Provenance of pottery

Some of these studies contribute to the understanding of ancient potterymaking techniques, others to learning about the provenance of pottery. The craft aspects of potterymaking, fascinating as they may be in themselves, are, however, outside the scope of this book (Rice 1982). 

Given these requirements, it emerges that a suitable analytical technique for studying provenance should provide relatively rapid results and preferably be nondestructive, enabling determination of each element, and differentiation among a large number of elements in relatively short periods of time. Techniques that fulfill these conditions for studying the provenance of pottery include several spectroscopic techniques, neutron activation and X-rays fluorescence (see Textbox 10). 

Several thousand shards were analyzed in a wide-ranging study intended to evaluate the accuracy obtainable when using neutron activation analysis to establish the provenance of pottery. After determining the relative... 

Mommsen, H. (2001), Provenance determination of pottery by trace element analysis Problems, solutions and applications, /. Radioanal. Nucl. Chem. 247(3), 657-662. 

Catling, H.W., Blin-Stoyle, A.E. and Richards, E.E. (1963). Correlations between composition and provenance of Mycenaean and Minoan pottery. Annual of the British School at Athens 58 94-115. 

White, S. R. (1981). The Provenance of Bronze Age pottery from Central and Eastern Greece. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Bradford, UK. 

The combined use of sensitive analytical technique for studying pottery samples, and statistical methods for scrutinizing the analytical results and discriminating between samples of different composition generally provides valuable information for establishing compositional groups and identifying the provenance of the pottery. The requirements from any particular analytical technique to be used for the study of provenance are as follows ... 

Mossbauer spectroscopy is a selective tool for the quantitative analysis and spe-ciation of a very limited number of elements. It has been mainly used to study iron compounds—e.g., ceramics, as it gives valuable information about iron-bearing oxide and silicate minerals. This technique has been applied to the identification of the provenance of clay and used raw materials—the manufacturing method employed in pottery and, to a lesser extent, to the characterization of pigments and weathering crusts formed on stone monuments [23]. 

To assess the provenance of majolica pottery found in the Canary Islands, a sample of 55 sherds was obtained from two sites on Gran Canaria Island La Cueva Pintada (G ldar) and El Antiguo Convento de San Francisco (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). The pottery was studied by X-ray fluorescence, instrumental neutron activation analysis, and X-ray diffraction. The results show one group that matches a reference group from Seville, an assessment that supports the historical record. However, the data also reveal samples whose provenance corresponds to other production centers on the Iberian Peninsula, such as Manises, Barcelona, and, possibly, an unknown Portuguese center. Moreover, it is possible that Italian and Dutch pottery have been identified thereby providing a complexity factor to the historical accounts. 

The main objective of the present work is to study the provenance of majolica pottery found on important Gran Canaria Island archaeological sites that have been subject of archaeological research. Furthermore, by means of archaeometric characterization, the role played by the majolica produced in Seville that was documented historically as an import into the Canary Islands, is also assessed. Majolica from different production centers also is considered, thereby adding a complexity factor to the Canary trade relationships panorama in a historical period when, in theory, a very tight control existed over trade with the Americas. 

Provenance studies of pottery from various regions around the globe indicate that identifying distinct chemical or compositional profiles of pottery production centers, which are located in a relative proximity to each other, is not simple (9, II, 12, 22, 23, 26-30). While the success of identifying such profiles... 

In addition to its function as a marker for chronology, a pottery repertory is always used to identify the people who made it and, by inference, its provenance. Pottery of local styles is to be expected, but more often than not vessels that are not indigenous to the area also appear—sometimes in large numbers. Pottery of foreign styles may simply reveal ancient trade patterns, which in itself is important. However, much more is learned from the full array of pottery when examined in conjunction with everything else noted in the stratum. In this connection, the architectural remains have a special importance. 

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