Study of pottery materials in Muarojambi Temple complex and Batanghari River sediment in Jambi Province, Indonesia based on the mineralogical and petrographical analysis

Abstract

Pottery is a ceramic which generally used as household utensils or religious necessities such as spiritual ceremonies. This object has been used by society since long time ago that make it has certain historical and cultural values. One problem with pottery that it is hard to define its source. We believe that mineralogy could help finding the source of the pottery by comparing mineralogy of pottery and mineralogy of alluvial sand that usually used for pottery. This study was carried out to analyze the pottery-forming material of pottery fragments in the Muaro Jambi Temple complex and compare them with the Batanghari River sediments on the opposite to the temple. Data retrieval is done by collecting pottery fragments in the excavation field and taking sand samples in the downstream of the Batanghari River. The fragments of pottery and river sands were separated based on their texture and analyzed using microscope. Each material will be described based on its physical appearance and frequency of existence. From the study we found that minerals found in the pottery fragments from Muaro Jambi have similarity with the mineralogy of alluvial sand from Batanghari River. Thus, it might be a good indication that there is a correlation between them. From this research, we also conclude that the mineralogy characteristic could be useful for identifying the source of pottery.