The ceramic artifacts in archaeological black earth (terra preta) from Lower Amazon Region, Brazil: chemistry and geochemical evolution

Abstract

This paper carried out a chemical investigation of archaeological ceramic artifacts found in archaeological sites with Black Earth (ABE) in the Lower Amazon Region at Cachoeira-Porteira, State of Pará, Brazil. The ceramic artifacts, mostly of daily use, belong to Konduri culture (from 900 to 400 years BP). They are constituted of SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , Na 2 O and P 2 O 5 ; SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 together add up to 80 % and indicate influence of acid rocks, transformed into clay minerals basically kaolinite. The relative high contents of P 2 O 5 (2.37 % in average) come out as (Al,Fe)-phosphate, an uncommon fact in primitive red ceramics, but found in some roman and egyptian archaeological sites. The contents of the trace elements are similar or below the Earth's crust average. This chemical composition (except P 2 O 5 ) detaches saprolite material derived acid igneous rocks or sedimentary ones as the main raw material of the ceramics. The contents of K, Na and Ca represent the feldspars and rock fragments possibly introduced into saprolitic groundmass, indicated by mineralogical studies. The presence of cauixi and cariapé as well as quartz sand was confirmed by optical microscope, SEM analyses and by the high silica contents of ceramic fragments. Phosphorus was possibly incorporated into groundmass during cooking of foods, and ABE soil profile formation developed on yellow Latosols. The raw materials and its tempers (cauixi, or cariapé, feldspar, crushed rocks, old ceramic artifacts and quartz fragments) are found close to the sites and therefore and certainly came from them. KEY WORDSTerra preta, Black earth, Lower Amazon, Soil, Chemistry, Phosphorus, Geochemical Evolution Artefatos cerâmicos em sítios arqueológicos com terra preta na região do baixo Amazonas, Brasil: composição química e evolução geoquímica. (Cachoeira-Porteira, Pará, Brasil) RESUMO Neste trabalho realizou-se a caracterização química de fragmentos de artefatos cerâmicos encontrados em sítios arqueológicos com terra preta no Baixo Amazonas

Characterization of pottery from the Republic of Macedonia I: Raman analyses of Byzantine glazed pottery excavated from Prilep and Skopje (12th–14th century)

“…8b) In modern ceramics, Ca 3 (PO 4 ) 2 is added as a flux in order to vitrify the final product, but in this case it is most probably a matter of environmental contamination or a residue from the use of the ceramic vessels for cooking and stocking food (meats, fish, nuts, etc.). [50] Conclusion Fifteen representative Byzantine glazed ceramic shreds found in the Republic of Macedonia, all dated from 12th to 14th century, were analyzed by micro-Raman spectroscopy and four of them by SEM-EDXS, in order to characterize the materials used, obtain information on their manufacturing technology and discuss their provenance. This is the first study of this kind for Byzantine ceramic finds from the territory of today's Republic of Macedonia.…”

Mineralogy and chemistry of archaeological ceramic fragments from archaeological Dark Earth site in Colombian Amazon

“…To improve the raw material the prehistoric peoples of the Quebrada Tacana introduced an expressive quantity of calcined silica rich organic tempers. Phosphor probably came later during the use of ceramic vessels for food preparation, normally rich on phosphor, similarly to other ADE ceramics as proposed by Costa et al (2004b).…”

“…No mineralogical and chemical research was carried out until the late 1990s (Costa et al, 1991;Coelho et al, 1996;Costa & Kern, 1999;Kern & Costa, 2001;Costa et al, 2002;Costa et al, 2004a,b;Costa et al, 2006Costa et al, , 2009Kern et al, 2009). These studies concentrated on the ADE ceramic fragments along the rivers from the Oriximiná County and Caxiuanã bay in the Lower Amazon region in the state of Pará and partly in areas adjacent to Manaus and Tabatinga in the state of Amazonas (Lima, 2001), which show the importance of these researches.…”

Diversity and microbial community in new dark earth soils in Tailândia-Pará, Brazil

“…There are also small areas of soils with dark coloring, namely, Terra Preta, commonly called "Indian Dark Earth" (Terra Preta do Índio-TPI) or Archaeological Dark Earth (terra preta arqueológica-TPA) (CUNHA et al, 2005;KERN, KÄMPF, 1989;COSTA et al, 2004). These areas of dark land are considered ancient Indian villages and formed unintentionally by preColumbian populations.…”