A Bronze Age Glass Bead from Wilsford, Wiltshire: Barrow G.42 in the Lake group.

1984 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 245-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Guido ◽  
Julian Henderson ◽  
Michael Cable ◽  
Justine Bayley ◽  
Leo Biek
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Glass Bead ◽  
Intrinsic Interest ◽  
Large Bell ◽  
Large Stone ◽  
General Importance ◽  
Burned Bones

This paper deals with a unique glass bead from the second millennium BC in Wessex. Overlooked for more than 150 years, it has now been recognized for its intrinsic interest and general importance and is here presented for its wide significance in ancient Europe and beyond (pls 8 and 9).InAncient Wiltshire(1812, 210) Richard Colt Hoare recorded the excavation of a barrow in a group of Bronze Age date at Wilsford: ‘No. 7 is a large bell-shaped barrow’ (now regarded as a bowl barrow) ‘composed entirely of vegetable earth. It contained within a cist a little pile of burned bones with which had been deposited a very fine brass pin, a large stone bead which had been stained red, a bead of ivory and a lance head of brass’. This account is based on the records of William Cunnington (1807, 5–6), which include a transcription of a letter from the original excavator, a Mr Owen. The dimensions of the barrow are there given as 80 ft in diameter, 9 ft high, with a circular cist 18 in deep. The barrow is described as ‘No. 6 of Mr Duke's barrows’; there is thus a discrepancy in the numbering of the barrow, since Colt Hoare referred to it as Lake No. 7, while Cunnington kept to No. 6. The barrow, though recently ploughed, still stands to a height of over 2 m, and is today known as G.42 (Grinsell 1957, 211).

More thoughts about Thera

1972 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
J. V. Luce
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
South Coast ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Intrinsic Interest ◽  
Ash Fall ◽  
Magazine Articles ◽  
The Village ◽  
Firm Evidence ◽  
Initial Exploration

In 1965 the notable paper ‘Santorini Tephra’ by D. Ninkovich and B. C. Heezen provided the first firm evidence that the Late Bronze Age eruption of the Thera volcano directly affected the eastern part of Crete through ash fall-out. In July 1967 Professor Marinatos's initial exploration of a settlement buried under volcanic ash near the village of Akrotiri on the south coast of Thera received worldwide publicity, partly for its intrinsic interest, but perhaps even more because the discovery was linked with the magic word Atlantis. The whole subject was then extensively aired in newspaper and magazine articles, and three books on the theme of Thera-cum-Atlantis appeared in 1969.

scholarly journals The visible dead: dolmens and the landscape in Early Bronze Age Jordan

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Spatial Relationship ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Jordan Valley ◽  
Large Stone ◽  
Close Spatial Relationship ◽  
Rectangular Chamber ◽  
Over The Top

Overview:Dolmens are usually described as part of a regional megalithic phenomenon that spanned the 5th-2nd millennia BC. However, this presentation assumes that most ‘dolmens’ are mis-identified. When strictly defined, dolmens better reflect a local funerary tradition of the 4th millennium BC.Definitions:The term dolmen includes a variety of features whose only similarity is their use of large stone slabs. This presentation defines a dolmen as a freestanding,rectangular chamber formed by two upright orthostats along each long side, and a single roof slab over the top. Dolmens have often been conflated with cairns. This presentation defines a cairn as a large pile of small stones. Such features may have contained a low, cist burial chamber; others may simply be piles of field clearance.Distribution:Dolmens, as defined above, concentrate within a limited area of the east rift escarpment of the Jordan Valley, consistent with a local funerary tradition.Chronology: Recent dolmen excavations have yielded assemblages that date exclusively to the EB I (c.3700-3000 BC). This talk examines the close spatial relationship between dolmens and EB I settlement sites in a discrete geographical zone.

An Analytical Investigation of a Durable Second Millennium BC Glass Bead from Britain

1988 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Glass Bead ◽  
Original Description ◽  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Similar Composition ◽  
Southern England ◽  
Glass Compositions ◽  
Sem Studies

AbstractThis paper deals with a unique glass bead of probable second millennium BC date from Wilsford, Wiltshire in southern England. The date of the bead is probably Wessex II; c. 1400 – 1200 BC. It was first recognised as being glass [1] in print in 1812, but until recently [2] has been considered as being of stone rather than glass in line with its original description. Here the bead is described together with surface SEM studies, the replication work on glass of similar composition reported and its unusual chemical composition discussed in terms of its durability and comparable Bronze Age glass compositions. This paper is partly the result of a collaborative project involving the author, Margaret Guido, Michael Cable, Justine Bayley and Leo Biek.

Clarence Bicknell: archaeology and science in the 19th century

Antiquity ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 58 (224) ◽  
pp. 185-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Chippindale
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Regional Research ◽  
Maritime Alps ◽  
Intrinsic Interest ◽  
New Science ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Bronze Age

The Italian resort of Bordighera, on the Riviera close by the French border, still has a little to show from the time, a century ago, when its British population-at least in the winter ‘invalid season’- ran to more than 3,000 and outnumbered the native Italians. The Hotel T. Windsor (‘T’ stands for tennis; the Bordighera tennis club, founded by the British, is the oldest in Italy) flourishes; prim municipal notices-‘A polite behaviour will be enjoyable for everybody’ and ‘Free bathing, clean holidays’-assert Edwardian proprieties. And tucked away in a side-street among the villas, its pink-washed facade frothing with wisteria, stands the Museo Bicknell, built in 1886 by an English amateur botanist, Clarence Bicknell. His foundation continues as the regional research institute, the Istituto lnternazionale di Studi Liguri. Clarence Bicknell (1842-1918) appears in none of the histories of archaeology, but his work deserves to be remembered. His study of the bronze age rockengravings of Mont BCgo, in the Maritime Alps above Bordighera, was the first adequate work on an Alpine rock-art tradition, and the forerunner of the astonishing discoveries over the last 30 years in Valcamonica (Anati, 1961; 1980), at Sion (Gallay, 1972) and now in the Aosta valley (Daniel, 1983). Bicknell's life and work, beyond its intrinsic interest, is an illuminating case-study in the history of the discipline, during that crucial late 19thcentury period when antiquarianism was everywhere giving way to the new science-based archaeology. Finally, Bicknell-though not in the major league with Buckland or Petrie-in his quiet way deserves a place in the gallery of archaeological characters.

scholarly journals Study of a Late Bronze Age Casting Mould and Its Black Residue by 3D Imaging, pXRF, SEM-EDS, Micro-FTIR and Micro-Raman

Heritage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 2960-2972
Author(s):  
Elin Figueiredo ◽  
Carlo Bottaini ◽  
Catarina Miguel ◽  
Aaron Lackinger ◽  
José Mirão ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Black ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Animal Origin ◽  
Coating Agent ◽  
Raman Analysis ◽  
Micro Particles ◽  
Imaging Reconstruction ◽  
Burned Bones ◽  
Alloy Cast

In the present work, a fragment of a stone mould recently found in Galicia (NW Spain) was studied by multiple analytical techniques approach involving 3D optical imaging reconstruction to obtain data about the shape of the mould, typology of artefact produced, and distribution of a black residue at the surface of the mould and pXRF, SEM-EDS, micro-FTIR, and micro-Raman to investigate the nature of the black residue. The study shows that the mould was likely used for socketed axes with a side loop, was originally composed of two valves and one core, and that it might have been subjected to a repair during use. The black residue is distributed in the carved surface and spreads to nearby surfaces as a result of the use of the mould. The alloy cast in the mould was a ternary bronze (Cu + Sn + Pb). The analyses by SEM-EDS of black residue covering the surface did show the presence of scattered micro particles with P and Ca, and micro-Raman analysis detected the presence of a carbon black of animal source, while micro-FTIR analysis detected remains of proteins, oxalates, and hydroxyapatite. These results are amongst the very few studies made on black residues of ancient moulds and suggest that the mould was dressed with a carbon black of animal origin, such as burned bones, prior to metal casting, probably used as a coating agent to improve the casting and artefact recovery.

scholarly journals Excavations at Maybury Park, Edinburgh (1990-2)

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colm Moloney ◽  
John Lawson ◽  
Alison Sheridan ◽  
Alan Saville ◽  
Mhairi Hastie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Stone ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
The City

This paper presents the results of a series of excavations carried out by the City of Edinburgh Council Archaeology Service between 1990 and 1992 in advance of the Edinburgh Park development. Following a programme of test excavations, seven areas were opened up for excavation. Three of these contained significant archaeology dating to the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. The main findings included a Neolithic trackway, evidence for Bronze Age settlement and a large stone-built structure dating to the beginning of the first millennium AD.

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