Carnelian Beads from the Site of Kish, Iraq: Differentiating Indus and Non-Indus Carnelian Beads Using Technological, Morphological, and Chemical Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Elemental Analysis Facility at the Field Museum: Celebrating 20 Years Serving the Archaeological Community " session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Carnelian beads from the site of Kish, Iraq, include a wide range of bead types, including locally produced short cylindrical beads and long biconical beads that are thought to have been produced in the Indus region of South Asia. Beads from different excavation contexts can be dated to a wide range of time periods, between 2800 BCE and CE 200-600. Numerous different styles of beads were produced using multiple production processes that can be associated with both local workshops and workshops in South Asia, Egypt, and Iran. Using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) to study drill hole casts, it has been possible to differentiate some of the major drilling techniques associated with different regions. These techniques include percussion/pecking, tapered stone drilling, constricted stone drilling, and copper drilling with abrasives and diamond-tipped drills. Selected beads from different time periods were also analyzed chemically using LA-ICP-MS at the Field Museum to determine the possible source areas that the raw carnelian was derived from. The results of these multiple analytical approaches will be presented to demonstrate that earlier assumptions regarding the distribution and sourcing of carnelian beads are much more complex than earlier scholars had proposed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• The Elemental Analysis Facility at the Field Museum: Celebrating 20 Years Serving the Archaeological Community

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37982.0