The technological development of stonepaste ceramics from the Islamic Middle East
Abstract The microstructures and chemical compositions of stonepaste bodies from the Islamic Middle East, typically produced from a mixture of ten parts crushed quartz, one part crushed glass and one part white clay, are investigated using analytical scanning electron microscopy. For comparison, replicate stonepaste bodies are produced in the laboratory at firing temperatures in the range 900–1200 °C, and are similarly examined. The stonepaste bodies are divided into four primary microstructural groups that reflect the increasing reaction during firing of the glass fragments with the clay and quartz particles. The observed microstructures are then used to assess the geographical and chronological variations in the production technology of stonepaste ceramics from Egypt, Syria, Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkey, spanning the period from 11th to 17th centuries AD.
Technology issues of Byzantine glazed pottery from Corinth, Greece
Abstract A large assemblage of Byzantine glazed pottery from ancient Corinth, Greece was analysed by a multi-technique analytical approach in order to determine the production technology. The samples cover a long time period (10th–14th c. CE) and a wide range of the most representative wares and classes. SEM/EDS, a standard non-invasive microscopy and analytical technique, was applied in combination with Raman spectroscopy and assisted with advanced, high precision techniques (PGAA, milli-PIXE) in order to examine the ceramic body, the glaze and the clay-glaze interface of the samples. Parameters of the manufacturing process, such as the selection of clay sources, the glaze recipe, the glaze application technique and the glaze firing temperature, were examined using a combination of statistical tools and methodologies. This work comprises the first large scale physicochemical analysis of Byzantine glazed ceramics from Greece, providing information on the composition and technology of all of the major typological categories of Medieval Greek glazed ceramics. Furthermore, it highlights the significant socioeconomic changes that occurred at the -beginning of the 13th c. CE in the Byzantine Empire and their consequences in the manufacturing and distribution system of glazed ceramics.
Grog, petrology, and early transcaucasians at Godin Tepe
Godin Tepe was the site of excavations by the team from the Royal Ontario Museum between 1965 and 1973 (see Fig. 1). It has subsequently become one of the definitive type-sites of the central western Iran, owing principally to its extensive stratigraphic sequence, which spans the Chalcolithic Age through to the Iron Age (Young 1969, Young and Levine 1974). Seven main phases of occupation were recognised from excavations at Godin, the earliest Level VII up to Level I. Petrographic analysis of pottery from this sequence is aimed at providing a general characterisation of the wares from the site, identifying exotic or imported ware, and most particularly examining the changing use of raw materials through time and across typological and functional categories. This is a long-term project, with research only partly completed to date on pottery from Level III (Middle and Late Bronze Ages) and Level II (Iron Age). Final publication is planned to follow the completion of analysis of the entire sequence. Petrographic analysis of pottery from Level IV, however, has provided some information that may be of use to others concerned with the study of the Early Transcaucasian culture and the possible significance of this ceramic to the theoritical debate concerning the relationship between pottery and ethno-cultural affinity. Hence it was considered worthwhile to publish this short note.