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X-Ray Diffraction Analysis of Prehistoric Pottery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John W. Weymouth
John W. Weymouth*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Nebraska
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Abstract

This is a preliminary report on a quantitative method for grouping prehistoric pottery using x-ray diffraction techniques. Of the various analytical methods that have been applied to the analysis of pottery, x-ray diffraction techniques have been among the least used, and then usually to obtain qualitative information. Most analytic methods measure the relative abundance of chemical elements, but diffraction patterns give information on the crystalline substances in the pottery. In this study, attention is directed to the crystalline components of the temper rather than the clays or their derivatives. The method groups pottery according to the relative concentrations of such minerals as quartz, calcite, and the feldspars. Thus, success depends on reasonable consistency in the use of tempering materials by pottery makers at one time and place. I have examined a number of sherds from different sites in Iowa and Missouri supplied by Dale R. Henning, University of Nebraska. The results so far indicate that it is possible to group prehistoric pottery by a quantitative analysis of the x-ray diffraction pattern of the temper in the pottery.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 38 , Issue 3 , July 1973 , pp. 339 - 344
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1973

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