Examining the Dynamics of Early Bronze Age Pottery Production and Distribution in the Konya Plain of South Central Anatolia, Turkey

An archaeometric study of the Konya basin metallic ware through FTIR and XRD analysis with chemometrics: Central Anatolian Early Bronze Age ceramics

“…In addition, forsterite is absent in samples from groups C and D. Sherds belonging to groups A (S021.316, CAS010, 5414) and B (99-35, 5470, 5314) stand out with their high forsterite, diopside and gehlenite ratios, and the highest forsterite ratios are found in group A (Table 2). The FTIR and XRD analyses conducted in this study indicate an abundance of Mg oxides in all KBMW samples, including prominently diopside and forsterite, and this confirms earlier research on the same class of materials from the broader region (Friedman, 2000;Gait et al, 2018;Ünlü, 2009). The results also strongly suggest that this ceramic production was produced at temperatures of 800 C and possibly above.…”

“…The FTIR and XRD analyses conducted in this study indicate an abundance of Mg oxides in all KBMW samples, including prominently diopside and forsterite, and this confirms earlier research on the same class of materials from the broader region (Friedman, 2000; Gait et al, 2018; Ünlü, 2009). The results also strongly suggest that this ceramic production was produced at temperatures of 800°C and possibly above.…”

“…In particular, anorthite, gehlenite, diopside, magnetite, hematite and meta‐smectite were used to determine the firing conditions of the analysed ceramics. The forsterite mineral detected in the infrared spectra was not used in the interpretation of the firing temperatures of the studied samples, since its likely source may have been the serpentinite inclusions that published petrographic analysis shows to have been intentionally added in the KBMW as a flux (Gait et al, 2018).…”

“…S1 in supplemental material 2) indicates a nonporous to slightly porous fabric with a low-calcareous matrix and exclusive use of mineral temper, mostly intentionally added serpentinite and quartz (Gait et al, 2018). Wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) analysis on the same dataset also shows an internally coherent group very distinct from other contemporary wares because of very high concentrations of Mg, Cr and Ni, along with elevated concentrations of Co and reduced Sr contents (Gait et al, 2018). Instrumental neutron activation (INAA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses of six KBMW sherds from Göltepe (37 48 0 48.47 00 N/34 56 0 11.13 00 E-the closest village is Celaller, AE 1 km; source: Google Earth) (in the eastern portion of the study area; see Fig.…”

“…Published petrographic analysis on six KBMW samples from three sites in the Konya Plain (in the western portion of the study area; see Fig. S1 in supplemental material 2) indicates a non‐porous to slightly porous fabric with a low‐calcareous matrix and exclusive use of mineral temper, mostly intentionally added serpentinite and quartz (Gait et al, 2018). Wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (WD‐XRF) analysis on the same dataset also shows an internally coherent group very distinct from other contemporary wares because of very high concentrations of Mg, Cr and Ni, along with elevated concentrations of Co and reduced Sr contents (Gait et al, 2018).…”