Pottery sherds of Kampung Baru Archaeological Site, Kedah, Malaysia: A geo-chemical and physical analysis

Abstract

Pottery is one of the most unearthed artifacts during the excavation work in Kampung Baru Archaeological Site. As one of the most used tools in daily lives, pottery has developed parallel with the development of human knowledge and technologies. Earthenware pottery found at archaeological sites should be known whether it was made by the local community or brought in from outside. Therefore, the study of chemical analysis using XRD and XRF methods needs to be done to obtain the mineral content and elements of earthenware pottery that can be compared with a sample of clay found in the area. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and physical analysis have been performed on these potsherds. 15 pottery shard samples were analysed to determine the chemical and mineralogical characteristics of the pottery shards. The results indicate a local provenance of these samples. The mineral content in the pottery samples also indicate the presence of minerals, such as quartz, illite, datolite and microcline. Furthermore, the physical analysis conducted uncovered a variety of motifs that adorned the earthenware. The mineral content and physical observation of the pottery shards indicate that the open burning technique was used to produce these pottery shards due to the presence of illite in the pottery shards. The content of the major and trace elements also proves that these potteries were produced from the same source, and it is proposed that local raw materials were used in the production of the potteries, from which the nearest source that could be detected is at the Muda River basin. Moreover, the involvement of the local community in producing the potteries should not be discredited, as this proves that since 4000 to 5000 years ago local community had grasped the knowledge of producing pottery since the evolution of the Neolithic culture at the Muda River basin.