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CHEMICAL–MINERALOGICAL ANALYSES AND MICROSTRUCTURAL STUDIES OF PREHISTORIC POTTERY FROM RAHMATABAD, SOUTH‐WEST IRAN*
Author(s) -
MARGHUSSIAN A. K.,
FAZELI H.,
SARPOOLAKY H.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00439.x
Subject(s) - pottery , prehistory , homogeneous , diopside , homogeneity (statistics) , geology , archaeology , mineralogy , mullite , materials science , metallurgy , geography , ceramic , statistics , mathematics , physics , thermodynamics
A series of prehistoric pottery samples excavated from Rahmatabad, south‐west Iran, were investigated using XRF and XRD analyses to determine their chemical and mineralogical compositions. The sample microstructures were also studied by SEM/EDX. The relative similarity of compositions, the fine, dense and homogeneous microstructures and the presence of high‐temperature phases such as diopside and mullite showed the use of high firing temperatures, in the range 950–1050°C. This, along with the homogeneity in shape, decoration and size ranges of the ware, all indicate the adoption of specialized pottery‐making techniques by the potters of Rahmatabad in the fifth to fourth millennia bc .