Thin Section Analysis Ceramics

Thin section archaeological petrography can be applied to a range of other artefact types in addition to ceramics.

Thin section analysis ceramics.

In this technique the specimen is sawed to 1 mm thick glued to a microscope slide and ground or sawed e g by microtome to a thickness x approaching 30 µm. Archaeological ceramics analysis techniques include thin section petrography geochemistry scanning electron microscopy and organic residue analysis. Thin section petrography of stone and ceramic cultural materials by chandra reedy. Isbn 978 1 9049 8233 3 london.

Alternatively non cubic ceramics can be prepared as thin sections also known as petrography for examination by polarized transmitted light microscopy. Key learning outcomes are an appreciation of the role of ceramic analysis in archaeology and specific skills in the interpretation of ceramics in thin section. Digital image analysis of ceramic thin section. Thin section ceramic petrography is a versatile interdisciplinary analytical tool for the characterization and interpretation of archaeological pottery and related artefacts including ceramic building materials refractories and plaster.

These include plaster mortar mudbricks and lithic implements. Thin section analysis can be carried out on ceramic assemblages in order to answer a variety of questions from the characterization or provenancing of a single ware or pottery type to a diachronic study of the ceramic material from an entire site or region. Green clay sand 13 pores 4 clay 83 natural distribution of sand grain sizes in a clay deposit natural distribution added sand high resolution film scanner scans entire thin section for image analysis. Thin section analysis identifies mineralogical characteristics of non plastic inclusions according to their optical properties as well as void shapes and locations surface treatments and particle.