Study on Western Asiatic cast ribbed rectangular beads from Kaman-Kalehöyük, Turkey, by using portable X-ray fluorescence

In this article we report a comparative study on excavated objects and artifact from museums to reveal an aspect of ancient trade. The target artifact is Western Asiatic cast ribbed rectangular beads excavated from an architectural remain at Kaman-Kalehöyük, Turkey. Blue glass beads of this type have been excavated in Western Asia from north Iran and Iraq to the Syro-Palestinian coast from second half of 16th to 14th century BC. The analysis of the samples was carried out by using a portable Xray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer developed by us. The instrument was brought to the excavation site in Turkey as well as to the museums to analyse typologically similar glass beads from the collection of Okayama Orient Museum and MIHO MUSEUM in Japan, for comparison. Our XRF analyses suggested that all analysed glass artifacts are plant ash sodalime silica glass with 2-4 wt% magnesium and potassium. The three glass beads exhibited similar compositional characteristic, i.e. they contain Sb, Pb, Fe, Cu and Sr in similar quantities. A typological and principal component analysis comparison of the glass beads unearthed from Kaman- Kalehöyük site with those of the museums and literature data support that they should have a similar origin. In addition, archaeological context of the glass from Kaman-Kalehöyük also supports that the artifact belongs to the Middle-Late Bronze Age (16th to 15th centuries BC). This is the first scientific material evidence that shows the possibility of a cultural flow from Mesopotamia region to Kaman-Kalehöyük during Middle- Late Bronze Age.