Abstrakt
Copper alloy artefacts from ancient Nubia have not yet been analysed in sufficient numbers, in order to provide statistically significant data. Within the framework of a project of the Grant Agency of Charles University No. 38715, we have had the opportunity to sample an assemblage of 40 well-dated objects coming from archaeological contexts at the Nubian site Aniba excavated by Georg Steindorff and now deposited in the Ägyptischen Museums der Universität Leipzig.
The artefacts have been found in the graves of C Group cemetery N and New Kingdom cemetery S. New dating of pottery assemblage from Aniba enabled us to reassess the archaeological context and determine between reliable and less reliable contexts.
We have applied a wide range of archaeo-metallurgical methods on the obtained samples. Selected artefacts have been studied by metallographic methods in combination with micro hardness tests and XRD.
Chemical composition analyses were carried out by the ED-XRF, SEM/EDS and neutron activation analysis. Lead isotope analyses were carried out using a MC-ICP-MS spectrometer in order to better understand the geographic provenance of the copper ores used.
All methods contribute to better knowledge of the synchronic and diachronic development of copper alloy metallurgy in the C Group and New Kingdom periods at the studied site.