Archaeological Ceramic Materials

1 Introduction.- 1.1 Objectives.- 1.2 Methods.- 1.3 Vocabulary.- 1.4 Structure of the Book.- 2 Rocks and Minerals.- 2.1 Chemical Elements and Their Chemical Affinities.- 2.2 Major Rock Types.- 2.3 Minerals.- 2.3.1 Mineral Formulae.- 2.3.2 Major Mineral Families.- 2.3.2.1 Silicates.- 2.3.2.1.1 The Silica Minerals and Quartz.- 2.3.2.1.2 Feldspars.- 2.3.2.1.3 Pyroxenes and Amphiboles.- 2.3.2.1.4 Olivine.- 2.3.2.1.5 Micas and Chlorite.- 2.3.2.2 Carbonates.- 2.3.2.3 Oxides.- 2.3.3 Mineral Grain Shapes.- 2.4 Minerals in Rocks.- 2.4.1 Sedimentary Rocks.- 2.4.2 Igneous Rocks.- 2.4.3. Metamorphic Rocks.- 2.4.3.1 Metamorphic Pelites.- 2.4.3.2 Metamorphosed Carbonates.- 2.4.3.3 Metamorphosed Igneous Rocks.- 3 Clay Minerals and Their Properties.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Chemical Constitution of Clay Minerals and Clay Mineral Families.- 3.2.1 Mica-Like Clays (Illite, Celadonite and Glauconite).- 3.2.2 Smectites.- 3.2.3 Kaolinite Minerals.- 3.2.4 Chlorites and Related Minerals.- 3.2.5 General Chemical Identity of the Clays.- 3.3 Physical Properties of Clay Minerals.- 3.3.1 Clay-Water Mixtures.- 3.3.2 Clay Shapes.- 3.4 Thermal Stability of Clays and Clay-Water Mixtures.- 3.5 Kinetics.- 3.5.1 Grain Size.- 3.5.2 Heating Rate.- 3.6 Summary.- 4 Origin of Clay Resources.- 4.1 Segregation of the Elements by Weathering.- 4.2 Weathering of Minerals.- 4.3 From Rocks to Soils to Sediments.- 4.3.1 Weathering Profiles.- 4.3.2 Transportation by Water Flow, Grain-Size Sorting.- 4.3.3 Transport and Deposition of Clays.- 4.3.4 Wind Transport.- 4.3.5 Burial of Sediments.- 4.4 Hydrothermal Alteration.- 4.5 Sources of Materials Suitable for Ceramics.- 4.5.1 Clays.- 4.5.2 Non-Clay Grains.- 5 Physical and Chemical Processes of Making Ceramics.- 5.1 Plasticity.- 5.2 Mineral Temper Grains.- 5.2.1 Natural Mineral Grains.- 5.2.2 Decantation and Separation of Natural Mineral Temper Grains.- 5.2.3 Tempering by Mixtures of Source Materials.- 5.2.3.1 Mixtures of Clays and Non-Clay Grains from Different Sources.- 5.2.3.2 Mixtures of Clay Sources.- 5.3 Decorations and Surfaces.- 5.3.1 Surface Smoothing.- 5.3.2 Slip.- 5.3.3 Paint.- 5.3.4 Glazes.- 5.4 Firing and Furnaces.- 5.4.1 Variables of Transformation to Make a Ceramic.- 5.4.1.1 The Firing Process: Time and Temperature.- 5.4.1.2 Stages of Transformation in Time-Temperature Coordinates.- 5.4.1.3 Paste Composition and Fusing Agents.- 5.4.1.4 Reduction of Iron.- 5.4.1.5 Particle Size.- 5.4.2 Firing Practices.- 5.4.2.1 Firing on the Ground.- 5.4.2.2 Pit Firing.- 5.4.2.3 Kilns.- 5.4.3 Summary of Factors in the Formation of a Ceramic Body During Firing.- 5.5 Structure, Porosity and Density of Ceramics: Non-Plastics, Clays and Pores.- 5.5.1 Pores.- 5.5.1.1 Primary Pores.- 5.5.1.2 Secondary Pores.- 5.5.1.3 Microporosity.- 5.5.2 Temper, Material and Firing.- 5.5.3 Thermal Properties of Oriented Clays.- 5.5.4 Hardness.- 5.6 Oxidation-Reduction Effects.- 5.7 Oxidation-Reduction Cycles.- 5.8 Mineral Reactions During Firing.- 5.9 Families of Ceramic Products.- 5.9.1 Earthenware.- 5.9.2 Pottery, Terra Cotta and Faience.- 5.9.3 Stoneware.- 5.9.4 Porcelain.- 5.10 Summary.- 6 The Making of Pots.- 6.1 Temper and Tempering.- 6.2 Raw Materials.- 6.2.1 Clay Material.- 6.2.2 Tempering Materials and Methods of Tempering.- 6.2.3 Tempering and Temper Identification.- 6.3 Making a Pot: Physical and Chemical Reactions.- 6.3.1 Needs as a Function of the Object.- 6.3.1.1 Plasticity and the Role of Temper and Non-Plastics.- 6.3.1.2 Drying and Shrinkage.- 6.3.1.3 Material Expansion.- 6.3.1.4 Grain Angularity.- 6.3.2 Paste as Related to Function, Form and Manufacturing Requirements.- 6.3.3 Needs as a Function of Use of the Object.- 6.3.3.1 Durability and Breakage Resistance; Strength and Hardness.- 6.3.3.2 Porosity, Density, Permeability, Impermeability.- 6.3.3.3 Thermal Stress Resistance and Thermal Conductivity.- 6.4 Preparation of Material.- 6.5 Forming Techniques.- 6.6 Surface Coatings as Related to the Function of the Ware.- 6.7 Firing and Furnaces.- 6.7.1 Open Fires.- 6.7.2 Pit-Kilns, Semiclosed Structures, Open Kilns.- 6.7.3 Kilns.- 6.7.4. Needs of a Type of Paste Related to the Type of Firing.- 6.8 Summary.- 7 Optical Observation of Ceramics.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Methods: How Can One See a Ceramic Sherd?.- 7.2.1 Computer Scanner.- 7.2.2 Binocular Microscope.- 7.2.3 Petrographie Microscope.- 7.3 Types of Characteristics Observed: What Can One See in a Ceramic Sherd?.- 7.3.1 Slip, Glaze or Paints.- 7.3.2 Temper Grains and Clays.- 7.3.3 Temper Grains and Size Distribution.- 7.3.4 Grain Shapes.- 7.3.4.1 Crystal Shapes.- 7.3.4.2 Angularity.- 7.3.4.3 Size Distribution of Temper Grains.- 7.4 Identification of Different Techniques in Paste Preparation.- 7.5 Texture of Paste.- 7.6 Summary.- 8 Ceramics and Archaeology: Case Studies.- 8.1 Yellow Garnets and Trafficking Wine.- 8.2 Iron Age Pottery in Southwestern England and its Geological Sources.- 8.3 Whole-Sample Compositions of Some Sigillate ware Produced in France.- 8.3.1 Lezoux Samples.- 8.3.2 Identifying Production Areas.- 8.3.3 Lezoux Coarse or Common Ware.- 8.3.4 Specific Problems of Archaeological Interest Using Sigillate Ware Data.- 8.3.4.1 Arezzo Moulds.- 8.3.4.2 Atevis Workshop.- 8.4 Prehistoric Peru.- 8.4.1 Petrographie Analysis.- 8.4.2 Modal Analysis.- 8.4.3 Chemical Analysis.- 8.5 Modern Ceramic Production in the Andes.- 8.5.1 Production Setting.- 8.5.2 Petrographic Analysis.- 8.5.2.1 The Unprepared Black Clay.- 8.5.2.2 The Unprepared Yellow Temper.- 8.5.2.3 The Clay-Temper Mix.- 8.5.3 The Fired Pot Fragment.- 8.5.4 Image Analysis.- 8.6 Clay Characterization by SEM (Scaning Electron Microscope).- 8.7 Determination of Firing Temperature.- 8.8 Mössbauer Spectroscopy.- 9 Some Current Analysis Methods.- 9.1 Ceramic Analysis.- 9.1.1 What For and How?.- 9.1.1.1 Classification.- 9.1.1.2 The Study of Pottery Technology.- 9.1.1.3 Provenance Studies.- 9.1.2 Quantitative Studies.- 9.1.3 Use of Qualitative and Quantitative Studies.- 9.1.4 Sample Size and Qualitative and Quantitative Studies Versus Time and Cost Invested.- 9.2 Physical and Chemical Analysis Methods.- 9.3 A Brief Description of the Methods.- 9.3.1 Visual Methods.- 9.3.1.1 Binocular Microscope.- 9.3.1.2 Petrographic Microscope.- 9.3.1.3 Computer Scanner and Video Systems.- 9.3.1.4 Electron Microscopes.- 9.3.1.4.1 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).- 9.3.1.4.2 Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM).- 9.3.1.4.3 High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopes (HRTEM).- 9.3.2 Mineral Identification by Non-Optical Methods.- 9.3.2.1 X-Ray Diffraction (XRD).- 9.3.2.2 Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA).- 9.3.2.3 Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA).- 9.3.2.4 Infrared Spectral Analysis (IR).- 9.3.2.5 Electron Microprobe (EMP).- 9.3.3 Whole Sample Analysis.- 9.3.3.1 X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF).- 9.3.3.2 Proton Activated X-Radiation (PIXE).- 9.3.3.3 Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA).- 9.3.3.4 Mössbauer Analysis.- 9.3.4 Age Determinations by Thermoluminescence (TL).- 9.3.5 Density, Porosity and Hardness.- 9.3.5.1 Density and Porosity.- 9.3.5.2 Hardness.- 9.3.5.3 Magnetic Analysis.- 10 How to Acquire the Knowledge to Do the Job.- 10.1 Courses in Geology, Chemistry and Physics.- 10.2 Some Journals, Books, and Laboratories Active in the Field of Interest.