Looking beyond appearances: a multi-analytical approach on the prehistoric clay weights

Abstract

In this paper we analyzed a batch of 64 clay weights from three archaeological sites located in Romania (Gumelniţa, Măgura-Jilava, and Sultana) that belong to Kodjadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI cultural complex (4600-3900 cal. BC). Our approach includes an interdisciplinary investigation based on technological analysis, experimental archaeology, and X-ray CT scans coupled with statistical analysis. This investigation has a high potential to reveal relevant information regarding the technological background (e.g., inclusion, voids, temper, etc.), manufacturing stages (e.g., modeling, shaping, kneading, etc.), or transformation processes (e.g., drying and firing vs. weight and size modification) in order to identify, explain and understand the chaîne operatoire for this type of artefacts. Moreover, correlation of the results with the experimental archaeology could offer an integrative interpretation about the material culture of past humans and its multiple meanings, but also critical information about the multiple dimensions of manufacture for these objects (e.g., time, effort, physical-chemical processes, etc.). The multi-analytical approach proposed here also includes a comparative study of technological aspects of these clay weights across the three archaeological sites investigated, as well as the experimental replicas.

Between Object and Subject

“…The interpretation of the XCT images was made according to the methodology developed in the latest studies that involved the analysis of archaeological clay artefacts by XCT-images (Kahl, Ramminger 2012;Green et al 2017;Ignat et al 2017;Kozatsas et al 2018;Manea et al 2019;Park et al 2019).…”

“…The main goal is to decipher the manufacturing process of such vessels, the possible way of using them, and their implied meanings. The use of multiple approaches is very effective, as demonstrated by our previously published studies (Ignat et al 2017;Manea et al 2019).…”

“…Generally, considering the potential of the imaging investigations to answer different questions regarding pottery technology (Berg 2008;Kahl, Ramminger 2012;Ignat et al 2017;Kozatsas et al 2018;Manea et al 2019), our approaches aimed to identify the following aspects: (i) characteristics of ceramic paste; (ii) primary forming techniques; (iii) joins of the anatomical elements on the pot; (iv) surface finishing; (v) cracks or repairs.…”

Non-Destructive Textural Characterization of Southern Romanian Neolithic and Chalcolithic Pottery Using Digital Image Analysis on Tomographically Reconstructed Sections

“…During the last decade, several Neolithic and Chalcolithic pottery and clay objects from Southern Romania have been analyzed by XCT and published as case studies [28][29][30][31], advancing this field of research by generating new questions and the current investigation.…”

Chemistry for cultural heritage: connecting past and future

“…La Nasa et al [2] reported a new comprehensive approach for the characterisation of multi-material (polymers, paint binder, pigments) modern artworks using analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS and EGA/MS), non-destructive ATR-FTIR and highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC-DAD and HPLC-ESI-MS). A multi-analytical approach was used by Manea et al [3] for investigating 64 prehistorical clay weights from three archaeological sites located in Romania: X-ray CT scans coupled with statistical analysis together with technological analysis and experimental archaeology revealed the entire chaȋne operatoire of clay weights from various sites. Artesani et al [4] proposed a combined-microscopy approach based on time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) micro-imaging and micro-Raman spectroscopy for studying a corpus of stratigraphic micro-samples from Russian Avantgarde modern paintings which allowed them to identify several inorganic pigments.…”