Corina Ionescu | Babes-Bolyai University (original) (raw)

Papers by Corina Ionescu

Geoarchaeology-an International Journal, Apr 29, 2020

Studia Universitatis Babes-bolyai Chemia, 2011

ABSTRACT. The study focuses on the effect of heating on the composition of an illite-rich clay us... more ABSTRACT. The study focuses on the effect of heating on the composition of an illite-rich clay used to produce black ceramic, by applying several distinct time intervals and temperature ranges. Density measurements and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) analysis were carried out on raw and thermally-treated clay samples. The density of the fired samples shows a decrease for lower heating temperatures but increases significantly with heating time at 1100 C. Changes of the intensity of the XRPD lines of illite+ muscovite, calcite, ...

Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2007

Mineralogical and petrographic studies of Early Medieval potshards exhumed in the Viile Tecii arc... more Mineralogical and petrographic studies of Early Medieval potshards exhumed in the Viile Tecii archaeological site (North Transylvania, Romania) show a ceramic body composed of a microcrystalline to amorphous matrix, various clasts and voids. The microscopical features and XRD patterns indicate that illitickaolinitic clays were used as raw materials, together with quartzitic sands as tempering material. The ceramic vessels were obtained with the potter's wheel, but the fabric is only slightly oriented, due either to the fast modeling or to the coarseness of the clayish paste. The thermal alteration of mineral phases points to relatively high firing-temperatures, between 800 and 900°C.

&amp;amp;quot;&amp;amp;quot;A famous pottery called “Marginea ceramics” is produc... more &amp;amp;quot;&amp;amp;quot;A famous pottery called “Marginea ceramics” is produced nowadays in small workshops in NE Romania. It is black on the surface and grey in fresh break. The decoration is rather simple and is restricted to few shining lines, obtained by circular movements using a water worn pebble or &amp;amp;quot;polishing stone&amp;amp;quot;. As many of the prehistoric potshards found at several excavations show polishing, our study focused on methods that may have been used to produce this effect. Stereoscopic microscopy, polarized light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and back scattered electrons (BSE) images were employed in the study. The black Marginea ceramics is obtained from a Miocene illite-rich clay, in quite primitive kilns, with no control of temperature. The raw material consists of illite, muscovite, feldspar, quartz, chlorite/kaolinite, Fe oxi-hydroxides and carbonate (Ionescu et al., 2012 - this volume). Rubbing the surface while the clay is still in the so-called “leather hard stage” induces the smoothing of the rough surface, closure of the pores and a more compact ceramic body. The polishing also aligns the platy minerals (e.g. mica) within a thin layer, which causes the shiny surface of the lines drawn by water worn pebbles. Because the surfaces of the platy minerals are aligned, most of them will reflect light at the same time when viewed from the right angle. Stereoscopic microscopy of the pot surface shows fine striations due the movement of the polishing stone. Although stones used for burnishing tend to become apparently very polished themselves, under the microscope it is possible to see many parallel scratches on their surface. The more used stones had the most scratches. Simple unused river stones were less polished and had far fewer scratch marks. This study was financed by ID-2241/2008 and PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0881 projects, granted to CI (Romanian Ministry of Education and Research). Reference: Ionescu, C., Hoeck, V., Simon, V. (2012) Why the black ceramics is black? ISA 2012 Leuvven, Abstract volume.&amp;amp;quot;&amp;amp;quot;

Ceramic pottery made in Roman times and found in the Napoca archaeological site (Transylvania, Ro... more Ceramic pottery made in Roman times and found in the Napoca archaeological site (Transylvania, Romania) is analyzed to establish a real classification as well as sources of raw materials. The colours of the ceramic body are quite homogenous: red to yellowish-red or gray. The surface of the pottery is smoothed and in general is not decorated, rarely vegetal motifs being carved or pressed. The pottery is covered with a black or white, glassy slip. Granulometrically, the ceramics is lutitic-siltic, the maximum diameter of the particles being less than 0.1 mm. The porosity of the ceramic body is low. The microscopic studies, performed on thin sections, identified a microcrystalline-vitreous fabric, as well as the main compounds: various clasts in a clayish matrix. The clayish matrix present sinterizing or vitrification processes, in various degrees, function of the firing temperatures and the composition of the raw materials (SHEPARD, 1976). The lithoclasts (magmatic and metamorphic rocks), crystalloclasts (quartz, plagioclase feldspars, orthoclase, biotite, muscovite, heavy minerals), bioclasts (fragments of globigerinid forams, echinid plates, nannoplankton) and ceramoclasts (potsherds) indicate both the composition of raw materials and the temper used for ceramic paste.

A high number of Roman ceramic tegular material ie bricks and tiles, from the beginning of the II... more A high number of Roman ceramic tegular material ie bricks and tiles, from the beginning of the IInd century AD were found at Roşia Montană (Alburnus Maior) and Alba Iulia (Apulum), in Romania. A large part of these are marked with the stamp of the famous Legion XIII Gemina, which played an important role in defending the Apuseni Mts. goldmining area.

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2021

This review summarises the state-of-the-art of lead-based pigment studies, addressing their produ... more This review summarises the state-of-the-art of lead-based pigment studies, addressing their production, trade, use and possible alteration. Other issues, such as those related to the investigation and protection of artworks bearing lead-based pigments are also presented. The focus is mineralogical, as both raw materials and degradation products are mineral phases occurring in nature (except for very few cases). The minerals described are abellaite, anglesite, blixite, caledonite, challacolloite, cerussite, cotunnite, crocoite, galena, grootfonteinite, hydrocerussite, laurionite, leadhillite, litharge, macphersonite, massicot, mimetite, minium, palmierite, phosgenite, plattnerite, plumbonacrite, schulténite, scrutinyite, somersetite, susannite, vanadinite and an unnamed phase (PbMg(CO3)2). The pigments discussed are lead white, red lead, litharge, massicot, lead-tin yellow, lead-tin-antimony yellow, lead-chromate yellow and Naples yellow. An attempt is made to describe the history, t...

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020

Surface treatment techniques, that is, smoothing and burnishing, help to define the cultural, tra... more Surface treatment techniques, that is, smoothing and burnishing, help to define the cultural, traditional, and economical state of an ancient society. They prove artistic feelings combined with practical skills were used to obtain more attractive and highly functional objects. This paper aims to prepare the reader to investigate ceramic surfaces and discern between different treatments. Interpretation of the finishing techniques is based mainly on a wide variety of surface topography. Both treatments plastically deform the surface and tend to diminish its roughness, but the results are strikingly different. A smoothed surface has still large irregularities and a dull or matte appearance due to the diffuse reflection of light. A burnished surface has only small-sized irregularities and is glossy/lustrous due to specular reflection of light. Smoothing slightly aligns the platy minerals only at the very surface, whereas, burnishing may create two separate individual levels: A burnish peel and a subsurface layer. The differences are evidenced by all applied analytical methods, such as macroscopy, optical microscopy, electron microprobe, scanning electron microscopy, and vertical scanning interferometry.

Geoscience Frontiers, 2019

The Göksun (Kahramanmaraş) ophiolite (GKO), cropping out in a tectonic window bounded by the Mala... more The Göksun (Kahramanmaraş) ophiolite (GKO), cropping out in a tectonic window bounded by the Malatya metamorphic unit on both the north and south, is located in the EW-trending lower nappe zone of the southeast Anatolian orogenic belt (Turkey). It exhibits a complete oceanic lithospheric section and overlies the Middle Eocene Maden Group/Complex with a tectonic contact at its base. The ophiolitic rocks and the tectonically overlying Malatya metamorphic (continental) unit were intruded by I-type calc-alkaline Late Cretaceous granitoid (w81e84 Ma). The ultramafic to cumulates in the GKO are represented by wehrlite, plagioclase wehrlite, olivine gabbro and gabbro. The crystallization order for the cumulate rocks is as follows: olivine AE chromian spinel/clinopyroxene/plagioclase. The major and trace element geochemistry as well as the mineral chemistry of the ultramafic to mafic cumulate rocks suggest that the primary magma generating the GKO is compositionally similar to that observed in the modern island-arc tholeiitic sequences. The mineral chemistry of the ultramafic to mafic cumulates indicates that they were derived from a mantle source that was previously depleted by earlier partial melting events. The highly magnesian olivine (Fo 77e83), clinopyroxene (Mg# of 82e90) and the highly Ca-plagioclase (An 81e89) exhibit a close similarity to those, which formed in a supra-subduction zone (SSZ) setting. The field and the geochemical evidence suggest that the GKO formed as part of a much larger sheet of oceanic lithosphere, which accreted to the base of the Tauride active continental margin, including the _ Ispendere, Kömürhan and the Guleman ophiolites. The latter were contemporaneous and genetically/tectonically related within the same SSZ setting during the closure of the Neotethyan oceanic basin (Berit Ocean) between the Taurides to the north and the Bitlis-Pütürge massif to the south during the Late Cretaceous.

Archaeometry, 2014

ABSTRACT From the Neolithic up to the present, people have used various methods to improve the su... more ABSTRACT From the Neolithic up to the present, people have used various methods to improve the surface of ceramic objects. In this study, we look specifically at smoothing and pattern burnishing of ceramics produced today by traditional methods. Optical microscopy and SEM show specific surface changes. Smoothing results in an irregular surface, which causes diffused reflection of light. Burnishing produces an even and compact surface, which causes specular reflection and lustre. The results can be used to infer methods of surface treatment employed by ancient peoples as well as to help identify the presence of ceramics production centres at archaeological sites.

Geoarchaeology-an International Journal, Apr 29, 2020

Studia Universitatis Babes-bolyai Chemia, 2011

Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Geologia, 2007

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2021

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020

Geoscience Frontiers, 2019

Archaeometry, 2014

The production of ceramic pottery involves numerous steps, each of which requires different tools... more The production of ceramic pottery involves numerous steps, each of which requires different tools. Many studies focus on pottery, sometimes as tools from a functional point of view, sometimes as cultural markers used to date sites, and sometimes from the point of view of the raw material of which they are composed. The steps involved in pottery production are often studied based on the remains of the pottery itself with only minor mention of the tools used in its production.
This paper focuses in particular on Neolithic and Chalcolithic artefacts found at the Măgura-Buduiasca-Boldul lui Moş Ivănuş and Vităneşti-Măgurice sites in Teleorman county (southern Romania). A few analogies from other sites in the Lower Danube region have also been included in order to provide a larger range of tools potentially used in this industry.
The tools have here been grouped based on the stage of production - those which may have been used to quarry the raw clay, such as picks; tools for processing the raw materials by coarse and fine grinding such as mortars and pestles; and surface finishing tools for polishing and smoothing. The artefacts were analysed by non-destructive surface studies (macroscopically, with the aid of a handheld loupe, and by stereo microscope) with the aim of further determining their function and whether they were likely used in the ceramics industry.
This study provides examples of tool types and illustrates characteristics useful for identifying them. It also shows the chaîne opératoire of pottery produced during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of this region.
The study was financed by the PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0881 project granted by the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research.