SEM and Electron Microprobe Analysis of Etruscan Amphoras

在美国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久远的遗址收集的一系列伊特鲁里亚双耳罐陶瓷样品进行化学分析。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，并有望将双耳罐分成不同的组。然后，他将这些分组与从诸如容器形状和大小等属性的风格分析中得出的分组进行比较。在这个长期项目的第一步，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来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陶罐是由意大利的伊特鲁里亚人制造的，但大多数发现的双耳陶罐不是来自沉船，就是来自法国南部的遗址。从它们的发源地获得的信息很少。这些船只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也不是双耳罐本身，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，大约从公元前七千年到公元前三千年，意大利出现了国家级别的社会，而在北欧和西欧，人们仍然生活在一个不那么复杂的部落组织阶段。迪特尔博士想了解伊特鲁里亚人在与欠发达邻国交往时所采用的策略，以及法国南部的群体是如何反应并经历了部分的、选择性的文化适应的。除了这项研究将提供有关欧洲史前史的知识外，它的重要性还在于它将在方法论上做出贡献。虽然组合式扫描电镜和电子探针技术目前已用于地质研究，但尚未应用于考古研究。如果成功，它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.