Tomb 277 in the Skales cemetery at Palaepaphos, excavated by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities, is among the richest ever found in the south-west of the island. It dates to the Cypro-Geometric III period (c. 900–750 BC) and was used for multiple burials of important members of the Palaepaphian society, namely warriors and important women (priestesses of the Great Goddess?) judging from the abundant offerings of arms and armour as well as gold jewellery respectively (including gold plaques embossed with the head of the Egyptian goddess Hathor). Notable among the offerings are two bronze basins, six small hemispherical bronze bowls, two bronze mace-heads (symbols of authority), a bronze shield of a rare type, and two richly decorated belts of oriental type. We also mention two iron swords and a bronze spearhead. Among the pottery we note the high percentage of Phoenician imports. Both inhumations and a cremation burial were observed in the tomb.

An Assemblage from a Medieval Burial at Lake Parisento, Gydan Peninsula, the Arctic Zone of Western Siberia

The article introduces an assemblage from a child burial discovered in the central Gydan Peninsula, Tazovsky District, YamalNenets Autonomous Okrug. Little is known about the archaeological past of Arctic Western Siberia, and these fi nds are relevant to the study of the medieval period of that area. Medieval burials were studied only in the adjacent peninsula of Yamal. The discovery of the burial is described in detail. It was exposed owing to soil eolation. Artifacts were redeposited, and virtually the entire skeleton was missing. In a lump of soil stuck to the metal bowl, a few bone fragments and hair was found. Their analysis suggests that the individual was an infant aged 1–3. The assemblage includes an imported bronze bowl, a bronze haft of a knife, a scabbard, and a silver earring. The bowl, made of tin bronze, was apparently manufactured in eastern Iran or Central Asia in the 10th or 11th century. The haft and the scabbard, judging by the type and technology, belonged to a category of artifacts that were common in the Lower Ob basin, the southern Yamal, and the Ural in the late fi rst and early second millennia. On the basis of the results of X-ray fl uorescence analysis, we assess the chemical composition of the metal of which all those artifacts are made. The decorated fragment of a clay vessel is attributed to the Tiutey-Sale variant (800–1300 AD) of the Lower Ob culture. The totality of indicators suggests a date between 900 and 1100 AD. We conclude that the tundra areas of the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas were colonized by migrants from the northern taiga zone of Western Siberia.

Вещевой комплекс из средневекового погребения вблизи озера Парисенто на Гыданском полуострове (арктическая зона Западной Сибири)

The article introduces an assemblage from a child burial discovered in the central Gydan Peninsula, Tazovsky District, YamalNenets Autonomous Okrug. Little is known about the archaeological past of Arctic Western Siberia, and these fi nds are relevant to the study of the medieval period of that area. Medieval burials were studied only in the adjacent peninsula of Yamal. The discovery of the burial is described in detail. It was exposed owing to soil eolation. Artifacts were redeposited, and virtually the entire skeleton was missing. In a lump of soil stuck to the metal bowl, a few bone fragments and hair was found. Their analysis suggests that the individual was an infant aged 1–3. The assemblage includes an imported bronze bowl, a bronze haft of a knife, a scabbard, and a silver earring. The bowl, made of tin bronze, was apparently manufactured in eastern Iran or Central Asia in the 10th or 11th century. The haft and the scabbard, judging by the type and technology, belonged to a category of artifacts that were common in the Lower Ob basin, the southern Yamal, and the Ural in the late fi rst and early second millennia. On the basis of the results of X-ray fl uorescence analysis, we assess the chemical composition of the metal of which all those artifacts are made. The decorated fragment of a clay vessel is attributed to the Tiutey-Sale variant (800–1300 AD) of the Lower Ob culture. The totality of indicators suggests a date between 900 and 1100 AD. We conclude that the tundra areas of the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas were colonized by migrants from the northern taiga zone of Western Siberia.

Bronze bowls and their derivatives from early medieval sites of the Kama-Vyatka Interfluve

Bronze bowls and their derivatives from early medieval sites of the Kama-Vyatka Interfluve

MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS FROM THE SCYTHIAN KURGANS OF KHERSON REGION (a New Look at Famous Artefacts)

In 1973, the Kherson Expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of Ukraine under the leadership of A. I. Terenozhkin discovered a group of kurgans near the village of Lvove in the Kherson region. Five Scythian graves were investigated in the mound 11. Two of them belonged to the Amazons and have not been robbed.
 Some of the items from these kurgans are stored in the National Museum of Ukrainian History. After the restoration, they in fact have got a second life and a new attribution. The most interesting are things from burial 2: a pair of iron spring forceps, an iron knife with a bone faceted handle, and a bronze bowl. According to the Doctor of Veterinary O. P. Melnyk, these items are close to modern medical instruments. The bronze bowl with thin sides, a flat bottom and a corolla with a rigid ledge could serve for fast heating of water and sterilization of tools. Iron forceps could be used to take tools out of boiling water. The shape of the knife blade and its technological features are similar to modern hoof knives designed to care for the hooves of animals. A similar bowl was found in burial No. 4, while another bowl and a bronze knife were in the main burial 7 of the same kurgan.
 Moreover, the collection of the Museum contains a series of iron knives from kurgans near Pervomaivka village in Kherson region. Their design features, according to Professor O. P. Melnyk, allow us to see in them medical instruments. One of them by the shape of its blade resembles a modern scalpel.
 Judging by pieces of art, healing and zootechnics have reached a high level among the Scythians. Significant examples in this respect are the metal bowl from the kurgan Kul-Oba and the amphora from the kurgan Chortomlyk. The scene of the castration of a horse is depicted on an amphora. As reported by Strabo, the Scythians had a common practice to castrate horses, and the Amazons have been taking care of their horses on their own. Consequently, it is quite possibly that the Amazons carried out certain veterinary operations. In addition to castration, an equally important operation in horse breeding is the cleansing of hooves.
 The considered artefacts served as tools that could be used both in medicine, and in veterinary medicine. Thereby we can make a conclusion that the Scythian Amazons did not concede to men in medical practice as well.

Characterization of a new efflorescence salt on calcareous historic objects stored in wood cabinets: Ca2(CH3COO)(HCOO)(NO3)2·4H2O

White efflorescence crystals grown on the surfaces of a bronze bowl, classical ceramic and ancient wine jugs were investigated. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) revealed that in each case an identical, hitherto unknown phase was formed. The crystal structure was solved from high resolution XRPD measurements and revealed a phase composition of Ca2(CH3COO)(HCOO)(NO3)2·4H2O, which is in accordance with the complementary analysis. The overall structural motif of Ca2(CH3COO)(HCOO)(NO3)2·4H2O, one dimensional calcium carboxylate zig zag chains in which acetate and formate ions are arranged in an alternating fashion, is closely related to other naturally occurring or artificial efflorescence salts like thecotrichite or calclacite.

Gifts of the King. “Hanseatic” Bronze Bowls in Thirteenth-Century Estonia: Signs of Danish Crusades?

The Virumaa province in northeast Estonia is the area with the biggest concentration of ‘Hanseatic bowl’ finds in Europe. The finds originate mostly from deposits, often consisting of sets of numerous items. This article suggests a connection between these finds and the Danish crusade to Estonia in 1219, interpreting the bowls as the king’s gift to new subjects for their loyalty, also looking at a possible broader context, and drawing hypothetical parallels with the Danish crusade to Samland and Prussia in 1210. Key words: bronze bowls, Estonia, Denmark, Samland, crusade, mission, gifts for loyalty. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ab.v24i0.1568

High-tin bronze bowls and copper drums: Non-ferrous archaeometallurgical evidence for Khao Sek's involvement and role in regional exchange systems

High-tin bronze bowls and copper drums: Non-ferrous archaeometallurgical evidence for Khao Sek's involvement and role in regional exchange systems

Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology ed. by Nicolas Revire, Stephen A. Murphy

Reviewed by: Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology ed. by Nicolas Revire, Stephen A. Murphy Miriam T. Stark Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology. Nicolas Revire and Stephen A. Murphy, eds. Bangkok: River Books, 2014. 432pp, 312 color illustrations, 56 maps and plans, Notes, Bibliographies, Index. US $49.95. ISBN 9786167339412. The millennium-long period that began c. 500 b.c.e. has long vexed Southeast Asian archaeologists and historians for its odd mix of archaeological, documentary, and art historical data that mark a change from the prehistoric period to one recorded by local and visiting historians. We still struggle to understand this period, called variously the Iron Age, the protohistoric period, the Early Historic period, or simply Early South East Asia (with credit to Smith and Watson 1979), during which Southeast Asians embraced profound organizational and ideological transformations (Murphy and Stark 2016). Indianization, Hindicization, localization, Sanskritization: each of these terms captures some elements of settlement, subsistence, and political dynamics of the time. Yet each term reflects an outsider perspective; it is only in the last few decades that archaeologists and art historians have buckled down to do the hard work of understanding the material record of this “millennium-long no-man’s land” from the bottom up (Manguin 2011:xvi). Nicolas Revire and Stephen Murphy have done our field a great service by producing this 2014 edited volume, which includes 18 essays by 22 contributors and spans the period from protohistory to the end of the thirteenth century. HiramWoodward’s prologue surveys current knowledge of Thailand’s proto- and early historical periods. Southeast Asian archaeologists will gravitate toward the chapters that report on recent excavations in central and peninsular Thailand (i.e., Promthin Thai, Phong Tuek [central Thailand], Kamphaeng Saen; Yarang, Ban Bana, Khuan Mahut [peninsular Thailand]) and points as far west as lower Myanmar and as far north as southern Laos. Some sites are entirely new to the archaeological community; included in this group are the central Thai sites of Kamphaeng Saen and Phromthin Tai (Gallon, Lertcharnwit), Pattani sites of Ban Bana and Khuan Mahut (Noonsuk), and Muttama (Martaban, reported by Moore and San Win). In other places such as the Middle Mekong Valley, it is Michel Lorillard’s identification of a broader settlement pattern that is novel. Careful field-based archaeological research, and Hutangkura’s geoarchaeological study of Thai shorelines, in this volume’s chapters help clear the log jam that Karl Hutterer (1982:563) claimed prevented us making substantive linkages between the region’s ‘prehistoric’ and ‘historic’ traditions. Several of the book’s authors focus on excavated objects to offer essentially new archaeological and art historical research. Ian Glover and Shahnaj Husne Jahan’s analysis of a bronze bowl from Khao Sam Kaeo pinpoints potential new South Asia source areas for technological traditions that mark Thailand’s protohistoric period. Analysis of Mediterranean goods from peninsular Thailand by Borell and colleagues deepen our understanding of the range of goods and routes that linked Southeast Asia with the West. Himanshu Prabha Ray’s discussion of religious maritime linkages across the first-millennium c.e. Bay of Bengal to India’s eastern coast (and Nagarjunakonda [Andhra Pradesh]) [End Page 260] expands our knowledge of routes and the South Asian context. These linkages were robust, carrying ideas eastward from a complicated mix of South Asian traditions by the early sixth century. Paul Lavy’s carefully-argued analysis of conch-on-hip images in early Vaişņava sculpture not only provides a comprehensive survey of these early images, but also lays a convincing foundation for a sustained indigenous development of Brahmanical art in the region. A few of the book’s chapters interrogate discrete data classes to understand Thailand before Siam. Nicolas Revire’s painstaking analysis of Buddhist practice and ritual uses Dvāravatī period inscriptions (Buddhist donation and dedicatory; Pāli citation and Ye Dhammā) from first-millennium Thailand to move between what he calls material and ritual cultures. Pinna Indorf uses Dvāravatī cakras as analyzable texts; her seriation organizes these key artifacts through time and across space to understand historical and political events within the Dvāravatī period. Wesley Clark’s contextual analysis of burial...

Swinging Thuribles in Early Byzantine Churches in the Holy Land.

The use of swinging thuribles for incense burning is a familiar scene in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. The practice of incense burning in religious ceremonies predates Christianity by thousands of years, and the Old Testament, for example, contains numerous references to it. As early as the 4th century A.D., literary sources described the practice of burning incense during the church services in the Holy Land. Several examples of bronze bowls with no lid, suspended by three chains, have been discovered in Early Byzantine churches in the Eastern Mediterranean or are depicted on mosaics of contemporaneous churches in Ravenna and in present-day Jordan. Unlike the Catholic Church, the Eastern Church continued using uncovered swinging thuribles for many centuries.

Sovereignty and the Materiality of Caliphal Encounters

This essay focuses on two tenth-century bronze objects, a basin and a bowl, inscribed with an epigraphic band that can be read as the repetition of the Arabic word for sovereignty, al-mulk. These objects were probably made in the area that now comprises Iran and Central Asia, an artistic, intellectual, and commercial center of the Islamic lands in the ninth and tenth centuries. Bronzes like these, luxury commodities that would have appeared gold when new, are rarely found outside Iran and Central Asia (Allan; Baer). Yet those I discuss here were discovered far from their likely region of origin—indeed, at opposite ends of the Islamic territories of Eurasia. The large bronze basin was discovered in Inner Mongolia, while the small bronze bowl was unearthed in Córdoba, in southern Spain. These inscribed objects hint at a transhemispheric cultural-political history that has implications for reigning narratives of modernity, including for those that relate to medieval studies.

On the degradation factors of an archaeological bronze bowl belonging to a private collection

A bronze bowl belonging to a private collection, stylistically consistent with the Achaemenid art was investigated to determine the cause of the artwork local fragmentation. The corrosion products were characterised by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF), Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The last technique was also used to determine the chemical composition of the alloy. The metallographic analysis showed that the bowl was obtained from a monophasic bronze alloy, containing about 11% tin and other elements in traces. The presence of an inhomogeneous microstructure with both thermal twin bands and slip lines was consistent with multiple hammering steps followed by partial annealing treatments. On the bowl a very limited chloride contamination was observed and chlorides were never detected in proximity to the metal. These findings and the morphological/compositional characteristics of the patinas permitted to classify that on the internal side of the bowl as a modified Type I morphology, while the patina on the external side of the bowl was less compact, so that it was judged borderline between a “noble” patina and a disfiguring one. On this side, a significant intergranular attack was found, reputed responsible for the fragmentation occurred.

Castrum Raczans – some remarks on foreign influences in 13th century Pommerania

Site 1 in Raciąz was the subject of archaeological exploration in 1969–1985 and 1990–1992, carried out by Pomeranian Archaeological Expedition of Łodź University. The youngest object’s phase was interpreted at that time as wooden-earthen stronghold, the castellan seat, confirmed in a number of written sources from 13 th century. Material culture of the stronghold inhabitants was defined as traditional for early mediaeval Pomerania, with slight influences of Western Europe. Unfortunately, wide-ranging research has not been completed. Secondary material analysis performed recently revealed diversity of material culture and its reaches. A variety of clasps and belt fittings were distinguished, so called lengthened belts, typical for development of High Middle Ages, rings and buoodnes with numerous analogies in West European material. The inventory of grave no 59 from the nearby cemetery is an interesting example of mutual penetration of home, local and foreign influences, where apart from temple rings – typical for Western Slavs, finger rings and bead necklaces, there was also a complete set of a belt. Foreign influences are also readable in the assortment of vessels in use. Except for the examples made in traditional methods of Western Slavs, there are also not known earlier, pitchers, vessels with pipe-like outlets (including imported Lower Silesian dishes), glazed ones, brought from East English or South Scandinavian regions and so called colonization ceramics (vessels fired in reductive technique). Many metal dishes were registered, as well (grapens – threepod vessels, and bronze bowls, which were repaired or recycled on the spot). Spatial composition and the object’s function resemble so called castles of transitive type or colonization castles – fortresses erected around vast terrains of Central Europe in order to control and protect colonization processes. Erecting the object in Raciąz and establishing in it the castellan zone can be synchronized with intense settling processes and land donations confirmed in the area of Krajenskie Lakeland and Tucholskie Forests. The object in Raciąz seems, therefore less traditional than it was supposed before. Its dwellers followed all new trends reaching Pomerania by costal urban centers (Gdansk), while the stronghold itself was adjusted to their needs and referred to central European standards.

Vaisselle de la cour des rois de Ḥaḍramawt et autres objets inscrits dans la collection Shlomo Moussaieff

Publication of several pieces of the Moussaieff collection: four silver vases, a strainer, a dipper handle and an ornate plate that belonged to the vassals of the Kings of Ḥaḍramawt in the third century AD. Also a bronze bowl dedicated to the god Sami‘, a bronze container dedicated to Almaqah from al- Bayḍā and a bronze bucket bearing a Qatabanite inscription, probably from wādī Ḥarīb.