Petrographic Study of Artefacts from a Temple of Sabazios in the Village of Porominovo, Kyustendil District, Western Bulgaria (original) (raw)
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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2018
This paper presents a petrographical study of a stone axe head which is an exhibit of the Historical Museum in the town of Kyustendil, SW Bulgaria, and is of supposed Bronze Age origin. The methods used comprise optical and electron microscopy, and electron microprobe analysis. The results show that the stone axe head is made of microgabbro rock. This rock in mineral composition, mineral chemistry, and metamorphic alteration is similar to gabbro rocks of the Struma Diorite Formation, which crops out on large areas in SW Bulgaria. Thus, it is proposed that the rock provenance of the studied stone tool is the Vlahina Planina mountain or Osogovo Planina one since the nearest outcrops of the Struma Diorite Formation there are in a distance of4-5 km away from the place of finding. Use of local rock for production of an everyday tool reveals good knowledge of local natural materials by prehistoric people and suggests a settled way of life.
GEOMORPHOLOGICAL RESEARCHES ON THE NORTH TANGENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN SOFIA, BULGARIA
Physical Geography; Cartography; Geographic Information System and Spatial Planing, 2016
The archaeological site is located in the northeastern part of the Sofia kettle, Southwestern Bulgaria. There were found two archaeological structures during the construction of site № 3 along the North Tangent in Sofia. The conducted studies showed that the cultural layers are in the alluvial deposits of Perlovska river (a left tributary of Iskar river). This gave a reason for performing complex descriptions, sampling and analysis on field. There were made archaeological excavations in an area of 160 m length and a width of 22 m. Geomorphological observations are marked in five key points. The samples were processed in a sedimentological laboratory and put through morphoscopic and grain-size analysis. INTRUDUCTION The study area is located in 120-150 cm depth of present topographic surface near the Perlovska river bed. Archaeological data The archaeological site 3A is part of larger site № 3 in the route between 8+ 400 km to 9+ 030 km (Fig. 1), which is conditionally numbered with the letter "A". In the section between 8+ km 400 to km 8+ 560 boreholes were made with a width of 1 m, total length of 430 m and a depth from 0,90 m to 1,20 m. By means of the boreholes there are registered two archaeological structures. One of them is a platform with 5 clay pots placed on it, which are made of rough clay with impurities. Three of them are cups with two handles and two are pots (Fig. 2a). There is no signs of pit. It is possible it was destroyed with the removal of the humus layer. The morphology of the pottery, the texture and the clay color, the impurities, the method of firing, they clearly prove that the pottery belong to the cultural layer of the final phase of the Early Bronze Age.
1990
Neolithic and Eneolithic sites in Serbia generally occupy extensive areas on old terraces of the rivers Danube, Velika, Zapadna and Južna Morava or in the lowlands of the central part of the country. Systematic excavations of these settlements have made possible the study of many assemblages of stone artefacts. In the middle of the 20 th century the methodologi-cal approach to the study of such finds was based exclusively on typological analysis of the main tool types. In the next phase investigations expanded to technological questions until the 1980s when studies of stone artefacts started to include the raw material aspect of the problem. Many hypotheses have been suggested about the provenance of stone raw materials and the method of their procurement. These were well-presented stories without firm indications concerning the facts in the field. In order to demonstrate the necessity of the petroarchaeological approach we present the past development of these investigations and th...
Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy, 2022
The Proceedings comprise the papers presented at the “IX Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy-2022” Conference. This event took place at the South Ural Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology, Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Miass, Russia, from September 19th to 22nd, 2022. Part General Issues of Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry is devoted to the general problems of paleogeography and survey of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages, affecting wide regions from the Northern Black Sea coast to the Urals. Here are the authors’ concepts on the development of ancient production, as well as a series of the latest isotopic-geochemical studies of artefacts. Part Bioarchaeology and Cultural Layer Research, modern possibilities of studying the cultural layer are presented, related to the issues of diet, migration, and individual mobility of people and technologies in antiquity. Part The Use of Rocks and Minerals by Ancient Societies combines the results of field and analytical studies of the ancient mines. The materials in this chapter are devoted from Caucasus to Western Siberia, from Stone to Bronze Age and Antiquity. Part Mineralogical and Geochemical Methods in the Study of Ancient Ceramics is devoted to the features of the chemical and mineral composition of ancient ceramic artefacts originating from archaeological sites of Urals and the European part of Russia. Part Archaeometallurgy and Metalworking presents the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics ofmetal artefacts, ancient ores, and metallurgical processing products discovered during archaeological excavations. The results of this part are devoted to the period from the Bronze Age to the Middle Ages. Multidisciplinary archaeometry research is an important aspect of archaeological surveys. Various mineralogical, chemical, and isotopic research methods that are currently used in geological study are only just beginning to be introduced into widespread archaeological practice in Russia. The “Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy” is one of the first conferences that provide a successful collaboration of various researchers from both geological and archaeological areas. The Geoarchaeological Conference is aimed to coordinate and effectively improve the multilevel training of scientists and make linkages between young scientists and scientific geological and archaeological institutions. The conference aims to accumulate knowledge on new modern geological, geophysical, mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemical methods for searching and studying archaeological sites and ancient mines. The conference promotes the application of natural scientific methods in archaeology and contributes to the knowledge of the mineral resource base of ancient societies, the analysis of economic relations in antiquity, and a combination of traditions and innovations from a historical perspective. The main social task of the conference is to form scientific linkages between the young scientists from various geological and archaeological scientific institutions of Russia and the international community, and to introduce the new generation of students into the field of science. You can find the link to the previous volumes of Proceedings https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-48864-2, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-030-86040-0, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-16544-3\. The Proceedings are intended for archaeologists, historians, museum staff, and geologists and also would benefit students, graduate students, and specialists—who are interested in the application of minerals at different stages of human development.
Petrographic research on stone tools from the megalithic cult site of Tokivske-1
Naukovyi Visnyk Natsionalnoho Hirnychoho Universytetu, 2018
Purpose. Determination of the stone raw materials resource base used by the populations of various historical epochs, who left their monuments in the territory of the stationary megalithic cult site in the village of Tokivske, Apostolove Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine. Methodology. The research was performed using the method of comparative petrographic analysis of stone artefacts and rocks from natural exposures in thin sections. Findings. Twelve artefacts were analyzed: eight of the Bronze Age, one of the Early Iron Age (Scythian Culture) and one of the 17th–18th centuries, as well as two undated artefacts. As a result of petrographic analysis, they were divided into groups according to the stone materials from which they were produced: granites, metabasites, quartzites and quartz, schists, metasandstones and sandstones. Among the Bronze Age artefacts seven have local provenance from the village of Tokivske and the neighboring village of Sholokhove where a stone-processing workshop might have existed. The one imported tool is an amphibolite grinder, most likely brought from the middle section of the river Bazavluk. Concerning stone items of other epochs, a metasandstone plummet, dated to the 17th–18th centuries, apparently originated from Kryvyi Rih. The provenances of the remaining artefacts are somewhat ambiguous. Originality. For the first time the archaeological finds from the megalithic stationary cult site Tokivske-1 were studied using mineralogical and petrographic analysis, and the probable sites of the stone mining for their production were determined. Practical value. The obtained data indicates sites where ancient stone-processing workshops existed, being useful information for archaeological exploration. Also, the gathered information can be used for writing general works on archaeology and the history of mining.
Geological Quarterly, 2019
The longest known prehistoric quarries for non-siliceous (non-flint) rocks in continental Europe were discovered on the Bílý Kámen Hill in central Bohemia (Czech Republic) already in the period between the World Wars. Due to post-war events, this has been all but forgotten, and awareness of this important locality still exists only in the local research community. Its research potential has not yet been exhausted. The article presents the first exact mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the raw material extracted in these prehistoric quarries. The raw material is fundamentally different from some of the marble artefacts from nearby workshops. The aim of this research is to create a solid foundation for the future detailed study of prehistoric artefacts made from marble and to review the deep-rooted idea of their distribution within the oldest agricultural communities in Central Europe.
The article presents the results of petrographic research of building stone that was used for the construction of a cromlech, sanctuary, and the ceiling of the Eneolithic burials No. 20-22 from the kurgan No. 29 near Shakhtar village, Nikopol rayon, Dnipropetrovsk oblast. The purpose of this work was to establish a probable place for mining the stone blocks and rubble used in the construction. As a result of petrographic and X-ray fluorescence analysis, it was determined that the studied rocks can be divided into two groups, namely granitoids and limestones. The group of granitoids included tonalites, plagiogranites (trondhjemites), altered granite gneiss, and feldspar crystal from pegmatite. All the limestones were represented by spherical layered aggregates, which most likely belong to oncoids-carbonate structures that form as a result of cyanobacteria growth. The studied samples from the materials of the cromlech and the sanctuary of burial No. 22 were represented by plagiogranitoids, pegmatoid granite, and limestones. The first of them served as the main material for the construction of the cromlech. Carbonate aggregates together with the granites were also used as a backfilling when installing wooden pillars of the cult complex associated with the burial. The plates covering the burials No. 20 and 21 were made of tonalites. All the studied granitoids are typical rocks for the area where the excavations took place. In the Middle Dnipro Area, plagiogranitoids are represented by the rocks of the Dnipropetrovskyi, Surskyi, Saksahanskyi, and Inhuletskyi complexes of the Archaean. Plagiogranitoids of the Dnipropetrovskyi complex are the most common in the studied area. They occur here in the middle and upper reaches of the Solona River and along the rivers of Bazavluk and Bazavluchok upstream the Sholokhove Reservoir. The closest to the excavation site are the occurrences of plagiogranitoids, which are exposed on the right bank of the Solona River, opposite the village of Shakhtar. In this area, pegmatoid granites are found in the form of veins that intersect plagiogranitoids. In the area of excavations, carbonate oncoids are found in the Sarmatian limestones of the Neogene. Most often they are found as the uncemented specimens that spilled out of the limestones. Today, such structures occur on both banks of the Kakhovske Reservoir, located south of the village Shakhtar. However, in ancient times there may have been closer outcrops of these rocks, as the Sarmatian limestone occurrences are common in the immediate vicinity of the excavation site, namely between the rivers Bazavluk and Solona, near their confluence, and the middle and upper reaches of the Chortomlyk River. As a result of the research, it is proved that in the valley of the river Solona during the Eneolithic, there began the active extraction of stone raw materials for mound construction, which was continued in later epochs, particularly, in the Scythian time.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2015
A multidisciplinary investigation of some open-air manufactured rocky blocks (both of Proto-historic and Medieval Age) found in the archaeological site of Pietralba (Arezzo, Italy) was performed. The Pietralba blocks display different typologies: a rectangular tub, an L-shaped tub, a throne, and a pyramid. Their study has been approached from the geo-morphologic, mineralogical and chemical standpoint with the threefold purpose of selecting how to better preserve the exposed surfaces from the atmospheric agents, of shedding light on their enigmatic use and, as a consequence, of developing a study-method never applied so far in this field. Even though rock Bmonuments^are largely widespread and constitute a very intriguing issue, just few studies have been carried out on such artefacts and they have never produced univocal and definitive outcomes regarding their use and age. Samples collected from the tubs were analysed in order to identify the mineralogical and chemical inorganic composition, as well as the possible presence of organic components.