Crandallite Formation in Archaeological Potteries Found in the Amazonian Dark Earth Soils

Pre-historic production of ceramics in the Amazon: Provenience, raw materials, and firing temperatures

“…Costa et al (2006Costa et al ( , 2011 related the phosphorus levels to the daily use of the pots for the preparation and storage of food, although Freestone et al (1994) concluded that the concentrations in the ceramics were derived from the environment in which they were discarded, due to the micro-structure of the material, and were thus not an indicator of the use of the pots. The thinnest sherds (b 9 mm) tended to have the highest concentrations of P 2 O 5 , however, which supports the conclusion that the enrichment of phosphorus was related primarily to the use of the post for cooking, as proposed by Costa et al (2006Costa et al ( , 2012. Schiffer et al (1994), Rye (1981), and Braun (1983) all concluded that thin-walled pots were used for cooking food, given that they are better conductors of heat, and are more resistant to thermal shock.…”

“…In the Amazon, similar studies have been and are being developed, although perspectives on the diversity of raw materials, manufacturing techniques and firing temperatures are still limited (Costa et al, 2004a(Costa et al, , b, 2009(Costa et al, , 2012. Studies of anthropogenic soils, especially Amazonian Dark Earth (ADE) are far more numerous (Costa and Kern, 1999;Costa et al, 2013;Glaser et al, 2001;Kern and Kämpf, 1989;Lehmann et al, 2003;Lemos et al, 2011;Lima et al, 2002;Mescouto et al, 2011;Schmidt et al, 2014;Silveira et al, 2011;Smith, 1980;Woods et al, 2009).…”

“…Like other hydroxylated or hydrated aluminum phosphates, crandallite-goyazite ((Ca, Sr)Al 3 (PO 4 ) 2 (OH) 5 ) is a mineral typical of hydrothermal environments (Schwab et al, 1990), equivalent to that found inside ceramic pots during the cooking of foods, as demonstrated by Costa et al (2012). If this mineral was present in the raw material, it would not have resisted the inferred firing temperature, and if this temperature had been even higher, e.g., 900-1000°C, the mineral would have been transformed into a crystalline phase, such as berlinite, and the metakaolinite, into mullite.…”

Synchrotron tts-µXRD identification of secondary phases in ancient ceramics

“…Secondary phases in archaeological ceramics represent the products of post-depositional processes or contamination related to the pottery use. The study of these phases can therefore supply important information on the physical-chemical conditions of the burial environment and its changes over the time [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], as well as the type of use of the pottery [8].…”

O material da cultura : análises arqueométricas da cerâmica arqueológica da T. I. Koatinemo, Pará

“…Na porção sudeste da referida unidade morfoestrutural é possível constatar a existência de áreas do Pediplano Pleistocênico mais conservadas, em direção ao Xingu e ao Iriri. Os relevos são constituídos por áreas de transição entre as encostas das serras e os sistemas fluviais associados, ou seja, morros e colinas, englobando as planícies aluviais dos rios e igarapés (Silva, 2012)…”