Univerzita Pardubice Fakulta restaurování

Univerzita Pardubice

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Publikace detail

Recycling in New Kingdom Egypt: A case of copper alloy artefacts from Aniba, Nubia

Autoři: Kmošek Jiří | Odler Martin

Rok: 2019

Druh publikace: ostatní - přednáška nebo poster

Strana od-do: nestránkováno

Tituly:

Jazyk	Název	Abstrakt	Klíčová slova
eng	Recycling in New Kingdom Egypt: A case of copper alloy artefacts from Aniba, Nubia	The New Kingdom of Egypt is known as an “imperial” phase of ancient Egyptian history, with an unprecedented abundance of written and iconographic sources. Yet, the studies of Egyptian bronze objects of this period have uncovered a complex picture of recycled and remelted material with unclear signs of lead isotopic ratios and trace elements. We have had the opportunity to sample an assemblage of 40 well-dated objects coming from archaeological contexts at the Nubian site Aniba excavated by Georg Steindorff and currently deposited in the Ägyptischen Museum – Georg Steindorff – der Universität Leipzig. They are datable to the C-Group and the New Kingdom, i.e. to the Second Millennium BC in Egypt (preliminary results published in Kmošek et al. 2016). New dating of the pottery assemblage from Aniba has enabled us to reassess the archaeological context and distinguish between reliable and less reliable contexts. We have applied a wide range of archaeometallurgical methods to the samples obtained. Selected artefacts have been studied by metallographic methods in combination with microhardness tests and XRD. Chemical composition analyses were carried out by means of the ED-XRF, SEM/EDS and neutron activation analysis. Lead isotope analyses were carried out using a MC-ICP-MS spectrometer in order to better understand the geographic provenance of the copper ores used. In this paper, we would like to discuss the results and preliminary interpretation of the data, testifying to widespread recycling and the use of several sources of ore. On the background of previously published studies (e.g. Rademakers et al. 2017; Shortland 2006), we would like to address anew the question of the reuse of copper on the “imperial” scale in New Kingdom Egypt through data from its southern “province”. This case study might bring new insights to the wider issues of the identification and interpretation of recycled material in ancient metallurgy.	Recycling, New Kingdom Egypt, Aniba, Tin bronze, NAA, lead isotopes