SEM and Electron Microprobe Analysis of Etruscan Amphoras

在国家科学基金会的支持下，迈克尔·迪特勒博士将对从法国南部年代较早的遗址收集的一系列伊特鲁里亚两栖动物的陶瓷样本进行化学分析。利用最近才应用于陶瓷的技术，他将进行扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和电子探针的联合检查。在此基础上，他将确定组成粘土的化学成分，并有望将双孔目动物分为不同的类别。然后，他将把这些分组与那些通过对血管形状和大小等属性进行风格分析得出的分组进行比较。在这个更长期项目的第一步，迪特勒博士希望确认或修改考古学家多年来开发的拓扑图。在下一阶段，他将尝试使用类似的化学分析，将这些类别与意大利伊特鲁里亚的原产地联系起来。令人惊讶的是，尽管考古学家知道这些双耳器是由意大利的伊特鲁里亚人制造的，但大多数被发现的样本要么来自沉船，要么来自法国南部的遗址。从它们的原产地获得的信息很少。这些容器被用来将葡萄酒运往法国，最终被丢弃在那里。迪特勒博士希望研究的根本问题既不是葡萄酒本身，也不是两栖动物本身，而是处于不同发展阶段的政治实体之间的文化、政治和经济关系。在伊特鲁里亚时代，大约从公元前7千年到公元前3千年，意大利发展了国家级社会，而在北欧和西欧，人们仍然生活在较不复杂的部落组织阶段。迪特尔博士想要了解伊特鲁里亚人在与欠发达邻国的互动中采取的策略，以及法国南部的群体是如何做出反应并接受部分、选择性的文化适应的。除了这项研究将提供有关欧洲史前的知识外，它还很重要，因为它将做出方法论上的贡献。尽管组合的扫描电子显微镜电子探针技术目前用于地质学研究，但尚未在考古学背景下应用。如果成功，可能会大大简化陶瓷分析师的工作。迪特尔博士的研究构成了第一个实际测试，其方法论意义重大。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Michael Dietler will conduct chemical analyses on a series of ceramic samples of Etruscan amphoras collected from well dated sites in Southern France. Using techniques only recently applied to ceramics he will conduct combined scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron microprobe examination. On this basis he will determine the chemical composition of the constituent clays and hopefully separate the amphorae into distinct groups. He will then compare these groupings to those derived from stylistic analysis of such attributes as vessel shape and size. In this first step of a longer term project Dr. Dietler hopes to either confirm or revise the topology developed by archaeologists over many years. In the next stage he will attempt to use similar chemical analysis to tie these classes to places of origin in Etruscan Italy. Surprisingly, although archaeologists know that these amphorae were made by Etruscan peoples in Italy, most recovered examples come either from shipwrecks or sites in southern France. Very little information is available from their points of origin. These vessels were used to carry wine to France and were ultimately discarded there. The underlying issue which Dr. Dietler wishes to examine concerns neither wine nor amphorae per se, but rather cultural, political and economic relations between political entities at different stages of development. During Etruscan times, from approximately the 7th to 3rd millennia BC state level societies developed in Italy while in northern and western Europe people still lived at a less complex tribal stage of organization. Dr. Dieter wants to understand the strategies employed by the Etruscans in the interactions with their less developed neighbors and how groups in southern France reacted and underwent partial, selective acculturation. In addition to the knowledge this research will provide about European prehistory, it is important because of the methodological contribution it will make. Although the combined SEM electron microprobe technique is currently used in geological studies it has not been applied in archaeological contexts. If it is successful, it may greatly simplify ceramic analysts' work. Dr. Dieter's research constitutes a first practical test and the methodological implications are considerable.