The Source of Basalt Vessels in Ancient Egyptian Archeological Sites: A Mineralogical Approach

Abstract

Basalt vessels are rare, but ubiquitous items in elite Predynastic (4000-3100 BCE) and First Dynasty (3100-2800 BCE) Egyptian burials. Where the bedrock sources can be identified, these artefacts can be used to study trade and social interaction between communities before the advent of writing. Seven Egyptian, post-Jurassic (unaltered), alkali and tholeiitic basalt units, representing all likely sources, were multiply sampled, and augite, plagioclase, pigeonite (tholeiites), and olivine analyzed (~1000 electron-microprobe analyses) in each sample. Flows can be distinguished using combinations of major and minor constituents from individual minerals (e.g., Al 2 O 3 versus SiO 2 in plagioclase or augite, and FeO versus SiO 2 in olivine). However, plots of the composition of coexisting minerals (e.g., CaO/(CaO + Na 2 O + K 2 O) Plagioclase versus CaO/(CaO + MgO + FeO) Augite or MgO/ (MgO + FeO) Olivine ; K 2 O/FeO Plagioclase versus MnO/TiO 2Augite , or K 2 O/(CaO + Na 2 O + K 2 O) Plagioclase versus SiO 2 /TiO 2 Olivine) and multidimensional scaling applied to augite and plagioclase indicate that multi-mineral discrimination of units is more effective than single-mineral discrimination. Discriminant analysis (multivariate analysis of variance) shows that units can be efficiently distinguished using multi-mineral data, although single minerals also provide effective discrimination. Furthermore, the combination of TiO 2 , FeO and CaO in augite, and SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 and Na 2 O in plagioclase, discriminates between Egyptian alkaline and tholeiitic basalts as well as do the whole-rock data. Approximately 2700 electron-microprobe analyses of minerals in microsamples (1 mg) from 117 Egyptian basalt vessels indicate, unequivocally, that the bedrock source of every vessel is the Haddadin lava flow in northern Egypt. During the Predynastic period, the trade in basalt vessels was probably controlled from Maadi, the settlement closest to the Haddadin flow and richest in recycled "factory seconds".

Orthopyroxene, augite, and plagioclase compositions in dacite: application to bedrock sourcing of lithic artefacts in southern British Columbia

“…Stone artefacts, from building materials to lithic tools (e.g., arrowheads), are commonly preserved at archaeological sites. However, it is not always obvious where the material they are made from was obtained (Bakewell and Irving 1994;Mallory-Greenough et al 1999a, 2002a, 2002bGreenough et al 2001). Simple petrographic descriptions can provide useful information on raw material provenance (Williams 1983;Porat and Seeher 1988), but for some lithic materials (e.g., basalt or obsidian), more sophisticated techniques are required.…”

Tool stones from the Punchaw Lake Village site (FiRs-1), Nechako Plateau, British Columbia, Canada.

“…In addition, their study showed that raw material used in stone tool manufacture was predominantly local in origin (Mallory- Greenough and Greenough 2004). The researchers point out that although dacite suitable for tool manufacture exists in the BC interior, not all dacite sources are suitable for tool manufacture (Mallory- Greenough et al 2002;Greenough et al 2000).…”

“…Payne ( work on sourcing tool stone materials Janusas 1984;Mallory-Greenough et al 2002;Milne 2009;Richards 1988) researchers have used similar microscopic petrographic analyses.…”

“…To date relatively few archaeological provenance studies have been completed in the Interior Plateau (Commisso 1999;Heffner 2010;Mallory-Greenough et al 2002;Greenough et al 2004;Vivian 1992) and coastal regions (Smith 2004), of BC, however, the interest continues to grow. This thesis is part of an initial step towards the expansion of sourcing studies in north-central British Columbia.…”

“…Previous geochemical analyses of tool stone (Bakewell and Irving 1994;Carlson 1994;Commisso 1999;Evans and Wilmeth 1971;Godfrey-Smith 1985;Greenough et al 2000Greenough et al , 2004James et al 1996;Mallory-Greenough et al 2002;Nelson et al 1975;Nelson and Will 1976;Richards 1988;Smith 2004;Wilmeth 1973) by archaeologists have begun to address important issues on British Columbia's long aboriginal history, and these works partially inspired the present project that focuses on samples from the Punchaw Lake Village (FiRs-1) site (ca. 5,000 -200 14 C yr BP).…”