University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations August 2014 The mplicI ations of Content Analysis for the Interpretation of Unguentaria in Museum Collections Jenna L. Mortensen University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Analytical Chemistry Commons, and the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Mortensen, Jenna L., "The mpI lications of Content Analysis for the Interpretation of Unguentaria in Museum Collections" (2014). Theses and Dissertations. 506. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/506 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE IMPLICATIONS OF CONTENT ANALYSIS FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF UNGUENTARIA IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS by Jenna L. Mortensen A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Anthropology at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee August 2014 ABSTRACT THE IMPLICATIONS OF CONTENT ANALYSIS FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF UNGUENTARIA IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS by Jenna L. Mortensen The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2014 Under the Supervision of Dr. Bettina Arnold Scent has traditionally been an ephemeral component of rituals in ancient societies, including burial and other practices associated with the anointing of the body (Classen et al. 1994: 43; Houston and Taube 2000: 271). This thesis investigates the possible signifiers and social impact such scents might have had for individuals participating in such rituals by using the little explored approach of sensory archaeology. A discussion of the correlation between olfaction and the triggering of both the experiential and emotional aspects of memory contributes to a broader view of these rituals in the anthropological literature (Classen et al. 1994), while Houston and Taube’s work on scent in Mayan rituals provides a framework for applying sensory archaeology to Classical contexts (2000). Vessel contents are used as a proxy in this thesis for reconstructing the particular olfactory atmosphere associated with mortuary ritual in late Greek and early Roman cultural contexts. The residue spectra derived from the visible contents of twenty-seven out of a total of thirty-nine small glass and ceramic vials from collections at the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) are compared to other unguentaria residue studies as well as Greek and Roman written sources in which scented unguents, oils, perfumes, creams, and cosmetics are described to test the archaeological classification of this vessel category. Stylistic conventions are tested against data derived from content analysis rather than solely on the basis of assumed function implied by form. The chemical characterization of the contents of these vessels relies on the use of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FT-IR was chosen for its successful application in a recent residue ii study of unguentaria (Ribechini et al. 2008a-b) while ICP-MS analysis was performed based upon its widespread application to the determination of sample origin. iii ©Copyright Jenna L. Mortensen 2014 All Rights Reserved iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................1 Research Problem .............................................................................................................1 Research Overview ..........................................................................................................2 Research Questions ..........................................................................................................2 Limitations and Assumptions ...........................................................................................3 MPM Vessels ...................................................................................................................4 Literature Review .............................................................................................................5 Terminology .....................................................................................................................6 Chapter 2: History and Background ..................................................................................11 Unguentaria: Forms, Functions, Materials, Contents .....................................................11 Ceramic Vessel Forms ...........................................................................................13 Glass Vessel Forms ...............................................................................................16 Materials: Ceramic .................................................................................................19 Materials: Glass .....................................................................................................21 Archaeological Evidence .......................................................................................26 Funerals in the Early Roman Empire .............................................................................27 Fragrance and Funerals ..................................................................................................36 Popular Perfumes in the Roman World .................................................................40 Cost of Perfumes and Incense ........................................................................................41 Chapter 3: Methods ............................................................................................................44 Sampled Vessels .............................................................................................................44 Comparative Analysis ....................................................................................................45 Residue Analysis ............................................................................................................46 Expected Vessel Contents ......................................................................................48 Conventional Protocol for Analysis .......................................................................55 Chapter 4: Analysis ............................................................................................................64 Comparative Studies ......................................................................................................64 Residue Analysis ............................................................................................................65 FT-IR......................................................................................................................66 ICP-MS ..................................................................................................................73 Outcomes for Original Research Questions ...................................................................77 Comparing Other Unguentaria Content Studies .............................................................78 Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion ..............................................................................80 Form Versus Function ....................................................................................................80 Scents of the Past ............................................................................................................81 v Future Research ..............................................................................................................83 References ..........................................................................................................................86 Appendix A: Unguentarium Reports and Museum Documentation ..................................93 MPM Wings Publication ................................................................................................93 MPM Destructive Sampling Agreement ........................................................................94 Unguentaria Reports .......................................................................................................95 Appendix B: Unguentaria Photos ....................................................................................135 Appendix C: FT-IR Spectra .............................................................................................150 Appendix D: ICP-MS Spectra .........................................................................................167 d. vi LIST OF FIGURES Chapter 1 1.1 Examples of glass and ceramic unguentaria ..................................................................6 Chapter 2 2.1 Roman iconographic representations of unguentaria ...................................................11 2.2 Ceramic unguentaria forms ..........................................................................................12 2.3 Earliest unguentaria form .............................................................................................13 2.4 Slender fusiform unguentaria .......................................................................................14 2.5 Approximate chronology of ceramic unguentaria present in MPM collection ............15 2.6 Similar vessel forms represented in ceramic and glass ................................................16 2.7 Glass vessel chronology