0000000000131944
AUTHOR
Maryelle Bessou
‘Not All That Is White Is Lime’-White Substances from Archaeological Burial Contexts: Analyses and Interpretations
Archaeological burial contexts may include a variety of white substances, but few analyses have been published. This study reports on the physico‐chemical characterization of such residues from seven archaeological sites. It is often assumed that white materials from burial contexts are lime. Our findings demonstrate that they can be gypsum, calcite (chalk), aragonite, brushite, degraded metal, natural (gum) resins or synthetic polymer–based products. These may be present as the result of diagenetic processes, funerary practices or modern contamination. This paper provides an analytical approach for the holistic investigation of white materials encountered in burial contexts.
Ceramics, Marbles and Stones in the Light of Neutrons: Characterization by Various Neutron Methods
In this chapter we give a brief overview of neutron based analytical investigations applied to study archaeological ceramics, and different types of stones. Since the vast majority of archaeological objects are made of ceramics and various stones—all are of geological origin—, one of the key objectives of these studies to determine the origin of raw material. This research is called provenance research, and a wide range of neutron based methods are applicable in it. Following a very basic, user-oriented description of the methods, we introduce examples from our everyday practice. The examples are about provenance of prehistoric stone tools, about the sources of 4th–3rd c. B.C. millennium li…