Chemical and mineralogical characterization of late chalcolithic pottery (ca. 3700–3300 BCE) from southwest Anatolia (Türkiye)

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DARDENİZ ARIKAN G., Tok Z., TUNCALI YAMAN T., Arıkan B.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, cilt.53, 2024 (AHCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 53
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104304
  • Dergi Adı: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Index Islamicus
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Late chalcolithic, Petrographic thin section, Pottery production, Southwest Anatolia, XRD, XRF
  • Marmara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This paper presents the results of chemical and petrographic investigations on the late chalcolithic (ca. 3700–3300 BCE) pottery from the Burdur Lake region in southwest Anatolia (Türkiye). Twenty-one ceramic sherds and a clay lump from four different levels of the late chalcolithic site of Kuruçay Höyük (Burdur) were examined with thin section petrography, XRF, and XRD to illuminate the element and mineral compositions of the ceramics. The chemical compositions and their statistical evaluation demonstrate the continuous use of at least two local clay sources within each different phase of the late chalcolithic. While sources stay the same, petrographic thin section analysis implies a change in the clay preparation techniques. This is visible via the homogeneity of the clay matrix and the existence of shell and lithic inclusions in the paste. About the end of the late chalcolithic period, clay preparation appears to be enhanced conceivably with the changing technological setting of the period toward the early bronze age.