Along the Border

A series of colorfully enameled metal vessels name forts along Hadrian’s Wall in Britain. They preserve creative responses to one of the empire’s most ambitious construction projects, a complex fortification system that was never represented in official art. Three well-preserved vessels have been recorded in England and northern France, and more fragmentary examples continue to be registered with England’s Portable Antiquities Scheme. The designs of this expanding corpus draw on six key elements: a vessel shape popular throughout the empire; enameling technology associated with the Celtic peoples of the empire’s northern lands; letters of the Latin alphabet; place names in the Celtic language; a fortified wall motif with precedents in Hellenistic court mosaics; and a triskel motif common in Celtic metalwork. These intricate portrayals conjure a place that was far more than a wall, while illustrating the entangled aesthetics of an evolving borderland.

Nord-Oriented Burial on the Muslim Burial Ground in Bulgar and the Issue of Interpretation of Iron Cones

The burial of a nomad woman with the northern orientation on a Moslem burial ground of the second half of the 14th and early 15th centuries was found in Bulgar (burial 4, excavation CXXXIV). The findings from this burial are analyzed in the paper. Four beads of multicolored pasta, a knife, a bronze mirror and eight iron hollow cones were found in the grave. 37 burials with cones are taken into account as belonged to the Golden Horde population. Most of them were buried according to the Mongolian burial tradition with the northern orientation. These objects were found in burials with orientations of the northern direction (65%), as well as western (22%) and eastern ones (13%). Usually, the cones have been revealed within the vessels, flats or near them. The cones are associated with Buddhist religion and are used for making tsatsa. Tsatsa was made in rituals during funeral rites. The vessels might contain sacred ingredients in order to add them into the clay. The flats and fragments of metal vessels were used for aromatic smoking scars or as stands in the manufacture of tsatsa. On the author’s opinion, appearance of the iron cones in the Golden Horde burial complexes may be associated with the spread of Buddhism among the Mongols.

THE STUDY OF METAL VESSELSFROM ANATOLIA (III MILLENNIUM BC): MORPHOLOGY AND THE FINDS CONTEXT

Статья посвящена металлическим сосудам раннего и среднего периодов бронзового века Анатолии. Цель исследования – попытка провести анализ хронологического и морфологического распределения металлических сосудов в регионе и уточнить их назначение, социальные и ритуальные функции с позиций анализа контекста обнаружения. В соответствии с поставленной целью материал рассматривается в нескольких аспектах: динамика распространения металлической посуды во времени; морфология и материал находок; функциональное назначение и социальные практики использования металлических сосудов. Автор подчеркивает значение таких находок для определения комплекса как элитарного, а также в связи с их функциональным использованием в ходе общественно значимых событий, таких, как церемониальная трапеза, в том числе погребальное пиршество. Несмотря на относительную малочисленность данной группы находок, металлические сосуды следует рассматривать как один из важных признаков иерархической структуры раннегосударственного общества, сложения цивилизаций ближневосточного типа. Это косвенно подтверждается отсутствием металлической посуды в памятниках III тыс. до н. э. в Северном Причерноморье. The paper explores metal vessels from the early and the middle periods of the Anatolian Bronze Age. The study attempts to analyze the chronological and morphological distribution of metal vessels in this region and clarify their purpose, social and ritual functions by analyzing the context of archaeological finds. In line with this aim, metal vessels are considered from several aspects: changes in their distribution over time; morphology and the material the finds are made from; functional purpose and social practices metal vessels were used in. The author emphasizes relevance of such finds for categorizing assemblages containing metal vessels as elite ones as well as highlights their significance in relation with their use in socially important events such as ceremonial feasts, including funerary feasts. Despite a relatively limited number of finds attributed to this group, metal vessels should be regarded as one of eloquent markers of a hierarchical structure of society in early state formations and development of civilizations of the Near Eastern type. The said is indirectly confirmed by absence of metal vessels in the III mill. materials from the North Ponticregion.

Clay Vessels Made by the Chernyakhov Culture Potters as Imitations of Glass and Metal Prototypes: Problems of Method and Pottery Chronology (unpublished manuscript of 1984)

The problem of the Chernyakhov archeological culture items dating is the most challenging problem related to study of this culture. Usually finds of broaches, combs, various glass, metal or ceramic items are used for the Chernyakhov culture monuments dating. However, such finds often provide very broad dates. In this article it is suggested to date the Chernyakhov monuments on the basis of analysis and classification of the most massive material, i.e. pottery. This approach is based on the well-known facts: nowadays as well as in the distant past potters produced not only earthenware but also turned to imitation of glass and metal vessels that were in keen demand in their times. These imitation forms are employed as the basis for a more detailed dating. Analysis of more than 1000 vessels from 12 burial grounds and settlements of the Chernyaknov culture and of published imported the Roman time glass and metal products comprises the basis of the study. The author has distinguished 8 categories of vessels that imitated glass or metal proptotypes. Among these specimens of “original” imitations made directly on the basis of prototypes, in fact, copied the prototypes and specimens of “secondary” early and later imitations that reproduced specimens of original earthen imitations have been distinguished. An original system based on the mechanism of potters skills transfer from a generation to another generation by way of direct apprenticeship has been developed for relative dating of original and secondary imitations. In result it is possible to suggest rather narrow ranges (within 35 years) of dates for all distinguished imitation vessels. Authenticity of dating obtained has been checked by way of 250 comparisons of various categories imitated vessels taken from a single burial. The author proposes a new chronological scale of the Chernyakhov burial grounds and distinguishes three main periods of the Chernyakhov culture history

THE GOLD AND SILVER VESSELS AND OTHER PRECIOUS FINDS FROM THE THOLOS TOMB AT KOKLA IN THE ARGOLID

The Late Helladic IIB–IIIA1 tholos in the Kokla necropolis is a particularly important and intriguing tomb that can provide us with interesting insights into the wider social landscape of the Argolid just prior to the emergence of the Mycenaean palaces. Architecturally, the tomb itself is a unique mix of features derived from tholoi and chamber tombs; its entrance is adorned with what must be one of the earliest-surviving Mycenaean frescoes. This tholos tomb had not been looted, a rare phenomenon for such tombs, and the precious finds, that is to say the gold, silver and ivory objects, are presented here in detail. These artworks include both Minoan and Mycenaean influences. The group of metal vessels is significant as it is one of the largest assemblages of metalware found from the post-Shaft Grave period on the Mycenaean Greek mainland. It appears that some of these objects were used for funerary ritual activity in conjunction with the bench in the tholos, whereas other objects seem to have been part of an assemblage of grave-goods. As no human remains were discovered, it is difficult to piece together the sequence of use for the tomb. Nevertheless, the publication of this material from the Kokla tholos is an important contribution to our knowledge of the Argolid during this period.

Design Optimisation of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Through Finite Element Analysis

COPVs are currently used at NASA to contain high-pressure fluids in propulsion, science experiments and life support applications. These COPVs have a significant weight advantage over all-metal vessels; but, as compared to all-metal vessels, COPVs require unique design, manufacturing, and test requirements. The most significant difference from metal pressure vessel designs is that COPVs involve a much more complex mechanical understanding due to the interplay between the composite overwrap and the inner liner. Often only limited analysis is performed to obtain an initial design, and then the design is refined through number of “build and burst” iterations. However, the cost in material and resources to fabricate multiple test specimens is extremely prohibitive. To avoid these high cost and time for build and burst iterations, FEA is often employed in an attempt to reduce the number of iterations required. FEA process becomes more of a design confirmation effort rather than a design iteration effort. In this research, we aimed to establish a detailed design optimization of a complete COPV through Finite Element simulation.