Assessment of the White Slip Classification Scheme based on Physical and Chemical Aspects of the Technique (original) (raw)

Chapter 8: Getting under the slip: technological and compositional studies of Red Polished ware from Early and Middle Bronze Age Cyprus

ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE SMALLEST REALM Micro analyses and methods for the reconstruction of Cyprus early societies. Edited by Marialucia Amadio, 2021

This paper provides a concise presentation of the state of the art in Red Pol- ished ceramic analysis, i.e., the analytical study of the most prominent class of pottery in Early and Middle Bronze Age Cyprus. It discusses the mainstream methods used in Red Polished pottery analysis, as well as important prerequisites for a successful microanalytical study, including a thorough understanding of the assemblage(s) to be sampled and a well-defined sampling strategy. The discus- sion then focuses on technological aspects of Red Polished pottery manufacture, technological changes indicated by archaeometric studies, and the organisation of ceramic production and distribution. Overall, the paper attempts to demon- strate how the application of a multidisciplinary approach can enhance our un- derstanding of ceramic manufacture and distribution during the first half of the Cypriot Bronze Age, and, by extension, our comprehension of the prehistoric communities that produced, distributed and used Red Polished pottery.

On the potential of microbeam analyses in study of the ceramics, slip and paint of Late Bronze Age White Slip II ware: An example from the Canaanite site Tel Esur

Applied Clay Science, 2019

Microbeam Analyses using EPMA, pXRF, LA-ICP-MS and FT-IR were conducted in this study of Late Bronze Age (LBA) White Slip II ware (WS-ware) imports at the Canaanite site Tel Esur (Tel Esur WS). The WS-ware is typically decorated with black-brown geometric patterns painted over a white slip layer. The study of the WS-ware provides useful information and a multi-analytical database regarding the composition, ceramic technology , raw materials, origin and cultural issues. The results demonstrate that the LBA potters select raw materials suitable for production of ceramics, slip and paint. The ceramic-body of the WS-ware was made of raw material that has been an appropriate selection to produce a hard and thin-walled vessel. For accentuating the black decoration over the dark reddish-grey ceramic-body, the latter was covered with white slip layer. The black decoration was made of ferromanganese-based pigment, which allows black decoration through firing of the vessels at an oxidizing atmosphere. The raw materials for the production of the ceramics, slip and paint were selected from Cypriot red basaltic clay of weathered basalt province, white hydrothermal clay of altered basalt zone and umber ore, respectively. The Tel Esur White Slip II ware is proved analytically to be imported from Cyprus.

The provenance and technology of a group of Hellenistic colour-coated ware pottery from the excavations at Nea Paphos on Cyprus

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018

Colour-coated ware (CCW) comprises the dominant type of Hellenistic fine ware pottery unearthed during the excavations in Nea Paphos. The detailed and systematic macroscopic examination of this pottery, focusing on typology and fabric, identified a number of macroscopic groups (MG). A total of 164 samples were subsequently selected for further testing and characterisation of these groups, in terms of composition and technology, through a combination of macroscopic examination, refiring tests, chemical and petrographic analyses, and scanning electron microscopy. This paper focuses on two of these MGs (35 samples), addressing the question of their provenance and manufacturing technology. These two groups are typologically and stylistically associated, and very distinctive due to the macroscopic appearance of their fabric, frequent occurrence and confined chronology. The integrated macroscopic and scientific study demonstrated that all 35 samples, representative of these two MGs, form a single compositional cluster. This-together with the typological and stylistic homogeneity observed, indicates a common origin for these samples. These vessels were produced using a similar clay paste; however, the firing regimes and the surface treatments employed show some variation. The place of production of this group still remains unknown, but their distribution suggests that they were produced somewhere on Cyprus or in the Levant.

Baldıran, A. Korkmaz, Z. Yıldız, V. (2011) Roman Red-Slip Ware From Isauria. H. Öniz, E. Aslan (eds.), SOMA 2009 Proceedings of the XIII Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology (24-24 April 2009, Konya), BAR International Series 2200, 33-43.

SOMA 2009 Proceedings of the XIII Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology (24-24 April 2009, Konya), 2011

Black-and red-slipped pottery from ancient Cassope (NW Greece): inference of provenance and production technology based on a multi-analytical approach

The present work reports the results of a multi-analytical study of 90 pottery sherds recovered from the archaeological site of Cassope (mid-4 th to 1 st century BC), in Epirus (NW Greece). The elemental composition of the ceramic bodies was assessed using radioisotope-induced energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The compositional data were statistically treated by principal component analysis and chemical groups were established, representing locally produced and imported items. Mineralogical analysis of the ceramic bodies by X-ray diffraction indicated firing temperatures in the range from 800 to 1000°C for most of the sherds, while one group consisted of over-fired items, possibly in excess of 1050°C. The morphology of the slip layers and the microstructure of the ceramic bodies were examined using scanning electron microscopy, which showed that different pottery groups exhibit surface slips of a different nature, in terms of thickness and degree of vitrification.