Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T23:00:25.928Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The mineralogy and firing behaviour of pottery clays of the Lake Van region, eastern Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

A. Aras  and
S. Kiliç
A. Aras*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Engineering, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van 65080, Turkey
S. Kiliç
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Yüzüncü Yıl University, Van 65080, Turkey
*
*E-mail: aras5549@yahoo.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present study focused on the mineralogical and chemical characterization and firing behaviour of clays from the Lake Van region and compared them with the same characteristics established for two ancient pot sherds. Four pottery clays collected from Kutki and Kuşluk in the Kesan Valley to the south, from Kavakbaşı to the southwest and from Bardakçı village on the east coast of Lake Van were analysed by X-ray diffraction to identify mineralogical composition (bulk clays and <2 μm fractions after heating at 300–500°C and ethylene glycol solvation). Further analyses were conducted to determine the size distribution, chemical composition and physical properties of test bodies derived from these clays. The in situ weathered schist forming the primary micaceous red clays which are suitable for local pottery production are characterized by large muscovite-sericite-illite and small calcite contents. In contrast, the Bardakçı clays are dominated by large smectite contents and are only used sparingly in mixtures of local pottery production because they undergo firing shrinkage and present drying and firing flaws in the fired bodies. Firing ranges of ~800–900°C were inferred from the mineralogy and colours of the two ancient sherds from Kutki. As a result of mineralogical analysis of fired and unfired test bodies of these pottery clays and pot sherds, two different types of pastes were determined for pottery production in the Lake Van region: metamorphic and volcanic paste, the former characterized by a calcite-poor and mica-sericite-rich matrix and the latter by large smectite and small calcite contents.

Keywords

Lake Vanpotterymineralogysmectitemuscovite-sericite-illitetraditional kiln
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , December 2017 , pp. 453 - 468
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This paper is one of a group published in this issue which was originally presented at the Mediterranean Clay Conference, held in Izmir, Turkey in September 2016.

References

Akça, E., Arocena, J., Kılıç S., Dingil, M. & Kapur, S. (2010) Preliminary chemical and micromorphological observations on Urartu (800-600 B.C.) Ceramics, Eastern Turkey. Geoarchaeology, 25, 233–244.Google Scholar
Altınl ıİ, E. (1966) Dogu ve Güneydogu Anadolu'nun Jeolojisi. M.T.A. Dergisi, 527-588.Google Scholar
Aras, A. (2004) The change of phase composition in ceramic bodies in kaolinite- and illite-rich clay based ceramic bodies. Applied Clay Science, 24, 257–269.Google Scholar
Bohor, B.F. (1964) High temperature phase development in illitic clays. Clay and Clay Minerals, 12, 233–244.Google Scholar
Burney, C.A. (1958) Eastern Anatolia in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Anatolian Studies, VIII, 157-209.Google Scholar
Cilingiroglu, A. (1994) The Second Millennia BC Colored Pottery Produced in the Lake Van Basin. Ege Üniversitesi Arkeoloji Dergisi, 2, 1—3 (in Turkish).Google Scholar
Çimrin, K.M., Akça, E., §enol, M., Büyük, G. & Kapur, S. (2004) Potassium potential of the soil of Gevag region, East Anatolia. Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 28, 259–266.Google Scholar
Cultrone, G., Rodriguez-Navarro, C., Sebastian, E., Cazalla, O. & De la Torre, M.J. (2001) Carbonate and silicate phase reactions during ceramic firing. European Journal of Mineralogy, 13, 621–634.Google Scholar
Degens, E.T. & Kurtman, F. (1978) The Geology of Van. MTA Publications No. 169, Ankara, pp. 50-55.Google Scholar
Degens, E.T., Wong, H.K., Kempe, S. & Kurtman, F. (1984) A geological study of Lake Van, Eastern Turkey. International Journal ofEarth Sciences, 73, 701–734.Google Scholar
Dondi, M., Ercolani, G., Fabbri, B. & Marsigli, M. (1996) Chemistry of pyroxene and melilite formed during the firing of ceramic clay bodies. Pp. 210-211 in: Advances in Clay Minerals, Proceedings of the Spanish—Italian Meeting on Clay Minerals, Granada, Spain.Google Scholar
Dondi, M., Fabbri, B. & Guarini, E. (1998) Grain-size distribution of Italian raw materials for structural clay products: a reappraisal of the winkler diagram. Clay Minerals, 33, 435–442.Google Scholar
Dondi, M., Guarini, G. & Raimondo, M. (1999) Trends in the formation of crystalline and amorphous phases during the firing of clay bricks. Tile & Brick Internationl, 15, 19.Google Scholar
Göncüoglu, M.C. & Turhan, N. (1984) Geology of the Bitlis metamorphic belt. Pp. 237—244 in: Proceedings ofthe International Symposium on the Geology ofthe Taurus Belt (O. Tekeli & M.C. Göncüoglu, editors). Mineral Research and Exploration Institute, Ankara, Turkey.Google Scholar
Grim, R.E. & Johns, W.D. (1954) Clay minerals investi-gation of sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Clays and Clay Minerals, Publication 327, National Academy of Science, National Research Council, pp. 81-103.Google Scholar
Kapur, S., Sakarya, N. & Fitzpatrick, E.A. (1992) Mineralogy and micromorphology of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Ikiztepe ceramics. Geoarchaeology, 7, 327–337.Google Scholar
Kılıç, S. & Çalıskan, N. (2005) Determination ofthe clay mineral assemblages of the prehistoric pottery of the Van Basin by XRD analysis. Pp. 110-120 in: Proceedings ofthe 12th National Clay Symposium, September 5-9, 2005, Van, Turkey.Google Scholar
Korfmann, M. (1982) Tilkitepe. Die ersten Ansätze prähistorischer Forschung in der östlichen Türkei, Istanbuler Mitteilungen Beiheft 26. Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, Tübingen, Germany.Google Scholar
Kuzucuoglu, C., Christol, A., Mouralis, D. & Dogu, A.F. (2010) Formation ofthe Upper Pleistocene terraces of Lake Van (Turkey). Journal of Quaternary Science, 25, 1124–1137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McConville, C.J. & Lee, W.E. (2005) Micro structural development on firing illite and smectite compared with that in kaolinite. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 88, 2267–2276.Google Scholar
Oberhänsli, R., Candan, O., Bousquet, R., Rimmele, G., Okay, A. & Goff, J.B. (2010) Alpine HP Evolution of the Eastern Bitlis Complex, SE Turkey. Pp. 461-483 in: Sedimentary Basin Tectonics from the Black Sea and Caucasus to the Arabian Platform (M. Sosson, N. Kaymakci, R.A. Stephenson, F. Bergerat & V. Starostensko, editors). Special Publications, 340, Geological Society of London.Google Scholar
Okay, A., Arman, M.B. & Göncüoglu, M.C. (1985) Petrology and phase relations of the kyanite-eclogites from Eastern Turkey. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 91, 196–204.Google Scholar
Oyan, V & Tolluoglu Ü. (2005) Na-feldspar-rich Leucogranitic Rocks in the Bitlis Massif (Yolcular Metamorphic): A Potential Source for Feldspar. Yerbilimleri/Hacettepe Üniversitesi Yerbilimleri Uygulama ve Aragtirma Merkezi Dergisi, Ankara, cilt.26, ss. 1-11.Google Scholar
Sakarya, N., Kapur, S. & FitzPatrick, E.A. (1990) Preliminary study of the microstructure and mineralogy of 12th and 13th century ceramics, Samsat, southeastern Turkey. Geoarchaeology, 5, 275–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt-Reinholz, Ch. & Schmidt, H. (1997) The effect of lime and dolomite in brick bodies and finished products Part 1-2. Tile & Brick International, 13, 14–17, 110-114.Google Scholar
Schwertmann, U. (1993) Relationships between iron oxides, soil color and soil formation. Pp. 51—69 in: Soil Color 31 (J.M. Bigham & E.J. Ciokosz, editors). Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.Google Scholar
Standard: DIN 6174 (2007) Colorimetric evaluation of color coordinates and color differences accord-ing to the approximately uniform CIE-Lab color space.Google Scholar
Thorez, J. (1976) Qualitative Determination of mixed Layers. Pp. 42-46 in: Practical Identification of Clay Minerals (G. Lelote, editor). Editions, Liege, Belgium.Google Scholar
TSE-BS-EN 771-1 (2007) Specification for masonry units. Clay masonry units.Google Scholar
TSE-BS-EN 772-7 (2015) Methods of test for masonry units - Part 7: Determination of water Absorption of clay masonry damp proof course units by boiling in water.Google Scholar
TSE-Standard TSE 4790 (1998) Test method for common bricks and roofing tile clays.Google Scholar
Velde, B. & Meunier, A. (2008) The Origin of Clay Minerals in Soils and Weathered Rocks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 406 pp.Google Scholar