The investigation of ancient pottery - Application of thermal analysis

Ancient ceramic samples (single fragments and different parts of pots, unbroken and repaired; total about 180 samples) dated from the transitional period of late Bronze to early Iron Age (VIII-VI centuries BC) and early Iron Age (VII-IV centuries BC) were investigated by thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, petrography, and scanning electron microscopy equipped with the energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer. In addition to that, to identify the clay sources for the ceramic manufacturing, about 15 samples of clays and soils found near archeological digs and taken from the mineralogical museum were investigated. We found out that the calcite content of ceramics is a very informative parameter for the identification of the clay source for the pottery manufactured at low technological level (low-temperature firing).