Spectroscopic techniques for the characterization of the potsherds from Tigranakert in Artsakh

Abstract

This study focuses on the archeological characterization of potsherds from Tigranakert in Artsakh belonging to different centuries (from 9–13 century) using SEM/EDS technique. Archeometry and archeological science correspond and refer to the application of scientific techniques to the analysis of archeological materials, as well as the processes involved in their manufacture (Williams, Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean: Archaeology and Archaeometry, BAR International Series, London, 2005; Vigil de la Villa Mencía and García Giménez, La Ciencia y el Arte: Ciencias Experimentales y Conservación del Patrimonio Histórico. Instituto del Patrimonio Histórico Español, Madrid, 2008; Martinón-Torres and Killick, The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Theory, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2015). This paper presents a study of a set of ceramic samples using stratigraphic analysis coupled with SEM/EDX technique. Ceramic materials provide information on the clay materials employed in their manufacture (Hradil et al., Appl Clay Sci 165:135–147, 2018; Giannossa et al., J Cult Herit 43:242–248, 2020), hence facilitating the assignment of their autochthonous or allochthonous character (Kordatzaki et al., J Archaeol Sci Rep 7:526–529, 2016; Montana, Anthropol Sci12:175, 2020; Hein and Kilikoglou, Anthropol Sci 12:180, 2020). Analysis of the cross-section provides the stratigraphic evaluation of the ceramic body (holes, cavities, imperfections, granulometry, inclusions, and color), the glaze, or other superficial layers (glazes, transparency or opacity, color and saturation, defects, and other). SEM images showed that the potsherds have a quite poor vitrification degree and heterogeneous grain distribution, suggesting a simple firing technique.