Compositional analysis below the production region level: A case study of porcelain production at Dehua, Fujian, China

Abstract

Compositional analysis of Chinese porcelain often uses the production region as an analytical unit, whereas the possible compositional similarities and differences between different production loci within the region have rarely been considered. This research assesses the worth of conducting chemical composition analysis at the micro level and evaluates the effectiveness of combining laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) with portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) in characterizing compositional variation below the level of the production region. It focuses on porcelain production of the Song and Yuan dynasties (960–1368 CE) at Dehua, Fujian, China, where dozens of large-scale kilns produced enormous amounts of porcelains for export. A total of 19 kiln sites from five villages at Dehua were analyzed in this research. Results from both LA-ICP-MS and pXRF show that there are two distinct production groups at Dehua—Gaide and Longxun-Sanban. Geological differences and different ceramic-making traditions might both contribute to the distinct separation of the two compositional groups. Results from social network analysis further suggest that there are strong inter-kiln compositional similarities within the same production subregion, but kiln sites in the same village are more closely connected than those outside the village. These results demonstrate that the change of analytical scale in compositional analysis can provide more nuanced insights into the organization of production and the patterns of interaction between different production loci within the broader production region. In addition, this research shows that pXRF, though not as accurate as LA-ICP-MS, is capable of finding compositional patterning within a small region of ceramic production.