Characterization of Ancient Burial Pottery of Ban Muang Bua Archaeological Site (Northeastern Thailand) Using X-ray Spectroscopies

Chatdanai Boonruang,Nontarat Nimsuwan,Chome Thongleurm,Udomrat Tippawan,Phakkhananan Pakawanit,Krit Won-In,Pisutti Dararutana

doi:10.3390/app12052568

Abstract

Ancient potteries found at Ban Muang Bua, located in northeastern Thailand, associate with Thung Kula Ronghai culture. Most of them are products used in daily life and grave goods. The potsherds were examined using techniques based on X-ray spectroscopy. Elemental composition and morphology were analyzed using proton-induced X-ray emission spectroscopy (PIXE) and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Three-dimensional analysis was performed using X-ray tomographic microscopy based on synchrotron radiation (SR XTM). Irregular plate-like particles of composites with a wide range of size distribution were found in the potsherds. The major (O, Si, and Al), minor (C, Fe, Ca, and K), and trace elements (P, S, Ti, Na, Mg, and Zn) which were observed can provide the information about raw materials and production of pottery. The 3D tomographic images show the internal feature of these samples. The combination of SEM-EDS, PIXE, and SR XTM is a powerful tool for archaeological research especially in terms of composition and internal structure. The results imply that the raw materials of pottery were sandy soil derived from marine sands, clays, and salt deposits that were mostly iron-rich-kaolin clay. The production was carried out with low firing temperatures (~600–900 °C) in open-air kilns.

Highlights

Research in cultural heritage objects such as ceramics, mortars, glasses, etc., is multidisciplinary work that incorporates researchers from various fields of study
Many X-ray based techniques have been successfully used for analyses of the archaeological objects including X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and X-ray tomographic microscopy (XTM) [3,6–11]
The morphology and elemental composition of samples were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM)-energydispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), PIXE, and Synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SR XTM) with the aim to compare the composition to those from our previous work that can lead to the information about raw materials and production technology of the pottery

Summary

Introduction

Research in cultural heritage objects such as ceramics, mortars, glasses, etc., is multidisciplinary work that incorporates researchers from various fields of study. Jar burial cultures associate mainly with the tradition of burying which includes the human body (primary burial) and human bones (secondary burial) These burials have been found in Asia, such as in Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines which are dated to at least 1000 B.C. It has been reported that buried grave jars excavated from Mun and Chi valleys in northeastern Thailand are dated from the late prehistoric period (2000–500 B.C.) to 11th century A.D. A set of samples were selected from the ancient potsherds of grave goods (of secondary burial) excavated from the Ban Muang Bua archaeological site in Roi. Et province in 2002–2003. The morphology and elemental composition of samples were characterized by SEM-EDS, PIXE, and SR XTM with the aim to compare the composition to those from our previous work (excavated in 2002–2003 with similar typology) that can lead to the information about raw materials and production technology of the pottery

Materials

Methods

Results and Discussion

Average elemental samplesanalyzed analyzed

Conclusions