Characterization and Thermoluminescence Dating of Prehistoric Pottery Sherds From Milena

Abstract

This paper reports the results obtained applying absolute dating methodologies and mineralogical, petrographical and micropalaeontological characterization techniques to prehistoric pottery sherds varying in age from the Sicilian Middle Neolithic to Bronze Age. All samples came from the archaeological area of Milena (Caltanissetta, Sicily); those of the Bronze Age were found on a site with a precise stratigraphic succession. The investigation has contributed to the determination of an absolute chronology for the Milena prehistoric period. The data provide, for the first time in Sicily, absolute dates covering a wide spectrum of cultures following one another in the same area and, for the Bronze Age site, correlated to the precise stratigraphic succession. The petrographical and mineralogical analyses allowed not only the identification of the principal constituents of the pottery, but also the formulation of some hypotheses regarding the specific manufacturing techniques of different epochs. The microfacies, obtained from the presence of fossils in the groundmass of the pottery, were also analysed and compared with the microfauna present in the Miocene clays outcropping in the area. The data identified local Messinian clay as the raw material probably used in the manufacture of the pottery and also support the presence, already assumed by archaeologists, of imported Mycenaean pottery, thus supporting the dates obtained on pottery taken from the same stratum.

Thermoluminescence screening of non‐diagnostic sherds from stream sediments to obtain a preliminary alluvial chronology: An example from Cyprus

“…However, other TL results spanned periods back to 4000 B.C., and within a potential age range from a few centuries to six millennia, even the simple TL results appear useful in forming initial age groupings for a preliminary chronology. Abeyratne, 1994;Troja et al, 1996;Barnett, 2000).…”

“…Instead, we have taken an arbitrary radiation dose rate of 3 mGy/year. This value was obtained by considering the average dose rates measured in 157 HF-treated quartz samples from three widely separated locations (data from Abeyratne, 1994;Troja et al, 1996;Barnett, 2000;Figure 4). This average dose rate was 2.4 mGy/year.…”

Calcareous Microfossils in Bronze Age Aegean Ceramics: Illuminating Technology and Provenance*

“…The process of thin sectioning archaeological ceramics is likely to produce significant variation between samples in terms of the occurrence of different species of larger calcareous microfossils such as foraminifera. Troja et al . (1996) have used differences in the presence/ absence and preservation of calcareous microfossil species and genera in Neolithic samples from Sicily to define two ceramic groups.…”

Ceramic micropalaeontology: the analysis of microfossils in ancient ceramics

“…Other studies in which the biostratigraphical interpretation of microfossil assemblages has been used to pin-point the precise sources of raw materials used in ancient ceramic production, includes work on sites in Sicily by Troja et al (1996), Alaimo et al (1997) and Quinn et al (1998). In the latter example, calcareous nannofossils were studied from ancient ceramics and probable storage deposits of unused raw materials at a Punic (5th-6th century ) workshop on the island of Mozia.…”

“…Archaeological ceramics, as argillaceous sedimentary material that has been processed and fired, can contain microfossils of many types (Fouqué, 1879;Farnsworth, 1964;Jansma, 1984;Hunt, 1996;Troja et al, 1996;Håkansson, 1997;Ghosh et al, 2006). Whilst archaeologists are often aware of the presence of microfossils in this context, detailed micropalaeontological analyses of ancient ceramics are not common.…”