A contribution to the study of post-depositional alterations of pottery using TL dating analysis

In luminescence dating, the potassium concentration significantly contributes to the dose rate value in the age estimation. Within this study, fine-grain thermoluminescence dating has been applied on sherds of calcareous pottery of known age, excavated at a Roman site in Mallorca, Spain. For those of the samples that showed signs of severe potassium leaching, according to chemical and mineralogical examination, the thermoluminescence analysis provided overestimated dates. By using the known archaeological age of the samples, a corrected dose rate value can be estimated which provides the potassium concentration averaged for the burial period. Finally, a step-like model can then be used to estimate the fraction of the burial period after which most of the alteration effects took place.     

Radiocarbon pottery dating: the chemical compounds of organic fractions, the reliability of 14C dates (preliminary results)

In recent times, a large number of radiocarbon dates appeared for the Southern Neolithic on the basis of pottery dating because other organic matter has practically not been preserved. There are two organic fractions of pottery useful for dating: food residues and carbon from the pottery matrix itself. Food residues are often dated, but this material is not always preserved and is prone to being removed during the cleaning of the pottery. The clay mass of the pottery contains carbon, often directly visible upon breaking of the pottery. The article focusses on determining the chemical composition of the organic fractions in the pottery and the origin of the carbon. For this aim we used the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method to identify the chemical compounds in the food residue and in the pottery matrix. As an example we used pottery from the Neolithic sites: Zamost??e (Central Russia) and the Varfolomeevskay sites (Southern European Russia, Low Volga region) from archaeological collections. The results obtained demonstrate that the food residue and the pottery matrix contain practically the same organic compounds, even if the relative abundances of various compounds are different in these materials. The origin of the carbon from pottery is discussed.     

Attempts at thermoluminescence dating of fired materials from the Przeworsk Culture settlements

The thermoluminescence (TL) dating method has a significant measurement error margin reaching almost 10%. Due to this fact it could be considered as little effective in case of such sites from the Roman period as burial grounds with many artefacts useful for archaeological dating. However, for many settlements from this period, where pottery is the only kind of artefacts, the TL method can give notable results. The main purpose of the study was to make an attempt at TL dating of pottery and clay daub samples from the Nieszawa Kolonia and Kręcieszki sites and to compare the obtained dates with the results of archaeological dating of selected features from the Przeworsk Culture settlements. In the Kręcieszki site the fragments of burnt clay daub were dated by the TL method for the first time in the Lublin laboratory. It turned out that clay daub is an equally good dating material as pottery. It can be found that the TL dating of pottery from Nieszawa Kolonia confirms two stages of settlement. The first settlement stage is related to the phases B2-B2/C1-C1a of the Roman period, i.e. from the beginning of the 2^nd to the beginning of the 3^rd century. The second group of TL dates corresponds to the phases C2D that is to the second stage of settlement, from the second half of the 3^rd century to the half of the 5^th century AD. The results of TL dating of pottery and clay daub in the Kręcieszki site are rather similar and correspond to the phase B1/B2 of the period of Roman influence, determined from pottery style, but can also indicate the phase B2/C1.     

THERMOLUMINESCENT DATING OF COLOMBIAN POTTERY IN THE YOTOCO STYLE

Two contexts from the Colombian sites, Yotoco Ferry and Moralba, had been linked by archaeological similarities in pottery style, and dated by association with ware from other sites at circaa.d. 1000. However, radiocarbon dating of those contexts set Moralba at circa 800 b.c. , some 2000 yr older than Yotoco Ferry. Thermoluminescent dating of pottery from Yotoco Ferry dated it at circaa.d. 900, and pottery from Moralba was dated at circaa.d. 870. In addition a metal-smelting pottery crucible, thought to be prehispanic, was studied by thermoluminescence and dated, on the contrary, at less than 120 yr old.     

SUPRALINEARITY CORRECTIONS IN FINE-GRAIN THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING: A RE-APPRAISAL

Supralinearity correction in the routine ‘fine-grain’ technique of thermoluminescence dating of pottery has previously been regarded as empirical, but can now be shown to depend in many cases upon the previous radiation history of the material. The likely impact of this effect upon ceramic and bronze dating is considered and illustrated.     

殷墟孝民屯东南地出土陶范年代的再认识及相关问题

孝民屯东南地铸铜遗址是近年殷墟发掘工作的一项重要收获,对研究殷墟铜器铸造工艺和殷墟布局具有重要意义[1]。伴随殷墟晚期陶器出土的大量陶范为殷墟铜器分期和商末周初铜器断代提供了难得的材料,引起学者们的广泛关注。     

PETROGRAPHIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE FOR LONG‐STANDING SUPPLY OF RAW MATERIALS IN NEOLITHIC POTTERY (MENDANDIA SITE,SPAIN)

Pottery from the Neolithic Mendandia site has been studied. The radiocarbon dating of the site corresponds to a range of dates from 7488–7546 cal bc to 5283–5437 cal bc : the first occurrence of pottery is dated at 5968–6040 cal bc for the lower level III, and up to 5386–5560 cal bc for level II. The antiquity of the potsherds places them within the oldest pottery production sequences in the Iberian Peninsula, which adds to the interest of this study. Ten potsherds from level II and five from level III are analysed for their petrographic and chemical characterization. The petrographic data show two different methods of raw materials manufacture—intentionally tempered pottery (ITP), using calcite and/or limestone and grog, and naturally or non‐intentionally tempered pottery (NTP). According to the matrix paste features, on the basis of the amount, shape, and average or size range of the mineral inclusions, clayed (type A) and sandy (type B) paste types were established and related to two different source areas. The chemical features also indicate two raw material sources and are in agreement with the petrographic paste types. The absence of significant chemical and mineralogical differences between the pottery from levels II and III suggests two contrasting areas for raw materials supply that lasted for at least 600 years.     

2002年度香港西贡沙下遗址C02区和DⅡ02区考古发掘简报

20 0 2年 ,香港古物古迹办事处和河南省文物考古研究所联合在香港发掘西贡沙下遗址 ,发掘面积达 70 0平方米。发现有新石器时代晚期、青铜时代和宋元代的遗存。遗迹中属新石器时代晚期有房址、灰坑等 ,青铜时代有房址、灰坑、石器制造场、灰沟等 ,宋元代有灰坑。遗物中有不同时代的石器、陶器、硬陶器、瓷器、釉陶器等。     

甘肃新石器时代与青铜代陶器研究的内容和科学意义

综述了现代分析测试方法和数学方法在古代陶器成分分析、年代测定、制作工艺、产地判断、形态分析方面的应用以及甘肃新石器与青铜时代陶器研究的意义。     

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.     

江西仙人洞遗址两万年前陶器的年代研究

陶器的出现使得人类生存和社会行为发生了重要转变。我们对江西万年仙人洞遗址出土陶器进行了年代研究、对陶片和碳十四测年样品层位关系开展地层显微结构分析,结果显示遗址出土最早的陶片年代为距今19,000～20,000年,比东亚和其他地区的陶器早了2000～3000年。洞穴内遗存证明这些陶器是在末次冰盛期由采集狩猎者所制造,可能被用做炊煮器。说明陶器在农业出现以前一万年甚至更早就被制造和使用了。     

TL and IRSL dating of Jiahu relics and sediments: clue of 7th millennium BC civilization in central China

Thermoluminescence (TL) dating of pottery and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating of sediments from early Neolithic layers at the Jiahu site, Henan Province, east-central China, have been achieved. The pottery TL ages range from 6800 (±450) to 8900 (±640) years and the sediment IRSL ages from 6750 (±760) to 8860 (±870) years confirming former ¹⁴C data. Both TL and IRSL ages agree well with each other. They reinforce the very early existence of a fully developed Neolithic civilization in central China, starting already in the first half of the 7th millennium BC and lasting about 2100 years. From these layers finds of bone flutes and Chinese characters have already been reported [X. Li, G. Harbottle, J. Zhang, C. Wang, The earliest writing? Sign use in the seventh millennium BC at Jiahu, Henan Province, China, Antiquity 77 (2003) 31–44; J. Zhang, G. Harbottle, C. Wang, Z. Kong, Oldest playable musical instruments found at Jiahu early Neolithic site in China, Nature 401 (1999) 366–368.] The Jiahu pottery of the 7th millennium BC belongs to the earliest in China and elsewhere.     

LUMINESCENCE DATING OF POTTERY FROM LATER PREHISTORIC BRITAIN*

Dating of later prehistoric settlements relies heavily on potter; typologies in England and yet there has been little scientific dating in order to verify these typologies. In this work, luminescence dating techniques were applied directly to the pottery which forms the typological framework. Excellent agreement was obtained between the luminescence ages, and archaeological age ranges for known‐age pottery sherds with diagnostic form and surface decoration. A lower correlation, however, was found in several regions between the luminescence ages for undecorated body sherds and the archaeological assessment which was necessarily based solely on fabric, suggesting the need for reassessment of these fabric chronologies.     

江苏溧阳杨家山土墩墓群D1和D3发掘简报

杨家山土墩墓群D1保存状况一般,清理墓葬5座、器物群8处,为典型的一墩多墓式结构,中心墓葬有“人”字形木椁;D3保存较差,发现墓葬1座、器物群4处,为一墩一墓式结构,中心墓葬铺设石床。随葬品主要有几何印纹灰陶罐、硬陶坛、陶鼎、陶盂、原始瓷碗、原始瓷盂等,时代为春秋中期。     

The Pottery of Khirbet En-Nahas: A Rejoinder

Abstract

Smith and Levy (2008) have published an assemblage of pottery from the copper production centre of Khirbet en-Nahas in Jordan. Based on their interpretation of the ¹⁴C dates from the site and contra the accumulated knowledge on the ceramic typology of the Levant they argue that this pottery dates to the Iron I and Iron IIA, and that there was no later activity at the site. We show that much of the Khirbet en-Nahas pottery dates to the Iron IIB–C. We argue that the charcoal samples sent for radiocarbon dating originated from the waste of industrial activity at the site in the Iron I and Iron IIA, while the pottery came from a post-production activity in the Iron IIB–C — an activity that included the construction of a fort on the surface of the site. We propose that the fort was built along the Assyrian Arabian trade route, at the foot of the ascent from the Arabah to the Assyrian headquarters of Buseirah.     

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS OF THE SOPRON-KRAUT ACKER IRON AGE POTTERY WORKSHOP

Excavations at the Celtic settlement of Sopron-Krautacker (W. Hungary) make it possible to form an overall view on the local practice of pottery manufacture. Study of the soil conditions has established that the source of raw material is the nearly calcium carbonate-free upper layer of the local soil resulting from a leaching process. By the various analytical methods used (XRD, XRF spectroscopy, and thermal analysis) composition of the pottery has been determined, and it has been shown that the vessels were fired at 600–700 °C.     

Chronology during the Bronze Age in the archaeological site Tell Qubr Abu al-‘Atiq, Syria

Archaeosediments are deposits with a direct or indirect anthropogenic component. They provide useful information about past human activities and interaction with the environment. When other materials, such as pottery, are present in archaeosediment layers, the combination of TL ages from pottery and OSL ages from sediments can provide complete data about the occupation and evolution of an archaeological setting. In Mesopotamia, tells are mounds formed by the debris of human occupation and the accumulation of muddy sediments mainly due to the decomposition of mud bricks in ancient towns. Many other materials such as pottery fragments, bones and charcoal can be found in the sediment layers. The combination of OSL, TL and radiocarbon ages can be very useful in the case of the Bronze Age Period in Syria, allowing the occupation sequence of such archaeological sites to be reconstructed. Tell Qubr Abu al-’Atiq, is located on the left bank of the Middle Euphrates River (Syria). The archaeological artefacts found in the sediment layers (pottery) collected during excavations in two areas of the site, indicated the occupation of the tell during the Early and Late Bronze Age by typological pottery classification. The radiocarbon ages of charcoal indicate that human occupation fits the archaeological hypothesis, providing an older and maximum occupation period between 2800 and 2300 BC and a younger period between 1400 and 900 BC. OSL dating of sediments shows ages younger than charcoal, while TL ages of pottery are generally older than sediment and charcoal ages. This can be explained as the different materials correspond to different events. The charcoal and pottery correspond to occupation periods, while sediments correspond to the further destruction of the site.     

Regional and interregional networks of ancient Eleon during the early 12th century BCE as seen from the petrographic and neutron activation analyses of pottery

In this article, we present the results of application of petrographic and neutron activation analyses to a group of pottery fragments dating to the 12th century BCE deriving from ancient Eleon (Boeotia, Greece) as a means of investigating regional and interregional networks in which the site participated. Production centres in Boeotia and central Euboea provided, as could be expected, the majority of sampled pottery across various shapes. A number of more distant areas, however, such as eastern Attica, the Cyclades, Macedonia, and western Crete, are also documented in the present study, suggesting their products were available to local consumers at ancient Eleon. These results are discussed with reference to consumer preferences and exchange networks operating at that time. Finally, some of the identified petrographic and chemical groups can be securely identified at the macroscopic level, allowing us to arrive at conclusions pertinent to a substantial part of the entire pottery assemblage.     

Thermoluminescent dating of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age pottery on sites in Kłyżów and Jarosław (SE Poland)

The absolute chronology of Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Polish territories is a result of long-term and complex research. Here, we have investigated the absolute dating of two sites, namely K?y?ów, a cemetery of the Tarnobrzeg Lusatian culture, and Jaros?aw, a settlement spanning from the late phase of the former to Pomeranian culture, possibly with Jastorf elements. Having been spurred by promising results of thermoluminescence (TL) dating of medieval and Przeworsk materials, we have employed it in those situations, where no other chronometric methods seem to be efficient. TL dating has been combined with typological analysis of the dated pottery and, partially, with radiocarbon method. Albeit the produced TL dates do not represent the level of sought-for fine chronological resolution, they indicate the temporal trends and corroborate the typological research. Our study has shown the potential of TL dating for periods with plateaus on ¹⁴C calibration curve. We also have dealt with unexpected TL ages and suggested some solutions of the problem. Finally, we have demonstrated that the condition sine qua non for archaeological interpretation of TL dates is a thorough stylistic-chronological analysis of dated pottery and clear understanding of relations between chronometric dates and the archaeological event to be dated.     

RADIOCARBON DATING OF MESOLITHIC OPEN‐AIR SITES IN THE COVERSAND AREA OF THE NORTH‐WEST EUROPEAN PLAIN: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

This paper discusses the problems with sampling materials and sampled contexts in the framework of radiocarbon dating of Mesolithic sites situated in generally dry, acid and bioturbated coversand deposits within north‐western Europe. The case studies presented all relate to the coversand regions of northern Belgium and the Netherlands, two areas for which very large sets of radiocarbon dates performed on different organic components are currently available. The study points out that charred hazelnut shells from surface hearths and charcoal from hearth pits guarantee the most secure dating results, while the dating of calcined bones and food crusts from Final Mesolithic pottery so far remains problematic.