Search results for " petrography"
showing 10 items of 25 documents
Ceramic raw materials: how to recognize them and locate the supply basins—mineralogy, petrography
2020
This tutorial paper is focused on the mineralogical-petrographic characterization of clayey raw materials with the purpose of sourcing supply basins and answering questions about the provenance of the corresponding archaeological ceramic artefacts. The first part gives general indications of how to profitably study archaeological ceramic thin sections through the polarizing microscope. Brief notes are provided on the theoretical basis of optical microscopy. A scheme is then provided for the petrographic description of ceramic samples, concerning the textural and compositional characteristics of aplastic inclusions and groundmass. Suggestions are also given for identifying any minero-petrogr…
Tectonic evolution of the northern Austral-Magallanes basin in the Southern Patagonian Andes from provenance analysis
2019
We studied the northern tip of the Austral-Magallanes basin in the Southern Patagonian Andes, between the Buenos Aires Lake and the Mayer River at 46°35′ SL and 48°35′ SL, respectively. Proposed objectives were: i) to differentiate Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonostratigraphic units and, ii) to characterize the different deformational events that took place in the area linked to a variable regional geodynamic context. Sandstones provenance analysis was performed on the Aptian - Albian compressive retroarc deposits and Cenozoic foreland deposits. Studied samples were classified using tectonic discrimination diagrams which show: i) for Cretaceous rocks a dominant sediment source from a recycled orog…
A radiometric and petrographic approach to risk assessment at Alte Madonie Mounts region (Sicily, Italy)
2013
The main goal of this work was to assess the radiological hazard at Alte Madonie Mounts region (north-central Sicily, Italy) in response to rumours of an increase in the incidence of cancer in this area. A correlation between the natural radionuclide contents and the petrographic features of the soil and rock samples was also evaluated. A total of 41 samples of selected soils and rocks were collected, powdered, dried and sealed in 'Marinelli' beakers for 20 d prior to measurement to ensure that a radioactive equilibrium between (226)Ra and (214)Bi had been reached. A gamma-ray spectrometer was used to quantify the radioactivity concentrations. To determine (238)U and (232)Th activities, the…
Early Bronze Age painted wares from Tell el-'Abd, Syria: A compositional and technological study
2018
Abstract The ‘Euphrates Monochrome Painted Ware’ (henceforth EMPW) is a ceramic style attested in the Middle Euphrates region in northern Syria at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, ca. 2900–2700 BCE. This style is not an isolated phenomenon; rather, it must be understood in the context of a general, albeit short-lived, re-introduction of painted ceramics into local assemblages of Greater Mesopotamia. In the present study, we investigate the technology and provenance of the painted pottery from Tell el-'Abd (North Syria) and its relation to contemporary ceramics retrieved at this site. We apply a combination of macroscopic observations, ceramic petrography, and micro X-ray diffraction (…
The production of western Greek amphorae in Agrigento (Southern Sicily): An archaeometric and archaeological characterisation of the late 6th-4th cen…
2022
This paper aims at an interdisciplinary, archaeological and archaeometric characterisation of the western Greek amphorae series produced in late Archaic and Classical-period Agrigento (southern Sicily). The research is based on a macroscopic examination, according to the standardised methods of Fabrics of the Central Mediterranean (FACEM), combined with petrographic analyses of 21 amphorae samples of presumed local fabric found in Agrigento itself. These were found in the artisanal area outside Porta V, in the excavations South of the temple of Zeus, and in several Sicilian consumption sites. Furthermore, a selection of 12 coarse ware samples and three tiles, all of supposed local manufactu…
Ethnoarchaeometric Study of the Traditional Cooking Ware Production Centre of Pabillonis (Sardinia): Investigating Raw Materials and Final Products
2010
Ethnoarchaeometry can be used to test assumptions in ceramic provenance studies. Within the Late Roman Cooking Wares (LRCW’s) commercialised in the Western Mediterranean some fabrics such as Fabrics 1.2, 1.6/1.7 and 1.9 (Fulford and Peacock, 1984) have been proposed to have a Sardinian origin. This motivated a specific project to explore the nature of cooking pottery on the island and the raw clays as well as the production technologies that have been used traditionally for their manufacture. In this paper, the traditional cooking pottery making in Pabillonis (Oristano province) was studied. First, a field survey in the area of Pabillonis was undertaken in order to locate the raw materials …
Discrimination and provenances of Phoenician red slip ware using both the solid state electrochemistry and petrographic analyses
2020
[EN] Solid state electrochemistry based on the voltammetry of immobilized microparticles (VIMP) methodology is applied to a series of 80 Phoenician Red Slip samples from the archaeological sites of Motya (Sicily, Italy), Mogador (Morocco), Ramat-Rahel (Israel), Sulky (Sardinia, Italy), Tas Silg (Malta), Pantelleria (Italy), and Cadiz (Spain), dated from the 8(th) to the 6(th) century BC. Upon attachment of sub-microsamples to graphite electrodes in contact with aqueous H2SO4 electrolyte, voltammetric features due to the reduction of Fe(III) minerals and the oxidation of Fe(II) ones, complemented with electrocatalytic effects on oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions, provide charac…
The beginning of western greek amphorae production in western Sicily: archaeometric and archaeological studies on 6th–5th centuries BCE amphorae manu…
2020
About 560 western Greek amphorae (6th–5th centuries BCE) re-used in enchytrismos burials were unearthed in the necropolis of the Dorian-Chalcidian colony of Himera in northwestern Sicily. Among the most striking issues is the determination of their geographical provenance. For this purpose, ceramic samples chipped from freshly broken surfaces of all the amphorae were first subdivided into macrofabrics by the use of a hand lens. Thereon, the samples were studied in accordance with standardized methods by the use of reflected light microscopy. Due to the special focus of our project on the characterization of Sicilian productions, a selection of amphorae which showed visible, macroscopic affi…
Archaeometric evidence attesting production of indigenous archaic pottery at Monte Polizzo (Western Sicily)
2012
Excavations at the proto-urban indigenous settlement of Monte Polizzo (western Sicily) have not yielded so far any evidence of in-situ ceramic production (i.e. kiln structures). However several archaeological concerns put forward to consider it as a likely production centre of pottery during the Archaic age. In this paper a first attempt to check the compositional correspondence between ceramic fabrics and local clay sources has been made. A comprehensive archaeometric investigation of native pottery, mainly composed of matte-painted table ware dated from the 7th to the 4th century BC, recovered from the Acropolis of Monte Polizzo has allowed the identification of five distinct ‘Paste Compo…
Le anfore fenicio-puniche prodotte nel Mediterraneo occidentale: caratteristiche petrografiche degli impasti siciliani e spagnoli.
2009
The aim of this paper is to provide well-stated petrographic reference groups for the recognition of several Sicilian and Spanish Phoenician-Punic production centres in order to facilitate an instrument of further objective support for amphorae provenance. This instrument is based on the crosschecking between data provided by typological studies and the thinsection analysis of amphorae fabrics. It is worth noting that this is only a first step within the framework of a larger research project focused in the creation of an Atlas of Phoenician and Punic Amphorae in the Western Mediterranean including both archaeological and petrographic data. In this context a systematical work on the known p…