The Stone Source of Predynastic Basalt Vessels: Mineralogical Evidence for Quarries in Northern Egypt
The Stone Source of Predynastic Basalt Vessels: Mineralogical Evidence for Quarries in Northern Egypt
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前王朝玄武岩容器的石源：埃及北部采石场的矿物学证据
DOI：
10.1006/jasc.1998.0359
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发表时间：
1999
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
J. Owen
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
L. M. Mallory;J. Greenough;J. Owen
约22%的前代石质容器由玄武岩组成。由于它们难以描述的岩石学，这些常见人工制品的原料来源很难确定。对9个前代玄武岩容器中≥0.0001 g样品的辉石和斜长石的电子探针分析表明，其成分与开罗以西哈达丁玄武岩露头的来源一致。原材料或成品船沿着尼罗河运输600公里到达阿比多斯和Qena，绕过埃及中部更近的玄武岩产地。这些结果和风格上的考虑表明，在埃及北部存在着一个主要的船只制造业，但尚未找到车间的位置。哈达丁玄武岩的采掘至少有900年的历史。玄武岩的易接近性和破碎特性有助于解释其长期和广泛的使用，但中埃及的玄武岩可能具有类似的特性，这表明传统或某些未知的物理特性也很重要。这项研究强调了电子探针在玄武岩流指纹识别中的应用。因子方程和判别图允许在更常规的基础上确定埃及玄武岩人工制品的石头来源。没有必要对采石场重新取样，并进行数百次矿物分析来确定来源。所需要的材料很少，因此这种方法甚至适用于极其珍贵的文物。
Abstract About 22% of all Predynastic stone vessels are basaltic in composition. As a result of their nondescript petrography the raw-material source of these common artefacts is challenging to determine. Electron microprobe analyses of pyroxene and plagioclase in ≥0·0001 g samples from nine Predynastic basalt vessels indicate compositions consistent with an origin from Haddadin basalt outcrops west of Cairo. The raw material or finished vessels were transported 600 km up the Nile to Abydos and Qena, bypassing closer basalt sources in Middle Egypt. These results and stylistic considerations indicate that a major vessel manufacturing industry existed in Northern Egypt, but the location of the workshops has yet to be found. Quarrying of Haddadin basalt for vessels spanned at least 900 years. Accessibility and breakage characteristics of the basalt help account for its prolonged and widespread use, but basalts in Middle Egypt may have similar properties suggesting that either tradition or some unidentified physical quality was also important. This study underscores the utility of the electron microprobe for fingerprinting basalt flows. The factor equations and discrimination diagrams allow the stone source for Egyptian basaltic artefacts to be determined on a more routine basis. It is not necessary to re-sample the quarries and obtain hundreds of mineral analyses to determine a source. Miniscule amounts of material are required, making the method applicable even to extremely valuable antiquities.