Original scientific paper
FT-IR Spectroscopic Analysis of Prehistoric Pottery from Osor
Sara Močinić
; Palisina 6, 52100 Pula
Tea Zubin Ferri
; METRIS, Zagrebačka 30, Pula
Abstract
In this paper we present the results of an analysis of the chemical
composition of prehistoric pottery from Osor, obtained by means
of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Infrared
spectroscopy has proven to be very useful in the classification of a
large number of samples according to similarities in the chemical
composition, which can be used on archaeological pottery in order
to distinguish the origin of fragments of similar make. The scope
of this study was to discover whether infrared spectroscopy can
assist with the relative dating of pottery. With this in mind we
took samples that were unearthed on three different depths on
the site of “Kaštel” at Osor. We selected three groups of twenty
mutually very different samples in order to avoid any influences
caused by fabric and other structural characteristics of pottery,
which may affect the end results of the analysis. After making
the spectroscopic analysis with the help of a dendrogram, we
explored the similarities of the samples tested. In addition to
comparing the three groups, we likewise analyzed each group
separately. The research results indicate an absence of imported
pottery. And furthermore, based on their composition, the samples
from the bottom of the excavation and those from the middle
clearly differ, whereas those samples from the surface are probably
of mixed origin.
Keywords
infrared spectroscopy; cluster analysis; pottery composition; archaeological excavations at Osor; prehistoric pottery; relative dating of pottery; stratigraphy check
Hrčak ID:
148043
URI
Publication date:
15.11.2014.
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