The application of LA-ICP-MS, EPMA and Raman micro-spectroscopy methods in the study of Iron Age Phoenician Bichrome pottery at Tel Dor

Microanalyses methods by LA-ICP-MS, EPMA (SEM, WDS and EDS) and Raman micro-spectroscopy were applied in analyses of the black and the red decorations and the ceramic-body of an Iron Age Phoenician Bichrome pottery at Tel Dor on the Carmel coast of Israel. The current study aimed to identify the technology utilized in the Bichrome decoration in Phoenician workshops. Chemical analyses with LA-ICP-MS and EPMA (WDS and EDS) demonstrate that the black decoration contains Fe₂O₃ and MnO, whereas the red decoration consists of Fe₂O₃ but is poor in MnO. These compositions are in accordance with the use of ferromanganese and ferruginous based pigments for the black and the red decorations, respectively. The ceramic-body is calcareous and consists of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ of the fired-clay and CaO of calcite. EPMA-SEM images of the pigment layers show fragmented microstructures in which small pigment particles are coated on the ceramic-body substrate. EPMA-WDS elemental maps of the painted decorations illustrate non-homogeneous distribution patterns of Fe₂O₃, MnO, which are in accordance with the fragmented microstructures. The results reveal the use of the manganese based technique in the black decoration of the Bichrome pottery in Phoenician workshops. With this technique, painting with both ferromanganese pigment and with ferruginous pigment facilitates simultaneous black and red decorations of the Bichrome pottery through a single firing in an oxidizing atmosphere. The identification of hematite in the painted decorations by Raman micro-spectroscopy confirms firing of the Bichrome pottery in an oxidizing atmosphere.