Vorträge - Universität Salzburg

Abstracts Primus Conventus Austriacus Archaeometriae - MMIX
Wheelmade Ware’ excavated mainly in Cyprus in order to ascertain their provenance and
reveal trade and distribution of these ware groups respectively. To manage this, several
analytical methods were applied. Bulk compositional data gathered via XRF and ICP-MS
allowed geochemical comparison within the studied ceramics as well as comparisons to
distinct ceramic reference wares and allocations to distinct raw material deposits. XRD
analyses were carried out to fingerprint the specific main mineral assemblage as well as to
detect firing-triggered mineral blastesis. For microstructural and mineral-chemical
investigations, optical microscopy, SEM, Raman spectroscopy and EPMA measurement were
performed.
It turned out that together with the realized integrated analytical approach, a detailed
comprehension of manufacturing techniques and processes that occur during and after the
firing procedure are a necessary premise to guarantee reasonable ware classifications as well
as substantiated raw material assignments. Without considering raw-material preparation and
firing techniques as well as effects of burial alteration which all strongly affect the
geochemical, microtextural and mineralogical features of the sherds, investigations often lead
to erroneous provenance affiliations. Therefore, to ascertain ancient ceramics to distinct
origins, a multi-methodological approach that takes these processes into account is essential.
Luxurious Replicas from Ancient Egypt
Irmgard Hein 1 , Cornelius Tschegg 2 & Theodoros Ntaflos 2
1
Institute of Egyptology and VIAS, University of Vienna, Frankgasse 1, 1090 Vienna, +43-(0)1-4277-43106
irmgard.hein@univie.ac.at
2
Department of Lithospheric Research and VIAS, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, +43-(0)1-
4277-53318, cornelius.tschegg@univie.ac.at
The ‘Bichrome Wheelmade Ware’ from Ancient Cyprus is a very appealing pottery ware
which was distributed at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The nice bi-coloured decoration of the ware made it a requested good in the region. Due to the
noble appearance it has been imitated in local fabrics in the Canaanite region, as former
studies of the ware in the 80ies by NAA have proved. The Bichrome Project of SCIEM 2000,
Department Cyprus, is a new investigation of the ware in a larger scale and includes also
recent finds from archaeological sites including from the Nile Delta in Egypt.
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