A Three-Dimensional Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Iron Oxhide Ingots from the Cape Gelidonya Shipwreck

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Geometric morphometric-based landmark analyses have long been used as a method for quantifying the shape of biological data sets, but their utility for non-biological samples is often overlooked. The Cape Gelidonya shipwreck, dated to 1200 BCE, contained cargo consisting of over one ton of fragmentary and complete copper oxhide ingots originally classified by George Bass into types based on qualitative analyses of ingot shape. The remains offer an ideal sample for testing the efficacy of landmark-based analyses of non-biological data. Here, we test whether landmark-based analyses are sufficient for discriminating previously established ingot typologies. Ingots were analyzed as both complete and quarters to find the minimum recoverable amount needed to determine ingot type. A total of 114 and 26 landmark points were placed across both faces of three-dimensional (3D) virtual renderings of complete and fragmentary oxhide ingots, respectively. Landmark data were then subjected to a principal components analysis of Procrustes shape variables. Results indicate that landmark-based analyses accurately discriminate complete ingots, while landmark analyses of ingot quarters are not diagnostic for classifying ingots according to type. Future analyses will focus on determining the minimum amount of recoverable ingot needed to be diagnostic according to established typology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32710