Kiln Complex Research Articles

Micro‐structural study of crystals and glassy matrix of black glazed wares from Jian kilns, China (Song Dynasty, AD 960–1279)

AbstractBlack glazed wares (Wujin wares) and hare fur's decorated black glazed wares (HF wares) are ones of typical production of Jian kilns, China during Song Dynasty. In this work, Wujin wares and HF wares excavated in Jian kiln complex (Yulinting kilns, Daluhoumen kilns and Luhuaping kilns) were systematically analyzed by optical microscope, X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy and micro‐Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the index of glassy polymerization (Ip) of Wujin wares is smaller than black areas of HF wares, indicating the higher firing temperature used for HF wares. Several pseudobrookite, rutile, hematite and quartz crystals were detected in glazes of Wujin wares while a great number of ɛ‐Fe2O3 crystals was observed in brown stripes of HF wares. Besides, wares in different kiln sites present obviously differences in bubble distribution and glassy structure, indicating a lower firing temperature used for Yulinting kilns than those of Daluhoumen kilns and Luhuaping kilns.

Archaeological Correlates of the Rosetta Stone’s Great Revolt in the Nile Delta: Destruction at Tell Timai

ABSTRACT A stratum at Tell Timai shows extensive evidence of violent destruction dating to the early 2nd century b.c. Burning, rapid abandonment of objects in a house, destruction of a kiln complex, weaponry, and unburied bodies spread over a wide area in North Tell Timai indicate the city of Thmouis was subject to an episode of warfare. The destruction at Thmouis parallels an account of the destruction of another Nile Delta city, Lycopolis, in the nome of Busiris, during The Great Revolt described on the Rosetta Stone (196 b.c.). Another stela from Memphis also refers to the Ptolemaic campaign in the region. The evidence from Tell Timai provides the first archaeological correlate of destruction during the Great Revolt in the Nile Delta.

Phantom Porcelains: Zhangzhou and Yoshida Polychrome Dishes with Seal Design

Abstract Zhangzhou ceramics, coarsely potted with thick glaze and sandy feet, were mass-produced in southern Fujian during the late Ming and early Qing periods. The rise of the Zhangzhou kiln complex was an outcome of expanding maritime trade since the Jiajing period (1522–1566) and Zhangzhou production reached a climax in the Wanli period (1572–1620). The Fujianese workshops created a whole spectrum of porcelain products, ranging from monochrome pieces to blue-and-white and polychrome ones. Of the decorative vocabulary that is unique to Zhangzhou kilns, the pavilion and seal design (previously known as the “Split Pagoda” motif) is noteworthy for its decorative originality and transnational appeal. Through a close examination of typical Zhangzhou dishes with seal design, the paper points out that the intriguing theme fuses Daoist ideals with Confucian-recluses’ pursuits. The pluralism in the symbolic meanings of the pattern enhances the marketability of this type of Zhangzhou ware. Around the 1650s, Japanese potters in the Yoshida workshops of Ureshino, Hizen province on the Island of Kyushu started to incorporate the Zhangzhou designs into their local decorative repertoire. But instead of faithfully imitating the seal pattern from the Fujianese prototype, Yoshida decorators seamlessly wove Japanese fashion into Chinese-inspired motifs. Popular designs from nearby Arita, the porcelain capital of Japan, further stimulated Yoshida artisans to create affordable fusion-style products for Southeast Asian markets that were yet to be dominated by prestigious Hizen porcelains. However, the efflorescence of Yoshida porcelains with seal design was rather short-lived due to limited native resources and fierce competition in and outside Kyushu.

Raman study of rusty oil spotted glaze produced in Linfen kilns (Shanxi province, AD 1115–1368)

AbstractThe Linfen kiln complex, one of the most representative of Shanxi kilns, is famous for its oil spotted glazed ware production. In this work, micro‐Raman spectroscopy was applied to analyze the nature of the rusty oil spot pattern of a bowl fragment from Linfen kilns. Crystals of polygonal shape found in the spots at the glaze surface and around bubbles in the cross‐section of the glaze were identified as hematite. Their distribution in the glaze suggests that nucleation seeds and small crystals are carried toward the surface by the rise of bubbles during the heating step of the firing. Raman spectra combined with energy‐dispersive spectrometry (EDS) measurements also suggest that Fe ions in hematite crystals are partially substituted, causing the variation of band position and full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the spectra. Dendritic ε‐Fe2O3 was identified in brown areas of the black glaze, as well as pseudobrookite crystals of tens of microns in the cross‐section of the glaze. The degree of the glaze polymerization (A500/A1000) was calculated at 1.85, indicating a firing temperature lower than 1300°C, consistent with the archaeological data.

Morphological and structural study of crystals in black-to-brown glazes of Yaozhou ware (Song dynasty) using imaging and spectroscopic techniques

The Yaozhou kiln complex (Shaanxi, China) is a famous black-to-brown ceramic production center due to its significant volume of production, long manufacturing history (from Tang Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty) and variety of decorations. In this work, four representative types of black-to-brown ware from the Yaozhou kilns were selected to study the morphology, structure and distribution of the precipitated crystals in the glazes using a series of imaging and analytical techniques (optical microscopy, XRF, SEM-EDS, TEM-EDS, μRS and UV–vis-IR). The results show that the rare metastable ε-Fe2O3 phase, already observed in typical sauce glaze, was also detected in other types of brown glaze decorations, such as light brown stripes on a darker background or irregular brown spots on a black background. Cross-section analyses also showed a three well-separated layered crystalline distribution in the glazes of lighter brown colors as it has been noted in glazes from Qilizhen kilns. Raman analyses revealed that the crystals contained in third layer are of varying nature: ε-Fe2O3 in the sauce glaze and magnetite in the light brown stripes. The peak shifts and line broadenings observed in the Raman spectra of ε-Fe2O3 crystals were also investigated. They are the result of Al, Ti and Mg substitutions, which were identified using TEM-EDS. Such ionic substitutions would stabilize the metastable ε-Fe2O3 crystals by increasing the cationic disorder. In addition, Mg-, Ca- and Fe-rich spinel crystals were observed for the first time in a black glaze of Yaozhou wares.

Making a Linguistic Connection for Interdisciplinary Research between Conservation Science and Ceramic History: The Case of 『Analytical Report of the Royal Kiln Complex at Gwangju in Gyeonggi Province』

Making a Linguistic Connection for Interdisciplinary Research between Conservation Science and Ceramic History: The Case of 『Analytical Report of the Royal Kiln Complex at Gwangju in Gyeonggi Province』

Centralized power/decentralized production? Angkorian stoneware and the southern production complex of Cheung Ek, Cambodia

In this paper we highlight the potential of compositional characterisation (NAA) of Khmer stonewares for understanding regional economic development in the Angkorian Empire (c. 9 th −15 th c CE). A central feature of the Angkorian economy was the precocious development of sophisticated craft industries. Of the multiple crafts produced in this empire, stoneware production stands out for two reasons: empire transport networks closely articulated with the location of stoneware production complexes best known in central Angkor and on the Khorat plateau northwest of Angkor; and distribution/consumption patterns of Angkorian stoneware map directly onto the empire's geopolitical extent. As part of a larger geochemical provenancing project concerned with Khmer stoneware production and exchange, we present and discuss results for Cheung Ek, a southern Cambodian provincial complex for production of both stoneware and earthenware. The similarities (shared local resources) and differences in the organization of local production are striking between stoneware and earthenware production. Comparison with previously published Khmer stoneware kiln complexes confirms that each has a unique and readily identifiable geochemical profile. By establishing a geochemical baseline this work highlights the potential of stonewares for developing a deeper understanding of Khmer craft production and distribution dynamics in future comparisons between stoneware production, Khmer settlement and ritual contexts. This elemental baseline will also enable future evaluation of the potential discriminating power of other, field deployable but less sensitive non-destructive analytic techniques such as pXRF and pLIBS, particularly in relation to extending this work to checking production origins of complete Khmer stoneware vessels held in museum collections.

Micro-structural study of Yaozhou celadons (Tang to Yuan Dynasty): probing crystalline and glassy phases

The Yaozhou kiln complex is a representative production center of ancient northern China, famous for the celadon production. In this work, bubbles, glassy matrix and residual crystals of celadon glazes produced from the Tang to Yuan Dynasty were analyzed by using optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The results revealed that the Song, Jin and Yuan productions present bigger bubble and higher area ratios of the Si-O bending over stretching modes than the Tang and Wudai productions. This is consistent with firings at higher temperatures during Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties. It is also in agreement with the historical studies, which revealed the change from wood-firing to coal-firing during Song Dynasty. The observation of calcium phosphate in Yaozhou productions indicated that the glaze ash had been used. No iron-based particle was identified by Raman spectroscopy in the glazes of all periods. The green color is certainly due to iron ion dispersed in the glassy matrix. Our study also confirmed no significant change in glaze raw materials used for Yaozhou productions from Tang to Yuan Dynasty.

Japanese or Chinese? Non-invasive analysis of East Asian blue-and-white porcelain

Japanese blue-and-white porcelain was developed in the Hizen area on Kyushu during the early seventeenth century and quickly shared the overseas markets with Chinese blue-and-white, which has been the favorite porcelain ware in those markets since the fourteenth century. Although most Hizen export blue-and-white imitated Chinese patterns, several visual and stylistic criteria have been identified that differentiate the productions of the two countries. Nevertheless, in archeological contexts, distinguishing blue-and-white porcelain sherds of different provenance remains a real challenge. In this paper, the chemical composition of Hizen blue-and-white porcelain sherds excavated from four sites within Spanish colonial Manila has been investigated with non-invasive portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) complemented with fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS). The data were compared with those obtained on samples from the two main blue-and-white porcelain production centers in China: Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou. The results have revealed the characteristics of Hizen ware and shown that blue-and-white porcelain produced in Arita using the Izumiyama deposits as the raw material can be distinguished from the Chinese productions using pXRF. However, this research has also highlighted the limitations of the approach and the need for a more systematic study of the blue-and-white porcelain production from the various kiln complexes in the Hizen domain and beyond.

Sourcing qingbai porcelains from the Java Sea Shipwreck: Compositional analysis using portable XRF

This paper evaluates the use of portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) on glazes and pastes for sourcing Chinese porcelains from the 12th-13th century Java Sea Shipwreck (JSW) collection at the Field Museum. Three types of qingbai (bluish-white) wares from the JSW collection were chosen for pXRF analysis. Samples from four kiln complexes in China—Jingdezhen, Dehua, Huajiashan, and Minqing, hypothesized to be potential sources of the shipwreck’s qingbai ceramics based on visual inspection—were also analyzed to establish reference groups. Results from kiln samples show that different kiln complexes can be clearly differentiated by pXRF analysis of glazes. Based on pXRF analysis of ceramic samples from the JSW, there appear to be four compositional groups, and each group closely matches one of the four kiln reference groups. These findings support the use of pXRF on glazes, especially when pastes are difficult to access, as a method for identifying the potential sources for overseas cargos found distant from production contexts for Chinese porcelains.

New Dates for Old Kilns: A Revised Radiocarbon Chronology of Stoneware Production for Angkorian Cambodia

ABSTRACTRadiocarbon dates from recent excavations of a range of Angkorian Khmer (~9th–14th CE) stoneware kiln complexes provide a new and independent perspective on the timing and geography of Khmer ceramic production. These data demonstrate a clear two-phase sequence. The first, in the late 9th to late 12th centuries CE, marks a period of intensive production located both to the east of Angkor and to the south at Cheung Ek, south of Phnom Penh. A second shorter phase of production occurred in the late 13th to late 14th CE at more distant provincial settings following the collapse of the Angkorian state.

The discovery of the earliest specialised Middle Neolithic pottery workshop in western Thessaly, central Greece

Disparity in recorded Neolithic activity between the eastern and western Thessaly plain in central Greece is being redressed by the ‘Long Time No See’ landscape project. A recently discovered pottery kiln complex at Magoula Rizava tell site offers exciting new evidence for intra-regional pottery production and circulation during the Middle Neolithic period.

Differentiating Khmer Stoneware Production: An NAA pilot study from Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

We report analytical results for stoneware samples from four excavated Angkor-period kilns in the Greater Angkor area. Previous work has suggested that establishing distinct chemical signatures for kiln complexes in this region is problematic. The current study highlights the effectiveness of neutron activation analysis (NAA) for differentiating the products of Angkorian kiln complexes; it also confirms the viability of a larger-scale research programme to understand the relationship between Khmer stoneware production and patterns of distribution across the wider Angkorian territory. Evidence of ceramics excavated at kiln sites but produced elsewhere highlights the complexity of consumption patterns during the Angkorian period.

Archaeo-directional and -intensity data from burnt structures at the Thracian site of Halka Bunar (Bulgaria): The effect of magnetic mineralogy, temperature and atmosphere of heating in antiquity

Archaeomagnetic results are presented from a series of burnt structures at the Thracian site of Halka Bunar. Archaeointensity and archaeodirectional studies were undertaken on three kilns from a pottery production complex. This has been dated to the late 4th and early 3rd century b.c. (325–280 b.c.) based on coins found associated with the kilns [Tonkova, M., 2003. Newly discovered Thracian Centre of the Early Hellenistic Age at the Spring “Halka Bunar” in the Land of C. Gorno Belevo. Annuary of the Institute of Archaeology with Museum. Bulgarian Academy Sci. 2, 148–196 (in Bulgarian)]. This data provides a new point for the Bulgarian archaeomagnetic curve (Dec: 348.70 ± 5.79, Inc: 62.20 ± 2.70, and Fa: 77.23 ± 2.17 μT). The kilns are thought to have been used for producing different types of pottery in a range of heating atmospheres and at different temperatures. Therefore, special attention was paid to the magnetic mineralogy of the samples and its effect on the palaeodata. Kiln 3, orange clay samples were dominated by fine to ultra-fine grained single domain and superparamagnetic magnetite, with a small proportion of haematite. The samples were heated in a high temperature oxidising environment. Kiln 2 was probably used to make grey ware pottery. The samples are light grey and were dominated by stable single domain magnetite formed by high temperature heating in a more reducing environment. Kiln 4, mottled samples consisted of a variable mineralogy showing characteristics of both Kiln 2 and Kiln 3 samples. It was probably used to make traditional, mottled, Thracian ware pottery and was heated to lower temperatures in a mixed environment of heating. Samples heated in an oxidising environment gave more reliable Thellier results than samples heated in a reducing environment in antiquity, as the latter altered heavily on re-heating. A fourth kiln and a destruction feature from different trenches than the kiln complex were also investigated to establish their age. Archaeodirectional data was not recoverable from these two structures due to post-burning disturbance. The mean archaeointensity from Kiln 5 (mean 78.0 ± 1.7 μT) is consistent with that from the main kiln complex (mean 77.23 ± 2.17 μT) and is therefore considered to be contemporary. It was probably not used to make pottery. The destruction feature records much lower archaeointensity values (mean 65.1 ± 1.1 μT). When this value is compared to the existing reference points of the Bulgarian database it suggests this feature is younger than the kilns (250–140 b.c.). Multiple age use of the site is therefore confirmed with a main period of occupation in the late 4th and early 3rd century b.c. and another phase of occupation in the mid 3rd to mid 2nd century b.c.

A scientific study of Choson white ware: early porcelain from a royal kiln at Kwangju Usanni

Scientific study of kiln site no. 9 at Usanni, one of the earliest royal Kwangju kiln complexes in operation (from the early 15th to the early 16th century), shows that the technological expertise used to produce white ware was inherited from the celadon technology of the Koryo dynasty. The body material, of low Al2O3 and high SiO2 content, is based on porcelain stone. Such a material, with almost no titanium and a low level of iron, was a rediscovery of the white ware material used earlier at the Sori kiln from the 9th century through to the 11th century. Ash continued to be one of the major ingredients of the glaze, and wares were fired in much the same way as the Koryo celadon, in kilns constructed of mud and rocks and in two steps. The Confucian philosophy and aesthetic of frugality and simplicity adopted from the Ming dynasty onwards by the new government acted as the catalyst for the successful ascent of the new technology.

Early Urbanism in Cyrenaica: New Evidence from Euesperides (Benghazi)

AbstractExcavations by the Department of Antiquities, Benghazi, Garyunis University, Benghazi and the Society for Libyan Studies took place at the site of Euesperides for a total of seven weeks in 1995 and 1996. Work was concentrated on the northern margins of the city, where much new evidence for its topography and development came to light. The discoveries include successive fortification walls (the earlier of which may belong to c. 600 BC), part of a necropolis, and a large extramural kiln complex of the fourth/third centuries. Evidence bearing on the infrastructure, economy, diet and cultural life of this early Cyrenaican city, which was abandoned by the mid third century BC, was also recovered.

Intelligent Control in the Cement Industry

Intelligent Control is offering new possibilities for improvements in efficiency and productivity in process automation. Of the process industries which are energy intensive, the cement industry has much to gain in applying this new technology . Not surprizingly, the cement industry is at the forefront of applications of Artificial Intelligence in the process industry. Intelligent control is a reality today and there are numerous cement plants worldwide which incorporate this new concept. The architecture and some salient features of an operational hierarchical distributed intelligence system for the control of a rotary kiln complex are described here.

A Trajanic Kiln Complex near Little Chester, Derby, 1968

SummaryThe excavation of ten Trajanic kilns, all of the up-draught type, was carried out in the spring of 1968 on a site now part of the Derby Racecourse Playing Fields (SK 36133775) which are situated some 700 yards east of Little Chester along the Roman road running to the Trent at Sawley. The kilns ranged in size from 18 to 51 inches in diameter (0.46 m. to 1.30 m.) and were disposed as follows: a group of six kilns, a group of three kilns, and a single kiln. A great variety of pottery was recovered with jars, flanged bowls, and carinated vessels predominating. Two unusual products from this site were lead glazed ware and an early form of Derbyshire ware.