early bronze age (eba) in the middle east is considered to be the dawn of civilization, spread of writing, and proto-urbanism; and mesopotamia was the center of these historical events. cultural material remains at the beginning of this period in this vast area – including western iran, caucasus (also beyond), anatolia, levant and northern mesopotamia – have wonderful similarities in spite of d...

A repertory of Roman military bronze equipment (1st- 3rd century AD) found at the archaeological site of Thamusida (Rabat, Morocco) was analysed by non-destructive X-ray fluorescence and time of flight neutron diffraction (ToF-ND). Most objects are made of leaded alloys, where copper is combined with tin and/or zinc and, in six cases, to arsenic as well. A mixed technology was employed, making ...

Corrosion products on three bronze swords found in tombs dating from the Warring States period at Lijiaba site, Yunyang county, Chongqing were characterized by Raman and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopies. The major corrosion products were cuprite, malachite, cerussite and cassiterite, along with the copper and lead phosphates, libethenite and pyromorphite. The presence of libethenite and pyromo...

It is generally agreed that the first black athlete to compete and win a medal in the Olympic Games was George Poage, an American, who was awarded a bronze medal in the 400m hurdle. It was 1904, the third modern Olympics since the games had been resurrected by Pierre de Coubertin in 1896. In the same afternoon, another AfricanAmerican, Joseph Stadler, received a silver medal for the high jump e...

The discovery of three small obsidian flakes at the Camel Site in the central Negev, Israel, constitutes the first discovery of obsidian in Early Bronze Age contexts in the Negev and Sinai. Obsidian hydration analysis and X-ray microprobe analysis confirm the association of the artifacts with the site and the period, and indicate origins in Eastern Anatolia, in significant contrast to the exclu...

Lead isotopic ratios of cassiterite, the dominant tin ore, evolve after crystallization through decay of uranium and thorium to lead. We show that the lead isotopic ratios of smelted tin at Rooiberg, South Africa, form an isochron that matches the known geological age of the Rooiberg cassiterite deposits. Since the lead isotopic ratios of several prehistoric tin and bronze artifacts throughout ...

We have investigated by numerical simulation the density segregation of fine equal-sized bronze and glass particles subject to vertical vibrations. The model was found to be capable of predicting the two main segregation forms ("bronze on top" and "sandwich") in roughly the same regions of the phase diagram as was found experimentally by Burtally We investigated the effects of pressure air forc...

Here we report the unprecedented discovery of the skeleton of a ritually interred donkey with a metal horse bit in association with its teeth and saddlebag fastenings on its back. This discovery in the Middle Bronze Age III sacred precinct (1700/1650-1550 BCE) at Tel Haror, Israel, presents a unique combination of evidence for the early employment of equid harnessing equipment, both for chariot...