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Compositional study of slips and paintings in San José and Santa María pottery (Yocavil valley, Northwest Argentina): an approach by non-destructive and complementary techniques

  • Non-destructive techniques for cultural heritage
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Abstract

From a multidisciplinary perspective, we propose a first comparative study on the pigments of archeological pottery San José and Santa María of Yocavil valley, Province of Catamarca, Northwest Argentina (ca. S XI–XVI AD). Both stylistic sets share a color palette in which the black, red and cream tones are structured. Considering that we are handling objects of cultural heritage, an analysis strategy was developed that combines non-destructive techniques (XRFp and XRD) and minimally destructive sampling methods with other techniques (EDS and micro-Raman spectroscopy) for the characterization of elements and crystalline phases in pigments. The results show not only some shared features—as hematite in red paints and cream slips resulting from a low-iron clay base preparation—but also some diversity in the composition of the pigments—as presence of rutile in some red paints and pyrolusite or series of solid solutions in the system manganese–iron oxides in black pigments.

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Notes

  1. For example Museo Etnográfico “Juan B. Ambrosetti” (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Museo Nazionale Prehistorico Etnografico “L. Pigorini” (Rome, Italy), Musée du Quay Branly (París, France), Världskulturmuseet Göteborg (Gothenburg, Sweden), Ethnologisches Museum (Dahlem, Berlin, Germany), Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany), Wiener Museum für Völkerkunde (Vienna, Austria), Museo de América (Madrid, Spain), Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (St. Petersburg, Russia), Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago, USA) (Pegoraro 2009; Palamarczuk and Grimoldi 2016; Weber 1978; Nastri and Vietri 2004; Dmitrenko 2017).

  2. The fragments were recovered in the field by the Yocavil Archaeological Project, directed by Dr. Myriam N. Tarragó, with the authorization of the Provincial Directorate of Anthropology of Catamarca Province.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge CONICET, ANPCyT (PICT 2014-0345; 2015-0351; 2016-0349) and the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) (20020170100340BA; 20020170100318BA). The authors want to thank Dr. Gabriela Siracusano and Centro de Investigación en Arte, Materia y Cultura (Materia-CIMAC) of the University of Tres de Febrero (UNTreF) for the use of XRFp. Also  thank to Dr. Emilia B. Halac (CNEA), Dr. Mariana Rosenbush (CNEA), Dr. Ayelén Mancini (CNEA), Dr. Marta Maier (UMYMFOR), Dr. Myriam Tarragó (IDECU) and the organizers of the meeting Non-Destructive Techniques for Cultural Heritage NDTCH 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de las Culturas (IDECU), Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Museo Etnográfico “Juan B. Ambrosetti”, UBA-CONICET, Moreno 350, Caba, Argentina

    Valeria Palamarczuk

  2. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos Aplicados a la Química Orgánica (UMYMFOR), UBA-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria - Pabellón II, Caba, Argentina

    Eugenia Tomasini

  3. Gerencia Química & Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnología (INN), Centro Atómico Constituyentes-CNEA, CONICET, Av. Gral. Paz 1499, San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María Mercedes Zalduendo & María Cecilia Fuertes

  4. Laboratorio de Arqueología Regional Bonaerense (LARBO), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Av. J.B. Justo 2550, Mar del Plata, Argentina

    José Manuel Porto López

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  1. Valeria Palamarczuk
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  2. Eugenia Tomasini
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Correspondence to Valeria Palamarczuk or María Cecilia Fuertes.

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Palamarczuk, V., Tomasini, E., Zalduendo, M.M. et al. Compositional study of slips and paintings in San José and Santa María pottery (Yocavil valley, Northwest Argentina): an approach by non-destructive and complementary techniques. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 31, 461–472 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00890-1

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