Pottery Sherds Research Articles

Особенности керамического производства с поселений эпохи неолита Прибрежное и Ушаково-3

The article presents the results of an interdisciplinary study of ceramics from the Neolithic settlements of Pribrezhnoe and Ushakovo-3, the earliest among the coastal culture complexes with corded ware. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, ceramics from various stages of the coastal culture, as well as from the Funnel Beaker culture, whose seasonal settlements preceded them in approximately the same locations, were analyzed. The main objectives of the study were to identify the characteristics and common features of ceramic production from these Neolithic settlements and to determine the locations of the primary raw material sources. A significant difference in the trace element composition between the corded ware and Funnel Beaker culture ceramics was established. Moreover, it was found that most of the Funnel Beaker pottery was made from non-local clays, suggesting that a substantial portion of the ceramics may have been brought by the settlers, likely reflecting the seasonal nature of the settlements and the specific activities of the migrants. In contrast, the results of the analysis of pottery fragments from the coastal culture at the two settlements revealed a clear similarity, which can be attributed to the use of the same clay sources. However, at Ushakovo-3, there appears to have been a stronger preference for clays from nearby deposits that, while geographically close, exhibited local differences in trace element composition, impacting the technological characteristics of the ceramics. Additionally, rare instances of foreign ceramics were identified, indicating some external connections. Thus, the results of these interdisciplinary studies, which sometimes yield unexpected and significant insights that are difficult or even impossible to obtain using traditional methods, demonstrate the clear potential for further research in this field.

Early Neolithic red-painted pottery from the Prandocin site, southern Poland. Indirect transfer in a technological context

The paper presents the results of specialized research on a small collection of artefacts of the Linear Pottery Culture in southern Poland. Among the 27 pottery fragments discovered at the Prandocin Site 1, a few painted fragments were identified. Such kind of painting style directly relates to the Želiezovce group of this culture in western Slovakia. Painted vessels are rarely found in the context of the Linear Pottery Culture in Lesser Poland (Małopolska), which is why special attention was given to raw material and technological studies of the ceramics. The study aimed to answer the question of whether the painted vessel was produced locally or if it representsevidence of direct migration of people, objects, or ideas from the areas of present-day western Slovakia at the turn of the 6th and 5th millennium BC.

Report on the Excavations at Kuchchaveli, Sri Lanka (2011)

We report the archaeological findings from the historic site of Kuchchaveli in the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka, based on our excavations in 2011. The Kuchchaveli complex revealed features of a Mahāyāna Buddhist centre during the 7th and 8th centuries as indicated by the structures and an inscription as well as a number of Buddhist sculptures and carvings. Archaeological material and a radiocarbon date of 1880 ± 30 BP from a test pit indicate an earlier occupation as well. Our excavations offered insights to the structures built at Kuchchaveli and yielded pottery fragments, glass beads, faunal remains and other artefacts of interest. This report highlights findings from six test pits, where two test pits correspond to the possible bodhigara and water tank of the monastery. The similarity of the Kuchchaveli glass finds to those from other sites in Sri Lanka highlights the internal circulation of glass beads during the period that Kuchchaveli was an active site. The faunal remains suggest that a mix of domesticated and wild animals were part of the diet in the community. Apart from being a monastic establishment linked to the southeast coast of India, Kuchchaveli revealed trade activities with other regions over a long period, particularly in the Middle Historic Period of the region.

CERCETĂRI ARHEOLOGICE DE SUPRAFAȚĂ ÎN CÂMPIA ROMANAŢIULUI (I)

Archaelogical researches developed on the Frăsinetului River Valley, Dobrosloveni commune, Olt county, in 2021, revealed close up to a private lake, situated in the north-east of the Frăsinet village, a very rich area in archaeological remains. Here were discovered a lot of pottery fragments belonging to different prehistoric periods, roman period and medieval age. Among these pottery fragments, we remark some fragments belonging to the Vădastra culture with various types of decorations as: excisions, incisions, grooved types and pottery with incisions and Vinča points. Among Vădastra pottery discovered here, in the mentioned point, we remark a fragment, probably from a cult table, decorated with incisions and Vinča points. We consider that, probably, in the mentioned area, was an important settlement of the Vădastra culture. We also remind you that here (Dobrosloveni and Fărcașele communes, Olt county) were attested a lot of important settlements of the Vădastra culture. These settlements are published and are considered as reference settlements for the mentioned culture.

Organic residue analysis in archaeological pottery. Heating markers in non-cooking vessels from Etruscan Tarquinia (Italy): A sampling problem?

The organic residues in the material of a series of pottery vessels from a votive deposit (3rd − 2nd century BCE) in the excavations of the Etruscan city of Tarquinia (Italy) were analyzed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Long-chain (31, 33 and 35 carbon atoms) ketones were initially detected in the lipid extracts of all the ceramic samples examined, irrespectively of the characteristics of the vessels in terms of shape and texture and of the possibility they had been used for cooking, recognized in several studies as the main cause of the formation of these compounds. Considering that some cases have also been reported in the literature in which the presence of these ketones seemed unexpected for a given ceramic container, it was decided to examine the possible correlation of their occurrence, for the set of vessels examined in the present work, with the sampling mode used to obtain the ceramic powder before extraction with solvents for the recovery of the organic residue. It was thus possible to demonstrate that the use of a drill for sampling, a modality not unusual in this kind of study, can give rise to the formation of these compounds in an archaeological ceramic material in which fatty acids are absorbed, particularly if it contains calcium carbonate, as demonstrated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the examined pottery fragments. A laboratory experiment based on a fragment of modern pottery in which palmitic and stearic acids were absorbed from a solution, and from which powder samples were then obtained both by drilling and by manual scraping of the pottery surface, allowed to validate the hypothesis above. It was therefore possible to highlight the importance of careful consideration also of the sampling phase in interpreting the results of the analysis of organic residues in archaeological pottery.

ANALYSIS AND RESTORATION OF GRECO-ROMAN POTTERY IN EGYPT

The research aims to identify features of the industry and assess the pottery damage through various examinations and analyses, such as examination by polarised microscope (PLM), examination by Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy Dispersive X-ray unit "SEM-EDX", analysis by X-ray diffraction powder XRD, and thermal analysis TGA. Archaeometric features of archaeological pottery were identified. The used clay is Nile Clay; the additives are sand, limestone powder, pottery powder (grog), and straw. The moulding technique is the hand and potter wheel technique. The surface treatment is a red wash and slip layer. The burning atmosphere is oxidising for the first and second pottery pieces and reducing for the third and fourth pottery pieces. The burning temperature is about 816°C for the first sample, 887°C for the second sample, 706°C for the third sample, and 651°C for the fourth sample. The texture is medium to coarse fabric for the first sample; the second sample fabric is fine; and the third and fourth samples have a coarse texture. The research proved that the pottery objects suffer from some different damage aspects such as fracture, loss of some parts, lack of strength, weakness, cracking, soil sediments, soot spots and black core, and salt crystallisation (chloride, sulphate, carbonate, and phosphate salts). The research proved the use of a mixture of distilled water, acetone, and ethyl alcohol at a ratio of 1:1:1, respectively, for removing clay soil deposits. EDTA is used to remove lime deposits. Nano-silica at a concentration of 0.5% is used to strengthen archaeological pottery by spraying. Paralloid B 82 dissolved in trichloroethylene at a concentration of 50% in assembling the pottery sherds; it is preferable to display it in the museum at a temperature of 20°C and a relative humidity of 55:60%.

Bellows and furnace covers in the unalloyed copper metallurgy of the Chalcolithic Southern Levant: reassessing the evidence from Abu Matar

AbstractUnalloyed copper objects were produced in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant in a two‐step process. Copper ore was smelted in pit furnaces, and the mechanically extracted copper prills melt in crucibles and cast into objects. However, the air supply remained unknown, and practical considerations shed doubt on the validity of some of the reconstructed practices. To refine the reconstruction, the metallurgical material from Abu Matar was reassessed. Most importantly, several previously unreported fragments suggest the use of bellows and covering the furnace with large pottery fragments. Our results provide probably the earliest evidence for the use of bellows.

Microbial corrosion on underwater pottery relics with typical biological condensation disease

Underwater pottery relics salvaged from shipwrecks are vulnerable to physical, chemical and biological corrosion. In this study, the microscopic morphology and structural composition of glazed pottery fragments excavated from the South China Sea as well as purple clay teapot samples from the Yangtze River Estuary II shipwreck were analyzed by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier infrared transform spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy. According to the research results, the corrosion products deposited on the surface of the glazed pottery fragment from the South China Sea mainly included FeOOH and MnO2, whereas those on the surface of the purple clay teapot fragment from the Yangtze River Estuary II shipwreck primarily incorporated FeS2 and FeS. According to the corrosion phenomenon, it was speculated that the underwater pottery relics were mainly corroded by different microorganisms in the underwater environment, including manganese-oxidizing bacteria, dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria and sulfate-reducing bacteria. As the corrosion process of these cultural artifacts was described and related models were established, this study provides valuable reference for the disease removal and protection of pottery relics.

Jewish Cemetery at Gwarna Street (former Claassenstrasse) in Wrocław: Excavation Report from 2017 and Opportunities for Rescue and Commemoration

Excavations in the area of the former Jewish cemetery in Wrocław at Gwarna Street (formerly Claassenstrasse) have been undertaken many times, most recently in 2017. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the cemetery has been subject to urban encroachment which gradually reduced its historic area, forcing two exhumations, followed by devastation in the 1940s under the Nazi regime. The cemetery was formally liquidated in post-war Poland, in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, the remaining tombstones were removed and part of the area was built over. In order to develop the areas covered by the earlier exhumations, exploration works were carried out to identify the exact area. In 2017, burials from the cemetery were discovered during construction works. Excavations carried out in 2017 revealed seven individual burials, a mass grave with 115 burials in wooden cases, and 5 mass graves from WWII. Within the cases, fragments of pottery from the 18th and 19th centuries were found. The authors discuss the history of the cemetery, details of the 2017 excavation report with analysis, and current efforts to protect and commemorate the area.

Oldest Jewish Cemetery in Prostějov (Czechia) in the View of Archaeological Research

Graves excavated during the rescue archaeological research of Hlaváčkovo square/Šerhovní street in Prostějov (Czechia) in 1998 can be linked to the presumed oldest Jewish cemetery owing to the presence of Jewish burial customs in the form of pottery sherds present on the eyes and mouth of the deceased, the inclusion of iron padlocks and quarry stones near the lower limbs of the deceased, and absence of complex garments. These customs had special symbolic meaning and function in Jewish burial rites. Also, the orientation of the deceased in the W-E direction, the use of wooden coffins reinforced by iron nails, and the stretched position on the back with arms stretched along the body corresponds with Jewish burial rites. A high concentration of children’s graves suggests that a section reserved for children’s burials called ‘nefele’ was discovered. Dating of the discovered part of the cemetery to the 17th and 18th centuries is based on analysis of archaeological features, stratigraphic relationships and finds originating in the 43 discovered graves.

Verdslige genstande i et sakralt landskab

Secular artefacts in a sacral landscapeTextile production at a Pre-Roman/Early Roman Iron Age place of assembly
 The locality of Stavsager Høj, situated north of the village of Fæsted in southern Jutland, was discovered during metal detector surveys in 2018. In addition to numerous metal finds and magnificent artefacts, the locality also offered an insight to more mundane materials: spindle whorls made from reused potsherds. These recycled artefacts are the primary focus of this article, which illuminates textile production around a pre-Christian assembly site. Four vase-shaped bronze spindle whorls are also presented and analysed together with the reused potsherds to examine the character of the local textile craft. Overall, they testify to a versatile production of textiles within the multi-phased settlement. The debate surrounding repurposed potsherds and their use as spindle whorls is also discussed. A further perspective on textile tools is provided by two tangible textile remains: a textile imprint on a fragment of pottery and a piece of preserved textile on a bronze chape. These support the diverse and broad production span demonstrated by the tools and provide an insight to a textile craft that included the production of both fine, lightweight cloth and coarser fabrics. Though the number of textile tools found at Stavsager Høj is rather modest, they do illuminate the textile craft in a landscape of an elitist and sacral character.

The Mineralogical, Chemical, and Physical Properties of Ceramic Building Material: Khirbet Edh-Dharih in Southern Jordan (First Century BC–Seventh Century AD)

ABSTRACT Throughout history, ceramic building material (CBM), such as bricks, tiles, and hypocaust tiles, along with decorative elements, have been of immense significance. To determine the mineralogical content, chemical composition, and physical property of such materials, as well as pottery sherds, excavated from the archaeological site of Khirbet Edh-Dharih in southern Jordan, a range of analytical techniques that include petrography, XRD, AAS, and SEM-EDX were utilized. The findings indicate that during the periods studied the potters followed the tradition of sourcing local raw materials and utilized relatively advanced manufacturing techniques. However, the late Byzantine–early Umayyad potters deviated from this norm by blending noncalcareous clay with coarsely crushed quartz in higher proportions and firing them at elevated temperatures. This resulted in a clay with a lower water absorption capacity, lower porosity, and higher bulk density, thus improving its durability.

Characterization of pottery foodcrusts through lipid and proteomic analyses: A case study from the Xiawan site in Yixing city, East China

Foodcrusts are often discovered inside archaeological pottery and other containers, and they can provide abundant information about vessel function, diet, cuisine activities and human subsistence strategies. Lipid analysis has been used for decades to characterize foodcrusts, indicating their composition and biological sources. Recently, proteomics has also been applied to foodcrusts, providing more specific information about the tissues and species origins. In this study, lipid and proteomic analyses were combined to analyze foodcrusts in pottery from the Xiawan site of the Taihu Lake region, East China. These pottery sherds are mainly attributed to the Songze cultural period (ca. 5800–5300 BP). The results show that these foodcrusts contain interpretable concentrations of lipid compounds, including a series of common medium- and long-chain fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, aliphatic alcohols, sterols and their derivatives, isoprenoid fatty acids and long-chain ketones, as well as proteins of terrestrial mammals and aquatic products. This study provides direct evidence for the function of pottery and the exploitation of animal and plant resources at that time, especially freshwater products, marine fish, rice and millet. Therefore, the combination of lipid and proteomic analyses has great potential in organic residue analysis for foodcrusts.

Multi-purpose pots: Reconstructing early farmer behaviour at Lydenburg Heads site, South Africa, using organic residue analysis

About 2000 years ago, Bantu-speaking people introduced an agro-pastoral lifeway into southern Africa and lived in northern and eastern lowland parts of the region by 700 CE. Also defined as the ‘southern African Iron Age’, pottery is the most common and diagnostic artefact category. The soil chemistry of several farming sites resulted in poor faunal preservation and especially within Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, the possibilities for dietary reconstructions based on bone assemblages is very limited. Furthermore, the majority of ceramic research on early farming communities (ca. 200–900 CE) has focused on typology and ethnoarchaeological interpretations. This study represents the first application of Organic Residue Analysis (ORA) applied to southern African early farming pottery to gain a deeper understanding of past human behaviour and subsistence patterns. We investigate the potential and evaluate future prospects of applying this method to southern African early farming pottery. A combined lipid biomarker (GC-MS) and compound specific isotope approach (GC-C-IRMS) was applied to pottery sherds (n = 40) from the Lydenburg Heads site (LHS), dating to the 7th century CE (Mzonjani facies) and 9th to 11th centuries CE (Doornkop facies), to test for lipid preservation, trace possible vessel use and dietary changes through time and embed the research data within the faunal and botanical record available. Our study provides first evidence for the processing of dairy products by early farmers in southern Africa. Both facies imply multi-purpose functionality of the ceramics tested, demonstrated by the mixing of animal fats and plant oils. The obtained ORA data from LHS confirms the processing of ruminant carcass fats within both occupation facies, likely representing domestic animal fats, as well as the processing of wild non-ruminant carcass fats within the earlier Mzonjani facies. The identification of ricinoleic acid in two vessels of the Doornkop facies, provides evidence for potential medicinal use. Preliminary data also indicate that dung could have been involved in different forms of pottery sealing and/or mending during both occupation facies. In this study, we begin to explore biomolecular evidence for dietary choices made by early farmers in southern Africa, shedding light on previously unexplored key products.

Investigations of black and red figure pottery shards and local clay, excavated at Ainos (Enez-Turkey), by multiple analytical techniques

Mineralogical compositions as well as firing conditions of black and red figure pottery shards, belonging to 4th-6th century BC, excavated at the archeological site Ainos (Enez-Turkey), were investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), micro-Raman, and X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) techniques. Raw clay, obtained from a clay bed, that was unearthed during the archeological excavations at the same site, was also analyzed for comparison. To determine the firing temperature of the pottery shards, ceramic tablets were prepared from this raw clay sample (in three different firing temperatures: 650, 700 and 900 °C) and analyzed. The results allowed us to identify the mineral composition and to discuss the firing conditions. Chemometric analysis on the IR data was performed for revealing the distinct groups.

Surface researches on the valley of the Frăsinet river (Frăsinetul de Pădure village, Dobrosloveni commune, Olt County). I

Archaeological researches developed on the Frăsinetului River valley, Dobrosloveni commune, in December 2021, revealed close up to a private lake, situated in the north-east of the Frăsinet village, a very rich area in archaeological remains. Here were discovered a lot of pottery fragments belonging of different prehistoric cultures, roman period and medieval age. Among these pottery fragments, we remark some fragments belonging to Vădastra culture with various types of decoration as: excision, incision, grooved types and pottery with incisions and Vinča points. Among Vădastra pottery discovered here, in the mentioned point, we remark a fragment probably from a cult table, decorated with incisions and Vinča points. We consider that, probably, in the mentioned area, was an important settlement of Vădastra culture. Also, we remember that here (Dobrosloveni and Fărcașele communes, Olt County) were attested a lot of important settlements of Vădastra culture. These settlements are published and are considered as reference settlements for the mentioned culture.

A New Pottery Collection from Jabal Dādān (al-Khurayba) in al-ʿUlā

Abstract This article discusses a group of outstanding pottery fragments from the summit of Jabal Dādān (al-Khurayba) at al-ʿUlā in Saudi Arabia. The importance of these fragments comes from the absence of published material from the Dādān site, the lack of color-decorated ceramic vessels among the published material, and the diversity in the bases and shapes of the vessels. Comparative studies indicate that this collection falls within the group of colored pottery from northwestern Saudi Arabia, generally dated to between the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 1st millennium bce. The collection appears similar to the Taymāʾ pottery in a number of decorative elements, such as: the chessboard element. These collections indicate that al-Khurayba was in contact with several sites within Saudi Arabia, such as the sites of Taymāʾ and Qurayya in the northwest, and the sites of al-Sīḥ and al-Banna in the center, as well as sites elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula, such as the al-Muwayliḥ site in the United Arab Emirates, and sites outside the Arabian Peninsula, including Tall al-Khalīfa in the Levant.

Collaborating with a Pest? Recounting an Encounter Between Moles and Archaeologists

This piece is about a close encounter between the mole and archaeologists. This is nothing new. Archaeologists are accustomed to taking the “disturbances” that moles produce into account in their working assumptions. Indeed, archaeologists tend to agree with other soil practitioners such as farmers and gardeners that moles are a pest for perturbing soils. The market is abrim with all sorts of pungent flower bulbs, devices that emit vibrations, gas, or explosives that flood, pinch and trap moles. This piece centres on a very specific context, a research group based at Ghent University and the site of a medieval settlement north of Bruges where archaeologists work with the shards of pottery contained in the soils the moles bring to the surface. In their research, the assumption that moles are a nuisance is suspended by engaging molehills in a new but low-tech scientific practice. This piece tackles the wider question of what is a pest by enrolling the practice of these archaeologists into a history of multi-species social science perspectives. It thinks through the dynamics of categories that species come up against and slide in and out of (Haraway 2008). It is therefore, a piece about more than species. It is also a piece about soils. The soils that emerge involve many different species and not just humans but other living beings including moles, worms, badgers, insects, and plants. Lending attention to soils brings with it socio-cultural associations, tools such as sieves and legislations about animals and archaeological digs. Densely inhabited and littered with remnants of human activities and histories, we might call these multi-species social soils.

Underwater Detection of Ancient Pottery Sherds Using Deep Learning

This paper outlines the creation of a machine learning model designed to identify ancient pottery fragments near a submerged shipwreck off Modi Island, Greece. We trained multiple iterations of the YOLOv8 model using a custom dataset comprised of underwater videos taken during diving expeditions at the wreck site. The primary goal of this research is to integrate the resulting object detection system into a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for automated pottery shard recognition, thereby aiding archaeological excavations. The paper elaborates on the model's development methodology and presents comprehensive experimental and evaluative results. These findings underscore the model's potential to significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of underwater archaeological exploration and analysis.

Non-Destructive Textural Characterization of Southern Romanian Neolithic and Chalcolithic Pottery Using Digital Image Analysis on Tomographically Reconstructed Sections

Pottery is a complex archaeological material that is found ubiquitously in various spatial–temporal frameworks from all over the world; therefore, it is of great importance to archaeological research. The current paper aims to present and discuss the results obtained on a batch of Neolithic (ca. 6000–5000 BC) and Chalcolithic (ca. 5000–3900 BC) pottery sherds from Southern Romania through X-ray Computed Tomography, a non-destructive methodology that allows for the 3D reconstruction and precise measurement of inclusions and voids present within ceramic artefacts. Images from several potsherds were subsequently exported and analyzed by means of dedicated software (ImageJ 1.44p and GIMP) to extract quantitative information on the observed features. Grain size and morphometric analyses were performed on the particles, while the contour variability of the examined inclusions was characterized through the application of shape descriptors. Voids were analyzed in order to reveal specific orientation patterns through the examination of the aspect ratio of the holes and of the Rayleigh z test values. These analyses evidenced the general reliance of moderately and poorly sorted clays for ceramic production, accompanied by a gradual transition from organic to grog tempering, while conservative traditions remained prevalent in primary pottery-forming processes.