Geochemistry And Mineralogy Of Prehistoric Pottery Shards Found At Gua Jaya, Nenggiri Valley, Kelantan, Malaysia

Muhamad Shafiq Mohd Ali,Zuliskandar Ramli,Nur Sarahah Mohd Supian

doi:10.7186/bgsm72202116

Abstract

Earthenware pottery is one of the common artefacts found during archaeological excavation works. Earthenware pottery is one of the tools used by prehistoric society as a tool for use in daily life. Earthenware pottery found at archaeological sites should be determined whether it was made by the local community or brought in from outside. Therefore, chemical analysis using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) and mineralogical analysis using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) methods need to be done to obtain the mineral content and elements of earthenware pottery that can be compared with clay found in the area. This comparison is to ascertain whether the prehistoric pottery was made in the vicinity of the discovery area or brought in from outside. The results of this study found that the pottery discovered during excavations at Gua Jaya was brought in from other areas. Besides, it was also determined that the pottery was burned openly due to the uneven combustion temperature. The content of the pottery element also indicates that the pottery was used as food storage containers and also as appliances for cooking.

Highlights

Earthenware pottery is one of the tools used by prehistoric society as a tool for use in everyday life
The study was conducted on 97 fragments of earthenware pottery that were found during excavation at Gua Jaya, Ulu Kelantan
Nik Hassan Shuhaimi (1999) stated that the color of pottery depends on the pottery firing temperature as well as the content of minerals found in the raw material i.e. clay that was used to make the pottery

Summary

Introduction

Earthenware pottery is one of the tools used by prehistoric society as a tool for use in everyday life. Since 10,000 years ago, prehistoric communities in rural areas have practiced farming while the coastal communities began to have knowledge on how to catch fish and use forest products The development of this prehistoric society has changed the function of clay (Gardner, 1978; Weinhold, 1983). The use of pottery as a tool for daily use began when the prehistoric society had learned the nature of clay, that is it is easy to form when wet and, hard when dry after baking This knowledge developed with the production of various types of earthenware that were used as tools for daily living with a variety of purposes such as cooking, storing food, and drinking water (Asyaari, 2010; Moradi et al, 2013; Sarhaddi-Dadian et al, 2015)

Methods

Results

Conclusion