CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL, vol.40, no.9, pp.14769-14779, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
Abstract
This studyfocusesonthearchaeometricalcharacterizationofthepotteriesbelongingtotheFirstMillenniumADfromtheKurikiMoundusing thermal, mineralogical,microscopicandspectroscopictechniques.TheexcavationareatakesplaceattheintersectionpointoftheTigrisRiverand the BatmanCreeknearthevillageofOymataş in Batmancity(Turkey).SincethisregionislocatedatUpperMesopotamia,itisoneofthe important ancientsitesinsoutheasternAnatoliaandrepresentstheculturalheritageofthecivilizationsthatlivedthere.Intheframeworkofthe present study,thermogravimetric–differential thermalanalysis(TG–DTA) andceramicpetrographywereemployedtocharacterizethepotsherds. X-ray diffraction(XRD),scanningelectronmicroscopy(SEM)andenergydispersivespectroscopy(EDS),micro-Ramanspectroscopyand colorimetric analyseswerealsoperformedascomplementarytechniques.Theresultsshowedthatthemineralogicalcompositionofthepottery consists mainlyofquartz,feldsparandplagioclase.Clayminerals(mainlyillite)andorganicmaterialswereidentified astheminorphases,while carbonated materials(mainlycalcite)wereseenasmajorandminorphasesindifferentsamples.IronmineralswerealsodetectedbyXRDand micro-Raman analyses.Arelativelylowvitrification degreealongwiththepoorsinterizationbehaviordefined inSEM/EDXanalysisandthe absence ofanyprominentendothermicorexothermiceffectsonDTAcurvesupto1000–1100 1C suggestedthatthe firing temperatureofthe potteries didnotexceedthisrange.Themainreasonforsuchcharacteristicsisthoughttobeanon-advanced firing technique. & 2014 ElsevierLtdandTechnaGroupS.r.l.Allrightsreserved. Keywords: Ancient Turkishpottery;UpperMesopotamia;SouthernAnatolia;Kuriki(Turkey)