Classical Bronze Research Articles

Characterisation of Archaeological High-tin Bronze Corrosion Structures

ABSTRACT Since ancient times, the use of high-tin bronze alloys (>17 wt.%) has been mainly limited to the production of specific objects such as mirrors and bells. High-tin bronzes can show distinctive colour reflection, as well as mechanical properties and corrosion resistance that clearly distinguish them from the classical bronze composition (with 8–12 wt.% tin). In the present study samples of archaeological high-tin bronze bells were studied by optical microscopy, SEM-EDX, and Raman imaging with the aim of characterising their microstructural long-term corrosion patterns. Results show the presence of high quantities of δ phase, when compared to the classical bronze composition, which makes some corrosion structures more visible in these alloys. The corrosion morphologies show selective corrosion of different metal phases along depth of corrosion, which were attributed to different oxygen potentials. This study proposes a classification of four types of corrosion structures occurring in two-phase bronzes as a consequence of aeration conditions during burial time and aeration within the corrosion structure.

New approaches to models of gender roles of the Late Bronze Age of the Southern Urals: Kazburun Archeological Microdistrict (on the example of the results of a bioarcheological analysis)

Complex archaeological studies carried out on the monuments of the developed classical Late Bronze Age in the territory of the Southern Urals, Kazburun archeological microdistrict allowed to apply the method of osteobiography to the reconstruction of gender features of the funeral rite. The received radiocarbon dates allowed not only to overstate the history of the inhabitants of the Srubnaya and Alakul cultural tastes for a period of 350400 years in this territory, but also to show the finding of all those buried in the same chronological horizon. At the same time, a comparative radiocarbon analysis of the materials of funerary and settlement complexes also showed their simultaneity. DNA data made it possible to distinguish the specificity of the funeral rite. A strong degree of crookedness as a gender characteristic of the buried Scorpion is suggested to be investigated both in the traditional description (crookedness in the hip joint and crookedness in the knee joint, and use the parameter of scorpionctomy in the elbow joint of the buried). Anthropological analyzes characterized a number of paleoblocks as a gender attribute for the homogeneous paleodiet of the ancient population of the Kazburun archaeological microdistrict. Soil research methods have made it possible to determine the nature of the interaction of the ancient population and the modern paleo-environment, thus revealing the level of ancient anthropogenic impact on the environment, to identify probable traditions in the construction of the ancient population.

A Classical Greek Bronze Situla with Figurative Relief in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Determining the techniques used to achieve the figural relief integral to the walls of some Classical Greek bronze vessels poses interesting questions. The early 4th-century Derveni krater, found in ancient Macedonia, has been demonstrated to have been raised with frequent annealing, and the relief which covers its walls achieved by a repoussé technique heavily augmented with exterior cold work. However, bronze vessels were cast together with relief as early as the late 5th century B.C. Among those extant are the calyx krater represented by the Mänadenkrater fragments in the Antikensammlung, Berlin, and a group of late 5th-century bronze situlae (open-mouthed buckets with bail handles), found in Macedonia, Thrace, and elsewhere. The better preserved situlae suggest sophisticated indirect casting methods which conserved bronze with thinner walls which were subsequently hammered below the relief areas into their characteristic shape. The mid-4th-century B.C. Boston situla, from South Italy, with its higher and more extensive relief, can be shown to have been indirectly cast together with its rim, handle attachments and high relief frieze, apparently from a wax model produced in a single mold, and subsequently annealed and embossed both within the relief frieze and below it.

The Croatian Apoxyomenos as a luxurious rodent nest: archaeobotanical and zoological analyses of organic material found inside the classical bronze statue

Archaeobotanical analysis has been used to reconstruct the nest and diet of a small rodent from the Classical period (first century b.c. to second century a.d.) and most probably from Greece. The nest was found in the hollow interior of a very valuable bronze statue of a young athlete, recovered from the waters of the Northern Adriatic and named the Croatian Apoxyomenos. Apoxyomenos was probably the cargo of a Roman ship on one of highly frequented sea routes in ancient times, along which, among other things, a highly developed trade in artworks was maintained. All plant remains were non-carbonised and mineralised; encrusted with metallic salts, especially of copper, and preserved in excellent condition. The nest itself (wisps of “straw” found in the hollow interior of the left forearm of the statue) was mainly composed of stems and leaves of grasses (Poaceae), but also of laurel (Laurus nobilis) leaves and other plant remains. Along with “straw”, a further 837 individual plant remains were found and analysed and 41 different plant taxa were identified. Plant remains that presumably were part of the rodent’s diet belong to various wild and cultivated plants which indicate various anthropogenic habitats probably situated somewhere on the edge of human settlement. From zoological analysis of bite marks found on fruit stones of cherry and olive, and of the potential rodent fauna in the area the statue was assumed to be in prior to becoming submerged, it was established that the rodent was most probably one of the taxa of the Mus domesticus group.

Achelo�s Peplophoros: A Lost Statuette of a River God in Feminine Dress

In this study the author analyzes the iconography of a unique Early Classical bronze statuette that represents the river god Acheloos as a peplophoros. Formerly in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the statuette is now lost. Using the myth of Herakles'peplos as a parallel, the author argues that Acheloos is represented wearing women's dress in order to counterbalance his excessive masculinity. The combination of masculine and feminine iconographic attributes serves to acknowledge the potentially destructive power of the river while also highlighting its life-giving beneficence.

Classical Bronzes: The Art and Craft of Greek and Roman Statuary

Classical Bronzes: The Art and Craft of Greek and Roman Statuary

(C.C.) Mattusch Classical Bronzes. The art and craft of Greek and Roman statuary. Cornell UP, 1996. Pp. xvii + 241, ill. £35.50. 0801431824.

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The Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzes from North American Collections. By Carol C. Mattusch. Myth, Man and Metal: Bronze Sculpture of Ancient Greece and Rome. By Carol C. Mattusch.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsThe Fire of Hephaistos: Large Classical Bronzes from North American Collections. By Carol C. Mattusch. Myth, Man and Metal: Bronze Sculpture of Ancient Greece and Rome. By Carol C. Mattusch.Sheila DillonSheila Dillon Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Archaeology Volume 101, Number 4October 1997 The journal of the Archaeological Institute of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/506861 Copyright © 1997 by the Archaeological Institute of America. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Death of the Sculptor?

Previous articleNext article No AccessReview ArticleThe Death of the Sculptor? Understanding Greek Sculpture: Ancient Meanings, Modern Readings. By Nigel Spivey. Classical Bronzes: The Art and Craft of Greek and Roman Statuary. By Carol C. Mattusch. Greek Sculpture: The Late Classical Period and Sculpture in Colonies and Overseas. By John Boardman.Jeffrey M. HurwitJeffrey M. Hurwit Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Archaeology Volume 101, Number 3July 1997 The journal of the Archaeological Institute of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/507110 Copyright © 1997 by the Archaeological Institute of America. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Classical bronzes: the art and craft of Greek and Roman statuary

Classical bronzes: the art and craft of Greek and Roman statuary

The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze

The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze

The Porticello Shipwreck: A Mediterranean Merchant Vessel of 415-385 B.C.

The Porticello Shipwreck provides unique information on seafaring technologies and trade practices at the turn of the fifth century B.C.This volume is the final report of the excavation, including detailed analyses of the ship and its contents and a thorough catalog of artifacts associated with the shipwreck. The Porticello wreck documents for the Classical period aspects of anchor, sail, and hull construction. The cargo provides the earliest evidence for maritime trade in ink and the export of Athenian lead to the Mediterranean, and the cargo of amphoras is the largest assemblage of Greek and Punic amphoras from a shipwreck site.Of particular importance are the fragments of bronze Greek sculpture of the Classical period, which include a strikingly realistic bearded head. These pieces strongly suggest that techniques of Classical Greek bronze casting were much more varied and complex than art historians previously has though possible.The information in this book will be of great value to students of Classical Greek archaeology, sculpture, and economics as well as those interested in ancient maritime history.

The Porticello Shipwreck: A Mediterranean Merchant Vessel of 415–385 B.C. by Cynthia J. Eiseman, Brunilde S. Ridgway

668 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE record of scientific investigations dating from the first chance obser­ vations in the 1850s that had led to the understanding of the origins of these biblical dyes. Herzog was not satisfied with relying on ancient sources alone and turned for advice to British, French, and German experts in “tinctorial chemistry” who had made their names in the held of synthetic dyes. Other sections of the book deal with the extensive archaeological evidence for the existence of the industry (Nira Karmon and Ehud Spanier), the role of the purple in late antiquity and Byzantium (Jane Bridgeman), the chemical aspects (Otto Eisner and Spanier), the varieties of snails (Spanier and Karmon), their connection with the purple dye (Henk K. Mienis and Spanier), and Jewish religious (halakic) aspects (Israel I. Ziderman). Eisner and Spanier pay special attention to chemical history, reaching back to the earliest non-Jewish writings on dyeing, which are conspicuous for the absence of tekhelet. The ongoing mystery is due in part to the monopolistic position conferred on those once involved in producing and regulating the supply of the color. The problems of biblical nomenclature, so painstakingly tackled by Herzog, are clari­ fied as far as it is possible by Ziderman. The contributors indicate that further important discoveries are to follow as chemical, biological, and archaeological inquiries continue. In the meantime, students of ancient technology and culture will be grateful for an inspiring piece of multidisciplinary scholarship. Anthony S. Travis Dr. Trams is with the Sidney M. F.delstein Center for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His publications on chemical technology include the forthcoming “Perkin’s Mauve: Ances­ tor of the Organic Chemical Industry,” in Technology and Culture. The Porticello Shipwreck: A Mediterranean Merchant Vessel of 415—385 u.c. By Cynthia J. Eiseman and Brunilde S. Ridgway (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1987). Pp. xii+126; illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $89.50. Underwater archaeology, established as a proper academic disci­ pline by the redoubtable George Bass in the 1960s, has slowly but surely expanded its scholarly credibility and utility. Perhaps because submerged sites are relatively less vulnerable to looting than terres­ trial ones—or were until recently at least—some of the most exciting archaeological finds of late have been beneath the seas. But archae­ ologists are careful folk, and the underwater medium is demanding; this plus the exacting requirements of conserving artifacts removed from extended saltwater immersion impose extended delays between TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 669 discovery and publication. Consequently, the discipline is only now beginning to accumulate a solid base of secondary literature. This little gem from Bass’s Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M, published with the assistance of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is a beautiful example. Combining an adventure story with a detailed site report, this beautifully produced monograph does full justice to the discipline and to its subject, a merchant ship that went down off the Calabrian coast around the time of the Peloponnesian Wars. The story begins with the discovery of amphora and bronze statuary fragments on the bottom by sports divers, alerted to the site by local fishermen, in 1969. Cognizant of the value of their finds on the antiquities market, the discoverers began surreptitiously removing and marketing them in violation of Italian law. This, through an involved chain of circum­ stances, in turn alerted the local police, the carabinieri (a special carabinieri diving unit drew up the initial site plan), Italian museum authorities, and the University Museum of the University of Pennsyl­ vania, organizer of the excavation campaigns of 1970 and 1971, the results of which constitute the bulk of the book. The authors do a commendably thorough job in evaluating and assessing the materials recovered from the site. These include strik­ ingly beautiful elements of classical bronze statuary (which receive their full due aesthetically as well as analytically; the photographs are superb, and Brunilde Ridgway’s analysis of their construction is a high point and of particular interest to students of technology) and such mundane objects as an intriguingly diverse assortment of amphora, fragments of hull timbers, nails, and an impressively...

The Gods delight: the human figure in classical bronze

The Gods delight: the human figure in classical bronze

Caryatid Mirrors of Ancient Greece. Technical, Stylistic and Historical Considerations of an Archaic and Early Classical Bronze Series. By Lenore O. Keene Congdon.

<i>Caryatid Mirrors of Ancient Greece. Technical, Stylistic and Historical Considerations of an Archaic and Early Classical Bronze Series</i>. By Lenore O. Keene Congdon.

Technical Examination of the Classical Bronze Horse from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A thorough technical examination of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bronze Horse (Ace. No. 23.69) has revealed that the technical evidence used to condemn it does not hold up under critical evaluation. The composition of the metal and core, the nature of the corrosion and its method of manufacture are consistent with the object being of ancient origin. Thermoluminescence experiments performed on the ceramic core material of the horse have proved that the bronze horse was manufactured in antiquity.

Technical Examination of the Classical Bronze Horse from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A thorough technical examination of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Bronze Horse (Ace. No. 23.69) has revealed that the technical evidence used to condemn it does not hold up under critical evaluation. The composition of the metal and core, the nature of the corrosion and its method of manufacture are consistent with the object being of ancient origin. Thermoluminescence experiments performed on the ceramic core material of the horse have proved that the bronze horse was manufactured in antiquity.

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. Classical Bronzes

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. Classical Bronzes

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. Catalogue of the Collection. Classical Bronzes. By David Gordon Mitten.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsMuseum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. Catalogue of the Collection. Classical Bronzes. By David Gordon Mitten.Dorothy Kent HillDorothy Kent Hill Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Archaeology Volume 81, Number 1Winter 1977 The journal of the Archaeological Institute of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/503664 Copyright © 1977 by the Archaeological Institute of America. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Catalogue of Classical Bronze Sculpture in the Walters Art Gallery. By Dorothy Kent Hill.

<i>Catalogue of Classical Bronze Sculpture in the Walters Art Gallery</i>. By Dorothy Kent Hill.