Pottery firing temperatures: a new method for determining the firing temperature of ceramics and burnt clay

A new method for determining the maximum firing temperature of ceramics and burnt clay is presented. The technique relies on measuring the magnetic susceptibility on a step-wise re-fired sample. The validity of the method has been tested by determining firing temperatures of two sets of clay samples fired at temperatures ranging from 400 to 1000 °C. Aliquots of the same samples have been studied petrographically by optical microscopy on thin sections and analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction in order to monitor structural and mineralogical changes as a function of temperature. The method is demonstrated on samples from four geographically widely different sites and it is applied to a larger set of ceramics of Late (ca. AD 900–AD 1450) and Inca (ca. AD 1480–AD 1532) periods from the Northwestern Argentine region, dating to a limited period of time prior to the fall of the Inca Empire. The method is shown to be a powerful tool in revealing archaeological information about the change in firing technologies in the pre-Hispanic societies in the Andean area through time.     

江苏徐州睢宁龙头山明墓发掘报告

2013年3月,徐州博物馆和睢宁博物馆对位于江苏省徐州市睢宁县官山镇西北约10公里的龙头山明墓进行了抢救性发掘。该墓为一座仿木结构砖室墓葬,由墓道、门楼、甬道、前室、石门、后室组成。该墓有仿木构的门楼和庭院式的前后室,门楼和墓室有丰富多彩的砖雕和彩绘壁画,石门上有阴刻描金题记"看破四大满腔念头归衣钵"和"万历二十三年四月望日立",为研究明代葬制、葬俗、建筑、绘画、宗教等提供了珍贵的资料。     

郑州市北二七路两座砖雕宋墓发掘简报

2007年8月,郑州市文物考古研究院在郑州市北二七路与太康路交叉口的西北角,发掘两座仿木结构的砖雕墓。这两座墓葬形制结构基本相同,均为南北方向的砖砌仿木建筑结构单室墓,墓室为四边形,墓壁有精美的砖雕,年代为北宋早、中期。     

乌尔第三王朝时期的尼普尔银贷业商人档案研究(下):档案重建

古代两河流域文明的银贷业十分发达。本文根据4本汇集了全部出土于宗教中心尼普尔城的乌尔第三王朝时期经济档案文件的原文集,以出土借据中的落款日期和商人的名字为序列,对7个主要商人的文件进行了档案重建,进而为理解古代两河经济领域中货币形式、银贷利率、商人职能等金融和商业规律提供第一手史料。     

Global Markets, Local Practice: Ottoman-period Clay Pipes and Smoking Paraphernalia from the Red Sea Shipwreck at Sadana Island, Egypt

Shipwreck archaeology provides unique evidence for trade, commercial relationships, and the day-to-day existence of occupational communities defined by residence and employment within the industrial space aboard a ship. These concerns are addressed particularly well by finds of utilitarian items such as a small assemblage of 21 clay pipes and three other smoking-related artifacts recently excavated from the ca. 1765 Sadana Island ship which sank at anchor while loaded with coffee, porcelain, qulal, and other goods. Analysis of the assemblage specifically contributes to questions of chronology and typology and presents new evidence for regionalism, style, and the impact of far-reaching trade routes on markets with a global perspective.     

The Politics of the Pipe: Clay Pipes and Tobacco Consumption in Galway, Ireland

In this paper, clay pipes and the historical record are used to explore the illicit importation of tobacco in seventeenth-century Galway, Ireland. This is part of a wider tradition of the politics of smoking, including the proliferation of the clay pipe, the widespread smuggling of tobacco, and the overtly political nineteenth-century pipes that touted nationalist emblems. Here, the juxtaposition of the archaeological and historical records locates subversive local agency in the face of overarching colonial mandates. Colonialism, trade, consumption, and identity are linked in an examination of a merchant community's maneuvers through the expanding Atlantic economy and the restricted colonial mandates that marked the world around them.     

荥阳官庄遗址两周时期制陶原料的来源及加工工艺分析

为探讨官庄遗址两周之际制陶原料的选取与陶泥料加工工艺的差异,本研究以官庄遗址泥料坑出土夹砂陶泥料、泥质陶泥料及泥制陶坯、夹砂陶坯,和遗址所在自然沉积地层中的全新世古土壤、马兰黄土、附近枯河河道河砂为主要研究对象,采用粒度、磁化率、X射线荧光光谱(XRF)分析方法对样品进行分析实验。研究结果表明:1)官庄制陶原料来自于遗址所处地点的晚更新世、全新世以来的沉积地层,其中夹砂陶泥料和陶坯中的羼合料主要取自于枯河河道中的河砂;2)遗址使用期间,早晚不同时期的陶泥料选取和加工工艺有所不同——早期以马兰黄土或全新世古土壤为原料,经严格的淘洗工序后,选用优势组分为1～11 μm的部分添加河砂制备成夹砂陶泥料,粗粒河砂与细粒黏土比例为1∶4;而晚期出现了以全新世古土壤为原料,直接或只经过简单淘洗工序后制备成泥质陶泥料。     

Technological examination of Neolithic-Bronze Age pottery from central and southeast Europe and from the Near East

Scanning electron microscopy is used to examine sequences of pottery sherds from central and southeast Europe, Greece and the Near East spanning the period from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, in order to obtain information on the ceramic technologies employed in antiquity. On the basis of the vitrification observed and the chemical composition, the types of clay and firing procedures (temperature and atmosphere) employed in the manufacture of the pottery are defined. Two under-lying trends in the associated ceramic technologies are thus identified. The first is based on the use of non-calcareous or “unstable” calcareous clays fired in a reducing atmosphere at temperatures below 800 °C and the second on the use of “stable” calcareous clays fired in an oxidizing atmosphere at temperatures in excess of 800 °C.     

临水窑与介休窑白底彩绘工艺的对比研究

白底黑花装饰风格的瓷器,始终是陶瓷、科技界和陶瓷爱好者关注的热点。临水窑(磁州窑)与介休窑白底黑花风格的瓷器之间有着密切的联系,但是对于两窑产品的科技分析甚少,至于两者的对比研究更是无从谈起。因此,本工作利用岩相分析、SEM-EDS等方法分析了临水窑(磁州窑)、介休窑样品的瓷胎、化妆土及瓷釉的化学成分和显微结构。比较分析显示,两窑样品的瓷胎均为低硅高铝配方,且介休窑瓷胎中的Al2O3含量更高;两窑瓷胎粗糙,Fe2O3、TiO2含量较高,致使其呈浅黄色。瓷胎表面均施有化妆土,所不同的是,介休窑的瓷胎表面施有两层化妆土,其靠近釉的一层化妆土(h2),Fe2O3、TiO2含量极低,靠近胎的一层化妆土(h1),Fe2O3、TiO2含量较高;临水窑样品的瓷胎表面仅施一层化妆土,其Fe2O3、TiO2含量较低,但高于介休窑近釉层化妆土中的相应含量。介休窑瓷釉为典型的高钙釉,而临水窑则为典型的碱钙釉和钙碱釉。不难认识到,介休窑似在临水窑白底黑花及化妆土工艺的基础上,因地制宜,勇于创新,形成了成本低廉、技术先进的两层化妆土工艺,在当地原料较为粗糙的条件下,生产出质量较好的白底釉下彩绘瓷器。     

清水砖墙无损排盐技术及效果评估—以香港牛棚艺术村PB 570为例

清水砖墙为中国近现代历史建筑最重要的装饰面层,但是几乎所有的清水墙均遭受不同程度的水溶盐危害,其修复过程中,重要的手段之一是在尽最大可能地保留历史材料的前提下排除掉这些盐分.采用离子色谱分析方法,通过对香港牛棚艺术村PB 570标段的排盐前后粘土砖中的水溶盐含量分析、不同批次排演灰浆中水溶盐含量跟踪说明,敷贴灰浆法可以有效地排除大部分盐分.其中溶解性能比较高的Cl-、NO;可以只经过一次处理,其含量就可以由“严重”降低到中等至轻微,而溶解性能比较低的SO4-则需要2～3次的处理.