Univ., Habil.-Schr.--Frankfurt a.M., 2000.

A direct historical approach is used in this thesis to document the lost wax casting technique as currently practiced by indigenous metallurgists in northeastern Thailand. The smiths observed at Ban Pba Ao, Ubon Ratchathani Province are the last practicing members of a bronze working tradition that has been in continuous operation at the village for two centuries. An account of the processes used to create bronze bells is provided. Of particular significance is the fact that the yard in which casting activities are performed did not receive clean up operations following the bells production. As a result, hearths, bowl furnaces, crucibles and fragments of clay moulds are left scattered about the yard. These materials accumulating in one location would eventually create a mound of cultural debris. The discarded materials from the lost wax casting process as practiced at Ban Pba Ao provide considerable insight into what might be found in the stratigraphy of Peninsular Southeast Asian prehistoric sites that were involved in the production of bronze objects. The study concludes that attention needs to be paid to the stratigraphic sequences from which bronze artifacts are extracted, rather than relying on the artifacts to determine the type of process used in their manufacture.

A direct historical approach is used in this thesis to document the lost wax casting technique as currently practiced by indigenous metallurgists in northeastern Thailand. The smiths observed at Ban Pba Ao, Ubon Ratchathani Province are the last practicing members of a bronze working tradition that has been in continuous operation at the village for two centuries. An account of the processes used to create bronze bells is provided. Of particular significance is the fact that the yard in which casting activities are performed did not receive clean up operations following the bells production. As a result, hearths, bowl furnaces, crucibles and fragments of clay moulds are left scattered about the yard. These materials accumulating in one location would eventually create a mound of cultural debris. The discarded materials from the lost wax casting process as practiced at Ban Pba Ao provide considerable insight into what might be found in the stratigraphy of Peninsular Southeast Asian prehistoric sites that were involved in the production of bronze objects. The study concludes that attention needs to be paid to the stratigraphic sequences from which bronze artifacts are extracted, rather than relying on the artifacts to determine the type of process used in their manufacture.

Habilitationsschrift--Munich, 1971. / Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Habilitationsschrift--Munich, 1971. / Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Texte remanié de : Diss. : Orientalistik und Altertumwissenschaften: Heidelberg--1974-1975, parue sous le titre--"Grundzüge der bronzezeitlichen Trensenentwicklung im Mittel- und Osteuropa" / Bibliogr. p. 197-200. Index.

Base Ring Ware is one of the most distinctive and thereby important archaeological hallmarks of the Late Bronze Age in Cyprus. The technical ceramic standards achieved ·inthis ware coupled with its wide. distribution provided a valuable opportunity to study the technological skills of the ancient Cypriot craftsmen as well as to assess the degree of sophistication of their knowledge, and ability to manipulate the local ceramic material resources. By means of standardised macroscopic studies of a large sherd sample of the ware, the range and patterns of production methods were established. These data were then subjected to s ta tis tical clus tering procedures to discover any chronologi'cal, geographical or technical production patterns for the ware. In addition, geochemical analyses were performed on a representative set of sherds to provide a basis for characterising the ware's general geological composition and to determine whether any local variations in the fabric could be identified. For purposes of material comparisons, forty clay samples of various mineralogical types were collected from Cyprus from deposits near the Late Cypriot sites represented by the Base Ring sherds. These clays were also subjected to geochemical analysis and statistical procedures to determine whether any of them could provide useful compositional parallels to the materials of the archaeological samples. The sherds were then examined petrographically and by scanning electron microscopy, microprobe and X-ray diffraction analysis to provide complementary and corroborative data for the geochemical profiles. The Cypriot clay samples were used for manufacturing and firing experiments to compare with Base Ring production techniques, and were subjected to the same analytical procedures as were the sherds. The combined analytical and technical data were then considered for both sherds and clays to determine the degree to which they contributed to a consistent and overall geoiogical characterisation of Base Ring materials and fabrics, and the degree to which they provided important insights into the relative sophistication and regional nature of the Late Cypriot ceramic industry which produced .this remarkable ware

No description available.

No description available.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Oriental studies department--University of Pennsylvania. / Bibliogr. p. 137-149. Index.