Record Details
Trace-element Analysis of Ancient Near Eastern Ceramics from the Mid-4th Millennium to 3rd Millennium BC
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Trace-element Analysis of Ancient Near Eastern Ceramics from the Mid-4th Millennium to 3rd Millennium BC |
| Names |
Minc, Leah D.
(creator) |
| Date Issued | 2014-07-18 (iso8601) |
| Note | This dataset contains trace-element data, descriptive information, and photographs for 1778 ceramic vessels from the Near East dating to the mid-4th millennium through 3rd millennium BC. Samples were selected from existing collections and submitted for INAA at the OSU Archaeometry Lab between 2010 and 2014. The sample included material from Southern Mesopotamia, The Susiana Plain, Tell Brak, Jebel Aruda, Tell Hadidi, Tell Humeida, Nineveh, Godin Tepe, Kunji Cave, Tal-e Geser, Mamasani, the Kur River Basin, Yanik Tepe, Tepe Hissar, Sang-e Chakmaq, Tal-I Iblis, Tepe Yahya, Shar-I Sokhta, Bampur, and Makran. |
| Abstract | Long-distance exchange has long been recognized as a critical factor in the history of the ancient Near East, yet few studies have utilized robust analytical methods to trace the production and movement of specific goods at the interregional scale. Mundane goods such as pottery are particularly under-studied, and owing to the vast scale and geological complexity of the region, we lack adequate reference materials to document ceramic trade and map exchange networks among key sites and settlement areas. In order to begin building a much-needed comparative database of ceramic compositions for the ancient Near East, the OSU Radiation Center elicited the aid of an international team of researchers and major museums to access extant collections of ceramics from Iraq, Iran, and Syria, with a focus on material from the 4th through 3rd millennia BC. With the support of the National Science Foundation’s Archaeometry Program, over 1700 samples of ancient ceramics from sites throughout the Near East were submitted for trace-element analysis using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) (Figure 1). These initial projects were broadly exploratory in nature and aimed at a relatively coarse spatial scale: that of differentiating the geochemical signatures of ceramics from distinct geographic subregions, with the full realization that more refined spatial analyses will be required in the future. These preliminary results, however, are already shedding light on key questions of Near Eastern prehistory, and the participating projects collectively will allow scholars to re-examine patterns of inter-regional interaction (such as between the lowlands and highlands), and to archaeologically substantiate historically recorded cycles of expansion and contraction of various Iranian and Mesopotamian political entities. Of central interest are possible exchange linkages forged during the “Uruk expansion” (when Mesopotamian influences suddenly appear to dominate key trading centers in the adjacent uplands), the formation of proto-Elamite and Elamite trading networks emanating from the Kur River Basin, and early contacts between the SE Iranian Plateau and areas to the east in modern Pakistan. |
| Genre | Dataset |
| Access Condition | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| Topic | Uruk Expansion |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/50610 |
