TESTING ASSUMPTIONS OF NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS: COMMUNITIES,WORKSHOPS AND PASTE PREPARATION IN YUCATAN,MEXICO*

Contemporary pottery and raw materials (N= 170) from three workshops in Ticul, Yucatán, were analysed by neutron activation to test the hypothesis that individual workshops that used their own clay sources could be identified by their pottery. Although the data failed to confirm the hypothesis, the results reinforced previous conclusions about the relationship of local communities of potters to the chemical patterning of pottery made in these communities.     

THE HISTORY OF THE LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY INSTRUMENTAL NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS PROGRAMME FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory pottery provenance group developed standards and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) methods that are used at many archaeometry laboratories around the world. The background and development of ‘Standard Pottery’ and of methods for INAA are described. Early pottery provenance studies are described, and other research programmes, involving obsidian and magmatic mixing, the origin of the stone used for the Colossi of Memnon, and the ‘Plate of Brass’, are mentioned. Research work by the Laboratory included the discovery of the world‐wide iridium anomaly and extensive subsequent research on what has come to be known as the ‘Asteroid Impact Theory’. Characteristics of the analytical programme for pottery provenance work, including overall aims, precision and accuracy, intercalibration, and irradiation and measurement protocols, are discussed. New research areas developed in the past 15 years, to broaden the usefulness of chemical compositional data for archaeological investigation, and examples of recent work, are described. This research, which makes use of high‐precision X‐ray fluorescence analysis in addition to INAA measurements on sample splits, includes distinguishing the products of different workshops located at the same production site, studies on the significance of the distribution of silver in archaeological pottery and the use of high‐precision chemical compositional data as an aid for making chronological distinctions.     

Seventeenth-century Pottery from Ash,Surrey

Abstract

About 2,000 sherds, mainly in white fabric, were found on a site at Ash which was one of several producing similar wares on the West Surrey and Hampshire borders. Some of the sherds were medieval, but the remainder were 17th century and are analysed in an attempt to assess the forms and characteristics of the post-medieval pottery made at Ash. Documentary evidence discloses the presence of potters in Ash in the 17th and 18th centuries, although there is no direct link with the site, and also indicates possible sources for the potters’ clay.     

A STUDY OF CHINESE PORCELAIN RAW MATERIALS FOR DING,XING, GONGXIAN AND DEHUA WARES*

The raw material used largely determines the type and quality of porcelain produced. Twenty-three raw materials used for making Ding, Xing, Gongxian and Dehua porcelain bodies were studied using principal component analysis. Results show that for Dehua wares, only one raw material was used. For Ding wares, although there were many possible raw materials, the use of one alone is unlikely. Lingshan clay was the main raw material but it has to be mixed with other raw materials: Pinjiawa clay, quartz, feldspar and dolomite. The Xing pieces can be divided into three groups and Gongxian wares into two groups, which are discussed in detail.     

LEAD ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF LATE BRONZE AGE POTTERY FROM HALA SULTAN TEKKE (CYPRUS)

Lead isotopic compositions were measured for 65 sherds from five pottery wares (Plain White, Coarse, Canaanite, White Slip and Base‐ring) excavated from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke (Cyprus). The elemental composition and isotopic signature of the sherds were compared with those of 65 clay samples collected in south‐east Cyprus, mainly in the surroundings (<20 km) of Hala Sultan Tekke. This work shows the effectiveness of using lead isotopic analysis in provenance studies, along with other analytical techniques, such as X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X‐ray detection (EDX) facility, to identify the composition of pottery wares and the clay sources used for pottery ware production.     

Production technology and knowledge transfer of calcite-tempered grey ware bowls from 2nd- to 5th-century ce Noricum (Austria)

Aspects of 2nd- to 5th-century ce Roman production technology and knowledge transfer in southern Austria (known as Noricum) were examined. With no evidence for workshops identified in the study area, 44 grey ware bowls from two sites at Aguntum and Lavant were studied macroscopically, and combined with optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, prompt gamma activation, neutron activation and scanning electron microscopy, in order to understand whether one (large) workshop supplied these bowls, or whether the bowls were produced by several (small) workshops nearby. Combined with information from the geological background, the results were used to tentatively indicate the production location. The results indicate that the grey ware bowls from Aguntum and Lavant were produced by local workshops nearby. The bowls were manufactured with similar clay sources, tempered with crushed calcite-marble rocks from the Tauern Window, their surface smoothed and burnished, and fired between 800 and 850°C in a reducing atmosphere of an open fire. This is taken to suggest that Roman potters, who were located at Aguntum and Lavant, shared strategies of raw materials selection, paste preparation, finishing and firing, and transferred technological knowledge through time.     

Technological Features of Roman Terra Sigillata from Gallic and Italian Centres of Production

Technological features of sherds of Roman terra sigillata were studied. The sherds analysed represented products of workshops which were most probably located in Gaul, central Italy, north-west Italy and the plain of the river Po. Equivalent firing temperatures were estimated by colour measurement, X-ray diffraction and thermal expansion measurement; in addition, the chemical and morphological features of the red sintered slips were investigated using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis. The combined results suggest that, relative to northern Italian products,terra sigillata from Gaul and central Italy was made by potters who were more successful in modifying slip composition and controlling firing temperature to obtain highly sintered slips. Northern Italian potters seem to have worked their clays less successfully and fired them at temperatures which were too low to overcome the limited presence of fluxes in the slip.     

THE USE OF SHELL-TEMPERED POTTERY IN THE CADDO AREA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Abstract

Freshwater mussel shell was used as a temper in the manufacture of ceramic vessels by potters in the Caddo area of the southeastern United States after ca. A.D. 1300. This was at least one or two centuries after it became the dominant temper used by aboriginal groups in much of the Eastern Woodlands but generally contemporaneous with shelltempered usage in parts of the Southern Plains. The introduction of shell temper was variable across the Caddo area, and in certain regions its use was negligible in ceramic vessel assemblages until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but then was rapidly adopted as the dominant temper employed in vessel manufacture, particularly for utility wares. In the traditional territory of the historic Hasinai Caddo in East Texas, shell temper did not appear in vessels until the early eighteenth century, and then only in minor amounts on presumed trade vessels.     

Excavations at Potovens,near Wakefield

Abstract

The excavation of pottery and clay pipe kilns at Potovens has indicated the essentially local character of the wares produced and the limited nature of their market. From the late 15th century until the third quarter of the 18th-century potteries were being worked on the margins of the common land north of Wakefield, and documentary evidence provides the names of the potters and details of their activities.     

Testing technological practices: neutron activation analysis of neolithic ceramics from Valencia,Spain

Using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of prehistoric pottery, daub, and modern clay samples from Valencia, Spain, we tested expectations on changes in raw material use with socio-economic shifts during the Neolithic (ca. 5600–2800 BC). Elemental analysis identified three distinctive clay source groups used by Neolithic potters. Contrary to expectations, a shift in raw material use was identified between the Early and Middle Neolithic despite general similarities in technological practices. In the Late Neolithic, pottery production became more specialized, but potters used the same range of clay sources documented earlier. This study illustrates the utility of INAA for testing hypotheses of prehistoric craft production.     

THE TECHNOLOGY OF ‘GLAZED’ RESERVED SLIP WARE—A FINE CERAMIC OF THE HARAPPAN PERIOD*

‘Glazed’ Reserved Slip Ware (RSW) is a high‐quality glossy bichrome pottery of the Indus Valley civilization, and dates to the mature Harappan period (c. 2600–1900 bc ). Scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis indicates that the surface coat on RSW is composed of a pale grey vitrified clay slip, which overlies a black slip with significantly higher iron oxide. Hence the term ‘sintered’ Reserved Slip Ware is to be preferred. X‐ray diffraction analysis indicates that both the pale and black slips contain hercynite, mullite and quartz, but observation by scanning electron microscopy shows that the black slips contain higher amounts of coarser‐grained hercynite. The elemental data suggest that different clays were used to make the bodies and the slips. However, key element ratios are very close in associated black and pale slips. The grey slip may have been produced by elutriation of the fine, iron oxide‐rich clay that was used to prepare the black slip. The pale grey slip was laid over the black and removed by combing to produce a bichrome effect, which evoked semi‐precious materials such as agate. RSW was a specialist product that required significantly higher input skill and resources than the majority of Harappan clay‐based ceramics. It is a further example of the range of sophisticated Harappan ceramic wares, which included faience, fired steatite and stoneware.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF CORAL RED SLIPS ON GREEK ATTIC POTTERY*

Samples of red and black gloss from Greek Attic pottery of the late sixth to fifth centuries bc were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM and FIB/STEM). The focus of the study was the chemical and microstructural characterization of the red gloss that was first produced during this period. Two groupings of red gloss were revealed. One red was found to be compositionally similar to the black glosses (labelled ‘LCM coral red’). The other red showed more significant chemical differences, such as higher calcium and magnesium, in comparison to the black (labelled ‘HCM coral red’). The existence of two chemically distinct reds—otherwise identical in colour and texture—suggests that there was more than one source of clay available to the Attic potters for producing red.     

Reviews

Abstract

An analysis of a group of underglaze-painted stonepaste vessels produced in Bilad al-Sham (Greater Syria) is presented. Decorated in turquoise and black pigments under a colourless glaze, this ware was probably manufactured for a relatively limited period in the mid to late fourteenth century. The strong stylistic affinities exhibited in the underglaze painting and vessel profiles of the surviving corpus indicate that the bulk of the 'turquoise and black' ware was made by a single workshop. Comparisons are drawn with fourteenth-century decorated stonepaste wares recovered from excavations in Iraq. In the conclusion, it is speculated that Iraqi potters may have travelled west in the mid fourteenth century and established new workshops in Syria.     

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: QUALITY CONTROL AND FIRING TECHNOLOGY IN THE PRODUCTION OF MEDIEVAL GREYWARE CERAMICS IN CATALONIA,SPAIN

The following study sheds new light on the quality control procedures of ancient potters by comparing cooking vessels exported from the medieval kiln‐site of Cabrera d'Anoia (Barcelona) with ‘wasters' that were discarded at source. The firing temperature of examined sherds indicates that only pots subjected to a maximum temperature of 800–850°C were offered for sale. The potters at Cabrera d'Anoia appear to have been fully aware of the optimal balance between thermal and physical shock resistance of vessels fired within this range and strived to control firing in order to achieve better products than that of competing workshops.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF SAMIAN WARE SHERDS BY MEANS OF NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

Neutron activation analysis has been employed for the characterization of Samian ware sherds. The analysed samples were classified in ten groups, seven of which belonged to the Arretine production, according to archaeological evidence. By means of high resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy, 22 elements have been identified and analysed. Compositional characterization was looked for by taking counting rate ratios of different nuclides in the samples. The compositional pattern of the sherds was found to be fairly uniform both for each pot and for each group so that, at least in the examined cases, it can be assumed to be characteristic of a given workshop.     

THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF ORIENTAL CERAMIC BODY COMPOSITIONS: PART 1: WARES FROM NORTH CHINA*

This paper presents the body analyses of 70 sherds of ceramics made in north China during the Late Tang and Northern Song dynasties (c. AD 80–1200). The major types represented are Ding, Xing and Cizhou-type wares. The analyses were obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry, giving information on nine major and minor constituents. These have been used to differentiate chemically between the major kiln sites in the north, with the aid of multivariate computer analysis. This has demonstrated that there are differing chemical characteristics associated with these kilns, but the study is hampered by the lack of authentic material from controlled excavations of the kiln sites.     

Tableware in the Hellenistic Tradition from the City of Kampyr Tepe in Ancient Bactria (Uzbekistan)

Slipped and unslipped wares from Kampyr Tepe dated to the Hellenistic–Seleucid and Greco‐Bactrian periods stylistically resemble tableware from the Greek tradition. Since two pottery workshops have been recovered at the site, the aim is to shed light on the provenance and the production and consumption patterns of the tableware, as well as on the degree of technological influence from Hellenistic–Mediterranean traditions. The archaeometric characterization, consisting of thin‐section petrography, XRF, XRD and SEM–EDS analysis, was performed on 44 wares and three unfired locally made pondera, which were used as reference local elemental patterns. The study demonstrated the local origin of most of the wares, which were produced using a similar clay paste, following standardized techniques in modelling and firing, while surface treatments appear to be more diversified.     

Geochemical and Petrographic Analysis of Late Bronze Age Cypriot Ceramics (White Slip I and II and Monochrome) from Tell Atchana/Alalakh (Hatay) in the Amuq Valley

White Slip ware, both White Slip I and II, and Monochrome ware are Middle to Late Bronze Age Cypriot pottery types found across a large area of the Eastern Mediterranean region. A vast quantity of these wares has also been uncovered in Tell Atchana/ancient Alalakh in Hatay in southern Anatolia. We analysed a total of 56 White Slip (n = 36) and Monochrome potsherds (n = 20) from Tell Atchana using XRF, ICP–MS and petrographic thin‐section methods. The main aim of the study was to explore the compositional characteristics of the wares and to determine whether they are local imitations of the Cypriot White Slip and Monochrome wares or represent Cypriot exports to this region. The analytical results proved that White Slip I and II were produced from raw clay of mafic and ultramafic source rocks exposed in the Troodos Massif, available in the Limassol area of southern Cyprus and traded to Tell Atchana. Examples of Monochrome ware excavated in Tell Atchana were also imported to the region, most probably from east/north‐east Cyprus. These results demonstrate a close trading connection between Tell Atchana/Alalakh and southern Cyprus during the Middle to Late Bronze Age.     

THE OCCURRENCE OF PALYGORSKITE IN THE YUCATÁN PENINSULA: ETHNO‐HISTORIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS*

Palygorskite is a rare clay mineral used by the ancient Mayas for fabricating the Maya blue pigment and for other purposes. It seems to have been obtained from a restricted area in the Yucatán peninsula where important archaeological sites are found. Geological samples from different localities in this area show a high content in palygorskite, indicating that this clay is widespread in Yucatán. Combining structural, morphological, compositional and geochemical methods, we analysed the common characteristics of Yucatecan palygorskites, and compared them with palygorskites from other origins around the world. These results can be used for defining a fingerprint of Yucatecan palygorskite to be used in provenance studies of archaeological artefacts, in particular the Maya blue pigment.     

Identifying pottery clay from rice fields: an example from southern Luzon,the Philippines

The general type of clay used by potters can often be identified from attributes of the finished ceramic vessel or sherd. This information is important for compositional and sourcing studies and may also shed light on the variables influencing clay choice such as social, economic, and landscape use patterns. Rice paddies are one type of clay source that are readily identifiable in archaeological ceramics. This paper describes rice paddy clays gathered during ethnoarchaeological studies of traditional potters in Paradijon, southern Luzon, the Philippines. We analyze the effects of clay processing and vessel manufacture on these clays and find that the most diagnostic attribute of paddy soils, the iron oxide mottling, is retained in finished vessels.