An archaeometric study of early Copper Age pottery from a cave in Romania

Abstract

Early Copper Age pottery sherds discovered in a cave within the crystalline dolomites of the Southern Carpathians (Romania) were investigated by polarized light optical microscopy (OM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) to obtain information on the pottery production in the Copper Age in the territory of present-day Romania. Microscopically, the clayey matrix of the ceramic body is highly birefringent or consists of low-birefringent and isotropic parts mixed together, containing fragments of quartz, muscovite, alkali feldspar, plagioclase, biotite, chlorite, heavy minerals and metamorphic and magmatic rocks, as well as an opaque material. The EMPA data revealed an Fe-rich illite-like matrix and helped to identify the mineral nature of the inclusions. Local pottery production in bonfires or surface clamps is envisaged. Miocene illitic clays may have been used as raw materials, mixed with a small amount of sandy temper. The thermal changes revealed by OM, the modification of the XRPD peaks and the EMPA data suggest firing temperatures of between 800 and 850°C.

Archaeometric Analyses on Precucuteni-Type Pottery From Transylvania (Romania). Case Study: Alba Iulia-Lumea Nouă

“…First of all, from the archaeometric point of view, along with other older or recent papers [14,[53][54][55], this research contributes to deciphering the craft of Neolithic potters from the present-day territory of Transylvania. The main contribution of this study is that it shows both possible local production of Precucuteni-type pottery discovered at Alba Iulia-Lumea Nouă site which seems to be attested throughout its use, and the presence of one single import with identifiable provenance.…”

“…The firing temperatures were predicted based on the fact that some IR bands appear or disappear at fixed values of temperature: band at 915 cm -1 , corresponding to Al(OH) vibrations, disappears at 500°C; band at 875 cm -1 , corresponding to asymmetric CO 3 2bending of CaCO 3 , indicates that the ceramic fragment was fired above 800°C; band at 535 cm -1 corresponding to Fe-O (hematite), indicates that the ceramic fragment was fired above 600°C [18,19,53]. Taking into account the above explanations, the analyzed samples can be grouped in 3 classes: 800-850°C (P1, P3, P4, and P6), 600-800°C (P2) and 500-600°C (P5, P7-P10).…”

How Microanalysis Can Be Discriminant on Black Pompeian Wares

“…Mineralogical, petrographic, and chemical methods are usually applied on ancient ceramic material with this purpose [25][26][27][28], combining bulk (e.g., X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) [29], thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) [30], Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) [31], X-ray fluorescence (XRF) [32], instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) [33,34], etc.) and punctual techniques (scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS) [35], electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) [36], Raman spectroscopy [37,38], secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) [39], etc.). Being a ceramic material, heterogeneous, bulk analyses have been preferably applied in the archaeometric approach, as this is considered more representative of the whole composition of the artefact.…”