This study reports on type: variety-mode classification, digital stereomicroscopy, petrography, neutron activation analysis, and previously published reports and characterizes production and distribution of Mars Orange Paste Ware in the Middle Preclassic-period Maya Lowlands. The sample consists of 2028 sherds of Mars Orange Paste Ware from Holtun, Guatemala, and 4105 sherds reported from sites in Central Belize and Peten Guatemala. The combined data suggest Mars Orange Paste Ware was a “short-distance” trade ware produced in the northeastern Maya Lowlands and distributed from Central Belize to the west.
The final stage in the life history of prehistoric pottery prior to archaeological recovery is usually the longest, and frequently the most dynamic. The remains of archaeological ceramics spend hundreds to thousands of years deposited within the upper layers of the earth’s crust where they encounter the same diagenetic environmental processes as the surrounding natural materials. Harsh conditions of subterranean environments induce physical stresses and chemical reactions, causing alterations of ceramic structure and composition. This is especially true of carbonate-rich ceramics, as carbonate phases are soluble when deposited within acidic environments. This paper examines common carbonate depletion and accretion effects of post-depositional environments on ancient ceramics from two rather different geological and archaeological contexts: Mesoamerica and the Mediterranean. Potters in both regions produce vessels with carbonate-rich materials—clays, calcite, limestone—that alter due to long exposure to low-pH sediments and continual water table fluctuations. Ceramic petrography is employed to identify traces of carbonate alterations within ceramic microstructure and to characterize fabrics. Elemental compositions of the same sherds are characterized through either scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and optical emission spectrometry (ICP-MS/OES) or neutron activation analysis (NAA). This method enabled comparison of the differing effects of post-depositional alteration of carbonate phases on bulk composition signatures commonly used to determine provenance.
The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the ceramics from the Goguryeo fortified sites of the Han River region in central Korea were manufactured and consumed locally during the southern expansion of the Goguryeo State (475–551 ce). For this research, 88 ceramic samples from seven contemporary sites in the southern territories of Goguryeo were sampled and analysed by ceramic thin‐section petrography and neutron activation analysis (NAA). In addition, to establish a possible chemical fingerprint at Hongryeonbong Fort 2, five clay specimens were also gathered and analysed from the pottery firing structure. The results of this analytical study indicate that the majority of the ceramics from the Goguryeo fortified sites of central Korea were produced and circulated within this newly acquired region. In addition, it is highly probable that Hongryeonbong Fort, which contains the remains of what may be ceramic firing architecture, is the place of production for the ceramics.
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