METHODS OF ENGRAVING MESOPOTAMIAN QUARTZ CYLINDER SEALS

Margaret Sax · Nigel Meeks

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Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis Ancient Near East History Image Processing and 3D Reconstruction

Abstract

Cylinder seals, which were produced more or less continuously for about 3000 years in Western Asia, were worked with designs in intaglio. In this paper we report the results of an investigation into the techniques used to engrave seals composed of quartz. Our observations were made with a binocular microscope and supplemented by examination of impressions with a scanning electron microscope. A range of factors was considered, including shape in plan, topography, surface texture and orientation of features. In this way four basic techniques of engraving have been recognized. They have been tentatively interpreted as micro‐chipping, filing, wheel‐cutting and drilling.

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2015Prehistoric technology 1982Jewellery of The Ancient World 2018Archaeological Sciences

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1998METHODS OF ENGRAVING MESOPOTAMIAN CYLINDER SEALS: EXPERIMENTAL CONFIRMATION*2010GEMSTONES FROM VIGNA BARBERINI AT THE PALATINE HILL (ROME, ITALY)*1994The Introduction of Wheel Cutting as a Technique for Engraving Cylinder Seals: Its Distinction from Filing 2008ARCHAEOMETRY AND MUSEUMS: FIFTY YEARS OF CURIOSITY AND WONDER*2004Chapter 3 Electron microscopy and its role in cultural heritage studies 2012The technology of jades excavated at the Western Zhou, Jin Marquis cemetery, Tianma-Qucun, Beizhao, Shanxi province: recognition of tools and techniques 2008Dating study of two rock crystal carvings by surface microtopography and by ion beam analyses of hydrogen 2000The introduction of the lapidary engraving wheel in Mesopotamia

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