ABSTRACT. The main problem with dating pottery by radiocarbon is that many different carbon sources, of different radiocarbon age, may contribute to the potsherd carbon content. Also, the process of firing is liable to destroy information that might help separate possible sources. We describe several pottery dating projects in which we have dated separate fractions (such as humics, lipids and classes of residual carbon). Although in some cases consistency between results is sufficient to accept that this approach can give a credible date, in other cases, no date has been possible, and general conclusions are difficult to make.

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Fifty-eight porcelain samples in Guan ware style from the collections of the Palace Museum in Beijing were analysed using non-destructive ED-XRF. These included 40 vessels that were traditionally ascribed as Guan wares of the Song Dynasty, and 18 vessels traditionally ascribed as imitation Guan wares, made during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The purposes of this study were: (1) to cross-check the traditional identification of these wares with the new classification based on their chemical compositions; and (2) to carry out a provenance study of the authentic Song Guan wares-that is, to compare the chemical compositions of the authentic Song Guan wares with those of the shards unearthed from the known Guan ware kilns of the Song Dynasty. This study shows that: (1) the chemical compositions of the glaze are significantly different between the Song Guan wares and the imitation wares-among the 58 wares tested, seven are likely to have been misidentified by the traditional method; and (2) the glaze compositions of the authentic Song Guan wares themselves are not homogeneous, and they can be divided into three groups. The provenance of these groups was briefly investigated.