Identification of archaeological potsherds excavated at Mleiha using XRF

Abstract

The site of Mleiha in the emirate of Sharjah, excavated by the French archaeological mission since 1986, offers a stratigraphical ceramics sequence which became the chronological reference for the Late Pre-Islamic period (3rd c. BC–3rd. c. AD) in the Oman peninsula. If most of the wares are conveniently distributed in chronology, their origin and place of production are rarely precisely defined. In the present study 26 potsherds collected at Mleiha, were analyzed using an X-ray fluorescence microscope. The objectives of the study were multi-fold. First, the elemental composition had to be identified with reasonable accuracy. Second, the potsherds were compared statistically using the Chi-test. Finally, possible similarities were defined according to elemental composition. Sizes of the potsherds ranged from a few square centimetres to tens of square centimetres. A matrix containing the elemental concentrations for each fragment was used to answer a number of specific questions pertaining to the grouping of various potsherds according to possible geographical origin or provenance. Analysis confirms the homogeneity of the group called Late Mleiha ware, and the variability of other groups as Grey and Black wares. It brings new insights, as the relation of some samples with Indian productions.