Separation of Sand Contained in Pottery and Methods for Its Chemical Analysis

• Published in: Nihon Kokogaku(Journal of the Japanese Archaeological Association) Vol. 13; no. 22; pp. 95 - 108
• Main Authors: Oya, Michinori, Yasuda, Nao, Yokoyama, Kazumi, Hirao, Yoshimitsu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: THE JAPANESE ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 2006
• Subjects: assumption of production site, ceramic petrology, alkaline fusion method; Jomon, Yayoi, and Kofun period; N/A
• ISSN: 1340-8488; 1883-7026
• DOI: 10.11215/nihonkokogaku1994.13.22_95

In order to locate pottery production sites that were not preserved as archaeological sites (such as Jomon, Yayoi and Haji potteries), it is necessary to analyze them by comparing minerals contained in the pottery with natural minerals. In this article, methods were mentioned for comparing minerals contained in pottery with natural minerals. The alkaline fusion method is a way to take out grains of sand contained in pottery by removing clay mineral from the pottery through exposure to NaOH. Phi (Φ) scale grain size method is used to compare grain size composition of sand yielded from pottery with natural sand and sand in clay, using Φ scale sieve. 250 Μm dichotomy method is a way to compare grains by separating sand with a sieve that has 250 Μm mesh and taking minerals smaller than 250 Μm. For sand grains acquired by these methods, it is possible to identify production sites even if the sites were not preserved archaeologically, by detecting and comparing mineral modes with energy dispersive EPMA and elemental composition of the minerals using wavelength dispersive EPMA.