库库提尼文明——新石器时代彩陶研究资料库的建立

库库提尼的新石器时代陶器距今约5000年,它是Ariusd-- CucuteniTripolie古人类活动带的一部分,位于欧洲东南部。对这种三色彩陶器的研究是法国和罗马尼亚的合作项目,基金来源是Brancusi项目提供,研究方向是制陶的黏土成分、烧制温度、用于涂彩的颜料层（白、红、黑）,陶器式样模型材料等。库库提尼文化是19世纪末第一个被发现的,它经历了约120年的流逝,由于过去对它的研究主要为考古调查,处于对它特殊性的好奇,才带出了本课题。本文报道了用岩相学分析的结果,通过对陶质材料进行SEMEDX,XRF检测,得到了库库提尼从A期、AB期到B期的不同进化阶段的岩相学陶层资料,现已发现的Scanteia,TarguFrumos,Ruginoasa,Cucuteni,Isaia,Poienesti考古遗址也符合这种进化阶段。本项目的目的是创建一个基础数据库,使有关库库提尼的资料数据能完整统一地输入古代欧洲研究数据库。     

Characterization and source of Cucuteni black pigment (Romania): vibrational spectrometry and XRD study

A multi-technique characterization and a provenance study of the black pigment used in Cucuteni pottery painting (Neolithic age, Romania) were carried out. 127 Cucuteni shards were analyzed by Raman spectrometry. The main components of this pigment are pyrolusite and/or jacobsite. Hematite and quartz are frequent minor components and Ti oxides were seldom found. The manganiferous corpuscles discovered at Neam? county (eastern part of Romania) were the raw material of the Cucuteni black pigment. The Mn corpuscles were studied using XRD, Raman, FT-IR and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The main components are birnessite, goethite and frequently, quartz. Raw material was subjected to a temperature of 750 °C for 6 h and,once cooled, analyzed through Raman and FT-IR spectrometry. Pyrolusite, hematite and quartz were found in the heated powder sample.     

THE DISCOVERY OF ANOMALOUSLY HIGH SILVER ABUNDANCES IN POTTERY FROM EARLY ROMAN EXCAVATION CONTEXTS IN JERUSALEM*

This is the first study on the differential distribution and concentrations of silver in ceramics recovered from archaeological excavations. The chemical compositions of 1174 pottery vessels from 38 Roman‐period sites in Israel have been determined. Unusually high and variable abundances of silver were discovered in pottery samples of all vessel types and chemical compositions from four distinct archaeological contexts dating to late first century bce to 70 ce Jerusalem. The large majority of the Jerusalem vessels could be distinguished by their silver abundances from all analysed pottery pieces recovered at rural sites outside Jerusalem, even when the pottery types and chemical compositions, except for silver, of pottery found within and outside Jerusalem were indistinguishable. The evidence is suggestive of a human origin for the high and variable silver abundances, and dispersion of the silver by aqueous transport. The differential silver concentrations found in excavated pottery from Jerusalem and other urban and rural sites suggest that attention to the distribution of silver in pottery from excavated contexts may be helpful for evaluating the nature and function of archaeological remains and patterns of urban contamination.     

Archaeometric study of medieval pottery excavated at Stari (Old) Ras,Serbia

A combined study of a series of polychromatic and monochromatic glazed medieval pottery shards excavated from the archaeological area of Stari (Old) Ras in southern Serbia, including petrographic and chemical analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, allowed us to clearly distinguish between two groups of ceramics. Ras pottery, made of fine-grained well-cleaned clay and characterised by a rich mineral assemblage, was produced by firing in a temperature range between 800 and 900 °C. Reljina Gradina ceramics were produced at similar temperatures from materials which, with regard to mineralogical and chemical composition, show clear similarity with local clay, suggesting that these samples are of local origin and production. This work is the first systematic archaeometric study of medieval pottery excavated on the territory of Serbia.     

DETERMINING POTTERY PROVENANCE: APPLICATION OF A NEW HIGH-PRECISION X-RAY FLUORESCENCE METHOD AND COMPARISON WITH INSTRUMENTAL NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS*

A recently developed high-precision X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method, applied for the first time to the study of archaeological pottery, determines the abundances of 13 trace and four major elements from one X-ray spectrum acquired over a 1000 second counting interval. For replicate archaeological samples, the short-term and long-term measurement precisions were close to 1% for the ten elements measured with highest precision. These are comparable to the best results achieved on replicates of clay and pottery standards, and obsidian, using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). High-precision XRF analysis, however, does not require a nuclear facility, and is markedly preferable to INAA in terms of the ease of both sample preparation and analytical procedure. Consequently, element abundance data can usually be provided by a single analyst within a few hours after the start of sample preparation. The accuracy of the method, determined by comparison with data of other workers on eight standard reference materials, averaged 2.4% for the ten best-agreeing elements. The effectiveness of the method for determining pottery provenance is demonstrated for a difficult problem, in which high-precision XRF analysis successfully distinguished the products of two nearby pottery manufacturers in Roman Galilee (Shikhin and Nahif) that had not been clearly differentiated by INAA. The greater effectiveness of high-precision XRF than INAA in this provenance study is a result of the different array of elements measured, and the higher precision obtained for certain elements, by XRF. These results suggest that high precision XRF has potential broad applicability for pottery provenance studies.     

贾湖遗址出土古陶产地的初步研究

利用等离子体发射光谱 (ICP),对舞阳贾湖遗址出土古陶样品进行了常量元素和微量－痕量元素的测试分析,结合考古发掘资料和考古学分析,采用聚类分析方法,系统研究了贾湖遗址出土古陶的矿料来源,发现贾湖制陶业基本处于家庭制陶阶段。本文还将贾湖遗址与大河村遗址和西山遗址的出土古陶产地进行了比较研究。结果表明,这些遗址的陶器在聚类分析谱系图上被明显地分为相应的三类,它暗示上述三处遗址间无明显文化交流关系。     

An analytical study, using inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry, of samian and colour-coated wares from the Roman town at Colchester together with related continental samian wares

Over 200 sherds of samian and colour-coated pottery of late 2nd or early 3rd century date have been analysed by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) emission spectrometry. Most of this material was excavated at Colchester, England; the remainder is related East Gaulish material. Some clay samples were also analysed. The material divides, after multivariate statistical analysis, into 11 clusters. These accord well with known archaeological evidence and suggest assignments of origin where these are uncertain. In particular, the archaeological evidence for a link between Colchester and the Sinzig potters is supported.     

INSIGHTS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF ANGEL MOUNDS POTTERY TROWELS

Archaeologists have recovered pottery trowels in excavations at numerous historic and pre-Columbian archaeological sites in North America since the late nineteenth century. Despite these facts, pottery trowels have not been the subject of thorough scientific analysis or interpretation. In this study, I define and implement a new method of analysis for pottery trowels, using a sample of 188 pottery trowels from the Mississippian site of Angel Mounds (12VG1). After describing the quantitative and qualitative attributes of pottery trowels, I define categories of frequently occurring pottery trowel bell and handle types. The extensive variability of pottery trowel shapes and sizes discovered at Angel Mounds is then discussed with regard to alternative or multiple uses for the tools and the spatial and temporal distributions of pottery trowel types. As an artifact type that provides opportunities to analyze technology, craft production and specialization, and daily practices in past societies, I argue pottery trowels may hold important future insights into a number of topics of interest to archaeologists.     

An Optimized Approach for Protein Residue Extraction and Identification from Ceramics After Cooking

Extraction of protein residues from archaeological matrices, such as pottery clay, lithics, and grinding stones, has proven to be methodologically challenging. Protein residue analysis is fraught with technical challenges in analytical chemistry. In cooking pottery, protein residues are thought to bind to clay surfaces in vessel walls through a variety of primarily non-covalent interactions. Removal of protein residues requires the disruption of these interactions, and a diverse set of tools has been proposed and applied. Here, we test extraction procedures through varying combinations of physical parameters and solvents to derive an optimal approach yielding efficiencies of recovery from experimental pottery above 60%. The utility of our extraction approach was further validated through liquid chromatography?Cmass spectrometry analysis of experimental residues. We have identified several hurdles to developing a successful study of protein residues from pottery, each of which is surmountable with additional method development in the realm of archaeological chemistry.     

Ceramic production,consumption and exchange in the Banda area,Ghana: Insights from compositional analyses

Ceramic production, exchange and consumption in the Banda area, west central Ghana has been affected by historical developments ranging from recent competition with alternative vessels (made of metal and plastic) to political economic upheavals that altered community relationships within and outside the region. In this study, we explore spatial and temporal patterning in pottery production, exchange and consumption using a combination of analytical techniques. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of a large sample (491 specimens) of archaeological and ethnographic pottery, clay and temper samples from sites across the Banda area has led to the identification of seven compositional groups whose differential distribution implies shifts in resource selection through the last thousand years. Laser ablation-ICP-MS analysis was used to explore the effects of distinctive tempering agents (crushed slag) on the bulk chemical signature of a subset of Banda ceramics, while petrographic analysis provides insight into the preparation of ceramic fabrics. We integrate insights from these diverse physical studies to investigate the dynamics of pottery production, exchange and consumption over the course of the last millennium in the Banda area and explore potential linkages with broader political economic transformations.     

De-mystifying Pottery Production in the Maya Lowlands: Detection of Traces of Use-Wear on Pottery Sherds through Microscopic Analysis and Experimental Replication

During the Late Classic period at the site of K'axob in Belize, Central America, inhabitants recycled ceramic fragments as tools for the making of pottery. Considering pottery as a tool is by no means an easy task and requires, for its study, significant methodological innovation. The K'axob pottery tools demanded a comprehensive study to determine their use and function within this widespread economic activity. Research presented here incorporated fabrication of replicas of archaeological pottery tools and their experimental use for the making of ceramic vessels. Combined microscopic analysis of archaeological and fabricated tools defined and reproduced wear traces from use activities. Therefore, this investigation entails a methodological innovation to archaeology, yielding a broader perspective into prehistoric technologies.     

Implications of burial alterations on luminescence dating of archaeological ceramics

Recent mineralogical studies on archaeological pottery samples report significant variations in alkali metal concentrations due to environmental alterations during burial. Here we examine the effects of potassium (K) leaching on luminescence dating. The effect on the estimation of the dose rate is studied by considering four models of leaching (exponential, linear, early and late) and their impact on fine- and coarse-grain dating are calculated. The modeling approaches are applied to two cases of pottery in which evidence for alteration was found. Additionally, TL dating performed on pottery of one of the studied cases, indicates the importance of leaching effects on absolute dating measurements.     

U-Pb dating of zircon: A sourcing method for pottery from La Morena archaeological site,north-west Colombia*

U-Pb zircon radiometric dating and petrographic thin-section analysis were used for provenance identification of Ferrería and Marrón Inciso pottery styles from La Morena archaeological site in northwestern Colombia. U-Pb dating was applied to zircons recovered from pottery and rock samples from nearby geological units. The results suggest at least three distinct sources: the metamorphic rock unit on which the archaeological site is located, a granodiorite unit that outcrops further away from the site, and a mafic rock that cannot be attributed with certainty. U-Pb in zircons proved to be effective as a provenance method, where ages of the possible source rocks are well constrained, and can be applied to areas where traditional sourcing methods may be problematic.     

The Source Provenance of Bronze Age and Roman pottery from Cyprus

Archaeological interpretations of ancient economies have been strengthened by chemical analyses of ceramics, which provide the clearest evidence for economic activity, and comprise both the objects of exchange and its means. Pottery is often manufactured from local materials, but its compositional diversity typically prevents significant patterns of resource utilization from being identified. Centrally located and positioned on traditional shipping routes, Cyprus maintained ties with and supplied a variety of distinctive ceramic products to the major commercial centres in the eastern Mediterranean throughout Antiquity. We analysed two Cypriot .ne wares and a variety of utilitarian pottery, as well as samples of extant Cypriot clays to determine source provenance. These chemical analyses provide an objective indication of the origins of ancient (Bronze Age and Roman) ceramics manufactured on Cyprus. The distribution of the probable clay sources and the links between pottery style and the material environment also afford a perspective on the spatial organization of large‐scale pottery production on the island. Compositional analysis provides the means to assemble geographies of pottery production and to unravel the interregional system of exchange that operated in Antiquity, but the ability to accomplish these tasks is predicated on systematic analyses of ceramic products and raw materials that are found far beyond the bounds of individual archaeological sites.     

Technological investigation of the decorative coatings on Yangshao pottery from Henan,China

Yangshao pottery sherds dated to c. 4200 bc from two archaeological sites in Henan province, China, were examined to determine the technological aspects of their decoration. The selected samples comprised plain and painted pottery, some of which have a white background slip and black or red decoration on the surface. Various analytical techniques including SEM/EDS, XRD and FTIR were applied in the study. Observations show that some pieces were wheel‐thrown. The refinement of the body fabric varies. Surface finishing includes simple burnishing, slipping and brushing. The black decoration on the surface is manganese black. The white background layer is kaolinitic clay slip. No organic binders or decorations were detected. The results of these analyses will help our understanding of the production steps involved in the craft production of Yangshao pottery.     

Can the Raman spectrum of anatase in artwork and archaeology be used for dating purposes? Identification by Raman microscopy of anatase in decorative coatings on Neolithic (Yangshao) pottery from Henan,China

Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray analysis has earlier shown that the white background layer (slip) on painted pottery sherds (Yangshao culture, Henan, China, 4200 BC) is composed of kaolinitic clay containing titanium in the assumed form of TiO₂ at just 1 wt%. The same samples of white slip have now been studied by Raman microscopy, revealing bands characteristic of anatase, but none from the majority species, the matrix of kaolinitic clay. These results highlight the extraordinarily intense Raman scattering from even trace amounts of anatase and thus the need to recognise that, although the colours of archaeological artefacts are almost always determined by the nature of the matrix, the Raman spectrum may be determined by a highly scattering trace component such as anatase. The significance of anatase as a potential date-marker pigment on works of art and archaeological artefacts is discussed.     

The multivariate statistical analysis and XRD analysis of pottery at Xigongqiao site

A series of pottery samples excavated from the Xigongqiao site in Tengzhou city of Shandong province was determined using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Together with excavation data and archaeological analysis, the potential for provenance and technology of unearthed ancient pottery was studied by using multivariate statistical analysis and X-ray powder diffraction pattern (XRD) analysis. In order to characterize and classify these earthenware samples, the major and minor/trace element concentrations were studied with both cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The results showed that there were three different groups in cluster analysis dendrogram in good correlation with their colors. This indicated that the potteries were made from clays of different composition. These results were in agreement with the results of principal component analysis. XRD analysis further assessed the validity of multivariate statistical analysis.     

大嘴子第三期文化聚落遗址研究

本文在《大嘴子》考古报告的基础上,对大嘴子第三期文化的聚落遗址进行了综合研究,对诸如聚落形态、陶器变化、文化去向、社会性质以及族属研究等方面进行了初步探索。     

STATISTICAL ASPECTS OF POTTERY QUANTIFICATION FOR THE DATING OF SOME ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS*

This paper describes some statistical analyses of a particular archaeological material (pottery) originating at some sites in the city of Tours. An important part of the archaeological study of pottery is the comparison of ceramic assemblages to establish the absolute dates of contexts. In this paper, a statistical model is built to assess this comparison. The statistical procedure uses classical tools (correspondence analysis, linear regression and resampling methods) in an iterative scheme. Archaeologists may find in the paper a useful set of known statistical methods, while statisticians can learn a method of ‘arranging’ well‐known techniques. No method is new, but their combination is characteristic of this application.     

The Hellenistic and Roman Syracuse (Sicily) Fine Pottery Production Explored by Chemical and Petrographic Analysis

The chemical composition and petrographic features of 51 samples of fine pottery selected from the archaeological site of Syracuse have been established by means of optical microscopy and X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry, with the aim of creating a reference group for the ceramics produced in this important Greek colony during the Hellenistic–Roman period. This reference group is constrained by the analysis of six kiln wasters and of raw materials outcropping in the studied area. Among the studied findings, the main part is assignable imputably to local production, while some specimens probably come from Greece and other colonies (Messina and Gela). The Syracuse fine pottery is characterized by inclusions formed mainly by quartz and micaceous and fossiliferous groundmass. The used pastes were more or less purified through the removal of the sandy‐to‐coarse silty granulometric fraction. The multivariate statistical analysis of chemical data permits the identification of production at Syracuse on the basis of comparison with the kiln wasters and the Plio‐Pleistocene clays.