RESUMEN

This article presents the first results for elemental composition of 193 fragments ceramic from four sites located in Ventarrón-Collud archaeological complex, Peru. The results from EDXRF and multivariate analysis indicated statistical similarity among four groups of ceramic fragments, selected by remarkable stylistic variation, collected from different archaeological space/time contexts. The correspondence in the elemental composition of the ceramic paste of the artifacts corroborates the hypothesis that similar raw materials were used consistently throughout the entire occupation of this archaeological complex.

RESUMEN

The chemical analysis of archaeological ceramic artifacts can help archaeologists to characterize the technology used in the manufacturing process, and to elucidate aspects related to the way of life of past peoples. In this context, six ceramic fragments found at Tapera Beach in Florianópolis were analyzed. FTIR spectroscopy was used to identify carbonates and oxalic acid originating from the biodegradation process. In the pictorial regions of the ceramics, iron oxides, manganese and chromium were present, along with calcium carbonate, which were used as pigments. In addition, the absence of characteristic bands for kaolinite suggests low firing temperatures (up to 900 °C). EDS confirmed the elements of the molecules identified by FTIR and showed the presence of Al and Si in the primary structure and Fe in the secondary structure of the ceramics. In addition, there were traces of rare earth elements in samples A3 and A5, which may be related to the geochemistry at the site from which the raw material was excavated. The GC-MS results showed the presence of lipids and the profile of the fatty acids detected suggested that the source of the oils adsorbed in the ceramic structure is vegetable.

RESUMEN

The physicochemical investigation of ceramics crafted and managed by ancient humans allows a better understanding of their social, technological, economical, routine and artistic activities. The Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul presents the biggest number of registered archaeological sites in the country, and many of them are earthen mounds, locally known as cerritos de indios. This kind of archaeological site is of utmost importance to understand the social development of the biome Pampa - including areas from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay - and almost nothing is known about the physicochemical composition of the artifacts from the Brazilian portion. In this work we investigated the mineral phases present in archaeological ceramics from the cerrito Pavão I (PSG-20) by means of white light microscopy (petrography), Raman micro-spectroscopy, XRD and XRF spectroscopies, and FTIR-ATR. Different minerals were identified and allowed to propose a firing temperature of ca. 500-650 °C. It was also suggested that the makers used both oxidizing and reducing atmospheres, that more than one clay source was used to prepare the ceramics, and that trace elements are present in different shards. Regarding the multi-analytical technique approach, the results highlight the importance of complementary investigations and underline the role of Raman micro-spectroscopy for these objects.

RESUMEN

In most archaeological researches, ceramic cathodoluminescence images are conventionally exploited in a descriptive way (paste colour, inclusions). In this study, a new approach was employed: image's RGB histograms were used in order to differentiate several ceramics recently discovered at the archaeological site of San José de Moro located in northern Peru. Cathodoluminescence coupled with chemometric methods appears as a good method to characterize and particularly to produce a systematic classification of complex materials such as archaeological ceramics. Our results were compared with the archaeological and classical background knowledge and this allowed confirming that Mochica Fine Line and Mochica Polychrome were the most similar archaeological groups, at Mochica times, because of the use of the same raw material for production. However, Highland Cajamarca is the most different ceramic group from the other studied ones due to the use of different raw materials from Cajamarca valley located 100 km east of San José de Moro site.

Asunto(s)

Arqueología , Cerámica , Perú

RESUMEN

White virgules, commas, and dot designs on tricolored ceramics are sporadically found in different archaeological sites located in Northwestern Argentina area, as Puna and Quebrada de Humahuaca. This decorating style has been reported in several articles, but few previous archaeometric studies have been carried out on the pigment composition. Fragments from Puna and Quebrada archaeological sites, belonging to Regional Development Period (900-1430 AD), were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy in order to characterize the pigments employed. Red and black pigments are based on iron and manganese oxides, as it has been extensively reported for the NW Argentina area. White pigments from white virgules, comma, and dot designs have shown different composition. Hydroxyapatite was found in samples from Doncellas site (North Puna region), and calcium and calcium-magnesium containing compounds, as vaterite and dolomite, along with titanium containing compounds were detected on samples from Abralaite (Central Puna region) and Gasoducto (Quebrada de Humahuaca region). It has been concluded that pigment composition is not characteristic of a unique region.