Compositional variability of archaeological ceramics in the eastern Mediterranean and implications for the design of provenance studies

Abstract

The so-called ‘chemical fingerprints’ of production sites that are determined in provenance studies of archaeological ceramics comprise not only an estimate of the intrinsic chemical compositions but also an estimate of their variability. The compositional variability of ceramics from a specific production site is affected by the natural variability of the raw materials used, variation in the ceramic production process and potential post-depositional alteration. In order to characterise the production site as whole, average concentrations and their variations are estimated on the basis of a necessarily limited number of samples selected for analysis. The sampling strategy therefore has a significant impact on the results. The compositional variability is interfered from uncertainties introduced during the analysis subject to the analytical method chosen. This paper provides an overview of the sources of variability that influence such analyses. Case studies challenging the classical unbiased provenancing approach are presented using examples from the eastern Mediterranean region.