Some Remarks on Meroitic Pottery from Jebel Barkal/Napata, in: M.H. Zach, The Kushite World. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Meroitic Studies Vienne, 1-4 September 2008. Beiträge zur Sudanforschung, 9, 2015, 455-464 (original) (raw)
The Characterization of Medieval Ceramics Excavated from
2012
Thirteen potsherds from the Eğirdir Caravanserai (south-west of Turkey) were characterized by optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Mineralogical and petrographic studies of medieval potsherds in there show a ceramic body composed of a microcrystalline to amorphous matrix with various clasts and voids. The thin section, XRD and SEM analyses of samples showed that potsherds consist of K-feldspar (orthoclase), plagioclase (albite and anorthite), pyroxene (diopside), melilite (gehlenite), mullite, wollastonite, mica (biotite and muscovite), chlorite, leucite, amphibole, quartz, calcite, iron minerals (hematite and magnetite) and trace amounts of sphene. The obtained results showed that calcareous materials including illitic-kaolinitic clays were used for pottery production and the potsherds were fired in the temperatures from 800 to 1150°C.
Cahiers de la Céramique Égyptienne 10, IFAO, Le Caire, 2016, 2016
T he workshop held at Karnak the 28th-29th September 2014 aimed to establish equivalences between the various classifications used by the participants. The following lines propose the results of the discussions and a commonly approved system to approach the Ptolemaic material studied in the Theban region. It is deliberately simple enough to encompass most of the fabrics distinguished in all the contributions. The equivalences with each contributor's system are given 1 and macro-photography from the corresponding samples from Karnak excavations is added. Nevertheless some fabrics are specifics to one site, so their descriptions have no counterpart in other articles. They are isolated at the end of each section which separates Nile clay and marl clay from the imported material coming from other areas in or outside Egypt. Nile Clay Vessels made in Nile clay are the most represented within the Ptolemaic material of the Theban region. A great variety of texture, hardness, colour and inclusions can be observed according to the function of the ceramic produced. 2 The following groups illustrate the variety of the use of Nile clay and its mixing to obtain a paste that responds to the expected properties for a specific function. For example, cooking wares pastes would have a good thermal shock resistance as well as a good thermal efficiency. 3 They are usually sandy and/or fired in a low temperature. The generic grouping by function might encompass variants of paste or fabrics that would indicate various production centres or a chronological evolution of the ceramic productions within a wide category. If such, a more precise description is given in the following contributions. Fine Cooking Wares (céramiques de cuisson en pâte alluviale fine) Fine cooking wares are made in Nile clay, generally finely levigated and dense, with conspicuous amount of sand inclusions and micas. Few organic and limestone particles can occur. This group gathers the vessels produced for a cooking function: chytrai, caccabai, lopades, etc., thin or medium walled, which usually display 1 Only if they are not using the same denomination explicited below. 2 General considerations can be found in Tomber 2006, p. 8-10. 3 Picon 1995; Vokaer 2010. s p e c i m e n a u t e u r traces of firing. Some variants can be distinguished according to the texture that can be extremely fine among some specific exemples, or rather coarse (fig. 1). Another group with frequent organic particles (temper), not present in this catalogue, should be separated.
2024
Kotenko V. and Kushnir A. 2024. Methods for studying the raw material of pottery of antiquity (on the example of material from Olbia). Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 76/2, 123-142. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the methodology of researching the potential pottery raw materials of excavated material from the antique polis using the example of Olbia in the North Western Black Sea region. The historiography of the issue is considered and the main methods are defined. It includes fieldwork, laboratory analyses and their interpretation, as well as an experimental component. The discussion is based on the description of the stages of fieldwork, the study of the macromorphological structure of the clay deposits, micromorphological and granulometric analysis of ancient ceramics and experimental products made of potential pottery raw materials. According to the obtained results, it can be said that the population of Olbia used local materials in pottery making, although their characteristics are specific for the preparation of the clay mass. A comprehensive study confirmed the ability to find out the raw material base of the ancient polis and the possibility of its application at other sites.
During research on the site of the Crikvenica- Igraliste (Ad turres, Croazia) pottery workshop, owned by Sextus Metilius Maximus, 30 tons of ceramic material were found. Mostly came from process waste from the workshop that produced building materials, amphoras, loom weights and various types of pottery. The discovery of this important workshop stimulated the working of the Museum of Crikvenica, highlighting the necessity of using different approaches in treating materials from both the scientific and museological points of view. Immediately during the research a rapid classification of materials was necessary which, at work completed, would facilitate the development of product typology, whilst the request of museum presentation brought about new problems. On this occasion we would highlight the approach needed to working the material and how the typology was created. The typology helped to determine the distribution of workshop products.