Investigations of fine-paste ware production and exchange in maritime Southeast Asia by electron microscopy and synchrotron X-ray absorption

Abstract

The combination of synchrotron X-ray absorption and electron microscopy provided information on the production and exchange of fine-paste ware (FPW), dated to around the 11 th to 14 th centuries in peninsular Thailand and maritime Southeast Asia. White FPW sherds from Kota Cina in north Sumatra, a well-known trading city in Indonesia, have similar clay composition to those from Kok Moh on Satingphra Spit in peninsular Thailand. Also, homogeneous texture indicating high firing temperatures was found in the samples from Kota Cina as well as in those from Phra Mahathat Temple and Suan Luang Temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province in Thailand. However, the split Mn K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) peaks are exclusively observed in the samples from Nakhon Si Thammarat. The distinctly large compositions of α-Fe 2 O 3 and carbon, respectively confirmed by Fe K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) spectra, suggest that Nakhon Si Thammarat probably had at least a FPW production site in which the ash glazing process may have been implemented. The evidence of such process is not found in the samples from other sites in maritime Southeast Asia in this analysis.