To browse Academia. Archaeometry is based on the necessary interdisciplinary relationship between diverse branches of the natural and social sciences. This relationship is essential in archaeology, since, from physical materials objects , scholars have to face questions that go beyond the limits of the tangible and pertain instead to abstract and social concerns. Currently, archaeometric studies are fundamental to the accurate classification and characterization of archaeological materials, providing relevant data, among other aspects, about their production, function and social meaning.
In this book, we present a set of papers that show the potential of mineralogical studies e. In this sense, this book can be of interest for specialized researchers who seek specific case studies and are mainly concerned with certain kinds of materials, but also for those students, researchers and professionals who look for a practical overview of the chief methods that can be followed in the study of material culture.
The mineralogical and petrographic analyses revealed two types of ceramic pastes, taking into account the granulometry of the inclusions and highlighting the choice of the potter for fabricating the ceramic either by wheel or by hand.
All samples showed an abundance in quartz, mica muscovite and biotite , and feldspars. These observations were confirmed by cathodoluminescence imagery, revealing heterogeneous pastes with varied granulometric distributions. The XRD patterns indicated the presence of the mineral Thin section petrography, geochemistry, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction are key scientific methods used to investigate the raw materials, origins and production technology of archaeological pottery, ceramic building materials, ancient refractories and plaster.
Using over colour figures of a diverse range of artefact types and archaeological periods from 50 countries worldwide, this book outlines the mineralogical, chemical and microstructural composition of ancient ceramics and provides comprehensive guidelines for their scientific study within archaeology.
