A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH OF XRF AND ANALOGICAL STUDY OF A PHRYGIAN FIBULA

Abstract

In this study, an archaeological and archaeometric research of a fibula in the Sivas Archaeological Museum was conducted. One of the purposes of choosing this material is to archaeologically identify this fibula, one of the fibula types identified with Phrygians, and to determine which century it belongs to. Another purpose is to determine which mining sites the Phrygians had contact with, who were mainly located in the middle and west of Anatolia during the period in question (8th – 7th centuries BC). In determining the first aim, that is, the period to which the object belongs, literature review and analogical comparison were selected as methods. The second objective, namely the determination of the mining sites that Phrygs come into contact with based on the fibula, covers two methods. The first method is the determination of the elemental composition of the fibula by the p-XRF method. In the process of associating the fibula with the Anatolian mining sites, a comparative literature review was used. Cadmium in the elemental composition of the work triggered the interest associated with the second aim. Cadmium, has also been detected in a mining site under the control of the Hittites. Although it is known that the mining site in question had been used since the 3rd millennium BC, including the Hittite period, the question of when it was last used has been updated within the scope of this study. In fact during the second quarter of the 1st millennium BC, the Phrygians, who lived in a contemporary period with the Late Hittites, imported raw materials from the mining sites under the control of the Late Hittites in the said period and produced metal works with this raw material. As a result, the Late Hittites are among the last identifiable owners of the mine site, which was determined within the scope of the research on the origin of tin in Anatolia in the 3rd millennium BC. Based on this information, it has been proven for the first time that Phrygian fibulas are produced with ores obtained from the mining site in the north of the Taurus Mountains.