Ceramic provenance and the regional organization of pottery production during the later Formative periods in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico: Results of trace-element and mineralogical analyses

Abstract

and Zr. A substantial number of cases had values below detection limits for Ni, Sr, U, or Zr, and these elements were excluded from consideration. Element concentrations were transformed to log(10) values for statistical analyses. 2.2. Ceramic Petrography Petrographic analysis was conducted on a subset of 40 pottery thin sections representing the main ceramic composition groups and the full range of ceramic wares included in the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for each thin section using a standard petrographic microscope, following methods detailed in Minc and Sherman (2011). Qualitative analysis began with the identification of the overall suite of minerals evident in the thin section based on their optical properties under both plane-polarized and cross-polarized light. Quantitative data were collected using a point-counting technique similar to that described by Stoltman (1989, 1991). Using a movable stage, between 150 and 300 points were assessed within a grid of 1-mm intervals, and the point under the crosshairs recorded as matrix, void, or inclusion. If the crosshairs landed on an inclusion, the mineral was identified and the grain size recorded as silt (< .0624 mm), fine sand (.0625-.249 mm), medium sand (.25-.49 mm), coarse sand (.50-.99 mm), very coarse sand (1.00-1.99 mm), or gravel (> 2.00 mm) (following Stoltman, 1989:149, 1991:108). A grain size index based on an ordinal scale of 1 to 5 (fine = 1, medium = 2, coarse = 3, very coarse = 4, gravel = 5) was also calculated to represent the mean of the sand-and gravel-sized grains in each sample (Stoltman, 1991:108-109). 2.3. Assessing Temper vs. Natural Inclusions Determining whether mineral inclusions are naturally occurring or cultural additions has important implications for establishing provenance, since the addition of temper significantly modifies the trace-element and mineralogical signature of natural clays (Neff et al. 1988, 1989; Sterba et al. 2009). While it can be notoriously difficult to distinguish temper from natural inclusions, several lines of evidence have been proposed to identify cultural additions or mixing of clays. These include (1) the coexistence of minerals from distinct geological contexts; (2) a distinctive suite of minerals in the coarser sand-sized fraction as compared to the silt-and fine sand-sized fractions; and (3) the predominance of one size-class of inclusions, visible as a narrow unimodal or strongly bimodal size distribution within the sand-sized particles (

Ceramics and Society in Mahan and Paekche: A Comparison of Pottery Geochemistry and Craft Production Patterns at the Sites of P'ungnap T'osŏng and Kwangju Palsan

“…This technique is well-suited for data with variables at different scales, since PCPs can be generated from parts-per-million values without transformation. The use of PCP visualization to create a compositional profile of each sherd is adapted from the "spider diagram" routinely employed by geologists for evaluating chemical data (Rollinson 2014; see also Minc et al 2016 for their use in archaeological ceramics). As in these studies, elements are ordered and plotted by geochemical group (i.e., major elements, transition metals, alkali elements, rare earth elements, and high field-strength incompatibles).…”

“…Once identified, a ceramic compositional signal can then provide information on the movement of pots across landscapes. Minc (2006Minc ( , 2009Minc et al 2016) has used INAA compositional data to map the dynamic market economy of the Basin of Mexico, finding that sub-regional exchange patterns persisted during integration into the wider Aztec market economy. Stahl and colleagues (2008) found patterns of change in ceramic composition over two millennia in western Ghana that did not match the region's working chronology, making straightforward explanations impossible.…”

Novel method of ancient pottery analysis based on radioactive isotope ratios: a pilot study

“…PCA method has been applied for provides a representation of chosen variables: Mg, Al, Si, K, Ti, Fe, Zn, Rb, Zr and Ba. which allows finding variables that are characteristic of prehistoric ceramic groups [38,39].…”

The natural variability of clay and its impact on provenance study of pottery in Vanuatu and further afield

“…Bulk chemical analysis of pottery, comprising both the matrix and the inclusions, is a well‐established strategy to investigate pottery assemblages around the world. (e.g., Hall, 2001; Li et al, 2008; Minc et al, 2016; Monette, Richer‐LaFlèche, Moussette, & Dufournier, 2007; Sherriff, Court, Johnston, & Stirling, 2002; Tschegg, Ntaflos, & Hein, 2009a; Vaughn & Neff, 2000). In Oceania, various pottery assemblages, from the earliest Lapita occupations (c. 3300–3200 BP) to much later traditions, have been the subject of compositional analysis involving collections from Mussau Islands (Hunt, 1989, 1993); Watom (Anson, 2000; Green & Anson, 1991, 2000); Manus (Ambrose, 1992, 1993; Ambrose, Duerden, & Bird, 1981); the Arawe Islands, West New Britain (Summerhayes, 2000); Buka Island, just north of Bougainville (Summerhayes, 1997); Papuan coastal areas such as Motupore Island on the southeastern coast of New Guinea (Rye & Duerden, 1982) and the Sepik Coast (Golitko, 2011) on the north side; Papuan islands of the Massim region (Shaw, Leclerc, Dickinson, Spriggs, & Summerhayes, 2016); Micronesia (Descantes, Neff, Glascock, & Dickinson, 2001); the Solomon Islands (Buhring, Azémard, & Sheppard, 2015; Tochilin et al, 2012); New Caledonia (Chiu, 2003a, 2003b, 2007); Vanuatu (Leclerc, ; Leclerc, Grono, Bedford, & Spriggs, ); Fiji (Bentley, 2000; Best, 1984; Clark & Kennett, 2009; Cochrane, 2004; Rutherford, Almond, & Nunn, 2012); Tonga (Burley & Dickinson, 2010); Samoa (Eckert & James, 2011); and a combination of samples from Fiji, Tonga and New Ireland (Kennett, Anderson, Cruz, Clark, & Summerhayes, 2004).…”