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Analysis of thermal phases in calcareous Iron Age pottery using FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy

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Abstract

The work deals with the FT-IR and micro-Raman spectroscopy study of the pseudo-amorphous and crystalline thermal phases in the composition of calcareous Iron Age pottery from the Galilee. The application of second-derivative and curve-fitting techniques improves the identification of the thermal phases in the composition of the pottery and makes it possible to analyze the pseudo-amorphous phases which are formed during the firing of the clayey raw material to pottery. This technique makes it possible to distinguish between meta-smectite and meta-kaolinite and to estimate the firing temperature of the pottery. The Micro-Raman spectroscopy is sensitive to the structural degree of ordering of the thermal phases and enables point analysis of peculiar components in the composition of the pottery. Based on the spectroscopic study, it is concluded that the calcareous pottery contained large amounts of microcrystalline-recarbonated calcite mixed with the meta-clay. The large amount of recarbonated calcite in the pottery material and the relatively low firing temperature indicates that instead of sintering the clay, lime technology was used for the cementation of the calcareous vessels. This process took place after the firing by recarbonation of the decomposed calcite which leads to cementation of the vessels with microcrystalline calcite.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by The Open University of Israel’s Research Fund (grant no. 31016). This support is gratefully acknowledged. The assistance of Galina Kaz is also highly acknowledged. The authors acknowledge the “CECOMO (Centre Commun de Microspectrométrie Optique)”, vibrational spectroscopy platform established by the Institut de Chimie de Lyon and the Rhône-Alpes Région MACODEV program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Group, Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel, The Dorothy de Rothschild Campus, 1 University Road, POB 808, Raanana, Israel

    Shlomo Shoval

  2. Institute of Archaeology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Ester Yadin

  3. LPCML, UMR 5620 CNRS, Claude Bernard University, Lyon 1, 43 boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622, Villeurbanne cedex, France

    Gerard Panczer

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  1. Shlomo Shoval
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  2. Ester Yadin
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  3. Gerard Panczer
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Correspondence to Shlomo Shoval.

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Shoval, S., Yadin, E. & Panczer, G. Analysis of thermal phases in calcareous Iron Age pottery using FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. J Therm Anal Calorim 104, 515–525 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1518-5

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