Abstract
As part of an attempt to identify the provenances and technology of pottery in Cypro-Geometric and Cypro-Archaic Bichrome styles at Tel Dor, Israel, the black and the red paint pigments and the ceramic body were analysed chemically by using a pXRF apparatus in a handheld configuration. This method enables analysis of the thin painted decoration directly on the surface of the vessels. As a comparison, we also analysed the fabric of the vessels, as well as comparative potential Cypriot pigment ores. The analyses reveal that the black paints consist of manganese-based pigments comprising manganese and iron. The red paints consist of iron-based pigments rich in iron and poor in manganese. In contrast, the ceramic body of the vessels is rich in silica and alumina and contains lesser concentrations of iron and only traces of manganese. The results demonstrate the utilization of Cypriot pigment ores (black umber and red ochre) for the painted decoration on these ceramics. Beyond the specific Tel Dor case, the results are intended to initiate a compositional data-base of pigments on East Mediterranean ceramics in the Bronze and Iron Ages. We argue that to serve this end the chemical data should be presented in detail, in order to enable future comparative studies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 472-479 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |
| Volume | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jun 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research is supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 209/14 ) and by the Research Funds of the Open University of Israel (grant no. 31016 ). These supports are gratefully acknowledged. This work was partially carried out while the first author was on sabbatical at the Institute of Earth Sciences of The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. The first author expresses his appreciation to Prof. Oded Navon of this Institute for his collaboration and to Prof. Yigal Erel for the permission to use the XRF apparatus. We thank Dr. Costas Xenophontos for providing us with Cypriot umber and Cypriot ochre. We are grateful to Prof. Ilan Sharon, co-director of the Tel Dor excavations, to Dr. Anna Georgiadou for her comments on the vessels analysed and to Paula Waiman-Barak for her help in various aspects of this research. The preliminary Tell el-Assawir results are mentioned courtesy of Dr. Shai Bar and Golan Shalvi.
Funding Information:
This research is supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 209/14) and by the Research Funds of the Open University of Israel (grant no. 31016). These supports are gratefully acknowledged. This work was partially carried out while the first author was on sabbatical at the Institute of Earth Sciences of The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. The first author expresses his appreciation to Prof. Oded Navon of this Institute for his collaboration and to Prof. Yigal Erel for the permission to use the XRF apparatus. We thank Dr. Costas Xenophontos for providing us with Cypriot umber and Cypriot ochre. We are grateful to Prof. Ilan Sharon, co-director of the Tel Dor excavations, to Dr. Anna Georgiadou for her comments on the vessels analysed and to Paula Waiman-Barak for her help in various aspects of this research. The preliminary Tell el-Assawir results are mentioned courtesy of Dr. Shai Bar and Golan Shalvi.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Cypriot pottery
- East-Mediterranean pottery
- Iron Age
- Iron-based pigment
- Manganese-based pigment
- Ochre ore
- Paint pigment
- Umber ore